Shooting star

His sporting achievements have spanned almost half a century! Way back in 1959, Calicut’s Darius Marshall went full throttle to win the C. C. Wakefield Trophy in the all-India high speed race at Shola-varam (Madras), as well as the first prize in the South India rally the same year. "In those days we used to have what was known as the Le Mans start, that is, one had to run 25 yards, jump into the car, start and drive off! All that has been scrapped now,” Marshall reminisces. His winning rally car was a 1957 Fiat!

Other adrenaline-pumping achievements in the fast lane have included a 1,000 km, 24-hour non-stop car rally from Madras back to Madras, via Bangalore, Mysore, Calicut, Coimbatore, Trichy... When his Standard Vanguard rolled into the petrol pump at Calicut, which was an intermediate check-point where drivers could ease off for a few minutes, the local lad received an enthusiastic welcome, he narrates, though the race was far from over!

Over the years shooting has become his favorite outdoor sport. In Madras last August, Marshall set a new meet record in the small-bore free/standard rifle event at the all India G. V. Mavlankar shooting championship. Participating in the veterans (55 plus age group), 69-year-old Marshall’s tally of 254 erased his own record of 242 set two years ago in Asansol in West Bengal. His tally of shooting medals so far is seven golds and four silvers in national shooting championships, according to his bio data.

Vice president of the Calicut Rifle Club, Marshall was one of its founding members in 1960. The Club is a quasi government organization, he explains, and the district collector is always its president. The Club was formed to attract civilians to take to shooting. These trained civilians could form an additional line of defense in times of need, he relates.

Marshall says he took up "serious shooting” in 1982 when, on a visit to the Rotary World Conference in USA, he purchased an excellent German made shooting jacket, shooting belt, etc, sparking off an interest in competitive marksmanship. Sundays are practise time and striking bull’s-eye gives you "fantastic mental satisfaction,” he declares.

Shooting for the state of Kerala at competitions, the Kerala Sports Council honored him as best sportsman of the year in rifle shooting in 1997. Two years earlier, the Federation of Parsi Zoroastrian Anjumans of India (FPZAI) had presented him the Dadi Balsara Award, as outstanding sportsman of the year in rifle shooting. While shooting still ranks among his favorites, Marshall enjoys snooker and billiards too, having won at tournament level in these sports as well.

An automobile engineer by profession, Marshall runs, he says, the oldest spare parts shop in the Malabar region. "My father Phiroze started the business in 1920. He was the only spare parts dealer in Malabar right up to 1944 and was virtually the king in the trade,” he narrates. A motor repair workshop was opened a few years later. With a modern machine shop, body shop, etc, Marshall also runs "My TVS - all car service” which is a franchise from TVS for repairs to cars of all makes. In addition to the franchise in Calicut, a branch has been recently opened in nearby Cannanore which is looked after by the Marshall family including sons Zubin and Farzan.

President of the Calicut Boat Club, managing trustee of the Calicut Parsi Anjuman and vice president from 1991-94 of the FPZAI, Marshall’s multifarious interests and achievements include district governorship of Rotary International District 3200 for the year 2000-01. Author of a booklet entitled Language of Leadership, Marshall regularly travels and conducts classes on effective public speaking and leadership skills. "I am a trainer by choice,” he says.

On the social service front Marshall was "instrumental in forming the Gujarat Earthquake Disaster Relief Trust, wherein he has collected over Rs 28 lakhs to date from the Clubs in his district for the construction of a school at Anjar,” states his life profile. The school was inaugurated on June 29, 2003. Another important social mission is the Avoidable Blindness Project, where over 3,000 economically disadvantaged people have been assisted with operations conducted at the Sankara Eye Hospital in Coimbatore.