The choicest New Year
The Surat Parsi Panchayat banner in the vestibule of the Seth Kavasji Rustamji Tamna Ni Dharamshala where the West Zone B meet of the Federation of the Parsi Zoroastrian Anjumans of India (FPZAI) was held on August 2, 2015 was put up awry the evening before, with a green tape holding down the bottom left extremity and a brown tape at the other end and along the sides. When the two trustees of the Shree Surat Nanpura Parsi Zarthosti Anjuman which run the partly renovated rest house returned from their outside chores having spent the full afternoon supervising the preparations for the next day, their eyes at once spied the tilt in the banner. Methodically they removed the vinyl multicolored sheet, commented on how the typography could have been more striking and then set about repositioning the banner and applying a transparent sticking tape so as not to mar the aesthetics of the signage.
One of the two trustees’ wives shook her head in disbelief, noting how the two officials wanted everything right. After being elected two years ago, the eight-member board (a ninth member expired) had undertaken to spruce up the dilapidated ground-plus-one-storey structure on Bejonji Kotwal Street in the heart of Surat’s Nanpura neighborhood. As and when funds came in, the repairs and renovations were taken in hand. Some of the 12 rooms are ready, a few fitted with air conditioners. Granite tiles are fitted where continuous seepage has dampened the walls of the 196-year-old structure. A day before the meeting, the civil work was in progress. Weddings, navjotes, birthdays, anniversaries are celebrated in the complex which has a large, open courtyard. Already the billing has shot up from a few thousand to over almost Rs 12,00,000 a year. There is talk of offering a portion of the premises for Hindu functions as well to augment the trust’s income but some traditionalists are opposed to the suggestion.
Surprisingly at the FPZAI zonal meet several south Gujarat anjumans raised the issue of permitting burial on doongerwadi grounds where the dakhmas are in disuse. The reasons they cited were the dearth of vultures, the encirclement of the doongerwadi property by high-rise structures and urban sprawl. They noted by so utilizing the land there was less chance of the government requisitioning it on the grounds of non-use. The sentiments of the house were clearly in favor of permitting anjumans such an option but the zonal vice president refused to put the issue to vote.
Many of the Gujarat anjuman representatives voiced displeasure at the functioning of the present Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) board of trustees. The work of the FPZAI was being hampered by the infighting among the BPP trustees. No constructive work could be performed. Interest payments on the anjumans’ funds lying with the BPP were not forthcoming. They have been unofficially informed the money has been utilized by the cash starved BPP. The anjumans wanted voting centers to be opened in Gujarat for the locals to participate in the Bombay elections. They believed they were being given stepmotherly treatment, viewed akin to beggars instead of equals.
The BPP elections will be held this September/October. The past seven years have been an unmitigated disaster with one calamity following another. Even a three-year settlement agreement with the labor union has been conveniently passed on to the new board. The present trustees have shirked their responsibility and merely bought time by signing an interim agreement.
The chances of reforms are few for now. The once all powerful BPP trustees even refused to permit their bunglis at doongerwadi to be used for disposal of the dead by those opting for alternate means to dakhmenashini. This despite the facilities being underutilized as family members opt to have the ceremonies, following the funeral, at agiaries near their residence. (A study of the use of bunglis done by Parsiana earlier this year from data provided by the On-lyne TheParsiFamily text messaging services which give the deceased’s name, age and uthamna venue, showed only 18% utilization of the bunglis. The BPP has not disputed or questioned this figure.) The BPP even went as far as to victimize priests who dared to pray for those being cremated. The trustees bolstered their stand with support from around 80% of the high priests. The trustees believed they had created sufficient hurdles to dissuade Parsis opting for cremation.
Yet on August 3 a jashan was performed at the plush, airy and well lit new Prayer Hall funded by Parsis at the Bombay Municipal Corporation Worli cemetery and crematoria grounds. The two priests victimized by the BPP prayed on the occasion along with two others. A respectable number of community members showed up for what was a private ceremony for family and friends. The two halls in the structure are available almost free of cost, with only a nominal booking charge. While it is open for all to use, preference will be given to Parsis at the time of the customary prayers. So the Prayer Hall is in the best traditions of the community, seeing to their own welfare and that of others — from each according to their ability to each according to their need.
The new Prayer Hall is a momentous New Year gift to the community and citizens of Bombay. More than just a concrete structure, it is a symbol of rational and independent thought triumphing over dogma. Along with rituals, customs, beliefs and traditions, Zoroastrianism preaches rational thought, the right to choose, to fight for what one believes in. People who opt for disposal of the dead by means other than dakhmenashini, and want their traditional funerary ceremonies performed, are not lesser Zoroastrians because they choose to do so. Instead of renting halls or crowding family members and friends into small apartments for the customary funerary ceremonies, they can now perform the prayers in a peaceful, spacious and tranquil environment. Whether the number of Parsis opting for cremation increases or not is immaterial. What matters is that people now have a viable choice.