Princes of philanthropy

The driving force behind a Parsi’s charitable instinct is his religious ethos. Parsis consider poverty, suffering and want as an affliction of evil. To remove these is not just a religious duty, but an act of spiritual merit, depriving ‘evil’ of sustenance. If Christ asked his followers to love their neighbors, Zarathushtra asked his followers to attain happiness by making others happy (Yasna 43.1).

Many religious traditions have looked down upon wealth and its acquisition. The Bible says, "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.” A Hindu considers wealth as maya (illusion) which leads to bondage. A Zoroastrian, on the other hand, considers wealth to be fundamentally positive, provided it is acquired through righteous means and used for right purposes.

No other quality has brought as much fame to the Parsis as their charities — cosmopolitan as well as communal. Dr Ekhard Kulke writes: "This charity system was made possible and furthered by the basic attitude of the Parsis, motivated by their religion, that wealth is fundamentally positive, that it brings, however, certain social obligations along with it.”

The Pahlavi Dinkard recommends cultivation of five virtues which are of religious merit: truthfulness, charity, skill, endeavor and giving encouragement to others in good deeds.

In the Handarz literature, Aturput Mahraspand, high priest at the court of Sasanian King Shapur II, speaks of three kinds of charity: to give without being asked or requested to give; to give immediately on being asked or required to give; to give at the promised time, if one has so promised. Mahraspand adds that charity is good when one expects nothing in return from the receiver and entertains no such expectations. Good charity, according to him, is never done for personal gain or fame.

Apart from individual acts of charity, institutional philanthropy began to take shape around the 18th century. According to historian and former Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) secretary Sapur F. Desai, "Some kind of a fund was at the disposal of the Parsis” way back in 1732. There is no record to show how the money was collected and who kept it and dispensed it. It was probably an ad hoc arrangement to collect and disburse the money, as and when circumstances demanded.

The birth of the BPP can be placed anywhere around 1672-1675. The history of this august institution is as old as the history of Bombay. From a sleepy cluster of seven islands inhabited by the Koli fishermen, Bombay owes its development and growth largely to the contribution of the Parsis. Gerald Aungier, the then governor of Bombay, recognized that it would not be an easy job to rule over a foreign population having deep-rooted social and religious mores. He therefore asked all communities living in Bombay to form their own social organizations to govern their own people, keeping law and order within the bounds of the government. All communities formed their own bodies called "puncha­yets.” Over time, the punchayets of all communities, except the Parsis, died out.

The first fund on record started by the BPP was in 1826, for funeral expenses. Four months later, another fund was started for giving maintenance relief to the poor and destitute of the community. Today the BPP maintains over 1,200 khatas or separate funds.

To prevent ‘sharp’ practice among recipients of relief, Prof Pestonji Wadia started in 1919 an institution called the Parsi Charity Organization Society with Muncherji Khareghat, a trustee of the BPP. This Society became a referral source for all assistance-giving trusts. Its object was to investigate all cases referred to it, send its recommendation and leave it to the trustees of each individual trust to take their own independent decision. The Society had its faults and weaknesses. However, the concept was a pioneering initiative which reflected the community’s scientific approach to philanthropy. In 1932, the Sir Ratan Tata Trust commissioned S. F. Markham to conduct the first ever sociological study of the Parsi community.

In 1979, the Zoroastrian Community Development Institute (ZCDI), under the leadership of Dr Jamshed A. Modi, undertook to study and computerize data and information on Parsi trusts in Maharashtra state. This was, once again, a pioneering initiative probably not undertaken by any other community to date.

According to the ZCDI study, 1,170 Parsi trusts were identified in the city of Bombay. Out of these, 471 were found to be earmarked for religious purposes. The break-up for other categories was: education, 133 trusts with assets worth Rs 14.95 crores; multipurpose, 316 trusts with assets worth Rs 13.80 crores; housing, 62 trusts with assets worth Rs 1.50 crores; medical, 55 trusts with assets worth Rs 4.11 crores. The total assets amounted to Rs 34.36 crores.

The study revealed that a very large percent of these assets were held by just a handful of trusts. For instance, of the 133 educational trusts, just nine trusts held 80 percent of the total corpus of Rs 14.95 crores. Also, of the 316 multipurpose trusts, having an aggregate corpus of Rs 13.80 crores, just four trusts held 80 percent of the total corpus. Of the 62 housing and 55 medical trusts, 13 and 11 respectively, held 80 percent of the total corpus.

Today, worldwide, the focus is shifting from charity to philanthropy. People often use the terms ‘charity’ and ‘philanthropy’ interchangeably. The two are not synonymous. ‘Charity’ (which mostly involves almsgiving) generally addresses the symptoms, while ‘philanthropy’ (defined broadly as "love for humanity”) tends to strike at the root of various issues facing society.

Contemporary philanthropy is concerned with improving the quality of life for all members of society by promoting their welfare, happiness and culture. It focuses on interests and concerns of all income classes, such as protecting the environment, preventing diseases, improving education and recreational facilities, enhancing the arts, preserving historic landmarks, etc. Charity, on the other hand, has come to mean serving mainly, if not only, the poor, the disabled and the needy.

Philanthropy is not about giving of one’s wealth alone. It includes giving of one’s time, experience, expertise and labor. Says Russi M. Lala, noted author and former director of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, "Men are more important than funds — men, dedicated to serving their fellowmen… In a country of India’s size, diversity and problems, the way to uplift the nation is to light the spark in a million hearts and let them find their momentum. Funds are needed to assist them. But if you start with creating large organizations and expect them to do the job, you are beginning at the wrong end... We need men who will plan the strategy, have the dedication and also give of themselves.”

The patriarch of the Tata family, Jamsetji, lived in an age when philanthropy was its own reward — tax rebate for charitable donations was unknown then.

Tata was a man sensitive to the suffering of his people but realized that "patchwork philanthropy,” as he called it — giving some food here and clothes there — would not go far. He formulated his philosophy on "constructive philanthropy,” defining it thus: "What advances a nation or a community is not so much to prop up its weakest and most helpless members but to lift up the best and the most gifted, so as to make them of the greatest service to the country.” With this end in view, he launched the J. N. Tata Endowment Scheme for Higher Education in 1892, sending abroad future administrators, scientists, doctors, lawyers and engineers. He formulated his major scheme of a university of science (and technology) to give India the technology personnel that would enable it to step into the industrial age.

Tata believed that true philanthropy should be aimed at making its recipients self-reliant, self-respecting and capable of earning their way in life by doing an honest day’s work. Educational facilities and employment opportunities alone could ensure this. His main aim was to train and equip men and women to help themselves.

Higher education abroad, especially in areas of science and technology is expensive. Among the few trusts which extend scholarships for higher studies abroad, the two most noteworthy are the J. N. Tata Endowment and the R. D. Sethna Scholarship Fund. Students of all communities manage to raise a large chunk of the required funds from these two Parsi-endowed and Parsi-managed trusts.

Always ahead of his time, Tata pioneered higher education among women. The first name in his register for scholarships, as far back as in 1892, was a lady medical doctor, Freny K. R. Cama. She was loaned, in those days, Rs 10,000 which, in terms of today’s money, is probably worth 130 times the amount. She returned as one of India’s pioneering gynecologists.

On a single page of the register of the J. N. Tata Endowment Fund for the period 1905 to 1909 appear the names of the following scholars: A. R. Dalal, who became a member of the viceroy’s executive council; J. C. Coyaji, later chief justice of the Bombay High Court; B. N. Rao who rose to be a judge of the International High Court at The Hague; Dr Jivraj N. Mehta, chief minister of Gujarat; noted economist Dr Raja Ramanna and former President of India, K. R. Narayanan.

In 100 Great Modern Lives edited by John Canning (Souvenir Press, London) only two Indians feature — Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Jamsetji Tata — among the galaxies of personalities. The chapter on Tata concludes: "Probably no other family has ever contributed as much in the way of wise guidance, industrial development and advancing philanthropy to any country as the Tatas have to India, both before and since Independence.”

Sir Ratan and Sir Dorab Tata established pioneering trusts geared to building the educational, social and scientific infrastructure of this nation. At a time when most charities were communal in nature, the Sir Ratan Tata Trust (1918) and the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust (1932) established a precedent of being universal in their generosity. The Anjuman-i-Islam or a Hindu institution could equally avail of its resources as any Parsi charity could — and they did. The J. R. D. Tata Trust was established in 1944 for the advancement of learning and the relief of human suffering. The Jamsetji Tata Trust was set up in 1974 and was designed to assist innovative projects. Between themselves, the eight Tata trusts have created an infrastructure for the balanced development of the nation in science, technology, social science, arts and culture.

The Tatas were also responsible for creating a new industrial culture in India. At a time when captains of industry in Europe and America exploited their workers, Tata cared to give them filtered water, sanitary hutments, cheap food grains, medical facilities, provident fund and accident insurance.

Tata was a visionary, but the prince of philanthropists is, without doubt, Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy, the first Indian Knight and Baronet. The extent of his philanthropy is too vast, wide and varied to be compared with any other philanthropist. His contribution to public works and charities between 1822-1859 aggregates Rs 24,59,736. It is interesting to note that of this staggering sum (for that period of time) less than 50 percent went for his own community. The breakdown is as follows: public works Rs 4,36,340, secular charities Rs 8,48,381 and communal charities Rs 11,75,015. The total was Rs 24,59,736.

Acts of benevolence were as natural to Jejeebhoy as breathing; besides feeding the poor, clothing the needy, sinking wells for the thirsty, he built bridges and causeways to save precious human lives, dharamshalas and shelters for the homeless, shelters for the infirm and forsaken animals and the first hospital for civilians in Bombay. An institution where, even today, the poor and the needy are treated totally free or at very nominal rates.

As a matter of principle, Jejeebhoy was opposed to giving doles. He objected vehemently to the Parsi Punchayet handing out six rupee sums to poor applicants. "If this continues,” he said, "hundreds will flock to Bombay and we will find it difficult to pay them. This will also encourage able-bodied men to live on doles.”

At a time when primary education was lacking in India, Jejeebhoy gave money to establish a School of Arts. Even today, it is reportedly the biggest school of its kind in the east.

Parsi charity, both in terms of size and scope, has been staggering. From public schools and public hospitals to welfare of women, children and the aged, the Parsis have given back to the country it adopted as its home sometime around the ninth century AC, its due, many times over.

Noshir H. Dadrawala is chief executive officer of the Bombay based Centre for Advancement of Philanthropy and sits on the board of several international philanthropic organizations including the Hong Kong based Asia Pacific Philanthropy Consortium and the UK based Resource Alliance. He has participated in research studies and contributed papers for Harvard and Johns Hopkins Universities and authored a number of books on management and philanthropy. As a team member of the Poona based Social and Voluntary Group (SVG), he conducts annual tours to Iran to inculcate religious, historical and cultural pride among members of the Parsi Zoroastrian community.