Survival strategy

I was very happy to note that a Parsi couple has recently produced twins under the Jiyo Parsi scheme. At a time when numbers are falling, can you imagine a Parsi New Year greeting card from the golden age of Parsis, showing an affluent family with five children being counseled not to produce any more than pawno dajan (nine children)? Just goes to show how times have changed in a 100 years. Today a Parsi family with five children should be given a medal! Between my maternal and paternal grandparents they had 13 children altogether! That was considered normal in Navsari!
The Zoroastrian faith is not in danger globally, but if the Parsi Zoroastrians of India and their culture have to survive beyond 2050 I think it is time that the orthodox amongst us re-examine our numerical status and consider welcoming children of mixed marriages into the fold. But with a caveat — only, and I repeat, only if both (Parsi and the non-Parsi) parents and the children themselves wholeheartedly desire that the child embrace the Zarathushti faith.
ARDESHIR B. DAMANIA
Davis, California
abdamania@yahoo.com