Wonder woman

She knew how to live and love life until she passed away in March 2014 at the age of 106. My maasi (maternal aunt) Freny Mistry was one person who never allowed anyone to interfere with her plans. She was brought up in Allahabad, made her marital home in Karachi and relocated to the USA when she was 92.
At 93 she wrote to me from USA that she was going to take on a job to be able to meet more people! Like the rest of our family, she was totally people oriented and loved parties and fun. When my son and his wife joined her on her 102nd birthday in the States, to their surprise, after the birthday dinner she offered to help clean the dishes.

After having lived most of her life in a cosmopolitan, commercial area in Karachi, when she was in her 90s, she moved to a Parsi colony. We thought she would like it but her surprising reply was, "No I don’t. All are old people here so I can’t mingle with them!” As a nonagenarian she would climb up and down from her first floor residence twice a day and manage her shopping.
She was very good at making some traditional Parsi delicacies: khajoor ni ghaari, dal ni pori, murabbas and jams. She had a special recipe for her apple-brinjal pickle which was very popular in Karachi. During World War II she actively served in the Women’s Auxiliary Corps in Karachi.
Her forte though was her photography and art. On par with her photo artist father M. B. Mistry and her sister’s husband J. M. Patell of Allahabad who was known for his natural light photo studio, after marriage she and her husband ran a photo studio in Karachi. She was also a free hand artist. She never let any impositions deter her from what she wanted. During President Ayub Khan’s regime, she had visited him with a portrait of his done by her and had had her photograph taken with him.
Prior to marriage one of her photos had won her the first prize in a competition titled "Oriental Beauty.” Spirited and spunky, in Allahabad she would take a BSA motorbike from her uncle’s showroom and ride it dressed in a sari with her sister sitting in the sidecar. I have heard old-timers saying that they were a beautiful sight to behold in those days when ladies rarely enjoyed such freedom. Having grown up in Allahabad in an era of art and culture, both she and her sister had been tutored in Indian classical vocal and instrumental music as also in the piano. Popular in social circles in Karachi, she would be frequently invited to functions for her superb tabla renditions.
She had a flair for western dances and looked forward to attending Christian weddings where she displayed her talent. Even in her 90s she would regularly visit the beauty parlor, have her hair dyed, opt for facials and make-up which included rouge, lipstick and eyeliner. An array of smart outfits hugging her slim waist and hips made her look very attractive. Age never deterred her from her passion for food, fun and frolic. She loved food of all kinds but believed in chewing well before swallowing it.
Her best asset perhaps was the regularity of all her habits: After waking up and brushing her teeth she would eat two tulsi leaves and a neem leaf before consuming anything else. She would then sit down to pray and whilst praying she would exercise her neck and eye muscles. And, of course, she walked everywhere even after she was 90. Walking was one of her secrets to good health for she had never resorted to any slimming diet. Reading the newspapers and watching the news on television were her other regular activities.
We in the family feel that Heaven must be a merrier place with her there, with her fervor and zest for life. We can’t think of her as having gone!