“Celebration is the best medicine…”

"We have the ocean on one side, a forest on another, and an agiary in the middle,” reminded guest of honor Mehernosh Kapadia, senior executive director, GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceutical Limited, at the gahanbar to celebrate the ninth anniversary of the Shapoorji Fakirji Jokhi Agiary at Godrej Baug on December 18, 2008. He urged the residents of the colony whose good fortune had earned them a flat in this "fantastic environment,” to "express their gratitude and debt to the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) and the forefathers.”

This community known for its "morals, ethics, standard of living,” has unfortunately become "complacent. We don’t want to be the best. Just being good is not enough. We should take deep pride in being members of this community. We should not allow our traditions and customs to get diluted. In these tumultuous times we have to stand united, steadfast… support the trustees…We have to show respect for authority, leadership, otherwise the youth won’t come forward to shoulder leadership and steer the community forward,” he added.

Earlier the president of the Godrej Baug Residents Welfare Association (GBRWA) Urvax Dhanda welcomed the "dynamic, promising board of trustees,” three of whom were present that evening, and hoped that they would give "cooperation to the Association in its projects for the further development of the Baug.”

With two jashans held at the agiary that day — one in the morning sponsored by the BPP, and the one in the Uzirin gah by the Godrej Baug, BPP chairman Dinshaw Mehta who was the chief guest for the function enquired, "Can we not come together and have one jashan next year? This will show unity between the trustees and the Association.” Having accompanied the sacred fire as it was brought from Tavdi to Bombay nine years ago, Mehta remembered the experience as "one of the most momentous occasions of my life.”

Acknowledging the support of Godrej Baug residents towards their recent victory, on behalf of his co-trustees Mehta promised to "give our best.” Their pre-election intention to convert leave and licence residential allocations at Punchayet owned colonies to tenancy agreements may not be immediately feasible "as the Rent Act comes in the way (under this law a tenancy cannot be terminated if a tenant marries a non-Parsi, and the Punchayet is known to serve eviction notices when allottees marry out of the community),” he explained. Referring to their first two months in office where "we are not allowed to function freely” with complaints being lodged with the Charity Commissioner, High Court… Mehta was hopeful that the "vindictive vendetta (will end) and wiser counsel will prevail.” Prior to Mehta’s speech, co-trustee Rustom Tirandaz had described the Alert Zoroastrians Association as "obstructionist,” and referring to the strengths of each member on the BPP board he beseeched, "Give the seven people an opportunity to deliver their promises…None of the trustees takes salary. They sacrifice their life, property, time…”

Yet another BPP trustee Noshir Dadrawala was on the dais that evening as the keynote speaker, the subject of his talk being "The relevance and significance of Gahanbar.” Believing that "a community that feasts together, stays together,” Dadrawala added, "The religious significance of a gahanbar is often lost with the celebration.” While some gahanbars are in memory of the deceased, others are meant for khushali (rejoicing). His interpretation of a gahanbar was "a time to collect — néki (good deeds) through observance of rituals, prayers and feasting” at six appointed time periods. The Maediozarem gahanbar celebrated the creation of skies; Maedioshahem, water; Paetesha­hem, earth; Ayathrem, plant; Maedia­rem, animal; and Hamaspath­mae­daem, man, he elaborated.

At the Godrej Baug gahanbar (top): humbandagi by youngsters; (on the dais) Ervad Yezdi Panthaki, Noshir Dadrawala, Dinshaw Mehta, Urvax Dhanda, Mehernosh Kapadia and Rustom Tirandaz; (right) Dadrawala delivering keynote address. (Top right) At the Godrej Baug sports

Just as the Revayets recommend observance of gahanbars among the six duties prescribed for Zoroastrians, the Mino-Kherad stresses on the importance of charity, truth and observance of gahanbars. The six tassels of a kusti too are meant to remind a Zoroastrian of the six gahanbars. Towards a gahanbar, each individual is expected to make some offering according to his ability, wealth or effort so that even the poorest feels he has contributed to its success. He referred to the Gahanbar Fund of the BPP which at one time totaled Rs 1,50,000 and the Rs 780 income from which was used to celebrate six gahanbars in a year, Rs 20-25 spent on religious ceremonies and the balance to feed the community. After the Government of Bombay declared rationing in cities and it was not possible to hold gahanbars, the doctrine of cy prés was invoked in 1948 to use the funds for other purposes. "Religion truly begins in knowledge, proceeds in practice and ends with happiness for all,” summed up Dadrawala.

Before the GBRWA distributed its prizes to residents of the colony, both young and old, who had excelled in different fields, and at the various competitions organized the previous month, it conferred its Lifetime Achievement Award to Jeroo Nargolwalla who has been imparting religious training to legions of children, readying them for their navjotes, teaching them Gujarati and instilling in them an appreciation of Zoroastrianism. She along with the vice president of the Association Ervad Yezdi Panthaki had also trained the Baug children for the humbandagi, welcome song and skit that had set the tone for the evening’s celebrations. Additionally the program included dances coordinated by committee member Hutoxi Paghdi­wala and a jugglery show arranged by Mehli Bhumgara. The dinner that evening, catered by Ervad Nariman Dalal, had been graciously sponsored by businessman Gustad Irani, a resident of Godrej Baug.

The managing committee’s decision to usher in the New Year with a customary dance on December 31 was announced by the evening’s master of ceremonies Farhad Hozdar who is also the honorary treasurer of the Association. Whilst nearly 2,000 members of the community joined in the Godrej Baug gahanbar on December 18, the proposed New Year program created factions among the members once again. Since many of the clubs and gymkhanas had chosen to cancel their New Year’s eve function to express solidarity with the victims of the 26/11 terrorist attacks in Bombay, why was Godrej Baug continuing with the celebrations? As explained in the December 19 circular by honorary general secretary Shahrukh Bilimoria, "The managing committee had a very tough decision to make. Soft and convenient decisions are easy to take but true leadership is recognized when decisions are taken with clarity of thought and objectivity. The year fast running out has been a very poor year for India in particular and the world. We have been witness to one violent incident after another. To make things worse the financial meltdown has further added to the gloom. The recent event has been like the final straw which could snap the city’s back. The very spirit of Mumbai has been violated. Physically we are at the edge of our resistance; mentally we are at the level of breakdown. Our spirits have been trampled but the flames refuse to be extinguished. It has been a very long night but we are awaiting a new dawn. It is time to be together and welcome 2009 with a smile.”

The community ire was voiced by the likes of Zubin Madon whose note was posted on Parsi Khabar on December 21: "Shame on Godrej Baug” wherein he expressed, "Have we Parsis become so shallow and cheap that we can’t do without one silly New Year bash? Can we not show even that much respect for the people who gave the ultimate sacrifice… I don’t know what kind of a soul-dead, low-life subhuman reptile you have to be to attend this event at a time like this. I sincerely hope the residents of Godrej Baug will do something to stop these handful of idiots from tarnishing the image of an entire community…”

Yet another circular from Bilimoria dated December 27 urged, "Let us all celebrate in unison and harmony…We should extend to each other the courtesy to agree to disagree.” It further quoted from Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s message in The Times of India of December 25, "There are two aspects of celebration. One is celebration as thanksgiving as an expression of gratitude for the divine. The second celebration is to move forward by dropping the past, knowing that life is eternal…Celebration is the best medicine to help you move out of the gloom after a crisis…”

Ultimately the New Year’s eve function was held but a subsequent anonymous circular referred to an insider, deliberately seeking to brew trouble, tipping off some government official to arrive on the scene just before midnight and penalize the organizers for violation of rules. A prompt rebuttal for "maligning my name and falsely alleging that I am responsible for the disturbance caused on 31st night at Eco Park” was issued by former GBRWA president Tehmtan Dumasia. Not being a committee member he insists that he had no way of knowing whether the entertainment tax was paid or the necessary permissions sought and that it was the duty and responsibility of the president to have done so "and for which the committee now has to pay the price viz from the funds of the Association which could have been better utilized.”

The final communiqué on this subject came in the form of a circular issued jointly by the 11-member committee informing, "The New Year function was a fairly good success but we have suffered a financial deficit which the members will understand was the result of the circumstances in which the program was organized…” They also regretted that "our colony is unfortunately besieged with personality issues and the very image of our loving colony is being vilified…We in the managing committee are totally committed to ensure that our future programs, sports and Vibes 2009 are very well organized and a great success...”

The Sports Day on January 25 at the Priyadarshini Park saw participation from children as young as three years old and extended to men and women who were over 60. There were altogether 93 events held during the course of the day which impressed even the chief guest Firdosh Mehta who in years past had represented the Maharashtra state at national athletic events. The sports jury comprised of Freddy Khapoliwalla who officiated as athletic meet director, Neville Daroga and Behram Rudina. Besides providing cash gifts and certificates to the winners, the GBRWA also arranged for free lunch for the participants.

The following day being India’s Republic Day residents of the colony were invited to a flag hoisting ceremony at the Eco Park. The month of February commenced with a rangoli competition… and thus the managing committee continues to endeavor that "the image of our beautiful and loving colony is enhanced to greater glory.”