"He is my brother from another mother,” Hitakshi Shah Desai told Parsiana on June 28, 2023 about Ervad Rukhshad Panthaki. The duo offered one sudreh each to any community member who asked for it. Requests for the garment, with measurements, were to be posted by interested recipients till the midnight of July 2 in a WhatsApp "Sadra Donation Group,” for deliveries by Parsi New Year in August. The gift comes from the B. B. Panthaki and J. R. Desai Foundation, named so after the duo’s parents. "We are doing this because of the love for the community…Bhai (Rukhshad)’s parents (since deceased) were like my parents… I believe in good thoughts, good words… The sudrehs are stitched for us by Parsi ladies all over the country… and Rukhshad being a mobed knows what is required religiously,” stated Shah Desai.
Ervad Rukhshad Panthaki (r) and Hitakshi Shah Desai
Besides sending in measurements, the chatter in the WhatsApp group was largely around the duo chastising those asking for sudrehs, for not giving complete details of measurements and postal address or berating them for repeated reminders. Till July 2, 1,567 orders had been received and 860 fulfilled, Shah Desai told us on July 6. The two intend to send off the remaining to those who have asked well before the Parsi New Year. Deliveries are made from Panthaki’s residence in Ghatkopar, Bombay. Panthaki calls himself a "full-time freelance” priest. He runs a small business supplying religious items.
Parsiana queried Panthaki as to the structure of the Foundation. He directed us to Shah Desai who informed us the Foundation was yet to be registered. "But we are carrying on with this work.”