“Are you Parsi?”

Adil Pavri of Harrow, UK believes that the British patronized the Parsis because they got westernized and anglicized earlier than the Hindus and the Muslims ("Are you Parsi?” Readers’ Forum, Parsi­­a­na, April 2004).

But Pavri has missed a crucial point that our forefathers helped convert a fishing village into a city.

When the British got Bombay as a dowry for the marriage of Princess Catherine Braganza of Portugal to King Charles II of England in 1661, Bombay was just a group of seven islands inhab­ited by the Kolis and ravaged by frequent attacks by pirates.

With rigorous land reclamation schemes and contributions from stalwarts like Lovji Wadia who built the Mazgaon docks and the shipping industry in India, and the various philanthropic contributions by India’s first Baronet, Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy, and other outstanding contributions by many others, Greater Bombay today is a mega city with a population of 18 million, second only to Tokyo, Japan. The number of Parsis who were knighted by the British in various fields is legion.

Finally not only the British, but many Europeans also were impressed by the Gathic preachings of Zoroaster, immor­tal­ized by Richard Strauss in Thus Spake Zarathustra.

Parsis in the days of yore prospered because they were pioneers. Today Parsis are not drifting but facing severe compe­tition from the vast majority, which has been particularly accen­tuated by the "brain drain” from the community.

Dr P. D. SUNAVALA