whatever way they could. That was how our community evolved over the years, from businessmen to pioneers. Our faith taught us to share and be generous. I am undoubtedly still a student when it comes to understanding the true values of our religion. However, I am eager to learn and have begun my journey towards gaining a thorough understanding of the beauty that is Zoroastrianism and the rich traditions we call our own.

Bitterness, false pride and a sense of entitlement have caused our community to forget the very roots we have risen from. So in this article, the first of a series, I hope to publish in the coming weeks, I would like to touch upon a very important topic — unity — and how to sustain it.

Unity

Few in number we may be, but there’s a plethora of talent amongst us. Within this small community of ours, we have world-class achievers and leaders in most fields ranging from law, medicine and finance to politics and business. From an overall perspective, we are a single body with several geniuses.

And so I have repeatedly asked myself why we are so disintegrated from within. Un-united, so to speak. Undoubtedly, many will tartly suggest that I first pose this question within the four walls of my own home, but believe you me — I have. What I have learnt is that we, as a community, have lost that special connect, that sense of togetherness, of being one. Engrossed in petty battles and our personal lives, we have lost that desire to stand united. Undoubtedly, we have a passion to learn and excel, but in losing that bond we are giving up on our identity.

Personal v/s Policy

So in all of this, I’m trying to get to the root cause behind this lack of unity. Is it that we just don’t care about each other anymore? I tend to disagree. We as a community are what I like to call ‘people with great minds, but heavier hearts’. Whenever there is a simple decision to be made or policy to be implemented, we’re unable to digest opposition. And soon enough, differences in policy become personal differences — and that is when we begin to breed bitterness.

Let me ask all of you who are members of associations, trusts, groups and so on and so forth. How many times have simple differences in policy led to personal differences? A discussion on policy should contain itself as a discussion on policy. If there is a difference in opinion, that does not make your opponent a depraved individual with malicious intentions. It’s an opinion that he or she is entitled to voice. There is no need for different views on policy to turn into personal grudges.

We so very easily brand each other. We bestow unflattering titles that brand us as this faction, that faction or the on-the-fence faction. This, according to me, needs to stop and it needs to stop now! We are Parsis. We are Iranis. We are Parsi-Irani Zarthushtis. We are born with solely that title and when we die, we should do so with the same.

Published in the Jam-e-Jamshed on 24 May 2015