Matrimonial musings

I have a question regarding matrimony in the Parsi community. I feel that the reason for strict adherence to only marrying within the community is misunderstood by the orthodox Parsis. Tradition and religion can be upheld even by converts. If one voluntarily converted to the religion and kept up its traditions one would not be any less a Zoroastrian.

However, the point of ethnic purity raised by orthodox Parsis is different. This cannot be preserved by intermarriage. Parsis are of Aryan lineage, but so are many other communities in India. For example, the higher caste Hindus have done much to preserve their Aryan heritage by marrying amongst themselves. Brahmins, for example, rarely marry non-Brahmins, thereby maintaining racial consistency. Both the Zoroastrian and Vedic peoples have a common racial ancestry.

If a Parsi were to marry a Brahmin who was willing to uphold the teachings of Zoroastrianism, wouldn’t that achieve the objective of marrying within the same racial group? Is this not a good way to satisfy both the liberal and the orthodox Parsis? In this way, not only could the number of Parsis expand further but it would also be good for the gene pool. Moreover, the common Aryan lineage between Hindus and Parsis would still be maintained.

What do Parsi scholars and clerics have to say about this?

ARIANA WADIA

The editors reply

There are three primary races in the world: Caucasian, Mongoloid and Negroid. And all the people in the world have a single common ancestor. The process of evolution has resulted in the multiple peoples of today.

There is no Aryan race. The Webster’s dictionary defines the word Aryan as "of or relating to a hypothetical ethnic type illustrated by or descended from early speakers of Indo-European languages.” Another definition offered is "used in Nazism to designate a supposed master race of non-Jewish Caucasians usually having Nordic features” and thirdly "of or relating to Indo-Iranian or its speakers.”

The Concise Oxford English Dictionary 11th edition defines Aryan as "(in Nazi ideology) a person of Caucasian race not of Jewish descent” and "a member of a people speaking an Indo-European language who invaded northern India in the second millennium.”

Whoever a Parsi marries, they are in reality marrying a very, very distant relative. Incidentally, US Vice President Dick Cheney and Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama are eighth cousins.

So as a fact whoever we marry, it’s all in the family.