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Though Surat-born Ervad Naval Jijina was trained to be a priest, he found his true calling in abstract art. The 91-year-old’s works were exhibited after a gap of 48 years in a month-long show at Gallery Art and Soul in Bombay till February 15, 2021. His artist wife Gool’s paintings were also exhibited simultaneously. Described in the Gallery’s 72-page online brochure as "reclusive,” the Jijinas refrained from visiting the Gallery for fear of contracting the coronavirus. They, however, viewed the exhibition online. Similarly, Parsiana’s request for an in-person interview was turned down in favor of questions being sent by email.
The Jijinas’ paintings on show included portraits of family members, Zoroastrian themes, abstracts that we are told are aerial views, Hindu deities, landscapes, mostly in muted colors. In Chinavat Bridge, tiny farohars and figures that could be human fly across yellow and blue skies with a tiny figure aflame in the bottom left corner. A 2019 oil on canvas Saraswati Maa (the Hindu goddess of learning) hangs facing Victory of good over evil, both in shades of yellow, the former replete with figures of Hindu deities, the latter a portrayal of the quintessential Zoroastrian ideology. "My choice,” responded Naval about his interest in Hindu spirituality, admitting to inspiration from the epics Mahabharat and Ramayan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"There have been days when I have been so engrossed in art that I have gone without food or had just a humble vada pav (spicy potato patty in a bun) to save money to buy paints, to be able to paint and keep my passion alive. I would rather go hungry than borrow money,” Naval wrote to Parsiana. "Khava karta painting par jasti paisa kharachya (I spent more money on painting than on food),” the nonagenarian noted in a 13-minute video made by the Gallery and released on YouTube to coincide with the retrospective. Why did he remark "Aapra loko né kadar nathi (Our people have no appreciation)” in his video? Did his paintings not sell? Was there no coverage in the media? "This is my observation,” stated Naval, whose last solo exhibition was in 1973. Gool has never before exhibited her works publicly.
"Being a priest got me closer to God. Yes, there were financial difficulties as the salary of a priest in those days was not enough to live a comfortable life. Will power and my undying faith in God Almighty are the only factors that have helped me come out of the deepest darkest moments of my life.” 
Did the works of other artists influence them? "An artist’s inspiration can come from any-where and anything and he works with his creative vision,” Naval responded. He told mid-day on January 17 that "he is a fan of Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn, and wonders if he could ever paint like him.”
Sculptor Arzan Khambatta heard about the Jijinas after he received a call from a lady who told him about Naval and his works. Khambatta told Parsiana that when the woman stated "how Naval was once a great painter but now was unnoticed and in a financial crisis, I offered to have a look at the works… What I saw stunned me…They were the most serious and mature abstracts I’ve ever seen… His colors, the strokes, overall compositions are evidence of a deep rooted aesthetic discipline that is seldom seen in any artist today… His paintings depicting Zarathushtra’s life are by far none like what I’ve seen before… Detailed and having a spiritual touch.” Noting that he is "elated” as a fellow artist to see Naval’s  works out in the light, the scrapturist stated, "It kills me to think that these could well have been embedded in the darkness forever.”
Khambatta introduced the Jijinas to Gallery curator Dr Tarana Khubchandani who was "shocked to encounter such ability… Seldom does one encounter an artist such as Naval… A practice that had a long reckoning in abstraction had been left unseen, a failure on our part… What was remarkable was his personal story... Naval was setting his own vocabulary.” She noted that Naval was "dedicated to his art practice and belief in music… experimenting pigmentation with abstraction, even though no recognition came his way.”
Naval’s work is "modern, resolved and the aesthetic holds a narrative beyond the personal life of the artist,” stated Khubchandani. "It sheds light on the role the Parsis played in continuing Hindustani classical music… his uncle Pandit Keki Jijina was a maître… (Naval) wove interconnections with painting… (as in) the works of Shiavax Chavda, a Parsi painter creating dialogs between music, dancing and the visual arts. These instances are examples of how close the Parsi community has come to forming the fabric of what we call Indian and Bombay. Naval’s act of embracing his identity through abstraction is not left to mere philosophizing a once great civilization…He rather lives it.”
Gallery manager Gaurav Phaterpekar told Parsiana on February 5 that their inventory of Naval’s unexhibited works include 52 color sketches for murals; 74 pages of black and white pencil/ pen sketches; 74 loose sheets including images of live dance recitals. 
Self-taught, Gool’s portraits are remarkably similar to those executed by Naval. Her portrait of Naval, Naval’s of his wife, and Gool’s self portrait "are interesting examples of their technical collaboration,” noted the Gallery’s communique. "When we attempt to portray the life of the artist, it is an injustice if we attempt to hide their collaborators and fellow travelers in artistic practice,” the Gallery’s note stated. Naval ascribed it to shared interests in art and music. "It was natural to share our knowledge, perceptions and vision and learn, respect and understand each other’s style,” he wrote. The couple have been married for 51 years.
A student of St Xavier’s College and an employee of Central Bank of India, the Gallery’s brochure states that Gool studied art as a hobby and did her elementary and intermediate art examinations when she studied at the Bai Bengallee School.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Painting till I am alive”
Serving the Bombay Parsi Punchayet run Godavara Gamadia Agiary in the 1950s may not have been a happy experience for Naval. A mobed who has performed nirangdin ceremonies, "Manné aagal nai paadyo…mané daabi raakhé [(They) did not let me progress… they suppressed me]…That is why I started hating mobedi and left the fire temple,” Naval narrated in the video. At a particularly frustrating moment in his career, when he looked to the holy fire for guidance, "a voice in his ear” told him "Tara ma kai aavar chhè tu kélav (Find your talent and train it).” Naval had told mid-day (MD) on January 17 that as a child, he wanted to be a doctor. Having lost his mother at two, an indifferent father and a domineering aunt pressured him into studying for the priesthood. "Not getting love of parents, growing up not knowing what it is like to have a family are few of the challenges I have endured in my youth,” Naval wrote. "My heart was always in academics,” he told MD. 
The experiences at the fire temple did not stop him from executing a painting of the prophet for the fire temple. The unsigned portrait hangs in the fire temple today. "The frame of the painting in Godavara Fire Temple was an old frame (1936, states its plaque) with Zoroaster’s painting on hard board done by someone. As the condition of that painting had deteriorated, I did a new painting on the same hard board in 1958 and fixed it in the old frame,” Naval wrote to Parsiana. But one senses the tinge of persisting bitterness: When asked to detail his experiences as a priest, the response was "This has no relevance to art… I choose not to comment on personal questions.”      
Formally trained at Nutan Kala Mandir and Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy School of Art, Naval was a student of renowned painter Shankar Palsikar and muralist Baburao Sadwelkar, records the Gallery, adding that he "joined a select group of artists such as Syed Raza, Vasudeo Gaitonde and other abstractionists in experimenting with color.”
Naval studied Indian music with Keki in Bombay. His 1963 work Melody in Music depicts a combination of paint brushes and a shadowy musical instrument. "Perhaps music provided a certain relief from contending with spirituality,” speculates the Gallery’s note. "(Today) where boundaries between genres are all erased, Naval was surely an early thinker,” notes the Gallery. A member of the Photographic Society of India, Naval’s images have many "faint expressions of figurative objects, a bird’s eye view of imagined landscapes… That is why we term the retrospective ‘Music Modern,’” notes Art and Soul’s publicity material.
After his 1962 graduation from art school, Naval held an exhibition spanning three halls at the Jehangir Art Gallery called "Life of Zarathushtra.” Sponsored by medical practitioner and Parsiana founder Dr Pestonji Warden, the exhibits travelled to Udvada, Navsari, Surat and Ahmedabad. "I was chosen by Dr Warden (to do) the paintings through the fire temple,” Naval, who later assisted Warden to set up the Everyman’s (art) Gallery in Bombay’s Dhobi Talao, told Parsiana. His career as a textile designer, which also took him to Delhi, was put to an end by the mills strike of the early 1980s. "Then he found himself practicing only painting.”
Kudos include a 1968 award for his Aerial Views from the Bombay Art Society, the second prize for his color transparency titled Spider at the 45th Members Exhibition of Photography at the Photographic Society in 1985 and first prize for his color transparency titled Travellers, at the Fourth All India Salon of Photography in 1990 held by the Federation of Indian Photography.
Art and Soul’s note states that Naval’s paintings from that first exhibition were acquired by a Zoroastrian society in London. Naval mentioned that the exhibition "was taken to London to be exhibited there by Pestonji’s London based brother Dr Jehangirji. The exact details of the name of the organization are not with me as I had not met his brother or had a chance to go to London.” Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe (ZTFE) president Malcolm Deboo told Parsiana on February 5 that Jehangirji had exhibited paintings at the old Zoroastrian House in West Hampstead on the "Life and Teachings of Zoroaster” during the presidency of Jehangirji Moos. "I vaguely recollect being informed about this exhibition by a trustee in the 1980s, as it was well before my time in the ZTFE.” In 2019, a painting on Behram Yazad was purchased by Dr Pesi Chacha and donated to the Parsi Community Hall in Singapore, noted the Gallery communication. 
Residing in Andheri, Naval continues to pursue art with "much help, conversation and inspiration from Gool,” according to the Gallery. His determination is evident when he declares, "I will keep painting till I am alive… I have sickness…but I still work, controlling my mind… I can do it because of my will power.”