While 15 August resurrected the spirit of freedom struggles and paid tribute to the heroes who fought for an independent constitution, what might have gotten missed in the humdrums of patriotic fervour is the Parsi New Year.

Marked as one of the dying communities, not just in Kolkata, but also throughout India, the Parsi community experiences a concerning decline of 12 per cent with each census, in contrast to India’s population growth of 21 per cent.

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It is ironical that the Parsis, who were the one of the reasons for India’s modernism, by being the early members of the Indian independence movement and the Indian National Congress, or for founding significant organisations like the Tata Group and the National Center for Performing Arts, are dwindling in numbers due to their orthodox religious rules clashing with modern values of society.

An exemplary minority

The Statesman sat with Prochy N Mehta, an Asian record holder in sports and also the first female president of the Calcutta Parsee Club, to discuss and take insights about this reducing sophisticated, urbane community proceeding its decline to turn into a ‘tribe’.

“The cases of Petit v. Jeejeebhoy (1908) and Saklat v. Bella (1925) bring forth a doctrine of exclusion for the women folk in our community. That is, if a Parsi woman wishes to marry a person outside their community, there remains a possibility the child born to that Parsi woman and the non-Parsi man will not be considered a Parsi, unless he or she is confirmed by a priest to have faith in Zoroastrianism. Conversely, the same rules don’t apply for the Parsi men who marry non-Parsi individuals”, says Mehta.

The book, Who is a Parsi?, written by Mehta and edited by Fali Sam Nariman, the Indian jurist, who was also a senior advocate to the Supreme Court of India, untangles how the above court cases led to the making of Parsi personal law. The book mentions why even the children born to Parsi prostitutes are considered Parsi, provided that their father is also Parsi. The book sheds light on an old Parsi phrase, “They were children of Parsi olad or boon”, which was repeatedly used in both the court cases. This specifies that the boon or descent of a child owes to a father because a male sperm contains a fully formed baby and the womb was only a receptacle for growing the seed.

The book, in a chapter, also specifies the adoption regulations. The Guardian and Ward Act of 1890 permits guardianship of a child until they reach the age of 21, but it does not permit complete adoption of a child. However, the current situation only allows children to be accepted as Parsis if they are adopted by Parsi men. Unfortunately, this privilege is not extended to the inter-married Parsi women who similarly adopt.

“Fali Nariman, in his book, Before Memory Fades, recounts about the extensive Parsi population before the implication of the Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act (1936), which allowed them several marriages and children with other communities. Hence, our DNA got mixed in the process. Yet after the above act, the population declined. Today, if you walk into a Parsi community, you’ll hardly see anyone under 80. In Kolkata, children under the age of 15 are 50. This is an ageing population, where 2 births happen in contrast to 12 deaths every year. Hence there comes no question of replacement in population”, adds Mehta.

It is feared that the stand taken by the authorities, in the name of maintaining the racial pride and purity of the community, will only serve to further reduce the number of practitioners of the world’s oldest organised religion. Yet, despite its decrease, the Parsis still stay in line of sight for their culture, customs, and cuisines.

The Calcutta Parsi Amateur Dramatic Club finds a place for itself as India’s longest running theatre in the Limca Book of Records, for putting up a Gujarati play annually on every Parsi New Year since 1908. This year, on 15 August, the new year play was held, marking the 117th consecutive year of this tradition.

The calendar controversy

Now the question arises for the majority of us as to why a Parsi New Year has already occurred in March.

Mehta informs, “There is no recorded history of our arrival in India. It is supposedly believed that the Parsis came to India in 636 CE, to escape Arab persecution and made India their home. Here, we made a calendar of 365 days without the leap year. Around the 16th century, few Parsis went for a trip to Persia and found out that here in India our dates differed from the original ones and needed to be adjusted with the original calendar. One set of people, the ‘Shenshais’, agreed to adjust, while another set, the ‘Kadmis’, blatantly refused. Yet after much dispute, both the sects agreed to carry on the way they believe.” She continues, “The official Parsi new year is on 21 March, and coincides with the Spring Equinox. The Kadmis celebrate it in July, while the Shenshais in August. For Kadmis and Shenshais, dates depend upon prayers. Since the prayers of each sect differ, hence the dates do.”

The surname dilemma

Parsis never had surnames. When the British came to India, they insisted everyone have a surname for better identification and segregation. Therefore, the Parsis either took the names of their profession as surnames, such as, Doctor, Engineer, Lawyer, Mehta (accountant) or they took names of places, such as, Bharoocha and Anklesh, from cities, Bharuch and Ankleshwar.

The Parsi platter

Parsi cuisine is not Iranian cuisine. Amidst trending dishes like Patrani Macchi and berry pulao, attention must also be given to ‘Dhansak’, the ultimate comfort food of Parsis, also famous as a culinary heritage. Mehta gives an account of the origin of Dhansak. “As refugees, we Parsis arrived in India impoverished. Our close-knit community served ‘Dhansak’, which was a communal pot where each member contributed what they had, like rice, dal, vegetables, eggs or meat, and therefore became our soul food.”