Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Around 1500 years ago, the Parsi soon settled in western India, primarily in the
city of Mumbai (historically Bombay).
India is overwhelmingly Hindu (85 percent), but the followers of the Parsi reli-
gion, who make up 0.00046 percent of the Indian population because there are
fewer than 60,000 Parsi in the Indian population of 1.3 billion people, control a
large share of the Indian economy. The Tata Group recorded revenues of $67 bil-
lion in 2010. In addition to the Tata family, the Godrej Group, which produces
soap, appliances, and offi ce equipment, and the Wadias Company, which produces
textiles and owns an airline, are both companies Parsi families in India established
and lead.
How did such a small group of families become major players fi rst in the
Indian economy and now in the global economy? Some Indian economists point
to a positive relationship the Parsi had with the British when India was a colony of
Great Britain. Others point to the tight-knit Parsi community that benefi ted fi nan-
cially early on through the establishment of India's cotton industry and then grew
that wealth into many other sectors over time.
The fi nancial success of the Parsi in India cannot be ascribed to a single cause.
The cohesive community of the Parsi and the maintenance of cultural practices
that keep the Parsi together and culturally separate from the dominant Hindu cul-
ture were defi nitely factors in the Parsi success. These same traits now threaten to
destroy the Parsi culture because the number of Parsi people is dwindling.
A local culture such as the Parsi is maintained through the preservation of
cultural traits and practices. Today, however, one core cultural practice among the
Parsi threatens the existence of the culture itself. According to an edict set down
by Parsi religious leaders in 1918, the Parsi religion recognizes as members only the
children who are born of two Parsi parents. Although some Parsi do accept the
children who are born to a Parsi father and non-Parsi mother as a member of the
Parsi community, children born of Parsi women who are married to non-Parsi
(called “outsiders” by the Parsi) are not accepted as members of the community.
This is signifi cant today because the Parsi have a very high literacy rate of 98
percent in India, and many Parsi women are highly educated, have good jobs, and
choose either not to marry or to have children late, thus reducing fertility rates,
or to marry outside of the Parsi community. In addition, thousands of Parsi, both
women and men, have migrated to the United States and Europe over the past
few decades.
One Parsi high priest sees the historical lack of intermarriage as a major rea-
son the Parsi were able to keep their culture and religion in a world surrounded
by Hindu followers. Parsi in India today question whether to count the women
married to “outsiders” and the children born to them. Not counting these
women and children, the Parsi population in India has declined since 1980 from
100,000 to 56,000.
The local culture of the Parsi is highly engaged in the global economy, and
today the Parsi are struggling to maintain their culture and sustain their sense of
community in a changing world.
In an era of globalization, popular culture diffuses around the globe, being
embraced by some and rejected by others, all the while infi ltrating every corner of
the globe. Local cultures persist, and in many places the communities thrive, but
they face constant pressure from larger cultural groups and from the enveloping
popular culture. In the face of these pressures, some members of local cultures
have clung more tightly to their customs, some have let go, and others have forged
a balance between the two.
