Ever in search of literature, music, sayings and proverbs about or by Parsis that have originated on Indian soil, I came across an interesting saying: "Janoi, kusti naadu é tran kadi na kaadhé gaadu.” This saying refers to the time when the Parsis came to Hindustan and settled in Navsari. They were one of the three communities — Brahmins (janoi or holy thread), Parsis (kusti, the sacred girdle), Muslims (naadu or tape) that were exempt from driving carts as a form of veth or forced labor in the province of Navsari.
I was fortunate to have obtained this explanation from a very reputable source. However, an enthusiastic friend insisted that artificial intelligence’s ChatGPT should be consulted as it was "bound to know.”
Well, we did and this was the result: "The rope that ties the boat never comes off the cart. This expression suggests that once something is securely tied or committed, it cannot be undone or separated easily. It reflects the idea of strong connections or commitments that cannot be easily broken or undone.”
Well! Well! Well! With ChatGPT around who needs the divine faculty of imagination anymore?
And one definitely need not bother to cultivate the powers of reasoning to delve into the past for any explanation.
ChatGPT zindabad (may it live long)!
ABAN MUKHERJI
mukherji.aban@gmail.com