Revision as of 17:03, 25 October 2015

Parsis of Delhi

The Times of India, Sep 05 2015

Dharvi Vaid

Film screening unites Delhi's Parsis

The story of the community in Delhi has been somewhat different. Its Parsi community is small -it has only around 700 members. But it took steps nearly 45 years ago to arrest the drastic slide in its numbers. Its city association, the Delhi Parsi Anjuman, allowed inter-community marriages way back in the 1970s. It was probably the first anjuman to do so. “We allowed non-Parsi spouses to be members of the anjuman,“ says Adil Nargolwala, honorary secretary of the anjuman who is married to a non-Parsi.

Today , around 40% of Delhi's Parsis marry outside their community . Children from all such marriages are allowed into the Zoroastrian faith, of fered scholarships and other benefits and are free to participate in the community's cultural activities. Other anjumans only allow this if the father is a Parsi. “The most important thing today is for communities to live together in peace,“ says Dadi E Mistry , patron at the city anjuman.

Nargolwala points out that in cities like Mumbai, Pune and parts of Gujarat, the rules governing marriage and rituals are far more stringently applied. But Delhi has fewer Parsis and they are scattered around the city . This makes it possible to be more liberal with rules governing family life. “It is hard to find a Parsi spouse in Delhi today . Our social circles include people from all communities. You are quite likely to marry a non-Parsi in this situation,“ says Nargolwala.

The anjuman is also making an effort to sensitize younger Parsis to their religion and culture. There are occasional classes on Zoroastrian history and camps for children. “In our time our grandmothers used to teach us about our history and culture.Now we host groups of younger Parsis once every six weeks,“ says Mistry .

Novy Kapadia, a sports journalist and a Delhi University teacher, has seen the drop in numbers over time. “In the 1960s when I was in school, there were around 1,500 Parsis. The Zoroastrian community in Delhi has been very progressive and continues to be so. The massive decline in numbers is also because a lot of the younger generation has migrated to Canada, Australia and the US in search for better opportunities.“ he says.

Parsis of Mumbai

Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) elections, 2015

The Times of India, Oct 11 2015

Nergish Sunavala

Punchayet 2nd largest land owner in Mumbai

EVMs, 500 officers for big, fat Parsi elections

With less than a week to go for the Bombay Parsi Pun chayet (BPP) elections, aspiring trustees have been giving stump speeches at colonies across Mumbai.

Three can didates, canvassing together as “The Tremendous Three“ were speaking at Colaba's Cusrow Baug ¬ a citadel of lemon yellow buildings, green lawns and vintage Fiats. With over 5,000 apartments and many commercial establishments under its control, the BPP is the city's second-largest land owner after the Mumbai Port Trust and Cusrow Baug is by far its most lucrative property with flats selling from Rs 5 crore. Thus, it's no wonder that the poll is being taken very seriously by Mumbai's Parsi community , which numbers just 39,000. In the run-up to the October 18 polls, 500 election officers have been busy conducting mock drills, scouring the electoral rolls for duplications, arranging for ambulances at the five polling stations and pressing candidates to stick to a voluntary code of conduct, created for the first time in 100 years. Community papers and magazines ¬ one of which is owned by a candidate ¬ are rife with testimonials, voting FAQs and ads that can cost up to Rs 55,000.The expenditure cap has been limited to Rs 3 lakh. Aspirants are interrupting their chest-thumping rhetoric to give live demonstrations of the newly-introduced Electronic Voting Machines (EVM). At Cusrow Baug, one contender pulled out a dummy machine and began explaining the nitty-gritties of the process. “Each booth has two EVMs because a single machine has only 16 slots and there are 23 candidates,“ he told the hundred odd senior citizens, some of whom had expressed fears of “rigging“. “It's not a touch screen so `dabao' the button for the red light to come on,“ he added. Since five out of seven seats are up for grabs, voters can select up to five candidates. An exhaustive set of EVM FAQs, created by the BPP's election team, deals with every question imaginable from “Can I undo my selection?“ to “What if there is a power failure?“ to “Can I vote for the same candidate multiple times?“ Last year, India conducted the world's largest election when 81.4 crore people ¬ larger than the population of Europe ¬ cast their vote in 9.3 lakh polling stations fitted with 14 lakh EVMs. This election might be diminutive in comparison ¬ In the polls, a maximum of 15,000 Parsis are expected to cast their vote at five centres fitted with 100 EVMs ¬ but it's being arranged with the same earnestness. “At each centre, there will be an incharge polling officer and three to four assistant polling officers, “ he says.“There will be nearly 500 people, of which 230 will be polling agents from the candidates' side, and a hundred IT support staff for the EVM machines,“ he adds. One booth in each centre will be reserved for handicapped voters, and wheelchairs will be available too.

The entire process will cost the BPP Rs 25 lakh, says Dastoor. On election day , people will have to show their election cards and a government-sanctioned ID, their name will be ticked off an online electoral roll and their forefinger will be marked with indelible ink. A dry run of 150 voters has already been conducted in Khareghat Colony to evaluate how long each voter will take to complete the process and ensure that there are no hiccups. The results will be declared the same evening.One curious lacuna in this otherwise water-tight process is the identification of voters as Parsi. “Your passport, your Aadhar card, nothing mentions your religion,“ says Dastoor.

Poverty

[ From the archives of the Times of India]

Rosy Sequeira TNN

A poor Parsi: One who earns below 50,000/m

The Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) told the Bombay high court that it considers a Parsi who earns less than Rs 50,000 a month to be “poor” and hence eligible for allotment of a flat at subsidized rent. A division bench of Justices P B Majmudar and Ramesh Dhanuka was hearing a petition filed by RohintonTaraporewala against BPP. Taraporewala, who is in his 60s, lives in Tarapur. He has contended in his plea that he is “poor and eligible’’ for housing, but BPP has allotted flats at PanthakyBaug in Andheri to people who are “richer” than him. He also said that he and his wife are ailing and have to live in Mumbai to avail of medical treatment.

When the matter came up for hearing, Taraporewala’s lawyer was not present. BPP advocate Percy Gandhi said a copy of the petition had not been served to his client. “He is not poor and has moved court because he was not allotted a flat at PanthakyBaug. He is very rich and has acres of land. These flats are for the poor and needy,’’ said Gandhi. To a query from the judges as to who is defined as poor by the BPP, Gandhi replied, “A person earning income below Rs 50,000 a month is regarded as poor.’’ Justice Majmudar remarked, “We have not come across any poor Parsi.” On October 15, 2009, the high court allowed BPP to sell 108 flats at PanthakyBaug at rates approved by the Charity Commissioner to crosssubsidize housing for needy Parsis. Some 300 flats are to be constructed and given on a merit-rating scheme. Gandhi submitted that the108 flats “are to be sold to poor Parsis’’ and as Taraporewala is “not poor”, he was not allotted a flat. The judges have adjourned the matter for two weeks.

The Bombay Parsi Punchayet told the Bombay HC that it considers a Parsi who earns less than Rs 50,000 a month to be “poor” and hence eligible for allotment of a flat at subsidized rent

‘Poor Parsi is one who earns up to 90,000 a month’

Rosy Sequeira TNN

The Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) told the Bombay high court that it had revised the definition of a poor Parsi as one who earns up to Rs 90,000 a month, in order to be eligible for a subsidized community apartment. The BPP, which controls over 5,000 flats in the city, had earlier fixed this at under Rs 50,000 a month. There are an estimated 45,000 Parsis in Mumbai.

Incidentally, the Planning Commission had pegged the minimum sustenance level required for a poor person in an urban area at Rs 29 a day. An affidavit was filed by BPP chairman Dinshaw Mehta in response to a petition by Dahanu resident RohintonTaraporewala, 65, challenging the non-allotment of a flat to him at PanthakiBaug, Andheri. Earlier, Taraporewala had submitted the names of those who were allotted flats despite earning above Rs 50,000 a month. In his April 17, 2012 reply, Mehta refuted Taraporewala’s claim of being a “poor, needy and deserving Parsi”. He said after the HC, on October 15, 2009, allowed BPP to sell flats on ownership basis, the trustees adopted criteria for allotment. Preference was to be given to those who want to settle down after marriage. “All applicants with incomes exceeding Rs 90,000 per month or with assets of more than Rs 25 lakh were to be eliminated,” Mehta stated. It was also decided to give low priority to applicants residing outside Mumbai. BPP invited applications for purchase of flats in buildings A and B at PanthakiBaug. Mehta claimed that Taraporewala’s application stated he owns 17 acres land in Vangaon, Dahanu, along with a farmhouse — a 2,000 sqft two-storeyed bungalow. “On a conservative estimate, this would be valued at Rs 1.5 to Rs 3 crore,’’ he added. Further, as per his income-tax returns, Taraporewala had a monthly income exceeding Rs 90,000 a month.

His assets include his various immovable properties and fixed deposits amounting to over Rs 25 lakh. On the basis of his financial status he was not entitled to be allotted a flat at PanthakiBaug, Mehta added. Mehta said the reason Taraporewala gave for allotment was that there were few basic hospital facilities in the village. He suffers from high blood pressure, prostate problem, diabetes and heart problems while his wife suffers from depression and anxiety.