Honoring Hormusjee

"The ‘Great Gate’ had to be crossed on a donkey’s back; the drinking water had to be fetched in leather bags from the ‘Khusaf Valley’ on donkeys’ backs and one had to hold one’s handkerchief to one’s nose when drinking the water in order to avoid the smell of oil. Ice could only be obtained from the P. & O. steamers as a great favor when it was needed in illness. Potatoes and onions were available only to the rich; the common people had to live chiefly on brinjal, pumpkins, cucumber, spinach or radishes.
"The journey between Bombay and London had to be made in sailing boats. During the monsoon it would be a common occurrence to have to turn back half-way on account of the stormy seas once encountered. Still, it was a period of peace and contentment. Forty-five years ago when I just set foot in Aden it was like a flowering bud; and it was my privilege gradually to see it blossom and reach its present glorious condition.” So stated Sir Hormusjee Cowasji Dinshaw (Adenwalla) as quoted by his biographer A. N. Joshi in the book Life and Times Sir Hormusjee C. Dinshaw. The extract was read out on the occasion of the garlanding of Dinshaw’s statue adjacent to the Bhikha Behram Well on April 4, 2016 at 9 a.m.
It was the pioneering businessman’s 159th birth anniversary, observed by the Bombay Parsee Association (BPA) whose president Vispi Dastur garlanded the statue. Others who followed were great-grandsons of Dinshaw, Saroosh Cowasji Dinshaw and Jehangir Patel, with Adi Mehta, Cmde Aspi Marker and Rustom Cooper, notes a write-up received from the BPA. Flowers were offered by representatives of the Iran League, Cowasjee Dinshaw Trust, Navsari Parsee Association and Municipal Corporation of Greater Bombay.

Dastur highlighted the achievements of Hormusjee who was founder patron of the BPA and founder president of the Iran League. Hormusjee’s great-grandsons narrated how the family had established and developed their business and helped the poor and needy. Marker, Mehta, Bombay Parsi Punchayet public relations officer Godrej Dotivala and Dr Shernaaz Avari lauded the pioneer.
Also present were members of the Adenwalla family (great-great-granddaughters Lyla Mehta and Dr Simin Patel and great-great-great-grandson Darius Mehta), Baji Avari, Aloo Shroff, Tehmina Peer, Pervin Sidhwa, Gev Bhumgara and Nariman Amaria. Snack boxes were provided to all courtesy Marker, the write-up states.

Above: Statue of Sir Hormusjee Cowasji Dinshaw; below: gathering to mark his birth anniversary