“From dadgah to dargah”

Berjis Desai’s column "From dadgah to dargah” (Parsiana, July 21, 2014) was thought provoking. Zoroastrianism was never a small, fenced in courtyard. Many of us are ignorant of the basic tenets of our religion which allows freedom of thought.
The over-righteous, narrow-minded Parsis find it difficult to accept journeys into other religions. Far from turning us into worshippers of other religions and sects, this helps to strengthen our belief in our own religion as worship of other religious teachers, saints or gurus does not weaken our faith. Why did the Zoroastrians who came from Iran adopt the Gujarati language, dress, food and habits of the Hindus of India? Why did they not adhere to their own native dress and language? Today, many young Parsis cannot speak Gujarati fluently. Does that make them less Parsi?
My sister and I were born and brought up in Allahabad. Our maternal grandparents moved away from Bombay when my grandmother was just 15. While bringing up her daughters and grandchildren in Allahabad, she gave us a vast view of the world, the different religions and how each one was important and should be revered. When I first spoke at the age of two it was in the pure village language of Uttar Pradesh. I still speak it better than I do Gujarati or even English of which I have considerable knowledge. But I am still a Parsi, proud of being one, more so perhaps because it has helped my own family to bond with all the communities around us.
From childhood I have seen my family celebrate Diwali, Christmas, the Hindu nahan days (at Sangam) as fervently as we did Jamshedi Navroz and the New Year. People from all communities got together and celebrated each others’ festivals with merriment and religious fervor. We attended jashans at the Allahabad agiary as well as Hindu kathas, Muslim religious qawwalis and church services — Protestant, Roman Catholic and Pentecostal. We have in our home pictures of many saints of other religions and revere them as we do those of our own religion.
To those who point a finger at people like us as being hypocritical Zoroastrians, I wish to ask: How many of the over-zealous, over righteous Zarthoshtis actually wear a sudreh? All will answer indignantly: Of course we do! But are these real sudrehs, or designer versions? These days hardly anyone wears a true sudreh with its meaningful seams (teeries) and sleeves. Many wear slips with straps, an apology for the true sudreh. So let us not be critical about those who resort to other forms of worship as long as they lead good, straight lives practicing manashni, gavashni and kunashni (good thoughts, good words and good deeds).
Having been a regular at all-religions meets where I was invited by the Roman Catholic church, the Ramakrishna Mission, the Sikh Guru Sangh and Sachcha Baba Ashram, I have learnt much about their views and they about ours. At one such meeting I told the crowd that we of different faiths, codes, languages, had come via different roads by different modes of transport, yet we had met at the same place, for the same purpose. And that teaches us that all religious roads lead to one destination — God. Squabbling over religious fundamentalism or blaming people for revering other faiths should be shunned. MEHER D. DHONDY
Gurgaon, Haryana