Parsi Khabar

A few years ago, our entire family was at Udwada to offer prayers after my wedding. Just as we were about to give the “sukhad” to the “boiwala” dasturji, he refused to take it saying that its not original. We were completely taken aback, both by the dasturji’s pronouncement and his harsh and rude tone. [...]

What the Diaspora can do for India and what India can do for the Diaspora
A talk given by Khojeste P Mistree at the 10th World Zoroastrian Congress, Dubai on 31st December 2009
Good Morning Ladies and Gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to give you a short presentation on a theme titled, “What the Diaspora can [...]

Pranab Babu’s pioneering budgetary allocation for threatened communities wasn’t met with the raising of a Parsi peg or gongs resounding from Mumbai’s fire temples. A community that controls enough trust funds to keep the country out of fuel price hikes doesn’t need the FM’s Rs 1 crore.
By Times News Service
A proud community that famously turned [...]

Not much is known about what can be done to check the dwindling number of Parsis. There has been much concern, even heartburn, but solutions have proved elusive. But the Centre has decided to step in and address the issue agitating the small, but talented community by announcing a scheme dedicated to their welfare.
This time [...]

By Vineeta Pandey / DNA
Concerned about the dwindling Parsi population in the country, the ministry of minority affairs is trying to come up with a concoction to reverse the trend.
Minister Salman Khurshid said that they are soon going to meet Parsi leaders in Mumbai to figure out a plan to stop the extinction of the [...]

The Bombay Parsi Punchayet got a shot in the arm on Thursday with the Bombay high court declining to stay its ban on two priests from performing religious Zoroastrian ceremonies at Doongerwadi and two fire temples.
By Swati Deshpande / TNN
Two prominent Parsis in Mumbai Jamsheed Kanga and Homi Khushrokhan said they were taken aback by [...]

She calls it the U-Trip. Setting out from Karachi, 15-year-old Rosheen Birdie plans on visiting every major hub of Zoroastrians in the world, just so she can find one to marry. It’s not so easy to locate a ‘match’ in her homeland anymore. Colloquially known as Parsis, Zoroastrians in Pakistan seem to be on a [...]

By Deena Guzder / The Washington Post
Many of us recently finished celebrating Christmas, Eid, and Hanukkah; however, few of us have heard of the religion that deeply influenced those traditions of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. As the world’s oldest monotheistic religion, Zoroastrianism introduced ideas of a single deity, a dualistic universe of good versus evil, [...]

By Farrukh Dhondy / DNA India
Sitting next to the grandson of a late great English writer, himself a writer, at a dinner party in Exmoor, I am asked if I am a practising Zoroastrian. I say ‘not quite’ and am asked about its ethics and metaphysics.
"Simple," I reply, "Monotheism. The single God, Ahura Mazda [...]

BNHS says Bombay Parsi Punchayet’s plans to breed vultures at Towers of Silence will not work, as the birds will die from feeding on bodies of those who have consumed diclofenac.
By Manoj R Nair / Mumbai Mirror
In fact, a member of the BNHS – which was initially involved in the breeding programme – has [...]

In early summer 2009, Jim Engineer, one of the founders of NextGenNow got in touch with me to see if I would like to write an article for the Fall 2009 FEZANA Journal. NextGenNow as an organisation were guest-editing. The above-titled article is one of the two articles I wrote for this edition.
My earliest memories [...]

The Parsi community of the city — who leave their dead out in the open to be consumed by vultures and were facing problems with disposing their dead with the dwindling number of vultures in the city — are hoping to resolve the problem with an aviary to rear vultures.
By Ashutosh Shukla / DNA
The [...]

The population of vultures in the subcontinent has been decimated over the last two decades, but it may yet rise from the ashes with support from human hands.
At end-September, bird watchers from across the world were abuzz about the remote, dry highlands of Himachal Pradesh’s Lahaul-Spiti. The region was witnessing a rare event — a [...]

This article is written by Kersee Kabraji of Pune, India and published with his permission.
At the outset, I like to make it clear that I am neither a priest nor a scholar of our religion. With some grace, I can perhaps pass off as a ‘student’ of our religion.
I am an engineer by training and [...]

By Rathin Das | Surat At a time when most countries are engaged in controlling the population explosion, the miniscule Parsi community here is busy taking steps to increase its fast-dwindling numbers. The Parsis in Surat, estimated to be only around 3,500, now have reasons to celebrate [...]