Anomaly in name

We Zarathushtis sing Chhaiyé Hamé Zarathosti with all the justifiable pride and gusto at our command. Yet when one of us is asked what religious faith or denomi­nation one belongs to, in the same breath, pride and gusto one answers: ‘I am a Zoroastrian.’

It does not need a religious scholar to perceive this huge incongruity occurring consistently in this department of our lives. Just recently I received a calendar from our august body, the World Zoroastrian Organisation (WZO). Right on the frontispiece this same incongruity hits the eye where it reads ‘The World Zoroastrian Organisa­tion’ immediately fol­lowed by ‘The World Zarathustrian Trust Fund.’ To quote another example, our august association Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe has recently acquired the premises at Harrow and has called it ‘Zoroastrian Centre’ but no sooner you enter the main hall you read the plaque announcing the mu­nificent donation by the ‘Zartoshty Brothers.’ Not long ago we read in Parsiana ("The poetic rise of enterprise,” March 2001) about the launch of the International Zoroastrian Chamber of Commerce at the Houston Congress. Is it not enough to cause immense perplexity to any stranger?

The sole purpose of writing this letter is to bring forth this glaring anomaly. Could we not form a body of eminent coreligionists and decide once and for all what we want to call our minuscule fold of, I understand, less than 100,000? We are extremely proud of being the faithful followers and disciples of our beloved prophet Spitama Zarathushtra which, as a youngster I was told, means the ‘Light of the Golden Star.’ It is said it was the Greeks who first called him Zoroaster and it later got anglicized as such. In the light of this it is my opinion that our fold, faith and institutions should be rightly called ‘Zarathusti’ (not Zara­thushtrian) universally and our prophet by his correct name ‘Zarathustra.’

Let us all unite and get rid of this blundering anomaly once and for all. Admittedly this transformation cannot be made overnight. We will doubtless get there eventually and earn our beloved Prophet’s celestial blessings.

SOLI MASTER

London, UK