Archive

My co-trustees and I, as team named WE-7, are on the same wavelength regarding our priorities and…have drawn our roadmap with very clear and unambiguous roles for each one of us, well-defined and well-communicated. We will review our own performance periodically and if found lacking, will take required corrective steps,” wrote Poona Parsee Panchayat (PPP) chairman Tehmasp Bharucha in response to an email questionnaire from Parsiana. The new board of seven trustees elected on March 13, 2022 (see "Poona board’s priorities,” Events and Personalities, Parsiana, April 7-20, 2022) assumed office from April 3. Bharucha says he has done "enough homework” to sort out the jobs which require their immediate and urgent action. These include filing timely change reports, informing bankers and others about the change on the board. Advisory committees will be formed to guide the new team.
On the cards is a review of all pending court cases and legal matters. "We will call the concerned parties for discussion to solve issues amicably out of court” to reduce expenses and also permit the trustees to devote their more constructive energies to productive tasks.
Knowing that "PPP has vast quantum of vacant land,” Bharucha said their priority is to safeguard the property from encroachment. Where possible they would develop the lands for residential or commercial purposes as permitted by their trust deed. Aside from assisting community members, this will also "improve the financial position of the PPP,” Bharucha noted.
Addressing lack of infrastructure, Bharucha’s team proposes to "mitigate the hardships faced by the occupants of various buildings due to pending repairs and renovation” by providing them with "satisfactory and comfortable living… Their safety and convenience will be our guiding force.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To motivate and encourage youngsters, the trustees intend to provide youth-centric activities and facilities for sports and recreation, platforms to develop their talents and "encourage healthy competition.” Along with the World Zarathushti Chamber of Commerce, whose Poona chapter he chairs, Bharucha proposes "to organize workshops, career guidance/counseling to promote start-ups and encourage self-employment.”
The PPP trustees will also extend assistance for medical and educational aid, and relief from poverty, for which they will have to bolster their finances. The main source of income for the PPP is revenue from rents, interest from investments and donations. But Bharucha notes, "Most of our housing is meant for the low-income category from which we cannot expect very high rent. Also, in the present scenario, rates of interest are going down day by day. All this has an adverse effect on our corpus.” Developing their properties to generate revenue and minimize expenditure is a priority.
Currently only around 250 of the 275 flats in various buildings located in the Camp area and Lulla Nagar are occupied. "This includes our Boys’ Hostel which provides accommodation to students and salaried men on transfer to Poona.”
At present "there are no pending applications for housing,” replied Bharucha when Parsiana asked why 25 flats were vacant. He believes that around 8,000 Parsis reside in Poona, though the census figures, when available, reflected a figure of 3,000 to 4,000. The number of those who voted in the March election was 546 out of a total membership of 1,833. "The voter turnout for the last election was not satisfactory. More members should have participated in the election,” noted Bharucha.
The PPP has four staff members in its office, a manager at their Jeejeebhoy Building at Lulla Nagar, and a manager at their Doongerwadi comprising two Towers of Silence, notes Bharucha. Regarding creating a cemetery on the Doongerwadi lands, which was tabled at the 61st annual general meeting on December 13, 2021, he believes this project can be taken forward after "due consideration of the sentiments/views of the community members, provisions of the trust deed for the land on which it can be started, statutory permissions and, of course, the donors.”
The other six trustees are vice chairman Yezdi Motiwala, well versed in "overall administration, legal matters;” secretary, "philanthropist and social worker” Bakhtiar Narielwala; treasurer Rohinton Bharda who is a retired bank official; joint secretary Sarosh Mistry, managing director of India operations of a German design consultancy; Kaizad Bhaya and Nauzer Batliwalla. The views expressed in this article are the chairman’s alone, and in no way reflect the views of his co trustees, he clarifies.
Bharucha runs his own financial consultancy. With degrees in commerce, company secretarial practice and banking, he has worked with Canara Bank and later The Zoroastrian Co-operative Bank Limited (ZCBL) in Poona and Bombay. "I had the privilege of establishing their first (ZCBL), branch outside of Bombay,” he said. He is also involved with the Lions Club, Poona Zarthosti Seva Mandal and Poona Parsi Drametures. His wife Dinaz worked at Tata Consultancy Services. They have two sons: Spitam is a mechanical engineer while Taronish and his wife Farzana are dentists.
A strong believer in the religion, he respects all the rituals and practices. He advocates marriages within the community and wants to see a rise in community numbers. Considering dakhmenashini as one of the most scientific and natural systems for disposing of the dead, Tehmasp stated, "What we need to do is to take required steps to make this system adapt to the changing scenario… That is possible only when one is convinced of the system which has been a part of our religion over centuries.” Chary of being labelled as a traditionalist or a reformist, he says others "can exercise their choice keeping in mind the sentiments of the community and principles of our great religion… For me, Ahura Mazda and Zarathushtra along with our atash padshah are our greatest protectors and help us lead an honest and straightforward life with compassion and love for all living beings.”