Parsi calendar goes the pin-up way to show community as young, attractive
Will Also Fund Speed-Dating, Blood Donations; Traditionalists Object
They poured Her shey's chocolate syrup all over meand rubbed it on like body lotion or butter,“ laughed 23-year-old Ava Affinwalla, who is in the 2015 edition of a Parsi calendar brought out by the youth wing of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP). Affinwalla, whose parents were “ecstatic“ when she was chosen for the Zoroastrian Youth For The Next Generation (ZYNG) calendar shoot, graces its January section covered neck down in chocolate. “They wanted to start the year with a pop,“ says Affinwalla about her picture which is a tad bolder than the rest. But that didn't bother her in the least. In fact, she suggested dousing herself in chocolate only to find that the ZYNG team had exactly the same brainwave.Since its launch in 2010, the calendar has come to be seen as a platform for youngsters angling to get into the modelling and fashion industry as well as a status symbol of sorts similar to Rustom Baug's May Queen title. “You're basically one of the twelve hottest girls in the Parsi community for that year,“ explains Viraf Mehta, a member of the ZYNG team. In fact, he confides that a few girls caught the eye of their future husbands thanks to the ZYNG calendar. However, its professed purpose remains portraying the community as “youthful and attractive“ and funding ZYNG's activities such as speed-dating, youth meets and blood donation drives. The calendar also lists Parsi days with their meanings (Meher, for instance, is the day of “friendship and contracts“) and has a paragraph explaining that “Zoroastrians are the worshippers of Ahura Mazda (the Lord of Wisdom)“.
It's this mix of short skirts and religious teachings that has many community members complaining that the calendar is sacrilegious. “It is like the Kingfisher calendar. It can never be used for religious details,“ wrote 65-year-old Firoz Kotwal in a letter to the commissioner in 2011. Others have complained because it's clear that the models aren't wearing the sacred vest and thread, `sudreh and kusti', that Zoroas trians must don at all times. A 23-year-old Parsi data analyst, however, can rattle off names of girls who've been on the calendar in past years calendar in past years and is quick to name his favorites. Unlike Kotwal, he quips that the calendar's models are a cut below Kingfisher's pin-up girls. A few years ago, he too tried to get into the calendar they included men in a few editions but didn't make the cut.
The BPP which usually sides with the orthodox viewpoint when it comes to shunning non-Parsi spouses or priests that bless inter-faith marriages has given the calendar its tacit approval though they aren't funding the project.“It might not appeal to everyone's senses but we have to look at it from the youth's point of view and not the old fuddy-duddies' point of view,“ explains chairman Dinshaw Mehta. “It has our full support.“ Accord ing to Parsiana editor, Jehangir Patel, this “objectification of women“ doesn't come as much of a surprise considering the community has long treated women as second-class citizens. He points out that not only are women's children not accepted if they marry outside the fold they are also not allowed to vote or stand for elections in a number of Parsi clubs and anjumans (associations). “It is in some ways in keeping with the outlook of the punchayet that women are to be viewed as objects, to be appreciated for their physical attributes but not much more than that.“
The models and their families, however, are quick to dismiss all criticism. Shernavaz Jijina, who modelled for the calendar along with her younger sister, explains that she hails from a priestly family and wears her `sudreh and kusti' every day. She says her family fully supported her decision to participate and she was happy to do her bit for the community.Thanks to the calendar shoot, the aspiring model has land ed a gig as brand ambassa dor for a travel website. While some might assume that these cheeky calendars are relegated only to the closets of teenage boys, the models' parents are blasé about display ing them in public.
Veera Patel, whose 19-year-old daughter Anaisha participated in the shoot, has mul tiple calendars dis played around her home, and has even put a copy up at work.
She was comfortable let ting her daughter do the shoot because the theme was candy and she felt her clothes weren't inappropriate and she trusts ZYNG. “I am very proud of her and I was very excit ed to see her on the cal endar,“ she told TOI.
“No other picture I have ever put up on Facebook has gotten 450 likes.“
It's this mix of short skirts and religious teachings that has many community members complaining that the calendar is sacrilegious. “It is like the Kingfisher calendar. It can never be used for religious details,“ wrote 65-year-old Firoz Kotwal in a letter to the commissioner in 2011. Others have complained because it's clear that the models aren't wearing the sacred vest and thread, `sudreh and kusti', that Zoroas trians must don at all times. A 23-year-old Parsi data analyst, however, can rattle off names of girls who've been on the calendar in past years calendar in past years and is quick to name his favorites. Unlike Kotwal, he quips that the calendar's models are a cut below Kingfisher's pin-up girls. A few years ago, he too tried to get into the calendar they included men in a few editions but didn't make the cut.
The BPP which usually sides with the orthodox viewpoint when it comes to shunning non-Parsi spouses or priests that bless inter-faith marriages has given the calendar its tacit approval though they aren't funding the project.“It might not appeal to everyone's senses but we have to look at it from the youth's point of view and not the old fuddy-duddies' point of view,“ explains chairman Dinshaw Mehta. “It has our full support.“ Accord ing to Parsiana editor, Jehangir Patel, this “objectification of women“ doesn't come as much of a surprise considering the community has long treated women as second-class citizens. He points out that not only are women's children not accepted if they marry outside the fold they are also not allowed to vote or stand for elections in a number of Parsi clubs and anjumans (associations). “It is in some ways in keeping with the outlook of the punchayet that women are to be viewed as objects, to be appreciated for their physical attributes but not much more than that.“
The models and their families, however, are quick to dismiss all criticism. Shernavaz Jijina, who modelled for the calendar along with her younger sister, explains that she hails from a priestly family and wears her `sudreh and kusti' every day. She says her family fully supported her decision to participate and she was happy to do her bit for the community.Thanks to the calendar shoot, the aspiring model has land ed a gig as brand ambassa dor for a travel website. While some might assume that these cheeky calendars are relegated only to the closets of teenage boys, the models' parents are blasé about display ing them in public.
Veera Patel, whose 19-year-old daughter Anaisha participated in the shoot, has mul tiple calendars dis played around her home, and has even put a copy up at work.
She was comfortable let ting her daughter do the shoot because the theme was candy and she felt her clothes weren't inappropriate and she trusts ZYNG. “I am very proud of her and I was very excit ed to see her on the cal endar,“ she told TOI.
“No other picture I have ever put up on Facebook has gotten 450 likes.“
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