Jaffer Gulam Mansuri, the 84-year-old owner of the iconic ‘Jaffer Bhai’s Delhi Darbar’ chain of restaurants, popularly known for its biryani, succumbed to the coronavirus in Mumbai on Thursday, September 10.
Mansuri had earlier been admitted to the Breach Candy Hospital and had been on a ventilator since September 2. Mansuri, originally from Ahmedabad, was instrumental in setting up the restaurant back in 1973. Often being called the “biriyani king” of Mumbai, the entrepreneur succumbed to a cardiac arrest as he was being treated for COVID-19.
He has been survived by four sons and three daughters. Moreover, as per reports, he has been laid to rest in the Bada Kabrastan in Marine Lines. Jaffer Gulam Mansuri, who started out with a humble business in Islampura near the crowded Kamathipura in Grant Road later expanded the business to newer heights. Today, the chain has restaurants from Panchgani to Dubai.
Moreover, the 84-year-old was a connoisseur of Urdu poetry, attended mushairas, ghazal soirees and qawwali mehfils. He often hosted poets from different countries which included Ahmed Faraz of Pakistan.
As the city grieves for its “biriyani king” it is pertinent to remember the life and the accomplishments of Mansuri, who gave the city not only a plateful of its most delectable dish of meat and rice, but culture and substance, and most importantly, humility, in the face of success.
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