On a hill in Mumbai surrounded by banyan trees lies the Doongerwadi grounds. It is home to the city’s ancient Towers...
arZan Articles
Mira Mehta named to Bloomberg New Economy’s 2025 “Catalyst” class
Mira Mehta, co-founder and CEO of Tomato Jos in Nigeria, has been named to Bloomberg New Economy’s 2025 “Catalyst”...
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 stepped back...
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 syllabus following...
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 donor in...
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 -- have recently...
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 just...
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 Majumder...
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 prolonged...
Desperate measures for a fading Indian faith
What do musician Freddie Mercury, the Tata family who own Corus and Jaguar, and the conductor Zubin Mehta have in common? They all descended from migrants who fled Iran more than a 1,000...
Freddie Mercury: Rock ‘N’ Roll’s Humble Showman
Freddie Mercury chose a stage name in perfect harmony with his voice. The mercurial rock star and lead singer of Queen was born Farrokh Bulsara on the East African island of Zanzibar on Sept. 5,...
Commander Firdosh Mogal Dies While Saving Indian Navy Colleague
Mumbai, Aug 31 (IBNS): An Indian Navy commander died in the sea off Mumbai on Monday while trying to rescue his colleague who was swept away by the sea. The incident happened when one of four...
A Wish List for 1380 Yz
The following is an article by Ervad Marzban J. Hathiram on Frashogard.com On 16th June, 632 AD, Yazdegard, son of Shaharyar ascended the throne of Iran as the 29th King of the Sassanian dynasty. As...
A Date With Parsis
The new saviours of a 3,500 year-old faith are hip and tech-savvy. Parsi-Zoroastrian youngsters are using Facebook, speed dating, and paintball competitions to meet, make merry and perhaps marry. By...
The Story of the Taj Mahal Hotel
The Taj Mahal Hotel was founded, according to legend, after Jamsetji Tata was refused entrance into a European-owned hotel which displayed a sign forbidding entry to dogs and Indians. He vowed to...
They’ve got the ZYNG thing
Nearly 2,000 young Zoroastrians from India and abroad have got together to tell the nay-sayers and the no-hopers, inside and outside the community that they can overcome. By Priyal Dave / Afternoon...
Parsi Theater Personality Silloo Mahava R.I.P.
The following is a write-up submitted by Dr. Arnavaz Havewala Silloo Aunty, as she was affectionately, was a well-known actor.She has acted in several English Movies – ‘TRYING TO...
BPP Chief Dinshaw Mehta in an Interview
Dinshaw Mehta, chairman, Bombay Parsi Punchayet, was a member of the group that stopped the ceremony held at the Zoroastrian College near Sanjan, Gujarat, on February 19 to make Mikhail Chistyakov,...
Baroda Agiary Priest Home to Undergo Renovation
The British colonial building, which is home to the priest of Parsi agyari built by Pastonji Contractor in 1923, is also set to get a facelift. The residence is spread across 3,500 square feet area...
A CA turned Avestan scholar
Khojeste Pudam Mistree is a frank and fearless crusader of the faith. As Trustee of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet, Managing Trustee of Zoroastrian Studies and Trustee of the Athravan Educational Trust,...
Noshir Dadrawala Reminisces about Jamshed Guzder
Jamshedji Nusserwanji Guzder’s passing away did not come as a surprise to those who were observing his deteriorating health over the last few years. Whenever I used to meet his daughter in Poona, I...
We want to break free
India's Independence month has another little-known first. It was in August 1907 that Madam Cama defiantly unfurled the first Indian flag to the world and inspired a generation of Parsi firebrand...
OBITUARY: JAMSHED GUZDER
JAMSHED GUZDER : LAST OF THE SETHIAS Jimmy Guzder, as he was popularly known, may not have been Parsi aristocracy but was certainly the last of the Parsi Sethias. With Lady Jehangir’s demise, the...
Understanding the Ratan Tata DNA
It is India Inc's most closely watched succession and there is speculation on who will, or can, fit into the shoes of the Tata group chairman Ratan Tata when he lays down office in December 2012. A...
On new year, Delhi Parsis talk change
NEW DELHI: There are 734 Parsis in the NCR Delhi, Gurgaon and Noida. And about half of them turned up to celebrate Navroze, the Parsi New Year, at Delhi Parsi Anjuman on Thursday evening. One piece...
Shaimak Davar Ties Up With Debbie Allen Dance Academy
Shiamak Davar ties up with American dance guru and takes his academy to new professional high. Shiamak Davar is in an ebullient mood. It is the Parsi New Year today. And he has a navroze gift for...