Readers' Forum
“Elusive or evasive?”
The editorial "Elusive or evasive?” (Parsiana, November 7, 2015) shows that nothing will change in the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP). The needless grudge against Parsiana continues. Is the new chairman Yazdi Desai going to run the BPP by remote control which will be in the hands of the WAPIZ (World Alliance of Parsi Irani Zarthoshtis) hardcore orthodoxy? God forbid if this happens, for we will be faced with more drama and court battles.
What has to be seen is how many will side with such staunch fanaticism. All the bravado, hugs and sweet talk will fly out in no time, and a free-for-all is on the cards. Maybe the rest too will give in to "no change” policies and there will be no place for those who are hoping for drastic changes that would usher in a new dawn in the Indian Parsi community.
Desai did say in all his pre-election speeches that people should not judge him by past experiences in the boardroom. But let us not forget that the former chairman’s son Viraf Mehta has been elected as has Noshir Dadrawala who was hounded out of the earlier board. It will be fun for the community to watch how Desai manages his likes and dislikes!
It is still not too late for Desai to show that there will be a change for the better. He could make a start with Parsiana, by having the guts and gumption to give the interview from which he is shying away. Parsiana has at most times been very fair and clear in its views. Does it matter if its views do not match Desai’s? Every one need not agree all the time, but we can agree to disagree. After all, everyone is entitled to have their own views and voice them too!
I end with an apt saying by English writer and philosopher Aldous Huxley: "Experience is not what happens to a man. It is what a man does with what happens to him.” Let’s see what the BPP does!
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