Month: June 2014 Articles

Udvada and Navsari Atashbehrams: A Report by Berjis Desai

Our annual pilgrimage to the Navsari and Udvada atash behrams made us pensive. Although it was not one of the "big days” of the Parsi calendar, there was no sitting space at Iranshah. Occupancy at the hotels and the recently spruced up...
Law and Identity in Colonial South Asia

Law and Identity in Colonial South Asia

The Parsis, or Zoroastrians, are an ethnoreligious community unusually invested in the colonial legal system of British India and Burma. In this interactive slideshow, Mitra Sharafi, the author of...

Iran’s Zoroastrians celebrate Persian roots

Iran’s Zoroastrians celebrate Persian roots

In this Saturday, June 14, 2014 photo, a Zoroastrian man prays in Setipir Shrine in Yazd about 405 miles (675 kilometers) southeast of the capital Tehran, Iran. Zoroastrianism is a monotheistic...

A Book on The Irani Cafes of Bombay

A Book on The Irani Cafes of Bombay

One of Mumbai's most endearing albeit fast fading icons — the Irani cafés — will be chronicled in a coffee table book that is set for a late 2015 release It was in January 2014, when the news that B...

When the heart skipped a beat

When the heart skipped a beat

Musician Homi Mullan maps the journey of percussion in Hindi film music Most music lovers can be pardoned when captivated by the sensuous charm of Roop tera mastana from Aradhana (1969) if they...

The Tradition of Indo-Persian Literature

The Tradition of Indo-Persian Literature

The recent removal of Persian, Arabic and Pali from the list of subjects in UPSC exams has given rise to the question of the validity of these languages. Article by Rana Safvi | DNA India The reason...

Vintage Tune: Homi Dastoor

Vintage Tune: Homi Dastoor

Author at 91, Homi Dastoor wants you to get to know Chopin's mistress to truly appreciate his nocturnes On the Friday evening we meet him at his Pali Naka apartment, Homi Dastoor, 91, has a request....