Knowing your flock

Preparing community directories is a long, arduous and often thankless task. Many residents don’t cooperate despite receiving several reminders. So the final product is always a major achievement, a symbol of the local leadership’s ability to persevere in collecting, collating and publishing data in a coherent, presentable and meaningful form.

In 1996, 1998 and 2001 the Federation of Zoroastrian Associations of North America (FEZANA) published directories listing the community members in the western continent. It was an ambitious and massive project but one the FEZANA leaders saw through to fruition. "The first edition generated tremendous interest and became a reference book for networking, not only among Zarathushtis on this continent but for people around the world," wrote the then FEZANA president (1994-1998) Dolly Dastoor in the preface to the second edition (a copy of the first edition of the FEZANA directory is not available with Parsiana). "A directory is not only a listing of people, but an affirmation of the vibrancy and strength of our community and a window to our presence in (the) USA and Canada. Every Zarathushti should be proud to be listed here, for every name represents the thread which weaves together the fabric of the North American Zarathushti community," she added.

In the third directory coordinator Noshir Langrana in the Acknowledgment stated the work showed "the Zarathushti community on the North American continent is alive and well." FEZANA president Framroze Patel noted in his preface that the data provided proves useful for "fund-raising and conveying information on community related issues" amongst other things.

The directory listing is now available on the FEZANA website but is accessible only through a common password. Besides the utility factor, directories reflect the commitment of the association to hold the community together.

The Directory of Zoroastrians of UK & Europe 2011 published by the Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe (ZTFE) also contains much information including the price of a grave plot (£ 600 or Rs 55,000) in Brookwoods Cemetery (BC) outside London. Interestingly the 2005 Directory states the same price. The cost of digging and refilling is £ 450 ("as charged and payable to BC"). Here also the charges are unchanged.

"The regular update of the Directory is an important tool in enhancing the interests of the Zoroastrian community," wrote ZTFE president Malcolm Deboo in the seventh edition brought out in 2011. In a letter to ZTFE trustee Rusi Dalal printed in the Directory, Bill Stephenson, leader of the Harrow Council wherein the Zoroastrian Centre is located, termed the Directory "an excellent publication not only for your community but also for Harrow."

This Jamshedi Navroz the Mancherji Edulji Joshi Memorial Trust (MEJMT) released their sixth directory with a listing of 3,545 individuals and 23 institutions in Dadar. The Trust "distributed directory entry forms for enrolment to each and every flat in the entire area" as well as the local agiaries, Gymkhana, bank, library, etc plus advertised in the Press, notes a write-up titled "Scope of the Directory 2014." Addresses, telephone and mobile numbers and emails are listed as also the blood groups of some of the residents.

If that were not impressive enough the Nagpur Parsi Gymkhana (NPG) has stolen a march over all other associations by including photographs and the date of birth of the Parsi residents of this central Indian city. This, in addition to names, addresses, telephone numbers, emails, blood groups. Details of "Non-resident life members are printed" as also a listing of "interfaith married women." In the Directory preface NPG president Shiraz Gimi thanks his colleagues "for their hard work of not only getting the information but also of including photographs of members for the first time."

Despite the "hard work" any directory requires what is surprising is that so many associations regularly bring them out. The Hong Kong directory published by The Incorporated Trustees of the Zoroastrian Charity Funds of Hong Kong, Canton and Macao, also carries a seven-page write up titled "A Historic Outline of our Trust, its Activities & its People." The Ahmedabad Parsi Panchayat (they even had a Yellow Pages directory once), the Thana Parsi Zoroastrian Anjuman, the Zoroastrian Women’s Assembly of Surat (their directory incudes the names of students in the girls’ and boys’ orphanage, as well as residents of the Nariman Home), the Godrej Baug Residents Welfare Association have also published directories.

In the Nashik-Devlali Parsi Zoroastrian Anjuman Directory dated 2008, managing trustee Bomi Netarwala lamented, "It is unfortunate that most of our grown up children no longer live in Nasik, and therefore their names have not been included." This is a lament that would figure in most Parsi communities in India and Pakistan and also amongst the Zoroastrians in Iran. The Karachi Zarthosti Banu Mandal A & T Directory for Pakistan (2009) stated 1,839 Parsis reside in the country, compared to 2,039 in 2006. "Some of our community have left for better prospects," noted Toxy Cowasjee who had compiled the Directory. Whilst they have not brought out a subsequent edition, Cowasjee regularly updates her records and as per her email, the community count was 1,479 on January 21, 2015.

The Shree Parsi Panchayat, Vadodara Directory for 2003 shows the local Parsi population increase to 1,059 from 739 in 1982. But "a demographic profile" warns "the percentage of children below the age of 15 years indicates a sharp reduction whereas the population of elderly shows a nominal increase of three percent."

The Pakistan and the Vadodara directories are apparently the only two that have included statistical data. Nearly all the other compilations do not even mention the total number of persons listed. This demographic detail is crucial for future planning. If one knows the rate of decline, one can plan accordingly.

The Bombay Parsi Punchayet, though the largest and wealthiest amongst all the anjumans in India has never brought out a directory, neither has the Poona Parsi Panchayat (PPP), as far as one recollects. That may be why the PPP trustees always claim a Parsi population of around 10,000 when the census figures put the total in the 3,000 to 4,000 range.

For the years 2007-2008 and 2009-2010 Parsiana brought out two print editions of the Yellow Pages listing Parsi and Zoroastrian businesspeople and professionals in India and abroad. Updating the entries became an onerous task and the directory was finally posted on our website parsian.com but is not updated. Zoroastrians.net, the online portal created by Yazdi Tantra includes two directories: zoroastriandirectory.com and the parsidirectory.com with the portal claiming to be "the largest free worldwide listing of Zoroastrians, Parsis and Iranis" with "78,445 live entries."

With the 2011 Government of India Census data on the number of Parsis still not available, the directories would at least give a marginal indication as to the extent of demographic decline. They would also reflect the level of commitment of the trustees to the local community. Without demographic input, there can be no meaningful long-term planning.

(This is not meant to be an exhaustive or up-to-date listing of the anjumans/associations that publish directories. Parsiana has relied on its limited archives, storage and retrieval facilities to try and present an overview. We welcome any directories from community bodies and apologize to those who have done sterling work but feel aggrieved that they have not found mention.)