"We are situated in an area which had a good number of Parsis. Jalbhai Street nearby was full of Zoroastrians. Now 60-70 percent of them have moved out of this area,” says Mehroo Pavri who with husband Sorab runs the sandalwood and religious artefacts shop Manekshaw Naoroji and Company at Charni Road junction in Bombay. "There was a time when the sale of sukhad was so good that the rear portion of the shop would be stacked with sandalwood logs from floor to ceiling and 10-12 men would be occupied chipping the logs to the required sizes of sandalwood sticks.”
"We used to supply sukhad not just to agiaries in Bombay but to Udvada, Navsari, Surat as well,” asserts Sorab who joined his father-in-law Manekshaw Naoroji Lawyer in the business in 1960. With his mobility severely restricted by a stroke in 1995 while on a holiday in the Himalayas, septuagenarian Sorab still comes to the shop every day from his residence in Bandra. "He is a brave person,” commends Mehroo as she watches him navigate his way slowly and laboriously to and from his desk. "Driving used to be his passion, and swimming too but that is all gone now,” she sighs.
Mehroo and Sorab Pavri (Photo: Cherag Mevawala)
Presently, business is good only around Muktad/Pateti/Navroz time, say the couple. The price of sandalwood varies from the cheaper quality sold at Rs 300 to Rs 3,500 per kilogram for good Malabari sandalwood from the core of the tree. "My father used to sell years ago at Rs 16 per pound,” Mehroo remembers. The sandalwood scenario changed drastically since the dreaded Veerappan became lord of the Mysore forests. Mehroo explains that wholesale dealers have to buy from government auctions only and, because prices have jumped, smuggling is rampant. Traders are selling smuggled sandalwood at a much lower price. A new and disturbing phenomenon is the Parsi as well as non-Parsi door-to-door salesmen who go to colonies and other areas vending sukhad, loban, agarbattis, etc as "though they were chana-mumra (savories).” People buy because of the convenience and the fact that the price is lower, adds Sorab, the consequence being a slump in the business of shopowners. No, we do not sell Tanzanian sukhad, says Mehroo.
"The Lawyer family has been in the sandalwood trade since the 1920s. My father’s brothers, Sorabji and Ardeshir, were the pioneers in the family,” Mehroo traces the history of the earlier generation. Adjacent to the present shop was the older one, Sorabji Naoroji and Company which had a booming wholesale trade, with an office in Horniman Circle, one more shop in Bazargate Street managed by another brother Pirojsha as well as a sandalwood oil factory in Mazagaon. "It was Ardeshir who built the business, putting up with hardships, sleeping in jungles...” Mehroo narrates.
As a lad in the 1920s, Manekshaw himself had ventured forth to Calcutta and set up a glass factory there which, unfortunately, closed down in five years. On his return to Bombay, it was Ardeshir who took his sibling under his wing. Manekshaw managed Sorabji Naoroji till 1960, when Ardeshir helped him to start his own business next door. "We are indebted to Ardeshir kaka (uncle). We are a very united family,” Mehroo voices her appreciation. In later years, Sorabji Naoroji was managed by Ardeshir’s son Rustom and still later by Rustom’s son Sammy, helped by brothers Farokh and Rohinton. Sorabji Naoroji and Company shut down two to three years ago, states Mehroo, and presently an optician’s shop, Homi and Company, is to open soon next door. "I am continuing because of my father’s name,” she asserts. Several other wholesalers like Gordhandas, Popular Sandalwood, Warden and Company have closed down, she adds, but competition in the neighborhood continues as there are still places around where sukhad is available, given that Cama Baug agiary is just opposite and some Parsi presence remains in the area.
The lady strives too to pursue her passion which is fabric painting. "I started this hobby as a schoolgirl,” relates the spunky senior citizen who is one of the founder members of Dignity Foundation, which provides life enrichment services to senior citizens. In its May 2003 issue Dignity Dialogue wrote in a brief profile of the fabric painter: "I would do oil paintings initially. My husband encouraged me. Then when fabric colors became available in the market, I began painting largely baby motifs on baby dresses, napkins, towels, scarves, hankies, table mats and kitchen memos.” Seeking to finetune her skill at painting flowers on scarves, Mehroo attends the Katrak Class at Dadar and the products made by the students are displayed and sold at exhibitions.
Having studied Ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arrangement from Meenaxi Desai, former vice chairperson of the Bombay chapter of the Ohara School, Mehroo’s artistic arrangements were often objects of admiration at Cement House where she worked for The Associated Cement Companies (ACC) for over 30 years in the cement marketing division. "I am writing to say how greatly we appreciated the excellent flower display you had arranged on the occasion of the dinner at our residence when we had invited our governor Air Marshal Latif and Begum Bilkees. The governor and Begum Bilkees, (Nergish and) Nani Palkhivala, Munira and Nana Chudasama, among others, all expressed their admiration of your work. I have also seen the beautiful flower displays and arrangements you have made on several occasions at Cement House and this is a tribute to your art,” wrote ACC vice chairman and managing director M. A. Wadud Khan in a letter of appreciation in 1985.
Despite the difficulties and illnesses, Mehroo says: "I am happy in all respects. I thank God for all He has given.”