Editorial Viewpoint
A new beginning?
There was a qualitative difference between the Anjuman meet held by the trustees of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) on October 25, 2009 and November 12, 2011. At the earlier gathering on the Dadar Parsee Colony Gymkhana grounds, the trustees still fresh from their electoral victory of a year before were full of bluster, attacking their critics (terming them “goons”), charging them with trying to disrupt the smooth functioning of the apex trust, accusing them of dragging the BPP to court at the slightest provocation and so on. The crowd cheered them on with cries of “we are with you” and “shame, shame” when the names of the opponents and their supposedly dastardly deeds were narrated.
At that gathering, BPP trustee Noshir Dadrawala who was at loggerheads with BPP chairman Dinshaw Mehta and BPP trustees Khojeste Mistree and Yazdi Desai stayed away from the meet.
In contrast, all seven trustees were present at the Rustom Baug meet this year. The gathering was subdued and smaller. The applause was scant and polite. The loudest claps were for BPP trustee Muncherji Cama when he told the crowd he “personally feels we should not allow” the Doongerwadi lands to be used for commercial considerations such as the recent parking of the film production vans, etc.
Mehta assured the crowd of around 2,000 (many of whom sauntered in as the meeting was in progress, largely attracted by the free dinner prepared by the doyen of Parsi caterers Tanaz Godiwalla and paid for out of the BPP coffers) that despite their recent differences during the 2011 election, they were now working as a “team.”
He even acknowledged the community numbers were dwindling and this was a cause for concern. In the past when he was close to Mistree, he would sound a more ambivalent tone on the subject. Mistree along with Dastur (Dr) Firoze Kotwal and others believes there has been no drop in the Parsi/Irani Zoroastrian population but merely a redistribution with Parsis leaving India’s shores for greener pastures overseas.
As to what is to be done to increase the numbers, Mehta had no clue. Despite matrimonial meets and subsidized housing — the first baug being built over 100 years ago — the population has been dwindling.
Mehta said one in four marriages is outside the faith. The figure is one in three. But the trustees seldom worry about accuracy of data. Mistree told the crowd the trustees had been in office for two and a half years when the period is three years. The first six months, we were to assume, is a grace period when the neophytes take office and know nothing about the job they are supposed to do despite promising the moon in their election campaigns. In contrast when US President Barack Obama took office he studied the issues so he could “hit the ground running.” Mistree probably waits for the train to stop running, all the passengers to disembark, the train shunted to the yard and then alight wondering where he is.
Even on the divorce statistics, the trustees are ignorant. In answer to a question from the audience, Mistree stated the divorce numbers are increasing. The divorce figures, mercifully, have been stable over the last 40 years hovering around 10 to 12 percent. But to be fair, aside from housing and Doongerwadi the trustees are out of their depth. The BPP, after all, is a landlord and little else.
Mehta’s tone was surprisingly reconciliatory. When he spoke about the “renegade” priests case he voiced the possibility of an “amiable” settlement. The Supreme Court had recommended mediation and the mediator’s proposals are reportedly awaited. Even assuming the BPP turns down the proposals or gets some third party such as the high priests to oppose any settlement, the point remains that Mehta did not threaten to bodily evict the two priests if they dared attempt to pray at Doongerwadi, nor did he blast petitioners Jamsheed Kanga and Homi Khusrokhan for taking up cudgels on behalf of the priests.
As regards the proposal for the development of the Parsi Lying-In Hospital which the BPP trustees initially had shot down, Mehta spoke of “ironing out the differences” between the BPP and the Hospital’s managing committee. “We are still discussing the pros and cons,” he stated. Even when Mehta’s remarks on the BPP accounts being filed with the Charity Commissioner drew flak from friend-turned-foe Mehernosh Fitter, Mehta remained calm not resorting to his usual bluster and proverbial short temper.
The reasons for the reluctance of the BPP trustees to hold an Anjuman meeting soon became apparent. All the grandiose plans, mainly on building housing for the “poor and needy” promised by the trustees during the election campaign and other meets, had still to “fructify,” as admitted Mehta. [As one perceptive audience member inquired, what, if anything, had fructified? (Another Parsi we spoke to inquired what “fructify” meant.)] Long-term projects, needless to say, take a while to become reality. And with no short-term schemes on the anvil, no plans to improve the day-to-day quality of life issues the trustees had little to show by way of performance.
At the disastrous meet in 2009 when the trustees had been in office for one calendar year the trustees spoke about changing bedbug ridden mattresses at the Gamadia Boys’ Hostel and painting the neglected structure, the listing of Parsi deaths (only of those consigned to the dakhmas) on their website, the printing of the BPP Review every month and prohibiting the parking of unauthorized cars at Doongerwadi.
Two years later their accomplishments comprised the re-formation of the Doongerwadi Advisory Committee [from which Dastur (Dr) Firoze Kotval has submitted his resignation though he is expected to retract it] and a Zoroastrian Youth for the Next Generation (ZYNG) organized all-India youth meet. But despite the apparent lack of progress, the subdued and somewhat more modest tone of the trustees implied a change in attitude. Whether Mehta and company are sincere about working as a team and resolving issues is to be seen. Mehta has around three years left in office. If he wants to make a mark for himself, now is the time to turn a new leaf.
At that gathering, BPP trustee Noshir Dadrawala who was at loggerheads with BPP chairman Dinshaw Mehta and BPP trustees Khojeste Mistree and Yazdi Desai stayed away from the meet.
In contrast, all seven trustees were present at the Rustom Baug meet this year. The gathering was subdued and smaller. The applause was scant and polite. The loudest claps were for BPP trustee Muncherji Cama when he told the crowd he “personally feels we should not allow” the Doongerwadi lands to be used for commercial considerations such as the recent parking of the film production vans, etc.
Mehta assured the crowd of around 2,000 (many of whom sauntered in as the meeting was in progress, largely attracted by the free dinner prepared by the doyen of Parsi caterers Tanaz Godiwalla and paid for out of the BPP coffers) that despite their recent differences during the 2011 election, they were now working as a “team.”
He even acknowledged the community numbers were dwindling and this was a cause for concern. In the past when he was close to Mistree, he would sound a more ambivalent tone on the subject. Mistree along with Dastur (Dr) Firoze Kotwal and others believes there has been no drop in the Parsi/Irani Zoroastrian population but merely a redistribution with Parsis leaving India’s shores for greener pastures overseas.
As to what is to be done to increase the numbers, Mehta had no clue. Despite matrimonial meets and subsidized housing — the first baug being built over 100 years ago — the population has been dwindling.
Mehta said one in four marriages is outside the faith. The figure is one in three. But the trustees seldom worry about accuracy of data. Mistree told the crowd the trustees had been in office for two and a half years when the period is three years. The first six months, we were to assume, is a grace period when the neophytes take office and know nothing about the job they are supposed to do despite promising the moon in their election campaigns. In contrast when US President Barack Obama took office he studied the issues so he could “hit the ground running.” Mistree probably waits for the train to stop running, all the passengers to disembark, the train shunted to the yard and then alight wondering where he is.
Even on the divorce statistics, the trustees are ignorant. In answer to a question from the audience, Mistree stated the divorce numbers are increasing. The divorce figures, mercifully, have been stable over the last 40 years hovering around 10 to 12 percent. But to be fair, aside from housing and Doongerwadi the trustees are out of their depth. The BPP, after all, is a landlord and little else.
Mehta’s tone was surprisingly reconciliatory. When he spoke about the “renegade” priests case he voiced the possibility of an “amiable” settlement. The Supreme Court had recommended mediation and the mediator’s proposals are reportedly awaited. Even assuming the BPP turns down the proposals or gets some third party such as the high priests to oppose any settlement, the point remains that Mehta did not threaten to bodily evict the two priests if they dared attempt to pray at Doongerwadi, nor did he blast petitioners Jamsheed Kanga and Homi Khusrokhan for taking up cudgels on behalf of the priests.
As regards the proposal for the development of the Parsi Lying-In Hospital which the BPP trustees initially had shot down, Mehta spoke of “ironing out the differences” between the BPP and the Hospital’s managing committee. “We are still discussing the pros and cons,” he stated. Even when Mehta’s remarks on the BPP accounts being filed with the Charity Commissioner drew flak from friend-turned-foe Mehernosh Fitter, Mehta remained calm not resorting to his usual bluster and proverbial short temper.
The reasons for the reluctance of the BPP trustees to hold an Anjuman meeting soon became apparent. All the grandiose plans, mainly on building housing for the “poor and needy” promised by the trustees during the election campaign and other meets, had still to “fructify,” as admitted Mehta. [As one perceptive audience member inquired, what, if anything, had fructified? (Another Parsi we spoke to inquired what “fructify” meant.)] Long-term projects, needless to say, take a while to become reality. And with no short-term schemes on the anvil, no plans to improve the day-to-day quality of life issues the trustees had little to show by way of performance.
At the disastrous meet in 2009 when the trustees had been in office for one calendar year the trustees spoke about changing bedbug ridden mattresses at the Gamadia Boys’ Hostel and painting the neglected structure, the listing of Parsi deaths (only of those consigned to the dakhmas) on their website, the printing of the BPP Review every month and prohibiting the parking of unauthorized cars at Doongerwadi.
Two years later their accomplishments comprised the re-formation of the Doongerwadi Advisory Committee [from which Dastur (Dr) Firoze Kotval has submitted his resignation though he is expected to retract it] and a Zoroastrian Youth for the Next Generation (ZYNG) organized all-India youth meet. But despite the apparent lack of progress, the subdued and somewhat more modest tone of the trustees implied a change in attitude. Whether Mehta and company are sincere about working as a team and resolving issues is to be seen. Mehta has around three years left in office. If he wants to make a mark for himself, now is the time to turn a new leaf.
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