The government’s plan to boost the dwindling population of Parsi community received a severe jolt with the Planning Commission rejecting a scheme proposed by the minority affairs ministry to improve the fertility rate and address health issues of the minority group. By Subodh Ghildiyal, TNN The commission has objected to the scheme, telling the government… Continue reading Planning Commission says No to boosting Parsi numbers
Category: India
India’s religious community in irreversible decline
Parsis are an ethnic community in India that follow the Zoroastrian religion. They are originally from Fars in Iran and had migrated to Western India more than 800 years ago. They are an essential part of India’s cultural fabric and diversity but are perhaps the only community outside Europe to have experienced population and fertility… Continue reading India’s religious community in irreversible decline
Empire Records: Something Borrowed by Rohinton Mistry
Two months before I was to leave Bombay for Toronto, a friend from St, Xavier s College asked to borrow my copy of "A Hard Days Night," Empire Records Something Borrowed by Rohinton Mistry / The New Yorker october 11, 2010 My friend—I’ll call him Harish—was agreeable company, always trying to find hidden meanings in… Continue reading Empire Records: Something Borrowed by Rohinton Mistry
Wadias: Built Oldest Surviving UK Warship
India has been shamed in front of the world, thanks to crumbling bridges and cracking ceilings at the Common Wealth village. But, about 200 years ago the same Indian hands built for the British empire a warship which still stands tall. By Ashish Vashi / Times News Network The oldest surviving British warship — HMS… Continue reading Wadias: Built Oldest Surviving UK Warship
Falling Indian minority hopes romance can stop decline
India’s ancient minority Parsi community are pinning their hopes on modern methods such as speed-dating, social networking and IVF to stop their numbers vanishing, finds the BBC. By Sanjoy Majumder / BBC Inside a small classroom, a group of young boys sways back and forth, reading aloud from the ancient scriptures of the Zoroastrian faith… Continue reading Falling Indian minority hopes romance can stop decline
Desperate measures for a fading Indian faith
What do musician Freddie Mercury, the Tata family who own Corus and Jaguar, and the conductor Zubin Mehta have in common? They all descended from migrants who fled Iran more than a 1,000 years ago. They are called Parsis and settled in India where they have prospered while maintaining their religion and traditions. But… Continue reading Desperate measures for a fading Indian faith
We want to break free
India’s Independence month has another little-known first. It was in August 1907 that Madam Cama defiantly unfurled the first Indian flag to the world and inspired a generation of Parsi firebrand women patriots It became an irony the British took time to digest. A community, which was small, yet known for its loyalty to the… Continue reading We want to break free
