USHAO
E-Mail Edition
By Mazda’s grace Informal
Religious Meetings enters 30th year.
Yé dâţ manô vahyô, Mazdâ, ashyas-châ, Whoso makes (his) mind better, O Mazda, or else
Hvô daénãm shyaothnã-cha vachańhâ –cha; worse, he surely through deed and word (makes his
Ahyâ zaosheʼng ustis vareńêg hachaitê, own) Inner-Self (also better or worse); his Will
Thwahmi Khratâo apémem nanâo ańhaţ follows his voluntary choice; in Thy Wisdom (their)
destiny shall be
distinct.
[Spentā-Mainyū 2.4:
Yasna 48.4 : Translation by Irach J. S. Taraporewala]
“Zarathushtra’s outlook on life was one symbolic of the essential unity of the universe. In his system the entire creation forges its way towards the goal of perfection, and it is man’s mission in this world to contribute towards the attainment of that goal. For the fulfillment of this glorious mission he must set his feet on the Path that leads mankind the destined goal---the Path of Asha, or Righteousness. All other paths are no paths.” [SIR RUSTOM MASANI]
In this Issue:
2
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF PROF. JACKSON By Dr. Charles J. Ogden,
Ph.d.
4 IF WE COULD TEACH
(POEM) By Farida
Bamji
5 EROSION OF ZOROASTRIAN VALUES AND PRAGMATISM By B. T. Dastur
8 ZARATHUSHTRA
AND AGRICULTURE By Dr. Maneck B. Pithawalla
9 PARSIS OF
KURRACHEE [Chapter 4: The First Decade] By Dorab J.
Patel
11 CATHOLICITY OF ZOROASTRIANISM By
Dastur Khurshed S. Dabu
13 WHY IS IT SO HARD TO SAY, “I’M SORRY”?
By Tom Schaefer
“May you have hindsight to know where you’ve been,
the foresight to know where you are going and, finally,
the insight to know when you’ve gone too far.”
[Author
unknown]
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF
PROFESSOR JACKSON
By Dr. Charles J. Ogden,
Ph.D
ABRAHAM VALENTINE WILLIAMS JACKSON, for forty years
professor of Indo-Iranian Languages in Columbia University, and during that
period pre-eminent among American scholars in the domain of the languages,
literature and religion of Ancient Iran, was born in New York City on February
9, 1862. He sprang from families of old American stock, which had
held a respected place in the city’s life. After attending private
schools, he matriculated in 1879 in Columbia College, from which he was
graduated with honors in 1883. During his undergraduate course he devoted
himself to the classics, then still the mainstay of liberal education, but in
his senior year he took up the study of Sanskrit under the guidance of E.D.
Perry. It was through the latter’s inspiration that Jackson became, in his
own words, “filled with an enthusiasm for the study of the ancient language and
literature of India.”
After graduation he continued his philosophical
studies at Columbia, but added that of Avestan, then for the first time offered
in America by E. W. Hopkins. In this field he was to find his life work,
although the exigencies of the academic career required him for a number of
years to undertake also the teaching of Anglo-Saxon and of the history of the
English language. In 1887, when he had already received the degrees of
L.H.D. and Ph.D. from his Alma Mater, he was granted leave of absence to
pursue his Indo-Iranian studies in Germany, and for a year and a half he worked
at Halle under Karl F. Geldner in Avestan and Sanskrit, and Richard Pischel in
Sanskrit and Prakrit. The former he always regarded as his
guru. On his return from Europe in 1889 he resumed his teaching
position at Columbia. For some years he still divided his time between English
and Indo-Iranian, but from 1895 onward, when the professorship of Indo-Iranian
languages was established, he devoted himself more and more to Oriental
studies.
By this date Professor Jackson had published a
number of articles, mostly of a philological character, on Iranian and
especially, on Avestan subjects, also two small independent works. A
Hymn of Zoroaster: Yasna 31 (Stuttgart, 1888), and The Avestan Alphabet
and its Transcription (Stuttgart, 1890). More important was his An
Avesta Grammar in Comparison with Sanskrit (Stuttgart, 1892), a descriptive
account of the language upon the model of Whitney’s Sanskrit Grammar,
followed by the Avesta Reader, First Series (Stuttgart, 1893). Already,
however, his interest in Iranian religion and particularly in its supreme
representative, the prophet Zoroaster, had become evident, and in 1899 appeared
his epochal Zoroaster, the Prophet of Ancient Iran, the work with which
his fame will always be most closely associated. In its through mastery of
the complicated and often fragmentary material and in its evocation of a great
religious personality it is an enduring monument of scholarship. Jackson’s
position as an authority on this subject was recognized, by his being chosen to
write the section on Iranian religion in Geiger and Khun’s Grundriss der
Iranischen Philologie (“Die Iranische Religion,” Vol. 2, pp. 612-710,
published 1900-1904) 1.
In 1901 Professor Jackson was able to realize his
long-cherished wish of visiting India and becoming personally acquainted with
the Parsi community, with which he ever after remained in close contact.
In 1903 came his first journey to Iran and Central Asia, during which he made
the perilous ascent of the Rock of Behistun in order to study at first hand the
great inscription of Darius I. The fruit of this journey was his Persia
Past and Present (New York, 1906), a volume in which lively descriptions of
travel are mingled with chapters of erudite and penetrating literary and
archaeological research. The subsequent trips to these regions, in 1907
and 1910, led to the writing of a companion work, From Constantinople to the
Home of Omar Khayyam. (New York, 1911)
As the title of this
latter book indicates, Jackson’s Iranian interests were not restricted to the
Zoroastrian period, and the poetical literature of Modern Persian had a special
attraction for him. It was his custom to read a passage of Persian verse
every evening before retiring, and he projected a series of volumes on the
poetry of the early and the classical periods, of which only one, Early
Persian Poetry, from the Beginnings down to the Time of Firdausi (New York,
1920), was completed. Many bits of tasteful translation, scattered through
his other works and articles, attest his loving familiarity with Persian
literature.
The publication, by F.W.K. Mulller, C. Salemann
and others, of the Manichaean material from Turfan, in several Middle Iranian
dialects, had aroused Jackson’s philological interest and the relation between
the newer religion and Zoroastrianism seemed to him to need careful
investigation. Accordingly Manichaeism became more and more the focal
point of his later studies. His first publication on the theme, Studies
in Manichaesim (JAOS. 43. 15-25), appeared in 1923, and thereafter
hardly a year went by without an article on Manichaeism from his pen. In
1932 his chief contribution was published, Researches in Manichaeism, with
Special References to the Turfan Fragments (New York, 1932). In these
investigations, which at times led him far beyond the confines of the Iranian
field, he renewed the pioneering enthusiasm of youth, and even if some of his
conclusions on this novel and still imperfectly understood subject may need to
be revised, the stimulating effect of his work will be acknowledged by all his
co-laborers.
While the main current of his scholarly activity
flowed from beginning to end in the domain of Iran, Professor Jackson always had
a lively interest in the neighbor land of India. Rather strangely, his
predilection for the Avesta did not lead him to Vedic studies, and it was the
classical Sanskrit literature that he found most attractive. The Hindu
drama, with its technique in many respects resembling the Elizabethan,
interested him particularly. He published a number of articles dealing
with it, also a translation of Priyadarśikā (New York, 1923), based on a
manuscript rendering by the Parsi scholar G.K. Nariman. Mention should be
made of the History of India in nine volumes, which he edited for the
Grolier Society (London, 1906-1907), and of his important chapter on “The
Persian Dominions in Northern India” in The Cambridge History of India,
Vol. 1, pp. 319-342 (Cambridge and New York, 1922).
The pursuit of his researches and the discharge of
his academic duties were the substance of Professor Jackson’s career, but he
bore his share as citizen and scholar, in the events of the world about
him. Accompanied by his wife, the constant companion and inspiration of
the latter portion of his life, he made three journeys to the Orient in addition
to those already mentioned, mainly, to India in1911, to Iran in 1918-1919 on the
American Relief Mission to Persia, when he went around the world, and again to
India and Iran in 1926, when he had the satisfaction of at last entering
Afghanistan. He went to Europe many times in order to take part in the
International Congresses of Orientalists and in other gatherings of
scholars. A severe illness in the summer of 1931 compelled him to restrict
his activities, and in 1935 he retired from his Chair at Columbia University,
with the title of Professor Emeritus in Residence. Despite the handicap of
failing health he continued his scholarly work, and was engaged in preparing
another volume on Manichaesim when death suddenly overtook him on August 8,
1937.
It is, of course, by his published works that a
scholar’s fame is judged, yet all who had the privilege of knowing Professor
Jackson personally must feel that the man himself had qualities of mind and
heart which to them even outranked his learning. Perhaps his most
noticeable trait was his extreme kindness and affability, yet he had a strong
will and an unflinching sense of duty. While he always avoided speaking
ill of anyone, he was unyielding in matters of principle. He had a genuine
love of teaching and inspired his students with his own enthusiasm for his
subject. He did not think it beneath his dignity as a scholar to lecture
to popular audiences on the themes closest to his heart, and to the listeners
his melodious voice and the graceful exuberance of his style seemed to fill the
hall with the spirit of the Orient. In his work he was unsparingly
conscientious, a severe taskmaster to himself and a strict though kindly
guru to those who received their training under him. The thirteen
volumes of the Columbia University Indo-Iranian Series bear witness to
his achievement as editor as well as author. Destitute of envy, he was a
friend and counselor to other scholars working in the Iranian field. He
had especially close relations with the Parsi community in India, which had as
it were adopted him into its membership, as this memorial volume so graciously
testifies.
The honors and distinctions of the entire learned
world were showered upon Professor Jackson. In his own country he was a
member of the American Philosophical Society, and of several other learned
societies. He was for many years a Director and twice President of the
American Oriental Society, and was Honorary President of the American Institute
for Persian Art and Archaeology. Abroad he was an honorary member both of
the Royal Asiatic Society and of the Société Asiatique. He had received
from a former Shah the decoration of the Lion and the Sun, and an honorary
degree from the Dáridul-Funun University in Tehran. He welcomed these
tokens of recognition with human pleasure but without losing the innate modesty
of a true servant of learning. When he left this world to ascend to
Garõnmāna, there passed from us a great scholar and a very noble
gentleman. ■
1.This appeared in English, in a revised and enlarged form, as the first part of Jackson’s Zoroastrian Studies: The Iranian Religion and Various Monographs (New York, 1928)
[Source: ‘Professor Jackson
Memorial Volume’: The K.R. Cama Oriental Institute Publication,
1954]
IF WE COULD
TEACH
If we could teach the world to sing
In perfect harmony and buy the world
Peace happiness as well as
prosperity.
Let’s look both ways while crossing the street
Stop, look, listen if the criteria of
Humata Hukhta Harvarshta, do we
meet?
We are like a garden of assorted flowers
Of varied hues, we can live as one
Not stepping onto other people’s toes
By making more friends, instead of foes ---- Farida Bamji
EROSION OF ZOROASTRIAN VALUES AND
PRAGMATISM
By B. T.
Dastur
N
O value system has remained
in a straight jacket for all time, nor been bounded by a cast-iron frame. Some
basic tenets have remained inviolate for several centuries. But everything
else around it has been evolving, sometimes perceptibly and sometimes
imperceptibly. Let me explain: during World War II (1939-45) many
Christians – both Catholics and Protestants turned agnostics and some even
atheists. The unlimited butcheries that the Germans committed not only
against the Jews of all nationalities, but against all dissidents, made the
sufferers and the others doubt the existence of God (agnostics). And some
disbelieved in the existence of God (atheists). Church attendance fell
abysmally, and kept falling till the early ‘60s. The then Archbishop of
Canterbury (a Protestant pontiff) said that if Britons refused to go to the
church the church should go out to Britons. The Church of England bought
phased-out buses from the County Councils, converted those into mobile Churches,
which went out into the streets on Sundays, and some other holidays to attract
people.
The same thing has happened, not on such a drastic
scale, to our Zoroastrian tenets and value systems, over centuries. Some
deserved to fall by the wayside particularly customs which came to be believed
as religious practices (but really weren’t). Some religious practices lost
their efficacies with the dissolution of the joint family systems and the
emigration of Parsis to the West and the East. Haven’t we stopped burying
nails after paring those? Haven’t we stopped maintaining a continuous fire
in our houses? And, haven’t we started marrying out side our fold (to which I
have referred later)? Haven’t most of us stopped praying five times a
day? Haven’t we started disposing of our dead in an unconventional manner
(cremating or burying), in Iran and the West and elsewhere, and also within
India?
Ultra-orthodox Parsis (not only of India) take a
very myopic view of our religion, which is so catholic, so magnanimous and so
scientific. They seem to purvey the wrong image by propagating that our
religion is inviolate, static and fanatically fundamental, which it is
not. I am not suggesting that in the name of science and liberation, we
dilute our religion and our value systems beyond recognition and extinguish its
holy roots. While we are catholic towards the others, I am afraid that
there is a progressive Talibanisation of our preaching which misdirect
the youth and confuse the others.
The pontiffs and the scholars have a right to
interpret our religion, but in that the basic virtues of catholicity and the
scientific nature of our great religion, cannot be subjected to a dogmatic
interpretation and personal image pushing.
Let me dwell, further, on Zoroastrian virtues, not
necessarily in the ascending or descending order:
Concord and Amity: Our seven Amesha Spentas exemplify these
traits. Visparad 5.1/2 Yasna 11.18 and 58.5 are replete with
references as to how we Zoroastrians should lead a life of amity and concord
which, to our dismay and chagrin we find that our microscopic community is
driven with discord and jealousy.
Wealth gathering and temptation: Wealth like power dazzles the possessor as well
as the beholder. Our religion sanctions wealth gathering, and sharing it with
the disadvantaged. Zoroastrianism does not believe in privation as a road
to salvation. The only injunction is that the wealth should not be
ill-gotten. In the scramble for wealth a considerable degradation of Zoroastrian
values has taken place. Anghra Mainyu laid a wager that whoso tempted Zarathushtra to his fall
would be crowned with a diadem and held high in the sphere of apostasy.
Both he and his cohorts failed miserably and ignominiously even when they
awarded the wealth of the world provided Zarathushra gave up his religion. He
defied them and retorted that neither for the riches of the world, nor for the
love of his life, would he depart from the Mazdayasni religion. Our holy
Prophet sent them groveling in the dust. Zarathushtra stupefied
Anghra Mainyu. How many of us are able to stand erect against such
temptation? Let us ask ourselves.
Asha, the Path of
Righteousness: Not only Zarathushtra, but those that
preceded and followed him, asserted and reasserted that there was only one path
of Asha. The others were non-paths. Right is the path of
righteousness, and wrong is the path of the wickedness. Many of us have
gone waywardly, by either diluting that path of deviating from it, by being
ensnared into enduring pitfalls. Because we have chosen the easier, and
not the rugged path of Asha, we are going down the hill. It is wrong
to give up that path just because it is easier to chase a shadow than the
substance.
Industriousness, a great
virtue: One of the blessings,
which Zarathushtra
showered on King Vistaspa was that the King’s whole life should be honestly
industrious. Very many of us have lost our verve for honest industry,
become slothful and some able-bodied men have started living off doles.
Honest work imparts dignity and reinforces the Zoroastrian virtue that we must
leave this world better than we found it. Honest industry is a priceless
virtue. Even the Bible says: “Work is worship”.
Progress as a Zoroastrian
virtue: Progress is the watchword
of Zoroastrianism. We landed empty handed, but not
empty-willed. Until fifty years back we had a lot of ‘fire in
our belly’, and were pioneers in India’s trade with Aden, Zanzibar, East Africa,
Hong Kong, Japan, China, Singapore and even England. It is false to imagine that
the British gave all the support to establish what the Tatas achieved. The
Geological Survey of India refused to share the data on mineral deposits with
Jamshedji Tata and his team. The Hydrological Survey of India did the
same. But Jamshedji Tata had an unlimited fire in his belly and got the British
geologist from England to map out what is known as Jharkhand and the Western
Ghats for building dams and power system. It is good that our community
did not ask for protection as a minority – though we deserve it the most, being
microscopic in numbers. Reservation breeds lassitude, inefficiency and
indolence. While two Parsis viz. Pallonji Mistry and Adi Godrej continue
to appear in the ‘Fortune’ and ‘Forbes’ lists of billionaires, the
average wealth of the community is eroding because we have opted for softer
options.
The Power of Prayers: Needs no elaboration. Quite a number of
men and women do not wear Sudreh and Kusti. Forget praying five times a
day. Most of us, including myself cannot pray five times a day, but surely
we can wear Sudreh and Kusti and pray once or twice a day. It is now a
fashion for those who have not worn Sudreh Kusti for twenty years to preach to
us to be true Zoroastrian fundamentalists.
Faith and Religion: Some religions are called faiths. What is
very worrying is that for the way our holy religion is preached by some
diehards, our religion is reduced to a faith, which asks not for facts, demands
no proofs and seeks no evidence. “Faith thinks not, cogitates not and
reasons not.” Faith believes not in reason, is aggressive, authoritative,
arbitrary, adamantine and blind”. This is very worrisome, because it digs at the
very roots of our religion. Ours is not a fanatical religion. Right
thinking boys, girls, men and women must resist this with force and not permit
our pseudo-preachers to interpret our religion the way it suits their dogmatism,
fanaticism and bigotry, all of which are alien to our great religion. The
Gathas emphasize that each man has to judge himself as to what is good and what
is bad, and not pawn away his reasoning.
Conversion and Inter-faith
marriages: No child is
born with a religious label while coming out of its mother’s womb. It is
surprising that very many Parsis believe that the religion started with Zarathushtra. Totally
wrong, the religion much antedates Zarathushtra. Zarathushtra only reformed
the religion and substantially helped eradicate dogmas, sorcery, magic, and
irrationality, worships of ghosts and goblins and so on. He reformed it,
re-imparted rationality, logic, compassion, and devotion to Asha – the straight
path and reconstructed the original Mazdayasni value systems, which were
hopelessly diluted or abrogated. Even the ancients Mazdayasnans (of the
pre-Zoroastrian era) were converts to our religion. It could not have been
otherwise. The followers of every religion were converts. We were
the first, being rational, logical, willing and bold converts who were at a
total variance with the Turanians, who exemplified everything that was opposite
and noxious.
For some modern preachers to say that there was or
there is no conversion to our religion is absolutely balderdash and a blatant
lie. Yes, we never converted by force – so we believe. But
historical records show that King Shahpur was a fanatical Zoroastrian and
clobbered non-Zoroastrians into adopting our religion. He was not alone,
but he was just one of the two or three such proselytizers.
A global immigration brought about inter-faith
marriage, and the question of the future of the children of such marriages and
the issue of inter-faith marriages has assumed alarming proportions, when: 1)
One in three Indian Parsis marries outside our fold. 2) One in three British
Parsis marries outside. 3) One in two North American Parsis (Ages 19-32) marries
outside. 4) One in three North American Parsis (Ages 33-.51) marries outside. 5)
One in five North American Parsis (Age 51 and over) marries outside. Are
we going to right them off, and also their children? Let the Parsis around the
world ask themselves this fundamental question.
The die-hard Parsis arrogate themselves the right
to discard them. That right cannot be given to them. The entire global
community has to hold an international referendum on it. The whole community is
interested in its survival and not just the hidebound Parsis. These
hidebound Parsis refuse to see the demographic figures produced by the Census
Commissioner of India, who has set a string of alarm bells ringing. They
pooh-pooh these figures and their contention is that these figures are
unacceptable and spurious!! If we do that, we do so at our peril. Do
we want to be reduced to six, the present number of the great Andaman tribe? Or
to 10 the current number of the Ongo tribe, also in
Andaman?
Pragmatism: It appears that we are losing our innate Parsi
pragmatism, which has been our hallmark for the last fourteen centuries, in
Iran, in India and the far-flung corners of the world where we settled, in the
last 150 years. Can we be purblind to the forthcoming realities,
which are crucial to our survival? The die-hards want to keep the
neo-Zoroastrians at bay in the emerging countries of Central Asia and northern
South America. These neo-Zoroastrians will form a parallel body, because
we show empathy towards them. What is important? Is it our bigotry or is
it our survival? Let the whole community choose for itself. The
choice cannot be left to the handful of bigots. ■
[Source: “Jam-e-Jamshed
Weekly, 21st March 2004]
ZARATHUSHTRA AND
AGRICULTURE
By Dr. Maneck B.
Pithawalla
Z
ARATHUSHTRA was decidedly a
prophet of the poor, and to them the agriculture and tillage of the rich Iranian
soil was a great blessing. For his sermons he never went to gilded halls
and galleries, nor to cloistered chambers; but in fertile fields he sowed the
seeds of Righteousness. He himself went to the country farms, and taught
all who came from near and far the art of agriculture and work for Ahura Mazda.
He was the farmer of the first rank, and in those days of nomadic life his word
was a welcome antidote to the Semitic practice of butchery.
The friendship of the animals and the fertility of
the Persian soil helped the farmers a great deal to fulfill Zarathushtra’s message of
work and worship. This farmer-prophet was the first in the world to preach
the simple life; to him the modern world might listen with profit. Of all
professions, agriculture is the most natural and suitable to
man.
The early Persians as well as the forefathers of
Indian Parsees were expert farmers; and even today it is the plough that would
give the country her old strength and wealth. In fact, the world might
with profit leave aside the complexities of life and turn once more to simple
ways. All new sciences should be subordinated to this time-honored art of
nature-culture.
The intricacies of industrialism must melt before the simple and sublime mode of life. Zarathushtra was beyond all doubt a practical teacher as well as an idealist, and he would today strongly uphold engineering skill for the sake of irrigation and such sciences and defy a failure of the monsoon. It is high time the modern world gathered all its mechanical and electrical appliances for the building of social and moral structures everywhere. This alone can save the present crises in business and commerce.■
[Source: “The Light of
Ancient Persia” by the
author]
“He that groweth corn, groweth Righteousness”
[Vendidad 3.31]
THE FIRST DECADE
Lt, Gen. Sir Charles Napier
after conquering Sind, first established his headquarters in Hyderabad. Finding
the climate uncomfortable he sent Capt. (later Sir) Richard Burton, the famous
explorer and linguist to investigate the conditions in Karachi. On Burton’s
report that Karachi being on the seashore was a much cooler and a better place
to live in, Napier decided to move immediately his headquarters to
Karachi. Some of the Parsis of Hyderabad followed. Napier had
rightly imagined that if shipping could be brought to the port, shipping
interest would be attracted to it.
Sometime between 1839-42 Hormusji Dadabhai Ghadialy arrived with his nephew Dinshaw Pirojsha Minwalla. Hormusji was a contractor to the English army. Then he started a business of purchasing jewelry of the Mirs of Talpur and selling it at good price.
Sometime between 1839=42 Hurmusji Dadabhoy
Ghadialy arrived, with his nephew Dinshaw Pirojsha Minwalla who was a contractor
to the English Army. Humus Ghadialy started a business of purchasing
jewelry of the Mirs of Talpur and selling it at good price. It It It is
said that this way he became very rich and influential. He was considered a
leader of the Parsi community of Karachi. After the annexation the British
gave away large plots of land in Saddar quarter of Karachi to Hormusji for
distribution among the Parsi community for development. Dinshaw Minwalla
was also a government contractor but later became a stockiest of wines, liquor
and opium. He was very proficient in the English language, which helped
him develop great influence with the British. He was very helpful to the
community. He died of snakebite in 1874.
Another returnee from Afghanistan was Dossabhai
Cooper. He had gone as a cooper (maker of casks) with the British army to
Afghanistan. Within this span of five years the number of Parsis must have
grown and as such an ārām gāh (cemetery) was warranted. The
Golwalla family, which was initially trading in Hyderabad and Sukkur had now
settled in Karachi, purchased a plot of land for Parsi cemetery in
1839-40. This plot was behind the present Jinnah Hospital, near old Kala
Pul (bridge). The body of one of their family members, Shahpurji Mancherji
Golwalla, who died in Sukkur, was brought all the way from there on a camel and
was buried in this cemetery. It is believed that only eight persons were buried
in this cemetery because its use was discontinued soon.
Dossabhai Meherwanji Wadia was another settler of
that period, and established “Dossabhai Meherwanji & Co”. Later on he
established business links with U.S.A., becoming the first to do so. He
was then appointed agent to U.S. government and later as the consul of
U.S.A.
These five years saw many developments in the
world. The Penny postage was instituted. The opium wars were fought with
China. Punch magazine was founded in England, and the British
acquired Hong Kong.
The influx of Parsis into Karachi increased after
the British takeover. Among the latest settlers were Khurshedji and
Muncherji Golwalla. They had gone with the British to Afghanistan as
“traveling bakers”. Cowasjee Variyawa, another returnee from Afghansutan,
first worked with Dubash Brothers and then started his own stevedoring
business. He succeeded very well in his business ‘Cowasjee & Sons’,
which in time, his progeny enlarged into one of the largest and most famous
stevedoring houses in the country. Cowasjee like a true Parsi was a
philanthropist and took great interest in the welfare of Parsi community.
Mehrwanji Framji Panday, of the famous Panday Sanatorium at Bomaby, started his
business in Karachi with his brother` Pestonji. His shop of English
products was named ‘Pestanji Meherwanji”
1844 saw the arrival of Hirjibhai Jamshedji
Behrana. Later to be known as ‘Hirjikaka’. He came as a servant of a
British officer, but soon left the job and started an auctioning business, the
first Parsi to do so in Karachi. Maneckji Mehta great grandfather of
Jamshed Nusserwanjee too came to Karachi in 1844; and his vocation was
manufacture and sale of country liquor.
Until now the Parsis in Karachi were temporary
residents, who were a sort of refugees and had come to try their luck in their
fight for survival. But Horumusji Dadabhai Ghadialy foresaw the future
prospects in Karachi as secured, and built his own house in Saddar (1844).
This house was the first to show that the Parsis were here to stay. This
house until recently demolished was the oldest privately owned house in
Karachi.
Elsewhere the first telegraphic message was
transmitted, and Alexander Dumas wrote The Three Musketeers
The next five years (1845-50) were eventful for
Karachi in general and Parsis in particular. St. Patrick’s church was
constructed, and Karachi was hit by a cholera epidemic. By now Hormusji
Ghadyali was accepted as the leader of the community and like a true leader he
endeavored to fulfill his responsibilities. He decided to have a
Dokhma built in memory of his father. The tana ceremony was
performed on 22nd April 1847 and the completed Dokhma was
consecrated in January 1848. For this ceremony Parsis from all over India
were invited to participate, by advertisements in Bombay newspapers. The
employers of Parsi staff in Karachi were requested to give a holiday to their
Parsi employees, so that they could attend the ceremony, and this way a large
number attended the function. Dastur Faridunji Behramji Jamaspasana led
the Jashan. After the ceremony Dastur Faridunji was presented a shawl and
declared as Dastur of Karachi. This made him the first Dastur of Karachi
Parsis.
In 1848 there was Potato famine in Ireland, gold
rush in California, and the publication of the Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx
and Friedrich Engles. In 1849 the British annexed Punjab and consolidated
their position in this region.
The Parsi community was growing and many poorer
Parsis were living in congested cosmopolitan areas and were highly
inconvenienced at the time of bereavement in their families. So need for a
Sezdeh-gah-e-Ravan (a place for final rites) was felt. On 4th
August 1849 Behramji Meherwanji Kotwal purchased an open plot on Mansfield
Street and had a structure erected upon it for that purpose. The present
Sezdegah is on the same plot. It was a usual practice in those days
that at the time of Uthamna ceremony or a public Jashan, a person
intending to make a large donation made an announcement about it, and the Mobeds
recited a tandarosti. On 25th January 1848 after the
consecration of the Dokhma; Hirjibhai Beherana (Hirjikaka) declared his
intention to establish a Dar-e-Meher. It is said that Hormusji
Ghadyali too had an intention to build one. For sometime there was a
tussle over this matter. Ultimately it was decided to let Hirjikaka build
the same. So, on 3rd May 1849 the Dar-e-Meher was
established. It was first housed in half portion of Hirjikaka’s own
house. Hirjikaka was not a rich man but his zeal towards the community was
tremendous.
This was the first decade of Parsis in Karachi, fairly fruitful –during the tenure of Sir Charles Napier as the Governor of Sind. From the time he was appointed, he took great interest in the development of the harbor and town. But he left too soon (1847) to see his dreams come true. In Karachi he stayed in a bungalow on the site where the Governor’s house stands to day. At the time of cholera epidemic in 1846, he appointed a board of conservancy to improve the sanitary conditions of the town. The board found the filth and unsanitary conditions within the walled town an impediment in combating cholera so they broke down whatever town walls were remaining. This was the original town and suburbs merged to form one urban town unit. Napier set up a police force under Capt. Marston. Marston was with Napier at the battle of Mianee. Napier ordered the construction of barracks which were named after him. He selected areas we now know as cantonment for settlement of the British people. With the settling of the British in the cantonment area a bazaar grew up in the nearby Saddar and with it grew the Parsi community. Napier also ordered establishment of gardens where vegetables and feed for pack animals of the army were grown. This garden now houses the zoo.■
[To be continued]
Ya hoo! The Parsi’s prayer is accepted. Ya hoo! The Parsi’s prayer is accepted.
Ya hoo! Whatever the Parsi requests is accepted Oh, Shah Meheryar, with your long beard,
Even as clouds rise from the burning of Your face glows with the Light of God
fragrant sandalwood and incense.
Ya hoo! The Parsi’s prayer is accepted,
Thus says Mia Tansen:
‘Hearken, O Shah Akbar,
Here stands the Flower of Paradise*
Ya hoo! The Parsi’s prayer is
accepted.
The
Sufi saints when practicing jikra, a form of ecstatic chanting would
recite the word Allah when inhaling, and recite the word Hoo when
exhaling. According to Behram D. Pithawalla, the author of The Iranian Basis
of Devangiri Sanskrit Alphabet, the phrase Ya Hoo refers to the
opening line of the sacred prayer: Yatha Ahu Vairyo, which Dastur Meherji
Rana must have chanted before the sacred fire he lit at the Court of Emperor
Akbar. ■
* ”Flower of Paradise” was a common
epithet applied to Sufi saints. Tansen was a renowned singer at the Court of
Akbar [Source: “THE PARSIS” – Piloo Nanavautty]
CATHOLICITY OF ZOROASTRINISM
By Dastur Khurshed S.
Dabu
Z
OROASTER wisely kept his teachings
unrestricted as to time and place, so that these limitations may not cramp human
progress in thought and conduct. It has universal respect for all that is
good and true and beautiful throughout the world. The declaration of
Zoroastrians is unequivocal and liberal with regard to the unlimited scope of
all truth-seekers:
1) It says in the Haptan Yasht: “We revere
and love all good thoughts, words and deeds, that may have been presented here
or elsewhere, now or at any future period, because we are on the side of
Goodness”. Thus the religion of Zoroaster is free to embrace and absorb
all future developments and progress in human thought. It is not an
insular exclusive philosophy, but a constantly expanding and liberal synthesis
of every aspect of truth. Whatever is good is Zoroastrian!
2) In the Vispa Humata declaration: all
good thoughts words and deeds are supposed to be inspired by wisdom, and are
sure to lead us to Heaven, in as much as the sources of all these is
Heaven.
3) In his declaration of Creed a Zoroastrian
promises to adore all good thoughts words and deeds.
4) In his commemoration of holy men (in Faravardin
Yasht) he invokes with reverence the pious souls of all countries---naming even
Turan that was usually hostile to Iranian freedom and aspirations. When a
virtue is praised, it is “for all men”, and not for the followers of Zoroaster
only. Men and women are given equal status in every sphere of life. Both
have equal opportunities of spiritual evolution and salvation. The
Initiation-rite for a Zoroastrian is open to both sexes. ■
[Source; “Message of Zarathushtra” by the author]
T
IR or Tishtrya is described
in the Avesta as the glorious star genius of the rain, and the one that brings
fertility to fields, farms and all other lands. It is presumed to refer to
the star Sirius in the constellation of Canis Major. Farmers and
agriculturists look to this star of the genius of the rain to send refreshing
showers to their parched lands so that good harvests may ensue and mankind may
prosper.
“O Ahura Mazda, when Thy Tishtrya rains his
blessings on the earth, the fields do smile, the trees and forests rejoice and
men, the birds and beasts are gladdened. The whole nature goes green and
sings to Thy greatness and glory, and bows to Thee in gratitude for Thy goodness
and love. May Apaosha, the adversary of Tishtrya, and the creator of
drought and famine never get the upper hand, and may our lands always be blessed
with the favors of Tishtrya.” ■
[Source: “TEACH
ME TO PRAY—A Second book of Prayers
for Zoroastrians”: Noshir H. Vajifdar]
WHY IS IT SO HARD TO SAY, “I’M SORRY”?
By Tom
Schaefer
W
HETHER it’s the president
of the United States, an angry co-worker or an upset spouse, why is it so hard
to say, “I’m sorry”? The answers are as varied as the excuses children
give for misbehaving. A politician may worry about the ramifications of an
apology. A co-worker may be leery of appearing vulnerable and losing his
or her place in the organization’s pecking order. A spouse may still be
seething over hurtful words spoken long ago.
I’m sorry. Two simple but seldom spoken
words. Most of us have learned about their importance in the greater good
called forgiveness. Religions teach that forgiveness restores
relationships, both human and divine. There is a life-changing quality to
a heartfelt apology. So why are apologies not easily offered and, when
they are offered, not readily accepted? Consider two examples with broader
implications.
Following reports about the abuse of Iraqi
prisoners by U.S. forces, politicians and others outraged about it demanded that
the president apologize. He was slow to respond with any type of
apology.
After reports of sexual abuse by Catholic priests
were widely reported, victims and others in the church were upset with church
officials who took a long time before expressing their remorse and removing the
offenders. To be sure, no one is suggesting that an apology immediately undoes
the damage done to humiliated prisoners or to sexually abused boys by
clerics.
But an admission of error or sin –if the honest
intention is to redress wrongs –is a necessary first step to healing. In
both cases, a reluctance to say, “I’m sorry” made a bad situation worse. After
remorse, though, a second step must follow. The injured person must be
willing to say: “You’re forgiven” –or words to that effect. And it can be
the harder step to take. The pain or injury, whether physical, mental or
spiritual, is not easily erased. Feelings of anger, shame or despair can be
overwhelming for many victims.
Taking that second step is only the start of the
struggle to awaken from a nightmare of hurt. But not to take it is to let
the pain fester and decay and spread its poison in one’s own life and in one’s
relationship with others. Clearly, confessing sin and offering forgiveness
are more easily understood in one-to-one relationships. But they also need
to happen on a larger scale and often do not. As a result many people are
stuck in their anger. They want “a pound of flesh”, not an apology.
They want a gleeful satisfaction, not words of remorse.
I repeat: Saying I’m sorry doesn’t cancel the need
for legal restitution. But at some point we need to accept an apology and
move forward. Otherwise our anger will drive a wedge between us, and the
very people who need redeeming. So how do we reverse the downward spiral
of destructive behavior? How do we avoid becoming victims of our own
making? To start, we need to put into practice what we say we
believe.
“The practice of forgiveness is not only, or even
primarily, a way of dealing with guilt,” wrote L. Gregory Jones in “Practicing
Our Faith” “Instead, its central goal is to reconcile, to restore
communion –with God, with one another, and with the whole
creation.”
If life is only about my side or my point of view
prevailing, then I surely will lose in the end. By winning at all costs,
with no attempt at reconciliation, I will have contributed to the poisoned
atmosphere around me. But if I believe that I’m to live with justice for
all, and in peace with all –then I have the responsibility to practice
forgiveness in my relationship with spouse, children, neighbors and co-workers
as well as those of higher rank. That means offering an apology when I’ve
injured another and extending forgiveness when others express their
remorse. In a doing so, a chain reaction that changes attitudes and
restores communion will commence.
It has to start, though, with a willingness to
speak two words: “I’m sorry.” ■
[Source: “Faith &
Values” – The Wichita Eagle]
FRIEND & FRIENDSHIP
There is no friend like the old friend who has shared our morning days,
no greeting like his
welcome, no homage like his praise:
Fame
is the scentless sunflower with gaudy crown of gold; but friendship is the
breathing
rose, with sweets in every fold.
[OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES]
Published for Informal
Religious Meetings Trust Fund, Karachi
By Virasp
Mehta
4235 Saint James Place,
Wichita KS 67226, U.S.A.
E-mail: viraspm@yahoo.com