Behram Contractor (1930 – 9 April 2001), popularly known as Busybee, was an Indian journalist, humorist, and the founding editor of ''

The Afternoon Despatch & Courier ''The Afternoon Despatch & Courier'' was an evening Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid in Mumbai, India. The newspaper was launched by Behram Contractor, better known as "Busybee", on 25 March 1985. This newspaper served as a launch pad for s ...

'', a weekly that was published in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

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 newspape ...

of India, the

P.G. Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse ( ; 15 October 1881 – 14 February 1975) was an English writer and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Je ...

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'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

'' (

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

), and ''

Mid-Day ''Mid-Day'' (stylised as mid-day) is a morning daily Indian compact newspaper. Editions in various languages including Gujarati and English have been published out of Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Pune so far. In 2011, the Delhi and Bangalore ...

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

Afternoon Afternoon is the time between noon and sunset or evening. 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 s ...

'') 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 A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

''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 of ''UpperCrust'', a publication that honored him with 50 quotations.

Awards, etc.

He was awarded the

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

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

He was a

Parsi The Parsis or Parsees () are a Zoroastrian ethnic group in the Indian subcontinent. They are descended from Persian refugees who migrated to the Indian subcontinent during and after the Arab-Islamic conquest of Iran in the 7th century, w ...

. 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 Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

''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 ...

when it was shut.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Contractor, Behram 1930 births 2001 deaths 20th-century Indian journalists Chalapati Indian male journalists The Times of India journalists Indian food writers Writers from Mumbai Journalists from Mumbai Parsi people from Mumbai Parsi writers Parsi culture