Dead Men's Rites

The 55,000 Parsis of Mumbai, like the rest of the world, have no contest with the fact that we all have to go one day. But there is a difference of opinion on how exactly they want to go. It's an argument that has been simmering for sometime, but has suddenly reached a flashpoint, dividing the minuscule community asymmetrically into minority "reformists" and the orthodox. While the reformists lament the universal phenomenon of orthodoxy's resistance to change, the sticklers of scripture accuse modern rebels of having "sinister designs".

The Parsi tradition provides for a system of disposal of the dead that is called the Dokhmenashini. It requires that a cadaver be kept in large open wells or Dakhmas, in the confines of what is called the Tower of Silence. The body is exposed to sunlight and left to be consumed by birds of prey—vultures being the most agreeable in the community perception. But the drastic decline of the vulture population over the year, feels a section of the Parsis, has caused bodies to putrefy in Doongerwadi—the commodious environs of the Tower of Silence—near upscale Malabar Hill in south Mumbai. Emotionally and socially charged by images of their beloved lying in such a state for many days, some eminent Parsis have become part of the Disposal of the Dead with Dignity-Action Group (dddag). Their demand is that Parsis be allowed the right to dispose their dead through alternate modes, like cremation. They also believe that Dokhmenashini is primitive and barbaric, especially since a spate of high-profile Parsi cremations in Mumbai. The eminent journalist and editor of Afternoon Despatch and Courier, Behram Contractor, for example, left specific instructions with his family that his body not be disposed of at the Tower of Silence.

There's no disputing the fact that nothing stops the dead from going the way they want to. What has become a cause of dispute is that the clergy deems alternate modes of disposal unethical, especially when Mumbai has a Tower of Silence. Ergo, heretic mourners should not have the right to say the final prayers in Doongerwadi. Zoroastrians believe that death is the triumph of evil and the deceased body is contaminated by something they call nasu, which generates itself in the corpse. Alternate modes of disposal, they feel, defile sacred elements like fire, earth and water. However, a few days ago, the trust that governs the Doongerwadi—the Bombay Parsi Panchayat (bpp), which is independent of the clergy—passed a 6:1 resolution permitting the mourners of those who have been cremated to say the final prayers in Doongerwadi. By this pronouncement, they broke a 350-year-old tradition barring such prayers. However, following an outcry spearheaded by the community's eight high priests, the bpp put its decision on hold last week. The clergy has also interpreted the dddag's demand for a crematorium to be built inside Doongerwadi so that cremations and prayers can happen within its holy environs as a desire "to have the cake and eat it too".

The reformists chiefly comprise educated, wealthy and influential Parsis. By one estimate, they constitute less than 10 per cent of Mumbai's Parsis. The other camp is chiefly middle class and poor. Says Firoze Kotwal, a high priest of the Parsi community: "I don't agree with the term 'reformists'. They are just a bunch of people who are pushing this cause for their own selfish reasons." Others in the community allege that the reformers' demands are rooted in more earthly matters.Says the highly-respected community scholar Khojestee Mistree: "In my personal opinion, the rich and prominent Parsis who are singing the tune of modernity may not have any high moral ground. I suspect that a handful of realtors have a 15-year plan in mind. If Dokhmenashini could be proved ineffective, the enormous land in the heart of the city can slowly be taken away for building purposes."

The 55-acre Doongerwadi in plush south Mumbai is a mini forest that is worth about Rs 700 crore at current prices. According to one orthodox scholar, land-grabbing within the Parsi community is nothing new. A big Parsi corporate group had acquired some land held by the Parsi trust near Kambala Hill for almost nothing. "First they said they were going to build a housing colony for Parsis, but when it was done, not many Parsis could afford it. So they approached the trustees and told them that since the Parsis didn't want the flats, they would sell them to non-Parsis. The flats went for Rs 14,000 per sq ft."

Jehangir Patel, editor of monthly magazine Parsiana, however, rubbishes this theory. Says he: "The system of Dakhma is not working and so we have to look at alternatives. We cannot let bodies lie in a bad condition for days." However, Mistree, who himself is looking at ways to increase the vulture population, refuses to believe that Dokhmenashini has failed. "There is a disproportionate number of crows and kites. The scriptures do not say that only vultures should consume the body."

In agreement with him, politician and orthodox sympathiser Rustom Tirandaz says that three to five bodies go into the Tower of Silence every day. "That means some 200 kg of human bodies go in. Of this 120 kg will be flesh and the rest bones. If the system were not working, wouldn't the stench drive away the people from the neighbouring Malabar Hill area?"

Prominent doctors associated with the dddag—like Dr Rusi Soonawala and Farokh Udwadia—insist that Dokhmenashini is a health hazard, a claim the orthodoxy maintains is nothing more than a "ruse to get their way". Even though the who had after the Gujarat earthquake (as it happens after most major disasters), issued a statement saying it's a misconception that decaying cadavers could cause an epidemic. It even has a historic precedent. Following the plague in Bombay in the late 19th century, some 2,500 bodies had been placed in the Dakhma. There were so many bodies that the well was overflowing with them and a new one had to be built. Yet, the British authorities at that time had confirmed that no disease came from the wells.

Orthodox spokespersons maintain that a small elite group of Parsis are pursuing this issue because they were "snobs". Earlier, as a compromise, the dddag was granted some land near a crematorium in the Princess Street to say the final prayers. But it was rejected because it was "too shabby". Confirms former municipal commissioner of Mumbai and champion of the liberals, Jamsheed Kanga: "It was a very squalid place. Why should we opt for such a place when the Doongerwadi is the property of all Parsis and not just a handful of the clergy?" A pamphlet doing the rounds says the elite reformists want an upmarket place where "their fancy friends can come for their funerals". Satirising the rich liberals' demand for a holy venue with parking space, the pamphlet adds, for good measure, "shouldn't their concern be whether their souls can be parked in heaven?" As for Mistree, he describes this mentality of the liberals as "secularism gone wrong.How can I convince them? They don't believe in hell."

According to the scriptures, without Dokhmenashini, the soul of the dead and their living would be traumatised, a risk some Parsis are increasingly willing to take. But they are particular about saying the final prayers the right way. After death, the soul has to cross the mythical chinvat bridge which lies between the two worlds. The prayers help widen the bridge and make the passage through it easier. Alternatively, the bridge narrows and the soul falls into the abyss. That's why the bereaved pay up to Rs 15,000, instead of the customary Rs 500, to "renegade" priests who are willing to perform the final rites for the cremation bound.

With 55,000 of the total 130,000 Parsis in the world, Mumbai is inevitably the nerve-centre of all that concerns Zoroastrians. And as the deadlock continues, the lawyers in the community are making themselves heard. Says Mistree: "Attorney-general Soli Sorabjee too has sent in his unresearched views on this issue favouring alternate modes of disposal." Though both sides look at it as the last option, they don't rule out going to the court. And in India, that's the real peep into eternity.