Almost every issue of Parsiana mentions several fire temples in different parts of the country which are hardly visited because of paucity of the local Parsi population. Useful suggestions to overcome this problem, including those by a high priest, have been subjected to ridicule. Donations are sought for the restoration of such places of worship. Surely this amounts to squandering of scarce resources.
If one takes a drive through towns in North India where once thriving Parsi populations lived, one will be saddened to see one burial ground after another lying uncared for and fallow. There are reports from several parts of western India where assets are being usurped by encroachers. The Federation of the Parsi Zoroastrian Anjumans of India had done some useful work to protect such lands in the past but one does not hear much about this subject in recent times. Costly land is being taken over by people not from our community
The abject manner in which objections are raised to revive our prized assets as The B. D. Petit Parsee General Hospital and The Parsi Lying-in Hospital in Bombay are truly indicative of a great community in decline. It is as though we have a death wish! What will such generous donors as Pervin and Jal Shroff of Hong Kong think of us?
Although a vast majority of our population residing in Bombay still prefers to be consigned to the dakhmas after death, no thought is being given to how the assets at Doongerwadi will be managed when the population drops to levels where retaining this asset will become unsustainable.
The causes for our dwindling numbers were identified as far back as the late 1940s. Attempts at increasing our numbers, laudable as they are, barely scratch the surface of the problem.
In her letter ("Confidence reversed," Readers’ Forum, Parsiana, February 7, 2019) Piroja Jokhi very correctly points to the "bankruptcy of leadership" of the community in Bombay. At the same time she refers to locations other than Bombay where the leadership of the respective anjumans has yielded good results. Leaders must be clear-headed, hard-nosed individuals who can distinguish right from wrong, and have a moral compass. They need to carry the members of their anjumans with them. Some leaders have been successful because they came from "outside." They did not grow up with the anjuman and hence were not involved in local politics and biases and so could bring in fresh ideas.
Why are we so averse to change? As Dr Farokh Udwadia correctly pointed out recently, no progress in any area of human activity would have been possible without change. But wait! Have we not changed already? Quite a few of our traditions and practices in India are different from those followed in Iran. In centuries past, we did not hesitate to seek advice from the clergy of the land of our origin when doubts arose as to whether our religion permits certain practices or not. Messengers were sent to seek the opinion of the priests in Iran. This has been well recorded in the Rivayats. What stops us from doing likewise now? Bigotry? Do we prefer extinction to change? Surely we need to acknowledge the debt we owe to our co-religionists in Iran for preserving the great legacy of our religion despite humiliation and dangers?
The community is clearly heading for extinction like many earlier civilizations where, due to lack of effective leadership and foresight, they perished!
YEZAD KAPADIA
yezad.kapadia@gmail.com
Delhi