While the Indian Government screwed up and bungled in handling the funeral of Field Marshal Manekshaw, Barack Obama, the Presidential candidate in the U.S. issued a statement acknowledging the legendary war hero’s passing away.

the Democratic Presidential candidate on Monday released a statement condoling Manekshaw’s death, describing him as “a legendary soldier, a patriot, and an inspiration to his fellow citizens.”

“Field Marshal Manekshaw provided an example of personal bravery, self-sacrifice, and steadfast devotion to duty that began before India’s independence, and will deservedly be remembered far into the future,” Obama said, offering “deep condolences to the people of India.”

It’s exactly such reasons why I think he should be elected president of the US.

By Ajay Bharadwaj

With the passing away of Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw on Friday, none of the Parsis who had made Amritsar their home are alive today

CHANDIGARH: Amritsar has been in deep mourning after the only tender link it had with the Parsi community was severed with the passing away of Field Marshal Sam HFJ Manekshaw.

It was more than a century ago that a handful of Parsis found a home in the heart of the Sikh religious capital. Since then, the relation between Amritsar and Parsis, though tenuous, had persisted even as the Parsis weathered all storms that the border city faced, be it during the Partition or the trouble-torn days of militancy.

But the demise of Sam Bahadur has left the holy city forlorn, for it has no Parsi link left to feel proud of. Last year, Tehmi Bogga Bhandari — the only recognised Parsi living in Amritsar — had passed away She was 102. The family of another Parsi, Keccki Kawasji, moved out of the holy city four years ago due to medical reasons, while Mini Bogga, who still lives in Amritsar, has lost her place in the Parsi community by marrying a Canadian.

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India’s Parsi community is shrinking fast. For every birth, there are five deaths, prompting fierce debate between reformists and traditionalists who are concerned about ethnic purity. By Andrew Buncombe in Mumbai

For centuries, Mumbai’s Parsis have brought their dead to the Towers of Silence to be devoured by vultures, a traditional form of “burial” the community insists is hygienic, efficient and in keeping with their faith. Yet these days, there are very few of the carrion-eaters to be seen.

With Asia’s vultures having been drastically reduced by the widespread use of toxic pesticides, the Parsis have been forced to erect solar concentrators – essentially large magnifying lenses – to help turn the corpses into dust. “There are not many vultures,” said Cyrus Siganporia, a retired engineer who helps at the peaceful, secluded site on the city’s Malabar Hill where peacocks strut and birds sing. “They come sometimes, not often. ‘Sometimes’ is the word.”

But while India’s Parsis are suffering from a shortage of vultures they are also facing a much more pressing problem, a shortage of themselves. Never vast in scale, almost everyone agrees that the community’s numbers are now falling perilously low. A 1940 census put the total of Parsis at 114,890 but a similar count in 2001 discovered the community that follows one of the world’s oldest religions, and which included the late Freddie Mercury, the industrialist Ratan Tata and the writer Rohinton Mistry among its members, may now number as few as 69,000. Almost all live in and around Mumbai.

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Iconic former Army Chief Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, who died in the wee hours on Friday, was given the final salute in a state funeral and laid to rest with full military honours. ( Watch )

As a 17-gun salute boomed, the body of Manekshaw (94) was buried in a Parsi graveyard adjacent to the place where his wife lay buried after the last rites was performed as per Zoroastrian customs. His wife Silloo died seven years back.

The celebrated master strategist and the architect of India’s victory in the 1971 Indo-Pak war that resulted in the creation of Bangladesh was given a state funeral in an acknowledgement of his services to the country in his military career spanning four decades.

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With an online portal disseminating information about all their activities and projects, Zoroastrains in the city find it easy to stay connected

The Internet has always been appreciated for making the world a smaller place. But even in cities the size of Pune, if one is too involved in the routine means of livelihood, one might remain oblivious to the cultural goings-on close to us. Keeping the Zoroastrian community of Poona updated and the activities that may interest them, the website www.poonazoroastrians.org makes sure that Parsis remain in touch with the happenings within the community.

Started in August 2006 by 32-year-old Mabrin Nanavati and an electronic engineer Kayomarz Gazder, the motive of the website is to get the various Zoroastrian communities on one platform. By featuring around eight organisations among them including the ZYA, the Parsi Panchayat, the Athornan Aid Trust, The Zoroastrian Cooperative Bank Limited, World Zarthusti Chamber Of Commerce-I, the target is well achieved.

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This is a brief report on the speech given by Dasturji Dr. Peshotan Dastur Hormazdyar Mirza at the launch of the Zoroastrian Information Center at Udvada, Adar roj, Adar mah, YZ 1377, April 24, 2008.

Report submitted by Pervin J. Mistry on an email distribution list.

It is reported that a small crowd of about 200 Parsi-Irani-Zarathushtis attended the official opening of the Zoroastrian Information Center at Udvada. The expected throng of 3 to 4 thousand plus Zarathushtis did not materialize this time at the twice postponed inauguration. The event was not publicized widely, as the past two attempts were publicized, and it is also reported that many in Udvada itself did not participate because they were either not informed or were averse to attending any of the FDU’s activities in Udvada.

Dasturji Dr. Peshotan Dastur Hormazdyar Mirza, one of the High Priests of Udvada, Sir Jamsetji Jejeebhoy- Eighth Baronet and Dr. Miss Mehroo Bengalee, one of the trustees of WAPIZ, were present as Guests of Honor.

Dasturji Dr. Peshotan Mirza’s speech was, as usual, very educational and carried the right impact. He began his speech by saying that he was perplexed as to why he was chosen as the “Guest of Honor” when he was born, bred and lived in Udvada for most of his life! Udvada is his hometown and yet he was made a “Guest” there! He said he participated at this function, “rather than a Guest of Honor, I stand here today as the Dastur of Iranshah AtashBehram and The Udvada Anjuman”! His family has lived at Udvada for generations! His late father, Dasturji Dr. Hormazdyar Dastur Kayoji Mirza, was a very well known High Priest of Udvada and was renowned for his religious knowledge and research in Avestan, Pahlavi and Ancient Iranian Studies.

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Every Parsi, over the age of 18 years, will now have a vote in deciding the future of the Parsi community.

In a significant judgment, Bombay High Court on Wednesday entrusted the process of electing trustees of the Bombay Parsi Panchayat (BPP) - a 350-year-old institution which controls the purse strings of Parsi trusts and is the biggest private landlord in the city - to all Parsis aged above 18.

Disbanding the Anjuman Committee, a 3000-member collegium which, so far, indirectly elected the seven trustees of the BPP, Justice S Radhakrishnan and Justice AV Mohta ruled, “It appears that since the entire (Parsi) community has accepted that it
is high time that every adult is given an opportunity to select the trustee and the said power should not be vested only in a limited body as that of Anju- man Committee.”

Rejecting the appeal filed by three Parsis, challenging the ushering in of universal adult franchise of direct elections of trustees, the HC directed the BPP to complete the process of enrolling new members above 18 years of age and preparing the electoral roll within two months. The election of the new trustees has to be completed within four months.

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Adi Ichhaporia’s “fledgling health” didn’t stop him from “enjoying sex” even at 62. But it forced Matunga Police to grant him bail on Wednesday, after medical certificates were produced by the accused.

The sex scandal unearthed by the cops on Monday seems to be just as intriguing as it is kinky. Investigators have been left pondering whether Ichhaporia’s wife (name not disclosed) was merely aware that her husband used to film nude women in the act of sex, and even group sex sessions, or was she herself an active collaborator?

According to police investigators, Icchaporia admitted during interrogation that his wife was aware of his “darker side”. At least 250 photographs of nude women, CDs filmed during sexual intercourse, pornographic clippings were recovered from Ichhaporias’ two-room apartment in Dadar’s Parsi Colony.

A cupboard, full of sex toys, was also found by the cops. Icchaporia, by his own admission, had “been into this for the past 25 years”. He also told police that the women were filmed only after they had given their consent.

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It was sheer luck that saved three Parsi priests and their family members when the earth caved in the adjoining land where construction work was in progress on Thursday killing a labourer.

The roof and walls of the decades-old priests’ quarters have developed cracks due to the incident.

Moreover, a portion of the quarters is facing the threat of collapse as the soil below the foundation stone has caved in due to construction taken up by A.H. Ansari, the owner of the neighbouring site.

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An attempt to commercially exploit a portion of Tardeo’s Kappawala agiary (fire temple) land by one of the trustees has been scuttled after the charity commissioner rejected an application seeking permission to conduct the redevelopment.

The fire in this agiary was consecrated way back in 1857 (the year of the Mutiny), but the imposing building was constructed only in 1941 when the fire was shifted from Fort to Tardeo. What is especially significant for many Parsis is that the last Zoroastrian saint, Dastur Jamshed Ervad Sohrab Kukadaru (1831-1900), was a priest in this agiary.

The charity commissioner’s order on last Tuesday comes as a major respite for a miniscule community, which has been fighting to prevent builders and trustees from usurping large fire temple lands in the city to set up residential buildings.

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Young Parsis from India, and Zoroastrians from Iran, England, Pakistan, Singapore, Dubai, Hong Kong, the United States, New Zealand and around Australia will attend a week-long World Zoroastrian Congress in Ballarat from tomorrow.

This will be the fourth World Youth Zoroastrian Congress, and will be titled “Back to the Future”.

Zarathushtra’s call to look after the environment 3200 years ago makes him the world’s first ecologically conscious prophet, Zoroastrians say.

According to Bombay-based teacher Khojeste Mistree, Zoroastrians believe they are on earth to maximise general happiness and minimise pain by spreading harmony in the environment.

The Age quoted an organiser Shirin Mistry, as saying that the weeklong congress will bring Zoroastrian Diaspora together to learn about their faith and community, have fun and see a slice of Australia.

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Denying industry speculation that Gharda Chemicals and Godrej Industries may go for an out-of-court settlement brokered by leaders in the Parsi community, sources close to the agrochemicals major said the company is hoping for a solution from the Bombay High Court, where the dispute currently rests.

Though founder Keki Gharda refused to comment, “The matter is sub-judice, I can’t talk,” he said. Sources told ET that the dispute continues and the veteran scientist “is in no mood to entertain Adi Godrej’s claim of holding 6% stake in the company.”

Mr Godrej, head of Godrej Industries, is said to have shown interest in making a strategic investment in the Rs 700-crore company, especially after Mr Gharda announced his succession plans. Mr Godrej had reportedly bought the stake from one of Dr Gharda’s relatives a few years ago.

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The silly season is hardly upon us and we have already had not one but an impressive three fearsome, flesh-eating creatures in the news guaranteed to put thousands of holidaymakers off their swims and country walks.

There was that great white shark spotted off the beaches of Cornwall - a hardy perennial of the imaginary kind which turned out to be, predictably enough, either a shark of the gentler, basking variety, or the product of one too many pints of Cornish ale in a St Ives pub.

Then we had a photograph which appeared to show a (new) beast of Dartmoor, shoulders hunkered, lurking and prowling menacingly near a group of schoolchildren gathered on a tor.

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Despite all oppositions made so far by Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts, and Tourism Organization (ICHHTO) against construction of Isfahan-Shiraz railway only in 500-meter distance of Naqsh-e Rostam historic site, based on latest reports some measures have been undertaken for marking the railway path according to its original route.

Based on earlier agreements between authorities of Iran’s Ministry of Road and Transportation and ICHHTO, the national project of Isfahan-Shiraz railway was due to change its path and be constructed with the maximum distance from Naqsh-e Rostam to cause the least harm to this historic site. However, its seems by purchasing the farmlands in vicinity of Naqsh-e Rostam and marking the path of the railway, authorities of the project have obviously ignored the previous agreements and are determined to construct the railroad just half kilometer distance of this historic site.

Prior to this, after revising the suggested route by Iran’s Ministry of Road and Transportation, the technical council of ICHHTO decided that the path for construction the railroad must change. Experts of ICHHTO have previously warned that the powerful jolts caused by train would have a harmful effect on the historic monuments in the region including Zoroaster’s Kaba and train vibrations would eventually damage Naqsh-e Rostam monument.

Considering that Pars-e Pasargadae Research Center is determined to prepare the ground for registration of Naqsh-e Rostam in list of UNESCO’s World Heritage site, as annex of Persepolis world heritage site, construction of the railway in such a close distance of this historic site would ruin the chance of world registration of this Achaemenid site forever.

UNESCO asked Iran to give an explanation about construction of the railway near Naqsh-e Rostam in the 31st session of World Heritage Committee.

Located in Iranian Fars province, 12 kilometer distance of Persepolis, Naqsh-e Rostam contains four tombs belonging to Achaemenid kings which were carved out of the rock. Kaaba of Zoroaster bears number of inscription belonged to Parthian and Sassanian dynastic eras.

Original article here

In Deepa Mehta’s 1947: Earth, actress Kittu Gidwani, in the role of a Parsee, says how Parsees in India are like dissolved sugar in milk, not conspicuous, but noticeable because of their “sweetening” presence. And like dissolved sugar, they cling together.

Sixty years later, in Calcutta, there are only an estimated 650-odd Parsees. The community records a marriage a year on an average. The need to keep the community from dissolving has never been stronger.

A small device has been trying to do this for generations. Started at least three decades ago (nobody is sure of the exact year), the Calcutta Parsee Directory has just been updated.

The directory, published by the Parsee Trust Office, is a handbook for the community for all occasions. “It used to be published by The Parsi Zoroastrian Association before the job fell to the Parsee Trust Office. We’ve been bringing it out for about a decade now,” says Darius F. Panthaki, a member of the trust office.

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The Nagpada police on Wednesday announced to have solved the murder case of a 67-year-old Parsi lady. They arrested one Faisur Ansari and have deployed a team to search for the one who planned the robbery and stabbed the two senior citizens.

On July 14, the two assailants entered the house of Coopers where Gullu Cooper and wife Ami Cooper stay with their son and daughter-in-law, under the pretext of doing some repair work. Both ladies were alone in the house, with a maid who left after finishing her chores. The assailants came after the maid had left in the afternoon and stabbed the ladies. Gullu Cooper succumbed to her injuries while her daughter-in-law has been admitted to Breach Candy hospital.

“Though properly done, the assailants had left evidence- a pair of blood-soaked trousers! The policemen checked it properly and found a note with many phone numbers. Using that as an important clue, we got the name and address of the accused and arrested him,” said Ashok Deshbhartar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone III).

“We have solved the case within a week though they did not have any direct clues and direct link except the statement of the maid and the trousers,” Deshbhartar added.

Original article here

The Western Railway disclaims responsibility; Dinaz’s case dismissed as low priority

The Railway Claims Tribunal of the city is least bothered about Dinaz N. Chhapgar(56) who was injured due to one of the windows of the Reservation Centre building falling on her back. She went through a surgery to fix three fractures - one in the right shoulder, another in her vertebrae and another in her ribs. Dinaz Chhapgar had to spend over Rs. 80,000 for her treatment. In a classic case of adding insult to injury, the Western Railway informed her that her case doesn’t come under the Railway Claims Tribunal.

It might strike some as ironical that Dinaz had been to the station that day to buy tickets for a religious trip to Udwada. Remembering the unfortunate day, she told us, “I bought the tickets that day, December 16th, and as I stepped out of the Reservation Centre building at Churchgate, something heavy came crashing down on my back. I immediately lost consciousness. I was told later that it was a part of a window that was being renovated.”

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When 2,500 Parsis gathered at the Mahalaxmi racecourse on Saturday evening, the main topic of discussion was the birth and death rates of the community, whose population has been on the decline.

The community, which gathered to celebrate the second anniversary of the World Association of the Parsi Irani Zarthostis (WAPIZ), thanked ‘this earth, this land of India’, which has given them succour for fourteen hundred years.

WAPIZ committee member Jamshed Mota said, “No other country in the world would have given us this sammaan (honour), izzat (respect) and liberty .”

The gathering, including 300 clergymen and four high priests, discussed issues that plagued the community and their solutions.

Khojeste Mistri, chairman of WAPIZ said, “The solution to dwindling numbers lies not in conversion (a concept which is unknown to a ‘classic’ religion as opposed to a ‘romantic ‘ religion), but in increasing numbers by procreation.” So far, 85 couples received help and thirty babies, including eight sets of twins and a set of triplets, were born through a fertility programme introduced by the Parsi Panchayat two years ago.

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Parents make the heartbreaking decision to send their children to residential schools for various material reasons. It’s seldom for a cause. But last year, parents of 30 Parsi children decided that the cause of serving the community was worthy enough. So they packed them off, some of them only about six years old, to the Athornan Madressa at Dadar, a boarding school for future Zoroastrian priests situated in a leafy by-lane of the Parsi Colony.

The school is one of only two in the world (the other one too, is in Mumbai, in Andheri). Graduates, known as “mobeds” or priests who pass out of the school, serve the Zoroastrian community in India and outside. Often, many of them come from humble backgrounds.

In a way, the Madressa signifies the attempts of the besieged Parsi community to keep its traditions alive in the changing world and produce priests who would take care of the shrinking community’s religious traditions and practices. Mobeds usually come from a line of priestly Zoroastrian families, called Athornan. Not all of them attend the school and many of them memorise the prayers and rituals at home before being ordained. But in order to carry out more complex rituals and ceremonies, the mobeds need to complete a stint at one of the two boarding schools.

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In a significant ruling, the Bombay High Court cleared the decks for over 1.25 Parsis in the world to gather under one roof. Justice AM Khanwilkar ruled on Thursday that any Parsi in any corner of the world can become a member of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP).

Besides, Justice Khanwilkar also ruled that any Parsi, who is of 18-years age can vote for the oncoming elections in the BPP. Earlier, in August 2006, the HC had directed the BPP to hold the elections before August 2007. The elections which are to be held every seven years were last held in 1993.

Of the total Parsi population, around 40,000 Parsis reside in Mumbai of which only 22,000 Parsis are general members of the BPP. Bedsides, there are around 1,200-1,500 Donor members who have the right to cast two votes. Any Parsi can become a member after paying Rs 1,000 as fees whereas the fees for Donor member is Rs 25,000 cash or kind.

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HYDERABAD: It’s not exactly the return of the prodigal, because Karan Billimoria has been coming home to Hyderabad every year from London, the city that he has made his own for the past two decades. But this trip was special for reasons more than one.

He wanted his two sons to have their Navjot (the Parsi rites of initiation) in the same place where he had it and “run round the dharamasala in the same way I did.”

Then this is the first time that the accountant who became a billionaire by selling beer, came home after he became a Lord (and by implication a member of the British House of Lords) last year.

“I am the first Parsi to become a member of House of Lords,” the man who studied in Hyderabad Public School (HPS) tells you proudly. “The other three members starting with Dadabhai Naoroji were at the House of Commons,” he says adding that his great grandfather D D Italia was a Rajya Sabha member in the fifties.

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Bangalore-based biotech firm Avesthagen is studying an inbred Indian population.

Bangalore-based biotech company Avesthagen said Wednesday it has launched a genome project to build a genetic database of an inbred India community known as the Parsis.

The Avesthagenome project will study the Parsis people of the Zoroastrian community to gather data for a genealogical and medical database.

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As a prelude to eight-day Persian festival in Mumbai, the grandeur of the Persian empire is being re-awakened by the city architect Jimmy Mistry in the heart of the metropolis. It intends to reintroduce present generation Parsis and the general people to the rich cultural heritage of the empire.

Mistry, who is a Paris, conducted research on the history of the empire before embarking on this endeavour. His effort is going to yield fruit on Friday at the Navjote, initiation of a Parsi child into the Zoroastrian religion. Mistry’s eight-year old daughters will also initiated on the same day.

The endeavour is borne out of personal interest of Mistry, who wants to familiarise the masses with the rich Zoroastrian culture. Hence, he planned colossus sets, depicting the grandeur of the empire. It will be displayed at the Colaba Agiary, which will be attended by the country’s top shots. Mistry has personally designed all the sets.

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Film on Gujarat riots gets green signal; to be released this Friday

Almost five years after Gujarat riots of February 2002, a gutsy English-language feature film that looks at the communal carnage through the eyes of a real-life Parsi couple whose only son went missing during the conflagration, is ready for release after a protracted battle with the censors and apathetic distributors.

Parzania, produced and directed by Rahul Dholakia, has done the rounds of film festivals over the past two years, but could not find takers until the director and the film’s co-producer, KB Sareen, floated their own distribution company to release the film in Mumbai, Kerala and Gujarat. PVR Pictures is distributing Parzania in Delhi, Nizam and the Central Provinces. The film is due to hit the screen on January 26.
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One can’t say for sure if Justice B J Shethna really packed some power in the punches he allegedly rained on his colleague, Justice P B Majmudar, in Ahmedabad on January 11.

But, if he really did, then Justice Majmudar should consider himself lucky that he didn’t suffer much damage.

Just three days before the skirmish, the former president of the Gujarat High Court Bar Association sent a petition to the then Chief Justice of India, Y K Sabharwal, objecting to Justice Shethna posing for a local health club.

In the 50-second advertisement clip for Parsana Fitness and Gym, Justice Shethna is shown pumping iron and flexing his muscles.

The muscular judge appears in the advertisement thrice, wearing dark glasses and sporting a shaved head, which is customary for him during the hot summer months.

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This article appeared in the Boston Globe. I cannot seem to find the online direct link. However, read on…

As screaming children raced around the hall in joyous play, adult workers readied food in the kitchen, while others set up chairs and tables. The holiday dinner of the Zoroastrian Association of the Greater Boston Area, held in a borrowed church basement in Arlington last month, mingled fellowship and family.

A new year naturally turns the mind to the future, especially for those looking back on a long and storied past, and Zoroastrians are peering at a horizon that they may never reach. A practice of not accepting converts has helped whittle the ranks of this ancient religion to fewer than 200,000 worldwide. Assimilation further robs the community of its distinctiveness, a fact in plain view at the dinner, where partygoers whose faith predated Jesus by a millennium nonetheless decorated an artificial Christmas tree.

“Both my boys are married outside [to] non-Zoroastrians,” said Sarosh Sukhia , a Pakistan-born Virginian who attended the party during a family visit to Boston. “They’ll keep an adherence to the name, and I’ll try to teach them the prayers.”

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Sporting a fresh court of paint, a group of 70-year-old cessed buildings at Dadar and Churchgate are enjoying a new lease on life. Even as incentive floor space index (FSI) lures landlords and tenants to embrace reconstruction schemes enmasse, some fiercely proud property owners are sparing no costs to hang on to their inheritance.

“I love my building and am proud of it,” says RR Bharucha, landlord of four-storey Ahunavar building on Jame Jamshed Road at Parsi Colony. “I also live here, so why would I be miserly about spending for its maintenance?”

Refurbished a year ago, the building is made up of stone and is coloured grey. Ornately styled box windows with wooden beams made from Burma teak support the grilled balconies that house green plants.

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Big boys like playing with their favourite toys and while they are at it, their girlfriends are keeping a watchful eye on their men who for one day seem to be paying a lot more attention to other beauties - their bikes.

“I am engaged but my finacee doesn’t mind my having a girlfriend,” he laughs a biker, Jehangir Jeejeebhoy while pointing at his bike.

Adds another biker, Navroz Langrana, “We Parsi’s love our bikes more than our wives.”

These bikers have come to take part in a rally for the Parsi Youth in Mumbai organised by well-known architect Jimmy Mistry. The aim of the rally is to persuade youth to take an active part in community activities.

Watch the Video on CNN-IBN

“This is to show that the so called dwindling Parsi community can come together for an event of this scale,” says Mistry.

The rally was a real treat for bike lovers, with everything from Harleys to Hayabusas to Hondas putting up an impressive show.

It also had several vintage beauties who of course were accompanied by vintage bikers like 73-year-old Rustom Gotla.

“I drove my wife around on this bike, then my kids and now my grandchildren love to get rides on it,” says Rustom who was the oldest biker in the rally.

All the zipping around aside, the rally turned out to be one big Sunday picnic for members of the Parsi community.

Original article here