India’s vanishing Parsis

[vsdoc]

I am the only one in my extended family (till second cousins) with 3

All others have stopped at 2.

Some (albeit younger) have yet to start.

 

[third eye]

Three bro - like my dad

Doc

You have done your bit to keep the flame alight.

I have some wonderful Parsi friends, miss the Dhansag ( hope I've spelt it right) they'd make.

I have found them mostly very talented & fun loving - quietly religious too.

 

[Paan Singh]

I read that parsis cant marry to non parsis

 

[vsdoc]

I will give guys an example of how important housing and education is and the impact it has on Parsi couples marrying and having kids.

Jamshedpur because of the TATAs had free company quarters for the officers. So there was a reasonably big influx of young Parsi GTs (engineers - graduate trainees) post Independence to the 70s and 80s.

So much so that at its peak, Jamshedpur had over 10,000 Parsis, rivalling mch bigger cities like Pune (Poona in those days).

But slowly, Parsi boys and girls started outgrowing the limited post school opportunities Jamshedpur had to offer in terms of quality college education. And they moved out for their higher education.

Most of them (like me) never came back.

Now Jamshedpur had housing but not education.

Pune and Mumbai and Delhi and Bangalore have education. But not housing.

So Parsis marry late. Only when they are settled in their careers and have an independent house (we do not have joint family concept).

I got married immediately out of med school when I was 25. By Parsi standards that's practically child marriage ......

Or they do not marry at all because a lot of them get too set in their comfortable spaces and lives as bachelors and spinsters.

Or they do not find an equally qualified Parsi mate.

So they marry outside the community. And that as I mentioned before is 50% loss to the community.

 

[Fuego]

I read that parsis cant marry to non parsis

I also read that if they marry Non Parsis, their children are not considered Parsis.....vsdoc, do you wanna tell us something on this???

 

[vsdoc]

I read that parsis cant marry to non parsis

I also read that if they marry Non Parsis, their children are not considered Parsis.....vsdoc, do you wanna tell us something on this???

I already explained both points in my posts above guys.

And the background, and the conflicts, and repercussions.

 

[Fuego]

I already explained both points in my posts above guys.

And the background, and the conflicts, and repercussions.

I was wondering if you start considering children (through marriage with non parsis) as Parsis. Can that be worked out?

P.S. - I'm sorry my question may sound stupid but I just asked lol

 

[vsdoc]

I was wondering if you start considering children (through marriage with non parsis) as Parsis. Can that be worked out?

That is already possible for Parsi kids of Parsi father - Non-Parsi mother unions.

Not vice versa.

For a progressive community, we are pretty conservative and chauvinistic.

You have to be born a Parsi.

But you actually formally enter the faith only with your religious investiture / thread ceremony (Navjote).

And Navjote is not allowed for non-Parsi fathered kids. Even if and when both husband and wife are willing.

The flip side is that in those cases where Parsi fathered (non-Parsi mother) kids are concerned, thanks to our fundamentally tolerant and equal/fair/democratic/whatever you call it nature and religious ethos, the Parsi fathers do not insist on their kids having their Navjotes - citing informed choice of the kids as a reason, to be allowed by the parents to their kids when they grow up - in terms of which faith they would like to follow.

Conveniently forgetting that a Navjote can only be performed before Puberty sets in (I think its 12 for guys though most have it by 9, and 9 for girls though most nowadays have it by 7).

Massive **** up man .... we are basically too clever or too stubborn for our own good.

 

[harpoon]

Yet the national planning commission is mulling a $360,000 scheme to increase the Parsis’ dwindling numbers through fertility treatments and advertising campaigns.

Never heard about it...hope it has more success than 'Save the Tiger' campaign.

 

[vsdoc]

Fertility is no more a problem for the Parsis than it is for other communities. I have not seen any scientific evidence to the contrary.

The government cannot help us with regard to the issues I have outlined above.

That is a call the community needs to take.

That is a call every young Parsi man and woman needs to take.

 

[INDIC]

Fertility is no more a problem for the Parsis than it is for other communities. I have not seen any scientific evidence to the contrary.

The government cannot help us with regard to the issues I have outlined above.

That is a call the community needs to take.

That is a call every young Parsi man and woman needs to take.

I read, in Mumbai Parsi Panchayat provides housing support to people, are these measures helping the people to settle early and having more children.

 

[Abdi-Karim Elmi]

Sad. I blame the Arabs... Did they invade India too?

 

[vsdoc]

I read, in Mumbai Parsi Panchayat provides housing support to people, are these measures helping the people to settle early and having more children.

Not at all. The reason is that the old Parsi baugs (gardens/colonies) built at the turn of the last century are woefully inadequate.

Each flat/house is equal to 2-3 modern flats (huge rooms, high ceilings), and to put it crassly, Parsis do not usually die quickly (especially the women) so the whole flat is occupied by a single doddery old lady who cannot take care of herself.

Then there are litigations and court cases because the Parsi lady lets in another Parsi (out of turn) if at all she does not have family/kids (as most of them are in the US, Canada, Australia, anyways).

So basically we need a lot more housing. And fair laws of giving houses to young couples.

And a realistic method. Right now all new housing (Goodrej baugs, Pune Punchayats, etc.) is for "needy" Parsis.

A needy Parsi per our laws is one whose monthly income needs to be less than 90K a month .......

And all this while, we have acres of land which is just being usurped by greedy builders once the old Parsis die and the kids abroad do a quick deal.

And multiple mega crores of rupees whose interest alone is enough to make EVERY PARSI ALIVE ON THE PLANET a crorepati many times over.

Sad.

 

[vsdoc]

- duplicate post -

 

[JanjaWeed]

despite being the smallest of the minority communities in India, parsi contribution to the development of india has been immense... be it on the field of education, commerce, banking, medicine or journalism. They are the one who pioneered these fields. It's in India's national interest to see that this community doesn't slide down to the oblivion. Maybe govt should think of giving incentive to Parsi community to have more kids....