In my boyhood in Pune, the West End cinema would, at least once a year, transform itself into a live theatre to host a Parsi natak by a visiting troupe from Bombay. The wooden benches of the five-anna seats closest to the screen would change places with the sofas of the two rupee-four anna balconies.… Continue reading Marzban’s Dark Laughter
Category: Books
Parsi Author Rohinton Mistry wins $50K Neustadt Award
Toronto-area writer Rohinton Mistry has won the $50,000 US Neustadt International Prize for Literature, awarded for outstanding achievement in poetry, fiction or drama. Published on CBC News An international jury representing nine countries selected Mistry for the biennial prize. Mistry is the author of 1991’s Such a Long Journey, which won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize… Continue reading Parsi Author Rohinton Mistry wins $50K Neustadt Award
A chronicle of Parsi theatre’s heyday
For Parsis growing up between the 1950s and 1980s, social life was defined by weekly visits to the theatre, to watch, re-watch and enjoy Parsi plays. Directors like Adi Marzban and Pheroze Antia wrote original comedies about ordinary Parsis, actors enlivened the stage in traditional saris and community topis or dapper suits, and audiences —… Continue reading A chronicle of Parsi theatre’s heyday
Laughter, the worst medicine
Parsi theatre has been in decline thanks to its audience’s refusal of watching anything other than comedies and the language divide Coffee table books scare me for two reasons. I don’t have a coffee table and I’m averse to betraying the purpose of these books by putting them on a book shelf. The second and… Continue reading Laughter, the worst medicine
K. D. Sethna: A colossus passes on
To many of us, K.D. Sethna was the foremost mystic poet of our generation, next only to Sri Aurobindo. He has left behind nearly a thousand splendid poems and several volumes of prose. Future will decide whether Amal-kiran (K.D. Sethna) who died completing 106 years of age was the last of a great tradition or… Continue reading K. D. Sethna: A colossus passes on
Laughter In The House: Meher Marfatia On Parsi Theatre
That Sunday afternoon was as soggy with nostalgia as a khari biscuit dunked in chai. Fifty old troupers of Mumbai’s Parsi stage had reunited to celebrate a new book, Laughter in the House. They met over as hearty a lunch at the Irani Universal Cafe on a road aptly named after the remarkable playwright and… Continue reading Laughter In The House: Meher Marfatia On Parsi Theatre
Dahanu Road: Three generations of Parsis, their secrets and fond dreams
Anosh Irani’s third novel Dahanu Road is a comprehensive account of a family of Iranian Zoroastrians who migrated to India before World War II. The story is a mix of historic encounters, family values, memories and desires. The rich story telling technique can engross an average reader and makes the 320 pages book an easy,… Continue reading Dahanu Road: Three generations of Parsis, their secrets and fond dreams
Insider trading
It had been a long day. Nina Godiwalla had stumbled home from a bar after work, and collapsed in bed. But she was wide awake in a few hours. She needed to talk to someone, be with someone. Her roommate was still at work. A friend she thought of calling had a crisis of his… Continue reading Insider trading
Sorabji’s book gives in-depth account of aunt’s struggle
In the early 1880s, Cornelia Sorabji became the first woman to be ever granted admission into the University of Bombay. Defying expectations, she scored a first class in her exams, and when the University’s Convocation Hall was inaugurated in 1887, she was the first to be awarded a degree. By Aarefa Johari, Hindustan Times On… Continue reading Sorabji’s book gives in-depth account of aunt’s struggle
