Bahá’í World/Volume 18/Seewoosumbur Jeehoba Appa

The Bahá’í World
Volume 18

SEEWOOSUMBUR JEEHOBA APPA

1912—1981

DEEPLY GRIEVED NEWS PASSING SEEWOOSUM' BUR JEEHOBA APPA. HIS UNSTINTING OUTPOURING OF SELFLESS SERVICE TO GODS CAUSE EVER SINCE HE EMBRACED ITS LIGHT HIS DEDICATED PARTICIPATION IN ACTIVITIES INSTITUTIONS FAITH CULMINATING IN HIS MEMBERSHIP BOARD COUNSELLORS LOVINGLY REMEMBERED BY HIS COWORKERS SOUTHERN AFRICA PARTICULARLY ISLANDS INDIAN OCEAN. ADVISE COMMUNITIES INDIAN OCEAN HOLD MEMORIAL GATHERINGS IN HONOUR HIS DEVOTED LABOURS PROMOTION CAUSE. PRAYING HOLY SHRINES PROGRESS HIS SOUL ABHA KINGDOM. CONVEY LOVING SYMPATHY MEMBF‘IS BEREAVED FAMILY.

Universal House of Justice

‘Papa Appa’, as he was affectionately called by Bahá’í friends, young and old, both in his native Mauritius and in some African countries, was the fifth child in a family of six children. The family was of modest means and his

‘ Star of the West, vol. 13, no. 7, October 1922. pp.

184—186.

THE BAHA’I’ WORLD

Seewoosumbur Jeehoba Appa

education did not extend beyond the primary classes. His father died at an early age, so part of the responsibility for the household soon fell upon his youthful shoulders. He started a teaching career as a fourth class teacher in the same school he had attended as a child, not suspecting that later in life he would be called by Bahá’u’lláh to be a teacher of His Message. Many of his former students who attended his funeral still remembered their former teacher, Mr. Appa, describing him as the man with the smiling face whom everybody loved. He was really a very kind and lovable teacher and a good man; I was myself a pupil in the school in which he taught and, though not in his class, I remember how my classmates and I wished to have him as our teacher.

Mr. Appa’s first contact with the Bahá’í Faith was in 1956. He was a pure-hearted man and it was not difficult for the light of the Revelation of God to reflect in his heart once it reached there. He immediately began a life of service. His home soon became the centre of many activities and he was happy only

[Page 755]IN MEMORIAM

when he was able to make teaching trips almost every day. He came from an orthodox Hindu background and his family and friends did not approve of his accepting the Bahá’í Faith and engaging in service to it. Despite the racial and religious prejudices he encountered, his faith was strong enough to withstand the opposition and pressures exerted by his relatives and friends. Eventually they grew to respect him and the Faith he had espoused. He served unwaveringly and faithfully until his last breath, dying as he would have wished ‘with his boots on’. The day on which Mr. Appa winged his flight to the Abhá Kingdom was the day he had chosen to host a dinner and devotional gathering in his home. Although he had not felt well in the morning he would not cancel the meeting. During the prayers he suffered an acute pain in his chest and was immediately taken to a nearby hospital where he quietly passed away within a few hours. The news of his death on 28 March 1981 was a great shock to his many friends who had never once heard him complain. The Bahá’ís throughout the islands of the Indian Ocean, in Africa and beyond lost a kind, gentle and loving father, for the love that flowed from his heart for everybody was that of a caring parent. His life was an example of real Bahá’í life. He was hardworking, conscientious and orderly, and always ready to accompany a Bahá’í friend anywhere for the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh. He not only read a great deal but frequently jotted down important extracts for others to profit by. His home was a true centre of attraction: his obvious joy in greeting friends at his door and his ‘Oh!’ of welcome would go straight to the heart. He was a child with the children, a young man with the youth, and an adult with' his peers; but all who came in contact with him felt a warm,genuine fatherly affection. His name ‘Appa’ had the same sweetness as ‘Papa’ to me, and surely to many others who' knew him closely. It was the Hand of the Cause John Robarts who first called him ‘Papa Appa’ years ago at a meeting in Vacoas, and use of the appellation was adopted by many of the friends. DEEPEST SYMPATHY FAMILY YOUR GREAT Loss, Mr. Robarts and his wife, Audrey, cabled, UNFORGETTABLE MEMORIES DEAR PAPA APPA HIS LONG SERVICE . . . Papa Appa’s service in the Faith of God was long indeed. He served on the first Local

755

Spiritual Assembly of his home community of Vacoas. When the National Spiritual Assembly of the Indian Ocean came into being in 1964 he served as its treasurer. Later that year he was appointed a member of the Auxiliary Board for the Indian Ocean region and in 1968 was appointed a member of the first Continental Board of Counsellors for the zone of Southern Africa. Over the years, even when his health-was failing, he travelled for the Faith to many African countries and islands of the Indian Ocean and traversed on foot rough, hilly roads and paths. His last journey outside Mauritius was in 1981 when he accompanied Counsellor §hi’dan Fath-iA‘zam to Madagascar. Mr. Appa rejoiced when he found that the Bahá’í friends grasped the importance of love and unity as essential prerequisites for true and productive service to the Faith, and he constantly strove to help the friends achieve this understanding. In whatever function be was called to serve he did so with modesty, zeal, enthusiasm and thoroughness. His sole concern to the very last was to see the Faith progressing and the friends living in accordance with its laws and teachings. Unquestioning obedience—to the Revealed Word and t0 the instructions of the beloved Guardian and the Universal House of Justice—was the hallmark of his life and the message he always tried to convey in the important functions he was called to perform. His firmness in the Covenant, as exemplified by his ceaseless service to the Cause and his strong love for his fellow believers, is a source of inspiration to all.

The Counsellors who had known and worked with him cabled on 31 March 1981: OUR HEARTS BROKEN SAD NEWS PAPA APPA. WE LOST LOVING FATHER OUTSTANDING PROMOTER FAITH IRREPLACEABLE FRIEND . . .

Beautiful tributes were received from many administrative institutions and individuals. From South Africa the Hand of the Cause William Sears and his wife, Marguerite, deplored the passingof a DEARLY~LOVED FRIEND, OUTSTANDING TEACHER, STEADFAST HERO. REJOICE MANY HAPPY YEARS WE SERVED TOGETHER. EVERYONE REMEMBERING HIS FRUFFFUL LIFE WITH LOVING PRAYERS . . . Co-signers of the cable were Michael Sears, Chairman of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Republic of South Africa and his wife, Ruth, a member of the [Page 756]Auxiliary Board. The Bahá’ís of Swaziland, through their National Spiritual Assembly, sent a letter of condolence to the family of Mr. Appa and to the believers of Mauritius. The concluding sentence of that letter expresses beautifully the conviction shared by all who knew ‘Papa Appa’: ‘As we pray for the progress of his soul, we in turn are confident of his assistance in our efforts to spread the Teachings of the Faith he so dearly loved.’