Publication of this Events and Personalities column
is very kindly supported by Tehnaz and Darius Bahadurji
Farrokh Jijina
Listen to Lucknow
"Why are (Parsis in general) so insular... in 100 years or so, we will be no more,” stated former member of the Minorities Commission for Uttar Pradesh, current managing committee member and past president of the Lucknow Parsi Anjuman (LPA) Zarine Viccajee in conversation with Parsiana on February 21, 2020. "We say we are part of the fabric of India, yet we do not allow interfaith couples to take part in religious ceremonies,” she stated.
"We have to do something to be more inclusive...anyone who wants to come in (to the religion) would do so out of respect...Why do we want to throw them out?” continued Viccajee, whose ancestors have donated the land for the aramgah in the North Indian city. "Ours is a great religion... I am proud to belong to it... Our family was among first to settle in Lucknow,” she said. The community strength was about 100 two decades ago. Today it is down to 45, comprising 20 families of whom 13 reside in one colony, she informed us. There is no fire temple in Lucknow but a prayer hall exists. Non-Parsi spouses of community members, both male and female, are associate members of LPA. Viccajee also serves as president of the Awadh Girls’ Post Graduate College.
Clockwise from abovel: Lucknow Parsi Anjuman’s prayer hall; Zarin Viccajee; entrance to aramgah; graves
The concepts of the Lucknow community of "what we should do to preserve our religion are more in sync with those of the Delhi Parsis,” averred Viccajee. "They are more open, as compared to the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP),” she stated.
"The BPP asks community members to have more children... First, they should take an initiative to embrace all the half-Parsis,” Viccajee was quoted in the Free Press Journal (FPJ) on February 18. Homi Sipai, former chemistry teacher at St Francis School in the Uttar Pradesh capital told FPJ that the "time has come that the non-Parsi spouses should be welcome in the community.”
Speaking at the launch of Bharat Ka Parsi Samaj (The Parsis of India) by author Naresh Singh, Viccajee was reported (The Times of India, February 18) as stating: "Be it Lucknow or Delhi, we mingled with people wherever we settled. At a time when only a limited number of Parsis are there to keep their culture and heritage alive in Lucknow, the 73-year-old LPA and the graveyard need to be preserved.”