Surveying the scene

It is all in the family. Engineering expertise has come down through five generations of Surveyors. "One hundred and fifty years ago, my great-grandfather Khan Bahadur Ratanji Surveyor was, according to family traditions, the first qualified Indian surveyor and hence our surname,” states Ratan Surveyor, civil engineer and contractor who set up his own civil engineering and construction company, Ratan Surveyor and Company, more than 50 years ago. "My son Darius, the fifth generation, is an electron­ics engineer who did his BE from Poona University and his MS (Master of Science) from the Univers­ity of Missouri-Rolla, USA. He is currently working in America,” Ratan continues. Not to be left out, new daughter-in-law Niloufer is a mechanical engineer from Lamar University in the US.

Ratan’s civil work over many decades has encompassed a variety of structures — St John the Evangelist Church at Ballard Estate, St Anthony’s Church at Vakola, Church of the Poor Shepherd at Versova, Don Bosco’s Church at Lonavla. "I have constructed buildings for a number of educational institutions and Parsi schools — D. Cawasji School at Khandala, the Panday and Girton Schools in Bombay, the IIT (Indian Institute of Tech­nology) at Powai, etc,” asserts Ratan. In a recommendatory letter dated April 7, 2002, Silla Ardeshir, the former principal of Girton School, wrote: "We were very fortunate in coming into contact with Ratan Surveyor who was finally selected to be our contractor to construct the (School’s new) building. I cannot tell you how happy we were with Surveyor’s work... It is now over 30 years... we have had absolutely no complaints... Surveyor considers his work of construction as something of which he is proud and has often come to the school to see that all is well... (He is) a thorough gentleman and a man of his word.. trustworthy and honest in his dealings with his clients.” "I have always believed in giving clients good, honest, sincere service. I could have been 50 times richer if I wanted. But amassing money was not my goal. My greatest pleasure is that my clients have appreciated me,” says the man who will in June step into the eighth decade of his life.

Ratan Surveyor: continuing engineering expertise

The International Biographical Centre, Cambridge, England, is to feature a life sketch of Ratan in their upcoming 2000 Outstanding Intellectuals of the 21st Century, states their letter of January 17, 2003 to Ratan. He has also been a subject of biographical record in The Marquis Who’s Who in the World since the year 2000 and in 500 Founders of the 21st Century. The American Biographical Institute has invited him to become a member of their Research Association’s board of governors and offered him The American Medal of Honor and other recognitions, states Ratan’s bio data. Among his other accolades are the Vikas Ratna Award, the Udyog Excellence Gold Medal for excellence in civil engineering, the Hind Rattan Award, International Gold Star Award, etc. A life fellow of the Institution of Engineers (India), Ratan is a life member of the Indian Council of Arbitration and is on the All India Panel of Arbitrators.

Tracing his family tree, Ratan shows Parsiana a copy of a certificate dated 1892 received by his grandfather Maneckji when he became an associate member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, incorporated by Royal Charter in 1828. When Maneckji (Maneckjee Ruttonjee) retired as executive engineer after 36 years of service with the Bombay Port Trust (BPT), he was given a commendation by BPT chairman P. R. Cadell: "In the course of your career from the year 1888, (you)... have by zealous and conscientious work risen to the high and responsible position of an executive engineer... your readiness to help and courtesy to all who came in contact with you, both colleagues and subordinates, made it a pleasure to work with you.”

Maneckji’s elder brother Framji also rose to be BPT executive engineer while younger brother Mancherji was one of the first Indian executive engineers of the Calcutta Port Trust. Upholding family tradition, Mancherji’s son Pheroze become the first Indian chief engineer of the BPT, Ratan informs Parsiana. Despite the plethora of engineering antecedents, Ratan’s father Dinshaw drilled his own road — constructing not buildings, but teeth! After becoming a doctor (LM&S) from Grant Medical College in Bombay, Dinshaw went to London as there were no dental colleges at that time in India. Qualifying as a dental surgeon in 1912, Dinshaw was one of the pioneers in dentistry, practicing in Bombay right up to his death in 1955. The Dr Dinshaw Maneckji Surveyor Memorial Merit Award and certificate are presented each year in his memory by the Zoroastrian Dentists’ Organisation to the Zoroastrian student who stands first in the final exami-na­tion of the Bachelor of Dental Surgery of the Bombay University.

Dinshaw’s younger siblings, Shiavaxshaw and Ardeshir, however continued the family tradition by qualifying as civil engineers. "In the famous Harvey-Nariman land case in the 1930s, it was my uncle Shiavaxshaw who lent Veer Nariman his knowledge and engineering expertise in Nariman’s fight against the government,” says Ratan, showing Parsiana an extract on the case from a booklet published by the Bombay Parsi Punchayet: "The intention was to muzzle an inconvenient critic. But Nariman fought against the corrupt machinery, courageously. S. M. Surveyor, a civil en­gineer was the only samaritan to help him with expert technical advice throughout the trial... Witnesses would not come forward willingly...” Though "the dice was heavily loaded against him,” Nari- man finally won the case which lasted a year.