“The alliance is over”

Noshir Dadrawala as a (Bombay Parsi Punchayet) trustee is no "pendulum,” but a rational realist who is not stubborn, accepts the need to change and feels no qualms when a corrective course is necessary ("The alliance is over,” Editorial Viewpoint, Parsiana, September 7, 2017).
It was unfortunate that due to a fall, a highly respectable, 88-year-old scholar-priest, Ervad (Dr) Jehan Bagli was unable to attend the golden jubilee celebrations ("The golden glow,” Zoroastrians Abroad, Parsiana, September 21, 2017) of the Zoroastrian Association of Quebec (ZAQ). Fortunately, the large influx of Iranian Zoroastrians has made up for the loss of members to Ontario. With a good mix of Parsi and young Iranian Zoroastrians, the current strength of 251 members shows that progress comes from planning! ZAQ does just that! Doom comes from dreaming!
Dr Hirji Adenwalla’s write-up on the Smile Train ("My tryst with clefts,” Parsiana, September 21, 2017) makes for a very good account of a truly human surgeon. After innumerable free cleft surgeries the reader is impressed to learn from the 87-year-old surgeon: "I still operate, teach and consult for 15 days in the month.”
In "Reverence to truth” (Parsiana, September 21, 2017), as per Darius Khambata’s analysis, Farrokh Vajifdar’s opinionated review may deter Parsiana readers from reading Justice Rohinton Nariman’s book The Inner Fire. Isn’t Vajifdar an acknowledged scholar whose clarifications Parsiana always seeks on controversial issues? A difference of interpretation over the meaning of words used thousands of years ago is a trifling intellectual pursuit. Whether Asha is "truth” or "righteousness” or "justice,” the concepts are interrelated. After all, a righteous judge on hearing the litigating parties dispenses justice based on his understanding of truth.
The problem with interpretation of words has been seen even in recent archeological-cum-paleontological books on Biblical "truths” as well as their "contradictions” that have resulted in "revisions.” Misunderstandings have arisen even from the interpretation of the word ‘virgin’ which in Biblical times did not have the same meaning as we understand today because at that time, the word referred to any woman who became pregnant for the first time in her life! Wishing to be a neutral observer, with a teensy-weensy tilt towards Vajifdar who has fearlessly denounced self-styled messiahs and dhongis (pseudos), I feel where is the need to hassle over certain words? RASHID KHOSRAVI