Top: Late Parvez Driver, erstwhile editor
of Parsi Junction; above: Kersi Sethna
He was among the "first to take on” the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) trustees on behalf of "any member of the community regardless of the consequences,” noted an obituary on editor, owner, printer and publisher of the Parsi Junction (PJ) tabloid Parvez Driver in its February 9, 2020 edition. Driver passed away on January 4 after an illness that led to a month-long stay in The B. D. Petit Parsee General Hospital. "In Driver the community has lost a vigilante press editor…his publication was committed to transparency and accountability… He kept the community informed of the misdeeds as well as good deeds of the akabars of 209, Dr Dadabhai Naoroji Road (where the BPP office is located),” stated the tribute in the paper.
The obituary referred to him as a "quiet self effacing gentleman...happy go lucky...approachable to all.” Reportedly shy and introverted, Driver was commended as "a warrior for the cause of his faith.” A resident of B. S. Panthaky Baug, he was the founder member of the Baug’s Welfare Centre and served as its president and secretary till he passed away. The write-up noted that he was "always after the (BPP) trustees” to give the Baug a "fitting pavilion,” instead of "the run-down, temporary, galvanized corrugated shed duplicating as (one).”
Born in 1949 to Homi and Dina Driver, Parvez completed his bachelor of science from Bombay University. He served in the Dharamsi Morarjee Chemical Company and the Central Bank of India. "He was pursuing his business activity in real estate and development of plots till his death,” former BPP chairman Dinshaw Mehta informed Parsiana. A Mehta loyalist, Parvez is survived by his US-based sister Gool Dutia and brother Aspi.
The February 9 edition of PJ was under the editorship of Mehta loyalist Kersi Sethna, who is also the printer and publisher. The owner’s name is not mentioned. Sethna had stood unsuccessfully for the BPP trusteeship elections in 2016.