Parsi masqueraders

Formerly in France and Italy a dance was performed by maskers in mock-military guise. It was called metachin, the dance of fools. We, too, have our masqueraders who try to masquerade as well-wishers of the community while trying to involve some individuals/institutions in nugatory litigations in which their advocates are found to be far from well-briefed. The recent case of an advocate who tried to put it to the court that there were no high priests or low priests in our community is a good example of fallacious briefing. Arguments based on such assertions are not just superfluous, but downright specious.

It would be pertinent to recall a parallel between the recent case and the one our community had witnessed in the l980s. A few obstructive Parsis who shrank from no extremes of illogicality had the gall to approach the trustees of some fire temple trusts directing them to refrain from carrying out painting/repairing work. This happened in the case of two agiaries in south Bombay. In the case of Banaji Atash Behram, the sanctum sanctorum was badly in need of repairs. The meddlers, however, enjoined the trustees to carry out a bizarre test: let a mobed swing on a rope tied to the hook of the gumbaz to prove that the structure was safe and sound! Ultimately the trustees succeeded in carrying out the proposed work, but only after considerable delay due to litigation.

The same group tried to obstruct the release of a film entitled The Quest for Zarathushtra. No Parsi lawyer was prepared to appear for the meddlers. If the entire proceeding of this case could be published, the readers would get some idea about the embarrassment faced by the non-Parsi counsel. Many a time the judge would seek some information/elucidation/justification and the standard reply of the counsel was that since he was not a Parsi, he could not furnish the data required. And the judge was constrained to point out to the counsel that since his clients, who were present in the court, were Parsis, he could consult them before responding.

One amusing contention of the plaintiffs was that since the producers had shown a jailed Zarathushtra in loin cloth (langot), the religious sentiments of the members of the community would be hurt. The judge could see through the gimmick and observed that prophets and saints of different religions have been portrayed in loin cloth but the religious sentiments of different communities were not hurt. To this neither the counsel nor the plaintiffs could provide an explicit rejoinder. Needless to add, all such petitions and appeals by the meddlers proved futile. But after every slap in the face, a copywriter would inform the community that the plaintiffs had achieved a "moral victory!”

To safeguard the community, popularizers of anti-traditional notions like inter-communal marriages, alternative methods of disposal where dakhmena­shini exists, reincarnation as a Zoroastrian doctrine, as well as the modern masqueraders must be weeded out once and for all. Otherwise stated, eliminating the dance of fools would be the first step in the direction of community service.

FARIBOURZ NARIMAN

faribourz_nariman@yahoo.com