“Shining jewels”

This is with reference to a letter by Shahrukh Mehta of New York ("Shining jewels,” Readers’ Forum, Parsiana, February 2002), praising the Parsi principals of B. V. S. Parsi High School in Karachi, the late Behram Rustomji and Deena Mistry.

Being an old Virbaijeeite myself (matriculation batch of 1955), let us not forget the names of two former principals of the School whom I consider "bright shining stars” of education in general: the late Dr Pithawalla and the late Rustom Virjee Divecha.

The late Divecha, my own science teacher and later principal of the School, was beyond comparison the "brightest shining star.” He was himself an old Virbaijeeite and matriculated in 1941. He lost his father early in life and at a young age became the breadwinner for his family. He chose teaching as his profession and did his BSc. He joined as a science teacher in Sindh Madressa Tul Islam. It was Rustomjee who brought him to B. V. S. as a science teacher in 1952. Whilst working he passed his STC (Teachers training certificate) and BEd (Bachelor of Education). He later passed his LLB examination from Karachi University.

He was well versed in Urdu, realizing the importance of the language in the Muslim community. He was one of God’s good men. He nurtured and helped numerous Parsi boys attain the peak and pinnacle of their potential, recommending them for foreign scholarships for higher education in Canada/UK and USA.

He was appointed chairman of the Secondary Board of Education and served honestly and with distinction for numerous years. For his services the Sindh Government (department of education) presented him with a gold medal. He is survived by his wife Villiee and two sons, Adil and Darius.

Dr MINOO SUKHIA

Karachi, Pakistan