Dr. Feroze Sidhwa, an American trauma surgeon who has volunteered in Gaza, briefed the United Nations on the injuries...
arZan Articles
ZTFE at the Vatican: A Zoroastrian Witness to History
In April and May 2025, members of the Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe (ZTFE) participated in two extraordinary...
Persia: Ancient Soul of Iran
The August 2008 issue of the National Geographic has "Persia: Ancient Soul of Iran" as its cover story. I just finished reading the printed issue. The photographs as usual are fantastic. The stories...
Loyalty is a meter of Mehta
IT IS not, at first sight, a marriage made in heaven. The conductor is a Parsee Indian, brought up in Bombay, trained in Vienna and living in Los Angeles. The orchestra is a band of refugees who...
Zubin Mehta to perform in Mumbai
World-renowned music conductor Zubin Mehta will hold a charity concert at the Brabourne stadium in October. The Mehli Mehta Foundation, founded in 1995 in memory of Zubin's father, confirmed...
225th Birth Anniversary of Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy
Parsis from all over the city gathered to celebrate the 225th birth anniversary of the first baronet His initials are JJ. At 22, Jehangir Jejeebhoy is not just another law student. He has an...
The Last Parsis: Tales of Survival and Extinction
Kaevan Umrigar, a filmmaker, and good friend of Parsi Khabar runs his own blog. His latest article in on Uran Next on my itinerary was Mora Bunder at Uran, a small fishing village across the harbour...
Ardeshir Cowasjee on Sam Bahadur
SAM Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw was his full name by which he was rarely called, as he was known familiarly and affectionately by his men and officers and friends as Sam Bahadur. Manekshaw...
Aslaji Agiary Trustees in a Legal Battle
Grant Rd agiary caught between two sets of trustees Aslaji Bhikhaji Agiary’s trustees are embroiled in a legal battle over control of the temple management and funds One of the most frequented Parsi...
The pages of history: J. N. Petit Library
The staff of the JN Petit, home to 150,000 titles, do more than just take care of books If you can’t remember the last time you visited a heritage library, you are not alone. Edged out by modern...
Here’s my pistol, now come on shoot me
As a young major in 1947, Eustace D'Souza first read about Major Sam Manekshaw when reading about the Burma campaign in World War II. Manekshaw was shot in the stomach when he and his company...
Barack Obama Praises Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw
While the Indian Government screwed up and bungled in handling the funeral of Field Marshal Manekshaw, Barack Obama, the Presidential candidate in the U.S. issued a statement acknowledging the...
Mcleodganj’s famous Parsi shop on its last legs
One of the oldest landmarks of this town, the Nowrojee General Merchants shop set up in 1860, is taking a beating from time. Owned by a Parsi family, it is almost on its last legs commercially and...
Kanga Laments Lack of Music Culture in Karachi
Mrs Kanga: musician with a message As the World Music Day was marked around the globe on June 21, it was rather disappointing to note that a vibrant city such as Karachi failed to organise a decent...
A View from Pakistan: Manekshaw’s war
By Commodore (retired) Najeeb Anjum for The Dawn, Pakistan For 36 years now India's first field marshal has been the icon of heroism. "ALL QUIET ON THE EASTERN FRONT", the melodious message...
Doomed by faith
India's Parsi community is shrinking fast. For every birth, there are five deaths, prompting fierce debate between reformists and traditionalists who are concerned about ethnic purity. By...
Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw Passes Away
Iconic former Army Chief Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, who died in the wee hours on Friday, was given the final salute in a state funeral and laid to rest with full military honours. ( Watch ) As a...
Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw in Coma
The Indian Army's first and only surviving Field Marshal, Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw is fighting for his life at the Army Hospital (Research & Referral) in Wellington in Tamil...
Minocher Bhandara, Pakistan MP, Passes Away
Former Minorities Minister and member National Assembly Minocher Bhandara (popularly known as M.P.Bhandara) passed away here on Sunday. His one leg and a wrist was broken in an accident on April 23...
Zoroastrian Tower of Silence
A "Tower of Silence" is the place where Zoroastrians laid their dead to rest in the life-giving power of the sun. Zarathustra is the ancient Persian prophet who founded Zoroastrianism 3500 years...
Chaiye Hame Bawaji
This is a wonderful piece written by Ms. Natasha Viraf Deboo of Poona The word 'Parsi' is derived from the word Pars or Persia. Hence, Parsi literally means 'people who have come from...
Yazdani Bakery
Here is a wonderful video of Yazdani Bakery, one of the last few bakeries of its kind left in Bombay
No Family Planning for Parsis
NCM’s pill for falling Parsi numbers: no family planning CITHARA PAUL Posted online: Saturday, June 14, 2008 at 0034 hrs New Delhi, June 13: Concerned about the dwindling population of the Parsi...
Dwindling Numbers: A Legal View
A very interesting article from the Indian Law Blog "Law and Other Things" Dwindling number of Parsis The National Minorities Commission 's Report on the dwindling number of Parsis in India...
Vulture Culture
This is a youtube video about the Parsis of Bombay and the issues that face the community today. If the video does not show, please click here
Villoo Patell Bags Top French Award
Villoo Morawala Patell, founder-chairperson of India's leading life sciences firm Avesthagen Ltd, was on April 23 honoured with a top civilian award by the French government for her...
Parsi Kolah No Sarko
Among Indian vinegars the most interesting by far is the dark and complex tasting barrel matured sugar-cane vinegar made by E.F.Kolah & Sons of Navsari since 1885. Parsis are the other Indian...
Visiting Persepolis, the ancient source of Iran’s power
The ancient Persian capital of Persepolis, in a vast and arid plain 40 miles from Shiraz in southern Iran, is the greatest ancient site between the Holy Land and India. This is a rare place that...
Pune’s Parsi Online Portal
With an online portal disseminating information about all their activities and projects, Zoroastrains in the city find it easy to stay connected The Internet has always been appreciated for making...
Pioneer woman-journalist Roshan Peiris departs
Roshan’s typewriter ticks no more Hers was a familiar ‘byline’ to many generations of readers. Veteran journalist Roshan Peiris, a stalwart of The Observer and in later years of The Sunday Times who...
The Ceremonies of a Parsi Wedding
Parsi Lagan or Wedding is marked by vibrant and joyful customs that spread over a couple of days. Unique and interesting rituals begin from the time of engagement and culminate with a lavish post...
Parsis may be silenced by success
By Sudha Ramachandran BANGALORE - The clock is ticking for one of India's most prosperous communities, the Parsis. Always small, the Parsi population is diminishing at an alarming rate, prompting...
About Freddie Mercury Being a Parsi
By Vir Sanghvi in The Mint. I know a lot of people are going to treat this as blasphemy so I better just come out and say this. I saw a DVD of a concert by Queen with Paul Rodgers on vocals and you...
Parsi Reformists Ready with a New Fire Temple Plan
By Manoj R Nair A group of Indian-Zoroastrian reformists acquires land at Malad to build a fire temple that will be open to even spouses of community members married outside the fold It could be an...
Zubin Karkaria: Travel Executive in Conversation
Time is a precious commodity for Zubin Karkaria, chief executive officer and managing director, India & South Asia, Kuoni Travel Group. Steering the Rs-1,800-crore travel company, the largest in the...
A Passion for Persia, Disneyland and Dolphins
KISH, Iran — The indoor dolphin show was in full swing as Hossein Sabet walked in to a burst of applause from the 1,200 people in attendance. Clad in tight beige equestrian pants and tall black...
Ratan Tata: The 2008 TIME 100
By Simon Robinson Since Ratan Tata first suggested building a car that could sell for 100,000 Indian rupees ($2,500) four years ago, rival automakers have sniggered. "If you think about the...
Indian vultures may be gone in 10 years
Despite a 2006 ban on veterinary diclofenac, an anti-inflammatory drug for cattle, vultures are fast vanishing from India. So quick is the decline in numbers that experts say three species could be...
Salgreh this Adar Mahina
Wed 30th April: Daepmeher roj Zaiya Wadia Dadgah at Surat Fri, 2nd May: Sarosh roj Cama Baug Agiary, Mumbai Mewawalla Agiary, Byculla Soonawalla Agiary, Mahim Chinoy Daremeher, Gandevi, Gujarat...
Dead as a dodo? Why scientists fear for the future of of the Asian vulture
You have to feel sorry for vultures. For animal campaigners they are a difficult case. Other, more photogenic, slightly less sinister creatures may gain the world's sympathy at the drop of a hat,...
Parsi Statues: Cenotaph To History
The route from Churchgate to Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus is sprinkled with memorials to sentinels of Mumbai history. Only, nobody cares Sipping my masala chai one morning, I suddenly realized that...
Eeda Par Agiary
Eggs and toddy jars for a fire temple? The good-life-loving Parsis are not finicky about mixing the sacred and the secular. Still, I was intrigued by the E&T detail in Nauzer Bharucha's report on...
Fire temple enters its 300th year
24 Apr 2008, 0434 hrs IST,Nauzer Bharucha,TNN MUMBAI: For the past few centuries, they have been one of Mumbai's most important religious and architectural landmarks. On Thursday, the city's oldest...
Why read the Khordeh Avesta
...when we cannot understand it???? This is beautiful story sent to us by Cherag Sam Karkaria, a good friend and regular reader of Parsi Khabar An old Priest lived on a farm in the mountains with...
Ancient game boards and compass discovered in southern Iran
Archaeological studies on some engravings on rocks on Khark Island have identified them as a compass and ancient game boards. The engravings are between 2000 and 3000 years old, archaeologist Reza...
Around the world bicycle trip memoirs to be released after 80 yrs
Vadodara, April 18 One of the three men was a Barodian; almost 80 years after it was first published, his son will release a new edition of the book today Just in their twenties and living off a...
With Cyclists Around The World: Book Review
With Cyclists Around The World (Roli, Rs 350) by Adi B. Hakim, Rustom B. Bhumgara and Jal P. Bapasola It is the fascinating memoir of three young Parsi men of a group of six from the Bombay...
Thana Parsee Zoroastrian Anjuman Wins Court Battle
Received via an email comminique From: pervezbhesania Subject: Another victory to savour: The mail: To, All Zoroastrians of Thana, We have a phenomenal piece of news to share with you once again. As...
New Construction Near Doongerwadi
A proposal to build a multi-storey residential building near the Towers of Silence on Malabar Hill has caused concern among a section of Parsis. They worry that residents of the upper floors of...
The Tomb of Cyrus in Danger of Fungus and Lichen
What experts have warned and feared for the past few years about the humidity level at the world heritage site of Pasargadae after the inundation of Sivand dam, has now become a bitter reality as...
Remembering Navroz Mody
New Jersey in the 80's was undergoing a wave of attacks on Indians. These attacks were perpetrated by a group of locals who saw the new "immigrants" as unwanted nuisances in their neighborhoods....
Zoroastrian helps keep the traditions of ancient religion alive
An interview with Dr. Farzana Irani. Irani was born and raised in India, where she graduated from medical school. She immigrated in 1978 to Albany, where she is an obstetrician and gynecologist in...