WZO's silver celebration

The evening was a sellout. Many more individuals than anticipated thronged Allbless Baug on December 7, 2005 to celebrate the silver jubilee of the World Zoroastrian Organisation-India (WZO-I). It was meant to be a star-studded night but Bombay’s traffic jams intruded on the plans so that the anticipated dignitaries only filtered in way after the program had been concluded, though in time for cocktails and dinner.

President of India Dr A. P. J. Abdul Kalam praised the WZO-I’s "mission of improving the lives of those who are in need.” All India Congress Committee president Sonia Gandhi described it as a "shining example of the philosophy, spirit and sense of responsibility of the Parsi community.”

The reading of the messages by Nergish Mistry of Delhi who had sought them on behalf of the WZO was followed by the organization’s president of 25 years, solicitor Dadi Engineer speaking of the body’s achievements: "We do as much as we can for socioeconomic development. We are just not interested in any controversies, religious or otherwise.” Thanking an anonymous donor of 25 lakh rupees, Engineer quoted from poet William Wordsworth, "small service is good service (like) a daisy sheltering a dew-drop.” He spoke of medical help and poverty alleviation, scholarships and career counseling, the proceeds of one lakh rupees for the B. D. Petit Parsee General Hospital generated by a walkathon they had organized and a further eight lakhs that the WZO had collected towards the upkeep of doongerwadi, adding with a smile, "There’s a concept in some quarters that we only play tambola and go on outstation picnics.”

A specially designed memento was presented by Engineer to several of the WZO functionaries, among them Din­shaw Tamboly, managing trustee of the WZO Trust Funds — an associate body, WZO-I vice president Dadi Mistry of Delhi, WZO vice president Bahdur Mistry, WZO activist Soonoo Andhyaru­jina, Hutoxy Doodhwala who organizes beauty and body-building pageants at Rustom Baug and celebrity caterer Tanaz Godiwala. Architect and interior designer Jimmy Mistry of Della Tecnica who had sponsored the evening, was also acknowledged with a plaque presented to his mother in his absence. Mistry, along with first generation builder Boman Irani and Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) president emeritus Jamshed Guzder were among those on Engineer’s list of awardees who arrived later. There was a measure of good natured confusion however as Boman Irani, who began his career as a photographer but found his true métier as a stage and screen personality, was among those who reached in good time and was also felicitated by Engineer.

From left: Tamboly, Ruby Contractor, Captain, Dadi Mistry, Nozer Meherji and (inset) Engineer with WZO supporters

A bit of the WZO’s early history was provided by Shahpur Captain, cofounder and later president and chairman of the WZO in London. Captain had been on the managing committee of the Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe (ZTFE) when the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979 led to a substantial number of Zoroastrian migrants fleeing to the West. Almost overnight, the ZTFE established the WZO with minor changes in its own memorandum and articles of association. Taking the mike Captain said, "The first thing WZO had to do was to help displaced Zoroastrians from Iran,” adding, "We continue to perform that function.” The London-based body’s second priority is assisting in the release of any Zoroastrian in captivity or trouble with the local authority in any foreign land, he noted.

It was Dadi Mistry who brought the WZO concept to India, Engineer told the audience in the course of his speech, going into details of how he became its president in India. Mistry said he had initially tried to induce the late jurist Nani Palkhivala to accept the mantle. Palkhivala helped draft the constitution for the Indian wing of the WZO but declined the presidentship. Dadi Mistry, originally a lad from Bombay’s Parsi Colony in Dadar who has established himself as a businessman in Delhi, urged the audience to travel out of Bombay: "The Parsi population is not only diminishing but dying out. Also the respect that Zoroastrians command. Continue the legacy…”

Arnavaz S. Mama