A Time To Rise And Shine…

Dear Readers,

It’s not just the population in our community that’s been on the decline…

From being bequeathed a legacy of nation building, to having reduced ourselves to bickering over free-housing, we’ve descended much…

From being known for our sense of humility, grace and gratitude, we have fallen prey to toxic entitlement, which is engulfing the very essence of what being Parsi stood for – industriousness, self-reliance and charity.

The accomplishments of our forefathers across all areas – business, medicine, military, law, science, et al – shone so bright, it lit the pathway to prosperity for generations to come. That shine was meant to serve as a guiding light to lead us into furthering that legacy of greatness. But instead of growing into visionaries like them, we grew blind… to our responsibility of perpetuating that excellence.

The erstwhile sheen of enthusiasm for community welfare is now dulled by a growing sense of apathy, and worse, self-fulfillment. Instead of embracing our obligations and delivering on the promise of being true Parsis, we embraced mediocrity, and have since, for the most part, become cozy in this cesspool of small-minded myopia.

Now, I get that no one really wants to be given a dose of such reality at the start of a weekend, but it’s already getting too late. Given, there are a good number of individuals who continue to make the community and the nation proud – and kudos to them all, but these are few and far between. I’m hoping to reach out to the rest of the majority, however small… we need to be woken up from our lethargic stupor, which eats away at our potential.

We need to think beyond just our own bank accounts and just our homes and just our wellbeing. We need to spare more than just a thought towards the betterment of our community. We need to ask ourselves and answer truly, what have we done for our community lately? How often do we really think about the challenges that the community faces? And more importantly, when was the last time we did more than simply faff about being part of the solution? If being born Parsi gives you the right to pile on the expectations, how have we delivered on the responsibilities that came along with those rights?

As a community, we need to do more than simply elect leaders and complain ad nauseum about their inefficiencies and our privileges. We need to work towards being self-reliant – as individuals and as a community. We need to take the effort to keep ourselves informed of the ongoings in the community and actively participate – in all capacities, be it professionals, home-makers, youth and seniors – towards restoring it to its former glory, that we were bequeathed. It’s time to rise and shine… again.

Have a good weekend!

– Anahita