While Prime Minister Narendra Modi attends the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit elsewhere in China, two...
Blog Articles
Justice, Faith, and Asha: Zerbanoo and Richard Gifford Meet Pope Leo XIV
A historic Vatican audience honours decades of work for the Chagossian people and celebrates Zoroastrian values of...
The Grandson of Field Marshal Maneckshaw Speaks
This was received via email from my kaka Keki P. Wadia. It's a message from Field Marshal Sam Maneckshaw's grandson. Makes wonderful reading It's been an overwhelming few weeks for us...
Persia: Ancient Soul of Iran
The August 2008 issue of the National Geographic has "Persia: Ancient Soul of Iran" as its cover story. I just finished reading the printed issue. The photographs as usual are fantastic. The stories...
Loyalty is a meter of Mehta
IT IS not, at first sight, a marriage made in heaven. The conductor is a Parsee Indian, brought up in Bombay, trained in Vienna and living in Los Angeles. The orchestra is a band of refugees who...
The Parsis October Revolution
Those Russians call it double - 10 from 10th October, when the Tsars were overthrown. We, Parsis, will call it the October Revolution. When a frustrated, fed up, angry, exasperated, irate, end of...
Zubin Mehta to perform in Mumbai
World-renowned music conductor Zubin Mehta will hold a charity concert at the Brabourne stadium in October. The Mehli Mehta Foundation, founded in 1995 in memory of Zubin's father, confirmed...
225th Birth Anniversary of Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy
Parsis from all over the city gathered to celebrate the 225th birth anniversary of the first baronet His initials are JJ. At 22, Jehangir Jejeebhoy is not just another law student. He has an...
The Last Parsis: Tales of Survival and Extinction
Kaevan Umrigar, a filmmaker, and good friend of Parsi Khabar runs his own blog. His latest article in on Uran Next on my itinerary was Mora Bunder at Uran, a small fishing village across the harbour...
Ardeshir Cowasjee on Sam Bahadur
SAM Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw was his full name by which he was rarely called, as he was known familiarly and affectionately by his men and officers and friends as Sam Bahadur. Manekshaw...
Aslaji Agiary Trustees in a Legal Battle
Grant Rd agiary caught between two sets of trustees Aslaji Bhikhaji Agiary’s trustees are embroiled in a legal battle over control of the temple management and funds One of the most frequented Parsi...
Soon, heritage status for fire temples
Mumbai, July 3 47 Parsi structures, including 4 Atash Behrams, in city’s heritage list Parsis across the city were cheering on Thursday when, after a long battle that has lasted over six years,...
What is the secret behind the Parsi-Zoroastrians’ longevity?
Bangalore-based biotech company trying to solve riddle opens Pune chapter, seeks blood samples Bangalore-based biotech company Avesthagen Ltd, which is carrying out a large-scale study to decipher...
Sam Manekshaw: Obituary in The Economist
His most famous remark was not, strictly speaking, true. On the eve of the war with Pakistan in December 1971 that led to the creation of Bangladesh, India’s prime minister, Indira Gandhi, asked her...
The pages of history: J. N. Petit Library
The staff of the JN Petit, home to 150,000 titles, do more than just take care of books If you can’t remember the last time you visited a heritage library, you are not alone. Edged out by modern...
Kaoos Rustom Sethna: To Be with Nature
K R Sethna who gave up a thriving career as a horse-race jockey in Poona and came to the Western Ghats just to be with Nature. Everyone is talking about the disappearance of sparrows from our...
Here’s my pistol, now come on shoot me
As a young major in 1947, Eustace D'Souza first read about Major Sam Manekshaw when reading about the Burma campaign in World War II. Manekshaw was shot in the stomach when he and his company...
Barack Obama Praises Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw
While the Indian Government screwed up and bungled in handling the funeral of Field Marshal Manekshaw, Barack Obama, the Presidential candidate in the U.S. issued a statement acknowledging the...
Mcleodganj’s famous Parsi shop on its last legs
One of the oldest landmarks of this town, the Nowrojee General Merchants shop set up in 1860, is taking a beating from time. Owned by a Parsi family, it is almost on its last legs commercially and...
Kanga Laments Lack of Music Culture in Karachi
Mrs Kanga: musician with a message As the World Music Day was marked around the globe on June 21, it was rather disappointing to note that a vibrant city such as Karachi failed to organise a decent...
A View from Pakistan: Manekshaw’s war
By Commodore (retired) Najeeb Anjum for The Dawn, Pakistan For 36 years now India's first field marshal has been the icon of heroism. "ALL QUIET ON THE EASTERN FRONT", the melodious message...
The last of the Punjabi Parsis
By Ajay Bharadwaj With the passing away of Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw on Friday, none of the Parsis who had made Amritsar their home are alive today CHANDIGARH: Amritsar has been in deep mourning...
Doomed by faith
India's Parsi community is shrinking fast. For every birth, there are five deaths, prompting fierce debate between reformists and traditionalists who are concerned about ethnic purity. By...
Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw Passes Away
Iconic former Army Chief Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, who died in the wee hours on Friday, was given the final salute in a state funeral and laid to rest with full military honours. ( Watch ) As a...
Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw in Coma
The Indian Army's first and only surviving Field Marshal, Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw is fighting for his life at the Army Hospital (Research & Referral) in Wellington in Tamil...
Shenaz Treasurywala on love and her banjaran life
Shenaz Treasurywala on love and her banjaran life, in conversation with Riya V Anandwala. There’s been talk that you’re being replaced by Perizaad Kolah on The Great Indian Laughter Challenge.....
Ronnie Screwvala: Bollywood to Hollywood
Screwvala lives with his second wife, Zarina, and his lookalike labrador, Sprite, in an upscale apartment block in Mumbai. They are currently having another apartment renovated that will look out...
Minocher Bhandara, Pakistan MP, Passes Away
Former Minorities Minister and member National Assembly Minocher Bhandara (popularly known as M.P.Bhandara) passed away here on Sunday. His one leg and a wrist was broken in an accident on April 23...
Zoroastrian Tower of Silence
A "Tower of Silence" is the place where Zoroastrians laid their dead to rest in the life-giving power of the sun. Zarathustra is the ancient Persian prophet who founded Zoroastrianism 3500 years...
Chaiye Hame Bawaji
This is a wonderful piece written by Ms. Natasha Viraf Deboo of Poona The word 'Parsi' is derived from the word Pars or Persia. Hence, Parsi literally means 'people who have come from...
Yazdani Bakery
Here is a wonderful video of Yazdani Bakery, one of the last few bakeries of its kind left in Bombay
No Family Planning for Parsis
NCM’s pill for falling Parsi numbers: no family planning CITHARA PAUL Posted online: Saturday, June 14, 2008 at 0034 hrs New Delhi, June 13: Concerned about the dwindling population of the Parsi...
Dwindling Numbers: A Legal View
A very interesting article from the Indian Law Blog "Law and Other Things" Dwindling number of Parsis The National Minorities Commission 's Report on the dwindling number of Parsis in India...
Vulture Culture
This is a youtube video about the Parsis of Bombay and the issues that face the community today. If the video does not show, please click here
Villoo Patell Bags Top French Award
Villoo Morawala Patell, founder-chairperson of India's leading life sciences firm Avesthagen Ltd, was on April 23 honoured with a top civilian award by the French government for her...
Parsi Kolah No Sarko
Among Indian vinegars the most interesting by far is the dark and complex tasting barrel matured sugar-cane vinegar made by E.F.Kolah & Sons of Navsari since 1885. Parsis are the other Indian...
Shehnaz Treasurywala: Big Secret Revealed
Shehnaz Treasurywala the new host of The Great Indian Laughter Challenge has her task cutout as she will be seen anchoring a Hindi show for the very first time!! But what exactly motivated her to...
Visiting Persepolis, the ancient source of Iran’s power
The ancient Persian capital of Persepolis, in a vast and arid plain 40 miles from Shiraz in southern Iran, is the greatest ancient site between the Holy Land and India. This is a rare place that...
Pune’s Parsi Online Portal
With an online portal disseminating information about all their activities and projects, Zoroastrains in the city find it easy to stay connected The Internet has always been appreciated for making...
A Tribute to Pandit Firoz Dastur
As a tribute to Pandit Firoz Dastur, artistes Shrikant Deshpande, Girish Sanzgiri and Srinivas Joshi are organising a concert Having passed away on May 9, Pandit Firoz Dastur, the doyen of the...
An interview with Jimmy Engineer
JIMMY ENGINEER’S quiet, unassuming manner belies the mammoth social work he has undertaken and the wealth of thought-provoking artwork he has painstakingly created. The Pakistani artist and...
Pioneer woman-journalist Roshan Peiris departs
Roshan’s typewriter ticks no more Hers was a familiar ‘byline’ to many generations of readers. Veteran journalist Roshan Peiris, a stalwart of The Observer and in later years of The Sunday Times who...
The Parsi Wedding
By Firoze Hirjikaka The main theme and the true raison d’etre for a Zoroastrian wedding is food. Zoroastrian wedding banquets are definitely for the weight watchers. Demurring protestations to the...
The Ceremonies of a Parsi Wedding
Parsi Lagan or Wedding is marked by vibrant and joyful customs that spread over a couple of days. Unique and interesting rituals begin from the time of engagement and culminate with a lavish post...
Zoroastrian Information Center at Udvada: Speech by Dasturji Mirza
This is a brief report on the speech given by Dasturji Dr. Peshotan Dastur Hormazdyar Mirza at the launch of the Zoroastrian Information Center at Udvada, Adar roj, Adar mah, YZ 1377, April 24,...
Shahnameh: The Great Poem That Came Out of Persia
By ROYA HAKAKIAN My earliest memories of the Shahnameh, the greatest work ever written in the Persian language, belong to my childhood in Iran. I and other girls in my elementary school recited...
Parsis may be silenced by success
By Sudha Ramachandran BANGALORE - The clock is ticking for one of India's most prosperous communities, the Parsis. Always small, the Parsi population is diminishing at an alarming rate, prompting...
Fertility clinic gives hope, aid to dwindling Parsi community
Mumbai: After the Hakims married, they looked forward to a quiet life, interrupted often by the laughter of children. Five years later, none had arrived. Troubled by the void, they began visiting...
About Freddie Mercury Being a Parsi
By Vir Sanghvi in The Mint. I know a lot of people are going to treat this as blasphemy so I better just come out and say this. I saw a DVD of a concert by Queen with Paul Rodgers on vocals and you...
Parsi Reformists Ready with a New Fire Temple Plan
By Manoj R Nair A group of Indian-Zoroastrian reformists acquires land at Malad to build a fire temple that will be open to even spouses of community members married outside the fold It could be an...
Voting rights? But whom do we choose?
Ask Parsi youth, who want to know whether issues like housing will be resolved MUMBAI: Last week, the High Court passed a judgment, one that would in many ways shake the age-old hierarchy of the...
Brabourne Restaurant: Death of an Eatery
Cities are complex entities. They provide shelter for different communities who, over the years, generate their own sub-cultures, shops, markets and restaurants. This collection of sub-cultures can...