Source: North County Times
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/03/30/faith/11_70_163_29_07.txt
Mehlli Bhagalia and his wife, Perin, tend a small flame in their home in Carlsbad. Bhagalia said the flame, safe in the fireplace, has been consecrated by the couple's prayers and is only extinguished when the couple go away. Just as the cross and the star of David are symbols of Christianity and Judaism, the fire is a symbol of divine light or wisdom for those of the Zoroastrian religion.
"In India there are consecrated fires that have been burning for over 1,300 years," said Bhagalia, who prays before the sacred flame or the sun several times each day and wears a special prayer girdle of wool called a kusti.
The Bhagalias are Parsis, direct descendants of a group of Zoroastrians who fled with the sacred fire to India in the 10th century as the ancient Persian Empire crumbled.
"It is the religion of my ancestors going back in an unbroken lineage for thousands of years," Bhagalia said. "This religion is therefore in my blood, flesh and bones, which enables me to understand its meaning and message and the history of my ancient race. Little is really known about our religion and race by persons outside the community. This is by both circumstance and by design."