Parsi Khabar

Darion Gandhi Dances to Gold

arzan sam wadia — Tue, 15 May 2012 21:25:58 +0000

So You Think You Can Dance judge Jason Coleman thinks a young Hampton Park boy can do just that. Published in the Barwick Star News, Melbourne Australia. Nine year old Darion Gandhi from Cathy-Lea Dance Works received a gold medal at the Cechetti Junior Award Day a couple of Sundays ago. The event was held at the Ministry of Dance Studios in North Melbourne and was adjudicated by Jason Coleman from the hit television series So You Think You Can Dance. Darion was selected from 60 elite entrants at his level. Nine other students from Darion’s school received honorable mentions in the prestigious ballet competition which draws students from many of the best dance schools across Victoria, Australia. You May Also Like:BawaTips This is a hilarious and very astute collection of tips about Bawajis. Below are just 3 of more than 50 ...NAVROZYNG Join ZYNG (the youth wing of the BPP) is having its annual Navroze party "NAVROZYNG" at Dios, Tardeo, Mumbai, on ...PARZOR Exhibition in Mumbai: Hand Embroidered Products at the Women’s Week Festivities Information forwarded to Parsi Khabar by regular reader and good friend Dr. Arnavaz Havewala. Three Parsis Amongst List of 129 Padma Awardees for 2012 [...]

Zoroastrian Stree Mandal of Hyderabad and Secunderabad: Sticking together

arzan sam wadia — Tue, 15 May 2012 21:10:49 +0000

There is probably an inverse relation between a community’s population and its togetherness. The Parsi community doesn’t defy this relation and is an exceptionally close-knit community. With a population of about 1,100, the Parsi community has a sizeable population. By Amar Tejaswi | Deccan Chronicle Parsis’ business acumen drew them to the city a couple of generations back and they have remained here since with a lot of the members having businesses of their own. But the business acumen is diminishing with time as current generations move towards jobs in IT industry and elsewhere. Parsis in the city, like anywhere else, are quite conscious of their community and its number and have thus initiated a range of schemes for themselves. Schemes to alleviate poverty and child educational incentives are some that are active. The Zoroastrian Stree Mandal, a group of Parsi ladies have been doing some good work on the charity front. But Parsis are, generally, an affluent set of people and are known to believe in charity and so, these schemes are no surprise. But, noteworthy is the bi or tri-annual ‘Gambhar’, which is free feast for any Parsi who wishes to attend. The purpose of this, Parsis say, [...]

Parsis petition Centre for survival

arzan sam wadia — Mon, 14 May 2012 21:51:29 +0000

The Parsis are a demographically declining community on the cusp of near extinction. This is what Keki Daruwalla, Sahitya Akademi award-winning poet and a member of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM), wrote to the Planning Commission (PC). By Anurag Kumar Chaubey & Kshitiz Shaminit Tirkey | DNA India Alarmed by the drastic fall in India’s Parsi population, Daruwalla, in his two-page letter to PC member Dr Syeda Hameed, has highlighted the census figures which show that the number of Parsis in 1941, which was 1,14,890, almost halved to 69,601 by 2001. Daruwalla organised a meeting with PC members on April 12 to discuss the “demographic peril” his community is facing. He has sought Hameed’s help to get approval for several urgent measures recommended by the working committee of the Union ministry of minority affairs. The committee has recommended that the central government should study the community’s problems and come out with schemes accordingly which will be funded completely by the Centre and it should specifically target the “married, childless couples” as well as the girl child within the community to arrest the decline in population. Enlisting the help of two Parsi researchers from Harvard, Zubin Shroff and Dinyar Patel, [...]

Billionaire Godrej Sees Property Beating Retail

arzan sam wadia — Mon, 14 May 2012 13:50:52 +0000

Indian billionaire Adi Godrej said real estate will deliver his company’s fastest growth over the next five years as foreign rivals such as Unilever Plc (ULVR) and Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) constrain his flagship consumer-goods unit. By Ruth David and Malavika Sharma | Bloomberg “The strongest growth potential we see is in our property- development business,” Godrej, chairman of the Godrej Group, said in an interview at his office campus on the outskirts of Mumbai. “No one has any significant market share. It is divided among a large number of players.” Godrej Consumer Products Ltd. (GCPL), in which Temasek Holdings Pte. bought a 5 percent stake in January, has faced “tremendous competition” in recent years from international companies eager to tap India’s booming consumer market, said Godrej, 70. That trend is set to continue, he said. Unilever, the world’s second-biggest maker of consumer goods, has almost a third of the beauty and personal-care market in India after more than a century operating in the country. In real estate, where investment rules constrain some global operators, Godrej said he mainly contends with smaller, domestic rivals. India’s property market is forecast to grow to $180 billion by the end of [...]

Shapoor Mistry brings in talent, expands role of old hands

arzan sam wadia — Fri, 11 May 2012 15:52:28 +0000

Shapoor Mistry of the Pallonji Mistry group is bringing in talent, expanding the role of the old guard and identifying new business ventures at the $2-billion group. The initiative is aimed at transforming the way the construction-to-home appliances conglomerate functions. By Sobia Khan | The Economic Times The reclusive Irish-Parsi business tycoon, Pallonji Mistry, passed the baton of his 147-year-old business conglomerate on to elder son Shapoor Mistry in January this year after younger son Cyrus Mistry was chosen as the successor to Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata. Mistry’s father first bought shares in the Tata Sons in the 1930s, a stake that currently stands at 18.4%. The 47-year-old managing director of the SP Group has brought in former PwC director Jai Mavani as executive director in charge of M&A and family practice, signalling the group’s appetite for inorganic growth. Mavani, who will spearhead acquisitions for the group, sits on the apex decision-making body Group Centre, joining the ranks of other top executives such as Jimmy J Parakh and human resources head Vasant Sanzgiri, group head (strategy) Shankar Krishnan and financial controller Mahesh Tahilyani. Jimmy J Parakh, the man who worked closely with Pallonji Mistry during the formative years, has [...]

Water Wastage Complaint at Bhabha Sanatorium Compound

arzan sam wadia — Mon, 07 May 2012 22:24:44 +0000

200 ways to waste water For three months, allege residents, a Bandra family has been committing water carnage by pouring upto 200 litres of water out of their fourth floor flat for no reason; BMC engineer says action will be taken By Shailesh Bhatia | Mid-Day Even as Mid Day reported the acute scarcity of potable water in Thane villages which led to the death of a tribal woman, and the fact of individuals there surviving on just three litres of water per month (‘Thane, where water is a luxury’ April 26, 2012), this reporter came upon an instance of a Bandra family wasting upto 200 litres of water every day, for no apparent reason. SMD witnessed a woman deliberately pour a thick stream of water from a pipe from her fourth floor flat onto the compound below on Saturday morning. The act, witnessed at Bhabha Sanatorium, which is two buildings away from actor Shah Rukh Khan’s Bungalow Mannat at Bandstand, continued for an hour-and-a-half, which ultimately resulted in a puddle that overflowed onto the adjacent sea-facing road. SMD saw 53 year-old Sana Irani deliberately pouring a thick stream of water from a pipe from her fourth floor flat onto [...]

ZYNG Organizes A Summer Celebration for Differently Abled Parsi/Irani Zoroastrians

arzan sam wadia — Sat, 05 May 2012 21:45:00 +0000

Name: SPECIAL STARS Tagline: A Summer Celebration for Differently Abled Parsi/Irani Zoroastrians Organizers: ZYNG – Zoroastrian Youth for the Next Generation Senior Citizens Ladies Group of Rustom Baug Om Creations Trust Jam-e-Jamshed Schedule: Friday, 11th May 2012 10:00am – 2:30pm Rustom Baug Saturday, 12th May 2012 4:30pm – 7:30pm Rustom Baug Sunday, 13th May 2012 4:30pm – 7:30pm Rustom Baug Participants: Differently Abled Parsi/Irani Zoroastrians are invited to come and spend the weekend with us. We will organize workshops and games for them and make them participate in various competitions (Talent / Prayer / Fancy Dress). All participants will be given prizes and goodie-bags. Plan of Action: On Friday, 11th May 2012, all participants will assemble at 10:00am at Rustom Baug and will be accompanied by an adult. There will be a bus organised to take the participants and volunteers to Om Creations where there will be workshops and demonstrations of the activities conducted at Om Creations. This will be followed by Lunch for all participants. The bus will then bring everyone back to Rustom Baug by 2:30pm and the parents can take the children home. On Saturday, 12th May 2012, all participants will assemble at 4:30pm at Rustom Baug [...]

A year on, JJ Hospital finally gets Rs. 52 Lacs from Maneck Sanjana’s Estate

arzan sam wadia — Fri, 04 May 2012 03:43:36 +0000

In January 2011, JJ received an email that a Parsi woman had left 100,000 Canadian dollars for it. But the hospital authorities thought of it as an elaborate online fraud By Santosh Andhale | Mumbai Mirror Congratulations! You are entitled to receive 100,000 Canadian dollars. Send us your account details so that we could facilitate the transfer. If you had such an email in your inbox, you would probably frown and delete it. If your new-to-email dad gets it, you would painstakingly try to explain why that email is a fraud. So one can understand that when state-run JJ Hospital received such a mail in January last year, they chose to ignore it. Only this time, it was for real. A Canada-based Parsi millionairess had actually donated 100,000 Canadian dollars (that’s about Rs 52 lakh) to the hospital. And after a year of living in utter disbelief, the hospital authorities have finally received the large sum. Maneck K Sanjana, who died in Toronto on November 13, 2006 at the age of 89, had willed large sums of money to hospitals in Canada and to the Parsi wards of JJ, Byculla-based Masina hospital and Parsi General Hospital. In January 2011, Sanjana’s [...]

Mumbai Boss: The Chef Behind Godiwalla Caterers

arzan sam wadia — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 15:32:53 +0000

Tanaz Godiwalla is the undisputed high priestess of Parsi wedding catering. Families are known to call Godiwalla before they book a venue or finalise the guest list. We wouldn’t be surprised if a few of them inform Godiwalla of the date before they telephone close relatives. After all, her catering services are so much in demand that her appointments diary is already packed with commitments until December 2014. By Purva Mehra |Mumbai Boss Godiwalla Caterers have been the community favourites for over four decades now. “Both my parents were great cooks; we had this tradition of cook-offs in which my siblings and I got to decide who made the better meal,” said Godiwalla whose father Rohinton and mother Freny set up a small canteen in Colaba’s Cusrow Baug in 1965. Their business gradually grew to become a catering service dedicated to weddings and Navjotes (a thread ceremony during which a child is inducted into Zoroastrianism). Tanaz Godiwalla took charge of the business in 1991, at the age of 21. Today, she single-handedly manages a staff of 350 people, and between November and March every year, she caters as many as 150 weddings and Navjotes a month. Godiwalla takes the rest [...]

BAWATips: I’m Bawa and I Know It

arzan sam wadia — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:26:12 +0000

The incredibly funny bunch of people at BAWATIPS bring us their first video….I’m BAWA and I Know It. You May Also Like:The Promise Of A New Day: World Zoroastrian Organisation Trust Since the 1990s, The World Zoroastrian Organisation Trust, based in India, has been working in the villages of Gujarat, specifically ...The Irani Café : A gastronomic experience heading towards extinction The two videos below are created by “indiandocumentaries” and are posted on youtube. Reader Dara Acidwalla also informs us ...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 ...Delhi Parsi Anjuman New Year Celebrations Parsi New Year celebration in DelhiUploaded by Newsxlive. - Watch the latest news videos. Jeejeebhoy Senior Citizen’s Centre Navsari Here are two video clips about the Bai Manechbai P. B. Jeejeebhoy Senior Citizen’s Centre situated in Navsari Gujarat. ...

Requiem for a Parsi delight: Food

arzan sam wadia — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 21:46:15 +0000

There isn’t much that stands between Parsi food and extinction. Joanna Lobo digs amongst the delectable ruins of what remains By Joanna Lobo | DNA As he starts to describe the dal ni poori (a pastry stuffed with sweetened dal, tutti frutti and dried fruits), Kurush F Dalal lets us into a secret ingredient for his childhood tea time snack. “You’ve got to learn how to do this from your grandmother,” he says. “If you had a kadak grandmother, she would make sure everything was done perfectly”. For the dal ni poori to be made as perfectly today, one would have to ensure that tur dal was boiled to a thick mass, the flour would have to be kneaded, rolled, filled with ghee and folded. This process would then have to be repeated some 20-30 times. “It’s a dish that requires a lot of elbow grease,” says Dalal, an archaeology teacher who also oversees Dalal Enterprises, the catering company started by his mother, the late Parsi cooking doyen, Katy Dalal. If it weren’t for Dalal’s memory, the dal ni poori, like many other Parsi dishes of its ilk, would perhaps be a step closer to extinction. The survival of many [...]

Anu Aga: A Profile

arzan sam wadia — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 18:42:18 +0000

69-year-old Anu Aga, who was nominated to the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, is known as much for her social work and activism as her business accomplishments. Published by NDTV In 2004, she retired as the chairperson of Thermax Ltd, handing over the reins to her daughter Meher Pudumjee. Thermax is a Rs. 4,935 crore engineering solutions provider in the energy and environment sectors. She is also a member of the National Advisory Council, headed by Sonia Gandhi, which works closely with the central government on public policy and issues, such as the Right to Food. In 2010, Aga was awarded the Padma Shri for her work in the social sector, where she has been involved with promoting communal harmony and nurturing education. She supports Akanksha, a non-governmental organisation that promotes school education for the underprivileged children in Mumbai and Pune. She is also closely associated with the Thermax Social Initiative Foundation (TSIS). The foundation, in partnership with the municipal corporations of both cities and Akanksha, manages two schools for lower-income groups. She is also known for her to transparency in corporate governance. Last year, Ms Aga was ranked No. 79 on Forbes magazine’s Richest Indians list with a net worth [...]

The Carriage of Pestonjee Press of the Fort Coach Company Exhibited in San Francisco Museum

arzan sam wadia — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 00:34:54 +0000

An ornate silver carriage, built in 1915 by Pestonjee Press of the Fort Coach Company for the Maharajah of Bhavnagar, was featured at the San Francisco Asian Art Museum’s “Maharaja” exhibit that closed here April 8. By Sunita Sohrabji | India West The exhibit — which featured the art and artifacts of India’s princely rulers — will next move to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, Virginia, where it will be on display from May 21 to Aug. 9. The Field Museum in Chicago will then host the exhibit from Oct. 17 to Feb. 3, 2013. “The exhibit was a huge success,” Tim Hallman, director of communications and business development at the Asian Art Museum, told India-West. More than 115,000 people viewed the seminal display, which exceeded the museum’s initial projections, he said. “It is the third most popular exhibit we have ever had, and we were pleased to see that so many South Asians attended,” said Hallman, adding that the museum is planning future exhibits featuring the work of Indian and South Asian artists. Many of the pieces in the collection belong to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and will return there after the “Maharaja” [...]

Do Parsis lack a proper sense of history?

arzan sam wadia — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 15:56:13 +0000

Our good friend Dinyar Patel asks a very valid and pertinent question Do Parsis lack a proper sense of history? It is a question that I have often wondered while traveling and conducting research across India in the past fourteen months. Our history and culture is as rich as that of any other community in India, yet we have, at least for the past few decades, not been very good stewards of them. A number of our libraries and institutions are badly run. There are whole collections of valuable books and related items that are gathering dust in Godrej cabinets—or worse yet, in the open air. Many of the old Parsi wads in our ancestral towns and villages are deserted and decayed. Our holiest site, the Iranshah Atash Behram, lies amidst houses of great historical and architectural value, many of which are abandoned and garbage-strewn. Continue reading the entire article at Yazdgerd You May Also Like:Remembering Homai: Dinyar Patel Reminisces about Vyarawalla Dinyar Patel, editor at Yazdgerd and good friend of Parsi Khabar has penned a personal note on the passing away ...Yazdgerd: Next Generation Scholars of Zoroastrianism We are happy to learn that a project that we had heard [...]

The Promise Of A New Day: World Zoroastrian Organisation Trust

arzan sam wadia — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 14:22:06 +0000

Since the 1990s, The World Zoroastrian Organisation Trust, based in India, has been working in the villages of Gujarat, specifically in the villages of Navsari and Surat, to uplift the lives of poor Zoroastrians and their families. The Promise Of A New Day, highlights some of the organisation’s most notable work over the last two decades! You May Also Like:BAWATips: I’m Bawa and I Know It The incredibly funny bunch of people at BAWATIPS bring us their first video....I'm BAWA and I Know It. The Irani Café : A gastronomic experience heading towards extinction The two videos below are created by “indiandocumentaries” and are posted on youtube. Reader Dara Acidwalla also informs us ...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 ...Jeejeebhoy Senior Citizen’s Centre Navsari Here are two video clips about the Bai Manechbai P. B. Jeejeebhoy Senior Citizen’s Centre situated in Navsari Gujarat. ...Delhi Parsi Anjuman New Year Celebrations Parsi New Year celebration in DelhiUploaded by Newsxlive. - Watch the latest news videos.

Bombay High Court To Consider Exempting Parsis from Two Child Norm

arzan sam wadia — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:47:31 +0000

The government could consider exempting the Parsi community from the ‘two-child norm’, the Bombay high court suggested on Wednesday. Hearing a matrimonial dispute case between a city-based Parsi couple, a division bench of Justices P B Majmudar and Anoop Mohta was informed of incentives given to Parsi couples to have more children. By Shibu Thomas | Times of India "Late marriages or no marriages are the cause for the decline in the population,” the judges remarked. Bombay Parsi Punchayat chairman Dinshaw Meh- ta told the court that the community has offered benefits to couples who have more children. "For a second child, a couple is paid Rs 3,000 per month and for having a third child, the family is offered Rs 5,000 per month. This maintenance amount is paid till the child turns 18,” Mehta said. "Other benefits for education expenses are also provided,” he added. At this the court remarked that the community seems to be going against the government’s ‘two-child norm’. "You are going against the government scheme where having a third child is a disqualification for many things, including a government job or standing for elections,” said Justice Majmudar, adding, "But this may be needed to arrest [...]

Anu Aga Nominated to the Rajya Sabha as a Member of Parliament

arzan sam wadia — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 15:41:08 +0000

Anu Aga the former Chairwoman of Thermax India has been nominated to the Rajya Sabha as a member of the Indian Parliament. Her nomination by the President of India was announced recently. Below is some info about the life and work of Anu Aga From Thermax website Anu Aga began her career in Thermax in 1985 and later was in charge of the company’s human resources function from 1991 to 1996. After her husband Rohinton Aga passed away, she took over as executive Chairperson of the Thermax Group in February 1996, and two years later became non-executive Chairperson. After stepping down from this position in October 2004, she continues as Director on the Thermax Board. As Chairperson, Anu turned around the company and helped transform it into a high performance organisation with a bigger presence in international markets, and a turnkey player in energy/environment projects. Anu Aga served as Chairperson of the Confederation of Indian Industry’s Western Region. She has written extensively and given talks on corporate governance, corporate social responsibility, the role of women and education, etc. Anu is a BA in Economics and holds a post-graduate degree in medical and psychiatric social work from Tata Institute of Social [...]

Punchayet to provide house to divorced Parsi

arzan sam wadia — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 15:28:24 +0000

A man — embroiled in tenancy dispute with his wife over a flat a sprawling flat at Cusrow Baug in Colaba in south Mumbai — has got accommodation, thanks to the Parsi Punchayet. By Urvi Mahajani | DNA The matrimonial dispute which would have gone on for years has been settled quickly with the involvement of the Parsi Punchayet, observed the Bombay high court on Wednesday. A division bench of justice PB Majmudar and justice AV Mohta said: “We appreciate the Parsi Punchayet for taking a humanitarian and practical approach.” As directed, Parsi Punchayet’s chairperson Dinshaw Mehta was present in court on Wednesday. The husband had been restrained by the single judge from entering the matrimonial house, pending divorce. He had challenged the order. Mehta told the court that the Parsi Punchayet will provide accommodation to the husband at Godrej Baug at Nepeansea Road. The wife has agreed to pay Rs1 crore refundable deposit to the Parsi Punchayet for the flat. The flat will be on leave and license agreement renewable every five years, Mehta told the court. Eighty per cent of the deposit is refundable if the husband decides to vacate the premises or dies. The high court said [...]

Navroze Contractor, Photographer & Cinematographer: In Conversation

arzan sam wadia — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 21:37:12 +0000

Of Indian Origin in conversation with Navroze Contractor Multi-Award winning Cinematographer, Navroze Contractor is a huge contributor to the documentary world across the globe. He has been a part of many award winning films like The Legacy of Malthus by Deepa Dhanraj (Winner of Several International Awards), Limited Manuski by Nachiket Patwardhan (Winner of the National Film Award), Percy by Pervez Merwanji (Winner at Manheim International Film Festival), Love in the time of Malaria by Sanjiv Shah (Winner of the National Film Award), Last house in Bombay by Luke Jennings (Winner at the Bombay International Short Film Festival) to name a few. A seasoned photographer, Navroze has won many one-man shows for his still photographs and a series of his shots of jazz musicians are in the collection of the Smithsonian Museum, Washington DC, U S A. Navroze recently was the principal cinematographer for a short documentary film called Mr. Shanbag’s Shop which screened at the South Asian Film Festival in San Francisco, Annual Asian Film Festival of Dallas and the Asian American International Film Festival in New York City. Currently Navroze is in the midst of several documentary projects and took a few minutes from his busy schedule to [...]

Bombay HC asks Parsi Panchayat for help

arzan sam wadia — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 13:51:00 +0000

Taking a sympathetic view, the Bombay High Court has asked the Parsi Panchayat whether it could provide temporary accommodation to a man who is in a custody dispute with his wife. By Urvi Mahajani | DNA India A division bench of Justice PB Majmudar and Justice AV Mohta has also asked either a trustee or the president of the Parsi Panchayat to remain present in the court on the next date of the hearing on April 25. The hearing took place inside the judges’ chamber, but the order copy is available on the official website of the high court. The court has clarified that it is asking about the accommodation for the husband without prejudice to the rights and contentions of both the parties. “The court would like to know from the Parsi Panchayat as to whether, by way of interim solution, any accommodation of the Parsi Panchayat either in Cusrow Baug or in any other premises can be made available to the appellant for a period of six months till the title suit is decided.” The court was hearing an appeal filed by the husband challenging the order of the single judge restraining him from entering their flat. The [...]