Woman of substance

Dr Mehroo Bengalee is a living legend in the field of education. She used to teach us special methods in the teachers’ training college, St Xavier’s Institute of Education. I remember how she would breeze in like a miniature tornado, deliver her lecture with the same zest and intensity, enthuse us with her bubbling spirit and, having thoroughly stimulated us, breeze out again, leaving us gasping for more. Her lectures were always exciting because every idea was so emphatically drilled in, one could not but assimilate it. Her enthusiasm was infectious and thus her words continuously inspired us to aspire higher and higher in our chosen vocation. We anxiously looked forward to the entry of her cheerful, energetic personality.

Certain principles and words still echo in our minds as we try to measure up to her expectations. Of literature and poetry she used to say, "Poetry has to be caught not taught,” and so we struggled to create the world of fantasy for our students in the practical lessons of which she was an observer, demanding perfection from us.

Everything Bengalee did, she did with the same intensity and completeness, giving of her best, straining her potential to the maximum, never sparing herself. The secret of her success is that she followed the three I’s of our Zarathushti/Parsi community — integrity, industry and impartiality. A passionate Zarathushti following the path of Asha, she infused the same spirit in her students.

She reached the heights of the scholastic ladder, starting from her school, Gamadia Girls’ High School in Bombay, obtaining a doctorate in psychology, MA in economics, Master of Education in statistics and vocational guidance, besides other national and international diplomas. Bengalee was the professor and head of the Department of Education, Bombay University for two years, and Professor of Psychology and In-charge of the Counseling Department at the St Xavier’s Institute of Education for 28 years. She should have rightfully become the principal of the Institute on grounds of both seniority and merit, but in this world of bureaucracy and discrimination, that was not to be. Though Dadar Ahura Mazda’s mill may grind slow, it grinds very fine. Her crowning glory therefore, was becoming the first woman vice-chancellor of the Bombay University, a post she held for two terms.

Around this time Bengalee was elected a trustee of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP). During her term she always put across her viewpoint very strongly to help rejuvenate the youth of our community. She would state with conviction, "Our children should be so thoroughly occupied that there is not one hour free in their routine.” She started leadership courses for students after the 10th standard. Her brainchild later became the BPP’s famous Holiday Programme for Youth. She also initiated the formation of an Educational Committee of Parsi principals and educators under the BPP to look after the educational needs of our youngsters and conducted numerous seminars for Parsi children and parents. The BPP received accolades and praise for both these projects initiated by her, but she lost when she sought reelection to the BPP board of trustees.

Bengalee is a member of the National Commission for Minorities, New Delhi. She has read papers on counseling abroad, attended various national and international conferences on education, worked on educational committees at the highest level in the country and been awarded several national awards including The National Unity Award, Lifetime Achievement Award for Vocational Excellence. She has also written several books on education.

Bengalee’s simple manner of dressing, despite the powerful positions she has held, her humility and cheerfulness, and the love for her students, past and present, are admirable qualities. Even now she greets us with a loving Parsi "koti né kissy (hug and kiss).”

If Bengalee’s dream for the new National Educational Policy is fulfilled our children will not be crushed under the burden of dry factual syllabi, tests and exams. She wants the imagination and creativity of the students to be developed in a work-oriented system of education through awareness of the Indian cultural ethos whose key words should be love and compassion. Crafts and skills, sports and yoga should be used to build healthy minds in healthy bodies. We must pray and support her so that these dreams for our youth become a reality.

RATI D. WADIA