Last Armenian resident of Mumbai shares her Christmas rituals and heritage

It was the summer of 1972 when a 24yearold Armenian from Beirut Zabel Joshi stepped on Mumbairsquos reddishblack soil Then the young bride of a Gujarati businessman she is now the last registered Armenian in Mumbai She has lived here longer than she did in her home countryWhen we speak with the 74yearold over the telephone shersquos on a short trip out of the city ldquoI have lived in Mumbai for 50 yearsrdquo she exclaims ldquoIrsquom the only Armenian left here I would not have chosen any other country other than India to live inrdquoSt Peterrsquos Armenian Church was built in 1796 by trader Jacob Petrus of Persia in Fort With a dwindling Armenian population in the city its sister church the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church was allowed to oversee and use the premises PicBipin KokateWhen Joshi first arrived the city had a scattered handful of her country people who were close to joining their ancestors at the cemetery on Antop Hill ldquoThere were just a few individuals not big families when I camerdquo she says ldquoSome of them migrated to Canada and the USrdquoEven without a community Joshi kept Armenian heritage language and culture alive as the lone flagbearer The Armenian stream of Christianity is in oriental orthodox tradition and celebrates the birth of Christ on January 6Young Joshi in her traditional Armenian dressWhen her husband was alive and all her three daughters were home Joshi would lay out a feast every year ldquoI still do but itrsquos more intimate now with just one of my daughters in the city the other two have migrated to Canadardquo she says ldquoThe whole family would gather around the table and we would sing Christmas carols in Armenian A day ahead I would huddle in the kitchen and start preparing our traditional dolmamdashvegetables stuffed with meat and rice and roast chicken Dry fruits especially raisinsmdashwhich are an important part of our Beirut culture would be put out along with sweets and baklava and we would just chat stay home and celebrate over dinnerrdquoAn orthodox Armenian Joshirsquos parents lived in Lebanon where she was born and brought up ldquoI could speak Arabic so learning UrduHindi was not very difficultrdquo she says ldquoOver the years I learnt Gujarati and can also understand a bit of Marathirdquo She taught her daughters including actor and entrepreneur Tulip Joshi how to speak Armenian fluently All three were baptised at St Peterrsquos Armenian Orthodox Church in Kala GhodaZabel Joshi standing second from left and her eldest daughter Monalisa Joshi in white frock with older Armenians who lived in Mumbai some 45 years ago This picture was taken after Sunday massThough she only moved here after marriage her love story with Mumbai started way before she met her husband Kishore Joshi in Beirut on a work trip ldquoI always liked Indiahellip I donrsquot know how and whyrdquo she says quickly adding ldquoMaybe because I watched a lot of Bollywood movies There was this one theatre that played Indian movies and I would go see all of themrdquoNot just Christmas other festivals were also celebrated with as much fanfare in the Joshi householdmdashDecember Christmas with those who observed it garbaat Navratri and Diwali like any other IndianThomas VarugheseWith a dwindling Armenian population the cemetery at Antop Hill had to be shared with the BaharsquoI for upkeep and the 226yearold St Peterrsquos Armenian Church has been host to Indian Orthodox Church since 1992 When a few Armenians were still around there was mass every Sunday and Christmas mass in ArmenianArmenians began to arrive in India in the 16th century under Emperor Akbarrsquos reign following Ottoman and Safavid conquests and settled in Lahore Kolkata Delhi and Surat With a push from the East India Company in the 17th century a higher number of Armenian merchants traders and diplomats settled in MumbaiSt Peterrsquos Armenian Church was built in 1796 by trader Jacob Petrus aka Hakob Hamadanchi of Hamadan Persia As the community grew a larger church was constructed over it in Meadows StreetldquoSt Peterrsquos Armenian Church closed for several yearsrdquo Thomas Varughese a member of the Indian Orthodox Church explains He had served as secretary of its managing committee from 2020 to 2022 ldquoIn 1992 the heads of the Indian Orthodox Church and Armenian Orthodox Church met during the latterrsquos official visit to India They decided that the former also called the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church would use and care for St Peter as they are sister churchesrdquoThe church also holds a special place for the Indian Orthodox Church ldquoWe have only two proclaimed saints in our faith and both of them St Gregorios and St Dionysius have prayed in this church in 1895rdquo says VarugheseSince then Sunday prayers are held at 7 am followed by morning mass ldquoFor several years there was no Armenian servicerdquo says Varughese ldquoA rare Armenian mass was held in 201819 when Father Moses the head of the Armenian Church in India came to Mumbai on a pilgrimage before settling in Kolkata where their population is relatively largerrdquoWhy is January 6 the Armenian ChristmasAs per the Diocese of the Armenian Church of United Kingdom and England ldquohistorically all Christian churches celebrated Christrsquos birth on January 6 until the fourth centuryrdquo A change in date was allegedly done to override a pagan feast dedicated to the Sun on December 25 To subdue the practice Christmas was celebrated on December 25 and the feast of Epiphany was held on January 6 Since Armenia had no such pagan practice and ldquoit was not a satellite of the Roman Catholic Churchrdquo the Armenians continue to celebrate Christmas on January 6 from the time of their forefathers until today