Bom Bahai Diaries-7: Jamva Chalo Ji

Vicky, you are looking funny today.

Why Sir? These are such fine clothes I am wearing.

Yes, it is quite unlike you. You are usually wearing jeans and a loose shirt but today you’re in all white. Looks like you are going to play some cricket at the Azad Maidaan today except that you are also wearing a chocolate-coloured makhmal topi and smart boots.

Jokes apart, Sir, this is the traditional Parsi clothing for men. It is Navroze in a couple of days from now, the Parsi New Year and I wish to pay my respects to the community that has done so much for the country.

But I always thought the Parsi New Year fell sometime in the middle of August each year and at times when working for the Tata’s, we got a day off.

Let me explain, Sir. In Iran, they celebrate Navroze each year on 20^th of March and in India we do it on the 21^st of March. This marks the Spring Equinox. Since Parsis also have their origin in Persia, they too celebrate Navroze and do what they do best, khao, piyo, maze karo. The Parsis in India celebrate their new year in August, as you have rightly said.

Thanks Vicky, for this useful information. I will remember to send out messages to my Parsi brothers and sisters on that day.

Forget it Sir. They will be too busy celebrating to see your boring cliché messages…Navroze Mubarak. Let us, instead, celebrate the big day of this community by doing a hopping tour of some cafes that serve Irani food and beverages.

What an idea, Vicky ji. Let’s do it…we have done pub hopping at night, now let us do bakery hopping during the day!

Sir, let me give you some more trivia about the Parsis in India who came from Persia fearing religious persecution and landed at Sajan on the Gujarat coast. They sought refuge from the King Jadi Rana. The King was initially hesitant to grant them permission to settle on his land. To express his concern about overpopulation and the strain on local resources, Jadi Rana sent the Zoroastrians a glass full of milk. The Zoroastrian priest stirred a spoonful of sugar into the milk without spilling a drop and returned the glass to the King. This gesture symbolised that the Parsis would blend into the local community, sweetening it without causing any disturbance or displacement. The King granted them permission to settle in his kingdom.

The Parsis were great traders and, at one time, were among the most prominent businessmen in India. Some of them like Tatas, Godrej and Wadias dominated the economic map of India. Today, the population of Parsis is fast dwindling and as per the census of 2011, there are only 57,000 of them remaining in India. Their birthrates are the lowest and their literacy at 99.1% is the highest in the land.

The Iranian community, made up of Zoroastrians and Muslim Shias, have been a recognisable part of Mumbai since the late 19^th century for the Irani cafes they set up. At one time there were about 350 of these cafes in Mumbai, however, today there are less than 35 left. The origin of these Irani cafes once again is in traditional Iran which had Qahva-Kanas which were used to supply opium for smoking, and drinking coffee and black tea. Here in India, of course it was tea with milk and sugar and zero opium.

You have done full research on the Parsis, Vicky. I think you should be given a good name befitting your looks and knowledge. What about Bomsi Manasjee? Sounds good, eh! Before we start our chai shop hops, tell me why the Parsis are often called Bawas?

Bawa is the colloquial of Baba or father figure. Because of their habitual interjections, Arre Bawa at all conversations, which simply means Arrey Baba, they are referred to as Bawas. Now let us start our tour in the right spiritual way by going to Bhikha Behram Well which is celebrating three hundred years. Sitting adjacent to the Churchgate station, this well, erected by Bhikhaji Behramji Panday, is sacred to the Parsis. Even though the place was very close to the sea, the well springs sweet water till this day. Three hundred years ago, a Parsi gentleman was aware of the need of fresh water, don’t you think we should make him a champion for water conservation in our times? The future of mankind is in danger unless we act on this grave crisis now.

Do you know the difference between bun and brun, Sir?

I did not even know there existed anything called brun.

Ha ha…the brun is the same bun or pao you have but with a very thick crust on top. You might dislodge your remaining teeth if you were to take a bite directly. The locals enjoy the brun by dipping it in the chai or have it with some dish with gravy. The brun and buns or pao evolved into the Irani cafes due to the fact that the first of these started around Dhobi Talao, a place dominated by Goan Christians who were the bakery pioneers.

Irani restaurants are best known for their no-frills ambience and menu. The traditional restaurants have mirrored walls that act as ‘closed circuit TVs’ for their owners, European chairs, marble-topped tables and chequered flooring. The fare is limited, yet satisfying. Irani cafes serve bun maska (bread and butter) or brun-maska (hard buttered croissants), and paani kam chai, or khari chai, mutton samosas, and kheema pav, akuri (scrambled eggs and vegetables), berry pulao, mutton/chicken dhansak (a spiced lentil dish with meat and vegetables) and biryani, caramel custard and Duke's Raspberry drink.

Sassanian

Sassanian and Gol Masjid

While we have tasted the soft maska pav of the oldest surviving Irani café of Kyani’s on an earlier tour, we decided to start the tour by going to Vicky’s favourite joint from college days, Sassanian Boulangerie & Restaurant which started in 1913 by Rustom K. Yazdabadi and is situated in Dhobi Talao near the Gol Masjid. Sassanian is famous for its dhansak, salli chicken and roasted chicken. Its mawa and plum cakes along with chicken puffs are the most sold items. Several famous celebrities, including film stars, politicians and academicians, swear by the food but our Bomsi Saheb ordered chicken mayonnaise roll. This was something very new to me…chunks of cold chicken between hotdog buns and generous droppings of mayonnaise dripping from all sides, making the roll taste delicious with a tinge of sweetness.

Chicken Roll and Brun

Sassanian continues to attract huge crowd even today despite not advertising. The old timers always drop in and then there is the word of mouth that brings in newer customers. The unwritten rule that prevails here is “to always serve good food and take the blessings of people.” The old Bawa who runs the place always had a very bad mouth and Vicky had many an anecdote to share. We went to the bakery side where the old man was sitting. We started taking pictures of the bakery items kept there and were asked, “Why are you taking pictures?” We said we wished to write about the place and beat a hasty exit.

B. Merwan & Co.

Established in 1914, B. Merwan & Co. is one of the iconic places in Mumbai, situated right outside the Grant Road Station. The cafe was founded by Boman Merwan and now his grandsons run the establishment. The cafe is famous for its mawa cakes that sell quicker than you can imagine. On some days, the mawa cakes are sold out in less than an hour. Since we reached at 5.30pm, they had already started pulling down the shutters. Somehow, we requested for a quick bite and all we managed were bun-muska with chai. The place has this colonial British era touch with high ceilings, wooden chairs from Czechoslovakia and the marble top tables are from Italy. The walls are not painted; instead Irani cafes make use of glass on the walls that creates a feeling of larger space. The waiters here do not have any uniform. You get a glass of water before you place your order. Your order taker is your waiter. So, the quicker you place your order the quicker you can get your meal. If the item you order is not available, he will let you know. Most of the staff here are daily wage earners but have been working here for at least 2-3 decades or more. No wonder, they started wrapping up the place while we were sipping the Irani chai and then they went on to turn off the fans, just to make sure we did not hang around for long. The manager there was a pleasant fellow who explained that they do not have any branches and the Merwan’s cake shops you see around the city have nothing to do with the original B. Merwan’s. But rememeber the old saying that at Merwan's, only the early birds gets the mawa cake!

Bun-Muska and the Tables & Chairs

Yazdani

Yazdani and the fine art of selling Mawa Cake

Having missed the cake at Merwan’s, we rushed to another old Irani café called Yazdani. This shop too was almost shut but the man at the counter offered to sell us mawa cakes. He had a peculiar style of cutting a small portion of the silver foil at the bottom end of the packing and handing it over to customers who could enjoy the cake right away without wasting time in opening. Yazdani Bakery was opened in 1950 by Meherwan Zend. Known for its brun-maska, this cafe used to take pride in baking bread. Yazdani was possibly the first bakery in Mumbai to “go beyond Bun, Brun, Laadi Pav and Sliced Bread”. We enjoyed two mawa cakes each and also packed some for home while the Bawa kept smiling and singing…Enjoy the day, enjoy, for tomorrow you may die…

Yezdi, Yazdani & Mawa Cake

Jimmy Boy

We thought of first having dinner at Universal Café near Old Customs House but being a Sunday, the place was full. We tried our luck at The Military Café but the Bawa here does not work on this day of the week. Finally, we landed at Jimmy Boy near the Bombay Stock Exchange (wonder why they have not changed the name to Mumbai Stock Exchange so far). This is a family restaurant that started in 1925 and was spruced up in 1999. With all that had gone into our tummies since evening, all we could order was salli-boti, pao and lagan nu custard. Before the food reached our table, Vicky drowned a bottle of Duke’s Raspberry and I took a bottle of Jeera Masala drink. The food here is very good and we were quite enamoured by what others were ordering…keema pao, chicken farcha and patrani machhi. In typical Parsi style, the owners here want you to eat and drink to your heart’s content while enjoying the warm Parsi hospitality. In short, Jamva chalo ji...or come, let’s eat.

Salli-Boti Pao and Lagan nu Custard

Parsi Dairy

Our Bomsi Saheb was very adamant that we visit the renovated Parsi Dairy. This dairy-cum-sweet shop was established in 1916 and is possibly India’s oldest operational dairy. They started door to door delivery of milk in 1920s and used the coupon system to perfect the order taking and deliveries. Today, the place has been totally renovated and looks like a chic place that can put any top end shop to shame. We were too full to eat any of the mouth-watering sweets on display and so we packed the special masala paneer for our homes.

Khada Parsi

While a lot is spoken about the philanthropy and goodness of Parsis, they are also known for their eccentricities and today my friend Bomsi Manasjee displayed one such trait. For the entire evening we spent at the various Irani Cafes, Vicky kept standing. The people at the cafes and waiters were laughing seeing him eat while standing. I kept requesting him to sit down but he wouldn’t budge. Finally, he declared that he had resolved to stand the whole day in respect of a Parsi gentleman who has been standing near the Byculla flyover for over 160 years.  This is the magnificent cast-iron, 40-foot statue of the Parsi atop a Corinthian pillar, reputedly one of the only two in the world, the other is the statue of Cires in Chile. This Khada Parsi memorial was built by a son for Seth Cursetjee Manockjee who championed women’s education by starting an English school, The Alexandra Girls’ English Institution in 1859.

Finally, Vicky let me tell you a story about a Parsi, I admire the most. This was around 2008, when as the head of the Mumbai office for my company, I would ask my people to stay away from accepting any business from Parsi individuals. The reason was very simple, for any issue relating to policy, premium or claim, they would threaten…main Ratan (Tata) se baat karega…Working in a Tata company I was petrified of them. However, one day, one octogenarian Parsi, six-and-a half-feet-tall with broad shoulders, came to the office to meet me and he sat down before me. I offered him water but he insisted on having a cola. I sent my office boy to fetch a bottle of Coke for him and then he asked for ice. The boy went rushing again to get ice and the man now seemed pleased. Next, he insisted on seeing his car that he wanted to be insured. I went along and saw a red coloured sports model Mercedes standing at the building porch where no vehicles were permitted. We insured his car and he came again next year. This time he wanted me to see his chopper. Off I went again and he sat on his 350cc bike and turned on the engine and on the display, it read…Welcome back Bomsi. My friendship with this remarkable man grew over the years and I learnt that he was a big man, not just in size alone, he was a legend. He was a Professor Emeritus and a famed surgeon with over 400 patents in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. He had done the London-Sydney car rally twice and represented India in international Bridge Championships. What I loved most about him was his zest for life. Each year he would buy a fancy car and give away his old ones to his nieces and nephews. And that is why I named you today after this Parsi Superman, Dr. Bomsi Wadia.

Navroze Mubarak!

Vicky & SS