I am a Parsi lady, a senior citizen, and do not live in a colony. I reside at Pali Hill in Bandra with my husband and family. We have few Parsi friends, and our only means of contact with them is the Tata Agiary which we go to regularly for various ceremonies, and to pray. We meet some Parsis at the Otters Club, but that’s about all! Our relatives live in South Bombay and we rarely meet them because of the distance, except for the usual phone call for khabar antar (news). We do not know what baug culture is, where everyone knows everyone else and where there is a lot of bonhomie and camaraderie as well. There, in times of trouble, the neighbor is the first to know and to help.
What we find painful is the confrontational attitude of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) and the game of brink-manship they are playing with our people in Bombay. The BPP is supposed to look after the affairs of our community and not meddle in the personal affairs of people. From not allowing the children of a Parsi mother who has married a non-Parsi to have their navjotes performed, to refusing the four-day after death ceremonies of those who wish to be cremated, to bashing up, threatening, vandalism (Shiv Sena style), to stopping people from expressing their views in meetings — these are just a few of the "wonderful” things our trustees are trying to achieve. Yes, and also stopping priests from praying at Doongerwadi for the souls of those who opt for cremation!
Instead of this, the BPP trustees should be looking after the properties of the trust and making fair allotment of accommodation to deserving candidates, repairing old buildings in the baugs, giving grants and scholarships. No doubt, they do this, but in a high-handed and autocratic way and not with a genuine desire to help in a compassionate manner.
It is time we Parsis of Bombay made our voices heard and respected. All over the world, and even in Delhi, Madras and other cities in India, dead Parsis are resting in peace in graveyards. Some opt for cremation. Probably nowhere have community members objected to or banned priests from praying for the deceased. So, why is this happening in Bombay only?
I and like minded people feel that fatwas can never unite an advanced and enlightened community like ours. We are far too educated and knowledgeable to tolerate such nonsense from anyone — least of all from trustees whom we have elected and who are expected to listen to our viewpoint and act on it, even if it does not agree with their narrow, parochial views!
When is that day going to come? Are we willing to stand up and be heard? Or should we, like ostriches, bury our heads in the sand and pretend all is well.
GOOLOO R. MEHTA
gooloomehta@hotmail.com