Editorial Viewpoint
The new Rivayets
It took 1,000 years after landing on Indian shores for the Zoroastrian community to blossom forth. The advent of the British to India served as an impetus to excel. Our assets in India were largely built in the 1800s and 1900s.
So on the occasion of the North American (NA) Zoroastrians hosting their 14th Congress, we can only marvel at the substantial accomplishments achieved largely over the past 50 years or so.
Migration to the New World caught on in the mid 20th century. Till the late 1960s the Zoroastrian associations were largely informal groups that met on festive occasions such as Jamshedi Navroz and Pateti. The first dar-e-meher was established around 1975 in New Rochelle, New York, through the magnanimous donation of Arbab Rustom and Madam Morvarid Guiv, the philanthropic Iranian millionaires who fled Iran in 1979 when the Shah was overthrown and the tyrannical reign of Ayatollah Khomeini began. In Guiv’s footsteps the Zartoshty brothers, Faridoon and Mehraban generously funded Zoroastrian causes in the US and also gave millions for charities in India and the UK among other places.
The arrival of the Guivs in North America coincided with the formalization of Zoroastrian associations in the USA and Canada. This happy coincidence resulted in small and economically limited communities achieving the dream of every immigrant group — a meeting place of their own.
Of course many of the Zoroastrian associations had started fund-raising activities on their own, but it would have taken them many, many years to achieve what these two Iranian families made possible in a wondrous and short span of time. Today as NA Zoroastrians prosper, raising money for a new center as is being done in Toronto, is achievable. But back then, the going was uphill.
But the influx of more Iranian Zoroastrians who fled the reign of the mullahs caused a certain amount of strife between them and the Zoroastrians of India/Pakistan/Africa lineage. Differences in language, food, customs, traditions and outlook often divided associations or resulted in separate organizations being formed.
But America is rightly referred to as a melting pot. Through democratic norms and a genuine desire to work together and iron out differences, the two diverse factions have drawn closer. The mutual sharing of their different heritages stand to benefit both communities and Zoroastrianism as well.
When the formation of the Federation of Parsi Zoroastrian Anjumans of India was first mooted in the 1960s, there was considerable opposition to the proposal. The then trustees of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) viewed the proposed organization as a threat to its hegemony. Thirty-five years after it came into existence the all-India body is split with dissension. Weaknesses in the institution’s rules and regulations have been cleverly exploited to permit unelected representatives to dominate the Federation’s functioning.
But in North America, FEZANA (Federation of Zoroastrian Associations of North America) functions democratically and smoothly. Associations with a few hundred members host highly successful and meaningful, continent-wide congresses.
Every possible tool of modern communications technology is utilized. Not only technology but the thought processes are contemporary. In India we hosted a handful of world congresses and several youth congresses, both now aborted.
The last World Zoroastrian Congress in India was in 1990. The Indian tendency to please everybody, to leave certain details unattended due to pressures of time and last minute changes, all detracted from the mammoth task of organizing such get-togethers.
But the North Americans hosted the most spectacular Zoroastrian World Congress ever, in Houston in December 2000-January 2001. How a small group of volunteers with no paid staff and no physical infrastructure could manage to hold such a congress and be profitabl
So on the occasion of the North American (NA) Zoroastrians hosting their 14th Congress, we can only marvel at the substantial accomplishments achieved largely over the past 50 years or so.
Migration to the New World caught on in the mid 20th century. Till the late 1960s the Zoroastrian associations were largely informal groups that met on festive occasions such as Jamshedi Navroz and Pateti. The first dar-e-meher was established around 1975 in New Rochelle, New York, through the magnanimous donation of Arbab Rustom and Madam Morvarid Guiv, the philanthropic Iranian millionaires who fled Iran in 1979 when the Shah was overthrown and the tyrannical reign of Ayatollah Khomeini began. In Guiv’s footsteps the Zartoshty brothers, Faridoon and Mehraban generously funded Zoroastrian causes in the US and also gave millions for charities in India and the UK among other places.
The arrival of the Guivs in North America coincided with the formalization of Zoroastrian associations in the USA and Canada. This happy coincidence resulted in small and economically limited communities achieving the dream of every immigrant group — a meeting place of their own.
Of course many of the Zoroastrian associations had started fund-raising activities on their own, but it would have taken them many, many years to achieve what these two Iranian families made possible in a wondrous and short span of time. Today as NA Zoroastrians prosper, raising money for a new center as is being done in Toronto, is achievable. But back then, the going was uphill.
But the influx of more Iranian Zoroastrians who fled the reign of the mullahs caused a certain amount of strife between them and the Zoroastrians of India/Pakistan/Africa lineage. Differences in language, food, customs, traditions and outlook often divided associations or resulted in separate organizations being formed.
But America is rightly referred to as a melting pot. Through democratic norms and a genuine desire to work together and iron out differences, the two diverse factions have drawn closer. The mutual sharing of their different heritages stand to benefit both communities and Zoroastrianism as well.
When the formation of the Federation of Parsi Zoroastrian Anjumans of India was first mooted in the 1960s, there was considerable opposition to the proposal. The then trustees of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) viewed the proposed organization as a threat to its hegemony. Thirty-five years after it came into existence the all-India body is split with dissension. Weaknesses in the institution’s rules and regulations have been cleverly exploited to permit unelected representatives to dominate the Federation’s functioning.
But in North America, FEZANA (Federation of Zoroastrian Associations of North America) functions democratically and smoothly. Associations with a few hundred members host highly successful and meaningful, continent-wide congresses.
Every possible tool of modern communications technology is utilized. Not only technology but the thought processes are contemporary. In India we hosted a handful of world congresses and several youth congresses, both now aborted.
The last World Zoroastrian Congress in India was in 1990. The Indian tendency to please everybody, to leave certain details unattended due to pressures of time and last minute changes, all detracted from the mammoth task of organizing such get-togethers.
But the North Americans hosted the most spectacular Zoroastrian World Congress ever, in Houston in December 2000-January 2001. How a small group of volunteers with no paid staff and no physical infrastructure could manage to hold such a congress and be profitabl
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From the archive