For most of us, Sunday mornings are meant for waking up at a leisurely pace. But this Sunday morning, a very unusual sight would have caught most Delhiites by surprise if they had ventured out to the India International Centre.
A community of Parsis from across India and Supreme Court lawyers in Delhi had flocked to attend a book launch hosted by Justice Rohinton Nariman.
You would also have spotted Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, former External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, Abhishek Manu Singhvi and many eminent personalities of the legal fraternity attending Justice Rohinton Nariman’s book launch.
While welcoming the Chief Justice of India and other dignitaries, Mrs Sanaya Nariman, the wife of Justice RohintonNariman, shared some interesting insights about India’s “tiny” Parsi community.
For instance, would you have known that there are 60,000 Parsis in Mumbai and only 750 Parsis in Delhi and 600 in Bengaluru?
And there’s the often-asked question about the Parsi community in India – What makes them the best at whatever they do?
Mrs. Sanaya Nariman blends in logic and humor in her response as she stated, “The Parsis of India are a tiny community but 1) we are a very hard working community – and of course, 2) we are eccentric too.”
The second part about “eccentric” drew laughter from the dais including the Chief Justice of India and the audience, who were mostly Parsis.
In her welcome note, Mrs. Nariman threw light on what makes the Parsis of India a very distinguished and highly respected community in Indian society.
She stated, “The Parsis have always been an 3) outrageously open community in their thinking and actions – which is why you all saw the Tata-Mistry fighting very openly.”
On a more serious note, Mrs. Nariman stated, “How and why did the Parsis flourish the way they did in India and become a community of high achievers? Because of 4) our culture and 5) our faith in our prophet – which forms the kernel of the Gathas that Rohinton Nariman has translated in his book.”
Justice Rohinton Nariman’s book launch was graced by a holy priest who blessed the gathering by chanting holy prayers from the Zoroastrian religion and it was inaugurated by the Chief Justice of India TS Thakur.
