“From dadgah to dargah”

Although most Zoroastrians believe in the vibratory powers of our prayers, they derive little solace from them as Avestan is a dead language which even priests do not understand. Numerous Parsis in Toronto go to the Swaminarayan temple near the airport. This was highlighted in "From dadgah to dargah” by Berjis Desai (Bawa Musings, Parsiana, July 21, 2014).
Whenever one attends a jashan, one can hear loud conversations among the attendees during the ceremony. During a recent jashan a person suddenly jumped up swearing at the top of his voice because his shoes had disappeared from under his feet while he had dozed off.
From dignified religious occasions, jashans have descended to being free food parties. Most attendees arrive only for the meal — skipping the ceremony and religious speech by the priest. Despite this, it is commendable that priests continue to pray on a voluntary basis.
In France, Germany and Spain Christians conduct mass in their own language. To attract the young, we should translate our scriptures and prayers into English and conduct all ceremonies in that language. Only then will our youth return to our religion.
Our priests should wear socks to cover their feet and, instead of sitting on the floor while praying (Hindu style), they should follow the ancient Iranian custom of standing or sitting on a chair when performing the ceremony.
DARA PATEL
Ontario, Canada
adarapatel@gmailcom