Pateti and navu varas, or New Year, reminds us more than ever that if there is one blessing our community earnestly needs to invoke, it is peaceful co-existence. For a sickeningly long period have we been plagued by vicious infighting, making a public spectacle of our ineptness to resolve our own internal differences.
As a civil engineer, I have been a bridge builder, and in construction parlance it is indeed a defining moment when the last span of a bridge is cast and, instantly, the two sides which seemed eternally separated are brought together.
We need a bridge of understanding to span the great divide within the community. May Bahman Ameshaspand, the bountiful immortal representing the enlightened mind, grant our protagonists on both sides the wisdom and mental agility to build such a bridge.
No one can deny that the current problems are the outcome of tumultuous changes in the environment and lifestyle that have impacted our society over the past two decades. Be it the increasing incidence of mixed marriages or the disappearance of vultures, each such development has posed a challenge to our age old traditions. We cannot wish them away.
Now, in nature, there are two ways to respond to a challenge… Fight or flight.
One group feels that holding steadfast to what has preserved us for a thousand years is the right response. After all, it is only our unswerving faith that has helped us survive since we left our ancient homeland in Iran.
In earlier times, when our adventurous forefathers settled in far off places, the first thing they did was to build a fire temple and uphold the Parsi Zoroastrian way of life. This group termed currently as "orthodox” is, in fact, standing for the status quo, or the customs as prevailing currently without change. Their stand is to fight the changes engulfing the community. More appropriately they can be termed as "conservative.”
The other group feels that change is inevitable. Why not re-visit some of our customs and re-align them to the current situation? Why should children of Parsi mothers not be included in the fold? Why not adopt other means of disposal of the dead, when vultures have become extinct? Apparently, both are legitimate concerns.
Yet others feel that conversion of any individual who wants to adopt Zoroastrianism should be supported. So, we have the second group which espouses various degrees of change, generally referred to as the "reformists.”
In this context, it is important to know if there is an agreed "charter of reforms” between various groups of reformists. And, who has the mandate to represent the voice of reform? Currently there are several entities flying the reformist banner under different names. The community must have clarity on the changes sought, as also the clear identity of the change negotiators. Otherwise it becomes very much a guerrilla war with disruptive consequences.
There are any number of arguments in support of either philosophy and one can debate them till the cows come home, but still remain on opposite sides of the divide.
A belief is such a deeply embedded personal matter that among close friends and even family members you will find individuals with opposing positions on such sensitive and emotive issues.
Propelled by self-interest or egos, various leading lights within the community have taken confrontation to ridiculous levels. Media blitz, character assassination, signature campaigns, complaints to the Charity Commissioner and endless legal battles have all been resorted to. The consequences of such mindless onslaughts have only lowered the prestige of the community, moved our focus from the more important issues to be tackled and created avoidable bad blood.
We know all too well that our fights will be grist for the media mill, and litigation in our country will keep the next two generations busy in combat, while the lawyers drain our funds.
The Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) has become the favorite whipping boy for many. Surely the seven individuals who are trustees are not the only fountainhead of the conservative stand? They have all been duly elected by the community and have a responsibility to their electorate.
The expressed view of the six high priests does not endorse the changes that the reformists are seeking. On the other hand, we cannot ignore the fact that many of the shrill voices of dissent are coming from families affected by inter-marriage among their kith and kin. We have to work on a solution within the bounds of these ground realities.
Shockingly, some community members have stooped to objectionable and insulting language in expressing dissent with the high priests. Liberty has degenerated into license. No other community would tolerate such misconduct and even a community rendered as docile as ours should restrain offenders in future.
The high priests also need to engage much more meaningfully with the community. It is not enough to fulfill just the liturgical requirements; they also have to propagate the true essence of Zoroastrian beliefs and customs to the laity on a regular basis. Spiritual batteries need to be recharged. In the absence of structured religious instruction, the community is ill-informed and many of the current problems can be traced to the lack of appreciation of religious principles and practices.
But a vacuum soon gets filled. In this case it is the emergence of several self-styled experts on Zoroastrianism. Each of them is outdoing the other with his own interpretation of the Gathas, and debunking existing concepts.
The Internet provides a convenient medium for much information sharing between interested groups. But it is also the vehicle for circulating much rubbish on community matters, just because it can be done on the Net with impunity.
Many of us who have been involved in change management in large organizations know that change is not easy. The first step is to work out a consensus on what we do not want to change. If we do not get this clear we will destroy the good that we should be preserving.
We need not get unduly touchy to even discuss change and explore common ground. If both sides cannot come to any agreement there is nothing to stop the reformist lobby in pursuing its agenda on its own, provided it leaves the existing community institutions undisturbed.
There is only one way to bridge the divide — co-existence.
There is no earthly way for any one group to overpower the other into accepting its beliefs. In a democratic and free society one can choose one’s beliefs as long as one does not impose them on others — and does not covet the assets of the other group.
How have the world’s most intractable conflicts been resolved?
When I had visited Iceland, President Grimmson had shown me a small house in Reykjavik where the infamous Cold War between Russia and America ended. It became possible when there was a free and frank exchange of views between the Presidents of both nations in an atmosphere of quiet understanding and the realization of the futility of further war-mongering. The end of apartheid in South Africa is one more example of the power of resolution through serious dialog. There are many other examples.
Our problems will also have to be resolved by us through dialog and understanding. Even if we agree to disagree, we can find a means to co-exist without harming our overall interests.
We have very worthy individuals in our own community arrayed on opposite sides of our internal divide. They are people who have been leaders in their fields of activity but are currently too obsessed with subjugating the other side instead of understanding the issues and working out a solution.
The mark of true leadership is for leaders to raise themselves above the level of the conflict. The kind of thinking that has gone into the creation of the conflict can never hope to evolve a solution. It needs a different approach and mindset to achieve a breakthrough. It is high time that the leadership on both sides in our community took responsibility to chart a new course.
A Round Table constituted of two or three leaders from both sides, with some non-partisan members helping to steer the course, could endeavor to make this happen.
Will even one enlightened leader from each side step forward?
Navroz is a good time for a new beginning. Atha Jamyat Yatha Afrinami.
A former managing director of Tata Power, Adi Engineer is a chartered engineer currently on the board of various Tata companies. He is the founder president of the World Zarathushti Chamber of Commerce’s Poona Chapter and a guest faculty on management, construction technology, leadership and change management.