Aspi Ustad writes about the passing of Nariman MehtaOur Community Lost a GemA true social worker to the core. A man of...
arZan Articles
Government, Community Leaders, and Scholars Gather in Mumbai to Discuss the Future of Parsis in India
Parsis in Modern India: Navigating Cultural and Socio-Economic Pathways A significant national conversation on the...
No Pall Bearers in Kolkatta, Parsi man denied ritual farewell
KOLKATA: The cremation of a Parsi against his family's wishes earlier this month has created a furore within the community and focused attention on the practices and rituals that it has zealously...
Meet the Most Sustainable Chef in NYC: Jehangir Mehta
Our dear friend Jehangir Mehta is named by the famed Michelin as NYC’s most sustainable chefguide.michelin.com | Oct 30th 2017 “I almost say you can compare umami to the first time seeing someone...
Sanaya Dalal: A Parsi Woman’s Perspective On Being Denied Basic Rights
"You knew what you were getting into." "A child inherits his father's name and religion, not his mother's." "Women with non-Parsi spouses will have their kids navjoted only to avail of housing and...
A peek into Parsi tradition and culture at Expo in Kolkatta
If you’ve always wondered what lies beyond the closely guarded boundary walls of a Parsi fire temple, especially because tradition has it that a non-Parsi is not allowed inside, your curiosity is...
Fire and State: Living With The Gods
Neil MacGregor continues his series on the expression of shared beliefs in communities around the world and across time. In this podcast he also speaks with our Vada Dasturji Khurshed Dastoor, the...
Parsi Women Fight For Equality And Religious Identity
Should a Parsi woman be deprived of her religious identity and community rights if she marries outside her own religion? The Supreme Court has referred the matter to a 5-judge constitution bench and...
Community, To Me: Maya Joshi
Community, To Me The smell of sandalwood and smoke dark and cool metallic shadows as familiar as an old friend The taste of a half remembered prayer, spoken through fumbling lips Joining the strong...
Farrukh Dhondy: An open letter to my fellow Parsis
In his words: "I am just a professional writer, which means I don't do blogs and try and get money for whatever I write."The Parsis gathered in numbers at this well as it is regarded by some as...
Inspirational Woman: Pearl D. Tirandaz
Our dear friend Pearl Tirandaz was recently featured in the "Inspirational Woman" series by We Are The City. Here she is in conversation with Charlotte Smith Tell us about yourself, your...
The Dancing Line: Revisiting Shiavax Chavda
A Retrospective of paintings & sketches of the Master WHAT: ‘The Dancing Line – revisiting Shiavax Chavda’, a Retrospective of paintings & sketches of the master. WHEN: Tuesday October 24th...
Monaz Viraf Gandhi Wins Harvey Award for MONTEA
Ms. Monaz Viraf Gandhi slams historical special category award ton by bagging two high profile awards namely The Harvey Youngest Achiever 2017-2018 and The Harvey Most Valuable Indian 2017-2018 at...
The scent of a loaf: Kayani Bakery Pune
Kayani Bakery in Pune has been dishing out fresh shrewsbury biscuits, sourdough breads and mawa cakes since 1955 It’s 7.30 am on a Saturday and one of the oldest bakeries in Pune Camp’s East Street...
Right To Equality : Parsi Women Fight The Injustice
The Goolrukh Gupta case has reached the Supreme Court, where a 5 judge bench will deliberate on it. Below is a video segment on a local TV channel in Mumbai.
Parsis upset over Agiary land
Sethna Agiary (left) and Boyce Dhana Patel Agiary are more than 130-years-old and have been demarcated under the new road-line plan of DP 2034 Article by Anagha Sawant | DNA Under the civic body's...
Parsis protest against MADC flying proposal
The city’s Parsi community staged a protest on Friday against a proposal by the Maharashtra Airport Development Company (MADC) that recommends that the no-flying zone be reduced from one nautical...
Mumbai Parsis to meet Uddhav Thackeray for help
Members of the city-based Parsi community will meet Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray over the Metro-3 project’s alignment that passes below three of its fire temples in south Mumbai. According to...
Kayani Bakery’s cakes and bakes causing a ‘sugar rush’ since 1955
It's early in the afternoon, definitely past the unusual office rush-hour, but no one seems to have informed people on East Street. There is serious traffic jam here. Apart from the vehicles, there...
Zubin Mehta to Lead Israel Philharmonic Orchestra in New York at Carnegie Hall for Final Tour Concerts
Zubin Mehta returns to Carnegie Hall with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) this fall, following a recent announcement that he will be retiring from his post as Music Director of the IPO in...
Bohemian Rhapsody: will the Freddie Mercury biopic be a whitewash?
The Queen frontman’s Zanzibarian roots are often forgotten when discussing his life. But he didn’t hide from his Persian heritage – and neither should the movie There is a sweet black-and-white...
A photographer’s love letters to Mumbai
She is best known for writing films such as Mississippi Masala, The Namesake, and Oscar-nominated Salaam Bombay. She also directed the National Award-winning film Little Zizou. Since 1977...
Hrishi K In Conversation with Sooni Taraporevala
Sooni Taraporevala was on the air with Radio host Hrishi K of 94.3 FM radio station in Mumbai. She discusses her upcoming exhibition and book launch. Click here to listen
Khushru Jijina recognized as ‘AsiaOne Global Indian of the Year 2016-2017’
Piramal Finance Limited and Piramal Housing Finance Limited Managing Director Mr. Khushru Jijina has been recognised as the ‘AsiaOne Global Indian of the Year 2016-2017’ under the ‘Business...
Parsis protest Metro line alignment, cutting through an ancient Fire Temple
Contractors of the underground Metro III rail project on Thursday morning arrived to inspect the 187-year-old Wadia fire temple (Atash Behram) at Princess Street in south Mumbai. However, they were...
Parsis Of Sri Lanka: Denizens From A Land Far Away
In British colonial times, enterprising Parsis looked further south, and set their sights on Sri Lanka, bringing home a good many Parsi families. Parsi Pioneers Gathering of Parsis outside Parsi...
The Agas on the dynamics of giving
Anu Aga and her daughter Meher Pudumjee, of energy and environment engineering business house Thermax Ltd, are among India’s 100 richest people as per Forbes magazine rankings. The mother and...
Alpaiwalla Museum Gets Rs 4 Crore Grant from Government of India
The Alpaiwalla Museum in Khareghat Colony in Mumbai, is probably the only Zoroastrian Museum of its kind in the world. It has some amazing artefacts in its collection. However in the recent past it...
Hong Kong’s first land sale featured some unusual, but familiar, names
Hong Kong’s very earliest days were dominated – surprise – by the question of land. Traders had begun putting up mat-shed structures and company jetties in 1841, even before the Treaty of Nanking of...
The tummy trilogy: A repository of traditional Parsi recipes
The first thing I ever cooked came from my mother’s tattered old copy of the Time & Talents cookbook. It was an omelette savoyarde, and I was an enthusiastic 12-year-old, armed with saucepan and...
Govt of India Wants to Reduce No Fly Zone Over Doongarwadi
‘Reduce no-fly zone over Tower of Silence’ Airport development body's proposal to reduce the prohibited zone around the Tower from 1nautical mile to 500 metres does not fly with Bombay Parsi...
Into the pantry with food entrepreneur Perzen Patel
Perzen Patel’s online moniker is the Bawi Bride (Bawi means Parsi woman) and true to its name, her pantry is a repository of secrets and traditions of the Parsi kitchen. At the outset she points to...
Dahanu’s Irani chikoo growers want to leave farming after 117yrs
There was a time when the humble chikoo with its grainy sweetness was as exotic as the bristly rambutan. Far from being native to India, the sapodilla or chico zapote--as it's known in...
Sooni Taraporevala: To Bombay, with love
Sooni Taraporevala’s Mumbai series gives a fascinating glimpse into the character of an ever-changing city and its peopleThere’s something captivating about an old man in a vest, sitting on a...
State Of The Union: My Traditionally Offbeat Wedding
Belonging to one community doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy rituals of another for your big day, believes Verve’s Senior Writer, Huzan Tata whose nuptials, she hopes, will defy the norms of what a...
Remembering Shirin Vajifdar – Pioneer in All Schools of Dance
Shirin Vajifdar, who died on September 29, 2017, exhibited an unusual love for classical dancing from childhood and defied taboos to train in multiple classical dance forms. Article by Sunil Kothari...
Remitting Funds to Udvada: Message from Vada Dasturji Khurshed Dastoor
As I have received several queries regarding a few key issues pertaining to Udvada, I would like to clarify the same here. I would highly appreciate if you could spread this word to all Parsis in...
The Mahatma’s Parsi connection
The nation remembered its Mahatma - Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi - on his 148th birth anniversary on Monday. Gandhi had great respect for people of all communities and religions, including the...
Senior Citizen Day Celebrated at Navsari Center
October 1st is Senior Citizen’s Day. 100 school children from the Sett RJJ High School in Navsari visited the WZO Trust Funds Senior Citizen’s Centre to meet our Senior Citizens. The students had...
Parsi-only Ripon Club’s plans to give full membership to women, faces protests in Mumbai
Currently, non-Zoroastrian guests, who want to eat the club’s fabled Parsi food, have to be accompanied by Parsi members Parsi-only Ripon Club’s plans to give full membership to women is being...
Behzad Dabu: How To Get Away With Murder
Breakout roles are a dream for most actors and actresses. Frankly, they are hard to come by. Every performer wants that role that will bring them instant recognition and take their...
In Parsi genes, new clues on old cultures
Strict inbreeding is often blamed for the dwindling population of the Parsi community in India. New research by Indian and other scientists now suggests that this might not always have been the...
Novy Kapadia: Barefoot to Boots And The Many Facets of Indian Football
Only a mad and passionate lover of sport will take to writing on the game. The majority of budding sports writers want to write on cricket, unless they are from Bengal or, these days, the northeast....
Many think Parsis are a model minority. Are they?
Debates over the Uniform Civil Code usually zero in on one kind of personal law: Muslim matrimonial law. What gets less airtime is Parsi matrimonial law. We assume that it lacks the gender...
Jonathan Koshy by Murzban F. Shroff: Mumbai launch
Author Murzban Shroff informs us For those who missed my Mumbai launch, my tete-a-tete with my dear friend and neighbor Harsha Bhogle, on what it takes to create a powerful character-driven novel....
Vintage Rusi: A Short Film
Vintage Rusi is a short film made for the 2005 kala Ghoda arts and street festival in Mumbai. With Mahabanoo Mody Kotwal , Bapu Malcolm and Beezan Charna in leading roles. It was directed by Ashok...
Parsi community divided over sale of land in Dharwad
Members accuse federation of selling valuable properties The plan to sell a piece of land in Dharwad, Karnataka, has become a matter of contention in the Parsi community. Article by Jyoti Shelar |...
Quiltessence by Anahita Cowasji
Anahita Cowasji's Quiltessence is a house of individually designed and crafted home textiles, woven and block printed, hand embroidered and textured into pieces of intrinsic value and beauty. Born...
Why Parsis need their distinct family laws
They are a tiny community, whose ancestors came to India due to religious persecutions in Persia (Iran). Their numbers are down to a critical 61,000 and diminishing by the day. India's population...
Elderly couple files police complaint against tenants
The Engineers, who stay in an ancestral bungalow on Warden Road, say their tenants assaulted their security guard on September 3, but police yet to file an FIR An elderly Parsi couple, who lives in...
Brothers-in-Arms : The Flying Engineer Brothers
In the undivided India of 1930, Karachi was the ‘aerial gateway of India’, boasting the first flying club in the country. One early morning in March two young men started up a small plane and,...
Parsis in India: Bid to save one of the world’s most successful minority groups as population dwindles
Some 200 Parsis of all ages in festive clothes gather at Delhi Anjuman, a Parsi community centre, to celebrate Navroz, the New Year. It is the first day of the Persian year and Parsis across the...