Mumbai: Jiyo Parsi workshop aims at preserving the priesthood

Hormuzd Dadachandji and son Khushroo Makihatana parttime mobed at Rustom Faramna Agiary DadarNo money and no life seems to be sending the citys mobeds as Zoroastrians priests are better known hurtling towards extinction Desperate to arrest the shrinking numbers by giving mobeds a much larger role in the community the Jiyo Parsi programme has organised a firstofitskind workshop at Masina Hospital Byculla next week Here veteran psychiatrists will train the priests in counselling and grievance redressal to help make them more approachable to the laity The workshop will also help identify the next generation of priestsBinaifer Sahukar counsellor and voluntary workshop consultant with Jiyo Parsi right Hormuzd Dadachandji priest at Mithaiwala Agiary in Grant RoadYoung people no longer want to practise this as a fulltime profession says Khushroo Makihatana a parttime mobed at Dadars Rustom Faramna Agiary for the past eight years He believes there are too many serious sacrifices involved in the traditional path from father to son of priesthood The remuneration is poor and there is no social life One cant even buy a house in spite of being of service to god says the 37yearold MakihatanaA giant stepThe programme is called Jiyo Parsi Jiyo Mobed said 47yearold Binaifer Sahukar a counsellor and a voluntary workshop consultant with Jiyo Parsi The programme was initially supposed to be just another Jiyo Parsi orientation with focus on mental health but took a turn keeping in mind the low number of priests in the community all over the country We would like to make our priests more relevant by increasing interactions between them and the laity As most of our priests today are very old the question is who will take over after them These workshops will help us identify the next generation of leadersNeed of the hourThis workshop is for the future generation of mobeds Makihatana said All our high priests are old and we now need to find suitable replacements The total number of fulltime priests in Mumbai is just 250300 Despite our low numbers we are woefully neglected The remuneration is low and there are a lot of hardships The workshop will help identify loopholes and maybe future generations will happily opt for priesthoodAccording to Hormuzd Dadachandji a priest for nearly 22 years who is currently looking after the Mithaiwala Agiary in Grant Road We lack confidence and leadership skills The aim of the workshop is to learn how to respond to the laitys questions satisfactorily We are generally very shy and hopefully this will help us change People come to us before they go to counsellors which is why we should be knowledgeable enough to guide them I think it is a good move for priestsParsi Punchayet saysWe feel our priests can become true leaders if trained properly said Armaity Tirandaz 72 BPP member and nodal representative on the Jiyo Parsi Project Mobeds have never been given a leadership role in the community before The time has come for that to change When asked whether the Punchayet would take steps to ensure proper remuneration for priests she said Most priests are connected to fire temples which have their own trusts There are only two fire temples under BPPThe workshopThe programme will kick off with a quick orientation about the Jiyo Parsi programme followed by a session by a wellknown priest who is also successful in the corporate world said Binaifer Dr Kersi Chavada a top psychiatrist with Hinduja and Reliance Hospitals will cover communication skills and how to enhance self esteem Dr Yusuf Matcheswalla of Saifee Hospital and his colleague Ali Gabrani a psychotherapist will talk about how to effectively counsel parents and couples In addition to this the priests will also have a workshop to identify red flags in the behaviour of those who seek their blessings and adviceJiyo ParsiJiyo Parsi initiated a decade ago is a scheme backed by the government of India to arrest the population decline in Parsi community The project is a joint effort of the Parzor Foundation Ministry of Minority Affairs the Bombay Parsi Punchayet and Tata Institute of Social Sciences