Octogenarian Dr. Jimmy Nadershaw Sidhva F.I.C.R., F.I.C.S., D.M.R.D. (England) graduated from the prestigious Seth G. S. Medical College, Bombay, receiving numerous awards from the University of Bombay, including Gold Medals in Internal Medicine, Surgery & Pharmacology.
He was awarded the prestigious Sarat Kumari Gold Medal of the Indian Radiological Association, for the best original research in Radiology in India, in the year 1970.
In 2001, received an award from the World Zoroastrian Organisation for outstanding achievement in the field of Medicine. He has been President of the Maharashtra State Radiological Association. In 1960, he was given the singular honour of being a Founder Member (the only Asian so honoured) on the World Problem Commission of Neuroradiology, of the W.H.O. He was Honorary Professor of Radiology & Honorary Radiologist to the Grant Medical College & Sir J. J. Group of Hospitals and Seth G. S. Medical College & K. E. M. Hospital. He was Head of Department of Radiology of the J. J. Hospital. He was examiner & paper-setter in Radiology at the University of Bombay & at the University of Poona. He was a founder of the Syllabus Committee, Paper-setter & Examiner for the Examination of M.D. (Radiology) for the University of Bombay He has been Honorary Radiologist to the B.D. Petit Parsee General Hospital, Bombay from 1955 to date, a span of 57 years, the longest tenure of any Doctor currently attached to this Hospital. He introduced C.T. Scanning (CAT Scanning) to Western India in 1982, and is the first Indian author ever of a Textbook on C.T. Scanning, called “Cranial Computed Tomography”. In addition to his achievements in his professional life, he revived the Parsi Medical Amateurs, a band of Parsi Doctors, who have performed, in their spare time, yearly plays, predominantly written by Dr. Jehangir Wadia, the proceeds of which have gone to various medical charities. Over a span of seventeen years, Dr. Sidhva starred in these plays, always in the lead role, and authored, directed & starred in the last play, Manchoo Macbeth. Over Rs. 80 lakhs were disbursed to deserving charities. In additions to all these achievements, in recent years, Dr. Sidhva has taken a keen interest in religious matters, and authored a unique book called 'The Gathas of Asho Zarathushtra', the only translation of the Gathas into English verse. A paper on the Gathas, authored by Dr. Sidhva, was presented at the World Zoroastrian Congress, 2000. He has also contributed a column to the Jam-E-Jamshed Weekly entitled “Thus Spake Zarathushtra – The Gathas Revisited” where he selected a stanza from the Gathas, and provided the reader a brief explanation of the verse. This column appeared, without a single week’s break, over four years (reportedly a record for a weekly column by a non-journalist). His second book, “The Religion of Asho Zarathushtra” is for the lay individual, both Zarathushtrian & non-Zarathushtrian, outlining a history of the religion, its prophet, its philosophies and its practices. His third book, “The Poetry Of The Prophet” is a translation of the Gathas in English verse, with a brief explanation of each verse.
He advices Parsee Youth:
Believe in yourself, work hard, play harder. Respect & love your parents….every generation thinks it knows more than the one before, only to find, that more often than not, the elders are right. Have respect for & believe in your religion …. By all means question traditions & practices which may not seem relevant or correct, but seek explanations from knowledgeable religious elders & scholars, before condemning or rejecting accepted religious practices. Above all, have faith in the Almighty Ahura Mazda.”