The Cowasjees’ candor

Amongst the most elegant homes in Karachi are the ones that belong to the Cowasjee brothers — Cyrus and Ardeshir. Well-groomed gardens, tastefully furnished rooms, original Dali sketches on the walls and old world charm.

The Cowasjees like many of the old privileged families of Karachi were and are active in community institutions. Ardeshir served as trustee of the Karachi Parsi Anjuman Trust Fund and Cyrus’ wife Toxy headed the Karachi Zarthosti Banu Mandal (KZBM) till a few years ago and edits the World Zoroastrian Organisation’s Hamazor journal, a well produced, written and researched quarterly.

"We encourage people to stay (in Pakistan unless) they are going abroad to study,” says Toxy. But "people are scared. They feel there is no future for the young. Nobody wants (their) children to come back,” Toxy replied when asked about Zoroastrians emigrating from Pakistan. "I certainly would not want to wear a burkha…”

But Toxy herself states she goes "everywhere. Even in the back streets nobody has touched me. We move around freely. People here are very decent… very kind.”

Before the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers in New York on September 11, 2001 "everyone was immigrating. After September 11 it is different,” she blamed the "lousy politicians” for the mess Pakistan is in today.

Born in Karachi, Cowasjee attended the Karachi Grammar School before attending a boarding school in England. She still misses the cultural life the West has to offer. "I like the theater and the art galleries.” But the cultural aspects are few and far between. "We don’t have the performing arts,” that one has in the West and India, she laments. But the question of migrating does not arise, "never in a million years. We are blessed.” Cyrus’ family is in the stevedoring and ship chandling business, Cowasjee and Sons. Son Nader is also involved in the family business while daughter Cyra Anklesaria, who studied abroad, teaches at Care, a center for children with learning disabilities. Cyrus "was only too happy” she returned to Pakistan, says Toxy.

In June 2006 Toxy published the sixth edition of the directory of Zoroastrians in Pakistan named the A & T Directory (address and telephone) on behalf of the KZBM. "The count (of) our community in Pakistan is now 2,039 and in Karachi 1,935 compared to the previous figures of October 2003, namely 2,199 and 2,075, respectively,” she notes in the introduction. The listing includes a "blood directory,” the largest number of Pakistani Zoroastrians being in the O+ blood group (40 percent) followed by A+ (34 percent).

The directory also lists 12 "community centers” in the city and the names of six practicing mobeds at the Heerjibhoy J. Behrana Parsi Temple and the Seth Dossabhoy Merwanji Wadia Dar-e-Mehr.

Also included are e-mail identities of around 600 "ex-Karachiites living abroad” almost half of whom reside in the USA. Canada is next with around 150.

(Above) Cyrus and Toxy Cowasjee; (Alongside) Ardeshir Cowasjee: a tradition of community involvement

"Free and fair”

Ardeshir Cowasjee appeared reticent and aloof at first. Was it because we were late for the appointment or because he had a bad cold? Our questions were met with monosyllabic replies, a surprise coming as they did from a prolific writer and outspoken critic of the Pakistan government amongst other organizations.

One commented on the guards outside his Bath Island home. He stated nonchalantly, "I must have written something against the mullahs.”

But as the minutes passed Cowasjee thawed and even showed us around his hall which displayed Salvador Dali (the renowned Spanish surrealistic painter) sketches. He would make a point of showing a sketch of the Dali nudes to some orthodox Muslim visitors who would then remark "kya Ardeshir saheb (really Mr Ardeshir)!” and turn away embarrassed. Cowasjee also posed for a photograph for Parsiana beside marble busts of his ancestors situated in the garden adjoining the house.

Before departing he requested his daughter Ava who also works at Cowasjee and Sons to locate some books on Pakistani Zoroastrians for us and also gifted us a poster of Mohammed Ali Jinnah posing with his dogs, cigarette in mouth. Dogs are considered unclean by many orthodox Muslims and smoking is frowned upon. From where did he obtain the photograph, we inquired? The government archives, he replied.

A few days before our visit Ardeshir in his column in the daily publication Dawn attacked the Bhutto family. Titled "The ‘free and fair’ syndrome” the column noted that Zulfikar Ali Bhutto "hacked (Pakistan) into two so that the man in second place could usurp the first place.”

The East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) Awami League’s Sheikh Mujibur Rahman won the national election in 1970 but Bhutto was determined not to permit an East Pakistani leader to rule over West Pakistan. "Leading the opposition has never been good enough for any man or woman aspiring (for) power in Pakistan. It is top dog or nothing — and no holds are barred when it comes to getting to the top.” Eventually Rahman and his family were assassinated by armed militia and Bhutto was hung by President Zia-ul-Haq who seized power in a military coup, a common enough occurrence in Pakistan.

As for Bhutto’s daughter Benazir returning to Pakistan to stand for election and perhaps broker an electoral alliance with President Gen Pervez Musharraf, Ardeshir noted, "We also have in the air much talk of a ‘deal’ being negotiated with a disgraced politician, and all for the sake of Musharraf remaining ‘on top.’ How and by which law is he entitled to forgive a grand larcenist at the expense of the deprived 160 million of this country? Whatever deal is being cooked up between the government of President Gen Pervez Musharraf and Benazir Bhutto, or whoever, involves the people’s money. The dropping of corruption cases against former and present parliamentarians is tantamount to bribery at our expense.” Bhutto and her husband were found guilty by a Swiss court of illegally amassing wealth.

On November 4, 2007, Musharraf declared a state of emergency in Pakistan, further eroding democratic institutions and functioning in this south Asian country. Though elections have been scheduled to be held by February 15, 2008, these will be trying and worrisome times for the Zoroastrians as well as all the other citizens of the country.