Parsis- Zoroastrians of India


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		the-south-asian.com April 2001 about us databank back-issues contact us south asian shop
		Page 1 of 11 Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds Parsis - The Zoroastrians of India by Sooni Taraporevala The following text is an extract from the book 'Zoroastrians of India: Parsis: A Photographic Journey' by Sooni Taraporevala. c 2000 Sooni Taraporevala. Reproduced with permission of Good Books, Mumbai, India. By the year 2020, India will have achieved the dubious distinction of being the most populated country on earth with 1200 million people. At that point, Parsis who will number 23,000 or 0.0002 per cent of the population, will cease to be termed a community and will be labelled a 'tribe', as is any ethnic group below the 30,000 count. Demographically, we are a dying community - our deaths outweigh our births. Parsis are a people who uprooted themselves and moved to a different world to save their religion. We migrated to India one thousand years ago. The Parsi experience is about dilemmas that most minority communities face; questions about religion and race, survival and extinction, assimilation and identity, tradition and the modern world. There are only 100,000 Parsis in the world today, mostly in India, particularly in Bombay. Demographically, we are a dying community-our deaths outweigh our births. Parsis like to quote a remark that Mahatma Gandhi once reportedly made, "In numbers Parsis are beneath contempt, but in contribution, beyond compare." Out of an Indian population of more than one billion, Parsis number a mere 76,000. Demographic trends project that by the year 2020, India will have achieved the dubious distinction of being the most populated country on earth with 1200 million people. At that point, Parsis who will number 23,000 or 0.0002 per cent of the population, will cease to be termed a community and will be labelled a 'tribe', as is any ethnic group below the 30,000 count. next page Parsis - The Zoroastrians of India The story of the Ancestors Arrival in India and the beginnings of a new life The Early Entrepreneurs of Bombay Pioneers of Modern India Eminent Parsis of India What is Zoroastrianism? Who was Zarathustra? Rituals, Customs & Manners Disclaimer
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