Died: Ervad Vispi Shapur Dastur, 84, president emeritus of The Bombay Parsee Association and president of the Iran League, trustee of multiple community and social organizations for the welfare of senior citizens, youth and priests among others, respected chartered accountant whose firms V. S. Dastur and Company (VSD) and D. J. Jasavala and Company audited the accounts of many community institutions, and avid philatelist; in Bombay on July 8, 2024 of acute coronary syndrome.
Among the many welfare associations with which he was associated, the cause closest to Dastur’s heart was the District Benevolent Society’s Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy Dharamshala where he was chairman till his death. Under their Grandparent Adoption Scheme, he encouraged school and college students to "adopt” old persons who have no family and give them emotional help and company. A close second was the Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy Group of Schools, especially the Seth R. J. J. School, Bulsar, where Vispi’s father Shapur taught for many years and where stands a wing in his honor.
"All trustees were safe in the belief that our finances were in good hands and that we could unhesitatingly rely on his advice and guidance,” stated Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy who availed of Vispi’s services as internal auditor for the Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy Group of Schools and as statutory auditor of some trusts that he is involved with. Commending Dastur’s "patience, understanding and his innate ability to simplify complex problems,” Jejeebhoy reminisced that prior to his final BCom examinations his father sent him to Vispi to improve his understanding of bookkeeping and accountancy.
Recalling his presence in a priest’s pugree at many social functions, principal of the Dadar Athornan Institute Ervad (Dr) Ramiyar Karanjia called Vispi an integral part of the Athornan Mandal, under whose auspices the Institute functions, and where Vispi served as trustee. "A very mild mannered person… very proud about the legacy of his father who was not only a school principal, but also author of a book on Cyrus the Great… He often mentioned his close connection to (his maternal great-grandfather) poet Firoz Batliwala who penned Chhaiyé hamé Zarthoshti… (and recommended) that the services of Parsi poets need to be recognized.”
Co-trustee with Vispi at the Iran League, Saroosh Dinshaw said, "The League did a lot of good work on a very tight budget, thanks mainly to him.” Connected to the Dinshaw-Adenwalla family "in many ways,” Dinshaw said Dastur had a "soft spot for Aden, its history” and its stamps.
Fellow office bearer at the Iran League and the Bombay Parsee Association, Tehmina Peer appreciated that Dastur was "optimistic and enthusiastic… never perturbed or agitated by difficult situations.” Cmde Aspi Marker (retd) who supported Vispi in both these organizations referred to Vispi’s "sterling qualities.” He considered Dastur "the right mix between work and play with profound attributes of a good leader.”
What drove him to take on the reins of so many welfare organizations despite a full-fledged accountancy practice, we queried Xerxes, his son, partner in VSD and Bombay Parsi Punchayet trustee. "His desire to give back to society as thanks for everything which God has given us,” he responded.
Among the other institutions Vispi was associated with were the Ripon Club (secretary and treasurer); Federation of Zoroastrian Associations for Welfare and Culture (honorary treasurer); Save Udwada Committee (honorary treasurer). A Master Mason and Past Master and honorary treasurer of Lodge Cyrus, Vispi was also an honorary auditor for the Grand Lodge of Bombay and its affiliates.
Ervad Vispi Dastur (top) and above, commemorating Dr Dadabhai Naoroji
Photo: Jasmine D. Driver
"He was a raconteur par excellence. He made filing taxes a joy… Trustworthy to the core, an embodiment of ideals of yore,” stated retired line film producer Yasmine Stafford, to whose family Dastur provided taxation services for three generations. She called him "a most gracious and charming man.” Senior counsel Dinyar Madon who availed of Dastur’s accounting and taxation services for two decades said, "All I had to do was call him on the telephone at any time and he would respond… I had the privilege of gaining immensely from his deep knowledge (of philately).
"He was fascinated with the things you could learn from stamps… different things from different countries in a time when there was no internet… I have lost count of his philately trophies and awards,” stated Xerxes. A "Philatelic Ratna” endowed by the Philatelic Congress of India (PCI) in 2021, Vispi was erstwhile president of the PCI. He served as a member of the union government’s Philatelic Advisory Committee, and secretary/committee member for various state, national and international philatelic exhibitions. President of the Empire of India Philatelic Society and honorary editor of its then Stamp Journal, Vispi was the first Indian and Asian to win the Roake International Trophy (UK) for original research in philately. Serving as Indian delegate on international congresses in philately in Copenhagen (1987) and Spain (1992), his two books on philately An Introduction to India Used Abroad and India Used Abroad have won medals at national and international exhibitions.
From l: Meher, Cyrus, Yohan, Vispi, and Xerxes Dastur;
Vispi and Dinoo with Xerxes on his navjote day
Vispi founded VSD in the same year he qualified as a chartered accountant, in 1964. The six-decade old firm today has four partners, a team of 30 and provides audit, taxation, management consultancy services. Their "vast array” of services include incubating foreign companies, providing outsourced chief financial officer services and family office management, said Xerxes. The firm is now an alliance member in India of US-based Plante Moran. In their client list figure about 80 Parsi and cosmopolitan trusts. Xerxes said, "(My father and I) both are partners in Jasavala and Company,” a firm established prior to VSD.
Born in 1940 to Ervad Shapur and Aloo Dastur, the alumnus of Antonio de Souza High School and Sydenham College, Vispi had done his articleship with P. C. Hansotia and Company, chartered accountants, where he met Dinoo, whom he married and who supported him in his manifold activities. Vispi’s brother Khushroo remembers his older sibling as "extremely hardworking, very determined.”
Vispi was ordained navar on the same day as Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation — June 2, 1953! At the annual prayer competitions and kusti weaving competitions organized by The Bombay Parsee Association and cultural activities that were promoted through the Iran League, Vispi was invariably the mainstay. Viewing the youth as "the real trustees of posterity,” at a prize distribution event in 2015 he had urged the community, "Let us have courage, confidence and consultations rather than fears, conflicts and controversies. Let us make ourselves better, not bitter.”
The committed chartered accountant is survived by his son Ervad Xerxes and brother Khushroo Dastur.