It was the epic tales of "great emperors, warriors and heroes" of the Persian empire related in Firdousi’s Shahnamah that inspired H. D. Darukhanawala to publish Parsis and Sports and Kindred Subjects in 1935. The author termed the Parsis "descendants of a martial race" who excelled in "manly sports."
Over the years few other books on the subject have the same archival value as Darukhanawala’s 488-page tome filled with short biographies and photos of the Parsi muscle men and sports stars of yesteryear. In her talk on ‘Lost Worlds’: Parsi ‘Cultures’ and Strongmen in Twentieth Century Bombay," Dr Namrata Ganneri assistant professor in the history department at S. N. D. T. Women’s University said Parsis and Sports was the starting point for her research. A lot of the data she collected subsequently for her K. R. Cama Avabai Wadia Research Fellowship in memory of Phiroz Mehta was anecdotal. Photographs, where available, were provided by individual sports people.
Many well-to-do Parsis were patrons of sports but did not participate in the activities besides providing financial support. Many of the elite had not heard of the famous Sarkari or Marker gymnasiums or taleem khanas as they were referred to, she noted. For those who were not members of upmarket clubs or could not afford expensive equipment and special coaching, these gyms located in places such as Khetwadi, provided fertile training grounds. A person could also buy a few weights and practice at home. Bodybuilders and athletes of yore took no supplements, the sports persons told the scholar. An extra glass of milk or whatever they could afford, were the only additions to their diet.
In Parsis and Sports, gymnast B. C. Gazdar advised athletes not to "drug yourself with the so-called patent medicines and tonics. They will ruin your teeth and hamper your digestion."
In an essay titled "The value of an egg to sportsmen" the author, "A Dietician" cites the Asian Poultry Research Institute which advises "all sportsmen to keep a few English fowls in their backyard for the supply of dependable quality eggs."
Parsi sethias even underwrote the cost of publishing Parsis and Sports so copies were accessible to middle-class individuals. Interestingly the book contains an index of patrons but not the athletes featured. Darukhanawala’s subsequent two books Parsi Lustre On Indian Soil, Volume I and II barely featured sports people, the scholar noted. The subjects along with portraits on the cover of the two tomes list philanthropy, industry, social reform, medicine, journalism, art, history, law and politics. But no sports, even though the author ran a skating school.
Ganneri notes that many of the early gymkhanas were not financially viable and did not attract enough clientele to make ends meet. The largesse of philanthropists kept them going for however long they could. After the founder’s demise, few gyms continued.
Also as real estate became more valuable, other uses for the premises would be accorded priority.
Was it that sports was to be patronized but not practiced? This is what historian Dr Simin Patel who did her doctoral thesis on the Parsis in colonial Bombay believes. Class was an underlying factor. She points out that benefactors financed several physical culture endeavors but were not sportspersons themselves. Sports has traditionally been a means for the disadvantaged to gain recognition and hopefully some financial returns. Thus it is not surprising that as Wikipedia notes, "Tradition has it that Coroebus, a cook from the city of Elis, was the first Olympic champion" of the ancient era.
Interestingly Wikipedia also states, "The Olympics were of fundamental religious importance, featuring sporting events alongside ritual sacrifices" to the gods and kings. Those who may wish to inject an element of spirituality into sports should note the games did not prosper. The Olympics "reached their zenith in the sixth and fifth centuries BC... gradually declined in importance as the Romans gained power and influence in Greece."
The essay at the beginning of Parsis and Sports, "The Sporting Parsi" by the noted writer J. R. B. Jeejeebhoy relates the pioneering role Parsis played in cricket. "Amongst all the Indian communities the Parsis were the first to take to it so far back as 1848 and they made themselves masters of it within 50 years, so much so that they defeated two English teams that had arrived from England." Sir Pherozeshah Mehta played cricket in his youth and noted, "There is no more agreeable sight, to me in Bombay where passing down Esplanade Road (now Mahatma Gandhi Road) than that of a whole maidan overspread by a lot of enthusiastic Parsi and Hindu cricketers."
But Jeejeebhoy goes on to lament, "Latterly with the game of bridge coming into vogue, (Parsis) exchanged their willow for the cards." Today even "the game of bridge" which requires much concentration, strategy and memory has lost its popularity to rummy, poker and other less intellectually demanding games. Thus though sporting facilities and free coaching is available in select Bombay Parsi baugs, organizers lament not many youngsters come forward, and several who do, soon lose interest. But various associations and individuals in India and abroad still organize sports competitions. FOZAWAC (Federation of Zoroastrian Associations for Welfare and Culture) holds annual athletic and sports events in Bombay while in North America, Zoroastrian Games are arranged every two years. The Jiji Irani Challenge Cup Cricket Tournament is held once a year. And from the reports we receive, there is much bonhomie among the teams. Even from Australia Kersi Meher-Homji writes of sports events and Parsi sportspeople there. Parsi marathoners participate in major runs in India and abroad.
Thus while on the one hand many distractions such as mobile phones and social media exist today, sports records continue to be broken. Despite the shrinking playgrounds and sports facilities, Parsis pull their weight beyond their minuscule numbers. The elders coach the young, for the love of the sport. The playgrounds continue to beckon. The lure of camaraderie and competition, the joy of winning are eternal. So long as there are sports, Parsis will be in the running.