Just two Parsi cops left in Mumbai

Decades ago, on the last Wednesday of every month, the Mumbai police commissioner would take a group of senior officers — all Parsis — to Apollo Florist, opposite Colaba police station.

Decades ago, on the last Wednesday of every month, the Mumbai police commissioner would take a group of senior officers — all Parsis — to Apollo Florist, opposite Colaba police station.

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Fuelled by freshly baked bruns, khari and tea, the gossip session would go on for hours. This monthly meeting was labelled the ‘Parsi Punchayat’, a reflection of the number of officers from the Parsi-Irani (Zoroastrian) community in those days.

The tradition continued till the early 1980s, before it was abruptly discontinued. The reason — there were very few Parsi officers left in the Mumbai police.

During the 1980s, no one from the community joined the force. The beginning of the next decade (1990s) kindled some hope when the Irani brothers — Keyomerz and Cyrus — gave up their banking/Mantralaya jobs to carry the baton for the community. That was it. For the past 21 years, not a single Parsi has joined the Mumbai police.