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They are only a decade or so younger than the Baug they reside in. Nine nonagenarians and one 100-year-old resident of Rustom Baug (RB) were felicitated at the kickoff to the colony’s year-long centenary celebrations on January 14, 2023. Some of the home-bound seniors were felicitated at their respective residence. The evening’s program included a jashan and a fun fair with stalls put up by seniors. The Baug, with 32 buildings comprising 349 flats currently housing around 320 families, had been established by Wadia family matriarch Jerbai in memory of her predeceased son Rustom. A brief note on the events was sent to Parsiana by Baug resident Moti Vazifdar. 
Burzis Taraporevala, president of the Rustom Baug Welfare Association (RBWA), in his address stated that he was speaking "as any other tenant, born and brought up within the enclave of this paradise that we call home… (I) got myself an education and at the same time honed my skills in every extracurricular and sporting activity thanks to this magnificent club house given to us by the munificence and generosity of the late Neville Wadia… I got me a wife from within RB… As I stand here I do so with a deep sense of gratitude to the foresight and philanthropy of Jerbai Wadia for not just building but personally supervising the construction and birth of RB.

 

 

 

 

 

"Let us soak in this great feeling of today and let us pledge that we will leave a legacy that our children and grandchildren will be proud to inherit,” ended Taraporevala.
Jerbai was the wife of Nowrosjee who established Bombay Dyeing and Manufacturing Company in 1879. She first constructed Nowroz Baug at Lalbaug in 1908 in memory of her husband who passed away in 1899. RB followed, as did Jer Baug (Byculla) in 1928, Cusrow Baug (Colaba) in 1934 and Ness Baug (Nana Chowk) in 1956 built or acquired by her sons Sir Ness and Sir Cusrow. All these colonies constitute the Wadia Baugs now managed by the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP).
President of the Sir Ness Wadia Pavilion that crowns the main lawns of RB, BPP trustee and Baug resident Ervad Xerxes Dastur in his brief talk described the colony as "a little piece of heaven on earth for all of us.” The Baug, he stated, has nurtured all the residents and it was "a sacred duty to ensure that we not only maintain it but leave it in a better condition for the next generation.”
Ervad (Dr) Parvez Bajan, panthaky of the nearby Bomanji Merwanji Mevawala Agiary, gave a short history of the Wadia family: "Seth Nowrosjee created a will in 1888 and appointed Jerbai as the sole executrix and by further codicil he bequeathed Rs 8,00,000 and earmarked some of his immovable properties with a direction to utilize this to improve the housing conditions of the poor and middle class members of the Parsi/Irani community professing the Zoroastrian faith.” When their son Rustom died in September 1919, "Jerbai set apart the whole estate of her late son valued at Rs 20.48 lakhs for the benefit of the poor and middle class members of the community… She decided to build RB and created a trust — the R. N. Wadia Trust buildings for Parsis. During her lifetime, some of the blocks were constructed, starting with Building 5 in 1923,” noted Bajan.
The program commenced with a jashan performed by mobeds of RB and the nearby Jer Baug "extending our thanks to Ahura Mazda and Jerbai for making RB a progressive, safe and vibrant haven for our community,” noted Vazifdar. The ceremony was attended by over 300 persons. A humbandagi led by the mobeds and "around 30 children from the Baug” followed, as did monajats by children and senior citizens.
The prayers were led by Ervad Aspi Tarachand, accompanied by Ervads Darayesh Katrak, Mehernosh Unwalla, Dinyar Vajifdar, (Dr) Mazda Turel, Zubin Katrak, Pashyn Sethna, Cyrus Dastur, Yazd Kotwal, Zreh Nariman and Zaal Nalladaru.
The cutting of a cake and consuming the confection along with the chashni followed. Special invitees then partook of high tea at the Ranina Nursery.
The Khushali no Melavdo (celebratory get-together) started at around 7 p.m. on the grounds with around over 20 food stalls arranged by senior citizens and game stalls by youngsters. Lucky dips and raffles were held for multiple gifts. Play equipment was arranged for children, while others danced to the music until late into the night.
The program was compered by Yazmeen Contractor, a member of the Baug’s centenary celebrations committee.
As noted Vazifdar, "All evening there was Parsipanu at its best with bhanvanu, ramwanu né jamvanu (prayers, play and food).”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Blessed to live here”
The gated housing complex stands secluded from the hustle and bustle of the street on which it stands. Resident for two decades at the colony, Xerxes Dastur told Parsiana that "I think we who are here at the Baug are blessed to live in these environs…We must have definitely done something right in our previous life to be here today.” He said he was "fortunate to be born here and extremely fortunate to have come back in my later years… The sense of home, community and belonging I get here is unmatched… Frankly (I) will not ever leave.”
BPP trustee Anahita Desai moved into the Baug with her late husband Yazdi and her mother in 2002 from a cosmopolitan building. "We got our flat under the security deposit scheme and we had the option of either choosing Cusrow Baug or RB. We chose RB… The layout of the flats here is, in my opinion, far superior to that of any flat in any colony… Also a huge tree in our grounds just makes our colony magical… serene, peaceful, orderly, green and clean.” Commenting that nowadays high end housing developments are marketed citing the pluses of green surroundings, lawns, open spaces, Desai stated, "We at RB are blessed with greenery and the most beautiful tree I have ever seen.”
The green cover in the colony finds a place in the centenary logo, a stylized numeral 100. Designer and celebrations committee member Shahrukh Irani commented that "the design identity and thinking were born out of homage to the many special and iconic details of RB… The numeral 100 took shape from all the abundance we are privileged to be surrounded by… The grand stone and iron gates that stand tall at our entrance… The colonial and earthy-roofed buildings that protect our old and young… And finally, the blossoming flora we have grown up with… One look at the logo and you know, it can’t spell anything else but home.” Co-committee member Sethna developed the posters, banners and WhatsApp posts, he stated.
Irani and Sethna were reportedly the brains behind a series of posts planned and named Humans of Rustom Baug. "We are going to do this for social media and it will be a series of achievers and contributors towards RB and the community at large,” celebrations committee member Hutoxi Doodhwala told Parsiana. The first such person to be remembered was veteran social worker, the late Kumi Daruwalla. "We may not have information on very early residents but we are making an earnest effort… We get information from their families.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now in her thirties, a mother of two living in the Gulf, Fareena Engineer shared her childhood memories of RB with Parsiana. "Although my sister Sanaea and I lived in Dadar Parsi Colony, our hearts were always in RB because our grandparents lived there and we spent so much time with them… RB was like a magnet, pulling us towards it… It was a safe place and a sanctuary from the hustle and bustle of Bombay… Once we got there, we would not want to go back home… The friends we made in RB became friends for life… My fondest memories are of sitting on the seeri (steps of the buildings) for hours and just gabbing.”  
Xerxes Dastur and Doodhwala reiterated that it is not only the housing that the residents cherish. "We run a nursery school in the morning and from its fees support a lot of welfare activities of the colony… We run two yoga classes in the evenings for senior citizens and another one for residents of all ages… We have a prayer class in the evenings twice a week for kids… Once a week the senior citizens, whom we call Super Silvers, have their little get-together where they have religious and self-improvement talks, discuss recipes and celebrate birthdays,” Doodhwala elaborated.
Their clubhouse is equipped with a canteen, library, badminton court, table tennis tables, carom boards, throwball / volleyball courts and a state of the art gymnasium, with year round badminton coaching. Tournaments are held for carom, table tennis and badminton. All-Parsi tournaments for football and cricket are also held, explained Xerxes Dastur.
The seniors felicitated at the kickoff included Rati Hakim, Homi Gazdar, Piloo Hansotia, Daulat Patel, Mani Mody, Sheroo Engineer, Jamshed Marker, Homai Khambatta, Aloo Bacha and Naval Engineer. Another senior who was away from Bombay will be felicitated later.
Adi Vazifdar and Rustom Jasoomoney serve as joint vice presidents of RBWA; Rohinton Anklesaria and Xerxes Dastur are joint treasurers; Zarin Bahmani and Beroz Gazdar are joint secretaries.
The six-member committee of Baug residents that will oversee the celebrations for the rest of the year comprises Gazdar, Doodhwala, Contractor, Irani, Sethna and Jehangir Mistry.
As state the organizers, a heritage walk followed by brunch is planned for February 2023. There are other events in the pipeline, they stated.