Editorial Viewpoint
"I think, so I am"
The publication of the four-volume treatise Enduring Legacy: Parsis of the 20th Century is in keeping with the literary traditions of the community.
Though Parsis are aware of their mercantile and industrial past, not many are conscious of their consistent contribution to intellectual development both in the community and elsewhere.
From the pioneering of Gujarati journalism to the literary efforts of Dadabhai Naoroji and the scholarship of K. R. Cama to the establishment of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences and the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, Zoroastrians of all hues - men, women, the rich, the middle class and the economically disadvantaged have endeavored to enrich their cerebral heritage.
Zoroastrianism itself requires its followers to choose between good and evil. A person has to weigh the pros and cons of a given situation and decide what to do. It is a religion based on morality rather than blind adherence to scripture and form.
Jamsetjee Tata, the doyen of Indian industrialists, maintained a library in his home and amongst other books, ensured any new publication on the community was added to his collection.
In politics men such as Sir Homi Mody, Sir Pherozeshah Mehta and Minoo Masani demonstrated their towering intellect. Both Minoo and his father Sir Rustom Masani penned books on the country and community. Even today the senior Masani's book, The Religion of the Good Life is studied at educational institutions.
And the legal tomes of jurists like Hormasji Seervai and Nani Palkhivala are read and dwelled on to this day.
Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy set up in Bombay the Sir J. J. School of Art, the Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy Parsi Benevolent Institution and the J. J. Hospital amongst others. A spate of Parsi schools sprung up in Bombay around the beginning of the 20th century including the Alexandra Girls' English Institution, the Bengalee Girls High School, Girton High School, J. B. Petit High School for Girls, Avabai F. Petit Girls' High School and so on.
Only a community that values and cherishes intellectual growth would have poured so much time, money and effort into these institutions of learning.
But aside from the noted stalwarts even lay Parsis with limited means have contributed very significantly to the community and the country's thought processes. Sir Jivanji Modi, while employed by the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP), managed to turn out a prodigious amount of literature on Parsi customs and traditions. Sapur Desai, while secretary of the BPP, published several books including A Community at the Cross Road which prophetically warned of the community's imminent demographic decline. Retired Chief Justice of India Ranganath Misra, while addressing community leaders at a workshop organized in Bombay in January 2006 by the National Commission for Minorities, chided the community leadership for not taking steps earlier to alleviate the problem.
The current chief executive officer of the BPP Behram Dastur holds the Guinness World Record for the largest number of letters to the editor published in newspapers and magazines.
The mammoth A Zoroastrian Tapestry published in 2002 was the work of two women, Pheroza Godrej and Firoza Punthakey-Mistree, motivated by their desire to capture many of the community's traditions, practices and institutions on paper.
The PARZOR initiative launched by academician Dr Shernaz Cama in New Delhi with its comparatively minuscule Zoroastrian population demonstrates that even away from the heartland of Parsidom, Bombay and Gujarat, the intellectual fervor continues to burn.
And Dr Nawaz Mody's magnum opus Enduring Legacy is the work of an individual professor of political science at Bombay University supported by many well meaning, talented and dedicated people.
Surat's Dr Ratan Marshall's writings in Gujarati are manifold while Nasik based educationist B
Though Parsis are aware of their mercantile and industrial past, not many are conscious of their consistent contribution to intellectual development both in the community and elsewhere.
From the pioneering of Gujarati journalism to the literary efforts of Dadabhai Naoroji and the scholarship of K. R. Cama to the establishment of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences and the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, Zoroastrians of all hues - men, women, the rich, the middle class and the economically disadvantaged have endeavored to enrich their cerebral heritage.
Zoroastrianism itself requires its followers to choose between good and evil. A person has to weigh the pros and cons of a given situation and decide what to do. It is a religion based on morality rather than blind adherence to scripture and form.
Jamsetjee Tata, the doyen of Indian industrialists, maintained a library in his home and amongst other books, ensured any new publication on the community was added to his collection.
In politics men such as Sir Homi Mody, Sir Pherozeshah Mehta and Minoo Masani demonstrated their towering intellect. Both Minoo and his father Sir Rustom Masani penned books on the country and community. Even today the senior Masani's book, The Religion of the Good Life is studied at educational institutions.
And the legal tomes of jurists like Hormasji Seervai and Nani Palkhivala are read and dwelled on to this day.
Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy set up in Bombay the Sir J. J. School of Art, the Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy Parsi Benevolent Institution and the J. J. Hospital amongst others. A spate of Parsi schools sprung up in Bombay around the beginning of the 20th century including the Alexandra Girls' English Institution, the Bengalee Girls High School, Girton High School, J. B. Petit High School for Girls, Avabai F. Petit Girls' High School and so on.
Only a community that values and cherishes intellectual growth would have poured so much time, money and effort into these institutions of learning.
But aside from the noted stalwarts even lay Parsis with limited means have contributed very significantly to the community and the country's thought processes. Sir Jivanji Modi, while employed by the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP), managed to turn out a prodigious amount of literature on Parsi customs and traditions. Sapur Desai, while secretary of the BPP, published several books including A Community at the Cross Road which prophetically warned of the community's imminent demographic decline. Retired Chief Justice of India Ranganath Misra, while addressing community leaders at a workshop organized in Bombay in January 2006 by the National Commission for Minorities, chided the community leadership for not taking steps earlier to alleviate the problem.
The current chief executive officer of the BPP Behram Dastur holds the Guinness World Record for the largest number of letters to the editor published in newspapers and magazines.
The mammoth A Zoroastrian Tapestry published in 2002 was the work of two women, Pheroza Godrej and Firoza Punthakey-Mistree, motivated by their desire to capture many of the community's traditions, practices and institutions on paper.
The PARZOR initiative launched by academician Dr Shernaz Cama in New Delhi with its comparatively minuscule Zoroastrian population demonstrates that even away from the heartland of Parsidom, Bombay and Gujarat, the intellectual fervor continues to burn.
And Dr Nawaz Mody's magnum opus Enduring Legacy is the work of an individual professor of political science at Bombay University supported by many well meaning, talented and dedicated people.
Surat's Dr Ratan Marshall's writings in Gujarati are manifold while Nasik based educationist B
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