Many tributes have been paid to Dastur Kaikhushroo Navroze Meherjirana (pictured), the High Priest of the Navsari Anjuman who passed away on June 4, 2019 at the age of 92. However, his other talents were not known to many. His younger brother Homi Dastur, executive secretary of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, has given details of these in Bhavan’s Journal, which I am sharing here, with his approval.
Meherjirana was the 17th High Priest belonging to the renowned Meherjirana family and a direct descendant of the famous Dastur Meherjirana whom the Mughal emperor Akbar had invited to his court to learn from him the tenets of Zoroastrian religion when he conceived the idea of a new religion named Din-e-Ilahi, incorporating elements from all faiths, to bring religious harmony among his subjects.
Most people know the 17th Meherjirana as a religious scholar, teacher and author of many books on the Zoroastrian religion and its spiritual message. His greatest contribution was to ignite, strengthen faith and elevate the character of thousands of his disciples. But besides his scholastic abilities, he was a great artiste and singer. He played the flute. At the age of 17, when he was in college, he became the youngest student in Hindustani Shastriya Sangeeta of the All India Radio and was featured on the cover page of the All India Radio magazine, The Listener. He followed Abdul Karim Khan Sahib’s Kirana Gharana in general and the great Gangubai Hangal in particular. He gave scores of recitals over All India Radio’s Baroda and Bombay stations.
A mesmerizing orator, he delivered numerous lectures in India, the US, the UK and Canada.
After retiring as general manager, chief legal advisor and chief vigilance officer at Bank of Baroda, he practiced law at the Bombay High Court to secure justice mostly for the charitable organizations and the poor. He penned two books on banking laws and taught at Government Law College in Bombay. He was a member of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s council. With his multitalented personality he was above all a good human being full of love, compassion and humility. PIROJA HOMI JOKHI
piroja.jokhi@yahoo.com