Dashash wamedh Ghat in Kashi, one of the holiest of places for Hindus, came alive on Thursday with the chanting of ‘Achyutam Keshavam’, lighting of 51 diyas or traditional lamps, and prayers of hundreds of people.
All for a man who did not even belong to Sanatana Dharma.
But Ratan Naval Tata belonged to this ancient land as intrinsically as the rivers that flow here. The land so vilified by the Left and Islamists as ‘majoritarian’ poured its heart to bid goodbye to its distinguished son, a person from the tiniest of minorities: Parsis.
Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh: A tribute to #RatanTata was held during the Ganga Aarti at Dashashwamedh Ghat.Thousands, including foreign tourists, participated by lighting 51 lamps and observing two minutes of silence to honour his contributions and legacy.
— All India Radio News (@airnewsalerts) October 10, 2024
India’s Right ecosystem — gratuitously labelled “hatemonger” and “fascist” — was awash with deeply felt condolences and tributes to the staggering legacy of enterprise and charity that Tata has left behind.
Prominent leaders of the ruling BJP recounted his contributions. Some talked about his courage and kindness during the 26/11 terror attacks on the Taj Mahal Hotel, Mumbai, when he stood outside the hotel for all three days of the carnage, monitoring rescue operations, standing by his staff and guests in that darkest hour, risking his own personal safety.
When tragedy struck during 26/11, he stood outside the Taj, caring not just for his employees but also for the street vendors outside.Sir Ratan Naval Tata — A legend in every sense.
— Smriti Z Irani (@smritiirani) October 10, 2024
Social media talked about his beloved dog Goa, his youngest employee and close friend Shantanu Naidu, his praise for PM Narendra Modi’s cleanliness mission, Swachh Bharat, and how he grew the Tata business.
Revenue of the Tata Group when Ratan Tata took over: $5.7 billion. Revenue of the Tata Group when Ratan Tata retired: $101.3 billion.The difference between the great and the ordinary is simply this: that the great think they are ordinary and the ordinary think they are great.
— Anand Ranganathan (@ARanganathan72) October 9, 2024
India is home to 70,000 Parsis, the largest Zoroastrian population in the world while being a microscopic religious minority. Zoroastrians started arriving in India in the 8th century during the rule of Chalukyas after the Islamic invasion of Iran, when savage persecution started. The successors of the once-mighty Persian empire have now been reduced to just about 200,000 Zoroastrians worldwide, although there have been reports of reconversions in southern Iraq and Iran by young Muslims fed up with Islamic fundamentalism.
India, however, did not just embrace the persecuted Parsis, it respected and helped preserve their culture and traditions with great love and respect.
There have been governmental interventions to arrest the declining Parsi population as well. The Modi government even started direct benefit transfers to families under the Jiyo Parsi scheme.
It has started work on the new Centre for Avesta-Pahlavi Studies at the Kalina campus of the University of Mumbai offering undergraduate, graduate and doctorate programmes in Avesta, the language of the Zoroastrian scriptures. The Centre is expected to be ready in a year. It will be run initially with a grant of Rs 12 crore from the Central government.
The government is also mulling the development of pilgrim and tourist infrastructure at Bahrot Caves near Dahanu, where Parsis had hidden their holy Iran shah fire. The fire is now at the community’s supreme fire temple at Udvada in Gujarat.
The outpouring of grief across ideological lines at Ratan Tata’s demise only shows that Indians do not forget the contributions of not just the man, but also his community —a community that has given the nation its first cotton mills, its first Indian-owned bank, and much more.
The relationship Parsis have with this land throws out of the window boilerplate narratives of India’s majoritarianism and religious intolerance. Ratan Tata’s death and expression of love and grief serve as a good reminder.
Abhijit Majumder is a senior journalist.
