Meherji’s milestone

The first Zoroastrian in Sydney to complete his 100th birthday on May 21, 2012, Meherji Rustomji Bengali received birthday cards from the Queen of England, the Prime Minister of Australia, the governor general of Australia, the premier of New South Wales, the mayor of Rockdale, his local Member of Parliament as also innumerable friends and well-wishers, notes a detailed write-up by Mithi Daver. "I think this must be just a dream,” was the centenarian’s response. Whilst the Australian Zoroastrian Association of New South Wales felicitated him at their Navroz function, his birthday was celebrated in the company of family and friends.

Rati and Meherji Bengali in Australia

Bengali and his wife Rati came from Bombay to Sydney 17 years ago to join their daughter Banu who is working in Australia. Now leading a quiet but contented life in suburban Sydney with Banu, a social worker takes him for a walk and to the local shops several times a week. Weekends are reserved for visits to his dear wife Rati who is in a nursing home. Occasionally he visits the darbe meher to attend religious ceremonies, jashans, gahanbars and get-togethers of seniors. His second daughter Meheroo Kayo­marse Irani lives in Bombay with her husband, two children and one grandchild, as does his 98-year-old brother Piloo.
The third of Avabai and Rustomji Bengali’s seven children, Meherji was born at the Masina Hospital in Bombay on May 21, 1912. He spent his childhood and youth in Chikalwadi at Grant Road from where he would commute to Esplanade High School at Victoria Terminus. His mode of transport in the early days was a tram pulled by horses for which he would be charged two dorias (paise) for a single journey to school. The tram would stop from time to time to give the horses a breather and a drink of water. Dhobi Talao was one such halt, he recalled.
A World War II veteran, he had served in the Middle East (Iran and Iraq) from 1940 to 1946 where he carried cargo on a paddle boat from the Middle East to Russia. In 1947 he got married to Rati Pirojshah Jesia. After working as depot officer for the Government Transport Services until the company closed down three years later, he later served the Bombay Municipal Corporation for more than 20 years as a supervisor/technical timekeeper until his retirement at the age of 58.
Modern in his religious outlook, Bengali is a proud Zoroastrian and thinks highly of his coreligionists. Although he may not be a great believer in traditions, he believes in God, writes Daver. His greatest love was his motorbikes and he could reportedly spend hours speeding all over town.