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Today we prayed the Yatha and Ashem together… Every time you enter an agiary reciting the Ashem and Yatha keep in mind that it’s not important to mouth the prayers. It’s much more important to understand them, and once you understand them, to live your life by them although it’s very difficult,” impressed Justice Rohinton Nariman (retd) when addressing the gathering at the centenary celebrations of the Dar-e-Meher in Abu Road, Rajasthan on September 16, 2021.
The strength of Parsis in Abu Road city and the neighboring hill station Mt Abu having now dwindled to around 30 as compared to its peak of around 300, the visitors attending the centennial event outnumbered the local populace by nearly two times. Community members from Udaipur, Ahmedabad, Baroda, Surat, Bombay, Delhi with connections to the town or the neighboring hill station were happy to join in the two-day celebrations that started from the night of September 15 and continued till the night of September 17, mentioned Dr Tosher Contractor, a practicing physician who is the treasurer of the Abu Road and Mt Abu Parsi Jarthosti Anjuman that manages the fire temple in Rajasthan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the jashan prayers, Ervads (Dr) Khushru Ghadyali and Nozer Bharucha had been invited from Ahmedabad and Behram Unvalla from Bombay. To cook the specially catered Parsi meals, Nozer and Freny Daruwala were brought down from Surat. To decorate the agiary on its 100th birthday on mah Ardibehesht, roz Ardibehesht, the task was assigned to an Ahmedabad florist, stated Khursheed Contractor of Mt Abu who played a key role in organizing the event, her husband Keki being recently made president of the Anjuman following the demise of the former incumbent Minoo Satarewalla. Tosher's wife, Dr Kriti, too worked ceaselessly to ensure the function was memorable for all.
While a morning jashan followed by a maachi was prayed at the agiary on both the days, the evening functions and meals were organized at Hotel Royal Heritage in Abu Road, owned by Tosher’s family. On September 16, before highlighting the Zoroastrian philosophy embedded in the kusti prayers, Nariman stated that from the time he visited Mt Abu with his wife Sanaya in 1982 and "built my first house here, I actually feel I belong to both Mt Abu and Abu Road.” Having demitted his judicial office in the Supreme Court just a month prior, the relaxed Nariman urged, "Aspire to become a person who follows the path of truth… Do not follow the path of power but of duty… Be humble in all your endeavors… You must have the strength of character to fight evil… (for) he is wicked who is well intentioned to those who are wicked…” Ahura Mazda Khodae recommends devotees to abjure 11 evils — included among which are being wilfully deaf, wilfully blind, conceding to tyrants — and to tread instead the path of goodness.
"What is courage without wisdom? Even a terrorist has courage but it is misused or misapplied. What is the importance of intelligence unless accompanied by a vision to translate it into something good? Do good to the extent possible. Never stray from the faith. Do not be quarrelsome but a binding force… Most important, give of yourself,” recommended the respected judge as his little grandson Cyrus Nariman Alva darted back and forth between the podium and the audience.
The function also included felicitation of the priests, dignitaries and local members. The following evening saw the assembly enjoy games, music and dance before a hearty dinner. A mounted photograph of the fire temple was presented to all who had participated in the celebrations as a memento to be cherished.
 
Contractor connections
The original structure of the agiary has withstood the vagaries of time and prior to the centenary event required only minor repairs and a coat of paint during which time the sacred fire had to be shifted.
Motabhoy Bhikhaji Contractor who had been commissioned by the Datta Darbar, Maharaja Sirohi, to build a bridge over a river in Abu Road was responsible for constructing the Dar-e-Meher, mentioned Tosher. The Maharaja had sanctioned a plot of land admeasuring 110 x 150 ft to build thereon a fire temple and priest’s quarters. For the construction of the Dar-e-Meher and priest’s quarters Rs 13,360 were spent, according to the Global Directory of Zoroastrian Fire-Temples. The alat was brought on foot from Ahmedabad and the sacred fire was consecrated by Dastur Faredun Sorabji on October 12, 1921. Motabhoy’s son Sorabsha who presided over the inaugural function contributed a further sum of Rs 6,000 to perpetuate the memory of his parents. Towards the maintenance of the fire temple, other magnanimous donations had come from Dhunbai Pestonji Hakim, Rs 5,000; and Mithibai Jehangir Mugaseth, Rs 3,200. In the absence of a full-time priest, currently their dadgah fire is tended by the caretaker Cyrus Irani.
It is the largesse of Pestonji Ardeshir Pastakia that is currently sustaining the Anjuman properties and activities, mentioned Tosher. In his will, Pastakia had specified that the sale proceeds from his house, amounting to nearly a crore of rupees, be gifted to the Anjuman. Besides the Dar-e-Meher, the Anjuman also manages a two-room dharamshala and a dakhma.
While the current secretary of the Anjuman is Firoz Master, their eldest member is Tosher’s 89-year-old fua (father’s sister’s husband) Ardeshir Jal Contractor and the youngest is Tosher and Dr Kriti’s 12-year-old son Shouran. In Mt Abu, Keki and Khursheed and their sons Kayzad and Shahezad are well-known for being the mainstay of St Joseph’s Secondary School. Keki is the principal of the School and Shahezad assists with academics, while Khursheed and Kayzad look after administration and management.

 

Lasting links 
Happy to have joined in the centenary celebrations with "two days of pomp and ceremony and lots of fun!” Rohinton’s wife, Dr Sanaya, on Parsiana’s request, reminisced about the holidays spent at her grandmother’s home: "I came here as a three-month-old as did my brother and sister. We have the most lovely memories of our Abu holidays at the home of Dina Granny (Dina Sorab Ginwala), the most beautiful, loving person I have ever come across!
"Mt Abu, tranquil, serene, served as the anchor for so many of us who made up the two-month summer holiday gang (the eldest of us being 13 or 14 years old then and the youngest newly born) until the 1990s when we suddenly dispersed all over India to higher secondary schools, colleges and work. The gang included Rushad and Neville Ginwala and their cousins Tina and Rukshan at Dawn bungalow;  Havovi and Mehernosh Ginwala and  Sanaya, Jamshed and Silloo Contractor at Rest Heaven along with Granny’s sister Rati aunty’s son Noshir and his other brother and sisters occasionally visiting too; the Medora family at Manek Manor, the four Sethna girls with their parents and grandparents at Vakil Bungalow.
"Then there were the local Parsis of Mt Abu: the Motishaws whose parents ran their private electric station; the Bharucha brothers whose parents owned a fascinating shop, full of toys and exquisite cutlery, crockery and curios from palaces emptying out for after all Mt Abu was the official summer residence for the colorful kings and queens of Rajasthan for whom an era was coming to an end. The Bharucha family also ran one of the best little hotels in Mt Abu called Mt View, known all over for its desserts! Coomi Meherwanji’s family donated a hill with a big bungalow for a blind school. She had a fair every year to help raise funds for the school. The summer gang spent 10 happy days wrapping lucky dip gifts for the fair and we were made to man different stalls depending on our age every year!

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Fifteen to 20 of us youngsters from the gang would meet each morning at 9.30 in our trekking clothes to walk to Tod rock on top of Nakki Lake, or Kodra Dam, or Anadra point on top of Anadra village or Crags but our grandparents wisely never allowed us to go to Baileys with its cliff edge next to the walking path. Our long walks ended with sandwiches and water after which we returned home, had lunch, rested and dressed up to go play at Nakki Lake. In the beautiful place with its date palms, green hills and huge rock faces we experienced wholesome fun, laughter and excitement. We often visited the Abu Road agiary too.”
Having originally signed up to attend the centenary function, Mehroo Cama, managing partner of Camarro Travels in Ahmedabad, regretted that medical reasons compelled her to miss the event. Whilst not a regular visitor to the Abu Road fire temple, she distinctly remembered the last time she went there in 2014, barely a couple of months before the demise of her husband Jehangir, chairman and managing director of Cama Hotels and founder of the Cama Rajputana Club Resort in Mt Abu. Since the fire temple is not kept open throughout the day, he had called the person in charge to make necessary arrangements. "Just as we were leaving, Jehangir slipped and fell but by the grace of God he didn’t get hurt so we could proceed,” recalled Mehroo, adding,  "This was his last visit to an agiary and prophetic that it should be in Abu, the place closest to his heart.”