“Zoroastrian heritage”

I enjoyed reviewing The Legacy of Zarathushtra ("Zoroastrian heritage,” Books, Parsiana, January 2003), but wish to make a few clarifications:

In the section on "Parsi luminaries” there is a serious omission about Darashaw Wadia. Not only was he the first to establish geological studies throughout the country, but he was the first Indian to receive a national professorship in science created by the Government expressly for him. Some years later, the distinguished professor of chemistry, S. M. Bhatnagar, was made a national professor. Does the award still exist? Moreover, both Darashaw Wadia and Homi Bhabha were elected Fellows of the Royal Society, London, an international honor rarely attained.

Secondly, Rustam Saklat’s monajats in Gujarati were first printed in my booklet, Fravarane (1959 and 1964). The dates are important as Saklat felt there was no point in printing monajats in Gujarati any more as the majority of Parsis had to learn Marathi and Hindi and few of the younger generation knew Gujarati. He therefore insisted I remove the monajats from subsequent editions to my great regret. The sixth edition of the Fravarane is being prepared.

PILOO N. JUNGALWALLA

New Delhi