Immigrants' song

The Tatas, Freddie Mercury & Other Bawas: An Intimate History of the Parsis

Author: Coomi Kapoor

Publisher: Westland

Pages: 320

Price: Rs 699

If you travel around the central and southern parts of Mumbai, not a month will go by without you seeing or remembering a reference to a Parsi — the name of a street, the sight of a fire temple, a visit to an institution that benefited from or owes its existence to Parsi philanthropy. It’s no exaggeration to say that Parsis, to a huge extent, made the city formerly known as Bombay what it is. The Parsi legacy is a living part of the city today as well. Like “sugar in water”, as the old story of the Parsis’ arrival in India says. India, too, owes a lot to Parsis. The writer of this book is Coomi Kapoor, of Parsi heritage herself.

That foundational and legendary contributi­ons to sciences, arts, industry, social reform, and philanthropy in India have come from Parsis — does the well-known story need repeating? Per­haps yes, in today’s India, with its tendency to forget, co-opt, or distort its history. In this context, The Tatas, Freddie Mer­cury and Other Bawas: An Inti­mate His­tory of the Parsis is relevant.

This book is largely a celeb­ra­tion of the material and cultural legacy of Parsis, from centuries back to today, which is all to the good, even if we know many of the details already. I felt the book most intensely where it illustrated cultural traits we associate with many Parsis — philanthropy, enterprise, civic-mindedness, a mix of progressiveness and conservatism, ad­aptability, honesty, litigiousness, and more.

The author begins with a moving introduction to her family; its origins, its notable members, its transition into the present day. The book describes the great ancient empires ruled by Zoroastrian kings; the arrival of the Parsis in India is described as briefly. We are told the Parsis adapted well — to local Indian customs, to the local ways and institutions; and when European traders came to India, the Parsis “were quick to pick up the languages and knowledge of the West, and to adapt to European skills, customs and practices. They became the brokers, and at times moneylenders, for the Europeans”. The “establishment of the premier port in western India”, namely Bombay, gave the Parsi commun­ity a massive boost. “Parsi families began migrating from Gujarat to Bombay around the period when the Portuguese king gifted the island to En­gland in 1688 as part of his daughter Cath­er­ine’s dowry when she married Charles II”. The author makes an incisive point: “The Parsis are actually far older residents of Mumbai than the Maratha settlers...”

The book puts in perspective certain whispers about the Parsis. We are told that although it was the opium trade with China that made several Parsis rich, it was “essentially educa­tion and early entry into industrialization under British colonial rule that was the key to the community’s prosperity. Parsis were also suppliers, grocers and wine merchants to the British army and Indian railways...” And while most Parsis were British loyalists, many were active in Swa­deshi politics, such as “Dadabhai Naoroji, Mad­ame Cama, Sir Pherozeshah Mehta, and Khu­rshed Nariman”. Puzzlingly, Naoroji gets only a short biographical passage; surely his imp­o­rtance merited more? And Sir Pherozeshah Me­hta, civic leader, Indian National Congress co-fo­u­nder and president, foundational figure for the Bombay Municipal Corporation, founder of the Bombay Chronicle newspaper, is mentioned several times, but does not get a biographical note.

More happily, we are treated to engrossing and briskly summarised histories of the Parsi business families, the Tatas, the Wadias, the Godrejs, the Mistrys, the Poona­walas of, most recently, Covi­shield fame, and others. Coming to other fields, too, we are given a glittering tour of Parsi contributions; for ins­tance, art (Fred­die Mercury and Zubin Mehta, for instance); me­di­cine (Farokh Udwadia, Hor­ma­sji Masina, among others); uniformed forces (Sam Manek­shaw); law (Nani Palkhivala, Soli Sorabjee, Fali Nariman, Sir Jam­shedji Kanga, and others). It’s a good recap of the lives of newsmakers.

Equally interesting are the stories of Parsi women; here, I suppose, the author has the opportunity to turn the spotlight on dimly-lit or forgotten parts of Indian history. We are told, “two important characteristics” shone in “many Parsi women; em­powerment and a deep social conscience”. For instance, the Gandhian Mithuben Petit, Madame Bhikaiji Cama, the first Indian woman barrister Mithan Jamshed Lam, the first Indian woman photojournalist Homai Vyarawalla; better known are photographer and screenplay writer Sooni Taraporevala, model and actor Persis Khambatta; business leader, ex-parliamentarian and philanthropist Anu Aga; cricketer Diana Edulji, who has given a great boost to women’s cricket in India. And others.

We are given a look into Parsi society; the Par­si enclaves known as Baugs, the decline in the birth rate among Parsis, the conservative and reformist initiatives within Zoroas­trian­ism, the discrimination — “The woman is excommunicated if she was married in a non-Zoroastrian religious ceremony... her children cannot be brought up as Zoroastrians; whereas the offspring of a Zoroastrian man who marries out of the community are permitted to remain in the faith”.

The book is well written and pacy. But it has glaring misspellings even in proper names, including one that had me guffawing during my walk in the street after a reading session. I won’t tell you what it is and where it is: it will likely be corrected in the next edition, and the book should not be reduced to that howler alone.