National para-athlete champion Jehan Madan trumped all the other able-bodied competitors in table tennis at the annual Nogi Day event on November 16, 2024 held at the Jal Phiroj Clubwala Memorial Hall in Madras. Community members of all ages additionally participated in carrom, scrabble, musical chairs and passing the parcel, notes Zarin Mistry, committee member of the Madras Parsi Association (MPA) in a write-up to Parsiana.
Nogi Clubwala: promoted sports
Para-athlete Jehan Madan (ext r) competing in table tennis
Nogi (Khushroo) Clubwala, son of Sirinbai and Phiroj Clubwala, was a founding member of MPA. He unfortunately passed away in Naples on May 24, 1935 at 31 years of age. "I was all alone when he died,” said his wife Mary (née Patel) of Ooty (see "Roses for Clubwala Jadhav,” Parsiana, November 1973). "I came back to India (and) started devoting myself to social work in earnest.”
Nogi’s father, Phiroj, was a philanthropist and benefactor of the community. Phiroj’s other son, Jal, had passed away in 1906, and a year later, in 1907, the father donated the land and building of the Dar-e-Meher to the Anjuman. The fire temple was consecrated in 1910 in Jal’s memory. When Phiroj passed away in 1927 the Phiroj Clubwala Memorial Hall was established and formally declared open by his wife, Sirinbai on August 14, 1930, the same day that the MPA was formed.
Nogi served as the MPA’s honorary secretary from its inception. He was a sports enthusiast who felt that the Association should promote sporting and cultural activities. When the club opened in 1930, it had facilities for badminton, table tennis, draughts, chess, carrom, cards and billiards. Mahjong was added later. Records mention that every day around 40 to 50 members would participate in these sports. One had to book a time-slot for badminton and table tennis, Mistry recalled. Nogi even encouraged the ladies to play billiards which was until then considered a male bastion.
After Nogi’s passing, Mary took over as the secretary of the MPA, throwing herself into social work. Mistry writes, "I would like to think that Nogi and the Clubwala family gave her the impetus and necessary support to find her own voice, and to encourage other ladies in the city.”