Karachi’s history does not reside merely in its buildings, its roads, or the long curve of its shoreline. It lives in...
arZan Articles
Early morning fire at godown on Ezra Street ravages Calcutta’s oldest Parsi temple
Twenty-five fire tenders battled the blaze in central Calcutta for over six hours from 5.30am, when the first alarm...
Will Mumbai’s 99-year-old iconic Parsi Dairy Farm shut shop ?
For almost a century, Parsi Dairy Farm has fattened generations of Mumbaikars on its high-quality milk, butter, ghee, and an assortment of mithais. Eateries across the city have for decades served...
Tanaz Godiwalla, The Queen Of Parsi Catering: In Conversation
Parsis love food. We’re always talking about it. At breakfast, we discuss what’s for lunch; at lunch, we discuss what’s for dinner; at dinner, we discuss the next day’s menu. While Mumbai’s many...
Parsi population slides in Twin Cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad
Only 17 births against 65 deaths registered in the last five years Hyderabad: Forget the tiger, first save the Parsi, says Shapoor Toorkey a regular to the Zoroastrian Club in Secunderabad. Even the...
Navroz The New Day: A Film by Divya Cowsji
Divya Cowasji the phenomenal young Parsi filmmaker is at it again. Her latest work titled “Navroz: The New Day” documents Jamshedi Navroz as it is celebrated by the Parsi and Irani...
Remembering Adi Marzban
Walking in the tracks of Marzban mania Were he with us, puckish humour and wacky wit intact, Parsi theatre’s finest writer-director Adi Marzban would have been 101. Generations of ardent fans agree...
In death, kin of Farrokh Guard gift life to five on Navroz eve
On the eve of Parsi New Year, the family of a 57-year-old Parsi resident of Thane gave the gift of life to five patients by donating his organs after he was declared brain dead. Farrokh Guard, who...
Navroze Mubarak 2015: Happy New Year 1385 Y.Z.
At the outset we would like to wish you our readers a very happy, healthy, peaceful and prosperous New Year. Navu Saal Mubarak. The last year has been an eventful year for the Parsi community in the...
Everyday Parsi: Ervad Jehangir Madon
Our seventh and last author of the 2015 Everyday Parsi series is Ervad Jehangir R. Madon Jehangir Madon writes August 1992, Bombay. 4:15 am. I would wake up to the constant reminders that it was...
Lord Karan Bilimoria Laments that Britain has failed to maximise its relations with India
First Parsi to sit in the House of Lords says Britain has failed to maximise its relations with India as trade figures dip Lord Karan Faridoon Bilimoria – the first Zoroastrian Parsi to sit in...
Everyday Parsi: Ervad Soli P. Dastur
Our sixth author in the 2015 Everyday Parsi series is Ervad Soli P. Dastur A Mobed’s Recollections and Involvement in Muktad Gatha Days! On the P&O SS Oronsay ship somewhere near Suez Canal...
PVR Director’s Rare to release “The Path of Zarathustra” this September
Directed by Oorvazi Irani, The Path of Zarathustra is all set to release under the PVR Director’s Rare banner on September 4, 2015. The movie touches upon the theme of Parsi community and...
Everyday Parsi: Ervad Vispi Jehangir Mirza
Our fifth author in the 2015 Everyday Parsi series is Ervad Vispi Jehangir Mirza 18 days of Muktad in Udvada Ervad Vispi Jehangir Mirza writes The preparations of Muktad started on Aspandad mahino...
Mumbai Parsis hail upcoming New Year with food, fun and frolic
Who needs to travel around the world to experience different cultures when you live in a country where multiple cultures nestle together? India is truly blessed to taste the flavours a myriad of...
Four Parsis came together to talk food, culture, quirks, and more food
Be it the impeccable maintenance of their vehicles or their unique style of swearing, Parsi quirks are legendary. Ahead of the Parsi New Year (August 18), we invited entrepreneur Kainaz Messman,...
Parsis once dominated English theatre
The first family of Parsi theatre on memorable productions, new travelling plays and drinking wine on stage To talk theatre with them is to breathe a living legacy. Actor-producers Ruby and Burjor...
Everyday Parsi: Sheroo Vispi Kanga
Our fourth author in the 2015 Everyday Parsi series is Sheroo Vispi Kanga Sheroo writes Thank you Parsi Khabar for giving me this opportunity to write about what the Muktad (free soul) days mean to...
Government to Fund “The Everlasting Flame” to Preserve Parsi Culture And Heritage
First Ambitious Project Under New Scheme “Hamari Dharohar”, to Preserve Rich Heritage Of Parsi Community Three Exhibitions to be Held at an Estimated Cost of Rs. 14 Crore The Ministry of Minority...
Can The Cure for Migraine Come From The Parsi Community ?
Migraines – debilitating and agonising, there’s not much that can be done about them. Science is still looking for an effective way to prevent these recurring headaches. The answer to what can help...
Everyday Parsi: Firoze Jungalwala
Our third author in the Everyday Parsi 2015 series is Dr. Firoze B. Jungalwala My recollection of Muktad in Surat during the Late 1940s I vividly remember the Muktad days at my grand father’s home...
Hormusjee Jamsetjee Rustomjee of Karachi
OFF I went to another memorial meeting yesterday, February 13, with no moans involved, to commemorate a patriarch of the family who died one hundred years ago to the day. We, his descendants, now...
Bombay Parsi Punchayet Announces Schedule for 2015 Trustee Elections
Owing to the vacancies created upon the completion of the term of office of Trustees Mr. Dinshaw Mehta, Mrs. Arnavaz Mistry, Mr. Khojeste Mistree, Mr. Yazdi Desai and Mr. Jimmy Mistry and the...
Everyday Parsi: Niloufer Mavalvala
Our second author for the 2015 Everyday Parsi Series is Niloufer Mavalvala Muktad Recollected: Then and Now Childhood memories can be sweet and not easily forgotten. I grew up in Karachi amongst a...
Professor Almut Hintze Speaks about the movie “The Path Of Zarathustra”
Professor Almut Hintze, renowned Zoroastrian scholar endorses ‘The Path Of Zarathustra’.
Everyday Parsi: Ervad Kayomarz Yezdi Sidhwa
Our first author for 2015 Everyday Parsi series is Ervad Kayomarz Yezdi Sidhwa. Kayomarz writes Thank you Parsi Khabar for giving me the opportunity to write what Muktad days have meant to my family...
The Everyday Parsi in 2015
August 8, 2015 is the first day of Muktad or to call it correctly “Farvardegan” per the Shehanshahi Parsi Calendar. Parsis around the world and especially in India remember the dear departed of...
Making Muktad More Meaningful
Muktad are the 10 days starting from Roj Ashtad of Mah Spendarmad and ending on Vahishtoisht Gatha, when, according to Zoroastrian tradition, all Fravashis and souls collectively descend every year...
Nell Freudenberger: In Conversation
Nell Freudenberger talks from Mumbai about the dwindling population of Parsis in India. The word Parsi refers to followers of the prophet Zarathustra who came to the west coast of India from what is...
Reformist Parsis get a funeral prayer hall of their own in Worli, Mumbai India
Barred from prayer halls inside Doongarwadi for opposing the traditional method of disposing of dead or for marrying outside the community, the liberals build their own space to pray for the dead....
Feroze Rangoonwalla: Collector for all seasons
Well-known film chronicler Feroze Rangoonwalla has passed away. A remembrance by Khalid Mohamed Suddenly the brownstone colony he lived in, bang opposite the Mumbai Central Railway station, was...
The Worli Prayer Hall For Parsi Irani Zarathushtis
In Febrarury 2014 we had informed you about the allocation of land at the Worli crematorium to build a prayer hall to be used for Parsi and Irani Zarathushtis who opt for cremation upon death. The...
The Amesha Spenta or the Divine Attributes of God
Here is a very good commentary on the teachings of Zarathustra and the Divine Attributesof Ahura Mazda by Scott Nelson who is an instructor on comparative religions & philosophy....
Aapro Jall Cowasji: Help This Young Parsi Filmmaker Fulfill His Dream
If you have seen the film Qissa-E-Parsi, you know Jall Cowasji. He is the cinematographer of the excellent film co-directed by his sister Divya Cowasji and Shilpi Gulati. The film has won various...
Parsis battle threat of extinction
The government has sponsored schemes for assisted reproduction so that Parsis increase in number. Article by Vinaya Deshpande | The Sunday Guardian Twelve hundred years ago, we fled to India for our...
Parsi Portal: Android App Launched
Parsi Portal is a new and interesting app for Android smartphones and tablets that’s just been launched recently Jamshir Goorabian, one of the creators of the new Parsi Portal app writes in…...
Are you bawa enough to act?
The golden age of Parsi-Gujarati theatre may be long over, but a few drama-loving bawas are determined to revive it. Theatre veteran Burjor Patel, his daughter Shernaz Patel, lighting director Sam...
Bawi Bride Kitchen Brings Parsi Food Festival to J W Marriott Hotel in Mumbai
Good friend Perzen Patel, the powerhouse behind the namesake Bawi Bride Kitchen informs us about the upcoming Parsi Food Festival at the J W Marriott Hotel at Sahar, in Andheri; Mumbai. Spread over...
Head To Udvada Before Prime Minister Modi Does.
Visit Udvada, a Parsi town, before Narendra Modi does Article by Kermin Bhot | hindustantimes.com Two giant stone statues guard the main entrance. They hold a sword to their chest and stand at...
Who really owns this Bangalore Parsi burial ground?
Three acres of prime land in the heart of the city which has been used as a burial ground by the Parsis for 123 years has turned into a conflict zone. The community has filed a case against the...
All is not well in the high corridors of hospitals
Are patients being given an adequate say in the treatment they receive? Almost one year ago, Jehangir Cama, a respected hotelier, who was the former President of the Federation of Hotel and...
Amicable End to Stalemate at Doongerwadi
An Interim Settlement has been reached between the Mumbai Mazdoor Sabha and the Bombay Parsi Punchayet. Via Parsiana “All is well that ends well”. The Parsi community can heave a sigh of...
Pairing a Parsi with food
She started helping her mom in the kitchen when she was 10 years old and by the time she was 13 she started cooking in her free time after school. “By then I knew that I wanted to be a chef,” says...
Why Are India’s Parsi People Going Extinct?
There are less than 60,000 Parsis in India today. That fact itself is so alarming that it demands measures to help the community from fading away. Despite their low numbers, their contribution in...
New Film Debuts: The Path of Zarathushtra
A feature film ‘The Path of Zarathustra’ will be released at Mumbai in PVR theaters on Friday September 3, 2015. It will also be released at theaters in Delhi, Bengaluru and Pune. The...
Sleepy Udvada Will Spring to life with first-ever Parsi festival
It’s where history meets hearty Parsi cuisine. Udvada, a coastal town about 200km north of Mumbai and a place of pilgrimage for Zoroastrians, is as beloved for housing the community’s...
Ratan Tata inducted into Automotive Hall of Fame
Other automotive heavyweights inducted include former Ferrari chariman Luca di Montezemolo Ratan Tata has been inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame for his contribution to the automotive...
Food Picks in Udvada
While Mumbai and Pune are the first two cities people think of when it comes to good Parsi food, they forget that Udvada is really the heart of this cuisine. Udvada is home to the Iranshah, a sacred...
House of Fire: Can India’s Parsis survive their own success?
Fali Madon was looking for a bride. A boyish twenty-seven-year-old with twin passions for physical fitness and expensive cars, Fali was the chief priest of a Parsi fire temple in the Colaba district...
3,000-yr Parsi tradition of final rites threatened by strike
The Bombay Parsi Punchayet received a notice of a strike by the Mumbai Mazdoor Sabha, which also includes workers who lay the community’s deceased to rest; the notice came after negotiations for a...
Parsis Aflame Over Snoop Dogg Video Featuring Sacred Symbol
A new video, “King,” featuring rapper Snoop Dogg and Iranian American singer Amitis has raised the ire of the worldwide Parsi community, including the Indian American community, for its use of a...
Navroze Godrej: 4th-gen Godrej ushers in new culture at Godrej & Boyce
Navroze Godrej, the son of Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing (G&B) chairman Jamshyd Godrej, and who is the only member of the fourth generation of the Godrejs so far to be inducted on the...