This is an abridged version. Morarji prohibition in 1939 put every Parsee owned bar out of business. The Goan owned bakeries then thrived, with many operating speakeasies on the side. Resentful Parsees went on to christen us paowallas. We can take credit for introducing the joy of leavened products to the west coast of India. eric. --------------------------------------------------------------------
This article appeared in The Tribune, There was prohibition in Bombay those days. So to get liquor you had to find Mr. Dalal, who would introduce you to Mr. Daruwala, who in turn would get bottles delivered to your home by Mr. Batliwala who would be accompanied by Mr. Sodawaterbottleopenerwalla (the longest Parsi surname I have come across). Other surnames whose ancestors were in the beverages trade were Mr. Fountainwala, Mr. Ginwala, Mr Rumwala, Mr. Sodawala and Mr. Jhunjhunwala. We used to have two delightful Siamese kittens in our flat and these were gifted to my mother by her friend Mrs. Billimoria. My mother spent hours knitting cardigans for them, with wool she bought from the Unwala family. My uncle ran the air force canteen in Cotton Green and his partner, yes you guessed it, was Mr. Canteenwala. They had this fantastic cook, Mr. Bhajiwala. Their mild and meek manager, Mr. Jeejeebhoy, nodded his head and agreed with everything everybody said. My grandfather built Hotel Waldorf on Arthur Bunder Road in Colaba. So for this he naturally used the services of Mr. Contactor and Mr. Mistry. He never went to the conservative moneylenders when short of money, but borrowed it from his Parsi friend Mr. Readymoney. I remember going to Dr. Doctor’s sister’s wedding. She married Mr. Screwala. What he did for a living, I do not know to this day. If you are in Mumbai maybe you can track him down in the yellow or pink pages. The Parsis have taught us that if you take serious interest in satire, you can change the world!
