Mumbai, August 26, 2025 – When Burzin Engineer crossed the finish line at the IRONMAN Tallinn triathlon, his words...
arZan Articles
Havovi Cooper: From Karachi Roots to Emmy Winner
A commemorated path from Karachi to prime-time recognition, Havovi Cooper—daughter of Dosi and Zubin Cooper—is...
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 due respect to Simi...
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 Hill and...
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 hospital's CEO,...
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, which has...
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 access...
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 for ailing patients, but...
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 won't...
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, it's more the case...
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 colony at Hughes...
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 Parsi and...
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. He...
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 works, no...
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 below...
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 character was a crooked...
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 about...
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 thriller and superhit, Don. DCP...
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 aspirations of...
Strife over death at Parsi meet
Punchayet will form panel to decide alternative ways to dispose dead The body disposal issue reared its head last month when Dhun Baria clandestinely shot a video and took photographs of Tower of...
Perizaad Zorabian all set to marry Boman Irani
How did you know?"was Perizaad Zorabian's reaction when we congratulated her on the news of her wedding. December 7 will see the actress tying the knot with beau Boman Irani - not the funnyman from...
Breeding revives fortunes of India’s rare vultures
Indian conservationists have successfully bred a rare species of vulture, brought near to extinction by a drug used to treat cattle but which is highly toxic to the scavenging birds. Eighteen...
Kennedy Center to Honour Zubin Mehta
Zubin Mehta is among the five stalwarts from the arts and entertainment field who will be honoured by the John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts this year. Apart from Mehta, the others are...
Dr. Homi Dastur, Eminent Neurosurgeon Turns 80
Dina Mehta, the power-house Indian blogger writes to inform that My dad, Dr. Homi Dastur, is 80 today ... and you'd never know it if you met him. He's a neurosurgeon and still operates at Jaslok...
Dinyar Vania At the NY City Opera
Dinyar Vania, a Parsi tenor performs at the NY City Opera on October 14, 2006 and again the following Tuesday. As per the announcement "Dinyar Vania is making his lead tenor role debut with N.Y....
Ancient religions clash in modern Iran
It's one of the world's oldest religions, but Zoroastrianism is treated with suspicion by Iran's Islamic state, writes Robert Tait The village of Chak Chak consists of a shrine perched beneath a...
Iran’s last Zoroastrians worried by youth exodus
TEHRAN: Flicking through photographs of immigrant Zoroastrian friends in sunny California, 40-year-old Farzad Dehnavizadeh sighs and wishes the young people of his faith stopped leaving Iran for the...
The family business that helped build Indian industry
Starting over a century ago and against considerable odds, the Tatas virtually single-handedly built Indian industry. Theirs was the country's first Indian-owned textile mill, India's national...
Mumbai’s Irani hotspots
With distinctive ambience and mouth-watering fare, Irani cafes enthrall Mumbaikars. Largely frequented by the working class, these cafes are a big draw because they are reasonably priced and...
Tata: the Indian industrial giant with a core of steel
Tata Steel was set up in the teeth of racist scorn and the incredulity of many servants of the Raj Both groups are headed by Indians and both are hungry to take over non-Indian steel companies. But...
Dasturji Jamasp Asa achieves fifty years of service
Tuesday was an important day for Mumbai's Parsi community. The high priest of the community, Vada Dastur Saheb Khaikhusroo Dastur Minocher Pamasp Asa, of the 109-year-old Anjumana Atash Behram at...
Zorastrians Today
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...
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...
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...
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...