CommUNITY Call!

Dear Readers,

It was a collective and easy decision when it came to determining the theme of our Jamshedji Navroz Special issue this year. Unity. Because that is the need of the hour in our community. Unity. Because that is the only real premise of any successful solution. Unity. Because we are respected as a community that is wise, and “Wisdom is nothing but a preparation of the soul, a capacity, a secret art of thinking, feeling and breathing thoughts of UNITY at every moment of life,” in the words of the famous Swiss poet, author and philosopher, Hermann Hesse.

Parsi Times is delighted to present you our Jamshedi Navroz Special issue with insightful articles celebrating, understanding, relating and coaxing Unity amongst our readers and the community at large. With the challenge of our dwindling numbers that we face today as a community, we will not survive the impending extinction if we don’t wake up now and embrace unity in its truest essence, all differences notwithstanding. The time has come to put all else aside and focus on finding effective solutions to this issue. For that, we need to unite, and we need to unite now. The signs have been all around us all this time, but perhaps we’ve been too preoccupied with our mental myopias to notice – what bigger allusion than our very own religion, which is itself based on the united precincts of good thoughts, good words and good deeds? By all means, let us hold our contradicting opinions and beliefs close to our hearts, but let us ensure to hold our sense of unity even closer, and uphold it as a second-to-none priority.

I’m pleased to share that Parsi Times, in keeping with our promise of providing the proverbial push in areas which once glorified our community, has achieved much success for driving its supportive efforts towards promoting entrepreneurship and causes related to the betterment of our youth. In the same vein, it delights me to inform you that Parsi Times is set to support and promote yet another cause, the erstwhile Parsi bastion, Western Classical Music – by partnering with the efforts of NCPA’s dynamic Chairman, the highly accomplished and dynamic visionary in this field, Mr. Khushroo Suntook – in the form of a monthly column aiming to rekindle the interest, passion and participation for this musical genre. And it’s yet another feather in the PT cap to media partner with the oncoming World Zoroastrian Congress, which takes place next year in Perth. You will find the details of all these wonderful events, in addition to a lot of other exciting and interesting articles, in this issue.

On behalf of Parsi Times, I express my heart-felt gratitude, firstly to all our readers for your constant encouragement and participation, and urge you to continue writing in to us with your suggestions and feedback; I thank our advertisers for their sustained faith in us, and PT’s talented columnists and writers, for keeping our readers informed and entertained. I’d like to send a special shout-out thanking one of our foremost contributors, Noshir Dadrawala, who never ceases to amaze with his boundless acumen of Zoroastrian history, religion and culture; for being unconditionally and immensely helpful in elevating the content quotient for Parsi Times with his timely and insightful literature. And lastly, I thank the particularly encouraging Parsi Times Multimedia machinery for its steadfast support and its ethical, non-intrusive and unbiased leadership.

Not many may be aware that March 20th also heralds the ‘International Day of Happiness’ – founded five years ago, by a Resolution passed by the UN, recognising the pursuit of happiness as a human right and a ‘fundamental human goal’! So here’s to your happiness! And here’s to unity! And here’s to realising that happiness can only be found where there is unity – in the mind and body, in nature all around us, in the basis of the world’s oldest and greatest religion, and in our beloved, precious community!

Jamshedi Navroz Mubarak to all from Team Parsi Times!

 

– Anahita