Topic Of The Month - September & October

[Parizad]

One of our newest members brought forth a very interesting question. Some of you may have heard others say they are a "proud Zoroastrian" or have titled themselves saying "Zarthushti Pride." For the remaining month of September and through to October, we want to extend a few questions to think about:

Do you consider yourself proud to be Zoroastrian? If so, why? Does having pride in our faith immediately suggest we must behave in ways to make our community proud of us as well? Does being a good Zoroastrian entitle us to being a proud Zoroastrian? And if so, does being a proud Zoroastrian infer we must behave in ways so others in our community can be proud of us? When do we stop being proud of who we are and start doing things for our community to be proud of? Or are they one and the same thing? Or as Nauzer_kasad asked: Do we still have the fire burning inside us that can make the community proud?

[nauzer_kasad]

Thank you Parizad for taking keen interest in the subject!
I still dont see any answers here but, sincerely request the forum members to reply in total honesty (I should see you crossing your hearts ) I brought up this question here because this is a youth forum and our views posted here will go a long way.....

[simone]

i read this message and i thought it was important to reply.
Yes i would say that i am a proud zoroastrian
How do i show that i am a proud zoroastrian is a good question- for me it is living in a righteous manner, saying my prayers daily and following the zoroastrain morals of 'thinking good thoughts, saying good words and doing good deeds' to the best of my ability throughout my life.
Even though i may not always do this, if i remember it and make it a part of my ambition in life, then i can say that i am a proud zoroastrian and that i have the "extra" fire that the zoroastrian people and community are said to have.

I had this conversation with two of my zoroastrian friends about the fire (spirit) inside every person and how it has been said that Zoroastrian's have a extra fire inside them in comparison to other people and that is why we are the only one's who can stand infront of the sacred fire. We argued about why zoroastrian's are said to have an extra fire. We do not believe that we are superior to other people or races, do we? I know i dont.

I am very interested to see what everyone has to say about this topic cause it is a good one.

[zubinmistry]

Yes I am proud to be a Zorastrian, I am sure everyone of us are. Others always envy and that makes us proud. But are we youngsters actually doing justice to Zorastrianism, I dont think so. Whenever issues like that of the dokhmas come up we tend not to involve ourselves and leave the decission making to our respective Punchayats. We dont realize the seriousness of involving ourselves now which could cost us later, after all it is us who are going to live in the future. Its not just you it is me as well, we all are so involved in our own education, assignments, work etc that we forget everything else. So i definetely believe that all are proud Zorastrians but i believe we do not spend or devote our time for the religion.

[zoroangel]

Originally Posted by zubinmistry

So i definetely believe that all are proud Zorastrians but i believe we do not spend or devote our time for the religion.

No one has left the NEED to devote their time and energy to something they feel will not last past their own generation. Our "elders" are handling it the way they know and arguing, bikering with each other - look how badly Jame Jamshed puts down the people that fight to keep our religion and tradition and culture going.

Look at how the FEZANA, WZO, BPP, local N.A. associations, etc. are run in the first place. There is no getting to "make a difference" even though one voice can do it, these people are so far gone from even the basics of what are religion teaches they have no clue when you tell them what you want as a youth. They look at you like you are the one causing the problems.

[Jimmy]

Ive been away for a while, lots of stuff happening with me and ive been busy. Been meaning to reply to this one for a while.

Well, let me first start by addressing the main post. Am I proud to be a Zarthusti? I think you all know the answer to that. Hell yes. I bleed Z. I am proud of how we are such a small community and we have accomplished so much not only for our own kind, but for the welfare of India as well. If you look to almost any feild within India's history Z's have been there, done that, and been the best in their field. Its not just that, as anyone who as ever met me can tell I love the religion and everything it stands for and preaches.

With regards to the social mark of our religion, that is all past glory in my eyes. Perhaps im disconnected but even though extremely rich Parsi's exist today we dont see the magnanimity of the yesteryear Parsi's. Z’s of the past were connected with their community as well as their religion. Today I feel that we have become too community oriented and have forgot about the tenets that make us a religion. It was this passion for their religion AND community that caused them to care and give the way they did. Furthermore they had the forward thinking of strategically creating such intuitions which they knew the Z community could greatly benefit from for generations. Hospitals, where are parents were born in, schools which our parents were educated in, colonies where our parents (and even some of us now) have lived in, halls we have had our navjotes and weddings in, etc etc etc almost ALL of them came from the true Zoroastrian sprit of their founders, and were intended to serve the community at minimal cost. These were all people who succeeded to such great heights, made so much money, and instead of being greedy and keeping it all to themselves they built establishments for the entire community to enjoy. Thats not to say that they did nothing for their homeland India as well, and because of their acheivements statues were erected and streets were named in their honor, how can one not be proud of their accomplishments?

Some may think that this is a silly point. ‘Yea we get together and eat dhansak, and that’s good enough’. While the dhansak is tempting, there needs to be a deeper, stronger link that unites people other than community/culture based associations. People can be lively when it comes to a community, but it takes religion to make them enthusiastic and passionate. I think modern day Z’s for the most part are loosing their passion for the religion and using social and cultural interactions as a substitute.

Where are we now? What have we accomplished as a community in the past 50 years? Im not putting us down per se, but im saying we have seemingly lost our path, and this disheartens me. I agree with Zoroangel said with regards to the way our community acts on a global level towards problems we face. Instead of finding a solution our ‘leaders’ are too busy arguing with each other, or in the worst case seeing how they can personally gain from community hardships. When I was in India last (which was admittedly a while ago) and I heard all the rotten things that were being done in the name of the community/religion Id look up on the great statues and think…. What the hell happened to us?

I know at least one person will respond with ‘what have YOU done for the community?’ If you want the answer to that PM me and ill tell you. This isn’t a post about me. While my contributions are trivial in comparison to what has already been accomplished, I have the desire of doing what I can for my community with whatever resources I have.

Even with the trying times facing our community today I still raise my chin up when people ask what religion I am.

[zoroangel]

Just to expand on Jimmy's point - Parsees are no longer seen in the same light anymore in Bombay as they once were. Now, it will be amazing if one even knows what a Parsee is in Bombay. Notice how all the road names have changed from Parsee names to regular Indian names. Notice how the baugs are no longer noticeable anymore. Baug entrances used to always be promient and have a big archway with the name and all - now they just blend in with their surroundings. I think by the next generation of Indians, no one will know what or who a Parsee is and what they have done for India.

[nauzer_kasad]

Just to expand on Jimmy's point - Parsees are no longer seen in the same light anymore in Bombay as they once were.

WHY? WHAT BROUGHT ABOUT THIS CHANGE? WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN? I'm sure it did not happen overnight!

[Jimmy]

In my opinion, a few reasons,

1) Our slow migration on the whole away from our religious tenets

2) British leaaving India

3) Exodus of Z's to other areas of the world

1 is big, the glue that stuck us together was our religion, and as parsi's become less and less religious, our community will continue to disintigrate.

2 I know the verdict is mixed here. You may not hate the british, you may not love them. Regardless on where you stand in that spectrum, you cannot deny the impact the british presence had on the parsi community. They saw the raw potential that the parsi community had and truly gave us the opportunity to excell amongst the masses, and we most definitely did. Parsi's barely had a name for themselves pre-British India, and after the brits came our growth was exponential. It was because of this trust and camradarie that we had with the brits that we have kind of been side tracked today. Maybe not now but after the british left there was a lot of animosity from the general population towards the parsis, note the pre-indepence riots where we were almost wiped out.

3 Alot of the upper middle class Z's who would have probably excelled to become influential prominent Z's in India dispersed and left for other countries because of number 2. After the british left and the opportunites for Parsis to excel was greatly diminished, our will to succeed despite all odds sent most of them abroad. This is not to say that there are no upper class Z's in India or that the middle-lower class Z's are incapable of anything, but the high upper class Z's are hardly Z in my eyes, they just have the 'chaap' because of their forefathers, i wonder if they even wear their sudreh/kusti and wonder when the last time they were even at a temple was. And of course it would be harder for the lower/middle class z's to make an impact, but give them a generation or two and I think they will shine.

[nauzer_kasad]

one more thing - we lack focus and the enterprising nature of our forefathers!

we can do stunts on the bikes and cars to impress the female sitting besides but, when it comes to taking risks in business well, we would rather stick to our 9-5 jobs.