Monthly Archives: November 2014

Lieutenant Colonel Ardeshir Burzorji Tarapore, PVC

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Lieutenant Colonel Ardeshir Burzorji Tarapore, PVC was an ace Battle Tank Commander like General Montgomery, and was greatly loved by the men that served under him, as he cared for them to the best of his ability.  Though he was a very calm person, he was very fierce in fire fights, when it came to war.  He sacrificed his life for India.  He was a real soldier of soldiers.

Lieutenant Colonel
Ardeshir Tarapore
PVC
Lt Col A B Tarapore.jpg
Born August 18, 1923
Bombay, Bombay Presidency,British India
Died 6 September 1965 (aged 42)
Chawinda, Pakistan
Allegiance  Hyderabad State
India Republic of India
Service/branch  Hyderabad Army
Flag of Indian Army.svg Indian Army
Years of service 1940-1951(Hyderabad Army)
1951-1965(Indian Army)
Rank Lieutenant Colonel of the Indian Army.svgLieutenant Colonel
Unit Hyderabad Lancers
Current Regimental Cap Badge 2014-06-11 06-48.jpg17th Poona Horse
Battles/wars Battle of Chawinda
Indo-Pakistani War of 1965
Awards Param-Vir-Chakra-ribbon.svg Param Vir Chakra

Lieutenant Colonel Ardeshir Burzorji Tarapore, PVC was born on August 18, 1923 in Mumbai.  The original family came from Tarapore and hence the last name Tarapore comes for the same reason. Later his grandfather relocated to Hyderabad and started working under the excise department of Nizam ofHyderabad. After his death Burzonji took up his father’s job and was comparatively successful due to his hardwork.
From the young tender age Ardeshir showed his courage when he saved his sister, Yadgar, from a family cow that had broken loose. By the time he was seven years old he was sent to the  Dastur Boys’ Boarding School, Pune. He completed his matriculation in the year 1940. After school he applied for the army and was selected. He did his initial training in the Officers’ Training School at Golconda and on completion was sent to Bangalore. He saw himself commissioned in the 7th Hyderabad Infantry as a Second Lieutenant.

Hyderabad State Force[edit]

He was popularly known as “Adi”. Adi was not very happy joining the infantry, instead he wanted to join an armoured regiment. On one fine day his battalion was inspected by Major General El Edroos, theCommander-in-Chief of the state forces. At the grenade throwing range due to an accident a grenade fell into the bay area. Adi was quick to jump and throw it. However the grenade exploded in the middle which left him injured as the flying shrapnel hit his chest. Major General Edroos, was a witness to this event which kept him spellbound. He was impressed by the exemplary courage displayed by Ardeshir. Major General Edroos summoned Ardeshir to his office and congratulated him for his efforts. Ardeshir took this as an opportunity and requested that he be transferred to an armoured regiment. The General accepted this and he was transferred to the 1st Hyderabad Imperial Service Lancers. Interestingly, 1st Hyderabad Lancers fought with The Poona Horse in Operation Polo.
He also saw active service in West Asia during World War-II during this part of his career.

Indian Army[edit]

Later Hyderabad was merged with Union of India. This eventually amalgamated the Indian Army. Ardeshir was shifted to The Poona Horse and was commissioned in Poona Horse on 1 April 1951. He rose to become Commanding Officer (CO) and commanded his very own regiment in the Poona Horse in the 1965 war against Pakistan and while leading his regiment in securing a major objective in Pakistan, Lieutenant Colonel A B Tarapore went down fighting on board his Centurion tank in the highest tradition of the army and recognised as the bravest of the brave to be awarded Param Vir Chakra for his action in the battle.

Military action[edit]

On 11 September 1965, the 17 Horse regiment launched attack on Phillora in the Sialkot sector at the Battle of Chawinda. The southern thrust of the attack, commanded by Lt. Col. Tarapore advanced on the right flank. Between Phillora and Chawinda, the attack met with the Pakistani Army‘s heavy armour charge from Wazirwali. Lt. Col. Tarapore held his ground and gallantly attacked Phillora under continuous enemy tank and artillery fire. When wounded, he refused to be evacuated. He led his regiment to capture Wazirwali on 14 September, and Jassoran and Butur-Dograndi on 16 September 1965.[1]
Though his own tank was hit several times, he maintained his pivots at both these places and thereby helped the supporting infantry attacking Chawinda. Inspired by his leadership, the regiment fiercely attacked the enemy armor and destroyed approximately sixty Pakistani Army tanks, suffering only nine tank casualties. However, Lt. Colonel Tarapore’s tank was hit and was enveloped in flames and he died a hero’s death.[1]
 
Though his own tank was hit several times, he maintained his pivots at both these places and thereby helped the supporting infantry attacking Chawinda. Inspired by his leadership, the regiment fiercely attacked the enemy armor and destroyed it.  He had scored the highest number of KILLS of Pakistani Patton Tanks.  After the war the captured and destroyed Patton Tanks were kept at a place in India known as Patton Nagar, and he was popularly known in the military circles as “PATTON TANK KILLER”
Over 97 Pakistani tanks were either destroyed or captured by India during the Battle of Asal Uttar, UNDER THE COMMAND OF
 Lieutenant Colonel A. B. Tarapore.

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Param Vir Chakra Citation[edit]

The Param Vir Chakra citation on the Official Indian Army Website reads as follows:

CITATION

LIEUTENANT COLONEL A.B TARAPORE

POONA HORSE (17 HORSE) (IC-5565)

On 11 September 1965, the Poona Horse Regiment under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Ardeshir Burzarji Tarapore was assigned the task of delivering the main armoured thrust for capturing Phillora in the Sialkot Sector in Pakistan. As a preliminary to making a surprise attack on Phillora from the rear, the regiment was thrusting between Philloira and Chawinda when it was suddenly counter attacked by the enemy’s heavy Armour from Wazirali. Lieutenant Colonel A. B. Tarapore who was then at the head of his regiment, defied the enemy’s charge, held his ground and gallantly attacked Philloira with one of his squadrons supported by an infantry battalion. Though under continuous enemy tank and artillery fire, Lieutenant Colonel A B Tarapore remained unperturbed throughout this action and when wounded refused to be evacuated.
On 14 September 1965, though still wounded he again led his regiment to capture Wazirali. Such was his grit and determination that unmindful of his injury, he again gallantly led regiment and captured Jassoran and Butur-Dograndi on16 September. His own tank was hit several times, but despite the odds he maintained his pivots in both these places and thereby allowed the supporting infantry to attack Chawinda from the rear.
Inspired by his leadership, the regiment fiercely attacked the enemy heavy armour destroying approximately 60 enemy tanks at a cost of only 9 tank casualties, and when lieutenant Colonel A. B Tara pore was mortally wounded the regiment continue to defy the enemy.
The valour displayed by lieutenant Colonel A.B. Tarapore in this heroic action, which lasted six days, was in keeping with the highest traditions of the Indian Army.[2]
Courtesy : Pervin Mistry

From Living in a Mumbai Brothel to Seeing the World

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ZAGNY’s own Zaneeta E. Daver lives in Washington D.C. Last year she did ….for a second time ….something we all dream of ! Sailing around the world. And now she is trying to give the same opportunity to two young girls, for what makes it an unbelievable story.
She brings about the true Zarathushti spirit in trying to help others. Here is her story and her mission. Use the Go Fund Me link below and make a donation. Every small bit helps.
Zaneeta writes
In the spring of 1994 I was given the greatest gift possible by my parents…the opportunity to sail around the world for a semester in college.  Semester at Sea changed my life is so many ways and helped develop me into the person I am today.  It was my dream to sail again as a staff member, and this past spring that dream was realized when I sailed as the Assistant Executive Dean.  Now I want to help make the same dreams come true for two very special women.  Their story not only touched me, but amazed me.  And it is near to my heart because they are from Mumbai, India… the city my family is from.

From Living in a Mumbai Brothel to Seeing the World

Shweta Katti and Kavita Hosmani were both born in Kamathipura, the red-light district of Mumbai, India, and grew up in a brothel.  Their father passed away from AIDS when they were just four years old.  As best friends (before they knew they had the same father) at age 15, they started planning their lives.  They would live together, go to university together, and move to America together. In just a few years with the help of the Indian NGO Kranti so much has changed for both of these young women.

Shweta is now a college student at Bard College in NY and Kavita is studying in preparation for applying to college.  Shweta has truly excelled and was one of the six awardees at the 2014 United Nations Youth Courage Awards ceremony on September 22. She was honored for her contribution as an agent of change in their support for girl’s education and women’s rights.  Both, Shweta and Kavita were accepted to sail on Semester at Sea, but they still need funding to complete program fees, shipboard expenses, participate in field programs, and travel while in port.  Both of these women were told they would never amount to anything and would never get out of the red-light district, and despite the odds and hardships they have excelled.  Both women have worked intensively to make up for their lost years of education and I want to reward them and help them chase our dreams of studying together.  Please help me, help them be able to participate fully!  I am trying to raise $10,000 by the end of the year.  To date, almost $2,500 has been raised.

As Robin at Kranti wrote me, I write to you…”Thank you so very, very much for your time, energy and support. They say it takes a village to raise a child, but I think it takes the whole world to make Kranti’ s work successful. Thank you so much for taking on this role to help Kavita and Shweta fulfill their dreams!”
Thank you!
Zaneeta Daver

To make a donation to the fund to help them participate,
please visit

www.gofundme.org/shweta-kavita

You can learn about Semester at Sea at www.smestertsea.org
You can learn about Kranti at www.kranti-india.org
You can watch Shweta’s TEDx presentation at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGYNGyl1dUU

Lebanon’s Zoroastrians want a civil state

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Zoroastrians’ integration into local communities has not meant that they feel secure in this supposed country of diversity

Iranian Zoroastrian girls perform a traditional dance in front of a painting of Iranian Prophet Zarathustra during the Mehregan celebrations at the Marcar cultural center in Tehran, 02 October 2006 (AFP Photo/Behrouz Mehri)

In Lebanon, diversity is not limited to customs, traditions and the sharing of power. It exceeds the 18 constitutionally recognized sects, which have shared governance of the country, and even taken equal part in internecine conflict. Despite this, while the known ‘other’ remains a concern for some, the unknown ‘other’ is the focus of myths and legends, and even social exclusion.
Lebanon’s remaining Jewish community is not the only minority trying to reaffirm its presence, secure its rights, and win recognition as being Lebanese. There is more than one minority in the 10,450-square-meter country that makes defining its identity or the dominance of one sect over the others impossible. Despite this, mutual acceptance is still a long way off for the conflicting sects.
Some people may think the idea of meeting a Magian or Zoroastrian in the streets of Beirut is a fanciful notion. They may find the idea fanciful because they think the religion has become extinct.
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Article about Zoroastrians of Lebanon extracted from Iranian.com