So they say

"Too much fuss is made about what transpired at a recent meeting of the Federation at Ahmedabad. On reading the newspaper reports between the lines, it is akin to a storm in a teacup, raised by both sides.”

Eruch B. Desai, former Bombay Parsi Punchayet chairman, Jam-e-Jamshed Weekly, March 20, 2005

"If it’s Khojeste, this is not Belgaum.”

Headline in Bombay Samachar March 27, 2005 referring to controversy over Khojeste Mistree representing Belgaum at the Federation meetings

"We don’t need sympathy. Just concrete help. And a realisation that the wheelchair-bound do not enjoy staying at home. I’m an energetic, independent woman who likes to live it up: but be it movies, restaurants, shopping or work, I feel restricted because of the lack of facilities, including ramps, lifts and bathrooms at

most places.”

Nasreen Wadia, a wheelchair-bound feng shui consultant, Indian Express,

November 9, 2004

"People think Parsis are crazy because we don’t conform. In that case I’m proud to be nuts.”

Thespian Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal,

Indian Express, March 21, 2005

"Not all of my characters are fictional. Indira Gandhi was, though.”

Novelist Rohinton Mistry, The Times of India, December 12, 2004

"I am aware of the diminishing numbers of the Parsis, a

community which I like.”

The late Prime Minister

Indira Gandhi speaking to former

BPP chairman Dr Aspi Golwalla, Jam-e-Jamshed Weekly, February 1, 2004

"The start of the play used to be announced by a man walking around the theater with a gong.

He hit it three times before

firing a single gunshot, ordering complete silence.”

Thespian Phiroz Mehta on Parsi theater, The Week, June 27, 2004

"Irrational beliefs, practices and customs are pervasive. Priests and pujaris and soothsayers thrive on superstition. Rational dispassionate thinking and the spirit of inquiry has taken a back seat.”

Soli J. Sorabjee, former attorney general of India, Indian Express, September 27, 2004