“Righteousness in his...”

Berjis Desai has written a beautiful review of the book on my brother Tehmtan Andhyarujina ("Righteousness in his DNA,” Books, Parsiana, June 21, 2018). The review quotes from the foreword written by Tehmtan’s son Zal, and reiterates that unlike some eminent people, Tehmtan was proud of his humble roots.
As one who grew up with him, let me give the reader a glimpse of "our humble roots”: My father was a young lawyer of 26 when he met my mother, then 16, a beauty. They fell in love and got married with no thought for the morrow. Then followed four children in quick succession and with a little pause, a fifth. Our childhood years were devoid of fancy clothes, foreign trips and clubs. But it was a warm, loving world filled with cheer and sunshine. At no time did we ever feel we were a burden. My father never gave up his ambition to become a successful lawyer and became an acknowledged authority on the Rent Act. My mother, young though she was, never complained of the sacrifices she must have had to make. The simple meals which she cooked were, to us hungry children, delicacies we remember till today.
The joint objective of our parents was to give their children a good education — in my father’s view, a profession. Three of us became lawyers and two doctors. My father’s greatest fear was that his daughters may be at the mercy of uncooperative husbands. By the time we were in our early 20s, our parents reaped the rewards of their efforts, witnessing the success of their children. Their remaining years were spent in comfort.
We realized the value of the education they had given us with so much sacrifice to themselves when people born to wealth and privilege respected and often envied us. We also acquired our love of reading from the multitude of books my father brought home. To them, we owe our set of values — of family love, of right and wrong. These guided us through life. We always thank providence for giving us such wonderful parents.
KHORSHED JAVERI
javerikhorshed@gmail.com