Waternamah — 300 years of Mumbai’s Bhikha Behram Well 1725-2025 edited by Bachi Karkaria. Published in 2025 by The Bhikha Behram Well Trust. Pp: 151. Price: Rs 750.
This commemorative anthology is an offering or salutation to water in general, and the Bhikha Behram Well (BBW), an important landmark in the Fort area. In the experienced hands of editor Bachi Karkaria, assisted by Nandini Bhaskaran, this collection of essays, sparkling with wit and wisdom, assumes historical significance. The photographs, edited by filmmaker Sooni Taraporevala, tell their own story of times past and present. The illustrations, especially the watercolors by Zarin Amrolia, enhance the appeal of the book.
The 30 essays in this commemorative anthology are written by eminent people including religious scholars, historians and conservationists. They cover various interrelated topics: the importance of water in the Zoroastrian faith, the ecological basis of our religion, universality of water as a life force, historical and architectural features of the BBW along with a focus on the Trust associated with the upkeep and continuing legacy of this sacred Well.
Mustansir Dalvi, erstwhile professor of architecture at Bombay University, provides a history of wells in Bombay in the 18th century in his essay "For a City’s Well-Being.” "Wells would be dug manually. The search for fresh water, potable water, was all the more urgent in a peninsular city, surrounded on three sides by open seas,” writes Dalvi.
"Roots in Bharuch, Fruits Across the World” by historian Meher Mistry traces the origin of the BBW. Seth Bhikhaji Behramji Pandey was responsible for sinking this well thanks to a recurring dream. While everyone, including his wife, mocked the idea of digging a well so close to the sea, Pandey’s belief in the Almighty was rewarded with sweet, fresh water that gushed out of that spot. Not only was this water available for human beings but a trough built alongside the well slaked the thirst of animals as well. When other wells in the city were contaminated and sealed during an epidemic in 1725, the BBW remained uncontaminated, serving the needs of thousands of people.
Bachi Karkaria (l) being felicitated by Justice Shahrukh Kathawalla (retd)
Ervad (Dr) Ramiyar Karanjia, principal of the Dadar Athornan Institute, draws attention to the ritualistic function of water in the Zoroastrian religion in "Coopting Water’s Cosmic Power.” "Zoroastrians venerate all seven creations,” writes Karanjia. "However, water ranks second only to fire, the most important.” Shernaz Cama, director of TISS (Tata Institute of Social Sciences)-Parzor Centre for Cultural and Heritage Studies, refers to Ardvisura Anahita, the powerful and immaculate water angel, who is considered to be ahuranish ahurahe (daughter of Ahura Mazda) in "Avan, Aban, Anahita: Revering the Feminine.” Avan Yazad is given utmost importance "because without water, life cannot exist on earth and if life does not exist, then the divine aim of the Zoroastrian creation myth, which is to celebrate the Frashokereti (restoration of the world to its original, perfect state after the destruction of evil), cannot be achieved,” writes Cama. In "A Religion Bathed in Sacred Water,” Justice Rohinton Nariman (retd) talks about well water being sacred, described as ardvisura in its pure form. In the third chapter of the Vendidad, Zarathushtra asks Ahura Mazda, "Where is the third place in the world where the land is the happiest?” And Ahura Mazda replies, "Such a place is the land where an Ashavan (a righteous person) has planted more wheat, oil and fruit trees than anyone else, and people have brought water to dry lands and ploughed the watery lands.” Rituals associated with the Avan Yazad nu Parav are outlined in the book along with a recipe for dar ni pori. Hoshaang Gotla is credited with initiating the practice of holding humbandagis on Avan roz every month at the BBW for the last 15 years which draw a large number of Zoroastrians to participate in group prayer symbolizing "unity and resilience.”
"A Water Voyage” by architect planner Kavas Kapadia describes the practice of rainwater harvesting in the tanka, an underground storage tank that still exists in homes in Bharuch, Gujarat. "The tanka has an average capacity of 25,000 liters and can store drinking water for a largish family for about six to eight months.” What is fascinating is that the stored water has been considered fit for drinking after lab tests conducted by the World Health Organisation. Kapadia also describes, through both words and illustrations, the qunat and the badgir, ancient Iranian structures for preserving water in the desert that are still prevalent today.
Art historian Dr Pheroza Godrej, in "Conservation, Culture and Community,” turns her conservationist lens to the BBW that has survived numerous vicissitudes. In 1997 a public toilet-cum-primary health center-cum-drinking water block right next to the well built by the Rotary Club (Sunrise) threatened its sanctity. After a 16-year legal battle, the toilet block was demolished on the Supreme Court’s intervention. In 2004, the well pavilion was subjected to two separate acts of vandalism, one in which the stained glass panels were shattered, and another that resulted in miscreants making off with its skylight. While the Godrej family had already played its part in renovating the surroundings of the well in 1991, through public awareness campaigns Pheroza was able to procure recognition for the Well as a Grade I heritage structure in 1995. In 2015, the Well’s existence was threatened by tunneling work for the underground Metro Line 3. Once again, the Bhikha Behram Trust filed objections before the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL). Although the tunneling work continued, the MMRCL carried out a risk assessment survey assuring the Trust that the well would not be adversely affected. The Zoroastrian community owes gratitude to the active role played by the Bhikha Behram trustees, headed by chairman Burjor Antia, who have left no stone unturned to preserve the BBW.
Devdutt Patnaik, the mythologist, looks at water through the lens of different faiths in his essay, "Across Space and Time, I’ve Showered My Blessings.” Whether it is the miraculous appearance of fresh water, ZamZam, in the desert to save the lives of Prophet Abraham’s second wife Hagar and son Ishmael, or Jesus’s baptism in the river Jordan or the descent of the river Ganga from Shiva’s matted hair, every religion stresses the importance of water. Similarly, every ancient civilization has grown and flourished in a river basin. "From the deserts of the Middle East, through the fertile crescent of Mesopotamia, to the fertile river banks of India, water has been the symbol of divinity since ancient times,” writes Patnaik, adding, "That’s why the greatest act of charity in all cultures has been to build a well or water tank.”
Narayani Ganesh, freelance writer, enlightens the reader about the importance of water in Buddhism and Judaism, in "The Universal Sanctity of Water.” "In Buddhist temples, seven bowls of water are placed before the deity, to help the faithful to overcome negative qualities, such as greed,” writes Narayani. "The Torah recommends washing to maintain ritual purity and water is used for initiation rites in synagogues.”
To my mind, a timeless classic like this should also have had a hardback edition. As far as the content goes, life stories of miracles wrought by the Well, would have added an interesting dimension.
Waternamah invites the reader to partake of it in small nibbles; it doesn’t have to be devoured all at once. Readers can pick and choose whatever catches their fancy from the smorgasbord served.
ZARIN VIRJI
Virji is an educator and a writer who dabbles in poetry, short stories and fiction for middle grade readers. Her reading favorites are detective stories and crime thrillers.