Zoroastrians have long followed a tradition of defending the rights of individuals, especially the disadvantaged. In 1901 Dadabhai Naoroji wrote Poverty and Un-British rule in India. Minoo Masani was among the founders of the Swatantra Party along with people like Dr Rustom C. Cooper who opposed the government’s stranglehold on the economy and fought for economic liberalization. A. D. Gorwala, a retired Indian Civil Service officer through his weekly Opinion criticized the authoritarian rule of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Eminent jurist Nani Palkhivala returned his brief to appeal Gandhi’s disqualification by the Allahabad High Court when she declared a national Emergency in 1975, while noted jurist Fali Nariman resigned as the standing counsel for the Government of Gujarat to demonstrate his disapproval of how the state government handled violence against religious minorities (Christians and Muslims). These are just a handful of the high profile Parsis who come to mind. But there are many more who work ceaselessly for the betterment of others.
The trait of caring for less privileged, disadvantaged and weaker members of society is not restricted by geographic boundaries. It is part of our upbringing, culture and ethos whether in India, the US, Gaza or elsewhere. It is a trait that must always be nurtured and encouraged.
Over the 61 years of Parsiana’s existence we have been the recipient of the goodwill of many able, talented and large-hearted individuals and the institutions they are associated with. The cover of the first issue of Parsiana after our taking over the publication from its founder Dr Pestonji Warden in 1973 was thought of and designed by Mini Boatwala who was then the designer for the Life Insurance Corporation of India. She refined the Parsiana logo while maintaining its essence. The original had been designed by Bahadur Merwan of J. Walter Thompson advertising agency for whom Warden was the doctor on call.
Boatwala ensured Parsiana was printed at the prestigious G. Claridge and Company at Ballard Estate, the press which was once owned by Shapoorji Pallonji and later belonged to the Somani family. The color blocks required for printing were prepared by the Poonawalla owned Commercial Art Engravers Private Limited, since renamed Comart, while black and white blocks were prepared at Ahura Blocks run by Behram Irani on Meadows Street. Paper was purchased from Chimanlals. All these firms, Parsi and non-Parsi, extended credit and charged discounted rates to a small, unknown and untested proprietary concern. This was primarily on account of the respect they had for Boatwala and because they wanted to assist a small, fledgling publishing venture.
The trait of helping others is not peculiar to Parsis. It is universal. The editor of Parsiana got his first break in journalism when the San Francisco-Oakland Journalists Guild and the publishers’ association began a program to train minorities such as Afro Americans, Chinese Americans, Latinos and others to enable them to obtain jobs in the all-white metropolitan newsrooms. These employed experienced journalists, most of whom had received their training at the smaller suburban newspapers. Since most inner-city residents couldn’t afford to live in the suburbs, this precluded them from gaining the required experience. There was one slot vacant in the training program and though they had not envisioned a Parsi filling the post, they inducted him in the program. It’s hard to imagine such a scenario in the US today where the presence of immigrants is despised and decried by the majority and where assisting people of different ethnicity, nationality, color, religion and caste is looked at askance.
We don’t want the xenophobia sweeping through America under the Donald Trump regime or in India under the present hegemony to exist in our small community.
Parsis should not take their charitable characteristics for granted. These values have to be continuously drummed into our consciousness. We still make non Parsis sit apart at Doongerwadi in the name of religion when it is a casteist custom; we still forward Islamophobic posts (the posts mocking Sikhs are thankfully less); we still discriminate on the basis of gender. In many ways some Parsis are like the Trump supporters who mindlessly chant Make America Great Again while doing everything possible to disparage the country.
Our cover story on the clocks in our fire temples is representative of the state of the community. Some of the timepieces are functional and preserved. Others show an incorrect time or have stopped working or are not wound regularly. A few have had their metal mechanisms removed and replaced by battery powered motors.
The clocks are all remnants of a time when only the wealthy could afford a watch. The rest had to rely on timepieces placed in the public domain. Today, with agiaries mostly bereft of devotees and wristwatches available for a few hundred rupees, times have changed. Still the clocks serve a decorative purpose, a reminder of times gone by. Everyone now knows the time but not necessarily how to spend it.
As Parsiana’s time is up, we take this opportunity to thank all our readers for the kind words they have lavished on us. We will greatly miss covering such an accomplished and philanthropic community. We are grateful for the continuous support of subscribers who stayed with us over the decades and those who graciously declined to accept the balance refund due on their subscriptions; our advertisers whose monetary support over the decades made it possible for us to continue publishing; our donors and sponsors who provided the additional assistance to develop a digital presence, avail of up-to-date equipment and expand our journalistic coverage globally.
While we had our fair share of critics, they helped us to better mold our editorial policy so we could be more inclusive and understanding of differing points of view.
We are also grateful for the technological changes in the printing and other industries that enabled a small, dedicated group of individuals who at considerable sacrifice to themselves and their families produced a complex and comprehensive periodical. Finally, we are grateful to the community for giving us the opportunity and honor to serve them for over half a century.