The Parsis have three calendars — Shahenshahi, Kadmi and Fasli. The Fasli Navroz falls on the same date of the Gregorian calendar, March 21, every year. To me this is the most accurate calendar as it adds one extra day every four years, while the Shahenshahi and Kadmi calendars go back by a day every four years because they do not have leap years. There are 12 months of 30 days each plus the five gathas, accounting for 365 days a year, so every four years they go back one day. The Kadmi calendar added an extra day every four years for some time, but forgot to do so later.
The Shahenshahi calendar goes back one day every four years and old timers like me remember bringing in Navroz by eating sev, dahi, ravo and malido in early September. Our great-grandchildren will eat sev, dahi and malido in July, 2088 AD onwards!
So, when will the Shahenshahi New Year fall on March 21? Using my expertise as a statistician, this is the answer: Going back from August 16 (the current Shahenshahi New Year) to March 21 is 148 days. As this calendar loses one day every four years, it will be 592 more years before it coincides with the Fasli New Year, on March 21. This will happen in 2612 AD, give or take a year. Scholars, please correct me if my calculations are wrong.
This begs the question, will there be any Parsis left by then?
KERSI MEHER-HOMJI
Sydney, Australia
kersi5@bigpond.com
Illustration by Farzana Cooper
In the 1970s, I had been to an Adi Marzban play, Aa Calendar Kohnnu (Whose calendar is this)? in Madras. The entire Gujarati speaking population of Madras — Parsis, Hindus, Bohris, etc had flocked to the auditorium. We laughed ourselves silly over the comedy and dispersed in a very light-hearted mood!
Years ago a policeman at the Gamdevi police station had commented about the litigious nature of the Parsi community. He had told me how amazed he was to see the intensity with which family members fought court cases against each other! Looking out of my window on this cloudy corona-infested New Year, his words came back to me. And I wanted to tell him, "Wait a minute, you are wrong. We still haven’t gone to court to establish which of the three New Years is the best and most authentic!” Looking back on our recent track record of cooking up court cases at the drop of a hat, perhaps this could be the case waiting to happen!
Remembering all this, I now feel like writing a play! Here is the storyline of my proposed play, Saachhu Calendar Kohnnu (Whose is the authentic calendar)?
The Kadmi, Shahenshahi and Fasli factions of Parsis go to court to prove that their respective calendars are the only authentic ones, and the rest of their fellow Parsis follow them. The case takes on gigantic proportions and creates a furore in the entire country. Even the government is sucked into this vortex as the infighting becomes ferocious and deadly, despite the ever increasing death rate in the community.
Everyone in India, from the lowly beggar to the learned judges of the Supreme Court, scratch their heads to solve this problem. The international community, including China, offers helpful suggestions, but "obstinacy, thy name is Parsi” prevails and the three factions are at daggers drawn.
Fifty years down the line the judgment is finally ready. India waits with bated breath to hear it. But where, O where are the Parsis of India? The last Parsi was consigned to the Towers of Silence just an hour before the judgment was about to be pronounced!
A dirge is sung as the curtain comes down.