We are delighted to share that Tehmina Kaoosji, a respected journalist, communications strategist, and advocate for...
arZan Articles
Experience the Parsi showcase at Bengaluru Marriott Whitefield
With Chef Rashna Morena and Chef Firozi Karanjia at the helm, the festival brings with it a legacy of flavours rooted...
Rusi Lala writing book on 100 yrs of Tata Steel
It is a history of the makers of steel. Make that Tata Steel. RM Lala, the official biographer of JRD Tata, Beyond the Last Blue Mountain, may be pushing 80 but he is busy with his latest work, The...
The TATA Group
The Tata family has a tiny stake in Tata Sons, the holding company which owns the controlling stake in all the companies under the banner. Ratan Tata himself is said to own about one per cent stake...

Sanaya Ichhaporia: Promising Athlete
Not many athletes can boast of bagging 30 gold medals in their first year of running. But 13-year-old Sanaya Ichhaporia has not only done that but she even goes on to tell all about the 50 others...

Flaunting Dominion in Ancient Iran
The opening of Asia Society’s glinting and glowing show of pre-Islamic art from Iran turned into something of a cliffhanger late last week when dozens of objects coming from Paris were held up...

Persian Festival in Mumbai
As a prelude to eight-day Persian festival in Mumbai, the grandeur of the Persian empire is being re-awakened by the city architect Jimmy Mistry in the heart of the metropolis. It intends to...
JRD Tata and The Infosys Story
It was probably the April of 1974. Bangalore was getting warm and gulmohars were blooming at the IISc campus. I was the only girl in my postgraduate department and was staying at the ladies’...
Vote For Parsi Khabar
We are very happy to inform you that Parsi Khabar has been nominated in the “Best Topical Blog” for the Indibloggies Award. The Indibloggies are the Filmfare Awards of the blogging...
Parsi theatre academy to come up in Surat
To breathe a new life into Parsi theatre in the state, the first ever Parsi theatre academy in the country will start functioning soon in Surat. The academy is expected to play a crucial role in...
HC verdict on Parsi trust row soon
Come Thursday and the Parsi community will know whether most of the trustees including chairperson Minoo Shroff can continue on the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) board. The Bombay high court will on...
Dwindling Numbers in India
Concerns for dwindling numbers. Seminars on how to save their race. In 1940, when their number in India was a sizeable 1.14 lakh, the community probably never imagined that 67 years later, it would...
Parsi Punchayet trustees can continue to hold posts
The Bombay high court on Thursday ruled that the withdrawal of resignation of the four trustees of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) was valid and they still continue to be trustees. Justice Roshan...
Air India Symbol Undergoes Change
“People trust Air India to carry those nearest and dearest to them, even when they themselves might fly on another airline!†Recognising from carriers like Singapore Airlines how valuable a...
Rebel Parsis ready with agiary plan
A group of 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 event quite unprecedented in the...
Independent, but serious contenders
From unlikely parties like the AIADMK to the various rebels and activist-independents contesting the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, the top brass of every major political party is scanning the...
Tata – integral part of Indian life
We also make steel. This was the triumphant punch line of a happy Tata Steel television commercial not very long ago. The commercial wasn’t wide of the mark. If you wake up in India, you are...
Zo Child Day for Zorastrian children only!
Organised by Vispy Kapadia, the event saw over 2,600 children from India and abroad participate in the event The fourth Zo Child Day, which took place recently at Shanmukhananda Hall, saw 2,600...

Sorabji Byramji Sanatorium residents allege harassment from BPP…
The 46 Parsi families residing there live in deplorable conditions and according to them the BPP Trust does nothing about it. Instead they want them to vacate the premises, they declare The Parsi...
Iranian minorities to attend Bahman 22 rallies
Deputy head of Tehran’s Zoroastrians Association said here on Saturday that members of all Iranian religious minorities, along with their Muslim brothers, will attend Bahman 22 rallies marking...
Modi, Mody & Co
There are two Mr Modis I know in Gujarat. One spells his surname with an ‘i’, the other with a ‘y’. Narendra Modi is a familiar household name. He is the Chief Minister of a ‘Vibrant...

Being Boman Irani
From playing the eccentric Dr Asthana in Munnabhai MBBS to the boisterous Lucky Singh in Lago Raho Munnabhai, Boman Irani has played characters everyone can relate to. In a chat with CNN-IBN’s...
From Parsi Priests to Profits: The TATA Story
Like his devout Zoroastrian ancestors, Ratan Tata avoids conspicuous consumption. Yet he has guided his company through India’s economic boom to revenues of more than £10bn a year and his...

Air Marshal Fali Homi Major is New IAF Chief
The Government today appointed Air Marshal Fali Homi Major, PVSM, AVSM, SC, VM, ADC, presently Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Air Command, as the next Chief of the Air Staff with effect...
The Israel Philaharmonic and Zubin Mehta
The NYTimes carries a piece on the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Israel Philaharmonic. Zubin Mehta, the legendary Parsi Conductor is the Director for Life at the IPO. The current music...

Wing Cdr Hoshang K Patel
I came across a wonderful interview with Wing Commander (Retd) Hoshang K Patel. He talks about life in the Air Force and over Burma. Here is an excerpt. Image copyrights bharat-rakshak.com Wg Cdr...

Indian of the Year: Ratan Tata
Think India, think Tata. The visionary business house that grew up with independent India, driving down new highways, providing the nation its morning cup of tea and adding that vital pinch of salt...

Astad Deboo Awarded Padma Shri
The phone hasn’t stopped ringing at the Antia residence in Parsee Colony for a couple of days. Not that anybody minds. After all, one of their kin, noted choreographer Astad Deboo, has just...
Corus deal: Lord Bilimoria chips in for Tatas
In a boost to Tatas’ bid for Corus, UK lawmaker of Indian origin, Lord Karan Bilimoria asked shareholders of the Anglo-Dutch steel maker Corus to keep in mind the reputation of Tatas before...
Kayhan Irani: Artivist with a cause
Kayhan Irani’s play, ‘We’ve Come Undone,’ has been playing to audiences around the nation since 2003. From Harlem to the streets of Baghdad, all the world’s a stage for...

Cdr Kurush F Morris United States Navy
CDR Kurush F. Morris Commanding Officer USS TAYLOR (FFG 50) Commander Morris was born in Mumbai, India and migrated to the U.S. at the age of 5 with his parents. Upon graduating from high school in...
Hill Road hawkers
Hill Road has long since been a bone of contention between the shopkeepers, the residents, the ward officers and the hawkers. Protests were evident when the BMC announced their plan of widening the...
Courage Under Fire: A Tribute to Nani Palkhiwala
This is an edited version of Teesta Setalvad’s acceptance speech on being conferred the Nani A Palkhivala award, 2006 Nani Palkhivala has been described alternately as a passionate democrat, a...
ZAGNY Essay Competition For Children
As per brief on ZAGNY’s website. 2007 Gool Kothawala Essay Competition Topics: 1. “No, in fact, I’m Zoroastrian†(An unusual personal story about telling a new friend that you are a...
Parzania: Death of humanity in Mahatma’s land
Film on Gujarat riots gets green signal; to be released this Friday Almost five years after Gujarat riots of February 2002, a gutsy English-language feature film that looks at the communal carnage...

Safe in Poonawalla’s hands

Dara Bhesania: Life at the Mahalaxmi Racecourse
It’s not just the members, horses, trainers and jockeys who make things happen at the Mahalaxmi Race Course. There are many others who play vital roles in their own capacity. Sadly, limelight...

Yazdani Bakery Fights Inflation and Globalization
The nearly century-old bakery, set amid crowded streets lined by massive stone Victorian-era buildings near the city’s Stock Exchange, looks like a gingerbread house and stands out in sharp...
Parsi Judge in Body Building Gym Ad
One can’t say for sure if Justice B J Shethna really packed some power in the punches he allegedly rained on his colleague, Justice P B Majmudar, in Ahmedabad on January 11. But, if he really...
Ancient religion may face extinction
This article appeared in the Boston Globe. I cannot seem to find the online direct link. However, read on… As screaming children raced around the hall in joyous play, adult workers readied...

The shy architect: Ratan Tata
Ratan Tata has transformed India’s biggest company, and done it alone CASTING about for someone to run a big family firm when a successful tyrant is due to retire is usually a troublesome...
Investing in Gujarat: Parsi Connection
It is stupid if you are not in Gujarat: Ratan Tata “It is stupid if you are not in Gujaratâ€, this is how the Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata described the advantage of investment in Gujarat. He...
Aden to India: Shifting of the Parsee Fire Temple
Shifting of the Parsee Fire Temple from Aden to India (Aden 1886 – 1976) The Flames of Faith: A Historical Saga by Pervez Daruwala Jam-e-Jamshed Weekly, Parsi New Year Special Published...
Happy New Year 2007
On behalf of all of us at Parsi Khabar we wish our dear readers a very happy new year 2007. The last year has seen parsi Khabar grow from one blogger to three. All three of us endeavor to bring you...
Talking with Bapsi Sidhwa
Bapsi Sidhwa has become well-known as the author of the novel Cracking India, which was made into the 1998 movie ‘Earth’, directed by Deepa Mehta. She, however, has been around for a lot...

Dan David: Prizes in 3 time dimensions
Zubin Mehta was awarded the The Dan David Prize for the Present Time Dimension, which this year was dedicated to Contemporary Music. Zubin Mehta, who is one of the world’s leading conductors,...
Parsis love their bikes more than their wives!
Parsis have a certain love affair with their two wheelers, which only they can fathom. They’ll proudly spend hours lovingly washing and polishing their prized possessions and God help you if...
Heads of UNESCO National Commissions to Finalize Norouz File
Heads of UNESCO’s national commissions in ten countries sharing the Norouz tradition will get together in Tehran in April 2007 for a final review of Norouz file to be sent to UNESCO for...
Out with the Old
A similar situation exists across the 120-foot Road at Parsi Colony where as many as 45 out of 225 four-storey building plots have been cleared. A multi-storey building, complete with a swimming...
Redevelopment doesn’t enthuse all
Sporting a fresh court of paint, a group of 70-year-old cessed buildings at Dadar and Churchgate are enjoying a new lease on life. Even as incentive floor space index (FSI) lures landlords and...

Mumbai’s Parsis do a Dhoom 2
Big boys like playing with their favourite toys and while they are at it, their girlfriends are keeping a watchful eye on their men who for one day seem to be paying a lot more attention to other...

Perizaad Zorabian gets married to Boman Irani
Saturday was a big day for actress Perizaad Zorabian as the actress got married with her longtime boyfriend Boman Irani. No not the actor Boman but an estate developer based in Mumbai. The couple...
