Kotwal helming again

"The presence of a high priest gives the mobeds and the behdins a comfort level to know that there is someone who can offer them answers and clear their doubts,” Dastur (Dr) Firoze Kotwal wrote in response to Parsiana’s queries on his reappointment as High Priest of the Hormusji Bomanjee Wadia Atash Behram. "My role at the Atash Behram cannot be as pervasive as it was earlier... I see myself being there for the boiwalas and other priests, answering their questions and guiding them on ritual aspects of the faith, clearing their doubts on the theology of the faith and persuading them to perform the rituals as accurately and authentically as possible,” he continued. The High Priest noted that his presence at the Atash Behram "helps me to have greater contact with the behdins who are constantly in need of succor and help in terms of wanting to know what prayers may be recited for difficulties in their lives.” Kotwal had earlier served as High Priest of Wadia fire temple between 1977 and 1998.
"I have informed (the trustees) that I will, by and large, be at the Atash Behram over the weekends and on public holidays, when I am not attending my office at Neville House... The trustees (Nadir Modi, Farrokh Kavarana and Hosi Dastur) have been both persuasive and very kind and have given me a free hand to attend the Atash Behram at my convenience,” Kotwal wrote. The trustees have since 2012 been requesting him to accede to their wishes to be re-appointed as High Priest. "I have recently accepted this honor,” he said. "In the spirit of reconciliation and renovation, I have accepted this important position that the padshah saheb has once more made possible,” stated Kotwal.

Writing in Volume 1 of The Collected Scholarly Writings of Dastur Firoze M. Kotwal (see "Guardian of doctrinal purity,” Books, pg 39) editor Firoza Punthakey Mistree states that "citing issues of interference by the (then) trustees and his unhappiness at the lack of moral support given to him, he (had given) the trustees notice of his desire to retire from the Atash Behram” in 1998.
Dadar Athornan Institute principal Ervad (Dr) Ramiyar Karanjia stated that "the community will now be much richer, once again, by his benign presence... at the Atash Behram, as the very sight of him is a delight to the mind and the soul... Being a dastur (again) officially will not change (anything) nor will it make any difference to him as a person, and anyway, for the majority of the community, he was always a dastur.” Terming Kotwal "the gentle guiding spirit for the Parsi community — Indian and global — for the past more than four decades,” Karanjia stated: "Whether it be the most intricate priestly rituals or the simplest of questions vexing the mind of a community member, he always has answers. He has always readily, pleasantly and freely offered his advice and guidance to all those who have approached him, young and old, rich and poor.”