Arizona’s Mohur

"My daughter Mohur Sidhwa has just been elected vice-chair of the Democratic Party of Arizona State…The family and I are so proud of her,” notes a missive from celebrated author Bapsi Sidhwa conveyed to Parsiana by Z. R. Birdie.

Among the many entries in her name on Google is a video talk she gave — a commentary on Science Communication, Theocracy and Democracy where Mohur pleads for science education to be encouraged in the United States. Noting that theocracy and democracy are incompatible, "where one thrives the other by its very nature shrinks,” she regrets that scientists often live in fear when the results of their projects seem to contradict theocratic beliefs. She advocates proper communication skills for scientists so that they can convey their discoveries to the average citizen in simple language in order that people learn to appreciate and value their work. She advocates open discussion and respect for knowledge.

Mohur Sidhwa (R) with Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano

The Bombay born Mohur’s "gift for intuition was recognized by her family, and when she was about 14, she was sent to live with friends in Kabul, Afghanistan, for six months in order to study with a psychic teacher,” notes an article by Howard Allen in the Tucson Weekly (May 9, 2002). Now a US trained anthropologist, Sidhwa had told Allen, "At the time, Kabul was a beautiful modern city with a monarchy in place. I would go to my teacher’s house and watch him give a reading. With a kind of gentle teasing, he would ask me what threads of the future I could see in his client, always looking for alternate threads from me. The future is like a tapestry with different threads to be followed.”

"The recent visions of Kabul on the news in the American media are disturbing to Mohur,” wrote Allen. The devastation in Afghanistan goes back to the US proxy war with the Soviet Union there. "The Taliban are basically the orphans of a whole generation of Moslems who died fighting Russians for the US,” says Mohur. "Initially the Carter and then the Reagan administrations helped set up and fund the training camps and fighters in Pakistan and Afghanistan that later came back to harm Americans. We completely abandoned those countries after the Soviets left. Pakistanis and Afghans have never forgiven us for the power vacuum we left behind.”

Mohur got her bachelor’s in anthropology from the University of Denver and transferred to the University of Arizona for graduate school where she taught classes in paranormal anthropology. She opened an office to do readings and has been a Tucsonan ever since, notes Allen. A Google entry describes her as owner of the firm Integrated Personal Solutions which provides professional training and coaching to industry.