On July 26, 1875, just over 1,200 citizens voted in the first elections to the Bombay Municipal Corporation. The 64...
arZan Articles
This traditional Parsi wedding in Mumbai carried ritual and revelry to a historic racecourse
For the Zoroastrian wedding ceremony, Sanaya Irani wore a custom Ashdeen ivory gara sari while Varaz Printer opted for...
Ahunavad Gathao: Frazan Kotwal Baritone
Our dear friend and brilliant singer Ervad Frazan Adil Kotwal sings a new Hymn composed by Parizad Irani. The hymn is titled "Ahunavad Gathao"
Football scholarship: Arzan Todywalla off to U.S College
Former St Kentigern student Arzan Todywalla is off to further his football aspirations after being offered a scholarship at St Mary’s College in Moraga, California.Good enough to trial for...
The IranShah Initiative: Education With Vision 2020 – Part 2 of 3
Knowledge Is PreciousWisdom Is PricelessHappiness Is Infectious How we can become an instrument of education Through our innate inspiration To bring about a transformation In our future generation....
Everyday Parsi: Khushru Master
Our sixth author in the Everyday Parsi 2020 series is Ervad Khushru Master of Auckland, New Zealand. Khushru shares the “Memories of a 12 year-old-mohbed” All of 12, I vividly recall how excited my...
Everyday Parsi: Ervad Zarrir Bhandara
Our fifth author in the Everyday Parsi 2020 series is Ervad Zarrir Bhandara of Los Angeles, California, USA Ervad Zarrir writes… The 10 days of Shehenshahi Muktad begins this Thursday August 6th...
Everyday Parsi: Soonu Engineer
Our fourth author in the Everyday Parsi 2020 series is Soonu Engineer of London, United Kingdom Soonu writes… As a child, Muktad filled me with wonderment. Our house, already swept and swabbed twice...
Everyday Parsi: Homi Gandhi
Our third author in the Everyday Parsi 2020 is Homi D. Gandhi Homi writes… When I was a child, Muktaad prayers at the Gandhi household on the Gandhi Street of Parsiwad, Fort, Bharuch had a special...
Everyday Parsi: Feroze Jamshedji Unwalla
Our second author in the Everyday Parsi 2020 series is Feroze Jamshedji Unwalla from Mumbai, India. Feroze Jamshedji Unwalla writes… My earliest memories of Muktad, in the mid-1940s, were of...
Soroosh Sorooshian Awarded American Meteorological Society’s Hydrologic Sciences Medal
The American Meteorological Society is pleased to recognize outstanding individuals and organizations of the weather, water, and climate community through its Awards and Honors program. Join us in...
Everyday Parsi: Nergish Udwadia
Our first author in the Everyday Parsi 2020 series is Nergish Udwadia from Melbourne, Australia. I was recently invited by Parsi to provide a write up on the significance of Muktad in my life....
The Everyday Parsi in 2020
August 6th 2020 is the first day of the Muktad per the Shehenshahi Parsi Zoroastrian calendar. Parsis around the world and especially in India remember the dear departed of their family. Special...
The last of the Zoroastrians
My grandfather had never been a tall man, and now he looked absurdly small, no bigger than a child. Swaddled in off-white sheets like a newborn, with just his head and the soles of his feet visible,...
Groundbreaking trilogy finds Zoroastrian ties in religions
The ambitious project opens the scriptures of seven faiths to anyone who wishes to learn Article by James Christie | Broadview Once upon a time, a mere six centuries or so before the birth of Jesus...
NEW YEAR COMES EARLY FOR THE RESIDENTS OF BPP BAUGS
XERXES DASTUR FULFILLS HIS ELECTION PROMISEAt the Board Meeting or July 29th, 2020 chaired by Mrs. Armaity Tirandaz, the trustees of the BPP resolved to revoke the Rs. 750/pm service charge that was...
The Adventures of the Pillow Gang: Illustrated by Delzin Choksey
Ace illustrator and our dear friend Delzin Choksey informs us of a new book out on AmazonDelzin writes…I wanted to share my latest children's book. it's on Amazon, here https://bit.ly/AmazonAPG...
Jiyo Parsi collating information about Matrimonial Services
We at Jiyo Parsi are collating information about Matrimonial Services.As a small Diasporic community we feel the need for our networking to expand globally bringing together our youth to make...
Visitations from the World Above – MUKTADS, the Festival of Hamaspathmaedaya
Online session on Zoroastrianism by Khojeste P. Mistree titled, "Visitation from the World Above - MUKTADS, the Festival of Hamaspathmaedaya" Copyright © 2020 Khojeste P. Mistree | Zoroastrian...
Saklatvala Mausoleum in New York
An email from my friend Kersi Shroff tipped me off on what turned out to be a great treasure hunt in search of the Saklatvala Mausoleum in the Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx in New York City. Kersi...
Massiah Foundation challenge gift to fund UCI chair in Zoroastrian studies
$1.5 million endowment will establish first chair of its kind in the U.S. The University of California, Irvine has received a $1.5 million challenge commitment from the Massiah Foundation to...
The Starting of Good Times: Zoroastrian Perspective
I’d like to shed some light on the present circumstances from a Zoroastrian perspective. The virus, pandemic, or any kind pain and sickness does not come from God, God is all good. Hence, only the...
US-based Zoroastrian priest killed in Iran, in apparent murder
Local prosecutor tells Iranian media that body of Arash Kasravi, who was visiting to deal with his father’s estate, found alongside those of two other men days after going missingA Zoroastrian...
Magical Mangroves
Consumer goods firm Godrej & Boyce along with WWF India on Monday launched a nationwide campaign for conservation of mangroves. The ''Magical Mangroves'' campaign will span across eight states...
The Shroff Family Donates Rs 5.78 crores to Parsee General Hospital
Pervin and Jal Shroff of Hong Kong have kindly sent a donation of Rs 5.78 crores to The B.D. Petit Parsee General Hospital (PGH) to cover the "preliminary and pre-operative costs" incurred for the...
Fali Sam Nariman: Views on Migrant Crisis, Law Officer, Emergency and much more
Fali Sam Nariman speaks to our Pallavi Saluja Editor of Bar and Bench on a host of issues from Supreme Court's handling of the migrant crisis to his time as a Law Officer, and Law Officer during...
Australian Researcher Carromex led by Dr. Burzin Bhavnagri Unveils Pharma Leads
Carromex started out as a family business in the 1980s. While the products and services offered by Carromex have been diverse, for the last 8 years we have focused on mathematical research and...
The transformer: Zerbanoo Gifford on turning 70
It was a toss-up between a Women’s Forum and a Global Zoroastrian Youth Leaders Forum. Something special was being planned for Zerbanoo Gifford’s 70th birthday on May 11 since the last one year....
Meet the multifaceted Indian entrepreneur who is making heads turn: Jimmy Mistry
The entrepreneurial world in India is filled with multitudes of people experimenting with new avenues, revamping the ones we already know and much more. However, very few entrepreneurs have aced the...
Where The Fire Burns Eternally: Chenai Dar-E-Mehr Secunderabad
Witness the journey of 100 years of Secunderabad's Parsi Fire Temple, Khan Bahadur Edulji Sohrabji Chenai Anjuman Dar-e-Meher. As per the Zoroastrian Shenshai calendar, 14th July 2020 marks the...
“Cooking Is an Art”- Chef Zurath Kamdin
1. Tell us about your background and journey.I grew up in the tea plantations of South India. Born and brought up in Ooty. Studied catering and architecture, spent many years doing Architecture...
Cyrus Karanjia: An Art Director’s Showreel
Our dear friend and young budding art director Cyrus Karanjia of Karachi, Pakistan has put on a new showreel. Check out a small glimpse of the amazing art direction and prop styling that Cyrus has...
The IranShah Initiative – Donation With Vision 2020 (Part 1 of 2)
“There are no gods in the universe, no nations, no money, no human rights, and no justice outside of the common imagination of human beings,” says Yuval Noah Harari in his book Sapiens. Harari...
The Grand Old Man of India who became Britain’s first Asian MP
How was an Indian elected to the British Parliament in 1892? What relevance could this historical event have for us today?Dadabhai Naoroji (1825-1917) is an unfamiliar name these days.Yet, aside...
80-plus Irani brothers with a zest for life die of Covid-19 in Mumbai
Everyone who has known of the Ferzandi brothers — Darius, 85 and Plumarz, 81 succumbing to the deadly coronavirus within weeks of each other last month, have been aching with memories of the two...
The Story of Jamsetji Tata’s Forgotten Farm and How It Revived the Mysore Silk Industry
In 1868, a 29-year-old man from a small town in Gujarat started a trading firm in Bombay with ₹ 21,000. The man was Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata and the occasion marked the beginning of what would grow...
Proposed shifting of Parsi Gates lead to a lot of shouting
Proposed shifting of Parsi Gates lead to a lot of shoutingDissent cleaves community after meet to move Parsi Gates at Marine Drive; social media the battlegroundThe Parsi Gates at Marine...
Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw: A Video Interview
Parzor is delighted to see a new audience appreciate the great opportunity we had to record Sam’s world and life through his own words and those of his colleagues and contemporaries. The Field...
One of India’s richest minority groups enjoys some of Mumbai’s best rents.
"Imagine a world within a world." That is how Hormuz Bana describes the centuries-old community where he lives in Mumbai -- and which is in danger of vanishing. Article by Rhea Mogul | CNN Located...
Freddie Mercury & Queen to appear on postage stamps
No, not that one – the rock band Queen are to feature on a series of UK postage stamps over the summer.They become only the third band to be honoured by Royal Mail, following the Beatles in 2007 and...
Looking for My Ancient Religion in Uzbekistan
Still, I was in search of something more, something concrete, something materialArticle by Meher Mirza | Catapult.CoLast October, I walked on the trail of emperors.Like most ogle-eyed tourists, I...
The FEZANA Talks Commence Today
The FEZANA Talks is a new initiative started by FEZANA. In the first series we invite the youth of the 7th World Zoroastrian Youth Congress 2019 to celebrate the first anniversary of the Congress...
Haringey Lib Dems lead calls for First Indian MP to be commemorated in Muswell Hill
Haringey should honour Sir Dadabhai Naoroji MP, generally considered to be the first Indian and non-white person elected to the House of Commons, according to opposition Lib Dem councillors.Article...
The Bundahisn
The Zoroastrian Book of CreationEdited and translated by Domenico Agostini, Samuel Thrope, Preface by Shaul Shaked, and Afterword by Guy StroumsaFirst complete English translation of the Bundahisn...
1971 war hero Sqn. Ldr. Parvez Jamasji passes away
He awarded the Vir Chakra for gallantry during the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war Sqn Ldr Parvez Jamasji (retd), who was awarded the Vir Chakra for gallantry during the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war, has died,...
Zoroastrianism Rises in North America
The faith is shrinking in Iran and India but growing in the U.S. and Canada.Most elementary-school boys spend their free time playing videogames or hanging out with friends. Zerkxis Bhandara’s...
Glimpses of Kekoo Gandhy’s Mumbai
Kekee Manzil - The House of Art chronicles a micro-history of the city anchored in a century-old family home Filmmakers Behroze Gandhy and Dilesh Korya’s documentary, Kekee Manzil - The House of Art...
Sad News: Passing Away Of BPP Trustee Zarir Bhathena
Zarir Bhathena, a sitting Trustee of the Bombay Parsi Panchayet passed away on June 24, 2020 after a prolonged illness and hospitalization. Garothman Behest to the Ruvan of Zarir and the condolences...
P. D. Patel: My Fifty Years in Burma
Mitra Sharafi, a legal historian writes in… I am very excited to say that P. D. Patel's My Fifty Years in Burma (Rangoon, 1954) is now up on my website. This remarkable out-of-print memoir tells the...
Celebrating the Life of Jamshid Jam
The Zoroastrian Society of Ontario via its newsletter informs us of the passing away of Jamshed Jam. Jamshed was a legendary figure in the Zarathushti community in Toronto. ZSO writes.... The...
Sir Shapoorji Burjorji Bharucha
A tribute on his death centenary by Marzban Jamshedji Giara He was a self made and large hearted man, financier and business magnate. He was born at Bharuch on 30th April 1845 of poor parents. He...
CONGRATULATIONS – ARZAN SAM WADIA – PRESIDENT FEZANA – 2020
CONGRATULATIONS AND CELEBRATIONS BaNaMeh Ahura Mazda With TunDorosti And MunDorosti To All My Dear Global Zarathushti Leaders And Community Members: With immense joy, I would like to invite you all...