Throughout Indian Cowboy, performer and playwright Zaraawar Mistry asks us to “connect the dots” of his narrator’s life. Yet the dots don’t necessarily add up in this premiere production at Mixed Blood Theatre. Mistry’s story of an immigrant Indian actor’s drift through modern America has moments of insight and brilliance, but those are tempered by… Continue reading Indian Cowboy
Month: March 2006
Dadabhai Naoroji on British currency notes
The image of Dadabhai Naoroji, the first ever Asian MP to enter the House of Commons in 1892, may soon be printed on British currency notes, if the recommendation of an influential Labour Party think-tank is accepted. Naoroji was elected for the Liberal Party from Central Finsbury in London on July 1892. A Parsi, he… Continue reading Dadabhai Naoroji on British currency notes
Gender, Race, and Spectatorship in Early Indian Cinema
These are the choice of men to play women’s parts, and the use of European or ‘white’ actresses posing as Indian. Both these masquerades can be located in prior theatrical traditions of western India, especially the Parsi theatre. The spectatorial pleasures that such performances divulged will be illustrated through a series of slides from the… Continue reading Gender, Race, and Spectatorship in Early Indian Cinema
Old pacemakers win hearts
Most families at the rally had cars that had been in the family for years, like AR Dadachanji, a Parsi priest, who took his family for a spin in their 1939 Morris-8. “It’s from the same year that I was born,” he smiled. He added that he had been participating in the rally for the… Continue reading Old pacemakers win hearts
Kurshetji murder puts spotlight on Parsis
The Adi Kurshetji murder case of May 2003, which culminated in the conviction of the accused on Friday, has exposed the soft underbelly of the Parsi community. With an increasing number of aging Parsis living a lonely existence in sprawling apartments, they have become easy targets for such attacks. In the recent years, nearly a… Continue reading Kurshetji murder puts spotlight on Parsis
The Truth About Secret Societies
Parsi (Persian Zoroastrianism) influence is also seen in the Kusti ritual where each day they would tie a sacred cord around their waist. The fact that the Templars were accused of holding a ritual with a sacred cord closely resembling the practice of the Zoroastrian Kusti, indicates a tradition of knowledge going back through thousands… Continue reading The Truth About Secret Societies
“Farsi” or “Persian” ?
“Farsi” or “Persian”?: Persian (Iranian) people in the English-speaking countries are the only community who use two different terms to refer to their language, “Farsi” and “Persian.” This behavior has caused some confusion among the Westerners as to the appropriateness of these terms. “Farsi” (an Arabic adaptation of the word “Parsi”), is the indigenous name… Continue reading “Farsi” or “Persian” ?
