Lily Don’t be Silly

For Parsis, the New Year play is an annual family tradition…and there’s one enthusiast who’s giving out 500 free tickets!

August 18: Philandering husband Savak finds it tough to manage with wife Lily in one room and girlfriend Lily in the other. In slapstick style he avoids what could potentially be a hazardous three’s company. The [...]

Pray, atone and feast

That’s what Parsis will do on Pateti today, a day before celebrating Navruz.
If you plan to wish your Parsi neighbours “Happy Pateti” on Saturday, don’t. That is, unless, you believe that penitence is a joyful event. Wait till Sunday (August 20) instead, and wish them a “Happy Navruz”.

Many non-Parsis recognise Pateti as the Parsi New [...]

Capturing golden moments

Meet Armaity Bamanbehram, the first Parsi lady to have completed 25 years as a videographer

Armaity Bamanbehram is no stranger in the world of videography. And is quite a renowned name among the Parsi community. After all, she has 25 years of experience in the field. Also known as the first Parsi lady to have [...]

Tata Tea, Godrej to sip in local…

Two of India`s top business houses owned by Parsis, the Tatas and the Godrej group are eyeing some of the strongest regional tea brands to gain a decisive edge over each other in the Rs 45 billion branded tea market, reports Financial Express.
Tata Tea, with a market share of 20%, and Godrej Beverages & [...]

No Fire Temple, but Lakhnawi warmth

The Parsi community is one of the smallest ‘communities from outside’ in Lucknow. There are just 71 Parsis in town! “We started trickling into the city and found Lucknow welcoming us with open arms. We had our share of adjustment issues but now, that I have been here for 15 years it’s like home for [...]

Biologists to help breed vultures

The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology aims to rescue the ancient Zoroastrian practice of corpse disposal (writes Ashling O’Connor). Biologists are to inseminate artificially the Oriental white-backed vulture at the Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad. The vultures once cleared carcases from the land. Numbers have fallen to a few thousand, which has led to [...]

A Parsee passionate about sidecar bikes!

Standing in one corner of Jer Baug, Byculla, the BSA B31 350cc motorbike with sidecar waits for the rains to end. It is only then, that its owner Neville Choksi will lift the covers from this vintage bike and show of its sparkling green and black glory on Mumbai’s roads. Choksi is a collector of [...]

Madame Cama’s call for Bande Mataram in…

By V SUNDARAM
She was a fiery patriot who first unfurled India’s flag at an international assembly. She turned away from a life of luxury and lived in exile abroad in Europe for 29 years to serve the cause of our country’s freedom.

Madame Bhikaji Cama

(1861-1936) From the early years of the 20th century, groups of Indians [...]

Scientists to help breed Vultures

Parsis worried about the growing pile of bodies in their ‘Towers of Silence’ can take heart. The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) has decided to take up, on an express basis, the job of breeding vultures, which can later be transported to various parts of the country.
Though the problem of undisposed bodies in [...]

Surat Residences get a new face

SURAT: The babbling and wails of infants from apartments in Bai Bamasipore Memorial Zarthosthi building in Saiyedpura in Surat have begun to raise the hopes of the local Parsi community, dogged by a fast dwindling population.
The community’s plan based on ‘we give you a roof and you give us children’, to motivate young Parsi couples [...]

Amritsar’s Tehmi Bhandari: 100 years and going strong

100 cheers to Amritsar’s pride
Tehmi Bogga Bhandari — the only pure Parsi left in Amritsar — turned 100 on August 15. Born into a rich conservative Parsi family in Amritsar in 1906, she was the first woman to introduce “hospitality business” to the city when she converted her palatial home into a “guest house”, which [...]

Periodicals of protest

Over the decades, Parsi journalism has managed to fiercely guard its democratic character

By Manoj R Nair for Mumbai Mirror

The terms, ‘cosmopolitan newspapers’ or ‘community press’ may not figure much in our regular conversations and reading. But these words are a regular part of the periodic debates that generate a whirlwind in the Parsi community.

For a [...]

NYT: Zoroastrianism Slide Show

Turn on the sound and listen to this very interesting slide show on Zoroastrianism. This appeared on the NYTimes website, as an interactive accompaniment to the article Zoroastrians Keep the Faith, and Keep Dwindling

image copyrights NYT.

Parsi Dead: A Video of the Towers of Silence Controversey

The video below is the segment that appeared on the Indian cable news channel CNN-IBN. The video has some disturbing imagery and therefore caution is needed when viewing the video.
The controversey however rages on and something needs to be done to bring this to a closure.
The video may take a little time to start, [...]

Religion and Materiality

Isn’t it strange how Rs.200/= seems like such a large amount when you donate it to a fire-temple, but such a small amount when you go shopping?
Isn’t it strange how 2 hours seem so long when you’re at the fire-temple, and how short they seem when you’re watching a good movie?

Isn’t it strange how difficult [...]