Iranians in India - the Model Minority

[neutral_person]

Parsi religious ceremonies

Angeldust, just out of curiosity, are you a Parsi as well?

 

[Sashan]

Parsis are great community and they have contributed to India immensely. The one issue I have is how they dispose off the dead bodies. They have the bodies placed in the Tower of Silence and have vultures and various creatures eat the bodies as their religious beliefs does not allow them to dispose off the bodies through burial or cremation.

I read this somewhere that this is an issue in Mumbai but the the members from Mumbai can comment on this.

 

[angeldust]

Angeldust, just out of curiosity, are you a Parsi as well?

Yes I am. Half parsi, half iroon.

 

[Rajaraja Chola]

Parsis are great community and they have contributed to India immensely. The one issue I have is how they dispose off the dead bodies. They have the bodies placed in the Tower of Silence and have vultures and various creatures eat the bodies as their religious beliefs does not allow them to dispose off the bodies through burial or cremation.

I read this somewhere that this is an issue in Mumbai but the the members from Mumbai can comment on this.

I think they burn it... That practise may be followed by the most orthodox... I havent really heard about such a disposal..

 

[angeldust]

Parsis are great community and they have contributed to India immensely. The one issue I have is how they dispose off the dead bodies. They have the bodies placed in the Tower of Silence and have vultures and various creatures eat the bodies as their religious beliefs does not allow them to dispose off the bodies through burial or cremation.

I read this somewhere that this is an issue in Mumbai but the the members from Mumbai can comment on this.

Its only vultures, and other birds of carrion. No other creature gets in. Even normal Parsis cannot go in, there is a special sect of pall bearers who is only allowed. It is our belief that even in death we should do good to God's creatures. Obviously we do not cremate as the empty shell of the mortal remains cannot sully the holy fire. Where vultures are increasingly rare (diclofenac toxicity) we now use mirror incinerators which concentrate the sun's rays to incinerate the body without a flame. Where even that is not present, we bury, but that is not as common.

The Zoroastrian Tower of Silence (Dakhma/Dokhma)

 

[livingdead]

Yes I am. Half parsi, half iroon.

What is iroon? Never heard about them.

 

[angeldust]

What is iroon? Never heard about them.

Irani Zoroastrian. As oppose to Parsi Zoroastrian. But we speak gujrati at home, though my grandparents speak dari.

 

[clmeta]

You are reading what you want to read here.
What do Indians care whether Iranians practice Islam or Zoroastrianism?
Some Pakistanis keep manufacturing fake causes trying to be defenders of Islam.

The alleged intention of the thread was to focus on Iranians (presumably only Parsis) in India, not Iran. If you start talking about Christians in India, would you suddenly switch to discussing ancient Rome and Byzantine?

The repeated references to Iran "reverting" to Zoroastrianism mirror the Hindutva agenda to "reconvert" everyone -- especially Indian Muslims -- "back" into Hinduism. It's a bit too transparent.

Anyway, carry on. I was commenting on the fact that some people can't pass up any chance to bring Islam into unrelated discussions.

 

[angeldust]

Parsi weddings

 

[aakash_2410]

Irani Zoroastrian. As oppose to Parsi Zoroastrian. But we speak gujrati at home, though my grandparents speak dari.

I am part Parsi (1/16th Parsi Gujarati because my great great grandmother was Parsi. The thing is I'm so diluted down I can hardly call my myself a Parsi ) as well. Anyways didn't know Parsis spoke Dari? Gujarati has been their first language pretty much since their arrival in Gujarat?

I'll tell you the story my Grandfather used to tell me, and I used to learn in Gujarati textbooks as well.

After the fall of Sassanid empire, Zoroastrian Persians fled to India, to escape the prosecution. And landed in Gujarat.

They sent the local king Jadi Rana a request to allow them as refugees in India but, the king sent them a glass filled with milk, and said we're already full, there is not enough room in this country. But Parsis sent a glass of milk back with mixed sugar saying, we'd assimilate to local culture like sugar mixes with milk. King was impressed and he allowed them to stay on conditions that they adopt the local language (Gujarati), that their women adopt local dress (the sari) and that they henceforth cease to bear arms.

Any Parsi would know this 'Dudh ma sankar' meaning 'Sugar in Milk'.

 

[angeldust]

Kem chho ji aakash. That is only half the story. The point made by our leaders to the King then was that we would mix into the population just like the sugar, and make the milk sweeter as a result.

We were also asked not to convert and not to slaughter cows. No Parsi home cooks beef as a result to this day, though many of us do eat it outside. We also do not convert. But we need to re-look at our marriage laws and there is an intense debate that has been going on for close to two decades now between the youth and the old people.

That and the fact that our girls often are smarter and more educated and earning better than our boys. And the fact that career comes first for both so thay marry late. And when they do, they do not have more than a single kid if at all. So the girls mary outside, and their kids are not allowed to be Parsis. Due to the fact that the marriage laws are loaded heavily in favor of the males when it comes to keeping the bloodlines and staying in the faith, as also the children of such mixed marriages.

 

[JanjaWeed]

Parsi weddings

wow.. always thought eating in banana leaf is exclusive to South Indian culture. Didn't know it's a part of Parsi culture too..

 

[angeldust]

wow.. always thought eating in banana leaf is exclusive to South Indian culture. Didn't know it's a part of Parsi culture too..

Ya always. Very finicky old bawas and bawis are about the perfect patra. They will pick and choose till the bearer is about to fall dead and those down the line have grumbling stomachs. Then they will flatten the central rib with much thumping so the whole table shakes and shuders. Then they will wash and re-wah the patra till much of the chlorophyll is also washed away. Then they will eat. And eat till the cows come home. We also use banana leaves to wrap fish in and steam it in green mint chutney. Delicious.

Patra ni macchi.

 

[Roybot]

Yes I am. Half parsi, half iroon.

Iroon is same as Irani right?

Irani (India) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[aakash_2410]

Kem chho ji aakash. That is only half the story. The point made by our leaders to the King then was that we would mix into the population just like the sugar, and make the milk sweeter as a result.

We were also asked not to convert and not to slaughter cows. No Parsi home cooks beef as a result to this day, though many of us do eat it outside. We also do not convert. But we need to re-look at our marriage laws and there is an intense debate that has been going on for close to two decades now between the youth and the old people.

That and the fact that our girls often are smarter and more educated and earning better than our boys. And the fact that career comes first for both so thay marry late. And when they do, they do not have more than a single kid if at all. So the girls mary outside, and their kids are not allowed to be Parsis. Due to the fact that the marriage laws are loaded heavily in favor of the males when it comes to keeping the bloodlines and staying in the faith, as also the children of such mixed marriages.

Majam, mane malul hati e vaat. I know what you're talking about. Let's my great great grandmother was Parsi, but we're all conservative Hindus. It is usually the girl who ends up converting or without anyone to carry her religion forward. For Gujarati Parsis and Jains this is becoming a major worry because, they're in small numbers and intermarriage between Hindus-Jains and Hindu-Parsi (This is still hard to find, apparently my great great grandparents had to face a lot) is so common and as you said it is usually girl who has to give up her religion.

But Parsis are most westernised Indian community, we're more fluent in English (apart from gujarati of course) than in Hindi.