DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.16243#0358
324
PEOPLE OF INDIA
PARSI.
A Parsi ! He loses no lime in breaking" his word. Parsis are educated and
yet they sell oil. (Considered rather a low occupation.) A Parsi out of work goes
to Pardhi. (Gracuhts esuriens in avium jusseris ibit.) Why follow after Bezon
Surti? (A notable Parsi swindler and hypocrite.) A Parsi's son; the urine of an
ass. A Parsi youth never tells the truth. {Parsibachcha, kabhi na bole sachchH.)
Grasias are not dirty, and Parsis are not outcasts. A bankrupt Baniya turns
broker ; a bankrupt Parsi starts a liquor shop. The day of Zoroaster ; open the
box and get out the brandy. If a Parsi gets rich, he takes a second wife, or buys
his neighbour's house. (Dating from before the Parsi Marriage Act by which at
the instance of the Parsis themselves the reproach of polygamy was removed from
their community.) Spectacles to the blind, sweets to the sick, a Parsi at a Hindu's
table. (Orthodox Hindus cannot eat with Parsis.) The Mali waters the jasmine,
the Bhisti looks for a well, the Andhyaru (Parsi priest) peers for a rich man's
death. (In quest of fees.) All dark in a house where you find an Andhyaru.
(Suggestion of scandal; notice the pun.) If a Dastur (priest) speaks, he will
dishonour his beard.
" Oh, Dasturji, how shall my sins be forgiven ?" " Present a gold cat, and a
silver necklace, and then we will see." The Parsi woman offers a cocoanut at the
Hindu Holi. Crows your uncles and Parsis your fathers. (Parsi repartee, in the
usual style of Oriental innuendo, to those who call them crows because they expose
their dead to be eaten by crows and vultures.) A Parsi's stroke—like a cannon
ball. (A Parsi saying which one would like to trace to the achievements of Parsi
cricketers.) The Hindu worships stones ; the Musalman saints ; the religion of
the Parsi is as pure (from idolatry) as the water of the Ganges.
ASCETICS & DEVOTEES.
Who can identify a drug that has been powdered and an ascetic whose head
has been shorn ? (Jogis do not say, and often do not know, what caste they
originally belonged to.) Who cares what was a Jogi's caste. Money will buy the
most pious of saints. In old days the Bhakats used to wash their firewood before
cooking ; now they do not even wash their feet. Penance alone does not make a
saint. You may put on saintly garb, O Jogi, but the ashes will cover no evil deeds.
A sect mark on his forehead and ten rosaries round his neck, in appearance a
saint, but at heart in love with a prostitute. An ascetic of yesterday, and matted
hair down to his knees. A naked woman will tempt a saint. When fish are in
season the Jogi loses his head. She went to the Fakir to learn morals ; the holy
man tore off her trousers. Follow your preceptor's precepts, not his practice.
One Sannyasi is as good as a hundred Brahmans. One widow has more virtue
than a hundred Dandis (Saivite ascetics who carry clubs). When a man cannot
get a wife he turns ascetic. When his crop has been burnt up, the J at turns Fakir.
As soon as the ducks lay eggs the Bhakats eat them up. Is the pestle of the
dhenki heavier than the demands of the Bhakat?
An ascetic's friendship spells ruin to his friends. A king, a Jogi, fire, and
water are not to be trusted. Whether the bitch die on the road or by the river,
the Jogi will say " see how my words have come true." It is a bad sign if a
Saiyad blows a horn (like a Fakir) or a Brahman wears a dagger. When the
Fakir goes mad he burns his own hut. Though the mountain may move, the
Fakir won't. The Fakir is happy in his old blanket. Better the rice of a mendi-
cant Brahman than the rice of a king riding on an elephant. Promise a Brahman
nothing, but promise a mendicant less. Even ascetics observe caste and religious
distinctions. Among shepherds no Saivas, among potters no Vaishnavas. A
Sannyasi's alms in Musalman street. (Going to the wrong shop.)
PEOPLE OF INDIA
PARSI.
A Parsi ! He loses no lime in breaking" his word. Parsis are educated and
yet they sell oil. (Considered rather a low occupation.) A Parsi out of work goes
to Pardhi. (Gracuhts esuriens in avium jusseris ibit.) Why follow after Bezon
Surti? (A notable Parsi swindler and hypocrite.) A Parsi's son; the urine of an
ass. A Parsi youth never tells the truth. {Parsibachcha, kabhi na bole sachchH.)
Grasias are not dirty, and Parsis are not outcasts. A bankrupt Baniya turns
broker ; a bankrupt Parsi starts a liquor shop. The day of Zoroaster ; open the
box and get out the brandy. If a Parsi gets rich, he takes a second wife, or buys
his neighbour's house. (Dating from before the Parsi Marriage Act by which at
the instance of the Parsis themselves the reproach of polygamy was removed from
their community.) Spectacles to the blind, sweets to the sick, a Parsi at a Hindu's
table. (Orthodox Hindus cannot eat with Parsis.) The Mali waters the jasmine,
the Bhisti looks for a well, the Andhyaru (Parsi priest) peers for a rich man's
death. (In quest of fees.) All dark in a house where you find an Andhyaru.
(Suggestion of scandal; notice the pun.) If a Dastur (priest) speaks, he will
dishonour his beard.
" Oh, Dasturji, how shall my sins be forgiven ?" " Present a gold cat, and a
silver necklace, and then we will see." The Parsi woman offers a cocoanut at the
Hindu Holi. Crows your uncles and Parsis your fathers. (Parsi repartee, in the
usual style of Oriental innuendo, to those who call them crows because they expose
their dead to be eaten by crows and vultures.) A Parsi's stroke—like a cannon
ball. (A Parsi saying which one would like to trace to the achievements of Parsi
cricketers.) The Hindu worships stones ; the Musalman saints ; the religion of
the Parsi is as pure (from idolatry) as the water of the Ganges.
ASCETICS & DEVOTEES.
Who can identify a drug that has been powdered and an ascetic whose head
has been shorn ? (Jogis do not say, and often do not know, what caste they
originally belonged to.) Who cares what was a Jogi's caste. Money will buy the
most pious of saints. In old days the Bhakats used to wash their firewood before
cooking ; now they do not even wash their feet. Penance alone does not make a
saint. You may put on saintly garb, O Jogi, but the ashes will cover no evil deeds.
A sect mark on his forehead and ten rosaries round his neck, in appearance a
saint, but at heart in love with a prostitute. An ascetic of yesterday, and matted
hair down to his knees. A naked woman will tempt a saint. When fish are in
season the Jogi loses his head. She went to the Fakir to learn morals ; the holy
man tore off her trousers. Follow your preceptor's precepts, not his practice.
One Sannyasi is as good as a hundred Brahmans. One widow has more virtue
than a hundred Dandis (Saivite ascetics who carry clubs). When a man cannot
get a wife he turns ascetic. When his crop has been burnt up, the J at turns Fakir.
As soon as the ducks lay eggs the Bhakats eat them up. Is the pestle of the
dhenki heavier than the demands of the Bhakat?
An ascetic's friendship spells ruin to his friends. A king, a Jogi, fire, and
water are not to be trusted. Whether the bitch die on the road or by the river,
the Jogi will say " see how my words have come true." It is a bad sign if a
Saiyad blows a horn (like a Fakir) or a Brahman wears a dagger. When the
Fakir goes mad he burns his own hut. Though the mountain may move, the
Fakir won't. The Fakir is happy in his old blanket. Better the rice of a mendi-
cant Brahman than the rice of a king riding on an elephant. Promise a Brahman
nothing, but promise a mendicant less. Even ascetics observe caste and religious
distinctions. Among shepherds no Saivas, among potters no Vaishnavas. A
Sannyasi's alms in Musalman street. (Going to the wrong shop.)