To Zoroastrians, with Love

Most of my friends, teachers and colleagues have been Zoroastrians and I have had the privilege, at times, to have been the only non-Zoroastrian at a dinner. Their food and culture has been an integral part of my life. In India, Zoroastrianism is a closed-door religion. You cannot convert and Zoroastrian women are excommunicated if they marry outside their religion. It's one of the reasons why the population of Zoroastrians in India have dwindled over the decades. Non-Zoroastrians are strictly not allowed to enter any of their places of worship in the country. This is to honour a vow given to the king of Gujarat who gave them sanctuary when they fled Persia in the 7th century AD.

In Iran, in spite of centuries of persecution under Islamic regimes, the religion is more open-door and you can enter their places of worship (or find some videos on YouTube) and you discover the rituals are not very different from most Eastern religions. Fire is sacred and pure. Incense is burnt. There's chanting. The priests wear white and stand out from the rest. The women cover their heads.

While we can debate forever about what came first and who had more followers than whom, isn't it amazing that somehow, irrespective of which part of the world they were in, people, through centuries have devised very similar techniques and rituals to offer prayers and even made the same tools for worship? That, I think is the triumph of humankind.