I CAN SAFELY—and with some amount of pride— say that I belong to one of India’s most emancipated and socio-economically advanced communities. As a Parsi, especially one born and bred in South Bombay (most Indian Parsis live in Bombay, and most Bombay Parsis live in its southern areas), it is near guaranteed that I will receive at least a college education, be expected to have a career, marry if and when I wish, and choose whether or not to have children. These, and the many other liberties the women of my community take as a matter of course, are but a distant dream for millions of our countrywomen. We have the advantages of a vast network of philanthropic wealth and prime property holdings via a historical edge in the city of Bombay. Usually free to choose their destinies, plenty of Parsi women stay single or divorce their spouses without having to bear the brunt of crippling social stigma. But you knew there was a ‘but’ coming up somewhere, didn’t you?

If JRD Tata, Zubin Mehta or the boy who lives down my lane chooses to enter into matrimony with a woman not Zoroastrian* by birth, a Parsi priest will bless his wedding, his children will be accepted as members of the faith, and he can continue to stroll into fire temples and partake of every ceremony he has witnessed since birth. If Mehr Jesia, Pheroza Godrej or I choose to enter into matrimony with a man not Zoroastrian by birth (and there is no other kind, as far as the community’s beliefs are concerned), Parsi priests are debarred from performing our nuptial ceremonies, our children aren’t considered part of the community or religion, and we can never visit a fire temple or participate in religious rituals again. [Read More]