For sixty years, Parsiana has documented the everyday and the extraordinary within the Parsi world — from births and...
arZan Articles
Love in the time of loneliness: Paswaar spotlights Parsi elders’ lives
The Gujarati-language film Paswaar puts a story about elder care and India’s Parsi community front and centreDr Homi,...
Bahman – Bestows Divine Wisdom
In the Zoroastrian calendar, the second day of every month as well as the eleventh month of every year is dedicated to Bahman Amshaspand. By Noshir H. Dadrawala Bahman is the Persian form of the...
Artist Jehangir Sabavala goes for record Rs 1.7 cr
The market for India’s modern masters seems to be sizzling. After Raza became the priciest modern by notching up over Rs 16 crore at a London auction recently, another master, 88-year-old Jehangir...
Parsis felicitate new Chief Justice of India
Addressing a large gathering of the Parsi community on Saturday, newly appointed Chief Justice of India (CJI) Justice Sarosh Kapadia admitted to being a workaholic and a deeply spiritual person. By...
Perizad Zorabian, The Monsoon and Chicken Shashlik Sizzlers
The odds that you might catch vivacious actor Perizad Zorabian in cook’s garb are narrow. By Ismat Tahseen / DNA Says the mother of two, “I rarely like to try my hand in the kitchen but my husband...
Cama Baug Agiary Varasyaji Pass Away
Ervad Marzban J. Hathiram informs us about the passing away of the holy Varasyaji, and a fascinating primer on the importance of Varsyaji in Zoroastrian religion and culture. It is my sad duty to...
Govt scheme to arrest decline in Parsi population
Concerned over the dwindling number of Parsis, one of the five notified national minorities, Government has launched a scheme to arrest the trend of decline in their population. The Central Sector...
Is it time for an international Zarathushti referendum?
For the last 50 years, at the least, a debate is raging within our Community, between The orthodox and the reformist lobbies, leading to nowhere. By B.T. DASTUR / The Bombay Samachar Zoroastrianism,...
Britannia restaurant: Flying food and other Parsi tales
Boman Kohinoor and his son/chef Romin tell CNNGo the long history of Britannia & Co. and share the sacred sali meat recipe from one of Mumbai's best loved restaurants Article by Aarthi Gunnupuri...
The Woman Jinnah Loved
The personal life of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah (1876-1948) arouses great compassion simply because he was an astutely rational man. Article written by Khaled Ahmed / The Express Tribune He...
This Parsi divorce court convenes only twice a year
Indian courts abound with pending cases, but there is a court which does not seem to have much in hand. Article by Hetal Vyas / DNA India Therefore, it sits only twice a year. It’s a divorce court...
Fun, learning & bonding at Parsi youth meet
Over 250 youths participated in various events held at the 18th all-India Zoroastrian youth meet on Friday and Saturday. There were interaction-based games and orientation sessions. Author :...
Farokh Engineer: First and Dearest
A Parsee from Bombay who captured the imagination of an eight-year-old in Lancashire By Michael Henderson / cricinfo.com I first went to Old Trafford in 1967, the so-called Summer of Love....
Udvada Vada Dasturji Performs Jashan at ZAGNY Darbe Mehr in New York
The Vada Dasturji of Udvada is currently visiting USA and stopped by the ZAGNY Darbe Mehr in Pomona, NY to perform a jashan ceremony and talk to the ZAGNY congregation. ZAGNY welcomed Dasturji...
Delna Mody: When Art Meets Life
In her debut play under the banner of her new theatre production house Orange Dinghy, Delna Mody, who is collaborating with one of Parsi theatre’s biggest directors Sam Kerawala for her project,...
Parsi Youth Meet To Bond Community
Over 220 Zoroastrian youths from across the country are participating in the three-day all India youth meet that began in the city on Thursday. Twenty participants have also come from Iran to take...
Jamsheed Marker: The Not-So-Quiet Ambassador
Get an ex-ambassador to speak on your TV channel and the result will be steadily stale, his discourse carefully embedded in exploded theories that only people in the Foreign Office believe. But...
Ratan Tata Elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences
One of India's leading industrialist and two Indian American researchers have been elected as members of the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Article by Indian Express Ratan Tata...
A Crisis for the Faithful
The Parsi bodies are piling up in India. Parsis are modern adherents of the ancient Zoroastrian faith that emerged in the 6th century B.C. in Persia, predating Christianity and Islam. According to...
Murree: Story of a Rawalpindi brewery that survived amid alcohol restrictions in Pakistan
Rawalpindi, recognised the world over for its army generals and fundamentalist mosques, is also home to Murree Brewery which has operated in the conservative Pakistani city since 1860. Published by...
Medical Aid Appeal for Pakzad Tata
Please find below a letter from Mrs. Queenie Tata Medical Aid for my 5 yrs old son having 90% Profound Deafness and lack of Speech. I the undersigned Mrs. Queenie J Tata PARSEE WOMAN would like to...
Villoo Morawala Patell: In Conversation
“I want to explain to the people how India can add to the world’s wealth through innovation” Villoo Morawala Patell’s youthful looks and exuberant personality hides formidable learning in complex...
Road to be named after Rustom Tirandaz
Rustom Tirandaz who passed away recently will be honoured by the naming of a road in his honour. In the Dadar Parsi Colony, Mumbai; the road opposite Rustomframna Agiary, popularly known as...
Parsi genome project to probe mysteries of longevity, cancer
More than 4,200 Parsis have so far given their blood samples for a genome project that aims at a comprehensive study of Zoroastrian individuals to explore the genetic basis of their longevity and...
The last Bhuj Parsi passes away
Roadaben Sorabji Botwala spent her whole life in Bhuj Bhuj, the district headquarters of Kutch, which once boasted of a large population of Parsis is sad at the death last weekend of the last...
Kainaz Amaria: Photographs from an Old Indian Road
Traffic, bulls, literary picnics and sequins. Where else can you get them all in one morning, but along the Grand Trunk Road? A gaggle of NPR’s finest are currently following the road across India...
Affidavit opposes Parsi woman’s plea
Two high priests of Parsi community have filed an affidavit before Gujarat high court, stating that there is no tradition where a girl marrying in another community can enjoy Parsi rights. The...
Exhibition gives city a peek into the Parsi way of life
Curious about how a Fire Temple looks from the inside, what goes into the making of an Agiary, the ceremonies and the procedures at the Tower of Silence where the dead are laid and much more, here...
Ervad Hathiram’s Editorial on the Doongerwadi Incident
Yesterday we posted a letter from a reader regarding an incident at Doongerwadi involving two priests at a Geh Sarna ceremony. Here is a follow up post by good friend Ervad Marzban Hathiram. Besides...
Exhibition: Zoroastrianism Through The Ages
The Frohar FoundationPRESENTS “ZOROASTRIANISM THRU THE AGES” An Exhibition on the Parsee Zoroastrians Showcasing The History of the Iranian Dynasties from Peshdadian to Sassanian The Journey from...
Marzban Shroff and the “Ghati” Controversey
Tolerance level has gone down, High Court rues The tolerance level of the people has gone down, the Bombay High Court today remarked while dealing with a petition filed by an author who is facing...
Unethical Conduct at Doongerwadi
A follow up to this article is titled “Ervad Hathiram’s Editorial on the Doongerwadi Incident” The below is a letter sent to Parsi Khabar by Minoo K Vaghchhipawalla Minoo writes… Unethical...
Hoshang Merchant: Hyderabad’s Parsi Yogi
When the man with a long white Dumbledorish beard, twinkling eyes and soothing voice, surrounded by books, speaks, one is drawn by the humour and the inherent life wisdom in his voice. One of the...
Dr. Malcolm Bilimoria: Pancreatic Surgeon Extraordinaire
Diagnosed with lethal pancreatic cancer, Geri Perrotte made a desperate pilgrimage to the mecca of the medical world: Mayo Clinic. Published by Daily Herald There, last November, doctors hoped to...
A Navjote Ceremony with full security
Two children of a Parsi woman and her Catholic husband were initiated into the Zoroastrian community on Friday under police security as the Parsi community had objected to the Navjyot Ceremony....
The Great Parsi Gender Divide
Why Sauce For the Parsi Goose Is Not Sauce For the Parsi Gander? By Noshir H. Dadrawala Parsis have been in the National news again and as usual for all the wrong reasons. The current dispute is...
The Private Papers of Sir Dinshaw Wacha
Below is a request by Dinyar Patel, a PhD candidate at Harvard University. Dinyar Patel writes... I am a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of History at Harvard University and the grand-nephew of...
Protest Against Jame Jamshed
The below is a copy of the letter to the Editor of Jame Jamshed. This letter is written by good friend Ervad Marzban J Hathiram, who is the head priest of the Behram Baug Agiary and the editor of...
Kainaz Messman at Theobroma
I am a waitress... a cleaner... whatever my business needs me to be' As patisserie Theobroma opens its second outlet we talk to owner Kainaz Messman about the toils and joys (not to mention kilos of...
Parsi lady seeks cop cover for Navjot of kids
Wants protection for the initiation ceremony of her children born of a Catholic father after threats from disapproving community elders By Manoj Nair / Mumbai Mirror A Parsi woman and her...
Parsi charity needs overhaul: Study
TISS Report Advocates Home-Based Services For Senior Citizens From The Community Manthan K Mehta I TNN Mumbai: A study on Parsis has recommended a complete overhaul of the charity aimed at the...
100 Year Celebrations Of Patel Agiary in Andheri
Below are some pictures from the 100 years celebration of the Patel Agiary in Andheri, Bombay, India. These were distributed on a newsgroup and there is no mention of the original photographer....
Delhi Parsi Anjuman New Year Celebrations
Parsi New Year celebration in DelhiUploaded by Newsxlive. - Watch the latest news videos.
Obituary: Dr (Mrs) Katy F Dalal
Today is the Public Condolence meeting to mourn the death of Dr. Katy Dalal, who passed away recently. Details below. The following is an obituary written by Homai N. Modi and printed in the Mumbai...
Much noise over names at Towers of Silence
Bombay Parsi Panchayet declares that funerals of woman married outside community will not be allowed at towers. After refusing permission to an inter-caste married Parsi woman to let her body be...
Pallonji Mistry is Ireland’s richest person
Pallonji Mistry, an Indian origin business magnate, has topped Ireland's rich list with a worth of 3.9 billion pounds ($5.93 billion) Mistry, who became an Irish citizen in 2003 through his Irish...
Shelter over their heads, Surat Parsi couples enjoy parenthood
It may be pleasing news for the members of the Parsi community that many of the newly-wed young Parsi women are in the family way in Surat, which has a population of 3,500 of the total 90,000 Parsis...
Priceless Tata heirlooms to see the light of day
Though City Museum Has Permanent Exhibit, Not All 5,000-odd Artefacts Are On Display Bella Jaisinghani | TNN The story seems to be the stuff of legend. Over a hundred years ago, the two sons of...
Dahanu Road by Anosh Irani
"Death and time are like two clowns," Shapur Irani, the patriarch of Dahanu Road, tells his grandson, Zairos. "They play pranks only they find funny." By Kate Wallace / Telegraph-Journal It's true....
Zoroastrianism: Its Stewardship for all Creation, the Animate and the Inanimate.
Below is the text of presentation by Pervin J. Mistry at the Parliament of Worlds Religions, Melbourne, December 5th, 2009. This was circulated by the author via email to a newsgroup. All copyrights...
Two eyes, two ears, one mouth
There needs to be a willingness among people of every faith to sit with someone of a different religion and listen. By Cyrus Bahrassa /Student Life I am going to be skeptical and assume you’ve never...