Well deserved honors

The Shree Parsi Panchayat, Vadodra honored two of its members, Jeru Contractor and Firoze Dariasha, with a silver salver and a shawl each, for outstanding services to the community. On March 25, 2008 chief guest Ervad (Dr) Ramiyar Karanjia, principal of the Dadar Athornan Madressa presented mementoes to the duo, as per a write-up forwarded to Parsiana by Phiroze S. Wadia of Baroda.

Savaksha Patel, former president of the Panchayat, lauded the humble Dariasha’s values, high ideals and selfless service in making himself available even at odd times to perform the last rites in the event of death in any family and taking the body to the dakhma. Though Dariasha, who worked for over 30 years as a driver in the Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation and retired as supervisor, has limited education and his economic condition is weak, he and his wife Roshan have rendered voluntary service to keep the two agiaries clean and always lent a helping hand at all community functions, the write-up informs.

Contractor’s extraordinary antecedents and contribution were highlighted by Jal Patel, president of the Panchayat. Her great-grandfather Khansaheb Faramji Cowasji Contractor had built the the historic Baroda College Building which has the second largest dome in Asia, while her grandfather Rajratna Khansaheb Pestonji Contractor was a philanthropist who gave large donations for hospitals, educational institutions and for providing food and housing to the poor during floods, the write-up reveals. Contractor was greatly influenced by her mother Alanmai who molded her career and character. After passing her BCom, LLB and Diploma in Taxation and Diploma in Labor Law with flying colors, Contractor aspired to become a judge, but fate willed otherwise. She had to devote her time to solve a number of family problems as much of its property had been attached by the income tax department which was demanding tax arrears of Rs 45 lakhs. After minutely studying each case, Contractor reduced the tax liability to eight lakh rupees and had all the attached property released, greatly improving the family’s finances.

In 1985 Contractor took charge of her family’s private agiary trust and found that the income was a paltry Rs 6,000 a year, barely adequate for the priest’s salary. For the next three years she and her co-trustees spent their own money for the upkeep of the agiary. To generate income she rented out the vast grounds for holding fairs, exhibitions and circuses and established a pay-and-park system for vehicles.

Ervad (Dr) Ramiyar Karanjia presents salver to Jeru Contractor; (seated) Firoze and Roshan Dariasha, Jal Patel (extreme right)

Contractor’s determination to preserve and sustain all that her ancestors had created for the community led her to renovate the Adaran at a cost of Rs 12 lakhs in 1999. All unauthorized occupants were evicted (she fought a case right up to the Gujarat High Court), built a seven-foot high compound wall at a cost of Rs 11 lakhs to protect the premises from intruders and put in a rainwater harvesting system with two deep bore wells at a cost of two lakh rupees. The latest improvement is the development of a beautiful garden with colored fountain and electric lights in the compound, the write-up reveals.

Contractor also helped the M. S. University to repair and restore the historic Baroda College Building constructed by her ancestor by personally donating one lakh rupees for the purpose and also collecting huge funds from others. As trustee-secretary of the Pestonji Faramji Education Trust and Shree Sai Smaran Trust she provides education aid to Parsi students and financial aid to those who need to have their navjotes/lagans done, helping priests and giving incentives to volunteers working in agiaries. On Parsi New Year and Jamshedi Navroz she distributes kustis, sudrehs and food­grains to poor Parsis, and gives financial help to those in need. She spends a considerable amount of time, energy and money in providing free legal help to Parsis and others. An animal lover, Contractor cannot bear to see injured or maltreated animals, taking them to her house and having them attended to by a veterinarian. Each year she contributes generously to the Pashoo Seva Kendra in Baroda, the write-up lists her deeds.

Her deep admiration for the Zoroastrian religion and faith in the sacred fire provides the inspiration for doing so much good for so many. The write-up credits Contractor with the courage and uncanny capacity to have the most tangled problems solved in the municipal corporation, government offices and courts, making her "a unique example of a successful woman in a predominantly man’s world.”