The Fascination with Ancestors

 Time is a healer and even as we feel that the associations of the moment are very important and vital, it is indeed surprising how memories fade with time. Yet all religious traditions have a fascination bordering on obsession to preserve the memory of past associations especially the immediate family who have left us. We all imagine that these persons are existing in some other world in the nearly same state as we imagine them to be. The physical form, the emotional tug and their inbuilt presence in me as a person makes this a fertile ground for imagination.

As I personally reach an age of 64, I am increasingly conscious of old age and the memories of much of my life are rewinding like an old movie. As we go through this week before the Parsi new year prayers are on in the fire temples. The sentiment and faith rooted in belief that our ancestors somehow come back to visit us on earth in this week and we need to use some rituals and prayers which can be recited only by part time priests leads to an annual crowd of relatives thronging to the agiaries of the city of Mumbai. Silver consecrated vases with flowers and light and fragrance create a spectacle. 

These days are not days of grief but days of joy followed by the last day of the year Pateti where one makes a prayer of repentance or contrition and ensures that we remember our ancestors and take inspiration from their lives. 

Unfortunately, as with all good things there are some bad things happening too and part time priests literally spring out from the woodwork and take this as an opportunity to cash in on the religious fervour of these 10 days. Throughout the year apathy and inertia prevent many of us from visiting the agiaries. The priests pray half heartedly, fruits provided are varied and the centralized supply of the daran malido and dal ni pori have robbed this ritual of the spontaneity and variety seen in the past. Having said this I do believe that with time we will do this in a more meaningful way by praying at home and with less flowers and burning of firewood as a mark of respect to the environment which Parsis hold dear. 

Veneration of the dead has taken many forms and while in the past some cultures tried to mummify the physical bodies and preserve them, others created burial stones, tombs and mausoleums in memory of the departed. Prayers, sacrifices, and offerings of food, flowers etc. became something which was a substitute to compensate the absence of loved ones. This is especially more true for us older folks who now as they come closer to the realisation of their own date with death feel the connect with the ancestors. The unknown and unknowable creates at best a fascination and at worst an obsession for the dead. 

Personally, I do reflect on and remember my ancestors especially their enduring qualities and the good and bad times spent with them. But, the cacophony of collective jashans and prayers and commercialization of Muktads with the carbon foot print of this ritual makes me call for a simplification of this to keep up with the times.  

Vispi Jokhi