Sahebji

Centuries ago the sea brought in more than just the predictable oil slicks and plastic bags. About 1400 years ago, it brought in Parsis from Iran at Sanjan, Gujerat setting the stage for dhansak, the House of the Tatas and ‘bawa’ jokes. The Parsees are an ethno-religious minority in India, living chiefly on the West coast of the sub-continent. In spite of their infinitesimally small number the Parsees occupy an extraordinary position in India’s most recent history. Their past and present role in the economic, social and political spheres makes them one of the most interesting of India’s ethnic groups. The name Parsees  refers to the Persian province “Fars”, which they left over 1,200 years ago to save their religion, the teachings of Zoroaster from being Islamised by the invading Arabians.

 Our knowledge of the circumstances and stages of the migration from Persia is based almost exclusively on the chronicle ‘Kissah-i-sanjan’ written in Persian in 1600 A.D. by the Parsee priest Behman Kaikobad Sanjana in Nausari.  When the Parsees came to the King of Sanjan, he imposed 5 conditions on them: The Parsees High Priest would have to explain their religion to the King, the Parsees would have to give up their native Persian language and take on the language of Gujarat, The women should exchange their traditional Persian garb for the customary dress of the country ,The men should lay down their weapons and the Parsis should hold their wedding processions only in the dark.

The Parsees complied with these restrictions. Gujerati became their native
language. The women started wearing sarees. Gujerati spoken by Parsis is an
idiosyncratic variant of the language. This is highly typical of the Parsi
tendency to adapt but without any surrender of their distinctiveness. 

 In the fields of language and clothing two essential channels and indicators of socio-cultural change, the Parsees proved themselves extremely adaptive. On Indian soil, they erected Zoroastrian fire temples - the temples in which a flame (atash) is kept burning as a symbol of the life cycle and of eternal recurrence. This symbol has been richly significant to the Parsis: the Zoroastrian faith has been kept burning. Zoroastrians pray to one god Ahura Mazda (the "wise lord") to help them in the dualistic battle between Spenta Mainyu (the "Bounteous Spirit") and Angra Mainyu (the "Destructive Spirit").

 The Parsee community, which lived relatively unnoticed for more than a thousand years on the periphery of the Gujerati society as artisans, carpenters weavers etc., showed remarkable changes only after the advent of the British. With the arrival of the British, however, Parsi fortunes underwent a quantum leap. Manifesting a business acumen which got them dubbed the "Jews of India", the Parsis came to dominate the commercial life of Victorian Bombay, the city in which they are still mostly concentrated .

Monotheists, unconstrained by any caste system, and lighter skinned than the majority of Indians, the Parsis were eminently acceptable to the British imperium; with some exceptions - notably Dadabhai Naoroji, an early proponent of the independence movement. Indeed, there was no shortage of those who - like Mancherjee Bhownagree(one of the first Asian MPs of the British parliament) regarded British rule as little less than providential.

There seems to be a total absence of recorded history vis-à-vis the Parsees in Calcutta. The first Parsee came to Calcutta about 200 years ago. Mr. Ardeshir Dinsha who was a research scholar in Calcutta has recorded that from the time of foundation of Calcutta by Job Charnock in 1692 A.D. till the Battle of Plassey in 1757 A.D., no record is found of any Parsee presence in Calcutta. The recorded history of the Parsees in Calcutta begins with the arrival of Seth Dadabhai Behramji Banaji in 1767. Seth Banaji was a close friend of British Officer John Cartier, a chief officer of the British Settlement in Surat. John Cartier was posted from Surat to Calcutta and he induced Seth Dadabhai Banaji to come to Calcutta to explore business possibilities. In those days there was a thriving trade with China, Burma, Siam and other countries in opium and silk.

The person who brought fame and fortune to the Banaji family in Calcutta was Rustomji Cowasji Banaji, Dadabhai’s nephew. Seth Rustomji Cawasji Banaji was one of the first Indian to enter into a business partnership with Europeans. Set Rustomji was considered to be father of ship building industry in Bengal. In 1837 he bought Kidderpore Docks and the Salkea Docks . He played a leading part in introducing and developing Insurance business in India.  True to Parsee tradition of charity, he used his immense wealth in philanthropic works of public good. He was known as the father of the Calcutta Corporation and the Medical College and Hospital. Amongst the other institutions started with the donations of Seth Rutomji were Agricultural and Horticultural Society of India, The District Charitable Society, Native Hospital of Dharamtalla, The Mayo Hospital, The Medical College Hospital, The Veterinary College and Hospital of Calcutta. One of the most prominent contribution of Rustomjee was the building of a Fire temple at his own cost to enable Calcutta Parsees to offer prayers and perform religious rites.

Another illustrious Parsee merchant was J.F.Madan to who goes the credit of introducing cinema on a commercial basis. Along with the running of the Corinthian Theatre at 5, Dharamtalla Street, he also dealt with auctioned goods, provision stores and supplied essentials to the British for their military expeditions. He was the pioneer and the father of the cinema industry in India. J.F. Madan has left behind for the community a large philanthropic infrastructure which includes inter alia houses for the needy and poor Parsees, contributions to the Mehta Fire temple and a substantial contribution to the Tower of Silence.

On 11^th August 1838, the ship “John Woodhall” brought in the first Parsee ladies to Calcutta. Zoroastrianism enjoined equality between the sexes - an imperative which sharply distinguishes it form other eastern religions – hence Parsee ladies enjoyed a great deal more of independence and opportunities than their Hindu or Muslim contemporaries. In those days, the system of Purdah was prevalent in Bengal and women were not seen in public, but the womenfolk of the Rustomji household were openly seen welcoming guests at parties and receptions.

The academic education of girls and the widespread emancipation of women resulted in a quick acceptance of English standards all the way into the details of daily life. The process of assimilation touched on almost all of the spheres of life. As far as clothes were concerned, it was only the men who made a change and took to European fashion. Thus the sudreh was shortened to suit the length of the European fashioned shirts and trousers. Similarly, the habit of wearing a pheta at all times, had to be done away with, to be in observance with European practice of removing ones hat when one went into the house of another.

The homes were furnished with English furniture, with pianos and crystal chandeliers.  Parsee girls of rich families, educated by English Governess, learned to play the violin or the piano. Evening parties have been celebrated since then to the sounds of waltzes and operettas.

The nonexistence of their own literary tradition- apart from the religious literature – made the preference for and the acceptance of European literature easier. Around 1850, Parsees at Elphinstone College had already formed a theatre group – The Parsee Elphinstone Dramatic Society for the performance of English plays. The response was so encouraging, that this ensemble could make ventures into Singapore and England. Thus the Parsees set the stage for English language theatre in India and are even today some of the leading actors, directors, of English plays are Parsees.

The Parsees fervently imitated the Englishman’s enthusiasm for sports. Cricket became a popular sport for the Parsees overnight. Parsee teams were sent to England, and the reputation for having brought forth some of India'’ best cricket players is proudly registered even today and is an integral part of the Parsee community consciousness.

This now brings us to Calcutta Parsees of today. Numbering about 600, mostly above 50 years old, holding on strong to the three millennia old Zoroastrian heritage, high educational standards, sending children to Scout programmes under the Saklat Physical Culture Institute, meeting regularly at the Parsee Club on the Maidan, reveling in traditional dress contests, housie games in the afternoons at 52, Chowringhee, and of course meeting and greeting on Parsee New Year day.

New Year is celebrated twice a year – 21^st March (Jamshedi Navroz) and on 20^th August (Papeti). 10 days before Navroz, people offer prayers for the souls of their departed near and dear ones (called mukhtar) in the fire temple. On the 10^th day the new year is rung in with cheers.  There will be prayers at the fire-temple on Metcalfe Street and vermicelli and sweet curd with rose petals, marghi na farcha and kolmi patia at home. An annual event to mark this day is the staging of a Gujerati Natak by the Calcutta Parsee Amateur Dramatic Club.  And then there will be drinks, Parsi pegs.

So far as the community has a hub, it is 52, Chowringhee, where meetings and social functions are held. Edalji Olpadvala in 1967, gifted his magnificent mansion at 52, Chowringhee to the Anjuman trustees with the request to build a hall for the Parsees after his death, In 1971, he died , leaving behind the legacy at 52, Chowringhee. The property was the developed, a building was built, with the lower floor serving as a hall for the community. This legacy has enriched the community spiritually and morally, giving them a forum to congregate and organise events and functions. Such events give the community a forum to socialise and further their ‘group identity’.  Here, however, as elsewhere, Zoroastrians are riven by ideological disputes. Some, worried about shrinking numbers, the Parsi way of death, practicality of Towers of Silence, poisonous debates on mixed marriages, pre-occupation with dwindling numbers, some want to waive the traditional Zoroastrian taboo against accepting converts; for others - the highly orthodox  Zoroastrians in particular - such proposals are anathema. Their debates, apparently, are lively. I have oft heard the joke that wherever three Parsees meet the result is four arguments.

There have been several like the Madans, Mehtas, Modis and the Saklats in the history of the community. The Parsi families were in the vanguard of jute and shipping , the twin pillars of Calcutta’s wealth. They took over the liquor trade, went into catreing, won all the coveted contracts, set up the first cinemas, brought theatre culture. Parsees rose to the apex in whichever field they chose to make their mark in… be it C. R. Irani, Sheriff Rusi B Gimi, engineer Minoo Dastur, Dr. Anklesaria, Chartered Accountant P. N. Narielvala, advocate P.P. Ginwala. More importantly, they built a philanthropic infra-structure from which the community would draw sustenance for a long time after their commercial empires had faded away. There were many, whose names I have not been able to mention due to my limitations of time and space, many who were fondly called “sethiya loque” because their hearts were as generous a their fortunes.

Today, however, the question is whether the Parsis in general can survive at all. The community’s existence though not threatened from outside, is all the more endangered from inside. Furthermore, Parsi numbers, always small, are now diminishing at an alarming rate. In 1971 there were 91000 Parsis in India, by 1981 the figure had fallen to 71000, and one in five Indian Parsis is now over 65. Non-marriage, marriage outside the community and late marriage, falling birth rates, increasing death rates, impoverishment of the middle class, excessive dependance on charitable institutions, lack of entrepreneurial initiatives have all contributed to the decline. The Parsees, are not inclined to take talk of the impending disappearance too seriously, “It has always gone on”, they say. In view of the sharp decline in the Parsi population, this may seem complacent, but the Parsis have an impressive record of resilience and their adaptability is almost proverbial. It is not yet time to write their obituary.