Rohan Doctor Brings Louisa AI to Life at WZCC-NY Event On Saturday, July 19th, the WZCC-NY chapter and ZAGNY hosted a...
arZan Articles
The day Parsis shut Bombay down over stray dogs
It’s hard to imagine that Bombay (now Mumbai) once came to a screeching halt over stray dogs. Almost 200 years ago,...
Going to London to get a degree?
Kaizad Mistry, a Counsellor, has been screening students and guiding them on how to make a proper choice For most students, going abroad after graduation is a done thing. While some can afford the...
Foreigner worked on Chinese Tomb
DNA tests show China's first emperor employed a foreigner in building his mausoleum, home to the Terracotta warriors, proof of contact between Central and East Asia over 2,200 years ago, state media...
Mumbai’s pioneering Gujarati newspaper completes 184 years .
Gulf News - Dubai,United Arab Emirates ... On July 1 1822, a Parsi scholar and priest Fardoonji Murazban, a pioneer in journalism in western India, started publishing the newspaper as Bombay...
Vroom… and it’s a goal
Youngsters from Rustom Baug, Byculla will be playing football with gearless two-wheelers, this Sunday Boys playing football barefoot in maidans is a frequent sight one would witness during the...
Now, football lovers bend it on wheels
The match at Rustom Baug in Byculla on SundayThe incessant rain was no deterrent to sports enthusiasts who gathered at Rustom Baug, Byculla, on Sunday to witness a football match with a difference....
Parsi Chef Heads Whole Foods Meals
Grocery shopping can get pretty humdrum and meal planning a drag. So when I heard that Whole Foods Markets are putting some interesting ethnic items on their prepared foods menus, I wanted to meet...
Aspi and Persis
An original story idea for a Parsi feature film By Sorab Irani Authors Note: As this is written in visual terms for a movie screen, readers are reminded to bear this in mind while they read it &...
Short Stories
Parsi Khabar is happy to announce the start of a new feature on the blog. From time to time we will feature short stories submitted by authors, and meeting the broad based guidelines and spirit of...
Resignation of Four Trustees of the BPP
The Remedy Is Worse Than the Malady By Noshir H. Dadrawala Ever since news regarding 4 out the present 6 trustees of the BPP resigning leaked out, my phone has not stopped ringing. I have been...
Pilgrimage to Iran – 2006
By Noshir H. Dadrawala The month of May 2006 marked my eleventh visit in the last one decade to Iran - the Spiritual Motherland of Zoroastrians all over the world. It was also one of my most...
Fortune’s fallout: Parsis are victims of their own wealth
Religion and real estate make a lethal alloy, and its the one piercing the heart of the Parsi community. Its latest manifestation was the resignation on Tuesday of four out of six trustees of the...
‘Indian Cowboy’ to come to life in DreamAcres…
'Indian Cowboy' to come to life in DreamAcres barn By Gretchen Mensink Lovejoy Zaraawar Mistry may have never expected his character Gayomar Katrak to find himself in a barn, but that is precisely...
Wada-pav and haircut, right outside Tata Blocks,…
Resident comes with photographs as proof as BMC turns a deaf ear to complaint Seventy-nine-year-old Phiroze Damania came to this newspaper office with a unique complaint and armed with photographs...
Boman Mahino: No Non Veg
The Parsi community is known to be extremely food-loving. Unlike a majority of religions in India, the Parsis do not have the concept of fasting. They are known, on every possible occasion, to enjoy...
Shaking The Foundations
How Ratan Tata turned the country's oldest conglomerate into a global force You wouldn't expect the head of Tata group, India's largest conglomerate, to say the rich are boring. But Ratan Tata comes...
Avesta and the TV Guide
They lie on the table side by side The Khordeh Avesta and the TV Guide. One is well worn and cherished with pride. Not the Avesta, but the TV Guide. One is used daily to help folks decide. No, not...
To House or Not to House ???
Open land in Mumbai's Parsi fire temples are the latest targets for re-development. How is the community reacting? It may be all quiet at Kappawalla Agiary, in Mumbai's Tardeo, but all's certainly...
Roots of fear and hubris
TO understand why Iranians are so proud of their culture and civilisation, I was repeatedly told, one must visit a few places besides Tehran, especially Shiraz, and Isfahan, regarded as the...
Parsis A Vanishing Race: Documentary
Sorab Irani, a producer of documentaries and movies, informs us about a new very interesting documentary on the Parsis. Directed by Oorvazi Irani, this documentary tries to the film medium is a...
Ties that bind
As for Zoroastrian boys planning to study in Pune at the junior college level, the soon-to-begin Seth Dadhbhoy PB Jeejeebhoy hostel for boys is the right place. Minoo Kabraji, rector of the hostel...
Zoroastrians Today
Tenaz Dubash, a documentary film maker has launched her latest project "Zoroastrians Today" Her website informs This hour-long documentary will focus on the assimilation of the Zoroastrian community...
A Moment With Ruth Prawer Jhabvala
A lot of Jews are intermarried, but few are married to Parsis. If you had to generalize, are there any similarities between the two groups? Oh, absolutely. Parsis are known as the "Jews of India."...
A year later, Wapiz continues to do its bit for Zoroastrians
Tomorrow, the World Alliance of Parsi Irani Zarthostis (WAPIZ) completes a year riddled with controversies. But not one without achievements though. "Of 54 anjumans (group of people heading the...
Where have all the John Crows gone?
An item in my local morning paper this week grabbed my interest because it graphically evoked something I noticed in the island a few years back. The news story was about the rapid dying off of the...
Apocalypse future: Through a glass, darkly
... She said Zoroaster was the first to teach about individual judgment, heaven and hell, the resurrection of the body, the last judgment, and life everlasting. ... Continue reading here
Meet Malabar Hill’s senior-most citizen!
Trees are dust collectors, sound dampeners and homes for birds and animals... Incredible it may seem, but it's true. In this concrete jungle of Mumbai, bang in the heart of South Mumbai, stands...
Let vultures live for our death: Parsis
A motley crowd of Parsis and nature-lovers listened with rapt attention as Dr RD Jakati, Chief Wildlife Warden of Haryana, spoke at length on his pet subject, vulture conservation. The topic, of...
Split in the Parsi Parivar
WHEN Anju Dawar, a Parsi lawyer based in Ahmedabad married a colleague, she was expelled from the community. ''At best her husband will convert but will this not dilute the very essence of the...
‘Builders want temple land’
The World Alliance of Parsi Irani Zarthoshtis (Wapiz) on Friday warned that fire temple lands in the city were under threat from unscrupulous developers and said one of its main objectives would be...
Lord Bilimoria
The father was an Indian Army general; the son is to be a British Lord. Karan Bilimoria, 44, founder and chief executive of Cobra Beer, popular for washing down chicken tikka masala, has been...
Going great guns, Dr Udwadia.
Mumbai's Dr TE Udwadia, Emeritus professor of surgery, Grant Medical College, consultant surgeon and the head of minimal access surgery, Hinduja Hospital, consultant surgeon of Breach Candy and...
Whats the Fuss About: Da Vinci Code
It's the Da Vinci showdown As protests against The Da Vinci Code gather momentum, Mumbai comes out strongly in favour of freedom of expression I was invited by the Censor Board to watch The Da Vinci...
Bhicoo J Manekshaw : Food Writer
Parsi Platter Bhicoo J Manekshaw has been the lone crusader of Parsi cuisine in the country. And at 83, she is still trying to popularise it through her books. She was the first Cordon Bleu chef...
Why are so many Parsis unmarried?
Minoo Shroff, chairman of Bombay Parsi Panchayat, feels most Parsis are very fussy about their choice of life partner One third of Parsis do not marry, according to a yet-to-be published study...
Shrinking flocks of vultures spoil ancient culture’s funeral rituals
Destruction of birds by a cattle drug presents the Parsis of India with a dilemma MUMBAI -- Smack in the middle of the thicket of ultramodern high-rises that make up Malabar Hill, one of Mumbai's...
Drug ban could save vultures
Vultures in danger of being wiped out by a drug used to treat livestock in India have been given a reprieve after the Government called on companies to phase out the medicine. While perhaps not the...
The Yellow Badge of Denial
The bizarre, humiliating, and enduring nature of the dress regulations imposed upon the Zoroastrian community of central Iran (Yezd) were captured in this eyewitness account by Napier Malcolm, (Five...
‘I can’t forget the killers’ faces’
A little after 8 pm on a wet night in June two years ago, inside a ground floor apartment in Dadar's quaint Parsi Colony, Keiki Karai's life changed forever. Three unidentified youths walked up to...
Run Lola
Of all her celebrity guests so far, she's loved chatting with the Parsis--Boman Irani, Homi Adajania and Perizaad Zorabian. "It's probably because Bawas and Malayalees are both a mad bunch of...
Lagan Nu Achar
Pickles preserve the historical flavours of communities like the Persian origin of Parsis in the dried fruits of their celebratory lagannu achar, or the Portuguese vinegar in which Goans preserve...
Shayan Italia: Music Sensation
Shayan Italia, a new musician in the mainstream music world is all set to release his album Deliverance. As his press release notes My name is Shayan Italia and I am the artist/songwriter of the...
New things at Parsi Khabar
New things are happening here at Parsi Khabar. First and foremost we have our own domain. Parsi Khabar now resides at www.ParsiKhabar.net The establishment of its own domain was something that was...
Rediscover the Axial Age ethos
complained to Lord Mazda (Aryan god of harmony): 'For whom did you shape me? ... Fury and raiding, cruelty and might hold me captive.' " Lord Mazda replied that Zoroaster, a priest, would protect...
Lost in time
Down a narrow lane from my school was a candy shop. It was actually a general store but a range of mouth-watering chocolates and candies in colourful wrappers were displayed on the racks visible...
Some thoughts, some reservations
A case of great constitutional significance is being argued before a bench of five justices of the Supreme Court, presided over by the chief justice of India. A few years ago both houses of...
Parsi debate: panchayat vs federation
Don't force radical changes on us: Ahmedabad panchayat to governing body Express News Service Ahmedabad, April 30: Accusing it of forcing its radical propaganda upon Parsis, the Ahmedabad Parsi...
Green Cuisine
No Parsi wedding or celebration is complete without the famous Patro na Machchi (fish in a leaf). And a famous style of Bengal cuisine called "bhapa" (meaning steam) is steaming spiced vegetables or...
Zubin Mehta Turns 70
Los Angeles, Apr 29: Zubin Mehta, one of the world's greatest conductors of Western classical music, is celebrating his 70th birthday today. Mehta, a Parsee has been the conductor of the Israel...
The Dilemma of Iran and US relations
Historically, a mass exodus of Iranians from the greater Persian plateau has occurred presumably for fear of religious persecution, by people of the Zoroastrian faith emigrating to Gujarat and...
Zubin Varla to Play Rajiv Gandhi
British Parsi actor may play Rajiv If all goes well for Jagmohan Mundhra, his film Sonia, based on Congress president Sonia Gandhi's life, will rise to a remarkable level of authenticity before a...