Smriti Irani has always made headlines because of her presence both on television and in Indian politics. Recently,...
arZan Articles
Peshawar’s Historic Parsi Graveyard Becomes Parking Lot
UPDATE: Since we published the post below, our friend Sunnu Golwala has reached out with the following update. We...
Celebrations of the Baroda Parsis
The following is a communique from Dinkoo Mistry of Vadodra (Baroda). We would love to carry such news and pictures of various Parsi celebrations in cities around the world. If you are a reader and...
Significance of Sudreh and Kusti
Sudra is a special shirt of nine seams worn just next to the skin made of cotton and white in colour and prepared from one whole piece of...
Ratan Tata’s words of inspiration
Ratan Naval Tata has been called many things. Quiet. Reticent. Humble. A businessman par excellence. Tenacious. And a tiger, when pushed to the wall. As we all witnessed when it looked like the...
Shernaaz Engineer on the BPP Elections
The below is an article circulated on a newsgroup. It makes interesting reading with the BPP elections in the near future, as the subject matter. With a heavy heart and a poignant pen, SHERNAAZ...
Iranian foundation to restore Pasargadae’s Islamic additions
The Parseh and Pasargadae Research Foundation plans to restore the structures added to Pasargadae during the different Islamic eras. The structures include a mosque dating back to the 12th century...
Fire temples burn bright
47 Parsi fire temples have finally made it to the heritage list. Labonita Ghosh looks at the struggle that led to this and some of the more unique agiaries that will find protection from rapacious...
Parsi Meter: Down Down Down
We came across this article via the Delhi Parsis website. Image courtesy DP. The text is from the author’s blog. by Mayank Austen Soofi for the Hindustan Times. The city’s Parsi...
Film Personalities on Parsi New Year
Perizad Kolah Marshall: Pateti is the last day of the year for the Parsi community and generally falls in the last days of August as per the English calendar. Bawas don’t need an excuse for...
Sacred Space: Parsi New Year
On Ahura Mazda Ahura means the Lord Creator, and Mazda means Supremely Wise. This was the name by which Zarathushtra addressed his God. He proclaimed that there is only one God, who is the singular...
The First Dastur Meherji Rana
The below is an article from a newslist. This is a chapter written by Noshir H. Dadrewala. Earlier we errenously mentioned that the author was not known. We apologize for the error. The first Dastur...
Converting Ambedkar: The Chance that Parsis Missed
By Farrukh Dhondy Being part of a minority has its advantages. I have been part of several. The minority status one achieves as, say, a record-breaking runner is different from that which one is...
Boman Irani: I am proud to be a Zoroastrian
Q.I am very proud to be a Zoroastrian… A.Besides playing a Parsi in few of my films, I have played a Parsi in the play I am not Bajirao . I presume it is probably my best work to date. About...
It’s time for Sev and Dahi
By Mahafreed Irani at DNA After 10 days of praying for the departed, the Parsis are all set to welcome their New Year on Tuesday. Celebration time for Parsis has traditional as well as modern...
Navroze Mubarak! Time for hugs and cheers
Parsis from all over the country throng Udwada in Gujarat to celebrate new year at the oldest fire temple in the country, reports Mahafreed Irani Known for their stylish get-ups and hairdos, the...
Satara Agiary: The tale of a fire temple and two families
The agiary may not attract many devotees, but those that come are full of faith SATARA: Situated in the heart of the district town of Satara, some 300 km from Mumbai, stands a grand old Parsi fire...
Public Messages on Parsi New Year 2008
On the occassion of Navroze (New Year) here is a compilation of congratulatory message from various dignitaries. BBC Day in Pictures President of India The President of India, Smt. Pratibha...
A Cry for Independence: What Independence are we celebrating?
The article below is a guest article by a regular reader and guest author Anosh Doctor. We encourage readers of Parsi Khabar to send in editorials, views, thoughts and critiques that they would like...
Saal Mubarak: Happy New Year 2008
Mehernaaz, Shirrin and I wish you all our readers and supporters a very very Happy New Year. May this year bring you more happiness, prosperity, and good health. Today also marks the 4th anniversary...
Iran Profound
The Iran Letters – Part III: A Survey of ‘Iran Profound’ by Barin Kayaoglu Beyond the constant squabbling between Tehran and the outside world, there lies another Iran. A product of...
Iran: A Call to the Emperor
Recently we linked to a National Geographic article on Persia. Here is a further analysis of the same by regular Parsi Khabar reader Zubin Wadia National Geographic (awesome photos) ran a story on...
Bye bye to the baklava
The food here was legendary with more than a hundred dabbas going out every day. But the authentic Parsi flavour, and ‘no-nonsense’ Parsi ladies have gone missing from the Ratan Tata Institute,...
Freed Giant Emerges from Chaos
In an article about India’s 61st Independance Day, there is mention of Ratan Tata. This has been bolstered by “reverse colonisation” as Indian entrepreneurs and businessmen began...
Parsi Cola
A reader sent us a tip about Parsi Cola, a soft drink that is famous in Iran and other parts of the Middle East. [image copyright] It even merits its own Wikipedia entry Here is another picture of...
ZOCHILD Day 2008
The 6th ZOCHILDAY is scheduled for Sunday, 30th November, 2008. Events have been planned at Shanmukhananda Hall and at Cama Baug, Khetwadi. If interested in participating, forms for registration...
Mumbai Parsi Panchayat election heats up
With the new challengers unveiling their panel, the war for elections to the Bombay Parsi Panchayat is already heating up. For a community which believes in maja ni life this crowd of Parsis was...
Parsis set to exercise their franchise for BPP polls
The Parsi community is all set to witness a change this October, as its members will exercise their franchise for the first time in 350 years since the Bombay Parsi Panchayat was established. From...
Ratan Tata to be awarded with Doctor of Science
President Pratibha Patil will confer Degree of Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) on top industrialist Ratan Tata at the 46th convocation of the Indian Institute of Technology here tomorrow. Patil,...
Parsee at the forefront of Vegan cuisine in USA
Parsis are as far from veganism as can be. We are complete meat eaters and there are no restrictions on what we cannot eat. Therefore it is with interest that I come across this snippet about a...
Friendship Day celebrations turns unpleasant for Jimmy Mistry
The Friendship Day celebrations hosted by the Parsi community on Sunday turned sour for the organisers with residents objecting and the police fining the revellers for flagging off a car rally from...
The Harbour That Gave the Name ‘Bombay’ to Mumbai
Mumbai harbour has been the gateway to the world for commerce and travel since the British took control of the island city from the Portuguese in 1660s. However, the group of seven islands acquired...
Heritage status: Parsis pen support for BMC’s plan
The development plan department of the BMC has received nearly 3,000 letters from Zoroastrians all over the world in support of an official proposal to list the 47 fire temples in the city under the...
Sat with the Dead
All Zera, 85, had in the world was her 65-year-old nephew, Homi Kaku. The latter, who was suffering from diabetes and gangrene, died on Saturday night. With no relative to inform about his death,...
The Grandson of Field Marshal Maneckshaw Speaks
This was received via email from my kaka Keki P. Wadia. It's a message from Field Marshal Sam Maneckshaw's grandson. Makes wonderful reading It's been an overwhelming few weeks for us...
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....
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...
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...