A feminist voices her resentment at the discrimination accorded to children of Parsi women married out of the community
Shaista Tayabali
"Name?”
I say my name, in full.
"Date of birth?”
I say my date of birth, in full.
"Religion?”
"Half Parsi, half Muslim,” I say. In full.
She looks up at me. I am standing in the classroom, as each of us must when the roll call reaches the letter of our surname in the alphabet. "How can you have two religions?” she asks. Maybe she is smiling; maybe she isn’t. I cannot remember, because this process occurs every single year, on the first day of school after the monsoon holidays are over. "I don’t know,” I say, although I do. I have two parents. And......