Old People’s Home
Dr. Dossibai & Jehangir Ratanshaw Dadachoy Charity Trust is a well established Parsi charitable trust. They run the old peoples home which is located in the Masina Hospital compound, Byculla for aged Parsi men and women.
I have an aunt who is staying there for the past few months and from our experience it is an excellent facility for our older Parsi folks. The home is clean, the food is very good and the inmates are well looked after. However like most such institutions they are in urgent need of funds as their building is old and needs repairs as well as for general upkeep and maintenance.
This is an appeal to all trusts and individuals who can provide some financial assistance especially since there are very few such institutions left in Mumbai for the elders of our community.
The contact details are as follows:
Dr. Dossibai & Jehangir Ratanshaw Dadachoy Charity Trust
Dr. Masina Hospital Compound
Sant Savta Marg
Byculla
Mumbai 400027
Tel: 23721895
Please feel free to contact me (hbbrel@gmail.com) or the trust directly if you need any further information.
Thank you.
Ushta Ve,
Hemin Bharucha
Sorry to say but my experience with this “home” is totally different. In January, when I went to India, I went with a friend to visit his 75 year old uncle who lives at J.R.Dossibai Charity Trust Parsi home for old people and here is the shocking state of affairs :
Inspite of the beautiful structure and compound surrounding this place, the inside was a totally neglected and badly run place where the patients were dominated and controlled by the Manager and his team of ayahs. Not only were all the patients unhappy with the food and living conditions, but they were given horrible treatment by the ayahs who controlled everything and treated them cruelly. The Manager is too old and does not see to the cleanliness or maintenance of the place inspite of the fact that each and every patient pays a monthly fee. Infact he allows the servants and their entire families to enjoy the facilities as if its a holiday home for the servants more than for the parsee patients.
The food served to the patients is half cooked and watery, while the servants and the Manager enjoy the best of everything. The most amazing fact is that the ayahs sleep on the patients beds and occupy special rooms for themselves and their relatives, while the patients sleep on filthy old matresses and are responsible for washing and cleaning their own bedsheets even if they are incapable. If a patient requests the servants to fill a bucket of hot water for bath he is rudely treated and the Manager holds a grudge or even asks him or her to leave and go home.
During siesta time, the ayahs sit and watch TV while the poor female patients are made to clean and cut vegetables and cannot rest till they have done so.
The toilets and bathrooms are filthy and infested with cockroaches and broken bathroom seats and taps. Although the trustees of the Institute may be aware of these problems, I understand that they are too old or indifferent to do anything to change the situation.
This is a private Parsi trust, but just one man has the power to allow this to happen to a beautiful place like this which can ideally house so many poor, sick and old Parsees. Very soon these Non parsi servants are going to take it over and throw all the patients out.
K.P. – London – U.K.
Dear Khurshed,
It was shocking and rather enlightening to hear such news about ‘old people’s home’ in such a state. Our trustees who collect so much of funds from us should definitely be warned of the consequences.
Let us try to do something to save our people from this sort of a treatment.
At the BPP meet on Saturday 12th November, 2011 at Rustom Baug, the question asked of the BPP trustees was “what are you doing about aging and sick Parsees. While Mrs. Arnavaz Mistry glorified all her efforts at Parekh Dharamsala and Mrs. Tirandas said that she “visited” the Dossaibai home at Bycylla, and found it “clean and neat”, they both clearly bypassed the real question of what the Trustees are doing for old parsis who have no one to take care of them.
During the time of Mr. Cama’s election, he had declared that he would take up this issue on being elected, but nothing has been done yet even by him.
Agreed that the parsis at Parekh Dharamsala are taken care of while they are able to move about and handle their own bath and meals. But as soon as anyone is unable to do that, or falls sick, they are asked to leave, except for a few exceptions. The ones who are at the mercy of ayahs, are treated like beggers. I have personally witnessed a patient being made to sit on the pot for for a long time because the Ayah was too busy chatting with other people to help her up.
Even at the Shapoorji Pallonji home, the moment a patient cannot manage to come to the dining room or falls sick they have to leave. The Masina Hospital Parsi ward takes only people who come with big influence. So I ask , where do the sick, old and uncared for Parsis of Mumbai go ? .
As for the Dossibai home in Masina Compound, at Byculla, its still in a sorry state. Even though it has a capacity to house more than 50 people, right now there only 15 patients, and each of them in miserable, dirty and uncared for state, being fed plain watery, over-spicy, over-salty daal or curry without a piece of chicken or mutton or fish for days on end. One can find that dabbas full of good food is sent out as “tiffin-supply” out of which the trustees/manager makes extra money. Each of the 15 patients presently pays a minimum of Rs.3,500 per month. NO ONE IS LIVING FREE. The moment anyone complains about the lousy food and lousy treatment they are told to leave. Infact patients live in the dark at night as the Manager has no money/time to change a fused bulb for several days.
So may I know what the BPP intends to do about changing the situation for old people in the “homes” ? Is there any concrete plan to utilise the present facilities or build more of them for the aged parsis of Mumbai.
Farokh Bharucha
SHOCKING SHOCKING SHOCKING !!!! Parsis are known to be a noble clan that always believed in charity … more so the older generation …. but what we see now with the present lot is that they are all after only one goal … how to get hold of a lot of vitamin “M” …good training from our corrupt politicians !!!
The Dossaibi Home at the Byculla Masina Hospital is in a really sorry state and is getting worse day by day. The ayahs (mother+daughter) have now totally taken over the home and are robbing it dry while the manager is too ill to wake up from his bed and look around. When he does have energy to wake up, he bullies all the inmates instead of saying a word to the ayahs who eat and use private rooms and live like queens there. SOME ONE OUT THERE SHOULD WAKE UP AND DO SOMETHING. The Trustees don’t care because they get their personal cooking and other work done.