Paucity of pallbearers

When Calcutta resident Maneckshaw Bhesania passed away on October 24, 2017, his remains had to be cremated, against the wishes of his family members who would have preferred consignment to the Tower of Silence in that city. This was due to an alleged lack of pall bearers in the West Bengal capital. An article in the Jam-e-Jamshed of November 12 questioned why no pallbearers were available, despite a trio of pallbearers in Calcutta having received Parsi New Year gifts from industrialist and philanthropist Dr Cyrus Poonawalla.

Calcutta’s unused dakhma (left); current dakhma (right)

"I would like to clarify that (Calcutta’s Ervad Dhunjeebhoy Byramjee Mehta’s Zoroastrian Anjuman Atash) Adaran had three kamdars (helpers) up to August 18, 2017, and all three received Rs 15,000 sent by Poonawalla as a Navroz gift. One of them, Rohinton Daruwalla retired on August 18, 2017 after receiving the donation, leaving us with only two kamdars,” Adaran trustee Noshir Tankariwala informed Parsiana on November 17 in response to the magazine’s follow up queries.
"Unfortunately, when Bhesania passed away, one of the two kamdars was on his annual leave. As such, we had only one kamdar and there were no volunteers from the community. Those who had volunteered in the past under such circumstances were unable to come, due to perfectly valid reasons,” he continued. Tankariwala clarified that "the Adaran does not administer the dakhma or the ravangah, both of which are administered by the other trust [Calcutta Zoroastrian Community’s Religious and Charity Fund (CZCRCF)]. The priests of the Adaran and the kamdars employed by the Adaran volunteer their services for the prayers and the funeral rites.”
The trustees of CZCRCF have started work to identify volunteer pall bearers from outside Calcutta, provide housing for them and with the community’s assistance, find jobs for them too, which they "believe to be the correct way forward (see "Calcutta celebrates,” Parsiana, November 21, 2017).”