For sixty years, Parsiana has documented the everyday and the extraordinary within the Parsi world — from births and...
Blog Articles
Love in the time of loneliness: Paswaar spotlights Parsi elders’ lives
The Gujarati-language film Paswaar puts a story about elder care and India’s Parsi community front and centreDr Homi,...
Gara Sari Sorority: Haute Fashion and Parsi Ladies
Sari sorority: Why Parsi ladies are a national fashion treasure As this small but influential Indian community has their new year this week, CNNGo's shop section celebrates the embroidered Parsi...
A Longer Wait for BPP Flats
It appears that the wait for Parsi families to move into Bombay Parsi Punchayat (BPP) flats just got a little longer. Justice (retd) B N Srikrishna, who was appointed to verify the eligibility of...
You Cannot Wish Pateti Mubarak
Ervad Marzban J. Hathiram clears a very common misnomer…that of wishing “Pateti Mubarak” on Parsi New Year. On 19th August, we Parsis will celebrate our New Year with traditional gaiety, visiting...
Succeeding a success
IF INDIA were a nation of gamblers, the betting on who will succeed Ratan Tata, chairman of the Tata group, would be furious. Since Tata Sons, the holding company for India’s second-biggest...
Russi Mody: ‘What an outsider would do at Tatas’
Once touted as a contender to head the Tata group before Ratan Tata took charge, Russi Mody feels that someone from the family alone should spearhead the USD 71 billion conglomerate and any outsider...
Bhikaiji Cama – Indian Independence Movement Figure
"This flag is of Indian Independence! Behold, it is born! It has been made sacred by the blood of young Indians who sacrificed their lives. I call upon you, gentlemen to rise and salute this...
Ta-Ta to TATA
When Apro Ratan goes, can doom be far behind? By Bachi Karkaria / TNN Bomsie surveyed the pall of gloom which hung over Mumbai's Dadar Parsi Colony. "Eh, Kawsie," he said, "Soo...
Sign Petition to Save Bahrot Caves
The Bahrot Caves near Sanjan, Gujarat, India hold a special place in the heart of all Parsis. This is where the Iranshah fire was hidden for 12 years while Sanjan was attacked. These caves are today...
Racing against time to preserve India’s Parsi past
High in the hills of western India, Homi Dhalla looks around the Bharot Caves complex, pointing out the cracked and crumbling stone in the roughly-hewn rocks. By Phil Hazlewood (AFP) "If we...
Ray of hope for dwindling Parsi community
Young Parsis today visit the fire temple in much larger numbers and more often than they did 30 years ago. This may not seem noteworthy to most people, but for Zoroastrians, a community, which is...
Parsis’ emotional connect with Tatas
In Indian family businesses, there is no dearth of successors. The Tatas, however, are an exception. As there's no heir apparent to Ratan Tata after he retires in December 2012, a search committee...
Noshir Gowadia Convicted for Selling US Military Secrets to China
A former B-2 bomber engineer who marketed and sold his stealth expertise to China is facing life in a federal prison following his conviction for bartering U.S. military secrets. By Associated...
Homai Vyarawalla: National Photo Award for Lifetime Achievement
In 10 days from now, we will witness India's first national photo awards as part of commemorating 50 golden years of the photo division, a media unit of the ministry of information and broadcasting....
Muktad Days: When The Souls Come Visiting
Ervad Marzban Hathiram at Frashogard.com writes a very informative piece on the Muktad Days at the end of the Parsi Calendar year. Ten days before the Parsi New Year, fire temples around the city...
My successor will not be anti-Parsi or pro-Parsi: Ratan Tata
Tata Group Chairman Ratan Tata today said that his successor would neither be pro-Parsi nor anti-Parsi but should be the right person. "The Tata Group is an Indian group and we should not be...
Parsi Gara back in vogue
The 150-year-old gara embroidery is stunning, mysterious, but not dead, as it was once believed. Designers and entrepreneurs are doing their best to revive what was originally a Chinese art form. By...
Tata for Now. But What About Later?
Can the Tata Group be led by a non-Tata? That is the question the group’s chairman, Ratan Tata, has refused to answer for the public even though the leader of India’s second largest conglomerate is...
Zoroastrians – Keep The Faith: Different Drummers
Rohinton Rivetna, Tenaz Jamsetjee and Shazad Mehta of Chicago were recently interview on TV for the program Different Drummers. This was featured on CBS TV a couple of weeks ago.
Ratan Tata: The Successor Search Is On
Ratan Tata appears serious about keeping his date with retirement. Tata Sons, the promoter of the $71 billion Tata Group, has formally set the ball rolling to find a successor to its present...
Reminiscing About Behram Contractor
Every Saturday morning, as I am doing now, the great Bombay writer Behram Contractor would hunch over his typewriter and punch out his weekly column. It was a special edition of his daily column,...
WZO : London Divorces India
With deep regret, the World Zoroastrian Organisation (WZO) wishes to announce that it can no longer be associated with WZO (India). By Darayus S. Motivala / The Bombay Samachar This decision was...
Life was quite a drudgery in my childhood: Ratan Tata
Unless you talk to the man, you don’t get a taste of the subtle sense of humour that he has. Industrialist Ratan Naval Tata has a very simple definition of going to school. “It seems terrible when...
Chennai Parsi Fire Temple Celebrations: 100 Year Anniversary
There are just 250 of them in the city, so it's no surprise that all members of the Parsi community here have their demographics at their fingertips. By Kamini Mathai / TNN No one seems to need to...
Dalal Estate Mumbai: Transformation
One of the oldest and largest residential complexes in south Mumbai is all set for a makeover. By Nauzar Bharucha / TNN Dalal Estate, the more than seven-decade-old landmark residential enclave...
Zoroaster: Forgotten Prophet Of The One God
The Abrahamic religions were preceded, and decisively influenced by, followers of an earlier prophet By John Palmer / Guardian UK The tiny world wide communities of Zoroastrians are no doubt pleased...
Ferdowsi, the Reviver of Persian Language
The United Nations cultural body (UNESCO) has named the year 2010 as 1000th anniversary of the composition of The Shahnameh, the renowned national epic of the Persian-speaking world which has been...
Nariman Point: Never Concede On Principles
By Khushwant Singh / Hindustan Times As I read Fali Nariman’s memoirs Before Memory Fades, an autobiography (Hay House), I kept thinking about Nani Palkiwala who I had the privilege of befriending...
Eminent Parsis fight for liberal priests
Anu Aga and Dr Hector Grant, among others, to support priests who were barred from praying at the Towers of Silence by the Bombay Parsi Panchayat after they conducted Navjots of children from mixed...
Range of antique Parsi Garas attracts visitors in Islamabad
An exhibition by Kersi Dubash, displaying a wide range of antique Parsi Garas, Gara borders and Gara shalwar kameez suits, French chiffons, Lucknow saris and shalwar kameez suits, Kantha saris and...
By The Way: Mumbai Restaurant With A Cause
Sitting in this quaint restaurant, just gullies away from the furious churn of the Arabian sea, watching the rain steam up the glass double doors that open up to a leafy Grant Road lane, it’s hard...
Fali’s enduring life
Its authors sought to dismiss the June 1975 Emergency as an event of no consequence in four famous words: “not a dog barked”. The bench and the bar, which are regarded as the fair and fearless...
Chennai Parsi Fire Temple Celebrates Centenary
On Saturday (July l0), there will be celebrated in Royapuram the centenary of the consecration of the only Parsi Fire Temple in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Kerala. Gracing the commemoration of the...
Fali Nariman: Mea Culpa And Other Stories
Three Zoroastrians (Parsis) have dominated our jurisprudence through the last four decades: Nani Palkhivala, Soli Sorabjee and Fali Nariman. Fali Nariman lets memory strike its own patchwork path,...
Unused Urinal At Cross Maidan Behind Bhikha Behram Well Raises A Stink
Residents want the toilet block - locked in a dispute since 1996 as Parsis fear it would contaminate water in their sacred well, located at Bhikha Behram - demolished By Manoj Nair / Mumbai Mirror...
BM Masani passes away
Veteran constitutional expert and noted advocate, BM Masani passed away yesterday at the Parsi General hospital in Mumbai. He was 86. Family sources at Mhow said today that Masani was suffering from...
Art films not my scene right now: Jennifer Kotwal
Fast Constipation Relief Kannada actress Jennifer Kotwal wants to continue to star in entertainment films and not really looking at art films as of now. “Art films are not my scene right now,” the...
Bombay Panjrapole
If you aren’t looking for it, you’d probably miss it. Tucked somewhere in the by-lanes of the crowded Bhuleshwar bazaar is the Bombay Panjrapole, a 176-year-old infirmary that primarily looks after...
Pasta on the patra
The Parsi lagan nu bhonu, the last of the purist community wedding feasts in the city,is also going the mishmash way By Mahafreed Irani | TNN When Sam and Freny Satha were preparing to send out the...
Boman Irani wants to become a singer
Boman Irani, who started life as a photographer, just loves exploring different avenues. After some crackling performances, including in comic roles, the hugely talented actor is trying his voice as...
Bahman – Bestows Divine Wisdom
In the Zoroastrian calendar, the second day of every month as well as the eleventh month of every year is dedicated to Bahman Amshaspand. By Noshir H. Dadrawala Bahman is the Persian form of the...
Artist Jehangir Sabavala goes for record Rs 1.7 cr
The market for India’s modern masters seems to be sizzling. After Raza became the priciest modern by notching up over Rs 16 crore at a London auction recently, another master, 88-year-old Jehangir...
Parsis felicitate new Chief Justice of India
Addressing a large gathering of the Parsi community on Saturday, newly appointed Chief Justice of India (CJI) Justice Sarosh Kapadia admitted to being a workaholic and a deeply spiritual person. By...
Perizad Zorabian, The Monsoon and Chicken Shashlik Sizzlers
The odds that you might catch vivacious actor Perizad Zorabian in cook’s garb are narrow. By Ismat Tahseen / DNA Says the mother of two, “I rarely like to try my hand in the kitchen but my husband...
Cama Baug Agiary Varasyaji Pass Away
Ervad Marzban J. Hathiram informs us about the passing away of the holy Varasyaji, and a fascinating primer on the importance of Varsyaji in Zoroastrian religion and culture. It is my sad duty to...
CJI Kapadia calls upon Parsis abroad to help in nation building
Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sarosh Kapadia has urged members of the Parsi community settled abroad to return to India and contribute to national development. "I always believed that it is better to...
Fali Sam Nariman: An Interview
For The Record: Fali Sam Nariman. ‘I have no take on Supreme Court’s verdict on Carbide’ An interview with the Times Of India. At 81, Fali Sam Nariman, elder statesman and conscience keeper of the...
Govt scheme to arrest decline in Parsi population
Concerned over the dwindling number of Parsis, one of the five notified national minorities, Government has launched a scheme to arrest the trend of decline in their population. The Central Sector...
Is it time for an international Zarathushti referendum?
For the last 50 years, at the least, a debate is raging within our Community, between The orthodox and the reformist lobbies, leading to nowhere. By B.T. DASTUR / The Bombay Samachar Zoroastrianism,...
Britannia restaurant: Flying food and other Parsi tales
Boman Kohinoor and his son/chef Romin tell CNNGo the long history of Britannia & Co. and share the sacred sali meat recipe from one of Mumbai's best loved restaurants Article by Aarthi Gunnupuri...
Minoo Bhandara Remembered
Out of my 10 favourite contemporary Pakistanis, four happen to be Parsis: Justice Dorab Patel, Ambassador Jamsheed Marker, Ardeshir Cowasjee and Minoo Bhandara. Article by Khaled Ahmed / Express...