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very time my copy of Parsiana arrives in the mail I look at the postage and wonder why my misguided brother spends Rs. 100 to air mail me a Rs.50 magazine. But then I turn to Burjis Desai’s column and I silently thank my older brother. However, Desai has been on a sabbatical, so I have go to other areas of Parsiana, namely the death and birth notices. We are shrinking----no real discovery---even the Government of India recognizes that..

But, why? We are spending more and more effort, money and time on crazy stuff and ignoring the sensible. Some might even accuse us of trying to become extinct. A small listing of crazy stuff:

A few months ago there was a battle to limit where a couple of Parsi priests could perform basic ceremonies---. It made lawyers rich, to the tune of 3 crore I seem to recall. What did it accomplish?

Recently, the focus has shifted to Parsi women who marry non-Parsi men. The current trend (in some locations, at least) is to declare that they are no longer Parsis. . Marriage can certainly change a persons attitudes about life’s priorities, but does not involuntarily alter religious beliefs. Kicking these women out is not only crue and mean but reduces the number of Parsi families and is counter-productive. The resulting battles will also sow bitterness, and, of course make lawyers rich. That raises the subject of Parsi men who marry non-Parsi women? Oh, yes. Diminished brains and expanded prostates to borrow from Desai again.

The attitude that non-Parsis may not even enter our places of worship needs to be addressed. My Grandfather, Shapoorjee Ghandhi built the fire temple in Allahabad. (My cousin Darius had a little discussion of it recently in Parsiana.) There is a marble plaque at the entrance which gives a short history and politely says non-Parsis stay out -- in English, Gujarati, Hindi and Urdu. Grandpa Shapoorjee was very conservative and would probably be rolling over in his grave if he read this. But Shapoorjee was also pragmatic and had changed to match the environment----he would grumble and then ------.


These suggestions are not new. The pat answer to always is “purity and over quantity”. DNA studies covered in Parsiana (see I read more than Desai!) indicate that current Parsis are a result of much blending between Persian and Gujarati ancestors (with many of our super-grandmothers being Gujarati women). So, the concept of Parsi purity is fool-hardy, indeed crazy to even expect any thing else over so many generations.

But, Burjis Desai returns this week and I will get off the soap box.

Burzoe K Ghandhi
- Burzoe K Ghandhi
- 16-Nov-2017