Standing at the open door of the slowly moving B.B.&C.I.R. train from Ahmedabad to Bombay, a distinguished Mobed in flowing beard beckoned a Cooley to carry an old metal trunk and alighted on the Andheri station platform with his tender age son. The three slowly walked up the hill across the street to that magnificent architectural Boarding School building.
The mango trees on the vast grounds were heavy with the fruits. The Mobed was ushered in the Acting Principal Faramroze P. Patel’s office. After exchanging greetings, the son’s name was duly registered with his entire details of birth date, grandfather’s name, the Mobed “Panth” (family) etc. in Patel Saheb’s one and only complete School register as the 70thstudent this year in the School and 288th overall from the beginning!
Then he strikes the metal plunger bell and orders the assistant Keshoo to bring the first standard teacher. And here comes a Gujarati gentleman, in his Dhoti with a wonderful smile, the most respected, loving, wise, the one and only teacher Kantilal M. Upadhyay!
Kantilal Saheb escorted the young recruit to the last class room, informing on the way that he has taught all his 4 brothers before him and they were very good students! We entered the class room with all the students standing up for the teacher and Kantilal Saheb introduces me as Soli Pirojshah Kawasji Dastur from Tarapur and requests me to occupy the only empty desk left! After a few minutes, Kantilal Saheb had to leave the room and he brings his “Dhoko” (club) to me and says: “Sorabji! You are the monitor of this class and take care of it in my absence!”
Thus started my initiation to this magnificent Boarding School, The Muncherji Framji Cama Athornan Institute (MFCAI)! The fateful day was June 20th, 1945 and it started the most formative 9 years of my life until I passed the S.S.C. (High School) exam in March 1954! And all that I am today is due to the wonderful training we all had in this Institute, under the tutelage of those unbelievably dedicated Teacher Sahebs like Kantilal, Kaikhushroo S. Daruwalla, Rustomji S. Sanjana, Mobed Tehmurasp P. Sidhwa, Acting Principal Faramroze P. Patel, Dr. Peshotan K. Anklesaria, Rana, Khambata, and many others! And as a monitor of this unusual class, I was fortunate to have as my class mates, nay as my brothers, in our last years, Ervads Dr. Kersey Antia, Dastoorji Feroze (Framroze) Kotwal, Noshir Bharucha, Late Gustad Andhyarujina, and many others!
Alas, gone are the glory days of this Institute with 70+ students and 12+ teachers with teeming activities around the clock from the peel of 100 bells at 5:20 AM to “Khudaavind Khaavind Parvardegaar” Monajat at 9:00 PM before going to sleep!
The Village Schoolmaster
Whenever I think about our wonderful MFCAI, I always remember that beautiful poem The Village Schoolmaster by Oliver Goldsmith from his book: The Deserted Village. Besides bringing the memories of MFCAI, the poem also brings back the memories of my small Tarapur school where we had our first 2 – 3 years of education. I am sure it will bring back similar memories of your school to many of you.
This poem brings back the vivid memories of what the school was in its glory days when I was a student and what has become of the school today: a magnificent structure with no student and one Principal (?!), unkept, not maintained and left empty to itself! (please see the attached photos of the school in 2004).
Whenever I visited the school in recent years, it brought tears to my eyes to see the deplorable condition it is left in. Changing the last two lines of Goldsmith for MFCAI:
“But past is all (its) fame. The very spot
Where many a time (it) triumph’d is forgot.”
So, here is that beautiful poem by Oliver Goldsmith:
For, e’en though vanquished, he could argue still,
While words of learned length and thundering sound
Amazed the gazing rustics ranged around;
And still they gazed, and still the wonder grew
That one small head could carry all he knew.
But past is all his fame. The very spot
Where many a time he triumph’d is forgot.
SPD Explanation:
The school has meant to all of us a steady influence throughout our lives, in thick and thin, and we owe everything that all of us have accomplished to that great philanthropist and far-sighted Parsi Zarathushtri, late Meherwanji Mancherji Cama who built this Boarding School for the uplifting of the Athornan families! Many of us school graduates still remember late Meherwanji and his father Mancherji in all our Afringan Deebache even up to this day, a tribute of our gratitude to them!
Addendum
The alumni of the Institute form the bedrock of priests on this Continent, to name a few: among them are Ervads Kersey Antia, Kersey Bhedwar, Noshir Karanjia, Parvez Patel, Adi Unwalla, Peshotan Unwalla, Behram Panthaki, Dara Sinor, Kobad Jamshed (Andhyarujina), Tehmton Mirza, Jimmy Panthaky, and Soli Dastur
This institute has produced three Dasturs: Dastur Navroze Minocher Homji, Dastur Feroze Kotwal, and Dastur Peshotan Hormazdyar Mirza. Dastur Minocher Homji and Ervad Manecksha K Panthaki, the father of Ervad Behram and Ervad Gustad Panthaki were the first batch of 36 students enrolled in the institute in 1923 and Ervad Manecksha was the first Navar from this Institute on 2/11/1928.
In addition there were two Mobeds from Iran, Dastur Firooz Azargoshasp and Dastur Rostam Shahzadi, who also received their training at the Cama Athornan Institute. They were sponsored by the Yazd Anjoman e Moobedan and the Bombay Irani Anjuman, under the leadership of the late Dinshaw Irani.
Now the MFCAI Ex-Students are trying to revive this Institute and they deserve all the help from our community worldwide! They used to hold 2 weeks Refresher Course on Religious Prayers, Rituals, History, etc. with Guest Speakers coming to speak. However, the Principal and the Trustees stopped them to hold these annual course for some flimsy reasons and the MFCAI is not involved in any Zarathushtri Programs.
Now they are holding these courses at Cama Baug. We wish them all success, and help!
And finally, I leave you all with that haunting echo in my ears of the last lines of our nightly “Khudaavind Khaavind Parvardegaar” Monajat: “Maneh Paasbaani maa taari suwaad, Bhalaa kaamo karvaa savaareh uthaad!” (Let me sleep under your watchful eye and wake me up in the morning to do good deeds (again)!”
May the Flame of Fellowship, Love, Charity, and Respect for all burn ever eternal in our hearts so we can do HIS work with humility, diligence, and eternal enthusiasm!
In HIS Service 24/7!
Atha Jamyaat, Yatha Aafrinaamahi! (May it be so as we wish!)
Education is the most powerful we can use to change the world” Nelson Mandela
Leadership is not bullying & leadership is not aggression. Leadership is expectation that you can use your voice for good. Then you can make a better place Sheryl Sandberg
Fear has 2 meanings:Forget everything and run or face everything and Rise: The Choice is Yours.
To all Zoroastrian women:
Women were put
On this Earth
To even the balance
Of power
Giving woman
Extra ordinary strength
Not to fold or cower
If the `Souls
`In “Heaven or Hell”
Had electronic communication
They would be
In constant touch
Letting us know”
If there is
“Segregation” Racism”
“Discrimination” as well “Bigotry”
Amidst the “Soul Community”`
“You may write me
Down in history
With your bitter
Twisted lies
You may tread
Me in the very dirt
But like the dust
I rise”
“You want me broken
Bowed head,& lowered eyes
Shoulders falling like tear drops
Weakened by your soulful cries”
“You may shoot me
With your words
You may cut me
With your eyes
You may kill me
With your hatefulness
But still like air
I Rise”
Choicest Happiness
Farida
PS adapted from the poem “I Rise” by Maya Angelou.
“And now, the end is near
And so I face the final curtain
My friend, I’ll say it clear
I’ll state my case, of which I’m certain
I’ve lived a life that’s full
I’ve traveled each and every highway
But more, much more than this
I did it my way
Regrets, I’ve had a few
But then again, too few to mention
I did what I had to do
And saw it through without exemption
I planned each charted course
Each careful step along the byway
And more, much more than this
I did it my way
Yes, there were times, I’m sure you knew
When I bit off more than I could chew
But through it all, when there was doubt
I ate it up and spit it out
I faced it all and I stood tall
And did it my way
I’ve loved, I’ve laughed and cried
I’ve had my fill my share of losing
And now,…
To think I did all that
And may I say – not in a shy way
Oh no, oh no, not me
I did it my way
For what is a man, what has he got
If not himself, then he has naught
To say the things he truly feels
And not the words of one who kneels
The record shows I took the blows
And did it my way
Celebrated poet Keki Nasserwanji Daruwalla to be honoured with the Tata Literature Live! Poet Laureate Award 2017
Mumbai: One of India’s best-known poets and short story writers, Keki Nasserwanji Daruwalla, will be honoured as the Tata Literature Live! Poet Laureate for 2017.
The Tata Literature Live! Poet Laureate Award, which carries a citation, plaque and a cash prize, will be presented to Mr Daruwalla on the inaugural day of the festival, November 16, 2017, at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), Nariman Point, Mumbai.
Mr Daruwalla said, “Delighted. The fact that this kind of award exists shows that people still care for poetry. All poets incidentally are not mad as people think, though the madder the poet, the better the poetry. Regrettably I hail from the non-mad variety.”
Born in Lahore in January 1937, Mr Daruwalla joined the Indian Police Service after graduating in English Literature from Punjab University in 1958. He published his first book of poems Under Orion in 1970, followed by another Apparition in April in 1971, going on to win the Uttar Pradesh State Award in 1972.
The author of 18 books, including collections of poetry, short stories and a novel, he was given the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1984 for his poetry collection, The Keeper of the Dead. In 1987, he was conferred with the Commonwealth Poetry Award (Asia) and the Padma Shri in 2014. Ancestral Affairs, his latest novel, was published in 2015.
As a poet, Mr Daruwalla is known for his bitter, satirical tone of poetic presentation, punctuated by poignant visual imagery. His works are laced with anger and contempt, are directed against the dull, passive Indian lifestyle and romantic illusions. What makes his writing gripping is his insight into, and eloquence about, social structures.
Below are the first few lines of his poem Migrations, which also reflect the theme of this year’s festival India at 70. The raw emotions, the turbulence, the pain are all captured beautifully.
Migrations are always difficult:
ask any drought,
any plague;
ask the year 1947.
Ask the chronicles themselves:
if there had been no migrations
would there have been enough
history to munch on?
Going back in time is also tough.
Ask anyone back-trekking to Sargodha
or Jhelum or Mianwali and they’ll tell you.
New faces among old brick;
politeness, sentiment,
dripping from the lips of strangers.
This is still your house, Sir.
Anil Dharker, founder and director, Literature Live!, said, “The depth and eloquence with which Keki Daruwalla writes has enamoured readers over generations, and his cultural footprint on our literature is undeniable. We are humbled to host such an eminent writer at the festival and are looking forward to hearing him speak.”
Harish Bhat, brand custodian, Tata Sons, said, “The Tata group has always believed in the promotion of arts and culture, in its multitude of forms. We are pleased to honour distinguished poet Keki Daruwalla at the Tata Literature Live! Mumbai Litfest this year for the significant contributions he has made in the field of poetry. We hope awards such as this serve as an encouragement for young poets to follow their passion for poetry, which is amongst the most beautiful and powerful forms of human expression.”
Past recipients of the Tata Literature Live! Poet Laureate Award include prolific poets, including Gulzaar Saab in 2016, Vikram Seth in 2015 and Joy Goswami in 2014.
Ten awards will be presented to celebrate and recognise outstanding works – the Tata Nexon Literature Live! First Book Awards in the Fiction and Non-Fiction categories; and the Tata Literature Live! Book of the Year Awards in the Fiction and Non-Fiction categories; the Tata Capital Literature Live! Business Book Award; Tata Literature Live! Poet Laureate Award; Tata Literature Live! Lifetime Achievement Award, Tata Literature Live! Publisher of the Year Award and the Big Little Book Awards for Author and Illustrator in the Literature-for-children category.
One of India’s best international literary festivals, and Mumbai’s biggest, Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest is back to mark the city’s cultural calendar from November 16 to 19, 2017. Over four days, the festival will take place at two venues – NCPA, Nariman Point (November 16 to 19, 2017) and Prithvi Theatre, Juhu (November 18 and 19, 2017) – bringing together an eclectic mix of authors from around the world.
For more details about Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest 2017, please visit the festival website, the Facebook page and the Twitter page.
Entry to the festival will be free and on a first-come, first-served basis.
The Tata group is the title sponsor of Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest. Tata Nexon, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Tata Capital are the co-sponsors, and Landmark is the knowledge partner. The festival is conceived by Anil Dharker, founder and festival director of Literature Live!, which organises the festival with the support of the Tata group.
