The Surat Anjuman has established some good facilities for Parsis visiting that city who can stay comfortably at Nanpura’s Tamna Dharamshala and the New Sherdiwala Block at Shahpore.
Though Bombay is a major city for the Parsi community, the anjumans there have not been able to provide such facilities. Even Ren Bashera, built by Surat’s Municipal Corporation may be better than Bombay’s one and only existing Merwanji Framji Panday Parsi Dharamshala at Charni Road. No Parsi family can stay there with any degree of comfort while visiting the metro city, which was primarily developed by Surat’s Parsi families who had migrated to Bombay.
It is very shameful that Bombay’s trusts have not been able to provide decent facilities for the temporary stay of Parsi families from other states and towns. RAYOMAN SORABJI ILAVIA
Surat
ilavia.r@gmail.com
Burzor R. Joshi, chairman and trustee of the Seth Merwanjee Framjee Panday Charitable Fund responds:
As the Trust has not received any complaint regarding lack of facilities at the Dharamshala, we would like to ascertain whether your reader has in fact used the Dharamshala or made any complaint to the manager.
The Dharamshala caters primarily to Parsis visiting Bombay from mofussil areas and cities such as Poona, Nagpur, Secunderabad, Dahanu, Valsad, Navsari, Surt, etc. During the months of November through February and May the Dharamshala is fully occupied by families visiting Bombay for navjotes, weddings, for medical treatment, shopping and sports activities.
In keeping with the charitable vision of the founder of the Trust, the trustees have kept the cost of occupation reasonable. The charges are Rs 60 per person in the dormitory; Rs 255 per day for three-bed room without attached bath; Rs 360 per day for three-bed room with attached bath; and Rs 600 per day for five-bed room with attached bath. For temporary accommodation conveniently located in the heart of South Bombay, other than our Dharamshala, there is scarcely any decent and affordable accommodation available in the high cost metro of Bombay. The trust has always striven to provide the best possible services at the Dharamshala, and we respectfully disagree with what your reader has written.