“From dadgah to dargah”

In the column "From dadgah to dargah” (Bawa Musings, Parsiana, July 21, 2014) Berjis Desai writes about tolerance and how it should not impact others if fellow Zoroastrians choose to also visit alternate places of worship which give them further solace and peace. It should be a non-issue as it does not make that person a bad human or any less of a Zoroastrian than someone who does not wish to visit such places.
In the matter of the "renegade” priests, coming from a priestly family myself I will not humiliate these two priests by referring to them thus and prefer to describe them with more respect as "controversial” priests who have got the community in a twirl.
After reading that an astronomical amount of some three crore rupees (approximately half a million dollars) has already been incurred towards legal costs, and the cost is likely to escalate even more, I think it is time to think laterally and logically.
Every community has its own issues. This is not unique to the Parsis of India or the Zoroastrian community at large. Differing opinions are healthy and must be allowed to be expressed freely. A dictatorial attitude was not something that Prophet Zarathushtra propagated. On the contrary, it was always "freedom of thought and choice.”
Every organization, community trust, partnership, punchayet, etc faces similar challenges. The key is to reach a resolution quickly, and preferably amicably, based on the mandate from the members that appoint the body.
I was privileged to have served as president of the Australian Zoroastrian Association of New South Wales (AZA), as was my wife Arnaz. I was also chairman of the trustees of the AZA in recent years and wish to share my experience and the team work that always prevailed.
Our management committee’s philosophy and working style was simple. When a problem or issue arose, there were two recommended solutions. First, set up a mediation committee with both warring parties agreeing to appoint stalwarts from our community. Ideally one or two scholars of the Zoroastrian religion could form part of the mediation committee. Members of the committee need to be level headed, good listeners and smart negotiators to understand the issues at a macro level. They need to understand the pros and cons of the problem, how it is impacting the community’s feelings and reach an amicable resolution. No resolution will be fully acceptable to two warring parties unless both parties are willing and have the will to compromise. I believe it always works! If one party comes with a blinkered view that "I will never give in,” then it will be a waste of precious time.
The second option to resolve any issue is to have a "referendum” with simple Yes or No ticks in boxes on the points of dispute. For example: Should the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) trustees continue to spend the money to have this matter heard in court at any cost? Yes/No; Should these priests be allowed to perform the geh sarna ceremony at a separately allocated bungli at Doongerwadi for the deceased who have chosen an alternative mode of disposal of their bodies? Yes/No.
Our community has close to 97% literacy levels where we can have our views heard freely and express the same without fear or favor. I am not attempting to challenge the tenets of our religion or bring about changes to our existing rituals or practices. However, we have to be pragmatic, logical and face reality in order to live peacefully and in harmony.
The reality is that we live in a global society and our children all over the world are exposed to varying degrees of social media. Let the BPP invest time, money and energies to find out what young Zoroastrians are thinking and what they want. How do these young leaders plan to keep the fire and zeal of the Zoroastrian faith alive with the trials and tribulations that come to face us from time to time?
Every day only for a few seconds let us sit with closed eyes and ponder about what is happening on the Gaza strip and West Bank in Palestine and what the Israelis are doing. Let us also think about the massacre of the Yazidis who are persecuted in Kurdistan (history repeating itself and the modern world watching the atrocities). Let us also think of what the families of the Malaysian Airlines (MH17) disaster must be going through. If Zoroastrians can see what is happening to the human race in general, this debate about the "controversial” priests will fade away into insignificance. We should be concentrating on encouraging our youth to increase the Zoroastrian community by marrying early. NAUZER BANA
Ex-President, AZA
Sydney, Australia
nick_bana3@hotmail.com

When will this controversy end? I remember writing a similar letter earlier on the topic of Sai Baba. Why do Zoroastrians still believe in Sai Baba, Mother Mary, Siddhi Vinayak, Ajmer Sharif, and many other saints and godmen?
I feel there is a correlation between our Indian roots and our religion. History tells us that though we were given full freedom to follow our own religion and rituals, we were asked to adapt to our new country. And we did, whole-heartedly. Having landed on the shores of Gujarat, we were greatly influenced by the Gujarati culture, so we adopted their language, their style of wearing the sari, and some rituals too. We maintained our religion but accepted the environment around us. So if we lived in a place where Sai Baba was worshipped, we gave him the due respect and believed in him, while following our religion in totality. I know of many Parsis in Kerala who visit the Sabarimala Temple and perform all the due rituals, but never at the cost of their own religion. Besides, when calamities strike, God is invoked for help and this can be seen at the Mahim Church, at Ajmer Sharif or at Siddhi Vinayak where Parsis are immediately visible. It’s a question of a drowning man clutching at a straw!
But this had never made them, or us, lesser Zoroastrians.
I belong to a family whose business was cotton in a small town of Vidarabha called Yeotmal. We grew up in an atmosphere of loban, diva-batti and Avesta prayers alongside Satyanarayan Katha and Laxmi Puja which was done annually with the services of a maharaj and delicious prasad. Ours was the only Parsi family in town where all my father’s colleagues and business associates were Hindus. We thought this was most normal and acceptable and we grew up with this universality of religion. It made us better Parsis. After all, every religion speaks about the same values and same theories; our paths are the same. It’s a manmade divide.
So, please don’t discourage and disparage these multiple beliefs. Let Zarathushtra, Sai Baba, Christ, Ganpati and Ajmer Sharif all live in our hearts and homes without any controversy over Parsi beliefs and Parsipanu!
RODA D. HAKIM
Baroda
vadhakim@yahoo.com