The tower and the temple

A line-up of Persian soldiers along the walls of the passage meets the eye of a visitor proceeding towards the imposing entrance of the newly renovated M. J. Wadia Fire Temple at Lalbaug. The 144-year-old agiary stands transformed thanks to the magic wand waved by real estate developer Zarir Bhathena and the trustees, and the benign warriors are almost a reminder of the many battles they had to face in the course of developing the agiary land. "My dream was to build a tower and to see the agiary in its glory,” admits Bhathena who toiled for the last five years to construct the 25-storey Hilla Towers and renovate the agiary which is now being acknowledged as "a landmark in Lalbaug.”

The impressive Hilla Towers and the "beautiful agiary” are the outcome of Bhathena’s "courage of conviction” and the determination "to do something,” noted Dastur Khurshed Dastoor after presiding over the thanksgiving jashan at the restored agiary on mah Meher, roz Meher, March 3, 2007. Dastoor referred to the difficulties Bhathena encountered before he could achieve his goal and how he persevered through the campaigns of calumny. When Bhathena’s critics complained that he was not working in the interests of the fire temple or the community, Dastoor invited them to sort out the problems across the table but "they never came…Liars will not come out in the front…the support for Zarir was for the truth.”

"After all the toil and sweat you feel happy when things are accomplished. You feel there is a divine hand at work,” summed up Kersi Limathwalla, chairman of the Muncherji Jamshetji Wadia Fire Temple Trust, who told Parsiana that their efforts were directed "to make the house of worship look good, make the people who come here to pray, feel good.” At the thanksgiving function Limathwalla had expressed gratitude, on behalf of his co-trustees Shirin Wadia and Shyam Wadia, to Bhathena, for taking on the project and to Dastoor, for his guidance and support.

Addressing a gathering at the ITC Grand Central Sheraton Hotel and Towers at Parel later that evening, Bhathena announced that his "moral responsibility is over,” whilst acknowledging the support of his wife Jasmine, brother Jimmy, son Berges, his financers, friend Prem, architects Pervez Buhariwalla, Cyrus Unwalla and Rusi Khambatta, Kersi Kapadia (for the interiors of the agiary), the flat purchasers, trustees and all the people who helped him. When five years ago then Trust chairman Pesi Jagus had first approached him, Bhathena consulted Dastur Kekobad Dastoor, the late Priest of Udvada, and upon receiving his blessings plunged into the project. Both Kekobad and his son Khurshed "were guiding forces throughout,” said the builder.

"I believe what the right hand gives the left hand should not know,” declared Bhathena when Parsiana sought to ascertain the cost he had incurred on the agiary. As per the agreement with the trustees he was to contribute Rs 30 lakhs towards the renovation of the agiary but considering that the repair of the roof itself required over Rs 15 lakhs, Bhathena realized that the balance was too meager for any substantial renovation. "That is why I took it upon myself to undertake this work,” he notes.

Top: overview of Wadia agiary; Far right: sculpture of Zoroaster and pillar;Bottom: jashan in progress and Baj Hall

Referring to the 34 injunctions which were sought to impede the progress of his work, Bhathena states, "This is the first and last community project I am going to do. The things which I and my family have gone through because of one group… No person would dare to go on…Part of my profits always go to charity. The money which could have been used for charity has been lost because it had to be wasted on legal things…” Each time the antagonists lost they would go into appeal in a higher court. He remembers the day May 9, 2002 when climbing the stairs of the Supreme Court for the first time in his life where his opponents’ litigation had dragged him he sought divine guidance, telling God that if he was doing something wrong "mané amnaa rokjo (stop me now)…But if you want me to finish this project, nothing will stop me.” The fact that the adversaries’ appeal was not admitted in the apex court was a sufficient indicator for Bhathena to continue with his project.

"This was more of a political objection than religious,” he is convinced, unable to comprehend why a Parsi building could not come up in the proximity of the Wadia agiary if a non-Parsi building can come up near the H. B. Wadia Atas Bahram. In this month of Avan, he recalls the time when protesters with placards denigrating Bhathena and the trustees for the supposed "desecration” of the agiary well stood outside the Radio Club where traditionally a jashan is held to mark the Avan Ardvisur parav. Thereafter he has been the favorite whipping boy of the World Alliance of Parsi Irani Zarthoshtis (WAPIZ) who used many columns of their WAPIZ Page in the Afternoon Despatch and Courier to highlight what they perceived as his sins of omission and commission. (On three occasions Parsiana tried contacting WAPIZ protagonist Yazdi Desai to seek his feedback on the completion of the agiary project. The calls were not returned.) They insist that Hilla Towers cannot be called a Parsi building because it has 12 non-Parsi occupants but Bhathena explains that these were the original shopkeepers on the premises to whom he offered alternate space on the ground and first floor of the new building (as road widening had caused a setback in the floor area of the ground floor shops) while the residential building for Parsis has a separate entrance and stairway. Further since the builders availed of additional FSI, they were bound to set aside some flats for MHADA which have presently been sealed with an assurance from the chief minister that they will be allotted only to Parsis.

When embarking on this project, Bhathena remembers senior Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) trustee Dinshaw Mehta asking him, ‘"125 Bawaji né kaathi laavsé (from where will you get 125 Parsis to buy your flats)?’ I am proud to say that our young Parsis are not depending on the BPP for housing. More than 40 percent of our flats have been mortgaged either to HDFC or ICICI Bank…” With ongoing litigation there were several who preferred to delay purchase but they ended up paying 20 percent more later for the ownership flats in Hilla Towers. In the month of January 2006 he sold 32 flats. He knows that a flat owner who paid Rs 3,800 per square foot originally has resold the flat at Rs 8,000 per square foot. The sale covenant has a clause stipulating that only a Zoroastrian is permitted to buy a flat at Hilla Towers.

Every flat at Hilla Towers may have been sold and the agiary restored, but this does not end Bhathena’s commitment to the project. He has yet to renovate the bashingo (the place where nahan is undertaken) and the enclosure for the varasiaji, he states, adding, "I have offered financial help for any work that may be required in the future too. This is my family agiary.” Bhathena mentions how he was pleasantly surprised to learn from the previous panthaky Ervad Maneksha Vajifdar that Manchershaw (Zarir’s father) and uncle Shapurji had donated a sum for the maintenance of the agiary when the then trustees were considering its closure. Zarir having lost his father when he was only three years old, was brought up primarily by his mother Hilla, in whose memory many of his projects are named.

"Everybody is happy with the construction of the renovated agiary. However uppermost on everybody’s mind is whether it will be maintained well,” notes Bhathena who is glad that a group of boys from Nowroz Baug have offered their voluntary service to clean up the place whenever their help is sought by the trustees. Previously too Cyrus Siganporia and his team from Nowroz Baug would help in the cleaning of the agiary well. "Almost 75 percent of the 1,400 residents of the (neighboring) Nowroz Baug must be patronizing this agiary,” believes Nariman Mehta, president of the Nowroze Baug Play Centre who is delighted with the "wonderful work done by the trustees and Bhathena” which he feels "deserves to be appreciated” especially since they were able to resolve "all past complaints concerning cleanliness and mismanagement.”

On the demise of Maneksha the trustees were contemplating whether to appoint his son Ervad Dinyar Vajifdar as panthaky. But when they found that instead of supporting the trustees he was creating problems for them, they opted to introduce a manager system at the agiary. Beginning July 1, 2006 the trustees have appointed Ervads Kersi Bhada as manager and Farhad Ravji as assistant manager who are paid a fixed salary each month. Vajifdar took the matter to court but the court’s directive to settle this issue outside its corridors has yet to materialize.

For the present, several other agiaries have sought Bhathena’s help for their restoration but he has made up his mind, "I will not give money; only labor and material… I will try and do as much as I can for the community.” He mentions how he is content to be "a low-key person.” A chartered accountant by profession who is now primarily focused on "income tax consultancy” he says there are two joint ventures in offing from foreign investors. His construction activities under the banner of Hilla Builders which "started as a hobby have now become a full-fledged proposition requiring my supervision even on Sundays.” With the goodwill generated over the years he is presently pursuing six projects in Bombay simultaneously. Joint honorary secretary of the B. D. Petit Parsee General Hospital for the last 17 years he conveys to Parsiana, "The Hospital is my first child,” just as he had told his wife that ‘work will be my first wife.’”

Meanwhile the hall on the first floor of the Wadia agiary, the trustees plan to use "for restricted purpose,” instead of commercializing it. They feel the community would benefit better by selective usage for religious talks, discourses and ceremonies. Having long been in the eye of a storm it could now be a center of serenity.