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Loading beddings, a few utensils and things needed to pitch tents on horses, their ancestors trekked long distances to rea-ch India. Many returned ho-me after selling the horses to bada sahibs (British offici-als), rajas, maharajas and nawabs. But others stayed back, living a nomadic existence.
Some of these Iranians came to Maharashtra too and, post-Independence, settled down on the outskirts of cit-ies and towns, including Mu-mbra, Kalyan, Pune and Sangli. Now Iran-origin, owner of popular restaurant Café Irani Chaii at Mahim and docum-entary filmmaker Mansoor Showghi Yezdi has made a do-cumentary depicting the story of these Iranians in India. The 17-minute, non-commercial film in Persian, Khaneh Be Doosh (The Nomads), with English subtitles, maps the over 500-year journey of these erstwhile gypsies who have settled but are marginalized.
“A decade or so ago I was at a programme where I met a group of people who spoke Persian and looked a bit different from Indians though they were Indians,”says 64-year-old Yezdi whose grandfather father had come to India from Yezd in Iran in 1890 on foot. “Further research showed they are among the most neglected Indians. I decided to make a film.”
Yezdi’s grandfather came to Bombay in 1890 walking all the way from Yezd in Iran and began selling tea from a coal-heated kettle at Apollo Bunder. His father followed in the footsteps of his grandfather and prospered as he set up several restaurants and canteens, including the one at V Shantaram’s Plaza Cinema at Dadar. It is here that Yezdi saw countless movies and decided to become a filmmaker. “The spelling Chaii with double ‘I’ in Café Irani Chaii is deliberate, denoting friendship with India and Iran,” he says.
Today most of the descendants of Iran-origin nomads or gypsies are in dire straits. Leading a sedentary life, these Persian-speaking Indian citizens possess passports, Aadhaar cards and other documents. With little or no education, many of the youths are drug peddlers, addicts and in jails for crimes like chain snatching, vehicle thefts and drug smuggling.
Around 150 Iranian families are settled at Ambivli in Kalyan. Many of them have earned notoriety with some boys jailed for months. “The biggest problem is lack of education. Manyof them work as police informants even as drug peddling and addiction are rampant,” says Maryam Jaffer Hussain, a social worker. But she is all praise for former DCP of Zone 3 (Kalyan) Sanjay Jadhav who tried to make a difference among the Iranians of Ambivli. “I held a meeting with the community leaders and parents at their mosque. Many children were put to civic schools while the youths were given vocational training. Many found jobs and the case of chain snatching dropped after sometime,” says Jadhav who is SP (Highway Traffic) in Pune.
Sympathetic attitude to them, says Shabbir Moham-med Ali Jafri, a member of the Iranians at Rashid Compound in Mumbra, can lift them out of poverty. Yezdi’s documentary may help create awareness about them.
Some of these Iranians came to Maharashtra too and, post-Independence, settled down on the outskirts of cit-ies and towns, including Mu-mbra, Kalyan, Pune and Sangli. Now Iran-origin, owner of popular restaurant Café Irani Chaii at Mahim and docum-entary filmmaker Mansoor Showghi Yezdi has made a do-cumentary depicting the story of these Iranians in India. The 17-minute, non-commercial film in Persian, Khaneh Be Doosh (The Nomads), with English subtitles, maps the over 500-year journey of these erstwhile gypsies who have settled but are marginalized.
“A decade or so ago I was at a programme where I met a group of people who spoke Persian and looked a bit different from Indians though they were Indians,”says 64-year-old Yezdi whose grandfather father had come to India from Yezd in Iran in 1890 on foot. “Further research showed they are among the most neglected Indians. I decided to make a film.”
Yezdi’s grandfather came to Bombay in 1890 walking all the way from Yezd in Iran and began selling tea from a coal-heated kettle at Apollo Bunder. His father followed in the footsteps of his grandfather and prospered as he set up several restaurants and canteens, including the one at V Shantaram’s Plaza Cinema at Dadar. It is here that Yezdi saw countless movies and decided to become a filmmaker. “The spelling Chaii with double ‘I’ in Café Irani Chaii is deliberate, denoting friendship with India and Iran,” he says.
Today most of the descendants of Iran-origin nomads or gypsies are in dire straits. Leading a sedentary life, these Persian-speaking Indian citizens possess passports, Aadhaar cards and other documents. With little or no education, many of the youths are drug peddlers, addicts and in jails for crimes like chain snatching, vehicle thefts and drug smuggling.
Around 150 Iranian families are settled at Ambivli in Kalyan. Many of them have earned notoriety with some boys jailed for months. “The biggest problem is lack of education. Manyof them work as police informants even as drug peddling and addiction are rampant,” says Maryam Jaffer Hussain, a social worker. But she is all praise for former DCP of Zone 3 (Kalyan) Sanjay Jadhav who tried to make a difference among the Iranians of Ambivli. “I held a meeting with the community leaders and parents at their mosque. Many children were put to civic schools while the youths were given vocational training. Many found jobs and the case of chain snatching dropped after sometime,” says Jadhav who is SP (Highway Traffic) in Pune.
Sympathetic attitude to them, says Shabbir Moham-med Ali Jafri, a member of the Iranians at Rashid Compound in Mumbra, can lift them out of poverty. Yezdi’s documentary may help create awareness about them.
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