The first set of Parsis, who started settling in Delhi in the 19th century, were mostly shopkeepers and traders. Historian and author William Dalrymple mentions that during the Delhi siege of 1857, Parsi merchants undercut the prices of beer of their English competitors. By 1912 the population had increased from 27 to 74
Written by Coomi Kapoor
Dr DN Wadia, wearing spectacles and seated on the ground, and Dr SP Shroff behind him
IN MUMBAI, the Parsi community’s unmistakable stamp on the city, its culture and its heritage is there for everyone to see. But in Delhi, where there have never been more than 700 Parsis, not everyone is familiar with the term Parsi or Bawaji or their contribution to the city. Rukshana Shroff’s meticulously researched book enriched with photographs, At Home in the Capital: The Parsis of Delhi, highlights how this miniscule minority, down to some 500 today, has nevertheless left its distinct imprint on the national Capital.
The first set of Parsis, who started settling in Delhi in the 19th century, were mostly shopkeepers and traders. Historian and author William Dalrymple mentions that during the Delhi siege of 1857, Parsi merchants undercut the prices of beer of their English competitors. By 1912 the population had increased from 27 to 74. The first officially recorded Parsi migrant to Delhi was probably Nowrosji Kapadia from Bharuch, Gujarat, who established himself in Kashmere Gate in 1911 when it was the new Capital’s social hub. His great-grandson Novy recalled that Nowrosji often walked on the Old Delhi railway station platform when the Frontier Mail was passing through to meet Parsi travellers and invite them to his home for a meal. Nowrosji, who was the agent for a European firm, was the patriarch of a large clan but over time the family members slowly exited the city. Novy Kapadia, the well known sports commentator, journalist and Delhi University lecturer, who passed away a few years ago, was the last to remain in Delhi to carry on the family name.
In their early years in the Capital, the Delhi Power Station and the Indian Railways were the largest employers of the Parsis. The grandson of Bejonjee Heera, among the first Parsi engineers at the Delhi Power Station, recalls that Heera retired well past his superannuation because he was one of the only Indians in the post-independence period who had extensive knowledge of the Kashmere Gate power station. The wife of another power house engineer, Dinbai Irani, made a name as the first Parsi woman entrepreneur in the city, setting up an aerated water bottle factory in the early 20th century. By 1912, the Parsi population had increased from 27 to 74.
Among the early Parsi settlers in Delhi were the Shroff family. Dr Sorabji Shroff started his ophthalmic practice in old Delhi in 1914, after completing his medical training in England. Along with a flourishing practice he opened a charitable eye hospital in Daryaganj, Delhi’s first eye hospital. A hundred years later, the fourth generation of Shroff ophthalmologists are still continuing the family tradition,
When Connaught Place, New Delhi’s new hub was being built in the early ’30s, 14 Parsi families moved there from old Delhi. The Parsis, who were closely associated with the newly emerging film industry in Mumbai, owned and managed several Delhi cinema halls such as Novelty, Minerva and Plaza. In fact, the Plaza building was where the small close-knit community gathered on festivals and other events.
As Delhi grew in importance, a new breed of Parsis migrants descended on the Capital, which included professionals from the legal world, the armed forces and government services. Legal luminaries such as Nani Palkhiwala, Fali Nariman and Soli Sorabjee fought several landmark cases in the Supreme Court defending the basic structure of the Constitution. While most of the Parsi lawyers commuted between Mumbai and Delhi, some like Sorabjee and Nariman eventually settled here. In fact, three generations of the Nariman family, including former Supreme Court Justice, scholar and priest, Rohinton Nariman, have made Delhi their base. Law is a popular profession among the community — there have been six Parsi judges in the Supreme Court, including two chief justices, Sam Bharucha and Sarosh Kapadia. In the armed forces, General Sam Maneckshaw stands out as India’s first field marshal, while Aspy Engineer and Fali Major headed the Indian Air Force and Jal Cursetjee was the naval chief. The bronze bust of the Pune-born war hero, Lt Colonel Ardeshir Tarapore, stands proudly at the War Memorial at India Gate.
The community has contributed in diverse ways in making the city what it is today. Cyrus Jhabvala, husband of writer-filmmaker Ruth Prawer, was one of the first generation post-independent architects whose iconic buildings, including Kirori Mal College and the Pragati Maidan Trade Fair pavilions, came to define the new Capital. Another Delhi landmark, the Oberoi Hotel, was designed by Piloo Mody, who later gave up his architectural practice to enter politics full time. Mody’s wit and erudition enlivened the parliamentary debates and infused a spirit of bonhomie in the Lok Sabha — a spirit that’s sadly missing in today’s polarised polity. From Khusro Rustomji, founder and first director of the Border Security Force, Darashaw Nosherwan Wadia, pioneer geologist who wrote the seminal treatise, Geology of India, Dr Nowshir Jungalwalla, founder and director of the National Institute of Health Education to Keki Daruwalla, a police officer and acclaimed poet, the roll of honour is long. In the field of culture, Dadi Pudumjee is an internationally known puppeteer and Ashdeen Lilaowala, an award winning textile designer who is credited with reviving and contemporising the Parsi gara tradition.
The influence of a handful of Parsi women in their quiet, understated way, can still be seen in some of the new Capital’s seminal institutions. Industrialist Sir Shri Ram selected Homai Dustoor, a PhD from King’s College, London, with an impressive teaching experience, to be the founder principal of Lady Shri Ram College. The community’s association with this leading Delhi college continues. Villoo Commisssariat, Dinaz Davar, Khorshed Sheriar, Parzor founder, Shernaz Cama and the author of the book on Delhi Parsis, Rukshana Shroff, have all taught at the college. Piloo Jungalwala, a scholar of Zoroastrian history and culture, was the first full-time principal of Janaki Devi College. Ketayun Boomla, a lecturer at the Delhi School of Economics, is better known as Kitty Menon, a fiery Marxist, who after her husband’s death, devoted herself to full-time party work, Tehmina Adranvala was a dedicated highly qualified nurse who became the first Indian Chief Nursing Superintendent to the Director General of Health Services. Homai Vyarawalla was India’s first woman news photographer who earned international acclaim for her iconic photographs.
Invitations to Parsi houses are much coveted because of their delicious and unusual fare, particularly if you don’t mind a pinch of sugar even in the savoury foods. Many Parsi women deserve credit for popularising and propagating Parsi cuisine in Delhi. In the 1970s, Bhicoo Manekshaw was a pioneer culinary consultant, food writer and restaurateur who conceived the original menu for the India International Centre (IIC). Bapsi Nariman, Ferida Chopra, Nilufer Dhondy, Ratti Sharma, Jasmine Marker, Shelley Sabhawalla, Kainaz Contractor and Anahita Dhondy are others who followed in her footsteps. Dhun Bagli and her daughter-in-law Benaifer ran the kitchen of the Parsi Anjuman on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, which was a popular meeting place even for non-Parsis.
As the community grew roots in the city, the Delhi Parsi Anjuman (DPA) formally came into existence in 1925 and over time a fire temple, dharamsala (guest house) and a cultural centre were built on the Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg property. More progressive and liberal than most other Indian Parsi associations, the DPA were trend setters who permitted non-Zoroastrian spouses and children of mixed marriages to become members and even allowed non-Parsis to attend funerary rites. Their forward thinking approach at one stage provoked the powerful ultra conservative Bombay Parsi Panchayat to walk out of the Federation of Parsi Zoroastrians with smaller anjumans in the country following suit. Since then a truce has been reached, with each anjuman adopting its own norms, but forward thinking Delhi has led the way.