Kerala - Kozhikode   

Lone family keeps Parsi torch burning

Kozhikode: This ancient commercial city on the State’s coast once played host to a flourishing Parsi community, but all that remains now is a lone family struggling to keep the community’s legacy alive.

The city earned a lasting name in modern history with Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama landing at nearby Kappad in 1498, heralding the era of Western colonisation of the Indian sub-continent.

A bubbling commercial centre, the city also attracted members of the Parsi community, who came to set up their business and settled down in the amiable social milieu, where Hindus and Muslims had lived in harmony for centuries.

Headquarters of the Malabar district of the Madras Province under British rule, the city had at one point of time as many as 300 members of the community who had come here in search of business opportunities since the 19th century.

But now, most families have migrated to other cities across the country in search of better prospects. “Now we have more dead than alive here. The community graveyard at Sweet Meat Street in the heart of the city is the final resting place for 180 members of the community,” Darius Marshall, head of the lone Parsi family here, said.

The ‘Anjumen’ complex, comprising a shrine and a dining hall that can accommodate 100 people and a well-kept garden, has been declared a heritage site under the Indian National Trust for Art and Heritage.

Most community members have left Kerala for cities such as Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai, seeking greener pastures, leaving 76-year-old Marshall to take care of ‘Anjumen’ and other establishments set up by the community.

“We could not employ a priest for the past 35 years as no one from the younger generation is ready to preach religion or perform religious duties on a permanent basis,” he said.

Marshall’s father came from Bharuch in Gujarat and his mother hailed from Karachi. The family set up their business here in 1920, comprising an oil mill, timber trade and a coir unit.

“Ever since we came here, our family has got along well with other communities, who gave us respect, love and affection. But we always found it difficult in getting partners for our children from our community. Even my father had to spend quite some time to find a suitable match for me before I married Kathi from Hyderabad in 1966,” he said. An automobile engineer and running a busy car workshop in the city, Marshall and his wife stay with their two sons and daughters-in-law. Describing himself as “doctor of cars,” Marshall is associated with several socio-cultural forums and known among fellow townsmen as ‘Vellayil Nawab,’ Vellayil being the place where his house and workshop are located.

Born and brought up in Kozhikode, Marshall is well-versed in Malayalam, which helps him mingle with the local community, though his wife is still not fluent enough in the local tongue.

“We do a lot of charity work out of the rent revenue from buildings in the city owned by the family,” he said.

Parsis, who follow the ideals preached by Zoraster 2,500 years ago in Iran, fled their homeland suffering religious persecution and settled down mostly on the west coast of India where they flourished by hard work and dedication. “I have virtually become the custodian of the graveyard and the lofty thoughts of our forefathers resting in the concrete columns. This prevents my family from thinking of moving out of this great city, though many suggest that we shift to some other city where the members our community are in larger numbers,” Marshall said. — PTI

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