“Hurting the feelings”

I fully agree with what Homi Dalal and Sheraz Bhesania have said ("Hurting the feelings,” Readers’ Forum, Parsiana, November 7, 2006). Bhesania rightly states that all Parsis need to go inside the dakhma, especially when there is a death in the family, and see for themselves the reality of the most horrific condition of the previously consigned corpses. Just as before we book a baug for our navjotes and weddings we normally go and have a look at the arrangements, we must now make it a practice of going and looking inside the dakhma to decide if we’d like the mortal remains of our dear departed to bloat and rot there for weeks and months or to take the corpse away for burial/cremation after the geh sarna prayers are performed. All Parsis must view the video of the inside of the dakhma and make up their minds about which method of disposal to follow in the prevailing circumstances.

In the absence of vultures we are polluting the atmosphere with the horrible stench, the earth by later burying the highly decomposed corpses and the water during the monsoons when the rainwater falls on these corpses and finds its way to the sea through the filters built inside the bhandar. In the guise of guiding the soul to cross the Chinvat Pool by laying the naked body on the pavi, we are going against our religion’s teachings of not polluting the elements of nature.

I am all for the dakhmenashini system, provided the elements for its scientific functioning are fully operative. But today the most important element, namely vultures, are no longer present and the system stands totally defunct.

I do not belong to any reformist group nor am I writing this letter on the prompting of any interested person/s with hidden agendas/political motives or whatever. I am a simple Zarthosti having a mind of my own to distinguish what is right and what is wrong, based on facts and common sense. Nor am I a millionaire eyeing the next Bombay Parsi Pun­chayet elections.

RUSI MISTRY

"Hurting the feelings” (Readers’ Forum, Parsiana, November 7, 2006) by Darius Desai reminded me that I was in Italy when my father passed away 25 years ago at the ripe old age of 93. I did not make any attempts to go for his funeral for he had told me to go in a corner and cry a little, and afterwards continue with my research work. I am left with only photographs and few of his possessions like pencils, binoculars, camera, moustache clipper, short buttons, lead refills of his Scripto pencil. I am happy with the memories, although I am sure if there was a grave I would visit it and experience great sadness, which was exactly what my father did not want.

Recently my brother died in Bangalore. It was his wish that his body be electrically cremated. None of the priests from the agiary, much to my regret and their discredit, agreed to come and perform the funeral prayers. So my family members prayed as best as they could at home and then took his body to the crematorium. I have part of his ashes with bone fragments in a ziplock bag, photographs, and movies made by my father of us almost 60 years ago. I am happy and content with that. I do not need a grave to visit. I am not in favor of burial. Earth’s bounty is for the living and not the dead.

I am very excited that Parsiana is bringing out archives of its past issues in a digital format. Put me down for a copy of the CD ROM. It is a laudable effort. FEZANA Journal should do the same in America. I wonder what happened to the project to put all of the late Adi Marzban’s radio episodes of Aavo Mari Sathe on a CD ROM? It was the only time when my father and I sat down in front of the radio and listened together. I wish the BPP or some private donor funds this project or at least gets hold of the tapes from All India Radio before they go bad (the Bombay air can be very detrimental to storage of films and tapes, as I have sadly discovered).

In the Zoroastrians Abroad item "Discovering Iran” it is heartening to see that after over two decades of trying to downgrade Iran’s pre-Islamic past, the current ayatollah-dominated Iranian regime is ‘rediscovering’ its glorious Achaeme­nian and Sasanian past. During my visit to Iran I observed scenes from the Shah Nameh being sold openly in the bazaars whereas it was forbidden to do so in the past because the great Ferdowsi was discredited and his statue removed. Persepolis, Pasargade and Naqsh-e-Ros­tam, which were neglected in the past, are now spruced up and the visitors’ fees increased. All these events bode well, for when they glorify King Cyrus and Darius the Great they also accept the greatness of the Zoroastrian religion!

There is no question about forcibly converting anyone to Zoroastrianism. However, Zarathushtra’s message is universal, and I do not think we should stop anyone who sincerely wants to embrace Zoroastrianism from doing so, including children of interfaith marriages. The Jews leave it to the non-Jewish spouse to convert or not and the same goes for the kids of such a union.

Dr ARDESHIR B. DAMANIA

California, USA