This refers to the article "Difficult decisions” by Sherrie Marker, the letters "Ethnic pride, road to ruin” by Aaron Adhikary and "Are we enlightened?” by Pervez Antia (Readers’ Forum, Parsiana, January 21, 2007). These writers are anti-Parsi due to ignorance. Marker is fostering hatred by distorting facts. She writes that in 558 BC Zarathushtra converted Vishtaspa. Not only is the date wrong, but she knows not that Vishtaspa was a descendent of the Kayani Dynasty and that the Kayanians were Mazdayasnis. In fact Vishtaspa was the son of Kay Lohrasp, the holy priest whose picture (where he is shown on the left, the Holy Fire in the center and Asho Zarathushtra on the right) hangs reverently in every devout Parsi home. Marker should also look at Darius the Great’s famous inscription where he says: "I am a Parsi, son of a Parsi — Aryan, son of an Aryan.”
Let the ignorant champions of conversion and acceptance know that when a small community opens its doors to a larger one, the latter will devour the former. When our ancestors, led by Dastur Neryosang Dhaval, came to western India, other groups migrated from Iran to France, Germany, Armenia, North India and right up to China. However, today there is no trace of these people as their descendents have assimilated into majority populations. When Parsi boys marry outside the community and perform the navjote of their offspring, how many of these children practice the Zoroastrian religion? In the third generation the religion is totally wiped out.
Marker refers to ‘talk about superior bloodline.’ Nothing could be further from the truth. This is an utterly wrong notion some people have just because we do not accept aliens. In fact had we exhibited such false pride, we would not have been living in India for more than a thousand years (not 700 as Marker claims) commanding the highest respect from sister communities as being the most literate, honest and charitable community. Dadabhoy Naoroji, Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy, Sir Pherozeshah Mehta, Jamsetji Tata, Homi Bhabha, Sam Manekshaw, the Wadias and Godrejs (to name a few) are certainly not looked upon as refugees or outsiders in India. It seems Marker considers herself superior and hence feels like an outsider.
Marker writes that Parsi children are taught Avestan prayers by rote. Don’t Hindus pray in Sanskrit, Jews in Hebrew, Christians in Latin and Muslims in Arabic? It is the duty of parents to teach children the meanings of the prayers, or send them to religious classes where possible. As for priests, I urge Marker to visit the Dadar or Andheri athornan institutes to get an idea of how priests are rigorously trained for five to seven years before they are ordained, along with the school syllabus up to SSC. They are taught Avesta, history, meanings of our prayers, rituals and ceremonies in addition to learning the prayers by rote and how to perform ceremonies.
If Marker feels ashamed to be a Parsi and actually wants to denounce her birthright to be one or the right to visit an agiary, no one can stop her and no reader is interested in her personal decisions.
Marker thinks being a Parsi is only to get material benefits like housing, scholarships and doles. She forgets that it was these very same largehearted and benevolent Parsis who instituted benefits for the less fortunate in the first place. Since she is blessed by Ahura Mazda and does not need financial or other help, it is her duty as a Zoroastrian to help the poor and needy. Our Yatha Ahu Vairyo prayer clearly says that the kingdom of Ahura Mazda is for those who help the poor and the needy. So if she still prays her kusti prayers she should put into practice what she prays.
Regarding disposal of her physical remains, Marker is free to choose to rot and decompose underground for years till millions of maggots and worms devour her corpse, or to roast inside an electric furnace which spews smoke and fly ash into the atmosphere to settle in the homes of people living nearby. I urge her to visit homes near Chandanwadi where the biggest electric crematorium operates. Also in her quest for "Good ol’ Zarathushtra,” she should remember it was Asho Zarathushtra who advocated the system that we follow as it does not defile the air, water, earth and fire. How can she take full pride in being a Zoroastrian if she does not do what Asho Zarathushtra wants us to do?
Adhikary has got the bull by the tail. He is blissfully ignorant of the fact that Parsis have survived precisely by protecting their ethnicity as I have mentioned above. Antia is crying hoarse for change. He extols how our ancestors changed on coming to India. But what did they change? They changed their dress, language and eating habits to suit the new environment. They did not make any changes in their religion. They continued praying in Avesta, performing ceremonies such as ijeshne, vendidad and nirangdin. They never changed their holy dress of sudreh and kusti, nor the veneration of consecrated fires. They did not change their method of disposing of the dead. Records show that wherever they went they built dakhmas first and fire temples later. In fact only where dakhmas do not exist are aramgahs allowed, and the clergy rightly insists that the former should prevail over other methods.
Dakhmenashini does not depend on vultures alone. The primary element in khurshid nagirashni is the sun shining its powerful heat rays (infra red) to decompose the body along with purifying ultraviolet rays to disinfect putrid emanations harmful to humanity. Vultures play a secondary role as a catalyst. The same issue of Parsiana carries a letter from the chairman of the Karachi Parsi Anjuman Trust Fund stating that though there have been no vultures since 1956, the two Karachi dakhmas are working very well only with the rays of the sun, and without the use of any chemicals, herbs or powders. The trouble in Bombay is not the failure of the system per se, but that only two of five dakhmas are actually put to work. These two are naturally overloaded. It does not require great intelligence to understand that any system is bound to give way when overloaded. There is evidence to prove that long before humanity resorted to burial and cremation, people used the khurshid nagirashni method and "sun towers” were built all over the world even in Ireland, France, America, the Middle East, Africa, India and China.
I pray that religious knowledge is acquired by aspiring writers before rushing to the Press in their ignorance.
RUSTOM C. CHOTHIA
Thank you for one more sensible article by a ‘sane’ Parsi, "Difficult decisions” by Sherrie Marker (Parsiana, January 21, 2007). Marker describes the real position we find ourselves in. However, I would request her not to renounce her birthright as the community will lose one of its few sane voices. She should make a ‘living will’ and ask to be cremated or buried as I have, and inform the people concerned to respect her wish.
We have every right to visit an agiary. It is the home of the sacred fire, and no one can stop us from visiting the house of God.
I ask the respected ‘self-appointed politicians’ to come personally and inspect the dakhmas in the mofussil areas. We will then see who gives a ‘clean chit’ to whom. Yes, we will also, in the mofussil areas, do our kusti, diva-batti-loban and keep the flame alive. If our high and mighty do not come down to earth they will lose the very institutions they are supposedly trying to protect.
SOONU JAL
Neemuch