“Devoted to death”

I am indeed impressed with the charming sense of humility on the part of Ervad (Dr) Ramiyar Karanjia as expressed in his rejoinder to my letter ("Devoted to death,” Readers’ Forum, Par­siana, February 21, 2012). I sincerely wish all the clergy were as humble.

Karanjia has candidly stated that he is not an "expert” in anything, nor has he ever claimed to be. He adds, "I have never gone out of my way to teach, preach or guide anybody.” This leads to some degree of perplexity for lay readers such as myself because Karanjia happens to be a member of the Council of High Priests. Obviously such a Council would comprise members of the clergy who are eminently qualified in religious studies. All this time, like many lay Parsis, I had assumed that the principal of a madressa would and should be an expert in religious studies to enable him not only to impart adequate knowledge to those who are to be initiated into the priesthood but to also answer their queries.

Secondly, Karanjia’s statement that he has never gone out of his way to teach, preach or guide anybody raises further confusion as to what he was doing before a Russian audience as seen on YouTube. The video clip was subsequently removed because of alleged copyright infringement.

As regards Karanjia’s clarification about the "posed photo” of a dead person, I find it hard to accept.

I have the highest regard for Karanjia and am convinced that no underqualified person could ever find a place in the Council of High Priests or venture to demonstrate the religious practices and tenets to an audience of foreigners on their own soil. I, therefore, sincerely request him to clear these inherent contradictions.

RUSI SUNTOKE

Sydney, Australia

rsuntoke@gmail.com