“Dynamo of spiritual energy”

"Adi Bhai or Adi Uncle as we used to fondly call him, was a living example of the saying ‘appearances can be deceptive.’ A short, thin man with a slightly unkempt appearance, hardly someone who would be noticed twice. But when his pen wrote, or when his tongue was in motion, Adi Uncle was a different person altogether,” wrote Ervad Marzban Hathiram on the Frashogard blog in a tribute to Adi Doctor, practitioner and exponent of Ilm-e-Khshnoom, who passed away in Bombay on September 27, 2014. The 76-year-old Doctor, who edited The Parsee Voice, had been ailing for nearly a year.
Doctor, who had done his MA in Avesta and Pahlavi, worked as a bank officer for many years before he resigned and dedicated his life to Khshnoom and the religion. "Adi was equally at home amongst the tomes of Framroze Chiniwalla as he was in the score sheets of Wagner, Beethoven and Mozart and for some years had been music critic” for an English language newspaper, Hathiram wrote.

Adi Doctor: dedicated his life to religious tarikats and purity

"A simple man of frugal tastes, a confirmed bachelor with accompanied eccentricity, an extreme traditionalist who spent several hours a day in prayer and a stickler for the tarikats and purity, Adi could be off-putting to the casual observer. But once you got to know him well, Adi was a gem, albeit a sharp-tongued one. He had an extremely dry sense of humor and a collection of one-liners and punch lines which he delivered with a straight face and with devastating effect,” Hathiram recalls.
A eulogy from a close friend who chose to remain anonymous was posted on Frashogard. The writer describes Doctor thus: "When this frail, self-effacing figure appeared on a public platform, few dreamt that a dynamo of spiritual energy was about to charge and galvanize minds towards achieving a lofty religious goal.” A principle he always emphasized was Faraz na chor na bano (do not default in your duty) whether to family, friends or the faith. It was impossible for him to be a mere onlooker when community members with self-interest misused power or position to "assault the delicate esoteric infrastructure of our consecrated fires, dakhmas or to wrongly encourage violations of core Zarthoshti values such as preservation of the Parsi tokham or seed,” the friend mentioned, adding, "some believed Adi went overboard in criticizing such din dushmans (enemies of religion).”
For those seeking answers to questions on religious problems, Doctor’s book 101 Questions and Answers would be indispensable, the tribute states. The religious scholar leaves behind a vast body of writings and lectures on subjects ranging from basics like the significance of the sudreh and kusti to lofty ones like our 16 astral chakras, Ardviraf Nameh, cosmogenesis, Iranian history and the talismanic effects of our prayers. He taught his students to pray with faith and devotion while simultaneously cautioning them to concentrate on the application of religious knowledge in day-to-day life rather than just pursue it academically, his friend recalls.
Hathiram reveals that in the last years of his life Doctor was a disappointed man as two classes of Parsis had failed him. The first was a section of the political class who claimed to be traditional and orthodox, stood for community elections and sought his support. He lent them strong support in the hope they would set things right for the community but once the elections were over and they became trustees they turned a cold shoulder to him and forgot their promises. Doctor was also disappointed with the Ilm-e Khshnoom Anjuman and said: "There are persons who have been attending all my lectures for over 25 years, but still step out of the class and remove their topi. What is the use of my research and speaking?”
Though Doctor was a keen believer in dakhmenashini he wrote a letter to the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) inquiring about the state of the Bisney Dakhma at Doongerwadi. He had heard it was unkempt with the pavis being slippery, increasing the possibility of khandhias suffering falls. He received no response. When Parsiana forwarded the same letter to the BPP asking for an update from the trustees, the matter was said to be listed on the agenda for a meeting but did not come up for discussion. No reply has been received to date.