"After a search and a lot of effort, Mobed Sohrab Hengami… an Iranian national (has) joined the Seth Dossabhoy Merwanji Wadia Dar-e-Meher (also known as Gari Khata Agiary) in Karachi from April 21, 2021 when the jashan for the 152nd salgirah of the Agiary was held,” noted a circular from Byram Avari, chairman of the Karachi Parsi Anjuman Trust Fund (KPATF).
Although Hengami prays beautifully and can do all ceremonies, neither he nor his wife Parvaneh speak Urdu, Gujarati or English. Communication with the couple in Persian can be undertaken only through Mobed Rustam Dastur and his wife Huma or via Minocher Vakharia. To facilitate transliteration of names before Tandarosti and other prayers, the laity has been requested to share relevant information in advance. "I therefore request your patience in communicating with Sohrab,” urged Avari, requesting community members in Karachi to welcome the couple in their midst. Within a month of the change, Avari reported that "the community has adapted well and the existing mobeds are helpful.”
Sixty-five-year-old Hengami took over as senior mobed from the current incumbent Mobed Burjise Bhada who with his wife has applied for immigration to Houston, USA but is presently helping the Hengamis to settle down in their new abode. Although this time they managed to get a visa for the Hengamis, "It is extremely difficult to get any mobed from Iran or India… We do not know what will happen in the future,” Avari told Parsiana, giving credit to the Vakharia family’s Iranian contacts that helped them source the Iranian mobed. "No mobed is willing to come from India to Pakistan. Just the word ‘Pakistan’ seems to scare everybody away,” regretted Avari mentioning that due to the unfavorable media coverage and family pressures, priests refuse to even consider "a visit to assess the situation.”
Top: Mobed Sohrab and Parvaneh Hengami;
above left: Wadia Dar-e-Meher
Oxygen cylinders at Anjuman office in Karachi
In the meanwhile since the Saddar Agiary in Karachi required a priest to perform the late evening Aiwisruthrem gah maachi, Dastur’s services will be loaned to the second agiary in Karachi.
With Covid cases rising in Karachi, Fram Framji who shares community updates circulated a message from Avari requesting all devotees to wear a mask when coming to the Gari Khata Agiary and to not kiss frames hung inside the Agiary "as this is a guarantee to spread the virus.” On May 19, octogenarian Framji’s family posted a message on social media that their patriarch "is in hospital with pneumonia and fever and not in a very stable condition. Please do pray for his quick recovery.”
The Anjuman has now purchased three oxygen cylinders which are kept at the KPATF office for free use by any Zarathushti who is infected with Covid and is self isolated. While the Anjuman will make arrangements to deliver it to the individual in need, the Anjuman office has to be intimated once the oxygen cylinder is not required so that it can be collected and kept ready for the next patient.
Avari also shared another relevant message received from Toxy Cowasjee, former president of the Karachi Zarthosti Banu Mandal. She advised those staying in multistory residential colonies like Jamshed Bagh and Anjuman Bagh in the city to keep the commode flaps shut throughout the day, spray disinfectants in the commode before and after every use to neutralize the viral load and to remember to keep the commode flap closed before flushing. This is because multistory apartment complexes have common sewage lines and residents who are Covid positive or suffering from mild symptoms may spread the virus through a common drainage system.