Joyous jashan at Jaslok

A khushali nu jashan was performed to celebrate the renovated section of Dr Firuza Parikh’s Department of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics at Bombay’s Jaslok Hospital and Research Centre on the morning of August 25, 2013. Conducted by Ervad Khushroo Madon, the ceremony was attended by family, friends and a galaxy of medical practitioners including oncologist Dr Boman Dhabhar, urologist Dr Percy Chibber, gynecologists Dr Anahita Pandole and Dr Havovi Presswalla, neurophysician Dr Fali Poncha among others from the community. The jashan was followed by a lavish spread of snacks.
Parikh later informed Parsiana over the telephone that the renovation was undertaken "to make patients more comfortable.” A display case of icons from all religious faiths underlines the fact that "we are completely secular.” New equipment has been installed and existing facilities upgraded, the doctor mentioned.
"The state-of-the-art equipment at the centre ensures that the latest technology is offered to patients. International patients who have previously been to some of the best centres abroad say they have never seen anything like this anywhere in the world,” Parikh informed Parsiana via email. She expressed gratitude to Aisha and Suresh Miranda of Decolabs for their creativity and generosity towards the expansion and renovation. The firm has done work for clients like Christian Dior, Givenchy, Armani, Cartier and L’Oreal.

In her column in Mid Day (August 19, 2013) Malavika Sangghavi recounts this revealing tale about the infertility specialist. Some years ago she had spied Parikh early one morning at the airport, carrying a small overnight bag, waiting to board a flight to Srinagar. Insurgency was rife then; moreover it was winter and bitterly cold in Kashmir. Undeterred, the compassionate doctor would visit Srinagar every month, at her own cost, braving bullets and bad weather, eschewing publicity, so that childless couples in that state could benefit from her treatment.
Parikh’s friend Amir Miraj said: "There used to be bombs going off and often we would ourselves request her to put off her visit. But Madam would come. ‘How can I let my patents down?’” Once Parikh confided about her patients, "Some of them are so poor... when they thank me they give me a hen or vegetables from their own garden in gratitude.”
A puja held earlier to inaugurate the recently renovated wing was attended by the "high and low, the rich and poor, the sophisticated and the simple,” Sangghavi states, adding "Goodness does not differentiate between any.”