“The alliance is over”
"The alliance is over” reads the Editorial Viewpoint of Parsiana, September 7, 2017. Pray, what alliance? It was a totally hasty "came together arrangement” to warm the seats of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) board of trustees by people who have not an iota of foresight needed for the progress and betterment of the community. Any sensible voice is drowned or overruled, if it does not jell with the chairman’s views. All this is taking us Parsis closer to doomsday.
The mud-slinging, back and forth emails between board members are a slur on our happy, honest, prosperous community. If the chairman can’t control just six on his board what can he do for us all? How can he take the community ahead? Of course it is our own fault that time and again we elect a set of similar "pendulums” and "dhongis (phonies)” (to use their own lingo) hoping they would have learnt their lesson and would not repeat the same mistakes, but we are wrong! It is now accepted that if we don’t have controversies, we won’t thrive!
The orthodox don’t even realize their folly, and see no wrong in their outdated, non practical insistence on following the reet rivaj (rituals) that have come down since the dark ages. When the world is galloping at the speed of breaking the sound barrier, we are slow-walking. The BPP is gradually being taken over by WAPIZ (World Alliance of Parsi Irani Zarthoshtis) and seeks to meddle in everything that rightly or wrongly affects the Parsis anywhere in India, as if to imply that the seven lords of the BPP are the only mature, decision-makers and we the aam (common)-Parsi should be totally indebted to them. What good has come out of their interference? More court cases, and more money which the donor had earmarked for a specific cause, being utilized for exorbitant legal fees! Right now, we have the Calcutta kissa (episode) smack on our face, and the much awaited verdict in the Goolrookh Gupta case! RODA D. HAKIM Vadodara
vadhakim@yahoo.com