“The racial divide”

I have read with deep interest your editorial ("The racial divide,” Parsiana, July 21, 2006), the write up on "Twin cities gahambar” (Events and Personalities) and the article "Perhaps a rethink” in the same issue. I wish to put the matter in correct perspective.

As a life member of the Zoroastrian Club, Secunderabad, I was not aware of the developments until I read about it in your magazine.

With due respect to the opinions of our revered High Priests, I am sure they are not aware of how this particular gahambar was conducted.

There was a long gap between the jashan and the gahambar. The gaham­bar did not "follow” the jashan. A very small percentage of the people who attended the gahambar attended the jashan.

Non-Parsi cooks with the help of a Parsi caterer prepared the food. I am not sure, but the cooks may have included women too.

Non-Parsis served the food.

I presume, the left over food (which must be substantial as the crowd was much below the expected number) was distributed mostly amongst non-Parsis.

The food served at this gahambar had no religious significance. No way could the food be compared to the chasni (consecrated offerings) which is distributed only amongst Parsi/Irani Zoroastrians after a jashan because the fruits, etc have been prayed over by the priests.

In light of the above facts, let me examine a portion of the opinion of our revered High Priest Dastur (Dr) Firoze Kotwal. I wish the above points were placed before our High Priests so that they could have given an opinion based on actual facts.

In his opinion, Kotwal says, "During this time (gahambar) it is obligatory for the Mazda worshiping Zoroastrians to pray and show gratitude to Ahura Mazda for His bounties. Hence a gahambar is always celebrated with a jashan followed by a community lunch and dinner partaken by Parsi Zoroastrians with due care and in a state of ritual purity.”

In the case of the Zoroastrian Club gahambar, where was "due care and in a state of ritual purity?” With non-Parsis involved right from the cooking to the serving and final disposal of the food, was there "due care” and a "state of ritual purity?” If the Zoroastrian Club wanted to have the gahambar in the true religious spirit and as per tradition, then Parsis only should have cooked the food, served it and then distributed the leftovers to Parsis only. This is not difficult as there are enough Parsi volunteers in the twin cities. Having failed to do this, and then barring the non-Zoroastrian spouses of Zoroastrians, smacks of hypocrisy and double standards.

Prof Mary Boyce rightly sums up by saying, "So the ancient custom, though still observed, had degenerated there (Bombay) more or less into a club or social dinner, though still with a religious element.”

This letter should not be viewed that I endorse mixed marriages. I write this letter in my individual capacity.

I would appreciate if Parsiana could gather information on gahambars held in various other places in India.

JEHANGIR R. BISNEY

Secunderabad

Race ­— as defined by Oxford English Dictionary means: a group of persons, animals or plants connected by common descent or origin; a limited group of persons descended from a common ancestor; and a tribe, nation or people regarded as of common stock.

By this definition most of the Shia and Baha’i Iranians are of the same pure stock as the pure Parsis, for their lineage has not changed by having accepted Islam or Baha’ism.

Will those Parsis who oppose interfaith marriages on the grounds that they are of a particular stock or ethnicity be willing to accept marriages between pure Persians (Iranians) who revert back to their original religion: Zoroastrianism?

JEHANGIR SAROSH

Bushey, UK

Your Editorial Viewpoint entitled "The racial divide” (Parsiana, July 21, 2006) is an outstanding example of balanced journalism. But, on my part, I am chagrined at the myopic vision of some of our co-religionists, and wonder whether they belong to the same stock of enlightened and magnanimous men and women who placed the community on a high pedestal in India to be admired and respected. Surely one cannot be blind to the fact that a miniscule community could not have achieved what it did in the short span of a few hundred years had its members closed the windows and doors of their minds to ‘change.’ In fact we are known to be pioneers because we dared to venture out into new areas of education and professions, adopted western or Indian customs according to the social set-up in which we lived. The Persian empire, once known as the most invincible and enlightened empire the world had seen, crumbled due to a false sense of superiority that the later rulers and generals harbored, and because of the intrigues and infighting amongst the nobles and the generals who were oblivious of the greater interests of the empire. We now seem to be on the verge of an ‘action replay.’

Will the Parsi stalwarts wake up to the reality of the present times, or will they bury their heads ostrich-like and refuse to see reason? In a world where gender bias is on its way out in most progressive societies, the ‘Parsi male’ seems to still enjoy a preferential status. Clearly, our community prescribes dual norms for the two sexes. And, as for the purity of the Persian race being maintained by our forefathers, that’s another chimera, for even the antecedents of our great Persian heroes are far from being ‘pure bred.’ The famed Persian hero Rustom’s mother was part Indian, his son Sohrab’s mother came from a border area between Persia and Central Asia, Prince Seyavaksh’s mother was a central Asian princess, and Prince Esfandyar’s mother Ketayun was from ‘Rum’ in the Christian West. Manizeh was a Central Asian Turk and the famed Shirin was a Christian princess. Only one grandparent of the legendary Kai Khosrow was a Persian. Yet the Shah Nameh which records Persian history portrays all these foreign princesses as the ones who were strong, determined and resourceful and made a difference to the Persian empire, while the so-called pure-blooded Persian princesses were just wishy-washy appurtenances, content to live in the shadows of their fathers, husbands or brothers.

Coming to this latest controversy in Secunderabad ignited by the tactless wording of the circular for the gahambar, one wonders why those who occupy cutodian offices are so unmindful of the feelings of others. To top it all, Kerfegar Antia seems to be smug in the satisfaction that he engineered an evening of fraternal and familial camaraderie by excluding the non-Parsi spouses of his fellow community members. How could any right-minded individual have enjoyed an evening’s festivities after having insulted 38 families of his community?

The learned Dastur (Dr) Firoze Kotwal explains that the six creations are linked to the gahambars. One of the creations is ‘man’ he states. Perhaps it would have suited the exposition better had it been mentioned that the sixth creation of Ahura Mazda to be celebrated is the ‘Parsi male!’ Clearly that seems to be the idea that the self-righteous Zoroastrians have when they hold forth on the Zoroastrian identity.

I am happy that Padmini B. Patell had the courage to expose the narrow-minded bigotry of some of the ‘self-proclaimed policemen’ of the community who are irrational and absurd to infer that when a person marries outside of the community it denotes a lack of love for the religion. It is tantamount to declaring that those who have ever received a blood transfusion from a non-Parsi donor have desecrated the pure bloodline. Religion has to do with goodness, peace, harmony and progression towards perfection. Choice of a life-partner in no way is impeded with this view of religion. It is not that a pure-blooded Parsi alone is a good Zoroastrian. I have repeatedly witnessed the utter disrespect for our religious ceremonies demonstrated by our community members who continue with their noisy conversations unmindful of the sanctity of the prayers being recited at jashans, navjotes, the muktad ceremony, at weddings and even during the geh sarna prayers. Not to mention the impatience with which they decry that the prayers are so lengthy. And it is a known fact that the jashans at the gahambars record poor attendance but the ‘freebie’ dinner that follows is very popular with the community.

There will be those who will declare that one must expect such discriminations if one opts for an intercommunity marriage. Patell does not seem to have been peeved at not being invited to the gahambar. She was constrained to write the letters to bring home the point that those who are at the helm of affairs need to show tact and be courteous and not ride roughshod on people’s feelings just because they occupy the chair. And why double standards when it is a known fact that although the caterer may be a Parsi, non-Parsi cooks, servers and cleaners are allowed to be present at the gahambars in most of the cities outside of Bombay, but non-Parsi spouses alone, it is feared, would pollute the religious atmosphere? Also perhaps, we as Parsis have become so complaisant with the reputation that our forefathers have built for our community, that we need to sometimes be shown the mirror to realize how insultingly smug we can be.

For the president of the Zoroastrian Club of Secunderabad the matter is ‘closed’ as he states, but actually, the debate has gained momentum. Are we going to look the other way and sanction with our silences the extinction of this very talented and, for the most part, enlightened community, because we do not wish to take a stand and engage in a rational exposition of our ancient religion? Why do we harp on the ‘sanctity of past beliefs’ only in matters of religion? When Zarathushtra lived there were no other faiths extant. In fact it is believed that he spent 14 long years in trying to get a single disciple who would believe in what he tried to preach. Then why are we turning people away from the door when they come to seek and be a part of the good Mazdayasni faith? It is time to recognize what is happening around us, to look at the broader picture. We need to ‘rethink;’ take stock of the situation and initiate measures to salvage what cannot be stemmed. Perhaps, it could be a case of natural selection whereby the Parsi genes are tired of inbreeding and are attracted towards non-Parsis for spouses. That innate urge, in fact, is the natural method of survival in the animal kingdom. So it is better for us to welcome those who have chosen to marry Parsis and make them feel part of at least the social fabric of the community, rather than pursue the standoffish path, stewing in our false sense of racial purity, and in the bargain, alienating even those who are our own.

Perhaps we need to reverse the Sanjan story of the sugar-candy and the milk – we need to welcome others to sweeten and refresh our pot of milk.

PERVIZ DARA BHOTE

Madras