Nearly 50 members of the community turned up at the Seth Dossabhoy Merwanji Wadia Dar-e-Meher in Karachi at 8 a.m. on Sunday, July 29, 2018 to help in the cleaning of the 149-year-old fire temple. The youngest volunteer was around 12 years old while the eldest was close to 70 years.
"Tasks were delegated according to each person’s individual capacity and age. Younger kids were given small chores while experienced cleaners were made to do tough jobs like climbing ladders to wipe tube light covers and scrub the walls and panels. The older lot cleaned the chairs, tables and books. Guiding them with the cleaning was Mehernosh Damasia and Narius Banaji, the latter being responsible for the upkeep of the H. J. Behrana Parsi Dare Mehr (in Karachi) and does a fab job at it too,” noted a write-up sent by Dinshaw Avari, executive director of Avari Hotels Limited.
(Above) Dilshad Solan spearheading the cleaning at Karachi’s Seth Dossabhoy
Merwanji Wadia Dar-e-Meher
The initiative for this back-breaking, scrubbing and mopping was taken by 25-year-old Dilshad Solan, an internal auditor who has "always been at the forefront when it comes to participating in any community activity or event.” Since this fire temple is managed by the Karachi Parsi Anjuman Trust, she approached chairman Byram Avari who arranged for the cleaning implements and scrubs as also snacks and tea for the volunteers. Ervad Burjise Bhadha serves as the panthaky of this fire temple.
"Cleanliness is strictly adhered to in fire temples and yet the Italian marble tiles that get yellowed with smoke get overlooked. The priests who are tied up with the nitty-gritty of daily rituals like maintaining the fire 24/7, keeping the ashes aside and performing various prayer ceremonies are unable to make time for supervising the cleaning,” stated the report. Even whilst a chasniwala is employed by the agiary to sweep and swab the floors, the extra hands lent by the volunteers helped in removing "the layers of sandalwood soot stains and sticky gunk from the walls of the agiary, especially of the diva room.”
The majority of those who volunteered are regular devotees at the Wadia Dar-e-Meher. This fire temple permits entry to women who have married out of the community and their navjoted children. It sees a daily footfall of around 40-50 devotees, guesstimates Dinshaw.