Parsis are concerned about our rapidly falling numbers in India and Pakistan. In India, the Jiyo Parsi project under Dr Shernaz Cama is doing a good job. However, she cannot perform a miracle by herself. We have to strengthen her hands. Healthy and reasonably well off Parsi couples should bear two children. In Pakistan, Byram Avari is doing a good job. However, he too cannot perform miracles on his own. The same prescription is suggested for the Parsis of Pakistan.
Very recently it was reported that "getting 10 Jewish men for prayers is a big task." The Jews in India number less than 5,000. It was further reported that "from Bombay to Raigad, dwindling population and migration make regular prayers tough." Replace the word Jews with Parsis, and the situation is similar.
When I was the chief executive officer of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet for 10 years and visited all its assets periodically, it was the regular refrain of the priest at Godavara Agiary (in the Fort area) that barely three to four devotees turned up daily. The situation at the Panthaki Agiary in Bandra is only slightly better. When I visited Pakistan in 2006, as a guest of Byram Avari, the situation was dismal in Lahore and Quetta.
Parsis are the largest asset holders, per capita in Asia, as also the largest per capita charity givers in India. Today we number around 46,000 in India from a high of 1,10,000 in 1941. By 2070, how many of us will remain in India (as a result of the rigorous birth control policy we follow)? What will happen to our vast estates?
To top it all, traditionalist families oppose interfaith marriages and prevent the children of such marriages from entering our fire temples and visiting dakhmas.
Do we want to be mentioned in the pages of history books, or remain prosperous, liberal, well-educated Indians, enriching both India and ourselves?
BEHRAM DASTUR