The issue of Parsiana dated November 21-December 6, 2020 was most interesting. Starting with Nawshir Khurody’s suggestion that the Towers of Silence be converted into "Towers of tolerance,” it covered topics like Parsis "Sailing the seven seas,” Parsi engineers helping the Indian railways operate over land, hills and water, and even a little snippet on Parsi billionaires! However, what caught my eye was the item under Zoroastrians Abroad, "A learning center,” and the In Memoriam tribute to the recently deceased Ali Akbar Jafarey, the great teacher and scholar who converted from Islam to Zoroastrianism and spread its gospel to the western world. Both encourage us to believe that Zoroastrianism is not dying out, but is likely to thrive and spread.
"A learning center” mentions the latest initiative of the North American Institute of Zoroastrian Studies to teach Zoroastrianism at an academic level as well as train mobeds, both male and female, and ordain them to serve the North American community. The piece on Jafarey recalls his commitment to the spread of the faith, and quotes persons who knew him well, one of whom is Adi Daver, retired executive of the World Bank and founder and former president of the Zoroastrian Association of Washington Incorporated. Daver recalled Jafarey’s belief that "any person who understood the basic principles of our faith and wanted to live by them should be allowed to do so.”
My article, "A question of survival,” (Parsiana, March 7-20, 2020) on the uncertain future of the Parsi community and the Zoroastrian faith, evoked an amazing response. Several persons phoned and wrote to say how much they appreciated it. A few offered their own views. I quote from the letter of Dr Farokh Udwadia, the eminent consultant: "As I have said earlier, unless a miracle happens, the Parsi community is on a slow march to extinction… There is one other feature that bothers me. What moral or legal right does anyone, or any ‘governing body’ have to forbid an individual from practicing the Zoroastrian faith if he in all sincerity wishes to? Did not Zarathushtra preach to all in ancient Iran and the whole of Southern Asia to embrace this first monotheistic faith?”
During my trip to Washington I learnt from Daver that in America Parsis were extremely liberal in their outlook and were seriously contemplating permitting non-Parsis conversant with the basic tenets of the religion, and desirous of embracing it, to do so. "So while the religion may be dying out in the land where it once grew and flourished, there is hope that it is taking root and growing in far-off places,” I had written. It is now apparent that while the Parsis in India have been spending time arguing about the obviously indefensible, our brethren abroad have been busy spreading the message of Zarathushtra.
KHORSHED R. JAVERI
javerikhorshed@gmail.com