By Bachi Karkaria As an Indian Parsi Zoroastrian, I’m proud to belong to a tiny minority widely admired for its material success and its philanthropy. But I feel a closing sense of siege. The vicissitudes of modern life are threatening our group’s ethnic identity and ancient ways. The vulture, our main accomplice in death for… Continue reading Lose the vultures, and lose the soul
Author: arZan
Bringing up the mediums: Parsi Mobeds
Parents make the heartbreaking decision to send their children to residential schools for various material reasons. It’s seldom for a cause. But last year, parents of 30 Parsi children decided that the cause of serving the community was worthy enough. So they packed them off, some of them only about six years old, to the… Continue reading Bringing up the mediums: Parsi Mobeds
Parliamentarians and media to view ‘Parzania’ soon
New Delhi, May 4 (IANS) Parliamentarians and members from the media would soon get to view Rahul Dholakia’s controversial film ‘Parzania’ depicting the plight of a Parsi family during the 2002 communal violence in Gujarat. ‘The modalities of screening the film in the Parliament House are being worked out and the date would be finalised… Continue reading Parliamentarians and media to view ‘Parzania’ soon
Tehmulji Parsi Lying-In Hospital May be Demolished
Parsi maternity home on the block Tucked away in a quiet lane off D N Road is one of the city’s oldest infirmaries–the charmingly named Dr Tehmulji’s Parsi Lying-in hospital. Built more than a century ago in 1895, the heritage building near New Excelsior cinema is up for sale. For generations, Parsi women have delivered… Continue reading Tehmulji Parsi Lying-In Hospital May be Demolished
Parsis Are Australia’s most diligent workers
AT last the question on everybody’s lips has been answered: The hardest working believers in Australia are are Zoroastrians. With just two religious holidays a year, the followers of the prophet Zoroaster are four times as diligent as Muslims, five times more than Hindus, and put the Jews and Orthodox Christians to shame. While workplace… Continue reading Parsis Are Australia’s most diligent workers
Separate religion from politics, pleads Pakistan lawmaker
A Parsi lawmaker in Pakistan pleaded that religion be kept away from politics, creating an uproar in the country’s National Assembly and forcing the speaker to switch off his microphone. M.P. Bhandara, member of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League, Monday stressed that as per founding father Mohammed Ali Jinnah’s vision of a secular polity, there… Continue reading Separate religion from politics, pleads Pakistan lawmaker
Perin Ferrao: Activist refused to accept a woman’s lot in India
Even as a youngster Perin Ferrao never accepted the conventional view in her native India that women were subordinate to men. Committed all her life to the emancipation of women, the Montreal teacher and former international secretary of the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) was 80 when she died at her home in Dollard… Continue reading Perin Ferrao: Activist refused to accept a woman’s lot in India
