Parsi Gujarati
Vanishing Dialect: Vanishing Culture
By Dr Bharati Modi

The book attempts to find the cause for the apocalyptic state of Parsi Gujarati, which is one of the most valuable dialects of Gujarati. The Parsis acquired their dialect after years of labour and today they appear to be ready to give it up for English. Will English offer the sense of identification with their ethnic origin? Will there be a possibility of a 'linguistic home' for them? Can English help preserve historical links giving people a sense of  'pedigree'? Parsis have had a typical ethnocentric tendency and their Gujarati was their creation, their treasure. Language loss is thus culture loss.

While supporting the commonly accepted reasons for language attrition (such as the shift towards the more prestigious language and shrinking of the community) it attempts to pinpoint at the specific mode of the dialect formation as one of the most important reasons for the disappearance of the dialect.

Parsi Gujarati resulted out of the language contact situation but very differently from the Creoles. Leaving Pahlvi and acquiring Gujarati must have happened gradually. We can roughly periodize the changes in the dialect history: the emergence of the dialect, her gradual development, her arrested 'interlanguage stage', and the approaching structural collapse. The structural collapse started with the lexical borrowings from English. Language Mixing started code switching, and more and more of such borrowings led to lexicalization, which decreased the grammaticalization. The normal command expected from the speakers has become obviously reduced. The adult speakers do not pass on their language to their children. Even the religious writings are brought out in English. When the community ceases to have situation where one's own language has to be used, then that language cannot live. Nature alone cannot survive without culture.

With the death of Parsi Gujarati, Gujarati will lose one of her most beautiful dialects. Every conscious Gujarati speaker will grieve the disappearance of this dialect, which is like a valuable 'pedigree' of Gujarati.

About the Author

Bharati Modi taught linguistics at the department of Linguistics at the M.S. University of Baroda for 30 years. She has mainly worked and published in the areas of phonetics, phonology and field linguistics. Influenced by her great teacher Ken Hale from whom she learnt her first lessons in field linguistics, she continued her interest in that area all along. This book is the result of that interest. Lately interested in language disorder and learning issues; she has been teaching phonetics and related linguistic components to the teachers of the hearing impaired.

Painting with a Needle
A Study on the Embroidery of Parsi Zoroastrians of India
By Priya Mani

The embroidery of a gara is hot a mere visual art but a standing testimony of a rich trade relation that existed between China and India and a representation of the Parsis, a minority in this country. It is interesting to note that in India, it is not known as Chinese embroidery but as Farsi embroidery and the gara and the kor ni sari is a Farsi sari to a lay Indian. The entire study becomes more relevant when one realizes the height of customization involved in the planning of Chinese embroidery on a Parsi gara. It is proof to the fact that 5.5 metres of fabric had no other intended use but to be worn as a ulta pallav Parsi style sari. It is probably this that makes the gara more Parsi than Chinese. .

This tradition, which started off as trade in embroidered textiles, grew to become a fascination for the art and being largely patronized by the Farsi community, finally came to be associated with them. The textiles were typically Chinese in colour, motif and technique. This study and documentation has been aimed at going beyond what was thought of as merely traded textiles and trying to record what it must have meant to the embroiderers and later to the women who wore them. An attempt to put together all the details that would have gone into its creation like the raw materials, the embroidery itself, the intangible attributes of these textiles and its present day condition has been made. It is hoped that in this way a unique part of the Parsi culture will be recorded and will establish continuity in the future. This trade link over time did more to the cultural repertoire of both China and India with exchanges in art and material culture. Today, most of these pieces, the survivors of a once healthy cultural exchange of two countries are largely in private collections and in the unseen archives of museums. The pieces are perishing with age and the community is reducing in number. It is becoming extremely important to save them and record them for posterity as a standing testimony of this once flourishing trade between India and China.

About the Author

Priya Mani is a textile designer from the National Institute of Design, India. This study on Parsi embroidery began as an academic craft documentation project, which was then taken forward as full fledged research into the context of these textiles. She is interested in social anthropology and material culture in relation to textiles and hopes to pursue it in the future.

Threads of Continuity
A Study of the Textiles used in Rituals and Customs of the Zoroastrian Community
By Ashdeen Z. Lilaowala

The book is a study and documentation of the Kusti weaving practiced and carried out by the Zoroastrian community in India and Iran. The emphasis is on the process followed, it's significance in the Zoroastrian faith and it's role in the larger socio-cultural context. In order to understand the importance of the use of yarn, thread and fabric in religious rituals, auspicious occasions and in daily life the different rites of passage have been comprehended. The book has tried to understand the value of these ceremonies and rituals by looking at their different attributes, which amalgamate to give meaning. It also focuses on the significance and symbolism of various materials and objects used. It is vital to place these in a larger socio-cultural context and understand their relevance in today's society.

Kusti weaving and Sudreh making are part of a living heritage, which link craft and art to religious traditions. The book presents a thorough understanding of the weaving process, the looms and the tools used during weaving, their evolution and ongoing developments. This in depth pioneering research on an ancient tradition would interest not only the Zoroastrian community but culture specialists and the fraternity of weaving and textiles across the globe.

About the Author

Ashdeen Lilaowala is a textile designer from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. He enjoys working with craftspeople, documenting crafts and traditions of diverse communities. He is part of the Zarathusti Field Student Programme and actively takes part in community activities. His other interests include photography and fashion.