Anjuman access

"This comprehensive All India Directory of Zoroastrian Punchayets, Anju­mans, Associations and Local Bodies in India has fulfilled a long-felt need of having a nation-wide ready reckoner,” reads a message from Jamshed Guzder, president of the Federation of Parsi Zoroastrian Anjumans of India in the 54-page publication, compiled and edited by Godrej N. Dotivala, public relations officer of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP).

Referring to the presentation of "a powerful and reliable data base...in a systematic manner,” BPP chief executive Behram Dastur expected this handiwork to be "of use to many Zoroastrians and non-Zoroastrians.”

Ninety-seven anju­mans and puncha­yets throughout India have been listed alphabetically, starting with Abu Road and ending with Zai Bordi. Besides giving the address and contact number of the anjuman, also listed are the names and addresses with fax/e-mail/mobile numbers of the office bearers/trustees in charge.

Dotivala (left) with Guzder at the launch of the Directory

"In response to my circular letter sent out to the Parsi anjumans, pun-chayets, associations and other bodies in India, I have received a tremendously encouraging feedback on the proforma which had been designed and devised by the Federation,” notes Dotivala in his preface. "It took about four months to collect the data,” Dotivala told Parsiana, revealing that "most of them responded.” The response though was not always prompt and for some anjumans he was required to persist with "follow-up calls, reminders, about half a dozen attempts,” he clarifies. For the rest he had to rely on the records available with the Federation.

"It has certainly been a Herculean task to cull all this information from every nook and corner of this far-flung country of ours and to put it together in a very clear-cut and concise manner,” commended Guzder. Assisting Dotivala in his endeavors was Dastur, BPP’s deputy chief executive and financial controller Mehli Colah and Federation’s joint honorary secretary Keki Gandhi, acknowledges the preface.