“Sitting on a pot of gold”

"We must have vision. But we must also have action. Vision with action can change the world,” Dr Jamshed J. Irani (JJ) said to the community activists, entrepreneurs, professionals and wan­nabe entrepreneurs gathered at Poona’s Ladies Club under the banner of the World Zarathushti Chamber of Commerce (WZCC) to confer on him the organization’s most prestigious accolade — Honorary Member 2007 — on January 12, 2008.

Eighth member of the eight-year-old gilt club, the genial, amiable Irani is president of the All India Management Association and president of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Luck­now. Billed, in the words of Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) chairman and management guru Minoo Shroff as "the father figure of India’s steel industry,” the man who sits on the board of Tata Sons had modernized TISCO (Tata Iron and Steel Company), reduced its cost/production ratio to one of the lowest in the world and won a gold medal for fostering harmonious labor relations. JJ had a special word of appreciation for non-resident Indian (NRI) Zarathushtis for "reviving the religion, meeting together more enthusiastically and more often than we do here in India…to celebrate good events, build bridges…I admire you and congratulate you for keeping our relationship active.”

The resplendent awards night marked the eve of the WZCC’s eighth annual general meeting (AGM) the following day at the Ruby Hall Clinic — a facility that began with four beds in 1959 which has now evolved into a 550-bed hospital and cancer center and a byword for fine medical care not only in Poona but the country at large. The WZCC took the opportunity to confer on its founder, the redoubtable Dr Keki Grant, a lifetime achievement award. Over the years Grant has been credited with endowing the city of Poona with the latest medical technology, the most recent addition being the linear accelerator with Image Guided Radiotherapy (IGRT), as notes the citation. Though bent with the years the nonagenarian was perfectly steady on his feet and in ringing tones and a straight face wondered, "Why does everyone call me a ‘grand old man?’ All my organs are working beautifully: I walk seven kilometers a day; occasionally climb mountains; work 10 hours a day seeing 40 patients…In future don’t call me ‘old;’ you can call me ‘grand!’”

L to R: Dr Jamshed Irani receiving award from Bomy Boyce; Minoo Shroff presenting award to Dr Keki Grant and Khodadad Irani

The WZCC annual recognition awards for 2007 went to ‘outstanding entrepreneur’ Khodadad (Khodi) Irani, founder president and owner of MKM Engineering Inc. Starting as a small, two-person (he and his wife Parinaz) operation in the US, MKM has grown into a global competitor in the international market, its revenue for 2006 being assessed at $ 80 million. Irani was recognized by SSAC (Seven South Asian Countries) as a business leader in November 2007, notes the citation. Irani spoke of entrepreneurship as "a way of life, of days full of perseverance and sleepless nights.”

‘Outstanding professional’ Dr Roshan Bhappu, renowned metallurgist and a byword for excellence in the mining industry, was awarded in absentia. But the man who has been a special consultant to the United Nations and the World Bank, received the Medal of Merit from the American Mining Hall of Fame. He is listed among the 100 living engineers worldwide who has been selected as Honorary Member of the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum Engineers for more than 50 years of outstanding service, as notes the citation. He had sent an acknowledgement read out by former Federation of Zoroastrian Associations of North America (FEZANA) president Firdosh Mehta. Accepting the honor with "deep humilty and considerable pride,” the Karachi born Bhappu recalled the advice of Dastur (Dr) Maneckji Dhalla that he received in 1948 before he embarked on his career: "There are two major resources of a country: natural and human and you must cultivate both simultaneously. Also, recover your metals, but do not pollute the environment.”

"A musician, artist, composer, philanthropist and a proud Zarathushti,” as the citation describes him, UK’s singing sensation Shayan Italia was recognized as the ‘outstanding young entrepreneur/professional,’ a citation reserved for the under-35s. After graduating in International Trade Practices and Procedures, Italia studied sound engineering and later mastered in music business management. His songs Reflection and Soul — recordings and live performances — have brought popularity and earned him an interview with Sir David Frost on BBC. Awarded in absentia, Italia’s acceptance speech was read out by WZCC International secretary and the evening’s compere Zarin Commissariat. "I find we’re in a world today where it’s very easy to criticize and be negative about something. It’s incredibly hard to be positive and have faith in something. I’m trying to prove that one man can make a hit album internationally without the corporate power of the major labels; something that has never been done before – especially by a debut artist…I’m battling all the odds stacked up against me. This in essence makes my journey a lot harder, albeit a lot more fun,” notes the singer who wants to light the Zoroastrian flame in music in the footsteps of Zubin Mehta and the late Freddie Mercury.

Top: Monajats by girls from the A. F. Petit School set the Zoroastrian tone. Above: A section of the audience

International WZCC delegates had spent the morning traveling from Bombay to the Tata Motors facility at Chinchwad where many of the light commercial vehicles from the Tata stable are manufactured, viewing its production lines and driving through its enormous acreage of well laid out structures interspersed with gardens and immaculately maintained thoroughfares. The WZCC AGM came hard on the heels of the launch of Nano, the one lakh rupee people’s car as Tata chairman Ratan Tata had promised, to rave reviews across the country. So the mood at Chinchwad was upbeat and after the viewing the guests were treated to a magnificent lunch laid out at the Tata Motors guest house on the shore of a man-made lake replete with greenery and birdlife.

The hosting of the AGM and the awards extravaganza had been the handiwork of the Poona chapter of the WZCC led by chapter chair Adi Engineer, former managing director of Tata Power and director of several Tata companies. Welcoming the delegates Engineer commented on the "fantastic time for youths to enter entrepreneurship when India is shining,” and referred to the launch of Nano as "a promise that has been kept” in tune with the proverbial sugar in milk approach of the Zoroastrian community over 1,200 years. "That promise will be kept for all times to come,” he added.

International president Bomy Boyce of Toronto spoke of the growing enthusiasm and the "very wide” pool of Zoroastrian talent, denoting the scenario as World Zarathushti Opportunities Unlimited. "We are sitting on a pot of gold. My task is to correlate the opportunities available… If we cannot make anything out of it, something is wrong with ourselves.” Keen to make the World Chamber a household word among Zoroastrians at large, Boyce has been issuing monthly communiqués to keep members and other interested persons apprised of the opening of new chapters in Karachi, Boston, Seattle and Central Florida. Many of the delegates had participated in the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas at New Delhi, January 7-9, 2008 and the delegation had been welcomed by a government of India dignitary at the request of WZCC Honorary Member and former member of the Rajya Sabha Fali Nariman. Boyce’s short missives also include news of outstanding Zoroastrians like Farrokh Patel of Pegasus Products Inc which has been listed in the top 100 Indian-American privately owned firms based on annual revenues. A member of the ZNAG chapter, Patel has reached out to help others and the WZCC — an example of the kind of interaction the body aims to inculcate.

"We must communicate, exchange ideas, let people know what we’ve done and why, so people can come forward and say I want to help. If not, what do we say to our children? That we sat on a pot of gold and blew it?” noted Boyce.

Founder president Rohinton Rivetna spoke of the original vision to make the organization "the economic engine for the wellbeing and prosperity of the community…When a commu­nity’s business prospers, the community prospers.” He referred to the ‘shining example’ in Chicago of Hoshang and Bonnie Karani whose "business is thriving because we helped it to grow. Now they are plowing back into the community.” He urged the community members present to generate more Hoshang Karanis all over the world. "WZCC has arrived none too soon in this age of globalization. We are a worldwide community without borders,” he added.

Claiming to have learnt of the difference between the terms Parsi and Zoroastrian only a few days ago, JJ recalled with a smile how he had grown up in a family devoted to British royalty: "I grew up with photographs of George V and Mary, George VI and Elizabeth and the young princess glaring down from the wall!” His keynote address – "a flattering way of denoting a few comments” — touched on community issues in his own humorous style: "Everyone will recognize that our numbers are dwindling. Just look at the last few pages of Parsiana. The number of births are 1/10th the number of deaths, though I must say I admire the long innings. Dr Villoo Morawala-Patell is carrying out research on why Parsis live so long…

"Most of my life was spent in the sequestered community in Jamshed­pur… When I went there 40 years ago, there were 600 heads. Now there are less than half. It is not possible to get 11 Parsi boys to make up a cricket 11... It is the only (Zoroastrian) community where there is no conflict. Parsis are good at promoting unnecessary conflicts among themselves. Half of Minoo’s (Shroff) hair is white because he has led the Parsi community in Bombay, though I admire the diplomatic manner in which he deals with it.”

L to R: Adi Engineer, Bomy Boyce, Dr Jamshed Irani and Dr Keki Grant

Having completed the blander part of his speech, JJ warned he was getting into the contentious part: "I sometimes think we are driving ourselves into extinction… We are losing entrepreneurship and making up for it by building controversies… Accepting the children of (outmarried) Parsi males and not females is stupid in this day and age when there is equality of the sexes. I have seen both sides. My daughter is married to a Parsi priest. My son is married to a Kashmiri girl. We are equally close to both our grandsons... Some conservatives wanted to have our own blood bank! It’s absolutely myopic. These attitudes are stopping the community from thriving.” But he urged the NRIs: "I hope you’ll come back or send your children back to rebuild the community in India.”

Grant refused to be pessimistic about the community: "We have a lot of fire. We are deeply honest. There are some who are almost obsessive. They are the ones who do good to the nation…Why do our Parsis live long? It’s because of our attitude. We bear no grudges against anyone. We accept our commitments, pay our income tax — the Income Tax Department has great respect for us. Are we going to throw it all away? A lot of Parsis migrate abroad. But the same Parsis, the same doctors are coming back now because India is progressing so fast. The day will come when you all will come back to make India strong and prosperous as in the past…Tell the youngsters never ever to work for somebody else. Work for yourself and you’ll succeed. Take the help of the banks and of people like us. There is nothing you cannot do…”

Phil Madon, director for WZCC Australia who heads the annual recognitions team, gave a brief insight into the nitty-gritty of picking the winners from among the nominations sought by June 30 of each year. Three international judges, all globally qualified, anonymous and unknown to each other select the winners from among the nominations received. They have a clear set of objective criteria to help them: recognition in the country of residence, worldwide recognition, academic qualifications, managerial and other achievements. "It is hair-pulling, nail-biting time for the judges. To be nominated is itself a recognition,” said Madon. The scores that each judge allots are then compiled in Sydney by "proud Zoroastrians according to the precepts of the faith.”

Some commonalities that emerged from among the winners, the WZCC directors and the delegates: education in Poona’s Wadia College and the impact of engineering education received at the Walchand College in Sangli. "In 1948 Mr Daruwalla reserved a few seats for us at Sangli. This gift has had profound impact on numerous Zoroastrians. Also the numerous Zoroastrian institutions like the Sethna, BPP, Tata and Godrej Trusts. They not only supported the education of Zoroastrians but positioned us as entrepreneurs internationally,” Khodadad Irani acknowledged the far-reaching impact of the community philanthropy. "As individual entrepreneurs it is our duty to help fellow Zarathushtis by offering mentoring, business partnerships. If we reap the benefits of the philanthropy of our forefathers, it is incumbent on us to follow in their footsteps,” he asserted.

Shernaaz Engineer was felicitated for the sumptuous souvenir published on the occasion. Advertisements from Zoroastrian businesses as well as WZCC chapters interleave articles on various aspects of WZCC work and programs. Complimentary messages from the Prime Minister’s office, from commerce minister Kamal Nath and from Congress president Sonia Gandhi, courtesy Dadi Mistry of Delhi, were the icing on the cake. Welcoming the WZCC AGM Gandhi notes about Zoroastrian enterprise, "Underlying their remarkable qualities of entrepreneurship and hard work is a philosophical and ethical foundation that sees commerce and industry not just in terms of profit and loss, but equally in terms of service to the larger community and to mankind.”

A brief entertainment program presented by Bomi and Dolly Dotiwalla and their troupe in the spirit of the late comedian extraordinaire Adi Marzban, added to the nostalgia that gently pervaded the evening, evoking visions of Parsi thespians like the late Jimmy Pocha and Dinshaw Daji who had impressed their comic vision on the community’s psyche. Cocktails, dinner and networking lent for the renewal of old friendships and the forging of new ties.