Repository of history

"Bird calls at dawn (and) ungainly crickets harmonizing in a choral crescendo diminuendo moved to utterance by an unseen conductor,” is how Deenaz Coachbuilder (née Paymaster) recalls her youth spent in Scott’s Bungalow in that splendid little hill station beloved of Parsis — Matheran.

Coachbuilder writes that her parents [ICS (Indian Civil Service) officer Barjor Paymaster who retired as chief secretary to the Government of Maharashtra and his wife Freiny, née Chinoy, daughter of Nawab Erach Yar Jung Bahadur and Begum Tehmina Chinoy of Hyderabad] encouraged their children to invite their friends. "We were great tree climbers, had favorite jambur trees in the compound that we climbed, with our books, where we spent hours just reading, trekked down and back up the mountain on picnics [I made pora (omlette) chapatti sandwiches], those were unforgettable golden days. My Dad loved to join us on our walks, but we could never escape with mindless chatter, as he would pose such questions as ‘What is the difference between prose and poetry? Which is your favorite poem, poet, symphony? Which book would you take with you if you were marooned on an island?’” remembers the now Los Angeles based Coach­builder.

Coachbuilder’s grandfather, Lt Col Behramji Barjorji Paymaster had been the superintendent of Matheran and president of its municipality for five years (1922-27) after his retirement from the Indian Medical Service. "His strenuous efforts added to the already existing comforts and conveniences of the people,” notes a souvenir being circulated by the Farohar Charity Trust which is seeking funds to upgrade and maintain the town’s central meeting ground, Paymaster Park, named after the man who was credited with getting a water connection to Matheran. "His amicable disposition won him so great a popularity” that the usual two-year tenure as superintendent was extended to five. "The public wanted a marble statue of him to be erected in recognition of his great and distinctive services to the Hill (which) was unveiled by H. K. Kripalani, collector of Kolaba in May 1928,” adds the brochure. Coachbuilder says she has a scroll given to her grandfather by the people of Matheran on his retirement. The names of the signatories she has been able to decipher with some difficulty include Rev J. A. Gomes, Shapur Gevzder, Vishal Purshotum, Viccaji P. Bhilad­walla, Ibrahim Rahimtoola (president), Byramjee Jeejeebhoy, Sorabji Panday, Masharji Virji and Bejunji S. Chenoy.

(Below) Behramji Paymaster with wife Tehmina and in full regalia (center); Three generations of Paymasters in Scott’s Bungalow: Barjor (standing, ext L), Freiny and Behramji (1st and 2nd L, seated), Shahrukh and Deenaz (crosslegged, 1st and 2nd L)

The 2.5 acre Park, eventually named after Paymaster, was a creation of the British in the early 20th century. Situated on the highest plateau of Matheran at the junction of three main roads, it is known not for its foliage but for its geological significance due to the presence of exposed red earth laterite tops — unique in the vicinity at such a low altitude of 800 meters. Other places where such exposed laterite has been sighted are in faraway Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg district, states the souvenir.

Here, on its park benches, the denizens of the town continue to gather for an evening to exchange gossip, play carom and join the group singing bhajans. But what Paymaster Park lacks in trees it makes up in visual history. The place is dotted with statues and fountains recalling many a name associated with the growth of the hill station.

The statue of Hugh Pointz Malet of the Bombay Civil Service, the collector of Thana who discovered Matheran in May 1850, has been moved into the Park from the Panday Playground, notes the brochure. Malet was said to have first come to the celebrated vantage point known as Chowk and from there climbed the steep and narrow path to One Tree Hill before returning to Chowk via Rambag. He is credited with returning in November the same year to build "a small hut in which he lived while clearing paths to points commanding the finest views.” The following year he built the dwelling, The Byke, and with the aid of a government grant of Rs 500 opened the road up the hill from Chowk via Rambag. His success impelled Lord Elphinstone, then governor of Bombay to visit the hill in 1855, to choose the site of Elphinstone Lodge where he built a hut and laid the foundation of the bungalow.

When Jerbai, daughter of Shapoorjee N. Chinoy and wife of Jehangir P. Shroff of Matheran died on August 4, 1923, Shroff commissioned an ornamental marble fountain, six feet tall with a large marble basin and presented it to the Municipality in her memory.

Above: vignettes of life in Matheran

In May 1924, Coachbuilder’s great grandfather Dinshaw Bomanji Vakil of Bhavnagar and Scott’s Bungalow commemorated the son he had lost by erecting the art deco Jehangir Dinshaw Vakil Memorial Bandstand in the Park under the supervision of his son-in-law Behramji Paymaster and H. V. Solani, gifting it to the Municipality for public use, states the souvenir.

Sir Adamjee Peerbhoy’s enterprise in providing Matheran with a ‘Steam Tramway,’ as the mini train was originally known, is remembered in the Park through a memorial fountain erected in 1926 by his friends and admirers. With the toy train in the news currently on being considered for heritage status by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), Peerbhoy’s heirs have requested that the station be named after Adamjee, as noted a report in the national Press recently.

Gracing the Park is the statue of Bombay’s Sorabji Limji Panday, Justice of the Peace and Member of the British Empire, erected on May 25, 1930 in recognition of his long and meritorious service to Matheran over 30 years and as managing director of the Matheran Hill Light Railway since 1927. Panday’s philanthropy is reflected in the creation of the Panday Playground, the commemorative cenotaph of Malet erected by him in January 1923, Honeymoon Point and the picnic area near Rambag. The brochure further notes that he was the first Parsi elected president of the Matheran Hill Station Municipality.

A portion of the Park was converted into a children’s playground in me­mory of his father by D. H. Bhi­wandiwalla, states the brochure. Also commemorated with a memorial plaque in the Park by the Matheran Social Welfare Scheme is Bapsy Sabavala who died in 1970.

Lack of maintenance of the Paymaster Park began to be more evident from 1998 as deterioration set in. The Farohar Charitable Trust, founded on January 10, 1989 by Mehernoz C. Dangore, his wife Zenobia, a teacher at Bombay’s J. B. Petit School and the late Jamasp S. Tata approached the Matheran Municipality for permission to maintain the Park in 2001 but the request was rejected. The Park continued to deteriorate and when Dangore, managing trustee of the Trust, approached the Municipality again in 2007, they received permission to repair, restore, supervise and maintain the Park. By then extensive repairs and renovation were required and for two years 2007-2009 the Trust provided the required service at a cost of Rs 12,10,000, notes the souvenir. The Bandstand, two fountains, three statues, storage tank and fencing accounted for much of the expenditure. Planting of trees and plants, renewal of the children’s playground, installation of a new electric cable and meter, public toilets and water connection which entailed the laying of 600 meters of pipeline from the filter house to the Park, the installation of pumps, cost of labor including gardeners and miscellaneous expenses were other outlays undertaken by the Farohar Trust.

Dangore with UNESCO’s Gion Caprez and Central Railway officials

An initial appeal for donations made to Matheran bungalow owners and corporates, trusts and individual lovers of the hill helped raise Rs 9,67,501 in the first year and Rs 2,60,000 in the second, with the major donors being business magnate Pallon Mistry, Adi Jehangir, N. A. Soonavala, the Tata Investment Corporation and Mahindra and Mahindra Limited. But the biggest single investment of Rs 3,20,000 seems to have been made by the Dangore family. Zenobia Lord of Lord’s Central Hotel who looks after the Parsi Aramgah provided invaluable help in acquiring the municipal permissions, Dangore mentioned to Parsiana in the course of an interview on April 29, 2009. All the 200 surviving old bungalows on the hill have heritage status, says Dangore who aims to raise a corpus of Rs 30 lakh to look after the Park and maintain it the way it needs to be done. He is seeking donations as well as revenue from advertisements in the brochure. He shares the general unhappiness at the environmental malaise. White ants are attacking the trees, chalking up another expense on pesticides, he tells us.

Dangore started out with a job at the Central Bank of India, moving on to the European Asian Bank (later absorbed by Deutsche Bank). He eventually joined Udayan Bose who started the Creditcapital Finance Corporation Limited (later known as Lazard India Ltd. ) and was involved in the working of the stock broking firm Merwanjee Bomanji Dalal. In 1987, he branched into his own venture, Farohar Investments and Trading Pvt Ltd and tied up with H. K.Unwala Stock Bro­king Firm for selling government securities/bonds till 2000, he recounted to us. Now involved in buying old bungalows in Mathe­ran, overcoming legal hassles and developing the property before putting it on the market, the former honorary secretary of Bombay’s Ripon Club and former treasurer of Elphinstone Cricket Club says he is pursuing permissions for the building of a ropeway to Matheran along with the prime mover who is Vinay­chand Kothari of Usha Ascot resort in Mathe­ran. According to Dan­gore the system will become operational within one and a half years of acquiring the requisite permissions.

Above: Pheroze and Deenaz Coachbuilder Below: Mehernoz and Zenobia Dangore

In an e-mail dated November 5, 2009 Dangore informed Parsiana that the Matheran Municipal Council, satisfied with the Trust’s performance, has extended its permission for maintaining Paymaster Park till March 31, 2013.

In the meanwhile, Gion Caprez, head of the UNESCO International Committee, Rhaetian Railway, Switzerland, who is the Chief Appraiser of the UNESCO team, was in Matheran to appraise India’s nomination for the Matheran Light Railway for world heritage status. The final call will be taken by the World Heritage Committee at its 34th session in June-July 2010.

Central Railway officials in Bombay took the help of Ms Ogale, chief officer, Matheran Municipal Council and of the local residents during Caprez’s visit to Matheran, October 28-30, 2009.

The team also visited the Paymaster Park. Caprez stayed at Barr House and was shown heritage properties like The Byke, Rugby, Ready­money Lodge and Tour Petit, Dangore informs us, adding, "An international heritage status award from UNESCO will benefit the local eco­nomy by putting Ma­theran on the map of world tourism.”

The Farohar Charity Trust is registered under the Public Trust Act with 80G exemption from Income Tax. Dangore may be contacted on farohar9@hotmail.com (9820146269/9224371662). Donors are requested to forward their cheque to the Farohar Charity Trust’s savings account No. 320802010052366 with the Union Bank of India. Names of donors of three lakh rupees and above will be mentioned on the marble plaques which will be placed at the three entrances of the Park, writes Dangore.