Until the day he died on April 25, 2020, at the age of 99, architect Framroze Bejanji K. Sethna (pictured) knew not what retirement was. He remained a government servant drawing a salary (not pension) from the Gujarat government’s planning account as consultant to the Gandhidham Development Authority (GDA) serving the township of Gandhidham, Adipur and its surrounding villages, as per information received from his son Adil.
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Sethna had 74 years’ working experience as an architect, starting in 1945. For the first 10 years, until 1955, he was employed by the well-known British firm of architects Gregson Batley and King in Bombay. During this period he gained experience in designing several prominent buildings of Bombay such as Bombay Hospital between Liberty Cinema and West End Hotel in Marine Lines, the Aarey Milk Colony in Goregaon, among others, as well as numerous bungalows and flats for rajas, maharajas and nawabs.
During the next four years, until 1959, he was located in Lucknow, employed by the Uttar Pradesh Public Works Department. At that time, the Second Five-Year plan had created a demand for architects in India. Subsequently, there was a surprise call from the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) offering Sethna the post of architect for the Gandhidham Township Project attached to the port of Kandla in the Gulf of Kutch. He joined the office of the Development Commissioner Kandla Port on March 18, 1960. The Kandla Port Trust was formed in 1964. Sethna retired from this post on June 30, 1979.
During those 19 years he designed the industrial and manufacturing areas, free trade zone, residential settlements for employees, the chairman’s bungalow, guest houses, parks, hospital, post office, covered badminton hall, community hall-cum-staff club at New Kandla and the town hall at Gandhidham.
After Sethna’s official retirement until the severe earthquake shook Kutch on January 26, 2001 he designed several schools, colleges, an auditorium and hospital in Gandhidham. But post the earthquake he devoted his time to taking care of his wife Coomi who had suffered a great mental shock when the four-storey building next to their bungalow collapsed without warning killing all the residents. The structure had housed many young children who used to come and play with Coomi aunty every evening, and their death was too big a trauma for her to bear. She died on December 23, 2003.
Then, unexpectedly, in October 2007, after he had stopped his practice, Sethna received an offer from the GDA to be its consultant architect and remained employed by them as long as he lived.
Dr ARDESHIR DAMANIA
Davis, California
abdamania@yahoo.com