Ashdeen Z Lilaowala walks us through the creation of the hallowed Zoroastrian kusti or sacred thread that is an...
Month: March 2011 Articles
Centenary Year Begins at B. D. Petit Parsee General Hospital
March 27, 2011 marks the start of the 100th year of The B.D. Petit Parsee General Hospital in its service to the...
Udvada Atash Behram : Fire temple will now warm up inter-faith love
For Parsis, all roads will soon lead to Udvada in Gujarat. Udvada, a small town in South Gujarat, where the Parsi community consecrated the first fire temple of Gujarat in 1742 after their arrival...
Karachi Nauroz celebrations: Haft Sheen tables groaning with goodies
In Karachi, we hardly recognise that spring has arrived, let alone the rest of the seasons. But when I entered Dilnaz’s home to cover Nauroz (or NovRuz as the Parsis spell it), I knew that spring...
Dr Keki Turel To Set Up Institute of Neurosciences in Surat
If all goes well, the diamond city will get a world-class international institute of neurosciences by 2013. Dr Keki Turel, head of department of neurosurgery at Bombay Hospital in Mumbai, has joined...
J N Tata Parsee Girls High School
In 1887 the Empress Mills started a Gujarati school for children of its employees with two Mehtajis and one master, N Madan. It was a primary school. Boys went for further studies to SFS School and...
Persecuted for bravery: Niloufar Abadan
Nine years and one month after her husband and former Balochistan minister Abadan Faridoun Abadan was kidnapped from his hometown Quetta, businesswoman Niloufar Abadan has met the same fate. By...
Surat Parsis celebrate Jamshedi Navroz
Dawn of their New Year and arrival of spring was celebrated with traditional fanfare by the 3,700-strong Parsi community of the city on Monday. Jamshedi Navroz is an age-old tradition followed by...
Navroze Mubarak: Make Good News
On the occasion of Jamshedi Navroze 2011 Parsi Khabar would like to wish all its readers and commenters a very Happy and Prosperous Jamshedi Navroze Mubarak 2011. We would like to leave you with a...
PM Manmohan Singh greets nation on Navroze 2011
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today greeted the nation on the occasion of Navorz, the Parsi New Year which falls tomorrow. "Navorz is the culmination of the celebration of seasons and is...
A celebration of Life
We do some Parsi-style gorging, even as it readies itself for the yummy Nowruz Festival The Iranians call it Nowruz. The Parsis, descendants of the ancient Zoroastrians in India, spell it as Nowroz....
It’s a Parsi Date
Navroze is yet another opportunity for fun and matchmaking Hoshang Patel has much to cheer about this Navroze, the Parsi New Year which is being celebrated today. By Dipti Nagpaul D'souza | Indian...
A question of trust, a matter of faith
The Bombay High Court’s recent verdict in the Parsi Priests’ case is historic. It recognises the generosity of the Parsi community and condemns a narrow, sectarian religious perspective...
The Human Factor – An Interview with Homi Bhabha
In a lucid interview with Forbes India, Bhabha talks about the role of humanities in modern society, the lack of public debates and why we distance the ‘other’ Within the circles of literary theory,...
NAVROZYNG
Join ZYNG (the youth wing of the BPP) is having its annual Navroze party "NAVROZYNG" at Dios, Tardeo, Mumbai, on 19th March. Open to all youngsters in the community. Unlimited...
Dilnaz Boga wins AFP prize for work in Kashmir
Dilnaz Boga, an Indian photojournalist and reporter, has won the Agence France-Presse Kate Webb Prize for her courageous work in Indian-administered Kashmir, the AFP Foundation announced Wednesday....
Jeroo Mehta: 101 Parsi Recipes
Given that her book is considered a Bible by foodies around the globe, she's got fans from at least three generations if not more! Parsi cookbook author Jeroo Mehta has certainly made life easier....
Woman with a View: Homai Vyarawalla
If you mention women and cameras today, the picture that comes to the minds of many is that of an attractive young woman posing in front of a camera. In a world driven more and more by the visual...
Areez Khambata Attacks Iranshah High Priests
Respected High Priests, “Finally the cat is out of the bag” as to why Khurshedji Dastur as well as his Udvada Samast Anjuman did not have the guts to reply to Valsad Anjuman’s letters in connection...
Gujarat Government to form Udwada Area Development Authority
The Gujarat government has decided to form the Udwada Area Development Authority in order to "protect" one of the most important holy Parsi sites in south Gujarat. Times News Network The state urban...
Youths should respect Parsi priests: Chief Justice of India Sam H Kapadia
Chief Justice of India S H Kapadia exhorted Parsi youths to offer more respect to the high priests of the community, which is shrinking in numbers with time. Talking to Parsi Panchayat members at a...
Zubin Surkari at the Cricket World Cup: A Parsi returns to his stadium of dreams
Zubin Surkari is, always, at home in Mumbai — a city where his father hails from, though he was born in Toronto, Canada. In fact, he’s much sought after at the team’s training at the Cricket Club of...
Kainaaz Mistry: Teaching Dance to the Physically Disabled
She worked for an organisation that firmly believes – Have feet, will dance. But, she proved that even those without feet, can still dance! While we find peace in giving a few hours of our...
First Whole Genome Sequencing of Parsi Breast Cancer Patient Completed
All genetic variants linked to the disease can be identified by employing whole-genome sequencing of affected individuals Avesthagen, a leading knowledge based life sciences company pioneering the...
Weave of glory: Parsi Panorama Exhibition in New Delhi
At a time when the Parsi-Zoroastrian community records a drastic decrease in its population with every count, what's the point of basking in its glorious past, a few cynical minds can always ask,...
Persia’s Private Cuisine Goes Public
One of the most common refrains I hear whenever the food in a particular country is uninteresting is, "Ah, but the best of our cuisine is only found in private homes, not in restaurants."...
HC upholds liberal view in Parsi community
The trustees of the Bombay Parsi Panchayat (BPP) cannot arrogate powers to themselves in a mistaken belief that they are custodians of religion, the Bombay High Court today ruled while lifting a ban...
Nariman Farvardin Heads Stevens Institute of Technology
A year after settling a lawsuit brought by the State of New Jersey, Stevens Institute of Technology announced Tuesday that it had named Nariman Farvardin, the provost at the University of Maryland1,...
Freddie Mercury: The world’s first Indian rock star
India and its ancient culture have scarcely any connection to Western pop-rock music (save for, perhaps, George Harrison’s infatuation with Hinduism and The Beatles’ brief flirtation with India)....
Vada Dasturji Invites Narendra Modi to Udvada
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday wished that all Parsis settled in various parts of world should come to Udwada once a year and celebrate the occasion. A Chief priest of Parsis...
Parsi businesswoman abducted in Pakistan
A Parsi businesswoman, the wife of a former provincial minister who was abducted 10 years back and is still missing, has been kidnapped in Pakistan's Quetta city, said an official. Originally...
The Jury Is Still Out On Women as Parsi Priests
A much debated issue in the Parsi community — the status of women has been reinvigorated after an event in Iran. The Tehran Mobeds Anjuman (Anjoman-e-Mobedan), last month announced that for the...
Ban on priests will lead to talibanisation of Parsi Panchayet, HC told
Eminent members of the Parsi community, opposing a ban imposed by the Bombay Parsi Panchayet on two priests barring them from performing religious ceremonies, have told the Bombay High Court that...
Clarification on the Actress Debarred Issue
Last week we published an article that originally appreared in DNA India. It was written by Manoj Nair and titled “ Actress debarred from agiary revives gender bias debate “. Mr Nair regularly...
Zubin Mehta receives star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
Zubin Mehta received the 2,434th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame today, coinciding with his 50th anniversary as a conductor. Actor Kirk Douglas joined Mehta at the ceremony near the northeast...
Trying to keep the faith alive
Zoroastrians face the challenge of religion becoming extinct, as only a handful choose to become priests By Sudeshna Chowdhury | Mid-Day The list of woes for the Parsi community is long winding. In...
Parzor’s Parsi Panorama Opens in New Delhi
The Parzor organization is holding an exhibit on Parsi crafts and traditions, along with workshops on Parsi embroidery, next week in Delhi. A brief schedule is copied below. “PARSI PANORAMA” 12th to...
Out of India: The Tata Group and Ratan Tata
Under Ratan Tata, the business group that bears his name has transformed itself from an Indian giant into a global powerhouse Published in The Economist [print edition] March 03, 2011 RATAN TATA is...
38% Parsi marriages in city were interfaith in 2010
One of the biggest worries of the Parsi community has now been spelt out in numbers. In 2010, 38% of Parsi marriages registered in the city were interfaith marriages, a figure that has shot up by...
Bejan Daruwala Moves to Ahmedabad
This Wednesday, Mumbai’s popular and most flamboyant astrologer- numerologist, the Ganesha-loving, Christ-believing, Allah-revereing Parsi Zoroastrian Bejan Daruwala relocates to...
Peenaz Masani: The Ghazal Queen
It is refreshing to speak to ghazal exponent Penaz Masani who is steeped in tradition, says Monarose Sheila Pereira Padmashree recipient Penaz Masani is a ghazal singer who has carved a niche for...
Actress debarred from agiary revives gender bias debate
An incident last week at an agiary (Parsi fire temple) in Andheri has restarted a debate in the community about bias against women who marry non-Zoroastrians. By Manoj Nair | DNA India While there...