A forgotten people: The Parsis of rural Gujarat

[naveak99]

A forgotten people: The Parsis of rural Gujarat

Last month, I accompanied the Young Rathestars to rural Gujarat. The Young Rathestars are a Zoroastrian charity in Mumbai that provide financial assistance to poor Parsis in Bombay and other places in India. The purpose of their trip was to distribute foodgrains, other essentials and financial aid to over 70 rural Zoroastrian families in the villages around Ankleshwar.

Unlike the Young Rathestars, I am not a social worker. I am a documentary filmmaker and for some time now, I have been documenting the realities of the existence of our community that seem all too obvious to me but somehow are not on the radar of those around me. One such issue I want to document is that of the people we love to dismiss as Dubras, the illegitimate children of Parsi fathers with their tribal mistresses. The history of the Dubras lies in the villages of rural Gujarat, and my purpose in accompanying the Young Rathestars was to take a first-hand look at the condition of the Parsis in these villages.

I had an idea what to expect. I had already made a documentary on the poor among the community in urban Pune. I had also seen an amateur video of the poverty in rural Gujarat, shot more than 10 years back. I had seen photographs of these people on the Young Rathestars website. I had been part of a Government-sponsored workshop that had discussed the issue of poverty among the Parsis in both urban and rural India. And yet, as it so happens, whenever I go on research for my films, despite knowing so much, I ultimately find out that what I know is oh so little. The situation turns out to be far worse than what I have heard or read about.

My perception of a rural Parsi village, and I’m sure it is of many others too, was of places I had visited before. Places like Davier and Tarapore and Gholvad and Udwada. Places with agyaries and dharamsalas, sanatoriums and old brick houses on whose porches old Parsis sit, lonely and forlorn. I expected that the names of the villages I was going to visit would be found in our surnames.

Instead we set out to places I have never come across in any surname. Lavet, Vankal, Boria, Zankhvav, Ambavadi, Ratoti, Devgadh, Jhakharda… Some of them weren’t even villages but tribal hamlets. Off the main highways, down narrow village roads, tucked away somewhere deep into the interiors, these places used to be parts of the jungle not too long ago. If I was on my own, I wouldn’t have been able to find these places. The large road map of Gujarat that I had with me didn’t even list them. In such places, I was surprised to find Parsi families, sometimes one, sometimes a few, staying there for generations, eking out a living.

As we went from place to place, it wasn’t the poverty of the families we visited that hit me – their tattered clothes, their houses of straw and wood and mud, their wasted-away lives – but the fact that we as a community had forgotten them. In our collective memories, these people do not exist. In our ideas of what Parsi identity should be, these people do not figure.

And strangely enough, it wouldn’t have been too long ago that our families too would have been in similar circumstances. The Parsi baugs and colonies of Bombay are less than a hundred years old. They were established to resettle Parsi villagers escaping the Gujarat famine. In less than a hundred years, we have forgotten who we used to be.

[Jazzi]

How was the religious mindset of the parsis in the villages? Im assuming they are more traditional than those in mumbai and abroad, but were their cultural values very different? If so, what aspects were different?

Despite what happens in Africa, Afghanistan, villages in India and most countries in South America it still surprises me that only a minority are actually living the 'developed' lifestyle. Priveleges of having a roof over your head and food on the table is taken for granted by most (including me) and even after reading stories such as these i still dont think we understand the extent of the awful conditions the majority of the world still lives in today

[Noushin]

Originally Posted by naveak99

Last month, I accompanied the Young Rathestars to rural Gujarat. The Young Rathestars are a Zoroastrian charity in Mumbai that provide financial assistance to poor Parsis in Bombay and other places in India. The purpose of their trip was to distribute foodgrains, other essentials and financial aid to over 70 rural Zoroastrian families in the villages around Ankleshwar.

Unlike the Young Rathestars, I am not a social worker. I am a documentary filmmaker and for some time now, I have been documenting the realities of the existence of our community that seem all too obvious to me but somehow are not on the radar of those around me. One such issue I want to document is that of the people we love to dismiss as Dubras, the illegitimate children of Parsi fathers with their tribal mistresses. The history of the Dubras lies in the villages of rural Gujarat, and my purpose in accompanying the Young Rathestars was to take a first-hand look at the condition of the Parsis in these villages.

I had an idea what to expect. I had already made a documentary on the poor among the community in urban Pune. I had also seen an amateur video of the poverty in rural Gujarat, shot more than 10 years back. I had seen photographs of these people on the Young Rathestars website. I had been part of a Government-sponsored workshop that had discussed the issue of poverty among the Parsis in both urban and rural India. And yet, as it so happens, whenever I go on research for my films, despite knowing so much, I ultimately find out that what I know is oh so little. The situation turns out to be far worse than what I have heard or read about.

My perception of a rural Parsi village, and I’m sure it is of many others too, was of places I had visited before. Places like Davier and Tarapore and Gholvad and Udwada. Places with agyaries and dharamsalas, sanatoriums and old brick houses on whose porches old Parsis sit, lonely and forlorn. I expected that the names of the villages I was going to visit would be found in our surnames.

Instead we set out to places I have never come across in any surname. Lavet, Vankal, Boria, Zankhvav, Ambavadi, Ratoti, Devgadh, Jhakharda… Some of them weren’t even villages but tribal hamlets. Off the main highways, down narrow village roads, tucked away somewhere deep into the interiors, these places used to be parts of the jungle not too long ago. If I was on my own, I wouldn’t have been able to find these places. The large road map of Gujarat that I had with me didn’t even list them. In such places, I was surprised to find Parsi families, sometimes one, sometimes a few, staying there for generations, eking out a living.

As we went from place to place, it wasn’t the poverty of the families we visited that hit me – their tattered clothes, their houses of straw and wood and mud, their wasted-away lives – but the fact that we as a community had forgotten them. In our collective memories, these people do not exist. In our ideas of what Parsi identity should be, these people do not figure.

And strangely enough, it wouldn’t have been too long ago that our families too would have been in similar circumstances. The Parsi baugs and colonies of Bombay are less than a hundred years old. They were established to resettle Parsi villagers escaping the Gujarat famine. In less than a hundred years, we have forgotten who we used to be.

I'd be very interested in seeing your documentary when you are ready to share it.

[naveak99]

Noushin, the documentary will take some time to make as it's a personal project which I can only take up when I can find the funds and the time for it. But you can watch other films I've made on the community here:
http://www.geocities.com/naveak99/films.html

And Jazzi, this trip was more like an orientation for me, so I didn't really ask questions in depth. But these people are completely cut off from the mainstream. A small video about them can be seen here.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...85279112&hl=en

Kaevan

[Noushin]

Thanks for the link!

I think your documentaries are sensitive, well-portrayed and poignant. And I see my beloved Sachapir Street in one of them!

Thanks for sharing, and keep us posted

[naveak99]

You are from Sachapir Street? What a coincidence. I'm also planning another documentary about life around Sarbatwalla Chowk, loosely inspired by Farrukh Dhondy's Poona Company.

[Paakzaad]

I watched the first three films. They were amazing, a lot of emotions came forth.

Jazzi, you are very right about what we take for granted. But that is the hidden curse of the western civilization. We strive to achieve and acquire so much, but we have no idea about what we have left behind in our wake.

[Noushin]

Originally Posted by Paakzaad

I watched the first three films. They were amazing, a lot of emotions came forth.

I agree. I especially liked Bed Pan. To me, it was so short but it was so...powerful. Great job, truly.

Also, my dad grew up on Sachapir Street and until a few years ago, my grandma still lived there. We used to go back to India every year since I was 6 to about 16 for a month or so, and we would spend about 3 weeks living there. It was my favourite street in Pune, although it's deterioriated rapidly in the llast while. I used to especially anger the pharmacist below and the old Parsi uncle who would sit in front of the shop - stepped on his feet wayyyy too often - and yell at the dogs near the cola place to shutup when I was trying to sleep! Good times.

[naveak99]

Thanks for the favorable reviews, guys.

Noushin, I'll try and upload a short trailer I've made for the Sarbatwalla Chowk documentary soon. I haven't stayed there so don't exactly know the places you are talking about, but the trailer may just bring back memories.

[faredoon]

Kaevan, very poignant as usual. Thanks very much.

[Roopkirani]

Very interesting thoughts, Kaevan.

What do you propose should be done about this situation?

[naveak99]

Sharon, I don't have a solution.

What I saw provoked me to write this piece.

Maybe this can now provoke something else in someone else's mind.

[naveak99]

For Noushin

Better late than never

Hope this brings back memories of Sachapir Street

http://vimeo.com/9730152



Kaevan

[Noushin]

Hey Kaevan,

Awesome job! I really liked how you combined the narration with modern day- Sachapir Street, and I see my grandma's old house where I would stay every summer! I'm also craving chooseberry biscuits.

Thanks