Behram Contractor (1930 – 9 April 2001), popularly known as Busybee, was a

Parsi Parsis () or Parsees are an ethnoreligious group of the Indian subcontinent adhering to Zoroastrianism. They are descended from Persians who migrated to Medieval India during and after the Arab conquest of Iran (part of the early Muslim conq ...

journalist, humorist, and the founding editor of The Afternoon Despatch & Courier, a weekly that was published in Bombay/Mumbai between 1985 and 2019.

Humorist

A tribute paid to him online says: "In the history of Indian journalism, there will never be another humorist like Busybee; he was the

Art Buchwald Arthur Buchwald (October 20, 1925 – January 17, 2007) was an American humorist best known for his column in ''The Washington Post''. At the height of his popularity, it was published nationwide as a syndicated column in more than 500 newspaper ...

of India, the

P.G. Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, ( ; 15 October 188114 February 1975) was an English author and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Jee ...

of our times and more, a writer with a brilliant sense of timing for satire and humour, but with a soft and sensitive pen. And with a flow of words that could have readers rolling in their living rooms, offices and suburban trains on their way home; or moist-eyed with emotion and sepia-tinged nostalgia. That was Busybee."
About Busybee

Career

A prolific and popular writer, Contractor worked at ''

The Free Press Journal ''The Free Press Journal'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper that was established in 1928 by Swaminathan Sadanand, who also acted as its first editor. First produced to complement a news agency, the Free Press of India, it was a s ...

'', ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...

'' (

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second-m ...

), and ''

Mid-Day ''Mid-Day'' (stylised as mid-day) is a morning daily Indian compact newspaper owned by Jagran Prakashan Limited. Editions in various languages were published in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Pune. In 2011, the Delhi and Bangalore editions wer ...

'' before founding his own newspaper '' The Afternoon Despatch and Courier'' (better known as ''

Afternoon Afternoon is the time after solar noon. It is the time when the sun is descending from its peak in the sky to somewhat before its terminus at the horizon in the west. In human life, it occupies roughly the latter half of the standard work a ...

'') in 1985. He wrote a great deal about his distinctive Parsi heritage, customs and food.

Column, as ''Busybee''

Contractor continued to write articles for the ''Times of India'' and the ''Midday'' under the pen name ''Busybee'' even while serving as editor of his own paper, and wrote the column
Round and About
'.

Food writer

Contractor also wrote the series "Eating Out," which featured one of the best Mumbai restaurants, giving a glimpse of many Indian and international cuisines. Described as "the first food writer of the country," Contractor also served as the editor o

a publication that honored him with 50 quotations.

Awards, etc

He was awarded the

Padma Shri Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...

in 1990, and the Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism in 1996.

Book

In 1998, Contractor published ''From Bombay to Mumbai'', a collection of the best of Busybee's columns from 1996 and 1997.

Personal life

In 1985, the "almost confirmed bachelor", as his wife-to-be described him later, married Farzana Contractor, also a journalist. Behram Contractor died in 2001 from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

''Afternoon Despatch & Courier''

Writing about the newspaper he founded in 1985, his wife Farzana Contractor has commented that she "was among the three reasons that prompted the famous Behram Contractor to launch he''Afternoon''. She recalled the early days of the launch as being tough times. The paper proprietor

Kamal Morarka Kamal Morarka (18 June 1946 – 15 January 2021) was an Indian union minister and businessman. He was a National president of the Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya). Political career When Janata Dal was formed in 1988, he was made treasurer o ...

when it was shut.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Contractor, Behram 1930 births 2001 deaths Recipients of the Padma Shri in literature & education 20th-century Indian journalists Chalapati Indian male journalists The Times of India journalists Indian food writers Journalists from Maharashtra Writers from Mumbai Parsi people from Mumbai Parsi writers Parsi culture