At 89, conductor Zubin Mehta doesn’t make things easy for himself. Since taking on the role of the Los Angeles...
arZan Articles
Ashdeen Lilaowala Redefines Parsi Heritage with Contemporary Gara Embroidery
Ashdeen Lilaowala's relationship with Parsi Gara embroidery began long before it became his life's work. Growing up...
Tehmi Bhandari: The Grand Lady of Amritsar
UPDATE: Shirin Bhandari the author of the piece below reminds us "This was originally published in 2004, my grandmother died in 2007 at the age of a 101." “It is all like a dream now…” I stand in...
For 31 years after his death, Homi Bhabha’s office room was unoccupied
The secular condolence ceremony for Homi Bhabha of which no photographs were found has remained firmly etched in the scientists’ memory, and the religious one was forgotten. On 24 January 1966, Homi...
Amyra dastur’s Telugu Film debut
“On one fine morning, Manjula madam called me and narrated the story. She asked me if I was interested in working for a role which is now played by Tridha. She somehow thought that I would fit in...
Jal Nariman Bharucha: Obituary
Jal Bharucha died peacefully in Middletown, Connecticut, at age 92, having lived a good and full life. He was born in Bombay, India, in 1925 to Nariman Bharucha and Aloo Bharucha (née Patel). Jal's...
Undocumented Parsi Ph.D. Student Meets Congress to Advocate for DREAM Act
Indian American Boe (Benaz) Mendewala, an undocumented Ph.D. student studying physics at the University of California-Merced, travelled to Washington, DC Jan. 19 to urge members of Congress to pass...
Clouds By Chandrahas Choudhary: Book Excerpt
Two Parsis walk into a bar. And that is (almost) the beginning of a remarkable new novel In Chandrahas Choudhury’s ‘Clouds’, the newly single Mumbai psychotherapist Farhad Billimoria meets Zahra, a...
The Vultures of the Parsi Cemetery
‘The vultures of the Parsi Cemetery’ is from a collection of stories called The Greatest Urdu Stories Ever Told. The stories are translated by Muhammad Umar Memon. The story has an interesting...
Half Parsi. Half Muslim. Full woman.
‘Name?’I say my name, in full.‘Date of birth?’I say my date of birth, in full.‘Religion?’‘Half Parsi, half Muslim,’ I say. In full.Article by Shaista Tayabali |Sister-hoodShe looks up at me. I am...
Dr. Mickey Mehta Conferred Icon of Health and Wellness in India Award
We are glad to share that our dear friend and global health guru Dr. Mickey Mehta has been awarded the honour The Icon of Health and Wellness in India conferred by The Economic Times last Saturday...
Dorabjee & Sons: Oldest Parsi restaurant in Pune
Before Ambedkar Bose and Nehru were born; when India was under the British rule, Sorabjee Dorabjee started the Dorabjee & Sons. The restaurant was established in the year 1878. Sorabjee Dorabjee...
Homai Vyarawalla: The trailblazer who became India’s first woman photojournalist
Homai Vyarawalla, India's first woman photojournalist, is best known for documenting the country's transition from a British colony to a newly independent nation. The BBC chronicles her life and...
The Life and Death of Bombay’s Irani Chai
In the streets of South Bombay (I still refer to the city as Bombay, as the name didn’t change to Mumbai until after I left the country), hidden from plain sight by a thick veil of traffic and...
What Connects Jamsetji Tata and Vivekananda ? A Sea Voyage That Changed India!
The year was 1893. On May 31, aboard a steamer that sailed from Yokohama to Vancouver, two great Indians met for the first time. One was an industrialist who would go on to become one of India’s...
Food Paves a Parsi-Jewish Passage to India
Food’s power to educate people about cultures united Parsi chef Meherwan Irani (owner of Chai Pani), Jewish chefs Todd Ginsberg (The General Muir) and Eli Kirshtein (formerly The Luminary), and...
Delhi Parsi Anjuman’s President Yezad Kapadia Steps Down
Yezad Kapadia, who presided over the Delhi Parsi Anjuman for the last few years has retired from his position, per an email communique below. Yezad Kapadia writes… Dear Fellow Members of The Delhi...
The Delhi Parsi Aramgah
Walking through any cemetery is bound to stir feelings. And perhaps even more so in this secluded graveyard in central Delhi that belongs to the rapidly dwindling Parsi community, descendants of a...
Shelley Subawalla: Founder Of Zarin’s Secrets In Conversation
Tell us about yourself and your background It is always so difficult to talk about oneself. I am a 40-year-old Parsi (Zoroastrian) lady residing in New Delhi, India. A married mother-of-two, I...
‘Widows of Malabar Hill’ kicks off former Minnesotan’s new mystery series set in India
It is 1921 in Bombay, India, and three widows who live in purdah — secluded in women’s quarters where men cannot see them — have signed away their inheritances to a charity. Perveen Mistry, the...
Frene Ginwala, the Lenin supplement, and the storm drains of history
THE LENIN SUPPLEMENT In his book The Press of Africa – Persecution and Perseverance (Macmillan, London 1979) the Commonwealth media specialist Frank Barton said that if an identi-kit picture had to...
Zoroastrains in India to explore cultural boundaries
An annual tour is bringing together young Zoroastrians from across the world to explore their culture in India and even find a partner Return To Roots fellows on a BEST, Mumbai. Photo: Aniruddha...
Eyes on Mumbai: Sooni Taraporevala’s photo exhibition reveals a heartwarming visual sojourn of the city across four decades
In Tardeo, Mumbai, Cozy Building stands as tall as it did back in 1921—the year it was built. One of four buildings in the lane that are agreeably “Parsi,” it hosts conversations over newspapers and...
A return to Zoroastrian roots: The ancient religion you should know more about
The 4th Zoroastrian Return to Roots tour commenced in Mumbai this December. Twenty-five Zoroastrian youngsters from across the world, spanning USA, Canada, New Zealand, Pakistan, and UAE are on a...
Valiant Parsis in War and Peace By Marzban Giara
VALIANT PARSIS IN WAR AND PEACE 320 pages, hard bound, illustrated, printed on art paper Foreword by Air Chief Marshal Fali Major (Retired) An index of names – surnamewise of 550 Parsi officers and...
India Trip Helps 25 Zoroastrian Youngsters Get Closer to Their Identity
The trip through Udvada, Navsari, Surat and Bharuch in Gujarat has helped the Zoroastrian youth from across the world get some answers about their religious identity. By Asmita Sarkar | Little India...
Parsis May Want to Look to the New Pune Fire Temple to Keep the Flame Burning
A ‘half-Parsi’ explains why Parsis must end their insistence on only marrying within the community and open the doors of their religion to the rest of the world. Born a little over a hundred years...
Bombay Parsi Punchayet okays Parsi General Hospital deal that kicked up row
The Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) has endorsed the tie-up between B D Petit Parsee General hospital and Gurgaon-based Medanta chain of hospitals. As reported by TOI last November, a Hong Kong-based...
Ex-communicated Parsis Get their own Fire Temple
The Rs 2.5-crore shrine was funded by donors like top lawyer Fali Nariman, corporate head honcho Cyrus Guzdar, ex-advocate general Darius Khambhata, industrialist Anu Aga and Pirojshah Godrej...
Temple hosts first navjote of kids with non-Parsi father
Zoroastrian centre in Pune allows entry to people of all religions and gender The newly opened fire temple in Kondhwa in Pune, which welcomes people of all religions and gender, hosted a navjote...
Not Just Milk and Sugar
Not Just Milk and Sugar is a beautiful film written and directed by good friend and brilliant young director Divya Cowasji. Not Just Milk & Sugar is an accessible inquiry into the Zoroastrian...
Streets of Udvada to get CCTV cameras, free Wi-Fi zones
The Union textiles and information and broadcasting minister Smriti Irani dedicated an entrance gate which depicts Parsi culture at Udvada in Valsad district to the people of the village on Sunday....
Iranshah Udvada Utsav 2017 A Resounding Success
The second edition of the Iranshah Udvada Utsav was a resounding succes, bringing 2000 Zarathushtis from near and far together for a 3 day celebration. [gallery type="rectangular"...
Youth of Parsi diaspora arrive in India to explore roots
Members of the Parsi diaspora have joined community members in India to devise a guided tour for youngsters who wish to explore their roots in this country. Article by Bella Jaisinghani | TNN The...
Some members of Parsi community protest the Udvada Utsav,
Some members of Parsi community protest the Udvada Utsav, as it ‘violates the sanctity of the place’ The festival, sponsored by the Gujarat government, is held in Udvava, which has long been...
Global Working Group Meet 2017, Mumbai India: Press Release
Leaders from the worldwide Zoroastrian diaspora met for the annual Global Working Group meeting at the Banaji Atashbehram Hall on December 20th, 2017. The meeting was chaired by Yazdi Desai, the...
Global Initiative to Support Iranshah Atashbehram Udvada
In an email announcement Federation of Zoroastrian Associations of North America (FEZANA) announced a Global Initiative to Support the Iranshah Atashbehram in Udvada, Gujarat, India. FEZANA...
Who is a Zoroastrian?
The court is showing that it is all too eager to meddle in the affairs of religions. Article written by Dinsha Mistree | Indian Express While many voice concern over Narendra Modi and the Hindu...
Narges Kakalia Named One of Leading Woman Lawyers of New York City
Our very dear friend Narges Kakalia has been named to the inaugural class of the Leading Women Lawyers in New York City. Narges, more power to you in the years to come. Mintz Levin is pleased to...
WZCC Global Meet 2017 Bangalore
The World Zoroastrian Chamber of Commerce held its 2017 Annual Global AGM and Meet in Bangalore on 15th and 16th December 2017. The event was hosted at the Clarks Exotica Resort on the outskirts of...
Update on Supreme Court Case Regarding Goolrukh Gupta
Two days ago we had published news about the Supreme Court order regarding the case between the Valsad Parsi Anjuman v/s Goolrukh Gupta. There were some inaccuracies in the article and thus we...
The Fire Temple vs The Mumbai Metro: Bachi Karkaria
In early October, a petition was sent to the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, about the latest phase of the Mumbai metro – a 33.5km stretch that is currently under construction. The petition...
Supreme Court of India Rules in Favor of Goolrukh Gupta in Landmark Judgement
Parsi Times and Parsiana both report on their social media streams that the Supreme Court of India has ruled in favor of Goolrukh Gupta overturning the previous judgement of the Gujarat High Court....
Ratti Petit: Li Gotami – The Woman Who Dedicated Her Life to the Arts
Born into a wealthy Parsi family on 22 April 1906 in Mumbai, Ratti Petit, more commonly known as Li Gotami, was a talented painter, photographer and writer. Her family owned the Bomanjee Dinshaw...
Udvada train accident: Aspi Sepoy Gets Back On His Feet
Parsi museum caretaker at Udvada, who lost both legs in Sept, will be getting permanent prosthetic legs in a fortnight Forty-six-year-old Aspi Sepoy, caretaker of the Udvada Parsi Museum, who lost...
Mumbai Parsis offer ‘solution’ to prevent Metro-3 tunnel from passing under their shrine
Community proposes that MMRC reduce space between two tunnels by 20 feet so that one of it does not pass under Wadia Atash Behram on Princess Street Offering a ‘solution’ to their objections against...
Forjett Street: Singer, sailor, soothsayer, Spy
What would Charles Forjett make of the colourful characters inhabiting the street off Gowalia Tank Road named for him? He was a top cop in the days when the term really meant something. Slipping...
Rs 150 crore donation to Parsi General Hospital kicks up row
A Hong Kong-based Parsi businessman is donating Rs 150 crore to rescue the financially ailing Parsi General Hospital at Breach Candy here, exclusively meant for Parsi patients. The philanthropic...
Parsee General Hospital rapped for refusing poor non-Parsis
Charity Commissioner to issue second show cause notice Mumbai: The BD Petit Parsee General Hospital (PGH) in Cumballa Hill has invited the ire of the Charity Commissioner for not treating non-Parsi...
Christians, Parsis discuss Metro threat to structures
The controversy over the proposed underground metro rail tunnels at Jagannath Sunkersett Marg in Girgaum has brought together Christians and Parsis for the first time to discuss the project at a...
Milind Deora meets Mumbai Metro brass over Parsis’ fire temple issue
A delegation of Parsis led by former south Mumbai Congress MP Milind Deora on Friday met senior officials of the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) to express concern about the rail tunnel...
The Shoonyam Quotient by Dr. Mickey Mehta
Our dear friend and India’s finest health guru Dr. Mickey Mehta recently launched a new book titled “The Shoonyam Quotient: The Light of Life” published by Penguin Books, India. The book is...