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 Bachi Karkaria | The Guardian Locally, this central urban enclave is everything that this great Indian city is not: low-rise, languorous, its 25 acres… Continue reading Mumbai’s Parsis fight to preserve the city’s greenest space in Dadar
Month: June 2015
Surat’s Garda College’s lost glory to be restored
A new governing body in S B Garda Trust, one of the oldest Parsi educational trusts in south Gujarat, has brought to an end differences simmering for two decades and also controversies involving its earlier members. The new governing body has promised to restore the institution’s past glory despite court cases still pending against faculty… Continue reading Surat’s Garda College’s lost glory to be restored
Police Orders Fresh probe into cash at Bombay Parsi Punchayet office
In May, cops submitted a report concluding investigations. Community activists, four trustees smelt a rat. Police Commissioner Rakesh Maria has ordered a re-investigation in the case of Rs 21 lakh unaccounted cash found in the office of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP). The case was closed by the MRA Marg police last month, allowing BPP… Continue reading Police Orders Fresh probe into cash at Bombay Parsi Punchayet office
Spotlight’s on khandias, the Parsi ‘untouchables’
Sam Vesuna was 19 when he became a pallbearer at the Parsi Towers of Silence at Malabar Hill. Today, bodies laid to rest in the roofless towers putrefy below solar panels, but at that time, hungry birds of prey still slouched along their stone walls. Article by Nergish Sunavala | Times of India “When I… Continue reading Spotlight’s on khandias, the Parsi ‘untouchables’
The curious case of the vanishing Parsis
“I’ll grow up to be a math teacher,” declares Delicia Billimoria. Looking at the ease with which she demolishes a complex multiplication assignment on a canvas blackboard hung in her living room at her Surat apartment, the seven-year-old with pigtails and a bucktooth smile appears to have a way with numbers. Article by Aasheesh Sharma|… Continue reading The curious case of the vanishing Parsis
Kolkata Parsi Zoroastrians file petition in high court against Snoop Dogg video
The Parsi Zoroastrian community in Kolkata is up in arms against a video uploaded on YouTube that they feel is blasphemous and shows disrespect to the ‘Faravahar’, a symbol held sacred by them. Darayas Jamshed Bapooji, president of the Parsi Zoroastrian Association of Kolkata has filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in Calcutta high court… Continue reading Kolkata Parsi Zoroastrians file petition in high court against Snoop Dogg video
Toronto’s Jashan In the Baug: A Photo Essay
On July 21, 2015 the Ontario Zoroastrian Community Foundation (OZCF), located on beautiful 10 acres of land, held a huge event of “Jashan in the Baug” on their premises at 1187 Burnhamthorpe Road East Oakville, Ontario. Canada, This event was specially organized to recognize the Mobeds who from many years have continued to provide religious… Continue reading Toronto’s Jashan In the Baug: A Photo Essay
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 of a peaceful protest, which will escalate into a strike if the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) continues to evade their demands for higher wages,… Continue reading Parsi Punchayet sweepers, pallbearers threaten strike
Sticky dispute as Kurdish Zoroastrians blast diaper maker
Members of the Zoroastrian religious minority in Erbil, Kurdistan have threatened a diaper company with a lawsuit for giving a baby product the same name as their holy book. The product in question, the Avesta Baby Diaper, has outraged the faith’s leaders who have demanded the name be changed at once. “Avesta’ is the name… Continue reading Sticky dispute as Kurdish Zoroastrians blast diaper maker
