Greater Community Engagement Needed With Our Luminaries

Dear Readers,

We often find ourselves participating in discussions which lament how our community today simply can’t compare with the greatness and the glory of our illustrious forefathers… that our predecessors were a different breed altogether when it came to their values, principals, dedication and achievements… that they were success-oriented as opposed to today’s reward-oriented mindset. One would not be wrong in believing that an unfortunate sense of entitlement and indolence, instead of gratitude and motivation, seems to have surreptitiously clawed its way into many, who have been enjoying innumerable benefits, by virtue of simply being born a Parsi/Irani Zoroastrian in India. 

We feel a dearth of dynamic role models and youth icons in the community, who can inspire and instigate the much-needed conversion, from the typical ‘full-bellied-Parsi’ to the ‘fire-in-the-belly-Parsi’. Truth is, we aren’t really short of trendsetters and luminaries in our community. Across the world, Parsis continue to keep the torch of our glorious legacy brilliantly ablaze with their achievements and contributions even today. 

What’s missing, however, is an effective community engagement program that connects our inspirational, real-life achievers and heroes of today with the rest of the community – a platform where the community can regularly get to interact with our trailblazers, soak in their wisdom, get guidance from them, and walk the path of the precedent they set.

Being able to engage with our high-fliers in real time, albeit virtually, would go a long way in being a game changer, especially for the youth of the community which looks up to them. And while inspiration is not the reserve of community-exclusivity, there is no denying the added impact that the sense of familiarity and belonging can have, when the roots are common. An increasing number of social media platforms – be it newer ones like Clubhouse or the old, faithful Facebook – have been growing in number and significance as these facilitate the most crucial need of the hour – connecting people, and combatting the isolating impact of the pandemic. 

The paradox of the pandemic is that while it’s kept us away from each other in person via social distancing, its birthed and bridged the virtual distance via social media platforms. In fact, even as things start to open-up and people are allowed to congregate in limited numbers, many have chosen, on a professional level, to continue working the online format, in keeping with the benefits of saving time, effort and fuel. 

As virtual meetings now constitute a large part of the new normal that all of us have been adapting to, community engagement with Parsi achievers worldwide becomes that much more of a possibility. While Parsi Times will continue to celebrate the achievements of our community members across the world and keep us connected, we hope that institutions and individuals who are favourably placed and inclined towards community service, will work towards enabling greater community engagement with our luminaries, and thus provide the proverbial push to catapult the rest of us towards realising our Parsi potential for greatness.

Have a good weekend!

– Anahita