Issues Articles

Why the Parsi community is divided over special prayers for the Ram temple

There is uneasiness over rituals being held for a Hindu temple as well as the message it sends out to another minority group.Article by Tabassum Barnagarwala | Scroll A special prayer for the Ram temple held at the Delhi Parsi fire temple. | Adil...
Parsis breathe easy on mixed-marriage ban

Parsis breathe easy on mixed-marriage ban

Parizad Cama is breathing a lot easier nowadays. If all goes well, she can again call herself a Parsi.Even a few days back, Cama — born of a Parsi father and Punjabi mother — wasn’t sure if she...

Menstruation and Zoroastrian Doctrine

Menstruation and Zoroastrian Doctrine

A complex issue of womanhood The entire 16th pargarad/chapter of the Vendidad is dedicated to the matter of menstruation, and later Pahlavi texts comment on this subject...

JIYO PARSI: CARE OF ELDERLY DEPENDANTS

JIYO PARSI: CARE OF ELDERLY DEPENDANTS

Our dear friend and mentor Dr. Shernaz Cama write in the Jame Jamshed newspaperThe Jiyo Parsi Scheme was set up to arrest the decline in our community’s population. However, over time, it has been...

Parsi woman contests Raj-era personal law

Parsi woman contests Raj-era personal law

Encouraged by Muslim women's successful fight against triple talaq, a Parsi woman has moved the Supreme Court questioning the validity of many provisions of Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, alleging...

In Parsi genes, new clues on old cultures

In Parsi genes, new clues on old cultures

Strict inbreeding is often blamed for the dwindling population of the Parsi community in India. New research by Indian and other scientists now suggests that this might not always have been the...

Why Parsis need their distinct family laws

Why Parsis need their distinct family laws

They are a tiny community, whose ancestors came to India due to religious persecutions in Persia (Iran). Their numbers are down to a critical 61,000 and diminishing by the day. India's population...

Heritage Walk at Doongerwadi

Dr. Viraf J. Kapadia opines on the subject in the Mumbai Samachar. Since the last few days turmoil has enveloped the orthodox members of the Parsi Community when the proposed 2 hours heritage walk...

Surrogacy bill bother for Parsis

The country's Parsi community is in a bind over a proposed law to regulate surrogacy, a little over a year after it had successfully negotiated resistance from within to this assisted reproductive...

Most divorces among Parsis due to adultery

Jury trials came to India with the British and were abolished after the now infamous 1959 Nanavati murder trial, not many know that matrimonial disputes among the Parsi community is still tried by a...

India’s vanishing people

India’s vanishing people

India's vanishing people New Delhi: It is a fact that India's tiny Parsi community is dwindling but the latest census figures show the ethnic group hurtling towards extinction. Parsis are...

A half-breed in Bombay: Suhasini Haidar

A half-breed in Bombay: Suhasini Haidar

How do you preserve the purity of lineage and yet propagate the line of an ever-dwindling community? This is the question that Parsis continue to debate fiercely Article by Suhasini Haider | The...

Parsis battle threat of extinction

Parsis battle threat of extinction

The government has sponsored schemes for assisted reproduction so that Parsis increase in number. Article by Vinaya Deshpande | The Sunday Guardian Twelve hundred years ago, we fled to India for our...

Why Are India’s Parsi People Going Extinct?

Why Are India’s Parsi People Going Extinct?

There are less than 60,000 Parsis in India today. That fact itself is so alarming that it demands measures to help the community from fading away. Despite their low numbers, their contribution in...

How India makes Parsi babies

How India makes Parsi babies

The Parsis of India are a unique community, but their numbers are declining fast. In an effort to change this, the government is spending $1.5m to encourage them to have more children. Persis Aspi...

Oh Khodai: Parsis in Ahmedabad

Oh Khodai: Parsis in Ahmedabad

A bawa wearing a white bandhgala coat with cylindrical black hat driving a gorgeous vintage car overloaded with a garadraped wife and squabbling kids: that's how films in the early '80s portrayed...

Parsis: Keeping the Flame Alive

Parsis: Keeping the Flame Alive

The world’s longest continually-burning flame, found in Udvada, a town in Gujarat, is the most important pilgrimage site for the Parsis of India. Parsis have lived in the country for 1,200 years...

Flyways of fortune

Flyways of fortune

The Zoroastrian diaspora as we know it today is spread across the globe. As a mercantile community the Parsis have been traders and no place was considered too far or too dangerous to venture, if it...

Bawas and Babies

Bawas and Babies

Coming from an ancient movie projector, the image is shaky and scratchy. Kajol and Anil Kapoor's marriage seems beset with problems. But, that does not stop the usual Bollywood song and dance...

Must a Zoroastrian Date only Zoroastrians?

Must a Zoroastrian Date only Zoroastrians?

After we linked to the article you will read below, we received emails from Karishma Patel, who is one of the subjects of the article below; and Homi D. Gandhi; Vice-President FEZANA. Their emails...

Knot so classified

Knot so classified

Though matrimonial ads have changed substantially, the emphasis on looks, caste and income persist, mirroring the complexities and paradoxical nature of Indian society, says Roshni Nair as she...