“Bawal blues”

Without intending to fragment Farroakh F. Govadia’s informative piece on firewood ("Bawal blues,” Parsiana, December 7, 2007), some pertinent questions must be posed as through its smoke not much light emerges.

Firstly, who has the greater need for firewood — poor families who use it for cooking and perhaps heating, or extravagant Parsis whose religiosity is thought to heighten in direct proportion to the flame in our fire temples? There is real and increasing poverty among much of India’s burgeoning population, though this is not a problem for the diminishing number of Parsis (and not all fire worshipping Parsis are truth-revering Zoroastrians!). Should the demands of industry take precedence with 24-hour blazes similar to those in our atash behrams? Should the token glorification of Ahura Mazda prevail over the realities of employment and production? Have we so soon forgotten the closing clause of our Yatha Ahu Vairyo prayer?

Secondly, amidst the frequent appeals for funding the restoration and upkeep of remotely situated fire temples which attract a dwindling number of visitors (not necessarily for worship, as witness the occasional reports of theft!), do we not envisage further erosion in the number of worshippers and their modes of worship? Charities are happy to donate towards repair work, but they are loath to subsidize firewood at the current spiraling prices.

Thirdly, how do we fit in with our inflated claims of an ecologically concerned faith our contribution to the alarming rate of deforestation? Where is our much-vaunted "greenness” which ensures protection for the four elements of nature?

Doubtless there are other questions which could be more intelligently put, but we should stop here in favor of some pertinent comments. Govadia’s article-cum-plaint could have given us some basic information on how long a bawal tree needs to mature before it can be chopped down for fuel. We fully appreciate the gravity of his statement that "no one... has bothered to grow new bawal trees,” yet what can be done realistically to switch the food producing land back to firewood terrain? Is food not as important as the showy blazes within dadgahs, agiaries and atash behrams?

There were mindless times when no one gave thought to the depletion of hard-and soft-wood forests. Ugly present day realities should compel us to discard our long ingrained complacency, but will reason ever prevail over religiosity? Can we not envisage a time when we perforce will have to use only vegetable oil divas in our places of worship? Why does it have to be expensive fragrant woods whose disappearing stocks should cause all to call a halt to "age-old traditions and practices” or whatever?

Govadia’s point that "mobeds refuse to use wet (bawal) wood” could perhaps be best explained through a blue lake in the Great Hereafter from Arda Wiraz’s cautionary anecdote. In Chapter 10 of the Arda Wiraz Namagh, the saintly Mazdaean messenger, Wiraz, is welcomed by Adar Yazad with the strange greeting: "Come in health, righteous Wiraz of the wet wood!” In reply Wiraz protested that he had always used seven-year-old wood. Adar Yazad’s riposte was even stranger: "Come, let me show you the lake of water from the wet wood you placed upon me (on earth)!” Thereupon Wiraz was taken to view a vast lake of blue water formed, he was told by this high authority, by the placing of wet wood on fire temple altars! Govadia should count himself lucky that our mobeds do not insist on this seven-year dry-out clause!

For the further delectation of your exclusionist readers, can it be noted that the Arda Wiraz Namagh begins with: "Once on a time the righteous Zardusht had spread throughout the world the religion he had received” and ends with Ohrmazd’s exhortation (Ch. 101): "And be steadfast in that same religion that Spitaman Zardusht had received from me, and which Wishtasp had spread in the world ...” But that may well be the subject of another controversy!

FARROKH VAJIFDAR

London, UK