know your environment

20/11/2023

20/11/2023

by Kavita V. Shivdasani

The Parsis - term originating from their language Farsi - came to India from Persia to escape persecution. Their boats anchored in Sanjan, Gujrat. The local ruler Jadi Rana of Sanjan in Gujarat was worried the newcomers might conspire against them. He was not keen to grant them asylum. A widely believed legend is that the Zoroastrians were offered a filled pot of milk by the King of Sanjan to show that his kingdom was full. In response, the Zoroastrians poured sugar into the milk without spilling any milk, saying they would adjust to the kingdom and cause no problem. The King agreed but ordered they learn the local language so that their communication could be understood. Our Parsi mentor Bagli laughingly said we then learned to speak "the Parsi version of gujarati" completed 100 years in 2020. Over a century ago a simple middle-class man named Mancherjee Edulji Joshi felt the need to provide a housing colony for his fellow Parsis. He felt their homes in and around Colaba were not good and poorly maintained. He aspired to create accommodation which was spacious and surrounded with gardens and trees, their own agiary, gymkhana, school and madrassa. With this lofty ideal he asked the Improvement Trust the then equivalent of our present-day BMC to provide land. Of course, they palmed off a marshy portion of Wadala to him. This man took up the challenge and with funds from various Parsi philanthropists drained the marshes, creating broad intersecting tree lined avenues and constructed beautiful bungalows with gardens for sale only to Parsis. The Parsi Panchayat stepped in and also built low-cost housing for the less endowed and leased these homes at nominal rent to their fellow Parsis. It became the much-coveted residential area of today for the Parsis. We began our walk from the Rustom Framna Agiary. The endearing story about “Rustom curry chaval” as he was nicknamed by his peers is in the the link below authored by Contractor. https://zoroastrians.net/2017/04/16/the-story-of-rustom-framna-agiary/ As we walked down the avenues we ogled at the wonderful collection of bungalows and buildings none higher than three storeys. Built in a variety of architectural styles that incorporated features of classical, gothic and vernacular building styles modified and blended seamlessly to suit the tastes of the residents. We also came across a stunning example of the art deco building that became highly popular in the 1930s. It was bought to our attention by Katie that Mancherjee Joshi made it a point not just to focus on only the buildings but ensured that every avenue was tree lined. So, there was the Guest Tree Avenue and the Mahogony Tree Avenue and so on and so forth. We were regaled with interesting stories about trees. The wonderful banyan tree is so called because in the olden days there was one found in every village. It became the hub for all traders or “banias” as they are known to gather around in the evening to discuss the nitty-gritty of their business. Hence this tree belonging to the genus “ficus” acquired its local name “banyan” from “bania” The peepal tree also of the genus “ficus” roots very easily in crevices and cracks in the wall. This is because birds that eat its fig like fruit and excretes while perched on walls enabling the seeds expelled to germinate in the cracks explained Katie. I had always wondered how a peepal had taken root in the crack of one my terracotta pots. Now I know that one of the bulbuls, muniyas, sparrows or sunbirds that visit my terrace is the culprit. We rounded up the visit by visiting a Parsi Home of Vera Aunty filled with a grand piano, ancient intricately carved wooden cupboards, lamps and an enormous wooden dowry chest all artistically arranged on mosaic flooring with floral inlays. As we said goodbye, we wanted to know how Parsis got their unusual surnames – either from their village or their profession – hence the latter gave families names like Batlivala, Kanchwala, Daruwala and Dubash was a corrupted form of Do Bhasha because there were those Bawajis who knew Hindustani and English so were ideal interpreters or liaison between the Limeys and the natives. And what of the surname Bagli? The origins are not clear but maybe it had its origins in the word “bagh” meaning tiger, or maybe it had its origins in a clan of Parsis in Navsari called Bhagalia.

12/11/2023

Contact Kavita Shivdasani on 098210 05424 for details