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What do we Parsis talk about when we get together? Almost always, ourselves! Parsis are known as among the most garrulous and gregarious people around and, like most Indian, or perhaps even more so than most Indians, we talk twenty to the dozen. Not that we're noisy or disruptive, although even that is possible when a group gets together to discuss something controversial - which is more the norm these days. Creating controversies and polarizing ourselves into extreme, intractable positions has been perfected into an art form finer than 'gara' embroidery! Still, nobody can beat us when it comes to just getting together and having a good time with the spirits in full flow, tucking into a meal with 'guppa suppa' as the perfect seasoning on the side. So, what do Parsis talk about? Gujaratis talk about the stock market, at least, all the men seem to while their wives talk about the new recipes they've invented in their fragrant kitchens (it's our belief that Gujarati housewives are the world's best cooks). Sindhis talk about money and how so-and-so has made so much, generally in awe of the biggest scamster of the moment! Bengalis talk about intellectual things. Punjabis tell boisterous and bawdy jokes and generally laugh a lot - happy people! The South Indians (although there are far too many segregations like the Tamilians/Keralites/Andhraites and so on to be lumped into one generic category), tend to talk about more serious things like mythology and sociology. Up North (Delhi, Bihar, UP) they talk about corruption, as though it were a badge of honour, and each other's criminal records! That brings us to the Parsis. What do we talk about when we get together? Basically, it's about ourselves! We're not interested in politics, unless it is our own; religion, unless it is our own; or the affairs of the world at large, unless they are our own! You see, the peculiarities of our preoccupations are quite unique - just like we are. So, the conversation is very specialized and specific and unless you are a Parsi you may wonder what the 'garbar' is all about! There are, of course, various categories to contend with where conversations and conversationalists go. The well-heeled are very propah with their Queen's English and genteel prose, all clipped and crisp and quoting Keats, Milton and the good old Bard. Even arguments are prefaced by "I beg your pardon" or "If you will permit me to point out". Such Parsis, generally of a more mature vintage, have very refined tastes. They love to tell and retell personal anecdotes with aplomb. It's fascinating to sit and talk to them, unless, of course, you're being told tales for the nth time, which is almost always the case! They are fond of reminiscing upon their stay in England during the World War, or how they grew up with Zubin Mehta (and how his late father, Mehli, was a worthier talent), or the time they met JRD and what a charming man he was! The ladies of this la-di-dah layer are none the less refined. They talk of Cordon Blue cooking and the Time and Talents Club, of which they are invariably members, or of the emeralds they have inherited from a grand aunt who just passed away, aged 99, with no children of her own. They spend hours discussing the recent SOI concerts at the Jamshed Bhabha Auditorium, and how the service at the Willingdon is deteriorating. Then there is the bulk of the community, of more modest means and an earthier approach to living. These are folk who stay in Parsi colonies, where grown men play football and grown women wear frocks! Here, the men talk about typical guy things in large groups late into the evening: babes, bikes, and how to have fun and live it up. The language is risqué and raunchy, and your ears might ring, as the expletives sting, when you happen to walk past. The women, generally, work much harder as they scurry between their day jobs and their household chores, late into the evening, and the kids' homework thereafter. But, it isn't as though they are starved for conversation! There's a whole gamut of girl talk all the way from mother-in-law woes, to how much they hate cooking and how their husbands and children won't eat vegetables, to what the latest colony gossip is. Basically, it's a small world and, if you belong, you speak the lingo and know your lines! Broadly, this falls into the three following classifications:
Also, there are three categories of Parsis: 1. Those who choose not to know how to speak in Gujarati and are too lofty to twist their terribly Anglicised tongues into our 'native' dialect. 2. Those who know it but won't speak for fear of not appearing sophisticated or secular. 3. And, finally, those who know and speak our peculiar brand of Parsi Gujarati with everyone from Naju the neighbour to Manju the maid, and everybody else, whether or not they understand it, although, surprisingly, they seem to! Well, at the end of the day, it's only words… Any which way, have a lovely Navroze! |
