Mumbai’s beloved Parsi café, Jimmy Boy, which has stood proudly at Horniman Circle in Fort for nearly a century,...
arZan Articles
Jehan Bhujwala Saving Kutch’s 150-Year-Old Thorn Forest: Preserving Chadva Rakhal
Preserving Chadva Rakhal: Meet The Man Saving Kutch’s 150-Year-Old Thorn Forest In Bhuj, a rare patch of tropical...
Lover of Life, Singer of Songs: The Very Best of Freddie Mercury
Album: Lover of Life, Singer of Songs: The Very Best of Freddie Mercury Solo (Hollywood) Why we care: Queen’s late, great rock god (who would have been 60 this year) didn’t have a...
A Few Stray Thoughts by Farzana Contractor
Sweet Dadi, younger brother of Behram is here, all the way from the South of France, St Rapheal, where he now lives It’s not often that I have house guests. And rarely if ever as welcome as...
Bawa Bikers on a roll for a good cause
Led by Jimmy Mistry, 300 Parsi bikers will spread the message that Parsis do a lot more than just bicker On Sunday morning when the roads of Mumbai are still sleepy, around 300 Parsi bikers will don...
Parsi apex body seeks universal franchise
By Nauzer Bharucha MUMBAI: Parsis may be one of the most literate and progressive communities in the country. But for the past 350 years, a vast majority of them in Mumbai had no stake in appointing...
Fars Railway Path Changed
Transportation Ministry Obliged to Change Fars Railway Path One of the bas-reliefs of Naqsh-e Rostam, depicting Sassanid king Ardeshir I with defeated Roman emperors Valerian and Philip at his feet...
Karate champs
Sisters Zinatra and Mahzarine Bonesetter make their parents proud by clinching seven medals at the recently held 8th All Gujarat Shotaokan Karate Championships Tennis and badminton move aside. The...
A family’s attempts to trace their missing son
Tears well up in her eyes as she remembers the ill-fated day in 2002 when her 13-year-old son went missing during the Gujarat riots. Even after five years, Rupa Dara Mody carries his photograph in...
Zoroaster’s Kaba: A Potential Victim of Railway Construction
Studies on the map of a railway which is planned to pass close to the historic site of Naqsh-e Rostam in Fars province show that it would for sure result in destruction of Achaemenid monument of...
Ibad lauds role of Parsis in development
KARACHI: Sindh Governor Ishratul Ibad has said that the services rendered by Parsis in the development of Pakistan and particularly Karachi and their welfare work will never be forgotten. He was...
A Parsi Wedding
A good friend of Parsi Khabar and problogger Manish Vij of Ultrabrown fame was invited for a Parsi Wedding. He has some great observations and wonderful snaps. Check them here Incidentally, the...
Zubin Mehta Felicitated at Kennedy Center
Kennedy Center Chairman Stephen A. Schwarzman has declared that Zubin Mehta’s “profound artistry and devotion to music make him a world treasure.” No doubt that’s why...
Naqsh-e Rustam site in danger
The railroad project had been stopped on the order of the Marvdasht public prosecutor some time ago, but he revised his ruling and the road construction machines recently resumed operations at the...
Bandra residents want BMC chief’s written promise
The Bandra Hill Road Citizen’s Committee movement to save old heritage structures, including the Tata Parsi Agiary, St Peter’s Church, St Stanislaus’ High School and St...
First Iranian Kings of Persian Poetry
By Manouchehr Saadat Noury, PhD – Persian Journal INTRODUCTION: According to a great number of eminent scholars and highly respected experts in Persian Literature and Poetry, there are many...
City’s at the heart of art mart
This was fuelled initially by the wealthy community of Parsis who were known not just for the acquisitions of art, but their appreciation of the arts and promotional activities,” an art market...
It’s a small but powerful community and Parsis…
It’s a small but powerful community and Parsis in Mumbai are joining hands to protect a 123-year-old community temple. Built by the Tatas, the agiary on Bandra’s Hill Road is under...
1400 people turn up to save Bandra Agiary
Parsis from Mumbai gather at agiary gates after SMS campaign Never underestimate the power of people. That’s what the Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC) discovered on Saturday morning. About...
Bandra Agiary Wall Demolition Stopped
BMC defers demolition at Bandra agiary As anger built up among residents and activists of Bandra (W) against the proposed widening of Hill Road, the civic administration on Friday called off its...
Do You Know Kareena Panthaki ?
A reader, Andrea Marchon sent us this email. If you know the person she is looking for, please leave the information in the comments section below. We will pass it on to Andrea. Andrea Marchon...
Parsi from “Penang”writes back
A couple of weeks ago we posted an article by Ruby Lilaowala about her trip to Malaysia. She mentioned that there wre only two Parsi families in Malaysia. A reader Zarir Cama wrote back to us on...
I’m not Semi Girebaal because I’m a Bawa!
I’m not Semi Girebaal because I’m a Bawa! Cyrus Sahukar’s second season of spoof has begun, but he has his serious moments as well … despite being a Parsi, he says! With all...
Parsi reformists to send legal notice to BMC
Dhun Baria and a group of Parsi reformists supporting her would soon send a legal notice to the BMC’s health department for carrying out shoddy inspection of the Tower of Silence in Malabar...
Parsi baby is Jolie’s reel love
Hollywood beauty Angelina Jolie held him close to her bosom, looked into his eyes lovingly and kissed him gently. And partner Brad Pitt was nowhere around when this happened behind closed doors on a...
Parsis celebrate Sanjan day
To commemorate the historic landing of the Parsis on the Indian soil at Sanjan, 1290 years ago, the Parsi residents of Sanjan will be celebrating Sanjan Day on Sunday 19 November To commemorate the...
Baby Chiniwala stars with Angelina Jolie
Parsi businessman Viraf Chiniwala, whose new-born child has been roped in for Angelina Jolie’s movie, is an overwhelmed man. “Our gynaecologist, Avan Dadina, stopped me and said the...
Tower of Silence gets clean chit
By Nauzar Bharucha Setting to rest the controversy over the Parsi Towers of Silence at Malabar Hill, the health department of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which inspected the...
Only 23 Parsi families left in the capital
Only 23 Parsi families are now residing in the capital while among the minorities, Muslims are the largest chunk here. According to the Delhi Minorities Commission’s annual report 2004-05,...
Bordi: A bit of Parsi Heritage
A bit of Parsi heritage near Mumbai. This week, we move west. I’ve lived in Mumbai long enough to have become an honorary Mumbaikar, and one of the privileges of this position is that I have...
75-yr-old Katy Gundevia donates kidney to auto driver
“What better way to leave one’s footprints behind than to donate one’s organs.” This was not a plea coming from a group of doctors encouraging people to pledge their organs...
Postcard from Penang
One of the most picturesque places in Malaysia, this island is also it’s food capital since you get the finest Malay, Korean, Singaporean, Vietnamese, Chinese and Indian food for a price which...
India’s Tiger : Ratan Tata
Ratan Tata turned a sleepy firm into a global power by targeting the low end of the market It’s not that Ratan Tata finds the rich uninteresting–after all he’s one of them. No,...
Parsi Man accused of leaking US military info to China
WASHINGTON: A 62-year-old India-born engineer in Maui, Hawaii, who worked on the B-2 stealth bomber, has been charged with using secret military information to help China build a stealth cruise...
Polly Umrigar: Child at Heart
Madhav Mantri sat at his Hindu Colony dwelling, protective collar around his neck and all last evening, hurting at the passing away of Polly Umrigar. The former India skipper looked up to Mantri,...
Polly Umrigar Passes Away
The legendary cricketer, sterling statesman to the game, and an amazing personality, Pahlan (Polly) Umrigar passed away today. This was reported in the 10 pm. CNN-IBN news channel. Polly kaka was...
Restoring the old world
At the ‘Community Museum’, there are plenty of things to catch your attention – rare photographs, antique porcelain vases, Gandhara sculptures and much more… The quaint Parsi...
NRI Karan Billimoria felicitated
Describing him as a “role model” for the Indian community, London-based India International Foundation has felicitated Karan Billimoria, founder of Cobra Beer, for becoming the first...
Zubin, Freddie, Ratan: The Parsi conquests
When Ratan Tata made that big Diwali-eve announcement to pitch for India’s biggest overseas acquisition yet, he sent a unique cultural message with a trait so typical of his Parsi community....
Flavours of fusion
Parsis too, ever since they adopted India as their own land, have, as a community, constantly and quite consciously enriched their food through a process of deliberate fusion. Their recipes are...
Hall of Fame: Farokh Engineer
Name the Indian wicketkeeper-batsman who was explosive with the bat, superbly efficient and athletic behind the stumps, started off as a goalkeeper, and was famous for his hair, sex-appeal, and...
Discovering some curiosities in Mumbai
Nearby is the Parsi Tower of Silence. Parsis follow the ancient religion of Zoroastrianism. They believe in the purity of the four elements and are not allowed to bury or cremate their dead. Instead...
Parsi Cooking in New Zealand
At Half Moon Bay Restaurant and Function Centre, new owners Faranak and Sohrab Irani have brought their own special touch to this lovely venue overlooking the water. Retaining a predominantly modern...
It’s also about trust, say Tata Steel shareholders
With Tatas acquiring Corus Group, long time shareholders of the Tata group companies see it as a vindication of their trust. Najoo E Adajania invested in Tata Steel over two decades ago as she...
The Fun of Being a Parsee
[received via email. Author Unknown] It lies in many things …. It’s like belonging to an exclusive Club worldwide. Birth, the only credential and consideration; nothing, but nothing else...
TATA: An Indian Company Wants to Be Everywhere
The NYT writes about the recent bid by Tata Steel to acquire Corus of UK. This would propel Tata’s to #6 in list of the largest steel manufacturers in the world, from their current position...
Second steely punch from the subcontinent
MONTHS after Lakshmi Mittal took over European steel giant Arcelor in the face of stiff competition and a hostile campaign that bordered on racism, another Indian is bracing to deliver a steely...
Have a laugh with Irani
FUNNYMAN Boman Irani had to learn a new language of comedy – literally – when shooting his latest film ‘Khosla Ka Ghosla.’ The former talented photographer is a Parsi and his...
Parsi Authors
Then there was a clutch of Parsi novelists–all settled abroad. Gifted story-tellers with good command of the language and the ability to laugh at themselves. They were at their best writing...
Boman Irani’s mission in Don
I’m here to investigate actor Boman Irani’s latest role — as supercop and Deputy Commissioner of Police — in director Farhan Akhtar’s remake of the 1978 Bollywood...
Nilufer Bharucha focuses on women in Indian fiction, cinema
Fans of Indian cinema and literature will want to catch upcoming presentations by visiting professor Dr. Nilufer Bharucha at the University College of the Fraser Valley. Bharucha, the head of the...
Parsi Surnames
What do you call a PARSEE….Bootlegger? Daruwalla Who thinks he is aristocratic? Noble Who loves to cook? Masalawalla Who is mysterious? Mistry Who is a Wheeler Dealer? Dalal Who has...