Among the plans are a project to do up the compound, a small museum, a photo gallery, an arch, and a new drinking...
Mumbai Articles
Mumbai Samachar, since 1822: Know about India’s oldest continuously published newspaper
Mumbai Samachar had its humble origins in the form of a handwritten weekly publication.Article by Khushboo Ali |...
Mumbai’s Parsis fight to preserve the city’s greenest space in Dadar
The Parsi colony in Mumbai’s Dadar neighbourhood is unique. It is the world’s largest concentration of Parsis, now down to its last 80,000 despite the community’s wealth and education. Article by...
Parsi Punchayet sweepers, pallbearers threaten strike
On Monday, over 230 Class IV workers including the Tower of Silence's pallbearers sported red Gandhi topis with their union's name “Mumbai Mazdoor Sabha“ emblazoned across. This was the first phase...
Tehmulji Parsi Lying-In hospital may see development soon
The hospital at Fort has not been functioning for over two decades now. For the past three years, the BPP trustees and the hospital committee have been locked in a legal tussle over the...
Row over Parsi hospital’s pact with private firm goes to Bombay High Court
A quaint heritage Parsi hospital property built in 1895 and lying defunct for several decades in the prime Fort area of south Mumbai will be redeveloped into an orthopaedic and neurosurgery centre....
Mumbai City Development Plan forgets to mark as many as 24 fire temples as heritage structures
Parsis were among the first settlers in Mumbai in the 17th century and they started consecrating their fire temples (Agiaries and Atash Behrams) over the next 200 years. In the past decade, the...
Adi Jehangir on the Closing of Café Samovar
As Mumbai bids goodbye to Cafe Samovar this week, Adi Jehangir says he is simply making room for artists. It's a busy Thursday afternoon at Kala Ghoda's Jehangir Art Gallery. A queue winds out of a...
Elderly Parsi killed by ex-help in Bandra
A 78-year-old retired principal secretary to a former Chief Justice of the Bombay high court was murdered at his residence at Tata Blocks, Bandra (West), early on Sunday. His wife was bound,...
8 CCTV cameras to keep a watch on Khada Parsi statue
In a bid to safeguard the Khada Parsi from drug addicts and thieves, the BMC is set to install eight CCTV cameras and a circular fence around the statue. One of only two such cast-iron...
Bombay Airport’s Terminal 2 Art Wall To Depict Parsi-Style Theatre
Having already set the standard in terms of artistic beauty, the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport's (CSIA) T2 terminal is now undergoing the completion of its 'art museum' on the walls, set...
Heritage enclave cracks open its door to redevelopment
At the entrance to Parsi Colony in Dadar, two new towers signal the changes creeping into this low-rise, historic neighbourhood. Article by Nergish Sunavala | Times of India One is Parsi builder...
Bombay Heritage Walks for Tata Employees
The business group takes staff back in history by organising Bombay Heritage Walks every week in an effort to reacquaint them with the company's storied links to the city. By Anirban Chowdhury |...
Nobody learns Parsi history in schools, says historian
On just a short stretch of Veer Nariman Road in Fort, beginning at the stained glass enclosure of the Bhikha Behram Well and ending at the v-shaped Eros Cinema with its Art Deco dome, six Parsi...
A winter time walk in Dadar Parsi Colony
Many moons ago, the bead-like red seeds that emerge from the tiny star shaped yellow flowers were used by Arabian Jewellers as units of weight because all of them have identical weights. These are...
Defunct Tower of Silence lives on in the heart of an Andheri residential colony
The article has an UPDATE since it was first published. Read below At Malabar Hill, the Parsi Towers of Silence are shrouded in mystery— and thick foliage — with few community members ever spying...
The Capital City
Mumbai has its commercial roots in drug money. A profile of the City Just as one crosses the suburbs into Worli, Samudra Mahal juts up from the edge of Mumbai, casting its eye out into the Arabian...
Motherhood matters: Tehmulji’s Parsi Lying-In Hospital
We unravel the history behind the crumbling Parsi Lying-In Hospital on Prescott Road Article by Meher Mirza | DNA India The Parsi Lying-In Hospital at Fort In the 19th century, young Parsi women...
All Is Well at The Bhikha Behram Well in Mumbai
Trust a grandmother to leave you with lifetime of faith in the waters of a well. Mine did so with ease. Article by Meher Marfatia | Times Of India It started with her telling the children in the...
Vada Dasturji Khurshed of Udvada asks Parsis to vote for BJP
Below is an article by good friend of Parsi Khabar and acclaimed journalist Nauzer Bharucha. It is indeed a first for a Parsi head priest to endorse and support a candidate in a political election....
Bombay Meri Hai : Hot Beat for Bombay
Bom bom bom bom“ the staccato rang out. How my brother and I chuckled as children to first hear that syllabic quartet. Our giggles muffled by mouths stuffed with an edge of the living room curtain...
Marzban Colony: Springing forth from history
The Marzban Colony in Agripada, south Mumbai, gets a new lease on life Article by Meher Mirza | DNA India The story of 'The Lal Chimney Compound' begins in the 19th century, with Mancherji Marzban,...
Requiem For A Bird: Documentary on the Towers of Silence
Requiem for a Bird currently stands as a last chance to document the singular relationship of the Parsi and the vultures. The two have been linked through death for centuries, with the bodies of...
Cafe 792 Opens in Dadar Parsi Colony
Be it cold cuts, set lunches or quick bites, Café 792, tucked inside Dadar’s leafy Parsi Colony, offers a variety of delicious chow, especially when you are on the go. We treaded on a gravel-laden...
The Khada Parsi Statue: In Animation
Sandwiched between the famous Byculla flyovers is the 152-year old cast iron statue of Shet Cursetjee Manockjee. The long forgotten 40 feet tall statue, once known to be a famous landmark, is back...
Farrokh Khambata’s JOSS to Open in Santacruz Mumbai
Long after shutting down Joss at Kala Ghoda, owner Farrokh Khambata will now open an outpost at Santacruz (W). Launching in place of Two One Two All Day, next to the Mini Cooper showroom, the Pan...
BBC: Mumbai’s Disappearing Irani Cafes
Mumbai's grand old Parsi cafes have long been a symbol of the city's diverse cuisine and culture. They were first opened in the 19th century by settlers moving to India from Iran and most of them...
Mumbai Samachar: Going strong at 192
On July 1, Mumbai Samachar, the city's second most circulated Gujarati paper, will reaffirm its position as the oldest surviving newspaper in Asia. When copies of the Mumbai Samachar (MS) hit the...
After restoration, Khada Parsi stands tall
After over two years of tedious restoration work, the iconic 150-year-old “Khada Parsi” statue, a Grade I heritage monument in Mumbai, was unveiled on Friday in the presence of Shiv Sena chief...
Smita Crishna-Godrej buys historic Bhabha bungalow for Rs. 372 cr
Smita has assured friends that the iconic home where brothers Homi and Jamshed grew up will not be torn down to make way for a highrise and will only be used as a family home. Dr Jamshed Bhabha's...
Wadias want back Parsi colonies their ancestors developed
The Wadias have taken exception to the BPP using the rent from these properties to pay the salaries of Parsi priests Industrialist Nusli Wadia, whose family developed five housing colonies for the...
Chemould Prescott Road: Moulding modern art for decades
India was still taking its first steps as an independent nation when a young Maqbool Fida Hussain was struggling to find avenues to display his art in the city. He met by chance a young Parsi couple...
B. Merwan and the Irani Cafe: A Fading Icon
Recently the news about B. Merwan the iconic Irani cafe with the best Mava cakes in the world, shutting down; has brought a sense of gloom over all those who love the restaurant and in fact the...
Charges Against BPP Chairman: Is the World Congress in Jeopardy ?
Four Trustees of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) Arnavaz Mistry, Khojeste Mistree, Jimmy Mistry and Yazdi Desai filed a complaint with the Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Mumbai against BPP...
Parsee Gymkhana Vice President Sold Cricket World Cup 2011 Tickets on The Black Market
The Parsee Gymkhana vice-president, Khodadad Yazdegardi, has been accused of selling two complimentary tickets for the 2011 World Cup final between India and Sri Lanka for Rs 2.5 lakh. By Jyoti...
Ignoring community’s help, Parsi family lives on footpath
They were given monetary assistance and put up at a dharamshala, yet the family of three have, for four years, been embarrassing the community by living outside the Petit Sanatorium at Cumballa...
A Will To Live
By six in the evening, dozens of senior citizens assemble on concrete benches across the seven-acre vicinity of Cusrow Baug, the queen of Parsi colonies. Sprawled by the sea in South Mumbai's posh...
The Story of Two Mumbai Riots in the 19th Century
In 19th century Bombay, Parsis and Muslims fought each other on the streets on two separate occasions but eventually buried the hatchet and moved on. In 2013, we are still grappling with the problem...
Five Parsi trusts move court over civic authority’s notices on property tax
Five Parsi trusts based in Mumbai have approached Bombay High Court challenging the civic authority's notices on property tax levied on the base of capital value as against ratable value. The...
Mumbai’s Gallery Chemould Hits 50
Gallery Chemould in Mumbai has launched its 50th birthday celebrations with an exhibition titled “Subject of Death.” Author: Bhakti Chuganee Source: Wall Street Journal The exhibition, curated by...
Parsis move to court over property tax in Mumbai
The city’s Parsi fire temples’ trustees filed a petition in the Bombay high court on Monday against the new capital value-based property tax system that has been introduced by the civic body....
Toilet near Bhikha Behram Well to be Razed
The Bombay high court has directed that a toilet built close to a religious place near Cross Maidan – the over-280-year-old Bhika Behram well, a grade 1 heritage structure – be demolished. The Parsi...
Potential Radiation from Cell Phone Towers Cause Panic in Dadar Parsi Colony
6 cancer cases in 3 yrs, residents call meet to devise strategy. Freny Kavarana, a resident of Shree Samarth building in Dadar’s Parsi Colony, says that she feels “horrible” when sitting in her...
Jimmy Mistry at TEDx New Delhi
Jimmy Mistry, real-estate developer and entrepreneur presents some of his office work at a TEDx New Delhi. TEDx events are locally organized events based on guidelines set up by the legendary TED...
Sooni Taraporevala's Show to Open in Mumbai
First look at Sooni Taraporevala’s photo exhibit of a community that’s earned the tag ‘mad bawas’ She’s come full circle. From focusing her lens on Parsis — a small community of followers of the...
The bygone era of Parsis still alive at SoBo club: Rippon Club
Now you need to know someone at the Ripon Club to pig out on the best Parsi cuisine in town. By D.K. Bose | Asian Age After my hints and pleas for months, an acquaintance of an acquaintance finally...
Fresh bids for Tehmulji Parsi Lying-in hospital revamp next month
The tussle between the managing committee and the Bombay Parsi Punchayat (BPP) over the future of the Parsi Lying-in Hospital at Fort notwithstanding, the Punchayat has again decided to invite bids...
Armin Wandrewala: SOOR Sanity On Our Roads: An Interview
Below is an article on Armin Wandrewala’s initiative “Sanity On Our Roads” called SOOR. Listen to her radio interview on Radio ONE here. Now, you can enforce traffic discipline on Mumbai's roads...
BPP Chairman Responds to Reforming Parsi Matrimonial Law
The below is a response from Mr. Dinshaw Mehta, Chairman of the Bombay Parsi Panchayat. This is in response to an Article to 'OVERHAUL MATRIMONIAL LAW' appearing in your esteemed newspaper...
The Parsi Feast: NDTV Documentary on Parsi Cuisine in Mumbai
Join Aneesha Baig as she digs out the quintessential Parsi cuisine hot spots in Mumbai.
Dire demographics of Parsi-Zoroastrians
Between 1951 and 2001, when the country’s population increased by 185%, the number of Parsi-Zoroastrians fell by 37.7%. This probably explains why no other community in India watches its...
Jeh Wadia : Bombay Realty has maintained a straight line in prices
Jeh Wadia, managing director of Bombay Realty, spoke on conceptualizing projects in a tough real estate scenario and the impact of changing building norms in Mumbai By Madhurima Nandy | Livemint.com...