Khaki Lab writes in..At our First Farrokh Jijina Memorial Talk #ChroniclingACommunity, journalist and editor Jehangir...
arZan Articles
Despite shared roots, for Parsis, India — not Iran — is home
They fled to India back in the eighth century after more than 100 years of religious persecution following the Arab...
132-year-old Ripon Club plans partial sell-off to cut rising losses
Although the 132-year-old Ripon Club has endured the vicissitudes of time and fortune, a part of the good old Parsi bastion may suffer partial eclipse. A controversial proposal to surrender or sell...
The Parsis fighting to stop their culture dying out, and why it appears doomed
The birth and death notices in Parsiana tell a stark story. The June edition of the Mumbai-based magazine for Parsis lists two births and 46 deaths in the city. Perhaps June was not a typical month,...
ZYNG Speaks Up.
‘We will continue ZYNG’ing’ For 7 years ZYNG has served society and our community, working tirelessly for the positive growth of our community youth. We are now the largest youth body of our...
Bombay Parsi Punchayet cuts ties with youth wing ZYNG
The Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) is the talking point once again in the community after its board of trustees cut ties with its youth wing Zoroastrian Youth for Next Generation (ZYNG). Article by...
Miracles and Legends in Zoroastrianism: Desk Calendar 2017
Background about Persiart7: Persiart7 is an initiative undertaken to create awareness amongst community members and others about various important and interesting aspects of our history and...
Dishoom Opens in Edinburgh
Our dear friend Meher Marfatia informs us about the opening of Dishoom’s first outpost in Edinburgh. Meher writes… The sparkling thespian actors of my Laughter in the House are gracing the walls of...
A Walk In Karachi’s Katrak Colony
Parsi influence on Karachi’s architecture is immense. Parsi businessmen and philanthropists commissioned some of the most remarkable structures in Karachi especially at the turn of last century....
Old relatives from Mumbai pay tribute to Jer Bulsara
Days after the late British rocker Freddie Mercury’s greatest champion, his mother Jer Bulsara, passed away quietly in her sleep in the UK, a wave of grief has hit Dadar’s Parsi Colony, where the...
Zara Heeramaneck: Preserving a collector’s dream
Eighteen-year-old Zara Heeramaneck has been passionate about art conservation since childhood. Her home at Kemps Corner also boasts of artefacts from across the world. ic/Suresh Karkera Article by...
Edward Talkies: Small Talk with Fred Poonawala
Edward Theatre is seeking a cultural revival after surviving a dark tunnel of the single screen's demise Slated to open towards the end of the month, the Goethe Institut's ambitious Poets...
Arm Wrestling “Panja” and Parsis: A nod to a great legacy
A recent arm-wrestling competition at the Parsee Gymkhana provided a window into a storied past involving physical culture and strongmen With one shaky hand steadying the other, Peshoton Patrawala...
Jimmy Engineer Conferred The Peace Ambassador Medal In Beijing
Renowned Pakistani artist and social worker Jimmy Engineer was awarded "The Peace Ambassador's Medal" in Beijing. According to a message received here Wednesday, "The Peace Ambassador's Medal" was...
Los Angeles Welcomes A New Atash Kadeh
A new Atash Kadeh is born in the world ! Los Angeles welcomes its second Dar-E-Mehr as the Zoroastrian Association of California inaugurated a brand new ground-up Atash Kadeh at their center in...
Toronto’s Fred Mirza Volunteers On 74th birthday making Santa Claus Fund boxes
“What better way to pass time?” Mirza has been holding down the mystery warehouse where Santa Fund boxes are packed and organized since September. He says the operation becomes “more high tech” with...
FEZANA’s Statement on the US Presidential Elections 2016
On Tuesday, November 8th, Donald Trump was elected the 45th president of the United States of America. The reverberations both within the United States, Canada and globally have led to everything...
Dubai Pravasi Yatra 2016: A Resounding Success
The Dubai Pravasi Yatra, one of the most awaited events of the year 2016, turned out to be a grand success with participation ranging from 70 international delegates to 600 local residents at...
Parsi and Jewish culture collide at Challahwalla
clatl.com | Nov 3rd 2016 "Stop us if you've heard this one before. A Parsi and a Jew walk into a restaurant..." So begins the official introduction for the first ever Challahwallah, a six-course,...
Debate on Navjote ceremony in Delhi
Even as the debate of rights of children from Parsi mother to non-Parsi father and Uniform Civil Code (UCC) is being debated in the community, a case of a Navjote ceremony on a boy born to Parsi...
Murree and The Lush Life Lahore
In the congested Saddar area of Karachi, on a busy street lined with restaurants and cafeterias, rests the Lucky Star Wineshop. It’s not advertised as a place of alcoholic purveyance, but it’s not...
The mystery of the clock tower deaths
A century and a quarter after two Parsi girls fell to their death from the iconic Rajabai Clock Tower in Mumbai, the shocking incident continues to intrigue On 25 April 1891, at about 4pm, Bachubai...
Documentary ‘Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds’ pays homage to Zubin Mehta
Bettina Ehrhardt’s film on the celebrated music conductor is being screened at the Mumbai Film Festival. The central tenet of Zoroastrianism, “Humata, Hukhta, Hvarshta”, or “Good thoughts, good...
Capt. Hormazdiar Desai: A ray of light for those in dark
Padma Shree awardee, Capt. Desai who celebrates his 100th birthday on October 20, today has founded seven institutes for the blind community. In the bylanes of Colaba, sitting in the living room of...
Mistry Vs Tata: Duel of ‘dikras’ has Parsi community shaken and stirred
A day after the Tata group sacked Cyrus Mistry as chairman and appointed Ratan Tata as interim chairman, there is widespread dismay in the Parsi community at the way events unfolded. “This is a very...
Parsi Tea Parties for Two
Parsis and hill stations are irrevocably connected. Where you find one, you will find the other… And they make for the most delightful conversations and the most uplifting friendships One of the...
Zubin Mehta – Good Thoughts, Words, Deeds, And Music!
'Aapro' Zubin Mehta is in the news. The ongoing Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival has an 89-minute documentary on the celebrated Western classical music conductor in its 'Discovering India' section by...
India’s Tata gives UCSD $70M in hot area of genetics to University of California San Diego
One of India’s top philanthropists is giving UC San Diego $70 million to explore ways to use a radically new way of editing genes to fight insect-borne diseases, make crops more resistant to drought...
Shakeup at House of Tatas: Ratan Back !
The board of Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group, has unexpectedly replaced Cyrus Mistry as chairman. Ratan Tata has been named as interim chairman and a selection committee has been...
Remembering the 20th century theatre impresario who built Mumbai’s iconic Opera House
A slice of history is being resurrected in Mumbai this week. The Royal Opera House, an imposing Baroque building, will come alive again on Thursday after a hiatus of 22 years and following seven...
Family matters: Raghu Karnad and the Calicut Parsis
On the Calicut seafront, Raghu Karnad traces the lingering stories of the Parsis who lived there, including a thrice-great-grandmother It’s soon after sunrise, and women in burqas are power-walking...
Zubin Karkaria: Meet the first Indian to head a Swiss company
'Sometimes it's better to ask for forgiveness rather than permission,' Zubin Karkaria, CEO of the Kuoni Group and the first Asian to head a listed Swiss company, tells Niraj Bhatt. In the past...
All You Ever Wanted To Know About Sacred Rituals Of A Parsi Wedding
Marriage in India is a sacred institution where the bride and the groom exchange vows and promise to stay together through thick and thin, not only in this birth but in the following births as well....
Patiala court acquits Kobad Gandhy of all charges
The court of Additional Sessions and District Judge Mohammad Gulzar on Tuesday acquitted Kobad Ghandy, an alleged leader of banned CPI (Maoist), of all charges in a six-year-old case. He was booked...
With Kersi Lord’s Passing a Long Era of Hindi Film Music Comes to an End
In 1969, Hindi film music fans were enthralled to hear the songs of Aradhana, a film starring a budding actor Rajesh Khanna and the well-known actress Sharmila Tagore. Each song was hummable, but...
Where Is My Tent
Where is my Tent is a beautiful film directed by Zubin Sethna that documents the journey of a tent. “Somewhere in the middle of nowhere in Northern Pakistan: I find myself back in a village named...
The Agas on the dynamics of giving
Thermax’s Anu Aga and her daughter Meher Pudumjee see philanthropy as much more than writing out cheques for charity Anu Aga and her daughter Meher Pudumjee, of energy and environment...
The Parsi Connection to the US Diwali Stamp
Due to the request of the author quoted in an earlier version of the article, we have removed the author's note. Here is an interesting Parsi connection to the very first Diwali Stamp issued by the...
How 100 Parsi Kids Collected 12000+ Shoes under 3 Hours For the Underprivileged in Mumbai
One hundred Parsi children, who are a part of the Xtremely Young Zoroastrians (XYZ) foundation, have collected 12,199 shoes for the underprivileged within three hours in Mumbai. The shoe collection...
Garshasb Soroosh’s NASA Project: Terps in Space
Dr. Behram Pastakia, Chair of FEZANA’s Publication committee, and a dear friend writes in. Garshasb Soroosh, (see Fezana Journal - summer 2016 issue) is part of the Zarathushti Youth Without Borders...
Feritta – Get Up Now – Official Music Video
A new music video by Feritta was recently launched on youtube. Readers of Parsi Khabar will remember that Feritta has been featured here in the past for her previous music videos and other...
Navroze Contractor: The dying culture of ‘kushti’ in akhadas
Navroze Contractor now records the tradition of kushti and akhadas. Navroze Contractor wishes there are more than 24 hours in a day . The veteran cinematographer, known for his work in national...
PARZOR Kusti Exhibit On Google Arts & Culture.
The amazing folks at PARZOR under the leadership of Dr. Shernaz Cama have been coming up with virtual online exhibitions on Parsi and Zoroastrian themes. The latest one is on the Kusti. Kusti...
The Parsi Directory Android App
Our dear friend Yazdi Tantra informs us of a new Android app that he has launched called The Parsi Directory. TheParsiDirectory.com has been around for over 10 years now, with more than 79,000+ live...
Adil Jal Darukhanawala, the man who eats, sleeps and drinks automobiles!
Circa 1983, Nehru Stadium, Pune. A couple of days before the start of Pune’s first ever International Motocross event. The roar of the dirt-track motorcycles, clouds of dust and the inimitable...
Vanishing point:The last remaining parsis of Delhi
Delhi’s Parsi community is by far the smallest minority group residing in the city. According to the 2011 Census report, the number of Parsis in the national capital is now down to three figures,...
A Zoroastrian Temple Opens in Kurdistan
Zoroastrians in the Kurdistan Region who opened their first official temple in Sulaimani last week hope that their first official temple in the region will provide the right environment to...
XYZ Making A Difference
Below is an appeal received from our good friend Hoshaang Gotla who runs the amazing kids program XYZ in Mumbai Dear members of the community, Our organisation - XYZ is organising a MAD Initiative...
Hormazd Narielwalla Amongst Winners at the 4th International Print Biennale
The winners of the 2016 Print Awards, part of the 4th International Print Biennale currently taking place across the North East of England, have been announced. Six artists have received awards...
Cyrus Todiwala and Zerbanoo Gifford Talk about Dadabhai Naoroji on BBC
Chef Cyrus Todiwala OBE chooses Dadabhai Naoroji, the 'Grand Old Man of India' who in 1892 became Britain's first Asian MP for Finsbury Central. He later returned to India and petitioned for the...
WZCC Annual Global Meet Hosted By Hong Kong Zoroastrians
Below is a message from Edul Daver, Global Chair of the World Zoroastrian Chamber of Commerce. The 2016 Annual Global Meeting shall be hosted by The Incorporated Zoroastrian Charity Funds of...
Echoes of history
City physician and history aficionado Dr. Farokh Udwadia recalls the power and glory of the Achaemenid Empire For more than one hundred summers, the Cama Institute has been the go-to venue for...