It’s been a long journey since 2011 when I first wrote about the decaying bodies of Zoroastrians in the precincts of Doongerwadi. Our dear departed do not deserve to be subjected to the conditions within the dakhmas. There are five dakhmas in Bombay’s Doongerwadi. The solar panels only dry up the fluids in the tissues while the body mass is buried.
Our dear departed must be ruing the day they were sent with hands and legs tied into the tower to be laid there, bereft of dignity. The only people monetarily benefiting are the khandhias and nassessalars who get additional gratuity soon after the paidast, the mobeds and the manager. The Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) must come to terms with the fact that dakhmenashini has failed as a system and that the solar panels have little effect. Our dear departed deserve to be given a decent burial.
The Punchayet must also understand that the Malabar Hill lands were purchased by wealthy philanthropists and handed over to the BPP in 1685. Since the Parsis arrived in the city much before this date, what was the method used for disposal of the dead prevalent at that time? Was it burial? If so, why not follow it again? Dr SYRUS D. IRANI
syrus_irani@hotmail.com