Bapsi Sidhwa

Of the sixteen lands created by Ahura Mazda, and mentioned in the 4,000-year-old Vendidad, one is the ‘Septa Sindhu’; the Sind and Punjab of today.

There was a certain fixed quality to Putli’s humourless eyes, set well apart in the stern little triangle of her face, that often disconcerted and irritated Freddy. The only time he saw her unwavering gaze dissolve was in bed. Then her long-lashed lids grew heavy with sensuality and there was such dogged and hedonistic devotion in her eyes for him, such a readiness to please and be pleased, that he became her slave.

‘And where, if I may ask, does the sun rise?
‘No, not in the East. For us it rises – and sets – in the Englishman’s arse. They are our sovereigns! Where do you think we’d be if we did not curry favour? Next to the nawabs, rajas and princelings, we are the greatest toadies of the British Empire! These are not ugly words, mind you. They are the sweet dictates of our delicious need to exist, to live and prosper in peace. Otherwise, where would we Parsis be? Cleaning out gutters with the untouchables – a dispersed pinch of snuff sneezed from the heterogeneous nostrils of India! Oh yes, in looking after our interests we have maintained our strength – the strength to advance the grand cosmic plan of Ahura Mazda – the deep spiritual law which governs the universe, the path of Asha.’

I remember the time of your dear husband’s death. My maternal aunt died a month later and I went to Sanjan for her rites. Those vultures were so fat they could barely fly. One of the pall-bearers told me that your beloved Jehangirjee Chinimini’s right leg was still sticking out heavenward – uneaten a month after he was placed in the Tower! After all there’s a limit to how much those overfed birds can eat!’

hosen by the Prophet as the outward symbol of his faith, is venerated. It represents the Divine Spark in every man, a spark of the Divine Light. Fire, which has its source in primordial light, symbolises not only His cosmic creation but also the spiritual nature of His Eternal Truth. Smoking, which is tantamount to defiling the holy symbol with spit, is strictly taboo – a sacrilegious sin. Theirs was a household in which candles were snuffed with a reverent pinch of the fingers. The cooking fire was never permitted to be extinguished: it was politely preserved in ashes at night, and fanned alive each morning. To blow upon fire is vile. Priests tending the temple fires cover their mouths with cloth masks, lest spittle pollute the Atash.

eternal barbecue in hell

Jerbanoo toddled off to the kitchen to fetch the boy, and she caught him smoking a biri. The room was acrid with tobacco smoke. He was the same boy she had cuffed two years back for pinching her sweets.

Freddy had not felt so tolerant of his mother-in-law in a long time. That afternoon they had been united in a cause and agreed upon principles. She wasn’t such a miserable old so-and-so, he mused with whimsical magnanimity, when suddenly, Jerbanoo exclaimed, ‘Look there,’ and excitedly pointed out a tree.
The rotten top branches of the sheesham were covered with vultures.
Infected by her excitement, the children chattered and delightedly discovered cluster upon cluster of the brooding, ungainly birds.
Clucking her tongue sympathetically, Jerbanoo commented on their rather lean and mangy appearance. Warming to the theme, she shook her head sadly and said, ‘What a pity. What a shame. These poor birds are permitted to starve despite all the Parsis we have in Lahore.’

‘It was his final act of charity! Every Parsi is committed to feeding his last remains to the vultures. You may cheat them but not God! As my beloved husband Jehangirjee Chinimini said, “Our Zarathusti faith is based on charity.’”

An endearing feature of this microscopic merchant community was its compelling sense of duty and obligation towards other Parsis. Like one large close-knit family, they assisted each other, sharing success and rallying to support failure. There were no Parsi beggars in a country abounding in beggars. The moment a Parsi strikes it rich he devotes a big portion of his energies to charity. He builds schools, hospitals and orphanages; provides housing, scholarships and finance. Notorious misers, they are paradoxically generous to a cause.