Dear all,

Many thanks for those of you who came to today’s (5/2/10) interactive seminar on Zoroastrianism!

As I had mentioned in my presentation, all of us have an important choice to make: whether to actively work to preserve preserve our culture, history, and heritage, both Parsi and Iranian Zoroastrian;
or, through our inaction and apathy, let them disappear and disintegrate further.

For those of us who are Parsi, the UNESCO-sponsored Parsi-Zoroastrian (Parzor) Project — run in Delhi by Dr. Shernaz Cama — is a great resource that needs our support. I have done a little work with Dr. Cama and Parzor in the past. You can learn more about the project through their website:

http://www.unescoparzor.com/

The website contains information on some of their current projects, such as restoring manuscripts and books at the Meherjirana Library in Navsari and reviving the art of Parsi embroidery.

Click on “Contact Us” to learn more about how to make a donation.

If you have an heirloom item that is of significant importance to the community, I suggest that you contact Parzor so that it can be documented and recorded.

The Meherjirana Library in Navsari has recently put up a website:

http://www.meherjiranalibrary.com/home

The website, incidentally, was created by Dan Sheffield who is here at Harvard University. He spent some months researching at the Meherjirana Library in 2008.

In addition, KR Cama Oriental Institute in Bombay has also put up a website:

http://www.krcamaorientalinstitute.org/

Since our community is so small, all of us have a very important stake and role to play in keeping our unique traditions and heritage alive.

Please make sure to do your part!

Best regards,

Dinyar

—
Dinyar Patel
Ph.D. Candidate, Modern South Asia
Department of History
Harvard University
+1 (650) 796-2486