Pictorial record
By Ajit Duara | The Hindu | January 02, 2005

`What Sooni Taraporevala's book essentially succeeds in doing is bring forth the Parsi character to non-Parsi eyes.'

SOONI TARAPOREVALA'S book of photographs, Parsis, the Zoroastrians of India, is particularly well timed. The Census report, outlining the decline in numbers of Parsis, has disturbed the community and regenerated an old debate about the need to relax rules on Parsis marrying outside their religion and to allow conversion to the Zoroastrian faith. Any ethnic group below the 30,000 count is termed a "tribe", not a community, and at the present rate of decline it is estimated that Parsis will reach that nadir in 2020.

Accomplished photographer

Sooni Taraporevala is best known as a scriptwriter ("Salaam Bombay", "Mississippi Masala", "Such a Long Journey" and "Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar") but the book clearly indicates that she is an accomplished photographer as well. Parsis at prayer, at work, at home, at play and on their last journey to "The Tower of Silence" — these are portraits of a vibrant, if somewhat eccentric community. She took the pictures between 1980 and 2004, and to accompany the photographs has written a very witty and informative text. She explains how Parsis marry late, have few children and are sticky about marriages to non-Parsis — "When there are only two Parsis left in the world, they'll be sitting there and arguing about whether or not to allow conversion."

The most arresting part of this photographic journey are the pictures of the famous Parsis — industrialists JRD and Ratan Tata, conductor Zubin Mehta ("apro" Zubin) Field Marshall Sam Maneckshaw, painter Jehangir Sabavala. The sheer number of Parsi achievers contained in such a miniscule fraction of the Indian population is truly amazing and recalls what Mahatma Gandhi is reported to have said about Parsis — "In numbers they are beneath contempt, but in contribution, beyond compare."

However, the single reservation one has about Taraporevala's book of photographs is that sometimes it tends to look like a family album. We see pictures of her own grandparents, parents, children and even her husband. Yes, Parsis are a small, closely-related community — but that small?

Because Parsis, who trace their origins to Persian aristocracy, are so striking to look at — fine sharp features with expressive eyes — and because the character of Mumbai city, in business, architecture and culture, is so defined by this remarkable people, the book by Taraporevala is important. It is a pictorial record of faces, rituals, customs and personalities that in a hundred years from now may appear only as a faint memory.

Particularly entertaining is a chapter on the ubiquitous Irani restaurants of Mumbai. There is a photo of Rashid Irani, film critic of the Times of India, sitting behind the counter of his Irani restaurant, The Brabourne, named after Lord Brabourne, Governor of Bombay in British India. Taraporevala humorously titles this story "The double life of Rashid Irani", a reference to Polish film director Krzysztof Kieslowski's film, "The Double Life of Veronique".

The `mad' Bawaji

The Iranians came to India in a second wave of Zoroastrian migration and started the restaurants at the turn of the century (the Parsis sailed to India in 936 A.D.). They serve delicious non-vegetarian food at reasonable prices, but unfortunately some have started to shut down or to go up market and have changed their decor and menu. There is a lovely photograph of The Brabourne with mirror panels on the wall depicting both Zarathustra and Christ — the clientele was secular, Parsi and Catholic.

What Sooni Taraporevala's book of photographs essentially succeeds in doing is bring forth the Parsi character to non-Parsi eyes. The "mad Bawaji" image can never be erased from our collective memory, its entertainment value is too precious, but what is added is colour and personality. This makes the book a very fine read.

Parsis, The Zoroastrians of India — A Photographic Journey, Sooni Taraporevala, Good Books, 2004, p.252, Rs. 2150.