The premises of the famous Parsi Dairy Farm, situated on Princess Street, Dhobi Talao, Bombay have been sealed by the Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) for default in payment of Provident Fund dues to its employees. A notice has been pasted outside the shop which states: "Property Attached by Recovery Officer, Office of the Recovery Officer, EPFO.”
Parsi Dairy Farm was established in 1915 by Ardeshir Nariman. In its heyday, the Dairy had a daily turnover of around two lakh rupees, selling its trademark products like high quality milk, suterfeni, fruit yoghurt, kulfi, gigantic jalebis, chikat halwa, date samosas and, well-known to almost all Parsi families, agharni-na-lavras (conical boondi ladoos).
Parsi sethias, industrialists and NRIs should come forward and save the 90-year-old Parsi institution by taking it over. If nobody comes forward, the institution may pass into non-Parsi hands and, like the Irani restaurants which are declining in number, Parsi Dairy Farm will pass into Parsi history.
BHIKHAJI M. ADENWALLA...