“Promoters are Parsis”

The predominantly urban (96 percent) and highly literate (98 percent) Parsi community, barring a few black sheep, is considered to be honest, trustworthy and law abiding. Most Parsis try hard to follow the basic tenets of the Zoroastrian religion in not only their personal lives but also in their professional and/or business careers. However small the numbers, Parsis, by their example, are an ever shining light in the darkness and gloom of corruption, lawlessness and disdain for civic sense widely prevailing in our country today. Who will continue to demonstrate these values if Parsis are no more?
As politics and public life are now considered "dirty,” unlike in the past, Parsis by and large have been forced away from such vocations. They, however, have increased their contribution to their adopted country India and shown their gratitude to it by concentrating their financial, managerial, organizational and human resources to industry, business and professions. The largest Indian industrial house was started by a Parsi. There are many other Parsi owned large, medium, small-scale and micro industries, businesses and professions contributing to India’s progress and development. What will happen to these enterprises?
In September 1972, at the age of 31, I resigned as the all India product manager, Chemicals Division of Voltas, to start my first entrepreneurial venture jointly with my late wife Sheila. We selected the name "Armayesh,” a combination of the names of our son Armand and daughter Ayesha, for the business venture. Armayesh started operations as a marketing organization by obtaining agency representations for chemicals, sanitaryware (including bathroom tiles and fittings) etc. One of the prestigious agency representations was for import of titanium dioxide from Thann Et Mulhouse, France (part of the Rhone-Poulenc Group, at that time).
After a few years of successful business operations Sheila suggested diversifying into the manufacture and export of hand embroidered items, to which I readily agreed. Our list of customers includes high fashion designers around the world. Through such designers Armayesh’s hand embroidery has adorned celebrities such as Tina Turner, Elton John and the late Princess Diana. Singer Cher’s costume at her display at Mme. Tussaud’s, Australia, the cap and robe which Pope John Paul the II wore at the Easter mass in 1993 and the embroidered belts worn by three Sumo wrestlers in Japan some years ago had Armayesh’s embroidery.
Armayesh is also a pioneer in offering hand embroidered blouses and gara saris for the local and export markets, along with embroidery for shoe uppers, cushion covers and hand bags. The garas come as close to the original as possible, as the threads are twisted while continuing with the stitches, during the hand embroidery work. After Sheila’s demise in 2001, Armand and his wife Niloufer jointly run the hand embroidery and other businesses of Armayesh and Shapoorjee Chandabhoy Finvest Private Limited.
Around the same time, Armayesh also diversified into owning and operating business services centers and finance and investment. Today, the Armayesh Group comprises six private limited companies, one limited liability partnership and one public limited company.
After the demise of my father Jamshed in 1998, a fourth generation architect and partner of the family enterprise Shapoorjee N. Chandabhoy and Company I converted the partnership to a company and transferred the finance and investment activities of Armayesh, to Shapoorjee Chandabhoy Finvest Private Limited, the newly formed registered non-banking financial company. In 2003-2004, the Group invested in the equity share capital and took over the operations of Virat Industries Limited (VIL), a public limited company having its registered office at Navsari. VIL is the largest manufacturer-exporter of dress socks of all companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
Armand and Ayesha DadyBurjor are promoter directors of VIL. Ayesha and her husband Kaizad are also directors of Shapoorjee Chandabhoy Finvest Private Limited, whilst I am chairman emeritus of the Group. The sales, share capital, net worth, market capitalization and net profit of the Group amounts to several crore rupees.
India, in the next decades, can graduate to a manufacturing powerhouse provided the government removes the existing layers of unnecessary rules, regulations and controls. The leash has to be relaxed so that the animal spirit of Indian entrepreneurs can thrive in practice rather than merely by hollow words.
When I was handling a joint venture project with a British company, during negotiations their chairman suddenly asked me, "Who are the Parsis?” Seeing the shocked look on my face, he smiled comfortingly and showed me a report he had received from his company’s consultants who were examining all aspects of the collaboration agreement. At the end of the report, there was a sentence stating: "Most importantly, the proposed joint venture Indian promoters are Parsis.” As there was no further detail or explanation, the British company chairman was most curious to know what "Parsis” meant. He heard my explanation with great interest and appreciation. Needless to mention, subsequently there was never a doubt or question of integrity or honesty between the British and Indian collaborators.
It is a source of great happiness and pride to be a Parsi. The decline in numbers of this community must be arrested. Let us now examine the likely causes and the remedies available to stop the declining Indian Parsi population. The two main causes are reportedly a low birth rate, one birth for every five deaths, and migration (estimated at 20 percent) to other countries. I would like to give a lower emphasis to migration, as at a global level the Parsi population would remain unchanged. The focus, therefore, has to be on improving the birth rate among Parsis.
Let me now try to steer through the storm that I see brewing on the horizon. About 40 percent of Parsis marry outside their community and religion. The children of Parsi fathers are generally accepted as Parsis. However, the children of Parsi mothers, who continue to profess the Zoroastrian religion after marriage, are not accepted into the Parsi Zoroastrian fold. This is, to my mind, an illogical and unjustifiable situation, accelerating the death of the Parsi community. The children of such Parsi mothers must be accepted as Parsi Zoroastrians without any further delay. We should be thankful to the non-Zoroastrian fathers who agree to raise their children as Zoroastrians.
I have not seen or heard of any waiting list for persons to convert to Zoroastrianism from another faith. Religion is an accident of birth, where the newborn child has no option but to follow the religion selected by his parent(s). There are, however, a select few who study various religions and then decide on pure merit whether to convert from their religion of birth to another religion. A small fraction of such persons may decide to become Zoroastrians. This, as we all know, is not permitted by the powers that be.
There are two very well known and documented, relatively recent instances that I personally fully support. In the first an eminent Parsi Christian had his officially approved navjote at the age of over 80 years and was accepted into the Zoroastrian religion. In the second incident, relatives of an eminent Parsi Zoroastrian, whose mother was not a born Zoroastrian, were officially permitted to have his uthamna ceremony at the Towers of Silence. Why are these progressive actions not further replicated and relaxed, in the interests of preserving and proliferating the Parsi community and the Zoroastrian religion?
Some years ago, I attended a dinner at the home of an Iranian Muslim restaurant owner in Dallas, Texas, USA where many other Iranian Muslims were present. We got to talking about Iran, the Shah years and the current regime. I was pleasantly surprised and could not believe my ears at the laudatory comments they made about Zoroastrians (Zarathusthis to them) and when these Iranian Muslims categorically stated that they would very much like to once again embrace the religion of their Zoroastrian forefathers and revert to Zoroastrianism. This requires a rethink.
Some of the arguments against admitting the children of outmarried Parsi mothers and converts into the Zoroastrian religion are the need to continue the pedigree and pure blood lines, whatever that may mean, of this religion, irrespective of the consequent genetic problems of inbreeding. Another argument is that the benefits from various Parsi charity trusts, particularly free or low rent housing would get diluted and "outsiders” would get benefits to the detriment of the original community members. An independent and unbiased 2004 study compared the Parsi matrilineal DNA with Iranians and Gujaratis and concluded that the Parsis are genetically closer to Gujaratis than to Iranians. This indicated that the ancestors of the present day Parsi population admixed with local females, leading ultimately to the loss of matrilineal DNA of Iranian origin (Quintana-Murci at al 2004, pg 840).
It will be a really sad day when there are no Parsi Zoroastrians left in India, not only for the community but also for India. What will happen to the traditional crafts like hand embroidered blouses and gara saris? What will happen to the multiple Parsi charities and welfare schemes? The Parsi doers and givers will be no more and the zest for life demonstrated by good food, good drinks, good partying will end.
The choice is very clear: retain the religious edicts, legal interpretations, pedigree, purity and charitable benefits of the existing community and face extinction of Parsis and the Zoroastrian religion in India, or reconsider all these issues and accept all those who would voluntarily prefer to follow the Zoroastrian faith and let the community survive for a longer time. The handful of wise and forward looking priests and community members who have demonstrated courageous leadership in this recommended direction must be sincerely complimented.

Naozer Aga is the promoter chairman emeritus of the Armayesh Group, a leading manufacturer-exporter of hand embroidered products, and owns and operates business service centers. He is also the promoter chairman of Shapoorjee Chandabhoy Finvest Private Limited and promoter chairman emeritus of Virat Industries Limited, currently the largest manufacturer-exporter of socks of all companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange. He is trustee of the Adult Education Institute and was past general secretary of the Indian Liberal Group (ILG) reporting to its founder president Minoo Masani. Founder/charter president of the Lions Club of Bombay Central, he is chairman emeritus of Bai Soonabai Byramji Dadabhoy Pochkhanawala Trust and the Bai Bachoobai Shapoorjee N. Chandabhoy Trust.