The fighter. Mr Zend Irani of Yazdani

I was conducting a Finely Chopped Food Walk
at Fort for a corporate group a couple of evenings back.

We headed to Yazdani, the sixty year old
Irani Bakery in Fort, at around 7 pm.

We were a bit anxious as we were not sure
if they would be open. The participants, who had come all the way from Thane, were really keen to see the bakery and have Irani chai there.

We reached Yazdani and saw the shutters
were half shut. There was a lone person standing by the bread counter.

“Bandh ho gaya” (It’s shut), he said.

We were really disappointed and felt deflated.

That’s when a white Nano drew up and stopped right outside the bakery. The door
opened and I saw Mr Zend Irani’s face emerge from front the window of the car.

Mr Irani, is one of the owners of Yazdani.
From what I understand, he loved boxing in his youth. I think he has
Parkinson’s now (I have never discussed this with them or asked the folks at
Yazdani about this though).

His body constantly shakes. He can’t stand
properly. Or speak clearly. Yet, I have often seen him at Yazdani.

To be honest I didn’t pay much attention to
him that evening. From the corner of my eyes I saw him struggle to get out of
his car and walk towards the bakery which was right in front of him. I didn’t think that he had seen us.

My mind
was elsewhere. I was feeling sad that Yazdani had shut though I was earlier
told they stay open till 8.30 pm.

Only to sell bread apparently!

Suddenly someone from our group told me to
look towards the door and I did.

I saw that Mr Zend Irani had reached the door by then and was
shaking violently by it. I thought that he was trying to go in.

Then I realised what was
happening. Mr Irani was holding on to the door with one hand to steady himself
and was vigorously waving at us. 

He wanted us to come in!

The bakery attendant, who earlier told us the place
was shut, was trying to reason with him. He told Mr Irani that the rest of the
staff had left (bhaag gaya hain). That there was no one to make tea for us or
make us bun maska (butter).

I didn’t want to inconvenience them and
said we would move on.

Then I saw that Mr Irani kept waving at us
undeterred and was shaking his head at his disapproving attendant. He can’t
speak clearly yet Mr Irani made his welcome very clear to us and we trooped in.

We sat at a table in the bakery and Mr Irani sat beside
us. 

I am told that he had run at the Mumbai marathon to raise awareness for Parkinson’s. This evening he could not sit straight and his head drooped down.

I sat down beside him, held his hand and
whispered ‘thank you uncle’.

He looked at me from the corner of his eyes
as he couldn’t turn his face towards me. He didn’t smile. He can’t change his
facial expression I think because of his illness.

He clasped my hand back. 

It was the warmest
and most loving hand shake of my life.

I just looked at him with awe and
gratitude.

I remembered another walk at Fort
one afternoon. It was with a young couple from abroad. We were about to leave once done when Mr Irani gestured towards the husband to come towards him.

He did and Mr Irani gestured vigorously at
him and muttered something. That’s when we realised what was happening.

Mr Irani was eating a chicken sandwich and
wanted to share it with this visitor from overseas.

I remembered how I have seen him so often
at Yazdani. Sometimes he sits at the counter and tends to customers. At times he sips on tea and once I even saw him relish an
ice cream from a cup. The challenges life has thrown him be damned. 

His spirit is something that electrified
all of us in the group. Even his staff got inspired to serve us some brun maska
(crusty bread and butter) and khari biscuits.

The folks who had organised this walk had
conceptualised it as a motivational activity.

And boy did we leave Yazdani all charged
up.

It is because of people like Mr Irani that I say I am ‘Fort Enchanted’.