Too far did I fly into the future: a horror seized upon me.
Nietzsche in Thus Spoke Zarathustra.

We call our fathers fools, so wise we grow,
Our wiser sons will no doubt call us so.
Alexander Pope in An essay on Criticism.

Once upon a time, Mother Earth was in trouble. She asked Ahura Mazda (God) if he would send her a prince, with warriors, to stop the people from hurting her, using force. But Ahura Mazda said he could not. Instead he would send Her a holy man, to stop the people from hurting her, using words and inspirational ideas. And thus was born the prophet, Zarathustra.
Zoroastrian legend

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PART 1

What better than returning to the roots of civilization to raise awareness about the dangers facing humanity today? This is particularly the case when the cultural group in question – the Zoroastrians –are thought to have disappeared long ago by most people, included the educated ones. However, the followers of Zarathustra are not mere fire worshipers of the past. They are the believers in an avant-gardist religion, born more than 3000 years ago, that promulgated care for the elements and the Earth and the protection of the environment as their first, if not their primary principles. More importantly: they still represent a vibrant– though threatened – community, and need being heard, at a time when climate change has become the final outcry of a deeper, multifaceted global environmental crisis.
I met them in Karachi, a megacity in the south of Pakistan, which in many ways concentrates all the ailments of the above-mentioned crisis: pollution, water scarcity, lack of urban planning, demographic crisis and disrespect for all living things.

My first encounter was with Ardeshi Cowasjee who is 82 years old, and one of the most prominent journalists in his country. He humbly welcomed me at his home. He was delighted to show me his magnificent garden, adorned with a 150 year old banyan. His three dogs came to greet me in all confidence. Ardeshi would under no circumstances leave Karachi, the town where he was born. It has tremendously changed for the past thirty years, but he still loves it as much as ever. Soona Dhatigra, an 88-year-old woman interviewed by Parsikhabar online magazine, somehow sounded more nostalgic. She said that Karachi used to be a clean and good city to live in: “There was no overflowing sewage or noise pollution”. She still remembered the glorious times of Jamshed Nusserwanjee Mehta, one of Karachi’s most distinguished and beloved icons. Mehta had the unique distinction of being elected the Mayor of Karachi for twelve consecutive years in the 1930s and is fondly remembered as the “Maker of Modern Karachi”. He was one of the rare Zoroastrians ever to hold this position. Meher, another Zoroastrian who I personally met at her home, remembered from her childhood that the streets of Karachi used to be washed every night. Now it has deteriorated. Trees are cut down. Parks are taken over by rubbish. When it rains, life comes to a standstill. There used to be trams but now mafias control the entire traffic network.

The good old system ended with the partition of the subcontinent in August 1947 and the creation of Pakistan, when the population of Karachi stood at some 450,000. “An almost immediate influx of some 600,000 refugees from across the border brought up the population to just over a million and thus began the degeneration, with a steady flow into the city of the horde. For a city to more than double its population almost overnight did not bode for happy, orderly or progressive times”, as Ardeshi narrates.
The Zoroastrian community of Karachi, known as Parsis (since their ascendants came from ancient Persia), has since then drastically dwindled. Toxy, a Parsi social worker and editor for the World Zoroastrian Organization, holds a register to keep track of population figures. By April 2009, she recorded 1822 Parsis in Pakistan, of which 1741 live in Karachi. Since then many have passed away. Other people estimate that the actual population has already fallen down to 1200. This trend also reflects what is happening in neighbouring India, where according to the 2001 Indian census, the Parsis numbered 69,601, representing about 0.006% of the total population. Due to a low birth rate and high rate of emigration, demographic trends project that by 2020 the Parsis will number only about 23,000 or 0.002% of the total population of India. They would then cease to be called a community, and be labelled a “tribe”. By 2008, the birth-to-death ratio was 1:5, i.e. 200 births per year to 1,000 deaths according to the information collected by Andrew Buncombe, a journalist at The Independant. According to Toxy, such projections are too optimistic. She insists that many voices in the community are warning of the day, not far off, when the community will disappear. However, faithful adherents express their confidence that this will never be so. Others are awaiting the appearance of the messiah Bahram Varjavand to see the community thrive again.

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