Mumbai, August 26, 2025 – When Burzin Engineer crossed the finish line at the IRONMAN Tallinn triathlon, his words...
arZan Articles
Havovi Cooper: From Karachi Roots to Emmy Winner
A commemorated path from Karachi to prime-time recognition, Havovi Cooper—daughter of Dosi and Zubin Cooper—is...
Ruttie Jinnah: A Book Review
THIS study deals with Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s marital life and its tragic break up, resulting finally in the death of his 29-year-old young beautiful and highly talented wife, Ruttie. Originally...
Two trains to stop at Sanjan in special arrangement on ‘Sanjan Day’
Western Railway has given special stoppage of two scheduled trains Flying Rani(up) and Gujarat Express(down) at south Gujarat’s Sanjan railway station on 18th and 19th of November on the occasion of...
Udvada: The Land Controversey
It’s a change of different sort, a not-so-nice one, where one of the world’s most ancient religions finds its nook of worship threatened. Parsi-Irani Zoroastrians in India and around the...
Dorabji Damania and Life in the Indian Railways
Below is an article by A. B. Damania who talks about his uncle Dorabji Damania. Parsis were once a very large presence in the Indian Railway system, both pre and post Independence. MY FATHER’S OLDER...
India’s religious community in irreversible decline
Parsis are an ethnic community in India that follow the Zoroastrian religion. They are originally from Fars in Iran and had migrated to Western India more than 800 years ago. They are an essential...
Oh, for the love of beautiful, embroidered Gara
In a bid to bring back the popularity of Gara — the intricately embroidered saree on Chinese silk — the Parsi community has thought of a new method: Help the young learn draping the traditional...
Parsis to organise matrimonial meet in Bardoli, Gujarat.
To promote marriages within community and arrest the decline in population, the Parsi community in the state has decided to hold a two-day matrimonial meet at Bardoli. The meet has been organised to...
Delkash Shahriarian: US T20 Women’s Cricket Player
WHAT an honor for the first Zoroastrian participant in the US. Women’s T20 Cricket Open Championship which engraves a new Chapter in American Sports History The home of the first official...
Parsi theatre group from Surat in Karachi for play
Surat-based Yezdi Karanjia drama group, which is due to mark its Golden Jubilee this year, will perform a Parsi comedy play “Kutra Ni Punchdi Vanki” in Karachi, where the troupe comprising mostly...
Yaraana: Edited by Hoshang Merchant
Hoshang Merchant is a senior poetic star in the firmament of Indian poetry. He and his work sparkle bright, like the mischief in his eyes. His Parsi background and early years in Mumbai, coupled...
Vada Dasturji Meherjirana on the Udvada Land Issue
Below is a message from Vada Dasturji K N Dastur Meherji Rana on the Udvada Land Issue received via email from Kaizad F Keravala. The matter of the Udvada land near Paak Iranshah Atash-Beheram has...
Proposed industrial zone near Udvada fire temple angers Parsis
A land transaction in a tiny Gujarat village has caused concern among the Parsi-Irani community in Mumbai as well as the diaspora worldwide. About 200 km from the city is located Udvada, the...
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi Approached to Resolve Udvada Land Issue
Parsis to approach Modi to save their first settlement Community fears non-agricultural status of holy land in Udvada may herald industrialisation The threat of industrialisation of Udvada,...
Now, Parsis take conservatism debate to Facebook
“You, Parsis, have a great responsibility to carry your faith to the next generation safely. But it’s hard to stick by these rules…Most young people would get frustrated by them and some may...
Spurred by faith, Parsi man walks from Mumbai to Udvada
Jehangir Randeria, a childhood friend and neighbor at the Moholla at Wadia Street, Tardeo recently walked from Tardeo, Mumbai to Udvada to spur his faith. The article below was published in the...
Theobroma opens in Bandra
As patisserie Theobroma opens its second outlet we talk to owner Kainaz Messman about the toils and joys (not to mention kilos of cocoa) involved in satisfying Mumbai’s sweet tooth. By Alisha...
Mumbai Parsis step in defence of banned priests
The Bombay high court has admitted an appeal, filed by eminent Parsis, challenging a ban on two Zoroastrian priests from praying at the Towers of Silence because they have been conducting initiation...
Mum’s The Word On Mistry Novel
Rohinton Mistry’s novel, ‘Such a long journey’ has accidentally stumbled into a controversy, many years after its publication. It has earned the Shiv Sena’s ire and the Mumbai University (known for...
Lady With The Lens
Like most of today’s generation, you must have been introduced to her photographs in those boring history textbooks. Homai Vyarawall , 97, a Gujarat-born photographer, captured some of Delhi’s...
The Tatas Without Ratan
He’s packing his bags — again. December 2012, when he turns 75, is the third scheduled retirement for Ratan Tata. The Tata Group has been at this inflection point twice earlier, and...
Udvada Pak Iranshah Under Threat
The Udvada Samast Anjuman would like to inform community members all over the world, about the possible threat that our sacred Shreeji Pak Iranshah is presently facing. The tenure of a huge plot of...
Archbishop of Canterbury Addresses Zoroastrian Community
The Archbishop of Canterbury addressed the ZTFE at its London Headquarters on Friday 1st October 2010. The below is the text of that address President Malcolm Deboo, Lord Bilimoria, Honoured Guests...
Author Rohinton Mistry slams Mumbai University after book ban
Mr Mistry’s second novel Such a Long Journey, which won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, was removed from Mumbai University’s literature...
Parsi Delegation at Art of Living Centre in Bangalore
Parsis were represented at a well attended inter-faith conference held at the Art of Living International Centre in Bangalore on 27 & 28 September 2010. By Noshir Dadrawala. The Parsi delegation...
Don’t take my book away
A Mumbai University student responds to the Shiv Sena’s syllabus censorship. I am just another Mumbaikar who has lived all his life in the suburbs. The 50-minute Harbour Line local train journey...
Parsis pitch for cricket to revive it among youth ‘lost in Facebooking’
When British colonialists first introduced cricket to India, the first Indians to take up the sport were Parsis. They dominated the game in Mumbai for more than a century. Lately, it seems, the...
Tata Group endows $50 Million to Harvard University
Harvard Business School on Thursday announced it received a $50 million donation from India’s diversified conglomerate Tata Group, the largest gift the school received from an international...
Dance Bawa Dance: ZYNG Organizes Dance Competition
When this group of Parsis decided to get the country’s Zoroastrian youth on one platform, they chose to do it reality-TV style. By Aarefa Johari, Hindustan Times On Saturday evening, Mumbai’s...
Parsis say no to conversion
A gang of Mexican drug smugglers, a sect of Brazilian nudists, a group of paedophiles__they have all professed to be Zoroastrians. Shocked and to stop such "infiltrations", about 35...
Hey, I got a flat
The only time one can be ecstatic about getting a flat is when it is a house in the city, not a tyre that one is talking about. The Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) is one of the largest land owners in...
Parsis debate race vs religion
In February, Russian Zoroastrian Michael Chistyakov rubbed several orthodox Indian Parsi leaders the wrong way when he came to Gujarat to become a religious priest. He returned to Russia almost...
Dishoom: An Irani Cafe in London
Bombay’s old Irani cafes are dying a slow death, and the only people doing anything about it are in London Irani cafes — of which Mumbai has less than 20 original examples left —...
Empire Records: Something Borrowed by Rohinton Mistry
Two months before I was to leave Bombay for Toronto, a friend from St, Xavier s College asked to borrow my copy of "A Hard Days Night," Empire Records Something Borrowed by Rohinton Mistry...
Ervad Khushru Madon Sends Mail For Support
Below is a news article about an email that Ervad Khushru Madon sent a few days ago to various news organizations and community websites. The actual contents of the email are below the article....
MIT Astrophysicist Nergis Mavalvala Wins MacArthur Grant
MIT quantum astrophysicist Nergis Mavalvala was announced Sept. 28 as one of 23 winners of the coveted 2010 MacArthur Fellowship, also known as a genius grant, and will receive a $500,000 “no...
Stories from the Persian crypt
An art of Persian storytelling that saw stories of magic, warfare and adventures. An art that was immensely popular in India in the 16th century, but witnesses a slow death. But thanks to people...
Cyrus Sahukar In Conversation
Cyrus Sahukar is an MTV VJ and actor whose claim to fame was Semi Girebaal, a spoof on Simi Garewal. He is funny , witty and a deadly Parsi -Punjabi combination. His brief stint with cinema began...
Neville Wadia, T20 and World Records
Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid… rethink your national Twenty20 priorities. For all those who thought the shortest format of the game is only a young man’s cup of tea, well, it’s...
Parsi Biceps on View
The Parsis in Mumbai are known for their gusto in everything — be it their food or their festivals. This closely-guarded community which calls Mumbai its home is assumed to be in its decline. By...
Wadias: Built Oldest Surviving UK Warship
India has been shamed in front of the world, thanks to crumbling bridges and cracking ceilings at the Common Wealth village. But, about 200 years ago the same Indian hands built for the British...
This Parsi cook’s secret lies in her grandma’s recipes
Enter Aban Pardiwalla’s home on Pedder Road, and Kylie and Kinky scramble forth to greet you. After the ceremonial sniffs, the Lhasa Apsos ease out, allowing us to concentrate on the talk. “I am a...
Minority Rapport: Chef Kaizad Patel
Third generation Parsi chef Kaizad Patel is in town to help Delhiites nurture a taste for Parsi food “At a Parsi wedding no one remembers who the bride or groom was, but everyone remembers who the...
Aban Pardiwalla: The best home food from someone else’s kitchen
“When my mother would ferment grapes, the entire building knew that the Contractors were making wine,” recalls Aban Pardiwalla of her neighbours’ displeasure at the stench the fermentation would...
New Rules for Doongerwadi Funeral for Women
It will no longer be enough for Parsi-Zoroastrian women who are married to non-Parsis and want to be interred at the Towers of Silence to write an affidavit in their lifetime that they were...
From Nargol to Udvada: A Walk on the Beach
The following is a write-up by Homiar Hathiram and Farhad Choksi; good friends and regular readers of Parsi Khabar. They walked all the way from Nargol to Udvada following the coastline. Here is...
Falling Indian minority hopes romance can stop decline
India’s ancient minority Parsi community are pinning their hopes on modern methods such as speed-dating, social networking and IVF to stop their numbers vanishing, finds the BBC. By Sanjoy...
Avestagenome project enters gene sequencing phase
Avesthagen Ltd on Monday said its ambitious Avestagenome project has entered a significant phase of sequencing 60 closely related human genomes. The project is studying the genetic make-up and...
Parsi special kids to have residential facility in Mumbai
Here’s good news for all Parsi parents with special kids. The Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP), the biggest Parsi trust in the city, plans to setup a special residential facility for the kids. By...
Parsi Bodybuilding: A Photo Exhibition
I’ve been in this city for so long, and I found out only recently that there’s such a thing as a Parsi bodybuilding competition held here every year,” exclaims Aparna Jayakumar. By Pooja Pillai /...
Homi Sethna, Nuclear Legend Passes Away
Former Atomic Energy Commission ( AEC) chairman and one of the guiding lights behind India’s first nuclear test, Homi Nusserwanji Sethna, died on Sunday at his Walkeshwar residence after a...