Making a difference

"I am enthused we are all on the same page… With the community’s support, we can together try to make a difference...This is our community and we all need to pitch in... I am looking forward to starting work,” newly elected Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) trustee Ervad Xerxes Dastur said on July 5, 2018, the day he formally stepped into office. The BPP boardroom at 209, Dr Dadabhai Naoroji Road was packed with trustees, staff members, Dastur’s family and well-wishers, and the Parsi Press. While chairman Yazdi Desai was not present, ex BPP chairman Dinshaw Mehta was. In the July 1, trusteeship elections, Dastur secured 2,968 votes, defeating Anahita Desai, chief executive officer (CEO) of the World Alliance of Parsi Irani Zarthoshtis and wife of Yazdi by 89 votes. She secured 2,879 votes (see "An efficient election,” Parsiana, July 7, 2018).

"Do not ever sacrifice your principles,” trustee Armaity Tirandaz advised Dastur, while trustee Noshir Dadrawala said, "We will help you keep your promises.” Trustee Kersi Randeria observed that with Dastur’s election as trustee, "we can change the image of the BPP,” while trustee Viraf Mehta quipped he was "glad to have someone closer to his age on the board,” a comment which was jokingly objected to by Dadrawala.
"You have made many promises during the campaign…now is the time to deliver,” Dinshaw advised Dastur. Dinshaw was the prime supporter of Dastur during the elections. Dastur’s father Vispi, whose firm of chartered accountants V. S. Dastur and Company in which Xerxes is a partner, referred to the firm’s long association with the apex trust as internal auditors. The firm has stepped down as BPP’s internal auditor on July 2.
A formal report on the election proceedings was handed over by election president Mahiyar Dastoor to BPP CEO Cawas Panthaki.