Burning sandalwood thickens the air in a room that’s so exclusive only a vanishingly small number of people are...
Blog Articles
Echoes in a Parsi attic: How a box of keepsakes opens story of early Jamshedpur via Mumbai
In 1935, Khurshed Maneckji Bharucha, the first Indian chief cashier of Tata Steel in Jamshedpur, borrowed ₹3.5 lakh...
Zerbanoo Gifford Enters the Honorable Society of Knights of Round Table
We are thrilled to learn that our dearest friend and mentor Zerbanoo Gifford has been welcomed into the Honorable Society of the Knights of the Round Table. Zerbanoo Gifford is the founder of the...
Meet Chef Delzad Khurshed Avari whose signature dish is the barbecued pulled pork
Chef Delzad Avari's pulled pork is one for all seasons: it can be cuddled between breads, bundled in rotis or tucked in with rice.Delzad Avari, 30, wanted to cook since the time he couldn't reach...
Parsis in Mumbai move SC to realign Metro-3 tunnel below Atash Behrams
A special leave petition was filed challenging the HC order, which was mentioned before Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi.Article by Yesha Kotak | Hindustan TimesThree days after the Bombay high court (HC)...
Sale to non-Parsi stokes society’s 25-yr legal battle to expel member
A cooperative housing society formed exclusively for Parsi community members in Sanjan town of south Gujarat has been fighting a legal battle for more than 25 years to expel a member. The main...
Could a Tower of Silence For Zoroastrian Funerals Be Built in Texas ?
Khushbu Solanki, a Rutgers Law graduate makes a compelling arguement for a Dokhma in Texas.Khushbu writes…Traditional Zoroastrian funerals require stone structures called Dakhmas — “Towers of...
Bombay High Court Permits Mumbai Metro 3 tunnelling under two fire temples
Senior Journalist and friend of Parsi Khabar, Nauzer Bharucha writesA COMMUNITY SCARRED “The Bombay High Court today allowed a metro rail tunnel to run under one of the most venerated Fire Temples...
JIYO PARSI: CARE OF ELDERLY DEPENDANTS
Our dear friend and mentor Dr. Shernaz Cama write in the Jame Jamshed newspaperThe Jiyo Parsi Scheme was set up to arrest the decline in our community’s population. However, over time, it has been...
Arzan Nagwaswalla Plays Cricket For Gujarat: First Parsi in Decades to Play at State Level
Parsis have played an important part in Indian cricket history.Parsis were the first Indian side to visit England in 1886. And around 12 Parsis, such as Farrokh Engineer, Polly Umrigar, Nari...
Astad Deboo’s Astonishing Back-bends
The dancer is revolutionary in many ways, one being his ability to make his body do what he wants it to At 71, Astad Deboo has one hell of a back bend. In his new performance Liminal, and the...
10 Indians in the 1920s-30s went on cycling expeditions; 7 succeeded
October 15, 1923 was yet another mellow Monday morning in Bombay, but the city’s central district of Grant Road was ablaze with blaring music. The erstwhile Bombay Weightlifting Club had organised a...
Zoroastrians Soar at the 2018 Parliament of World’s Religions in Toronto
Two weeks ago, over 8000 people gathered in Toronto for the 7th edition of the Parliament of World's Religions. The Zoroastrian flag was flown by under the aegis of the Federation of Zoroastrian...
Zoroastrian Association of California Celebrates 2nd Salgreh of their Atashkadeh
The 2nd Salgreh of Zoroastrian Association of California Atashkadeh was celebrated with great religious fervor on November 13th. The day started with Zerkxis Bhandara doing Chowk and with the Bui...
Freddie Mercury – The Early Years
In the countdown to the cinema release of Bohemian Rhapsody, this short film looks at the early years of Freddie’s life including his birthplace of Zanzibar, his schooling and first musical...
Parsee General Hospital: Hong Kong couple may not invest Rs 162 cr in new hospital
Some community members say charity commissioner’s nod was not taken for deal.BD Petit Parsee General Hospital’s (PGH) bid to beat financial blues by opening a new hospital for all on its premises...
A Persian Popinjay. A Review of the Film Bohemian Rhapsody
The Demands of the NarrativeThe film opens with a close-up of star Rami Malek’s eye, a circlet of pale blue-grey iris clearly visible around a wide black pupil. The actor probably chose to eschew...
Perfect Letter for All Eeda (Egg) Loving Bawajis
A write up by a parsi mother to her son!Perfect letter for all eeda (Eggs) loving bawas!!Dear Son,Today I am writing to you about a strange topic. Eggs. After all, what kind of a Parsi caterer would...
Inside House of Daaruwala, the café inspired by a Mumbai institution
The all-day café in Andheri pays homage to the legacy of Irani cafés that once dotted every prominent corner of the cityArticle by Kermin Bhot | Architectural DigestMumbai's House of Daaruwala is a...
Jiyo Parsi scheme gains ground in Gujarat
The dwindling population of Parsi community nationwide has long been a cause of concern and was the primary motivation for the Jiyo Parsi scheme.Funded by the Ministry of Minority Affairs, and...
Neomi Rao: First Parsi Judge Nominated on the D.C. Circuit Court in the United States.
Neomi Rao, Trump's Deregulatory Leader, Gets DC Circuit Nod to Replace KavanaughNeomi Rao, who has led the Trump administration's push to curtail agency regulations, would succeed Brett Kavanaugh on...
Jimmy Engineer: “The servant of Pakistan”
Jimmy described his wall paintings depicting Allama Iqbal's masterpiece Javed Namah as his most difficult work, but also one of his major artistic achievements“I have been sent here,” said an...
Jeejeebhoy’s Bombay
The scion of a leading business family was among the first historians to document the city’s hidden stories, and was deeply affected by the loss of its heritage.If one were to think of a household...
Adi Bulsara: Navy scientist selected for ONR’s Outstanding Lifetime Achievement in Science
Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific (SSC Pacific) is proud to announce Dr. Adi Bulsara has been selected by the Office of Naval Research for the Dr. Fred E. Saalfeld Award for Outstanding...
Amyra Dastur on being an actress, ‘It’s scary’
Talents coming from a non-Bollywood background and standing on two feet in the industry gain more respect from the audience, says actress Amyra Dastur. Daughter of a doctor and a businesswoman,...
South Bombay varsity to be named after Homi Bhabha
The new cluster university in south Mumbai is set to be called Dr Homi Bhabha University after the notable alumnus of the Institute of Science, the lead college in the cluster. A notification from...
Month-long feast in Colaba celebrates Parsi lagan fare
Oct 30, 2018, 07:59 IST | The pop-up curated by Perzen Patel, known for her catering service The Bawi Bride Kitchen, will feature dishes authentic to the community and common to a Parsi wedding...
Remembering an Indian Prometheus: Homi J. Bhabha
On 12 March 1944, a proposal was despatched from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) at Bangalore to the Sir Dorab Tata Trust in Bombay. The letter read ‘I have for some time past nurtured the...
We Always Talk About Freddie Mercury’s Sexuality, But What About His Confusing Racial Identity?
With Bohemian Rhapsody, the film about Queen’s eccentric frontman Freddie Mercury, just around the corner, discourse about Mercury’s sexuality has rocked the internet. Some folks say that Mercury...
We are not mama’s boys, say Parsi men
Are Parsi men Mama’s boys? Are Parsi women really fussy?’ This was the topic of debate at a matrimonial meet for 108 eligible Parsi men and women on Sunday. Of course, the men and women refused to...
Can you crack this 150-year-old cloth merchants’ code?
Fabric trading in 1800s Bombay was a complex affair, with towels, hand-signals and secret bids. See how one british newspaper described itWould you have recognised the Bombay of 150 years ago? No...
Hoarding At Doongarwadi in Mumbai pulled down
A nearly decade-long battle to remove a two-level hoarding within the premises of the Parsi Tower of Silence (Doongerwadi) at Malabar Hill ended after it was pulled down over the weekend. It was...
Textile artist Areez Katki retraces his family’s odyssey
From Auckland to Mumbai to Tehran, textile artist and aesthete Areez Katki is retracing his family's great odyssey, for inspiration for his next collectionInstead of using a tapestry frame, textile...
Cyrus Mistry makes a comeback, starts aVenture Capital firm
Mistry Ventures LLP to invest in and nurture start-ups across the world Making his comeback into the corporate world, Tata Sons’ former Chairman Cyrus Mistry has started a firm Mistry Ventures LLP...
Fali Nariman Gets Shastri National Award
Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Monday honoured senior advocate Fali Sam Nariman with Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence in Public Administration and said Nariman was one of the...
Our Parsi Rich Have Fallen on Evil Days: A Sharp Account of the Community in the 19th Century
Behramji Malabari (1853-1912) was a social reformer, journalist, poet, travel writer/ethnographer and vital catalyst of change, who did much to shape the national reform discourse in late-19th...
BPP chairman hauls former board member to court over ‘defamatory’ articles
Based on the criminal complaint filed in Sewri court, Desai has alleged that Mehta has been spreading false and derogatory informationThe tussle between the current chairman of the Bombay Parsi...
Kobad Ghandy Acquitted of All Charges
The court of Additional Sessions and District Judge Mohammad Gulzar today acquitted CPI (Maoist) ideologue Kobad Ghandy of all charges. He was booked by the Patiala police under Sections 10,13,18...
Daraius Sorabji Stands for Campbell City Council Seat in California
Indian American Software Engineer Makes Bid for Campbell City Council Seat, Campaigning on Platform of Curbing Rampant DevelopmentIndian American software engineer Daraius Sorabji, a newcomer to...
Parsis in uproar over ‘hurtful’ videos; police start probe
An FIR was registered by the Gamdevi police on Tuesday after a community member made repeated complaintsParsis have been most displeased and unhappy the last couple of months. Reason: certain...
J B Kanga: A Legal Giant
Mitra Sharafi a legal historian of colonial South Asia, and a regular reader of this site writes about Jamshedji Behramji KangaDuring a recent visit to the basement of Columbia Law Library, I came...
Chef Anahita Dhondy at the United Nations Week 2018 in New York
Our regular reader and friend Rusi Sorabji sent us this write up about A young Parsi Lady Chef at the UN week 2018Last week of September, World leaders, Queens, Presidents, Vice Presidents, Prime...
Cyrus Mistry: What’s Your Life Optimization Score
Cyrus has spent the past 20 years helping people and business be more efficient. Through his work at Google, he has developed a simple process for optimizing all the areas of our personal lives –...
Freddie Mercury’s complex relationship with Zanzibar
With the release of a new film about the British rock band Queen, the spotlight has fallen again on the life of its legendary lead singer, Freddie Mercury. His flamboyant stage presence, outlandish...
UK Parsi Youth Discuss the new Freddie Mercury Biopic
Below is a video clip and an audio interview with Parsi youth in the United Kingdom, speaking about the impact of Freddie Mercury in popular culture. This is in a lead-up to biopic “Bohemian...
Toronto author builds new life after a stroke, eating disorder
After suffering a stroke in her 20s, Dina Pestonji, who grew up in Willowdale, had a long road to recovery ahead. That road included penning a book, Surviving Myself: How an Eating Disorder, a Car...
She’s the Boss: Growing into Success
On Monday October 15, 2018 I had an opportunity to attend a fantastic panel discussion titled “She’s the Boss: Growing into Success”. The panel was moderated by my very dear friend Narges Kakalia, a...
Zoroastrians and Jains added to UK’s war memorial service
Representatives of the Jain and Zoroastrian will now join 15 other faiths, including Hinduism, Sikhism, at Britain's annual war memorial service to make it more reflective of modern Britain, Faith...
FEZANA’s Participation at the 2018 Parliament of World’s Religions
NORTH AMERICAN ZOROASTRIAN RELIGIOUS, COMMUNITY LEADERS TO REPRESENT ANCIENT FAITH AT 7TH PARLIAMENT OF WORLD’S RELIGIONS, NOV. 1-7, IN TORONTOBurr Ridge, Illinois, Oct. 18, 2018 – FEZANA, the...
Lord Karan Bilimoria: Great grandpa had unpleasant task of arresting Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi or Bapu as he was endearingly called by millions of Indians, was arrested several times in his lifetime. In the history of British India and free India, one family had its tryst with...
Simran Jehani’s film portrays Zoroastrianism
When Simran Jehani first came to USC, people asked her a question she was all too familiar with — “what are you?” Telling them she was Zoroastrian caused some confusion — so Jehani, a senior...
Commemorating Zoroastrian and Indian women in the British Suffrage movement
Our dear friend Shazneen Y Munshi wrote a report on the event that commemorated Zoroastrian and Indian women in the British Suffrage movement. This was initially shared by Zoroastrian Trust Funds of...