We join BACHI KARKARIA as she wishes members of her Parsi community a Happy Navroz and takes us through a typical Parsi New Year celebration in Mumbai and Kolkata The Parsis celebrated their New Year yesterday, and I hope you didn’t go around brightly wishing them ‘Happy Pateti’. That would have meant you wished… Continue reading Untitled
Category: History
Flashback: Like sugar in milk
Gulbano Bamji talks to Moniza Inam about her golden childhood in Quetta: Legend has it that when the Zorastrian king of Persia, Yazedird, was defeated in the Battle of Nehavand, many Parsis fled their homes to escape persecution and moved to the mountains of Khorosan, where they lived for almost a century. In the mountains,… Continue reading Flashback: Like sugar in milk
Star Spangled Banner and the Parsi Connection
The American National Anthem and the Wadia Parsi Family America’s National Anthem is sung thousands of times on every 4th of July weekend. What many may not know is that it was written by Francis Scott Keys on a War Ship constructed by the Parsi pioneer of Wadia Ship Building Corporation out of Bombay, India.… Continue reading Star Spangled Banner and the Parsi Connection
Nargol and Sanjan: Fire, water and a holy calm
The sandy shores of Nargol and Sanjan along the Maharashtra-Gujarat coast offer respite and a quiet escape, as well as a look at the Zoroastrian community’s strong ties with this land. Chikoos, authentic Parsi cuisine and a slice of the good life promise to be your ticket back in time. By C. Gangadharan Menon |… Continue reading Nargol and Sanjan: Fire, water and a holy calm
Lord Bilimoria Addresses The House of Lords on the Occassion of ZTFE’s 150 Year Anniversary
A crossbench peer and leading entrepreneur has criticised the UK’s “madcap” immigration controls, warning they are damaging business prospects. Lord Bilimoria, founder of Cobra Beer, condemned the government’s immigration cap as a “crude and blunt instrument”. Opening a Lords debate on the contribution of minority ethnic and religious groups to the cultural life and economy… Continue reading Lord Bilimoria Addresses The House of Lords on the Occassion of ZTFE’s 150 Year Anniversary
India’s Defence Minister Makes Amends, Gives Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw His Due
Today at a special ceremony at the Zoroastrian Parsi Cemetary at Ootacamund, Nilgiris, India’s first Field Marshal and one who bestowed on the country its first military victory in a thousand years, Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw, will be commemorated by laying his gravestone next to that of his wife, Siloo. By Ashok Mehta |… Continue reading India’s Defence Minister Makes Amends, Gives Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw His Due
Zarathushtra: The Amar Chitra Katha Edition for Children
Amar Chitra Katha have for long been one of the best sources of children’s story books in comic format. Over the past few decades they have explained religion, mythology and historical figures in lucid comic format which children find easy to read and understand. Growing up in the late 70’s and 80’s as a child,… Continue reading Zarathushtra: The Amar Chitra Katha Edition for Children
Asian Art Museum Acquires Rare Zoroastrian Bowl
One of the Asian Art Museum’s newest acquisitions is a solid-silver muktad bowl, a gift from the Zoroastrian Association of Northern California and several private donors. By Sunita Sohrabji | India West The rare, 5-lb. bowl, circa 1890, depicts scenes from Zoroastrian mythology, including an image of Darius standing with his foot on a defeated… Continue reading Asian Art Museum Acquires Rare Zoroastrian Bowl
The Parsis, Once India’s Curators, Now Shrug as History Rots
In the course of over one year of archival research in India, I have been heartened to see how, in a few institutions like the National Archives, the country’s rotting history now has a fighting chance of survival. However, I have been deeply dismayed by one observation: the inability of my own community, the Parsis,… Continue reading The Parsis, Once India’s Curators, Now Shrug as History Rots
