Gandhi’s gumption

Few individuals in recent times have had such a lasting influence on a community institution as the late Keki Gandhi who passed away this September 10 while visiting his son in Dubai. He was 87. For over 35 years, the Delhi resident served as the joint honorary secretary of The Federation of the Parsi Zoroastrian Anjumans of India (FPZAI) and helped shape and direct the nascent, all-India organization. His paperwork, the minutes of the meetings, notices were all meticulously prepared on schedule. From salvaging the membership of the Delhi Parsi Anjuman (DPA) to helping bring the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) back on board, Gandhi worked tirelessly behind the scenes. As a chartered accountant and company secretary of Machine Tools India (MTI), he used his social, legal and accounting skills, not to mention occasional craftiness, to achieve the larger objectives of the FPZAI.

MTI extended both secretarial and financial support to the efforts. That, coupled with the considerable abilities of his Federation mentor, DPA president Shiavax Nargolwala, enabled the duo to pull much beyond the weight of a 600 or 700 populated anjuman. A chartered accountant and a former officer of the prestigious Indian Civil Service, Nargolwala would arrive for the Federation meets fully prepared and accompanied by a trunk full of papers. He would manage to stymie any effort that he felt went against the liberal leanings of the Delhiites. His acerbic tongue and criticism of the BPP electoral system especially while speaking at the Third World Zoroastrian Congress (WZC) at the Sir Cowasjee Jehangir Hall in 1978 caused the then BPP chairman B. K. Boman-Behram to pull out of the Federation two weeks later.

But when the BPP realized the tactical error of leaving the all-India body in the hands of a liberal anjuman, they maneuvered to get Delhi out. At a crucial meeting at Fariyas Hotel around 1980 at which Nargolwala brought in Gandhi for the first time, those who wanted Delhi ousted, lost. After the meet Gandhi showed Parsiana many of the letters authorizing the representatives to attend had been typed but were not authorized by the concerned anjuman! This was a ploy that was resorted to subsequently by various factions till the scrutiny process for nominations became more stringent. The BPP at one stage even contemplated forming a counter all-India body, The Association of Parsi Zoroastrian Anjumans of India, before finally deciding to rejoin the FPZAI on March 11, 1983 with a four to three vote.

Since that meeting the jovial Gandhi developed strong ties with Parsiana and often spent evenings discussing the various programs the Federation could pursue. He realized the potential of the defunct anjumans assets being harnessed for the larger benefit of the community. The Fed Newsletter that he launched and edited sadly folded after he was eased out of the Federation by the World Alliance of Parsi Irani Zarthoshtis (WAPIZ) faction following the 2008 BPP trusteeship elections.

But by that time he had laid much of the FPZAI groundwork for the nearly 46-year-old body. [The formation of the FPZAI was reportedly mooted at the Second WZC held in Bombay in 1964 but started functioning, around 1971 albeit erratically and disinterestedly (sometimes not a single BPP trustee would attend the Bombay meets held in their board room! Delegates had to go to nearby restaurants to have their meals which they paid for themselves). In 1973 when a Parsiana reporter went to attend a meeting with the consent of Nargolwala, she was asked to leave by BPP trustee Nadirshah Mulla. The Parsi Press was finally invited to cover the Federation meetings by the Surat Parsi Panchayat chairman Maneck Gheyara in November 1976.]

Gandhi created the Federation of Zoroastrian Youth Associations (FOZYA) but kept it out of the purview of the FPZAI for fear the main body would restrict its freedom to function. As a result, in later years FOZYA became accountable to nobody and once its pioneering leaders crossed the age limit, the body lost its moorings. He also initiated a move by the FPZAI to send Rs 300 every month to the Dadar Athornan Madressa (since renamed Dadar Athornan Institute) towards the cost of education of one student.

Gandhi asserted much influence on the body even after Nargolwala’s death in August 1986 following a car accident. He ensured everyone could attend the meetings and speak their minds. He was fortunate that the BPP chairmen who presided over the FPZAI such as Dr Aspi Golwalla, Jamshed Guzder, Eruch Desai and Minoo Shroff gave him a free hand to conduct the meetings. Gandhi was at times prone to dominate the discussion and push his point of view. On occasion he could be opinionated, stubborn and sensitive to criticism of the body’s functioning. But it was only because he believed what he was fighting for was in the larger interest of the body.

In 2008, BPP chairman Dinshaw Mehta, one time joint honorary secretary with Gandhi of the FPZAI, favored Gandhi’s continuation on the all-India body, but his traditionalist co-trustees who slowly took over the reins of the Federation did not want a Delhi liberal holding the office. Rather than compromise on his beliefs, Gandhi stepped down from the institution he so dearly loved and served.

Without anybody passionate about serving the orphaned institution, the FPZAI has lost much of its allure over the last decade. The constant wrangling between the BPP trustees has resulted in the Federation meetings becoming a battleground for the various factions. Meets that were meant to be held every six months were not held for almost two years. Instead of functioning as the voice of the all-India Parsi community, the FPZAI mainly represented small Gujarat anjumans and other scattered bodies. The anjumans of Delhi, Calcutta, Jamshedpur, Madras, Poona, Indore, Secunderabad and Hyderabad attended erratically and sometimes not at all. Instead of serving as a community forum and bringing people together, the Federation drove wedges between the anjumans. Meets scheduled for Panchgani last September and Ahmedabad this September were cancelled. (SMS and WhatsApp messages sent to the president of the Ahmedabad Parsi Panchayat inquiring if the meet was on received no response.) No reasons were offered. When small anjumans such as Bardoli and Vyara-Songadh could raise funds to hold such meets in the past, one wonders why other anjumans find it difficult.

Despite a clause stating the FPZAI cannot interfere in the internal functioning of an anjuman, the body intervened in the Calcutta agiary dispute, overriding the strong objections from the premier West Bengal Parsi body. Two Parsi ladies had filed an Originating Summons in the Calcutta High Court requesting the judiciary to clarify who has a right to enter the Late Ervad Dhunjeebhoy Byramjee Mehta’s Zoroastrian Anjuman Atash Adaran there. The Federation intends to fund the litigation from the sale of defunct anjuman properties. As of date, no sale has been concluded, so when the funds, if any, will accrue is a question mark.

Institutions have to outlive individuals if they are to survive. The BPP is over 330 years old. The FPZAI has still to turn 50. But the effectiveness of an organization is not measured by longevity alone. To be meaningful, the institution has to be effective. Whether the Federation serves the purpose for which it was founded has to be seen.