The global Zoroastrian and Iranian diaspora is celebrating a moment of immense pride as Dr. Soroosh Sorooshian, an...
arZan Articles
GCZT Writers Award Contest: A Call to All Aspiring Writers
Have you ever dreamed of seeing your words come to life and being celebrated for them? Here’s your chance! The Global...
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' byBarin Kayaoglu Beyond the constant squabbling between Tehran and the outside world, there lies another Iran. A product of millennia, “Iran...
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. 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...