The below article appeared in the Spanish press, in the aftermath of the Mumbai terrorist attacks of 26/11.
Parsi Khabar’s Editor Mehernaaz Sam Wadia was interviewed for this article. The original article is in Spanish and the translation below is from Google Translations. It does not make perfect grammatical sense, but you can get the gist of the article.
MIKEL Ayestarán | BOMBAY
“I do not think that the terrorists know what is a ‘Parsi’. They attacked the Taj Mahal hotel and cafe Leopold because they were very popular among foreigners, nothing more. ” Yazdi Tantra and Ader Gandi direct the most visited websites by the community-Zoroastrians known as’ Parsi ‘in India-all over the world.
The Internet has become an indispensable tool for keeping together the members of this confession millennial born in ancient Persia from the hands of Zarathustra and that is its true center in Bombay world. ‘The directory Parsi’ received thousands of visitors from around the world following the attacks in the Indian financial capital, a city where some of the largest fortunes belong to families with members Parsis as Tata, current owners of the Taj Mahal.
“To think well, speak well and act well” are the three principles of this confession born 3700 years ago by the hand of Zarathustra, the first prophet that brought monotheism to the world. His most sacred city is Yazd in the south of the Islamic Republic of Iran, where his eternal fire has not been shut down ever.
Thousand years ago who emigrated from his birthplace in ancient Persia, fleeing religious persecution. Since then, the city of Bombay has become their second home because it is home to some sixty thousand of them, approximately half of the entire world community. They live throughout the city, but are concentrated especially in a kind of colonies, called ‘baugs’, built by philanthropists Parsis in the past.
Endangered
To Parsis, the lineage is spread through online paternal and women who marry men from outside the community automatically lose their status within the Zoroastrians. Every time there are fewer marriages to respect the tradition in India and the number of community members is down significantly in recent years, “therefore it is essential to the role of the Internet, which is capable of bringing together from around the Parsis world to be known and may form families, “says Yazdi from his office in northern Bombay.
“Iran is at the heart of all as the birthplace of our religion,” the lawyer Mehernaaz Sam Wadia. Normally they do not have problems obtaining visas and travel to Iranian soil, a country where despite the Islamization kept alive the major festivals such as Zoroastrians Chahar shanbe Suri (last Wednesday of the year), the New Year, Newroz, or Yalden, first day of winter. In Iran are accepted as one of three official religious minorities and even have a representative in the Majlis (parliament), but the emigration remains the predominant note, particularly among the young.
In the coffee Leopold photographs of Iranian landscapes adorn the walls. On the cash register, an image of Zarathustra. The current owner of the premises, Farhang Jehani, wanted to open twenty-four hours after the attack, but forced him to close it to proceed with the investigation. The marks of bullet wounds are still fresh in the mirrors that decorate one of the liveliest cafes Colaba, an area where historically the establishments where it is permitted alcohol consumption have been in the hands’ Parsis’. El mundo conoce hoy a los zoroastrianos por algunas figuras míticas como la familia Tata, el fallecido Freddy Mercury o el director de orquesta Zubin Mehta, pero su fuego lleva encendido miles de años, miles de años en los que el “pensar bien, hablar bien and act well “has enabled them to survive among religions as powerful as the Muslim or Hindu.
