In a creaking colonial building on DN Road, a group of volunteers works to keep alive the memory of a friendship...
arZan Articles
Remembering Naval Jijina, the Reclusive Post-War Modernist Who Painted Mumbai
In a modest Parsi household in Andheri, where the pagri-clad patriarch passed away last month, there are no portraits...
Comic books capture interest of a wide range of audiences, from children to adults: Amar Chitra Katha CEO
IANS: How was the project conceived? Vyas: Our content team has a long wish list of titles for new content. Based on our bandwidth, certain projects take priority. The story of Ardeshir Godrej had...
The Defunct Jalna Tower of Silence
Below is a video of the Towers of Silence in Jalna, Maharashtra. The video commentary is in Marathi and it talks about the total abandonment of the Towers of Silence and many other Zoroastrian...
Parsi Legend Quoted in the World Bank 2023 World Development Report
The annual World Development Report, 2023 by the World Bank quotes a Parsi legend, points to human migration for several thousand years and advocates policy changes to deal with migrants and...
Behzad Dabu: He’s a 3rd-generation actor making a living in TV
He’s a 3rd-generation actor making a living in TV. It started with the role of ‘Pompous Face’ Behzad Dabu is an actor in “How to Get Away With Murder” and “The Chi.” (Dania Maxwell / Los Angeles...
With No Towers of Silence in the West, Zoroastrian Last Rites are a Fraught Affair
The West has no structures or legal precedent for corpses to decay in the open air. For those wishing to follow traditions, funerals are a compromise. Zoroastrian priests pray for the religious...
Ronnie K. Irani Awarded Honorary Degree at University of Oklahoma
Ronnie K. Irani of Oklahoma City, an entrepreneur and a geoscience enthusiast whose 43 years in the energy industry led to many commercial developments in oil and gas. Ronnie K. Irani is founder and...
Nawaz Merchant: Removing racial biases necessary for harmony in society
Our dear friend and award-winning author Nawaz Merchant writes… Until 1968 black families were systematically discriminated against in housing (a process called redlining), which led to economic and...
A new Iranian cookbook puts the spotlight on yogurt and whey
Two weeks before the launch of Homa Dashtaki’s book “Yogurt & Whey,” she threw a party at the California Zoroastrian Center in Westminster, southeast of Los Angeles. For several days she and her...
Katayun Kapadia featured in Local Voices: Memories, Stories and Portraits
Our dearest friend, mentor and past FEZANA President Katayun Kapadia is featured in“Local Voices: Memories, Stories, and Portraits,”one of two new exhibitions on view at Grounds For Sculpture in...
Looted relics worth US$3.5 million on loan to New York’s Met museum returned to China
Stone carvings valued at more than US$3 million handed back after investigation into private art collection The artefacts were ripped from a seventh century tomb Article by Cyril Ip | South China...
All Pune Parsee Indoor Sports tournament held in Pune
To beat the heat and make summers more enjoyable JJ Building Sports Committee along with the Zoroastrian Youth Association of Pune had for the 1st time organised an All Pune Parsee Indoor Sports...
Collegium Clears The Appointment Of Firdosh Phiroze Pooniwala As Bombay HC Judge
The Supreme Court collegium headed by Chief Justice of India D. Y. Chandrachud has recommended a Parsi lawyer for appointment as a Bombay High Court judge, while declining to consider an objection...
Remembering Sherna Gandhy
Bachi Karkaria writes about her friend Sherna Gandhy the legendary journalist and editor who passed into the ages on April 28 after a long battle with cancer. Of forgetting and Remembering...
Memoirs of a Parsi daughter: Book review |
THE STORY OF MY LIFE by Dosebai Cowasjee Jessawalla SPEAKING TIGER ₹799; 344 pages Article by Shabnam Minwalla | India Today In 1842, Meheribai, a widow, enrolled her daughter in Mrs Ward’s...
Who was Muncherji Cowasji Murzban?
The Esplanade area was still a blueprint when Muncherji Cowasji Murzban arrived in Bombay in 1863 MUMBAI: The Esplanade area was still a blueprint when Muncherji Cowasji Murzban arrived in Bombay in...
Barjor Mehta Appoined as new President of CEPT University in Ahmedabad
CEPT University has announced the appointment of Mr. Barjor Mehta (FA UG ’74), an alum and former director of the School of Planning, as the President and Acting Director of the University for a...
Ba Humata Lecture Series: May 2023
The May 2023 Ba Humata Lecture is scheduled for Sunday May 7, 2023 The month’s topic is: Life is an Expression of Our Deepest Realization… Yasna Ha 51.22 & Yenghe-Hatam Speakers: Ervad Rustom...
With No Towers of Silence in the West, Zoroastrian Last Rites are a Fraught Affair-Two
The West has no structures or legal precedent for corpses to decay in the open air. For those wishing to follow traditions, funerals are a compromise. Zoroastrian priests pray for the religious...
Tehemton Homi Mehta: 101-year-old Dubai expat reveals secret of long life
Tehemton Mehta lives alone and does all his household chores himself Article by Mazhar Farooqui | Khaleej Times Tehemton Homi Dhunjiboy Mehta is not your typical centenarian. This Zoroastrian Dubai...
Parsi swag and style on display at May Queen Ball beauty pageant in Rustom Baug
No one can quite place when the May Queen Ball started really, but most of its loyal audience trace their association with the event to its revival in 1993. For at least three decades, the pageant...
Freyaz Shroff and KurNiv Celebrate 5th Anniversary of Foundation
Our dear friend Freyaz Shroff started the KurNiv Foundation (KNF) 5 years ago. On their 5th anniversary, here is a small presentation of their work and the reach and impact of the foundation. Freyaz...
The Parsi Graveyard in Lahore
Baalwala Explores A Secret Parsi Graveyard Located In Lahore That Very Few Know About.
Arzan Khambatta is Art of India exhibition’s best discovery
In a corner at Bikaner House at the Art & Soul, Art of India exhibition is a stellar sculpture of a horse’s head.Entitled Mustang Sally it is a mesmerising portrait of a horse in the hands of a...
Gujarat’s Legendary ‘Walking Mango Tree’ at Sanjan Village Where Parsis First Sought Asylum
Mango lovers all around the country wait impatiently for the mango to sweeten their tongues as summer approaches, but in Gujarat, Sanjan hamlet in Umargam taluka of Valsad district holds a special...
Navzad Dabu: A NYC Subway Concert of Radiohead Covers
Musician Navzad Dabu provided late-night commuters in NYC’s Metropolitan Avenue / Grand Street subway station with a phenomenal private performance. His graveyard shift concert included back-to-back...
Monnock Parsee, Pendia Pattell & The British Flag
How an early version of UK’s national flag helped Bombay merchants grow their business A pass for ‘Monnock Parsee’ and ‘Pendia Pattell’ sailing aboard the Tiger was issued at Fort Bombay carries an...
Shernaz Cama Speaks at the Zoroastrian Museum in Singapore
Our dear friend Dr. Shernaz Cama was recently in Singapore to speak to the Parsi Association there at the new Zoroastrian Museum that was inaugurated last year. PARZOR writes: The Parsi Zoroastrian...
The Fire That Never Goes Out
What can we learn about long-term thinking from millennia-old Zoroastrian fire rituals? By Richard Fisher | Long Now Apr 13, 02023 At some point in the late fifth century, as the Western Roman...
Zoroastrian Museum in Kerman, Iran
Zoroastrians anthropological museum is located in Kerman province, Iran. The museum is comprised of different sections and each section deals with one of the customs of Zoroastrians. Article By...
Professor Hoshang Jehangir Unwalla Receives 2022-23 Outstanding Mentor Award from Florida Education Fund’s McKnight Doctoral Fellowship Program
Congratulations to Hoshang Unwalla, PhD, who received the 2022-23 Outstanding Mentor Award from the Florida Education Fund’s McKnight Doctoral Fellowship Program. The McKnight program aims to...
Tehmina Karani: A Visionary and Pioneer in Early Education
“Our school days so happy, too soon will be over. The world with its sterner tasks must be faced, But oh! What a store we are gathering daily Of mem’ries so dear, which will ne’er be effaced” The...
Spotlight on Khushnooma Kapadia: Marketing Head at Marriott International in South Asia
“Marriott gave my passion, foresight and creativity the ‘wings’ and my abilities the ‘roots’!” ….Says Khushnooma Kapadia, Senior Area Director, Marketing, South Asia, Marriott International...
Where have the Parsees in Indian cricket gone? They were the first Indians to play cricket
The Parsees founded the Oriental Cricket Club in 1848 and the Young Zoroastrian Club in 1850, and as for an opposition to play against, who better than the British themselves? Article By Abhishek...
Pastailo Pappo: How to unravel this cine mystery ?
The long history of the Parsi community in the city has another interesting page added to its chapters. The Film Heritage Foundation (FHF) recently recovered a lost 1951 film, Pastailo Pappo, from...
Ba Humata Lecture Series April 2023
The April 2023 Ba Humata Lecture series shall be on the topic “ ME-NESS & WE-NESS IN CONSCIOUSNESS “Yasna Ha 51.22 & Yenghe-Hatam Speakers: Moobadyar Dr. Nooshin Jahangiri, MD (Iran...
Happy Jamshedi Navroz Mubarak 2023
Dear readers of Parsi Khabar We wish you a very Happy Jamshedi Navroz. May this day and the new year usher in happiness, peace, health, and prosperity for all mankind. Below is the Haft Seen table...
LOST HISTORY – Zoroastrianism, Apocalyptic Events & Asian History by Ervad Dr. Ramiyar Karanjia
The Ranveer Show, invites Dr. Ramiyar P. Karanjia. He is an M.A., Ph. D. in Avesta-Pahlavi from St. Xavier’s College, University of Mumbai, and is presently serving as the Principal of Dadar...
Chef Viraf Patel transforms menu from bland to brilliant
Chef Viraf Patel, chef at Neuma, follows classical techniques and places the focus squarely on the ingredients. Chef and restaurateur Viraf Patel. (Photo courtesy: Neuma) Article By Ruth Dsouza...
Navroz Special: Firdos Shroff in Conversation with Meher Amalsad
2023 NouRouz Transformational Special ASPIRE TO INSPIRE UNTIL WE EXPIRE With “I AM” ASK-FIRMATIONS with Dr. Firdos Shroff, India & Meher Amalsad, USA. Hosted by Yazdi Tantra...
Alexander the ‘Accursed’ and Zoroastrianism
In his epic the Shahnamah (Book of Kings), the poet Firdawsi (940–1019 or 1025) vividly describes how Alexander (Iskandar/Sikandar) came upon the Persian emperor Darius (Dara) as he fled north after...
Ba Humata Lecture Series March 2023
The March 2023 Ba Humata Lecture will be on the topic “LIFE IS FOR-GIVING AND FORGIVING Ushtavaiti Gatha Yasna Ha 43.1” Speakers Ervad Poras T. Balsara (United States) Ervad Farhan Panthaki...
Book Launch: WHO WANTS TO MARRY KAI JUICEWALLA
This Valentine month author, former flight attendant and columnist, Kainaz Jussawalla’s fun, crazy and action packed memoir “ Who wants to marry Kai Juicewalla?”( one life, many loves, endless...
Bandian complex offers time travels to Sassanid era
An experience of traveling back in time to see magnificent examples of ancient plasterwork, bas-relief carvings, and other decorative elements is probably an unreachable dream. Bandian complex, a...
Chaos and Nuisance Reign Outside JJ Agiary in Pune
Devout Parsis visiting the Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy Agiary on Dastur Meher Road in the Pune Camp area have been sending up a silent prayer for freedom from the chaos prevailing outside their sacred...
Kobad Ghandy: I got support in all jail authorities except Tihar’
‘The IB and authorities knew I had given away all my property and had nothing in my name.’ ‘Even among police officers, they all respected me for this sacrifice which is rare these...
Parinaz Hathiram: First Zarathushti Girl to be Awarded the Eagle Scout Award in the USA
We are thrilled to learn that our dear friend Parinaz Homiar Hathiram was recently awarded the Eagle Scout Award. The Eagle Scout Award is the highest award bestowed upon Scouts in the United...
From California, How Sizzlers Became So Hot in Mumbai
A Zoroastrian Irani businessman from Bombay, Firoz Irani, ate at a California restaurant and loved the drama of a sizzling hot platter. When he came back to Bombay, he opened a restaurant called...
The Place Touché the Sizzler — legacy, history of sizzlers and much more
Started by Erani’s son Shahrookh Erani, ‘The Place Touché the Sizzler’ on Moledina Road, Camp, has been serving traditional sizzlers for an illustrious five decades. ‘The Place Touché the Sizzler’...
Zan Zendegi Azadi: A Zoroastrian legacy
The slogan of “Zan Zendegi Azadi” meaning women, life and freedom is being raised aloud by protestors in Islamic Republic of Iran, after Mahsa Amini, a 22 year old Iranian Kurd was pronounced dead...
Rustom Baug in Byculla celebrates centenary year
Built by Bai Jerbai Wadia in memory of her late son, the residential colony, continues to be a ‘self-contained’ thriving community centre for 330 families Rustom Baug boasts of a library, gymnasium,...