Today Parsi’s celebrate Jamshedi Nauroze and will engage in celebrations, largely featuring good food and drink. They are possibly the smallest but most visible Indian minority. You will find a Parsi in every nook and corner of the world. This community has many luminaries, the “firsts” in diverse professions, and it is not possible to… Continue reading Remembering Parsi greats on Navroze
Category: History
2600 years of history in one object: The Cyrus Cylinder
A clay cylinder covered in Akkadian cuneiform script, damaged and broken, the Cyrus Cylinder is a powerful symbol of religious tolerance and multi-culturalism. In this enthralling talk Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, traces 2600 years of Middle Eastern history through this single object. The Cyrus Cylinder Link via @ZoroastrianZen
The curious case of vanishing Parsis in Hubli-Dharwad
A greatly civilised clan, which has made valuable contributions to the socio-economic growth of the twin cities, has seen such a sharp drop in its population that demographic experts fear the culturally rich heritage of the community would be wiped out if the decline is not arrested. By Raju S Vijapur | Deccan Herald There… Continue reading The curious case of vanishing Parsis in Hubli-Dharwad
A look at Mumbai’s dwindling Irani chai shops
UPDATE: Link to the documentary mentioned in this article is here. A lot can happen over chai. Once over 300 Irani tea-shops in Mumbai were as intrinsic to the city as streetside cafes are to Paris. During the 1950s-60s, the unfussy restaurants-cum-stores flourished, attracting a regular clientele of senior citizens, office-goers, campus students, writers and… Continue reading A look at Mumbai’s dwindling Irani chai shops
From Persia to Bangalore
Dinshaw Cawasji, President of The Bangalore Parsee Zoroastrian Anjuman narrates the history of Parsees; how they took refuge in a small coastal town in Gujarat after agreeing to several conditions laid down by the then Maharaja of Sanjan. By Sudha Narasimhachar | Citizen Matters In the mid-eighties when I used to travel on Bellary Road… Continue reading From Persia to Bangalore
Bachi Karkaria on the Kolkata Agiary Turning 100
The name is bond. Sacred bond. And it is licensed to send a warm thrill up the spine of every Kolkata Parsi. Not just of only the 550 who still remain, but all of us who had grown into our Zoroastrian faith there. By Bachi Karkaria | TNN The city’s only fire temple, the DB… Continue reading Bachi Karkaria on the Kolkata Agiary Turning 100
Dababhai Naoroji’s House in utter disrepair
Fellow Zoroastrians, Is this how we remember one of the greatest Zoroastrians of recent times, by letting his ancestral house fall into ruins and then be sold off to a builder? http://videos.sify.com/DadaBhai-Naorojis-House-SIFY-watch-jeivLTageac.html Note that this video is a few years old, and that it is incorrectly referred to as Naoroji’s birthplace (he was born in… Continue reading Dababhai Naoroji’s House in utter disrepair
Tata Group’s Russi M Lala want exiting top managers to write memoirs
As India’s largest business conglomerate prepares for a change of guard at Tata Sons — the main holding company for the Tata Group — Russi M Lala, the chronicler of the 143-year-old group, is keen that the retiring generals pen their memoirs, lest stories from the trenches on the pinnacles of success and troughs of… Continue reading Tata Group’s Russi M Lala want exiting top managers to write memoirs
Migration bringing down Parsi population in Kolkata
They number 600-odd in a city with a population of nearly 4.5 million. That nearly half of this 600 are senior citizens may have been a cause for concern for any community but the Parsis of Kolkata. ‘Think Positive’ is their mantra and it came as little surprise that they turned up in large numbers… Continue reading Migration bringing down Parsi population in Kolkata
