Abdul Al Rahzib
Anaggh Desai //
Anaggh Desai //
A few Words about Parsis, most lovable & peace-loving people:
The first Parsis I knew were statues. There were scores of them, all over Bombay (now Mumbai), most of them wearing glasses: Dadabhoy Naoroji, Pherozeshah Mehta, Jamshedji Tata, Cowasjee Jehangir, Bomanji Petit, the Khada (standing) Parsi at Byculla Bridge.
Later, I met other Parsis, at the Central Bank, Cusrow Baug, Rustom Baug, Albless Baug, Cama Baug, Godrej Company (find me a Parsi house and I will show you a Godrej steel cupboard in it), Colaba Agiary, Bombay House, piano recitals by Austrian pianists at the NCPA, Ripon Club.
Most of the Parsis I know are Bombay Parsis, the older ones born at Dr. Temulji's lying-in hospital for Parsi ladies, the younger ones delivered by Dr. Rusi Soonawala (Aapro Rusi). But there are also Delhi Parsis, Calcutta Parsis, Udwada Parsis, Toronto Parsis, one or two Mhow Parsis, Karachi Avaris, Minwallas, Sethna, etc. They are spread all over the world.
Whoever says that the Parsis are a dying community does not know what they are talking about. The Delhi Parsis are mainly Bombay Parsis now settled in Delhi, such as Soli Sorabjee and Fali Nariman. The Bombay Parsis themselves may be divided into further categories.
There are Colaba Parsis, Tardeo Parsis and Dadar Parsi Colony Parsis. The Colaba Parsis work in advertising agencies, act in Hosi Vasunia's (now with The Indian Express Newspapers) plays and have relations in Toronto. The Tardeo Parsis would like to be Colaba Parsis. The Dadar Parsi Colony Parsis are Dadar Parsi Colony Parsis.
Their language is Gujarati, with a generous mixture of English or English with a generous mixture of Gujarati. Some people say that they borrowed the language from the Gujaratis, others that the Gujaratis learnt it from them. I have not resolved that point yet. But the Parsis have certain Gujarati words that are exclusive to their language.
Putting aside the abuse words, I refer you to 'faregaat'. It is what a Parsi does when he returns home after a hard day at the office. He has a wash (Godrej or Tata soap), removes his clothes, and gets into a 'sadra' and 'lengha' and settles down in the easy chair with his legs stretched along its extended arms, sipping phudina tea. That is being 'faregaat', changing into sadra - lengha and relaxing. Say the words slowly and gently extend it:
'fare-gaaat'.
There are several other such words and phrases: kit-pit bandh ker, dahi na kar, doodh pau. Doodh pau is a somewhat goody-goody person, a bit of a sissy. I invite the members of the community to add to my collection. That takes care of the language, though most of them use English.
They are very fond of things English and particularly the English royalty, though that does not mean I am questioning their loyalty one bit. On that score they are unimpeachable. When I first visited London, a Parsi friend took me to see Buckingham Palace - from outside naturally, in those days they did not issue tickets to wander around the palace. We stood at the gates, he pointed at the palace, and said, "Aapri rani no mehel."
A lot of things are 'aapri' or 'aapro' or 'aapru'.
For instance: Apro Zubin Mehta, kevoo majehnu conduct karech.
Aapro Sam Maneckshaw.
Aapro Nani (Palkhivala), bahuj intelligent and bholo che.
Aapri Bachi Karkaria, soo lakhech, soo lakhech.
Aapro Dorabjee of Dorabjee's of Pune
Aapra Oliaji of Duke's Hotel, Devka
Aapri Princess Street ni Parsi Dairy Farm, bilkul pani nahi doodh ma, bilkul nahi.
Aapro Cyrus Broacha, ketlo comic che.
Aapro Adu (the late and lamented Adi Marzban).
Aapro Rusy (Karanjia), ehni toe soo pen.
Aapru Taj te Taj, choro Oberoi.
Every Parsi takes a proprietary interest in the Taj, in Baliwalla & Homi, Bombay's opticians since time began, and Air India when JRD Tata was the chairman. Even Rajiv Gandhi was aapro from his father's side. Aapro Rajiv aaje hote toe he would have ,,,,, (add your thought here).
On Parsi New Year, one of the 3 or 4 New Years they have in a year, in the morning, a couple of Nankhatai Bands will come over from Pydhonie to Cusrow Baug and with a great flurry play Sare Jehan Se Acha and Colonel Boogie's March in front of whichever flat (apartment) pays them. There will be prayers at the two major fire-temples at Dhobi Talao and vermicelli, Sev-kheer, and sweet curd with rose petals, marghi na farcha and dhan dal and kolmi patia at home.
And there will be drinks, the Parsi pegs. A Parsi peg is the largest peg in the world! You may measure it by your palm - it extends over 5 fingers. The Patiala peg is also 5 fingers, but in the Patiala peg the fingers are held together, in the Parsi peg they are spread out.
Chalo, Saheb, salamati lev.
-- Busybee
Life always poses two questions??
Enjoy!! Smile :)
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The dentist pulls out a numbing needle to give the man a shot. 'No way! No needles. I hate needles'. The patient said. The dentist starts to hook up the nitrous oxide and the man objects. 'I can't do the gas thing. The thought of having the gas mask on is The dentist then asks the patient if he has any objection to taking a pill. 'No objection,' the patient says. 'I'm fine with pills.' The dentist then returns and says, 'Here's a Viagra tablet.' The patient says, 'Wow! I didn't know Viagra worked as a pain killer!' It doesn't' said the dentist, 'but it's going to give you something to
suffocating me!'
hold on to when I pull your tooth.
The Turtles
A turtle family decided to go on a picnic. The turtles, being
naturally slow about things, took seven years to prepare for
their outing. Finally the turtle family left home looking
for a suitable place. During the second year of their
journey they found a place ideal for them at last!
For about six months they cleaned the area, unpacked the picnic
basket, and completed the arrangements. Then they discovered
they had forgotten the salt. A picnic without salt would be
a disaster, they all agreed. After a lengthy discussion, the
youngest turtle was chosen to retrieve the salt from home.
Although he was the fastest of the slow moving turtles, the
little turtle whined, cried, and wobbled in his shell. He
agreed to go on one condition: that no one would eat until
he returned. The family consented and the little turtle
left. Three years passed and the little turtle had not returned. Five
years...six years... then on the seventh year of his
absence, the oldest turtle could no longer contain his
hunger. He announced that he was going to eat and begun to
unwrap a sandwich. At that point the little
turtle suddenly popped out from behind a tree shouting,
'See! I knew you wouldn't wait. Now I am not going
to go get the salt.'
Some of us waste our time waiting for people to live up to our expectations. We are so concerned about what others are doing that we do not do anything ourselves.
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| Real funny joke after a long time....... to audit the books of a synagogue. While he was checking the books, he turned to the Rabbi and said, "I notice you buy a lot of candles. What do you do with the candle drippings?" "Good question," noted the Rabbi. "We save them up and send them back to the candle makers, and every now and then they send us a free box of candles." "Oh," replied the auditor, (somewhat disappointed that his unusual What do you do with the crumbs?" was trying to trap him with an unanswerable question. "We collect them and send them back to the manufacturers, and every now and then they send a free box of holy biscuits." "I see," replied the auditor, thinking hard about how he could fluster the know-it-all Rabbi. "Well, Rabbi," he went on, "what do you do with all the leftover "What we do is save up all the foreskins and send them to the Tax Office, and once a year they send us a complete prick" | |||
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