Disturbing denial

I am greatly perturbed about an incident that took place with my daughter on August 20, 2007, on the occasion of Navroz. My daughter is studying at St Stephen’s College, in North Delhi and living on campus. She went to our dar-e-meher on that auspicious day to pay homage to the fire and to spend some time in quiet meditation. She had classes that morning, and she traveled to the dar-e-meher by autorickshaw as soon as her classes were done. This was a long ride of about 40 minutes due to some street processions, and she reached there at about 2 p.m.

On her arrival she found the main gate closed and, after calling out and waiting for quite long, the gatekeeper arrived and told her that he would not open the gate as the dar-e-meher was closed at that time. She explained that she had traveled a great distance, and asked to speak to the priest. The priest was vexed that his lunch had been disturbed, whereupon my daughter apologized and offered to wait until he was through. She requested that the prayer hall be opened for just 10 minutes so that she could offer her prayers and leave.

Rather than acceding to her request, the priest was rude to her and asked her to wait outside in the scorching sun until 4 p.m. Feeling dejected and disappointed, she left with a heavy heart.

While I realize that the timing of my daughter’s arrival there was awkward, it was indeed an auspicious day and the priest could have either been more accommodating to her, or at least been more polite with his refusal. His behavior was unacceptable, and if this is the way our younger generation is going to be treated, is it any wonder that more of our youth are turning away from our religion?

All that my daughter asked for was 10 minutes in solitude in the prayer hall. She did not even expect the priest to recite any prayers. Was that too much to ask for, and was the priest’s response justified? I leave it to readers to ponder over this and the negative impact it has had on a young, impressionable mind. Perhaps the time has come for us to impress upon our priests, who are the protectors of our faith, to be more receptive to the needs of our people, and especially to those of our younger generation who will be the ones entrusted with carrying this great religion forward.

ZAL COWASJI

Mhow

Dadi E. Mistry, vice president of the Delhi Parsi Anjuman replies:

I send my humble apology for what happened and the difficulties your daughter had to go through. The matter will be looked into from all angles. I would appreciate it if you could send me your daughter’s complete address and contact number in Delhi so that we can talk to her after looking into the matter and ensure that such a thing does not happen to anybody else.