“Two tigresses”

"Dumb and Dumber” are the two labels that have been conferred on 20-year-old Camille and 17-year-old Zeenia Fram­roze for daring to initiate the online petition Against Parsi Conservatism. Their critics have variously described them as "abbhan (ignorant)… stupid… uneducated…”

Their knowledge of the scriptures may be limited, they admit, but as Camille conveys, "We have been raised to believe in two things: It is up to each individual to determine what is right and wrong and follow the right path. And, you have to stand up for the things you believe in.”

It is with this conviction that they launched the online petition shortly after they saw the article in the Mumbai Mirror of July 9, 2010. When discussing what they could do to help, they decided that "the easiest way to reach out” was through an online petition, mentions Camille. Adds Zeenia, "We wanted to show that we have the support of like-minded people… that we are not silent…”

Camille (left) and Zeenia Framroze

Enthused by the over 2,200 signatures of support they have generated in the last fortnight from the eldest, a 93-year-old gentleman to the youngest, a seven-year-old, the sisters confess that they "didn’t expect to reach that many people.” They have not decided how to proceed in the matter but to make this entire exercise meaningful have sought suggestions from those who have joined the group specially created on Facebook. Regularly monitoring the feedback, Camille stresses, "It is necessary that the members remain focused, that people do not get unduly abusive.” They refer to one recent interchange on the Facebook group where one member accused an orthodox coreligionist of being a racist. Unabashed, the orthodox man responded, "I am not a racist. I am a sexist!”

Initially "shocked and saddened by the hate mail” they have generated the siblings have now come to regard it as "interesting, wondering what they’ll manage to bring up next.” They look on in disbelief as hecklers distort nuggets of personal information to portray them in a negative light. In her last year of school at Branksome Hall in Toronto, Zeenia refers to her school assignment related to the Republic of Iran which has earned the youngster the title of an "Islamic Fundamentalist” from a diehard Parsi. Camille’s response to a media query two years ago on the usage of slang by American youth is deliberately lifted out of context to disparagingly depict that as her normal style of talking. "We were expecting opposition but not at such a level,” says Zeenia alluding to one "really vituperative hate mail that ran into five pages.” The tone and tenor of the venomous e-mails were similar in content to the demeaning write-ups that appeared on the WAPIZ Page in The Free Press Journal of July 23, the sisters recognized.

Initially people doubted whether Zeenia and Camille really existed, whether these are their real names, recalls their mother Dr Sonya, a psychologist. Subsequently they sought to confirm whether the girls have both Zoroastrian parents. (Their father Dr Bomi runs a company Opus Organics doing research in pharmaceuticals and agricultural chemicals.) Once that was ascertained they began to question their intentions saying, "If you don’t have a selfish motive why would you do it? There must be something to gain out of it… Perhaps future love affairs?…They get an ego boost from being liberal.” Not too perturbed by such insinuations the mother though is wary of threats "to throw chappals (slippers) at your door.”

Neither of the two banned priests are known to the siblings. It is just the cause that they felt obliged to support. The sudreh-kusti wearing girls are regular agiary goers too. In fact Camille states that when studying abroad she misses not being able to visit a fire temple.Their temporary overseas stay has become a contentious issue too with critics labeling them as "foreigners” who have no right to dabble in the internal affairs of the community in Bombay.

While Zeenia schools in Toronto, Camille is majoring in philosophy at Princeton College in USA. Speaking for both of them a miffed Camille states: "Bombay is home… where we were raised. (They were students at the J. B. Petit High School and Dhirubhai Ambani International School in Bombay before they got an opportunity to study abroad.) India is as much my country as it is anybody else’s.” Truly ironic was when a gentleman from Australia advised them not to meddle in Indian matters!

Fortunately family members have been supportive of these gutsy girls. While Camille’s friends "respect her involvement” with community affairs, Zeenia’s peers find it difficult to believe that she is spending time on such issues instead of filling out college application forms considering that she would be joining university next year being keen to study international relations and work with the United Nations in the future. She was further disappointed when some of her close friends told her they would like to sign the petition but their parents won’t let them.

The online petition though has woken many from their slumber and the girls get offers from people willing to fund Ervad Khushroo Madon’s activities or contribute towards the cost of the legal battle. Whilst turning down all such monetary offers the sisters only hope that members of the community will take time out to register as voters before the next Bombay Parsi Punchayet trusteeship elections. Rather than see the "present mudslinging” the duo "would like something good to come out of it… a concrete change for the future.”