KARACHI: The Parsi community in Karachi has always been small, but it has gifted an unmistakable legacy to the city. They have left their mark on the metropolis, especially in its older parts, with their contributions ranging from education, with formidable establishments such as Mama Parsi Girls Secondary School, BVS Parsi School and NED University, to healthcare, encompassing institutions such as Lady Dufferin Hospital, Spencer Eye Hospital, the Goolbai maternity homes and the Dinshaw Dispensary. The Metropole Hotel, though past its day, has long been a Karachi reference point and the Jehangir Kothari Parade in Clifton is a distinctive landmark. Yet the community’s generosity often goes overlooked by the city’s inhabitants.

Article in The Express Tribune, Pakistan

Edulijee Dinshaw and Nadirshaw Edulijee Dinshaw, a father and son philanthropic duo, who donated most of their wealth to establishing a few institutions in the city, including the Mama Parsi Girls School, Lady Dufferin Hospital and the fountain at Frere Hall. PHOTO: COURTESY BILAL HASSAN

The contributions of minorities to the city must be recognised if Karachiites are to embrace them, said Rashida Valika at the Karachi Parsi Institute on Saturday evening.

Valika, an assistant professor at the Karachi Institute of Technology and Entrepreneurship, expressed her worries about the situation that the minorities of the metropolis find themselves in as she led a dialogue upon the contributions of and challenges faced by small communities in Karachi, with particular reference to the city’s Parsis.

Applauded by the participants, she highlighted the contributions made by former mayor Jamshed Nusserwanji Rustamji Mehta, Sir Jehangir Kothari, the Edulji Dinshaw family, Khan Bahadur Cowasjee and Ardeshir Cowasjee to Karachi’s health, education and civic amenities.

“The Parsis don’t stand aloof from the rest of Karachi’s society,” Valika explained. “They have immersed themselves in this society and their sense of belonging tells to give back to it.”

She also compared the approach of the current political parties with those of noted Parsi philanthropists, and discussed the tug of war for Karachi between them. “Jamshed Nusserwanji, a member of the Sindhi legislative assembly, did not belong to any political party,” she remembered. “He said that his aim was to serve the needy and to channel government funds to the poor. When he was pressed to join a political party, he resigned from his seat rather than give in.”

Valika criticised the current political situation and lawlessness in the city. “Not even 10 per cent of the original Parsi population is left here,” she said. “What is making them leave? The volatile political landscape and the lack of security. They love Pakistan and want their children to stay, but they see no future for them here.” According to her, there were only 1,600 Parsis left in the metropolis and even these were ‘quickly vanishing’ as families migrated to other countries to escape the city’s chaos.

“The Parsis don’t need us, but the city needs them,” she claimed. “We need people like them to keep our social sector intact.”

A member in the audience, however, objected to her perceptions and reasoning for the decline of the community in the city. “Parsis have never been victimised and they are not running away from the country,” he asserted. “Those who are wealthy and own businesses here have stayed, and those who were poor and went abroad for better education remained there because they found better opportunities.” He said that the average Parsi family was quite small, having only four members, and added that their numbers in Karachi had never exceeded 7,000 at its peak.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 10^th, 2014.

The post A sense of belonging: We must recognise the contributions of our minorities appeared on Parsi Khabar.

The Fire Temple at Ezra Street, though one of the earliest symbols of pluralistic and cosmopolitan culture of ‘Calcutta’, has long been taken over by trading units that have turned it into an electrical storehouse of sorts. But with the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) taking an interest in the monument, things have started looking up for the 175-year-old building. And if things go as planned, it may soon become a monument of national importance.

Article by Krishnendu Bandyopadhyay | TNN

ASI regional director (east) Dr P K Mishra, who inspected the temple recently, said, “The building is an intrinsic part of the city’s heritage. I will recommend the government to turn it into a monument of national importance. We need an urgent restoration work to protect it from complete destruction.”

But as of things stand now, the building — popularly known as Rustomjee Cowasjee Banajee Agiary — is in a sorry state. Plasters are peeling off from each wall, the marbles on the floor have been scooped out and growth of vegetation has weakened the entire structure. Every inch of the building, including the temple basement, has been encroached upon by business units. Even the gate can hardly be seen from the road.

Beyond the gate are huge tuscan pillars holding the roof of the verandah and between the pillars are splendid wooden fretted shutters. Entablature above the pillars has elongated cornice with dentil ornamentation. The outer facade of the building have doric pilasters and openings with triangular pediment at their top. Marble benches with back-rest are there on the sides of the verandah. Through the verandah one has to approach to a long corridor (14.9 meter in length). The main Sanctum, approachable through the right bay, is square in shape. In the centre is a round pedestal that supports the 1.42cm high silver brazier that contains the sacred flame.

“It is a perfect example of Parsi buildings of the early and mid 19th century. They are mostly Gothic in style with a touch of prevailing architectural aspects so common in Kolkata, then Calcutta. So the building is of course a part and parcel of our colonial heritage,” an ASI official said.

The post Calcutta’s Banajee Agiary to get relief: Archeological Survey of India Steps In appeared on Parsi Khabar.

One rainy fall evening in Brooklyn, two women walk out onto a small stage and stare at the audience. They stand in comfortable silence for several minutes – until the short-haired woman in the blue and white kurta begins to talk.

Author: Meera Nair

At her boarding school in Connecticut, she says, three of her suitemates held her down on the bathroom floor, and then proceeded to shave her arms and legs with a razor. They left her cut and bleeding on the tiles. She was 13.

Several members of the audience noticeably gasp.

On stage, the other woman does not react. She watches her fellow presenter, absorbs her words without comment, lets the silence expand.

The two actors are Monsoon Bissell and Benaifer Bhadha. And in Two Women Talking, they are playing roles they have trained for all their lives – themselves.

Photo Credit: Two Women Talking

Piercing stories

For 75 minutes, we watch and listen as they roam across the landscapes of their lives spent in Mumbai, Hartford, London, New York, trading stories in a messy chronology. The stories are often harrowing, jagged with feeling, but the women inhabit them fully, letting the memories subsume them. “I try to hold my mother’s hand, she pulls away, I try to hold my mother’s hand, she pulls away,” Bhadha repeats in a small, bewildered voice, her feet twisting into the pigeon-toed stance of a child.

These stories are not safe for work – or for the drawing room for that matter. There are secrets here, the gut-twisting anxieties and toxic self-loathing that we try not to think about. In one story, Bhadha rages in the bathroom, her hands twisting the roll of flesh at her waist as she shouts “I hate you, I hate you” at her image in the mirror. About to undergo an operation, Bissell begs her doctor: “Can I keep my nipples? I like my nipples.”

Every story cuts deep, all the more potent because it is true. What makes the performance astounding is that it is not a performance – not in the usual sense. This is semi-scripted storytelling, live, improvised every evening. We are watching minimalist theatre, drama pared down to its essence, intimate, unsparingly human. On display are fraught encounters with memory, sparked in the moment. The audience, recast as witnesses, are invited to listen, even if the illicit thrill of eavesdropping on secrets feels uncomfortable. As Bissell explains, “The listening shapes the telling, and the telling shapes the listening.”

Nowadays, distracted by our devices and schedules, we have forgotten how to listen. On stage, the actors revive this lost art. No one rushes to fill pauses in the monologues with advice or opinions. As one speaks, the other listens, never breaking eye contact.

Indian bond

When they talk, their stories shimmer with startling details. The critic James Wood’s phrase, “better noticers of life”, comes to mind. I feel the straight backs of chairs in prissy boarding schools against my neck, smell the camphor in the depths of Bissell’s grandfather’s closet. When Bhadha describes her substance abuse, I feel the dry scrape of the pills in my throat.

Then there is India. The country binds the women together, and it is everywhere. In stories of cosy afternoons spent with tea and steaming samosas in the company of large, loving families, as well as in the darker encounters with a culture, where, as Bissell tells me later, “girls are often told to shut up”. When they stray from culturally expected ways, there is a price to pay in guilt, in strained relationships. When Bissell comes out as a lesbian, her mother shuts her down and turns away, refuses to acknowledge or engage with her daughter’s sexuality.

But, as Bissell says, “These are stories that no one tells, but need to be told.”

Raw connections

Watching these stories spill out, it is easy to believe that Bissell and Bhadha are old friends, performing a comfortable friendship. At one point, Bhadha says, “I have never had a relationship like this.” Watching the women interact, that sentiment is not hard to believe – not even when we learn that they met for the first time only a year ago. By the time they started, under Dan Milne’s sympathetic, unobtrusive direction, to ready the piece for the stage, they had spent weeks in Manhattan coffee shops, telling each other stories.

Even after a year, there are surprises. Twice in the evening, Bissell exclaims: “Benaifer, you never told that story before.”

Like the stories, the relationship comes under scrutiny too. In a particularly tense moment, Bhadha accuses Bissell of hurting her, dismissing her as “not being Indian enough”. In one of the most moving moments of the play, Bissell struggles to apologise, at one point asking Bhadha: “Are you going to help me out here?” When she refuses, Bissell stumbles on alone. We watch the relationship evolve, experience their struggle to accept each other, warts and all.

The yearning to connect fully with another is one we all recognise. Yet the openness with which these actors deal with each other is almost painful.

Still, this is precisely why Two Women Talking succeeds. It urges audiences to reengage with listening. The reactions of the audience, their gasps of shock or laughter affect the telling. The safer the actors feel, the more they are willing to reveal.

What of audiences who might be more judgemental? Who might not approve of family laundry being so publicly aired? Would they ever take this show to India, I ask.

Bhadha concedes it might be difficult, that she is not sure if audiences in India are ready. She has already told the story about how her mother refuses to see the show or even acknowledge her success-even though she lives a few hours away. Bissell is more hopeful: “More than any place else, India needs to have two women who are clearly whole and healed tell stories.”

“There is power in two women talking,” she says.

The post Two Women Talking: Tales From India That Need To Be Told appeared on Parsi Khabar.

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Zaneeta E. Daver is a young Zoroastrian living in Washington D.C. Last year she did ….for a second time !!….something we all dream of….sailing around the world. And now she is trying to give the same opportunity to two young girls, for what makes it an unbelievable story.

She brings about the true Zarathushti spirit in trying to help others. Here is her story and her mission. Use the Go Fund Me link below and make a donation. Every small bit helps.

Zaneeta writes

In the spring of 1994 I was given the greatest gift possible by my parents…the opportunity to sail around the world for a semester in college.  Semester at Sea changed my life is so many ways and helped develop me into the person I am today.  It was my dream to sail again as a staff member, and this past spring that dream was realized when I sailed as the Assistant Executive Dean.  Now I want to help make the same dreams come true for two very special women.  Their story not only touched me, but amazed me.  And it is near to my heart because they are from Mumbai, India… the city my family is from.

From Living in a Mumbai Brothel to Seeing the World

Shweta Katti and Kavita Hosmani were both born in Kamathipura, the red-light district of Mumbai, India, and grew up in a brothel.  Their father passed away from AIDS when they were just four years old.  As best friends (before they knew they had the same father) at age 15, they started planning their lives.  They would live together, go to university together, and move to America together. In just a few years with the help of the Indian NGO Kranti so much has changed for both of these young women.

Shweta is now a college student at Bard College in NY and Kavita is studying in preparation for applying to college.  Shweta has truly excelled and was one of the six awardees at the 2014 United Nations Youth Courage Awards ceremony on September 22. She was honored for her contribution as an agent of change in their support for girl’s education and women’s rights.  Both, Shweta and Kavita were accepted to sail on Semester at Sea, but they still need funding to complete program fees, shipboard expenses, participate in field programs, and travel while in port.  Both of these women were told they would never amount to anything and would never get out of the red-light district, and despite the odds and hardships they have excelled.  Both women have worked intensively to make up for their lost years of education and I want to reward them and help them chase our dreams of studying together.  Please help me, help them be able to participate fully!  I am trying to raise $10,000 by the end of the year.  To date, almost $2,500 has been raised.

As Robin at Kranti wrote me, I write to you…”Thank you so very, very much for your time, energy and support. They say it takes a village to raise a child, but I think it takes the whole world to make Kranti’ s work successful. Thank you so much for taking on this role to help Kavita and Shweta fulfill their dreams!”

Thank you!

Zaneeta Daver

To make a donation to the fund to help them participate, please visit www.gofundme.org/shweta-kavita

You can learn about Semester at Sea at www.smestertsea.org

You can learn about Kranti at www.kranti-india.org

You can watch Shweta’s TEDx presentation at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGYNGyl1dUU

The post From Living in a Mumbai Brothel to Seeing the World appeared on Parsi Khabar.

A funny and hilarious take on the recently launched advertising campaign regarding the Jiyo Parsi scheme.

Cyrus’s take on Jiyo Parsi campaign which did not go down very well with the Parsi community. The Jiyo Parsi campaign was in support of the dwindling number of the Parsi community. So as to not lose out on them, the Jiyo Parsi campaign was directed to young couples to marry early and procreate.

Click here

The post Cyrus Broacha on the Jiyo Parsi Campaign appeared on Parsi Khabar.

In the early 1970s, one of the oil majors – I forget which one – ran an outdoor campaign with a headline that screamed, “Save that drop of oil – or walk to your destination 20 years from now.”

Article By Anant Rangaswami | Firstpost

It’s over 50 years since I saw that message, and no one is walking anywhere and all of us are far from saving oil in any form. Now I’m older and wiser and know that obvious exaggeration is a potent tool in advertising and tend to be cynical on any ad that exaggerates.

So what does one do with this campaign by Jiyo Parsi, whether one is a Parsi or not? Are we close to a Parsi-less world, where our only connection to these wonderful people is history books, statues of their achievers, terrific recipes and street names? Oh, I forgot, well maintained pianos and vintage cars. That’s what the campaign suggests. Unless Parsis learn from the rabbit and procreate like crazy, they’re, well, history.

Do you take the campaign seriously or rejected it as hyperbole?

Before we answer the question, let’s take a look at the campaign itself. It’s completely a pro bono job (very Parsi, considering how philanthropic Parsis are in general), which causes the campaign to involve only those with big hearts. It’s a good campaign, but not a GREAT campaign.

It’s got Parsi genes, with generous doses of self-deprecating humour. It continues the Parsi tradition of being clean, neat and correct, with dollops of puns strewn around. And like all Parsis, it’s got a point of view. A strong one.

It’s a campaign that only Parsis could have got away with creating. The knife digs deep – and it hurts. The lines acknowledges some of the issues that cause late marriages (and subsequent childlessness) that only Parsis can truly know, such as “Will your boyfriend ever be as successful as Ratan Tata? Who are you to judge, Nicole Kidman?” Are Parsi women as quality-conscious as to reject all men below a certain ‘standard’ – and is this one of the (surely many) causes for the decline of the population of the Parsis?

How bad are things? Even to a non-Parsi such as myself, visits to Doongerwadi to attend funerals are more frequent than the happy visits to an agiary to celebrate a Novjote or a marriage. Invitations to Parsi marriages are as rare as the vulture;’s visits to the Tower of Silence. Perhaps there is more truth in the campaign that one thought.

It gets more real when Sam Balsara, chairman and managing director of Madison World, says that, in the absence of the ad campaign, he could have met every single unwed Parsi in Mumbai and passed on the message personally. That’s when it hits you – the exaggeration, if any, is inconsequential. I do hope the campaign works. Like many Indians who count Parsis amongst their friends, I enjoy the sweetness that they added to the Indian milk.

The post Provoking the Parsi to procreate: Why I am rooting for Sam Balsara’s ad campaign appeared on Parsi Khabar.

NDTV ran a segment on Sunday November 23, 2014 in their Hum Log program. A very well presented media segment; that focuses on the issue at hand. They interviewed a few prominent Parsi women and men on this show. They are

• Dr. Zinobia Madon is an esteemed medical professional and has been involved with Jiyo Parsi scheme set up by the Ministry of Minority Affairs, Government of India.
• Perizad Zorabian is the brand ambassador of the scheme. Herself a prominent entrepreneur, actress and parent.
• Astad Deboo the legendary danseuse.

All three speak candidly about issues facing the Parsi community and their vision and suggestions for solving them.

The post NDTV India Special on Jiyo Parsi appeared on Parsi Khabar.

Narges M. Kakalia, a Member of the Litigation Section of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C., has received Human Rights First’s prestigious Pro Bono Star award for excellence in legal advocacy.

Human Rights First is a nonprofit, nonpartisan international human rights organization based in New York, Houston, and Washington, D.C. The organization presents its Pro Bono Star award annually to lawyers who show extraordinary commitment in their pro bono representation of clients in asylum and other immigration cases.

Ms. Kakalia is being recognized for her representation of a gay Jamaican man, who had been the victim of several brutal homophobic attacks in Jamaica, including most recently in 2012-2013, after his deportation from the United States. The client engaged Ms. Kakalia and a team of other Mintz Levin attorneys to represent him in a series of appeals from the denial of his asylum claim, which he initially had handled without the benefit of counsel. Ms. Kakalia and her team advocated successfully for their client at the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, the Board of Immigration Appeals and Immigration Court. Once the case was re-opened by the Immigration Court and scheduled for a hearing on Asylum and Withholding of Removal, Ms. Kakalia then sought significant public benefit parole, an extraordinary and rarely-granted remedy that returns deported individuals to the United States in only a handful of very compelling cases. The client’s parole was approved, and he returned to the safety of the United States in 2013. Ms. Kakalia and her team then successfully advocated for him at the Immigration Court, where he ultimately was granted asylum in August 2013.

“We congratulate Narges on this well-deserved recognition and the tremendous result in this important case,” said Susan M. Finegan, a Member of Mintz Levin’s Litigation Section and Chair of the firm’s Pro Bono Committee. “In this case, and in all of her Pro Bono work, Narges has distinguished herself as a tireless advocate for the underserved and underrepresented in our community. We are thrilled that Human Rights First has selected her for this honor.”

Ms. Kakalia is committed to promoting social justice and human rights on behalf of unrepresented and marginalized individuals. She has won asylum for victims of persecution and torture from Pakistan, Cameroon, Burma, Jamaica and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and has worked on behalf of victims of domestic violence to obtain Orders of Protection. Ms. Kakalia is a member of the firm’s Diversity Committee and Pro Bono Committee. She also manages the pro bono practice of the New York office.

Official Press Release

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As part of Crafts Council of India’s golden jubilee celebrations, efforts are being made to revive the exquisite Parsi Gara embroidery. Apoorva Sripathi meets the people behind the initiative

For a group that hasn’t seen an increase in its population over 80 years (there are roughly 125,000 of them in the world), the influential Parsi community’s hand-embroidered gara saris are a link to their history, culture and, of course, commerce.

When the Parsis started trading opium and cotton with the Chinese some 200 years ago, according to author and curator Pheroza J. Godrej, the men sent home to their wives heavily embroidered saris in Chinese silk. “Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy, as a 17-year-old, discovered embroidered silks from Canton and he introduced the gara sari to Indians,” Pheroza says. While the commonly found motifs are the ‘Chinaman’ and woman, birds, and a lot of flora and fauna — designs that signify fertility and good omen — there have been transformations with motifs such as kaanda-papeta (onions and potatoes) and chakla-chakli (male and female sparrows).

Designer Ashdeen Lilaowala’s collection ‘Ashdeen’ specialises in hand-embroidered saris, cocktail dresses and gowns featuring a unique take on the traditional Parsi Gara embroidery. In the city, along with Pheroza for a conversation on Parsi culture, tradition and craft, Ashdeen, a graduate of the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, says that gara embroidery is an amalgamation of culture and art. “Basically, it’s combining Chinese embroidery with Persian, Indian and British traditions; it is embroidery where birds look like birds and not abstract shapes. We often call it ‘painting with a needle’,” says Ashdeen.

He says earlier saris looked like they were measured in yardages; that there was no concept of a pallu and when women started travelling, the garment and the embroidery became more refined. “The Parsis tie their sari like Gujaratis, except for the corner that’s tucked in at the back, so the women made sure that there was no embroidery there,” he explains. Ashdeen says that a gara sari is too expensive for everyday use and that it was more of a family heirloom. “A contemporary gara sari can set you back by anywhere from Rs. 30,000 to Rs. 2 lakh — it’s precious embroidery.”

Pheroza also mentions that wearing the gara sari for daily use isn’t practical: “It’s Chinese silk and the colour runs easily. And it’s very tough to maintain,” she says and adds that her grandmother did wear it at home but that was a different time altogether. “What we do is we send it to a place where they spread the entire sari on a table that’s 3m long and 45 inches wide and two women take a damp cloth and dab it to remove stains; dry cleaning is a no-no.” Traditionally, gara saris came in dark colours like red, maroon and burgundy so that the white thread embroidery would be visible, but with the changing times, there are white-on-white gara saris and even white-on-black ones as well, though black is considered inauspicious.

For their part, the Crafts Council of India (CCI), that is celebrating 50 years, is bringing to the forefront India’s lesser-known craft traditions. CCI’s Usha Krishna says, “Embroidery is one thing that many people don’t know that the Parsis were good at. And it’s not just embroidery; the art also signifies a tradition for the community. While we cannot bring in all the traditions at once, we’re taking it two at a time, so expect more such workshops.”

Reflecting Usha’s thoughts is the local Parsi community in Chennai present in large numbers at the talk. Wearing exquisitely coloured gara saris, strings of pearls and chandelier earrings, they greet each other as if at a family gathering.

Sixty-one-year-old Bela Khaleeli, who has been living in Chennai for more than 35 years, beams with happiness when she says she owns a gara sari. “It’s been passed down generations; my mother gave it to me but I’ve seen photos of my grandmother and great-grandmother wearing it.” She agrees with Pheroza and Ashdeen about preserving it, “I wrap it in muslin cloth and put either chips of sandalwood, neem leaves or cloves. Our parents and grandparents took better care of these heirlooms. Someday I hope to pass on my sari to my granddaughter.”

An exhibition of Ashdeen’s collection of Parsi Gara embroidery is on till December 3 at Amethyst.

Parsi Weaves and Palate Offerings at Chennai Exhibition

Reviving the age-old tradition and culture has always been the mission of The Crafts Council of India, ever since it was established 50 years ago. As part of a line-up of events to mark its golden jubilee year, the council is bringing to the city the carefully-preserved tradition of Parsis that dates back to the 10th century. Usha Krishna, treasurer, Crafts Council of India, says that the community, which she believes includes 250-odd families in Chennai, are known for their rich artistic skills.

The event will explore Parsi culture through interactions with experts such as author and curator Pheroza Godrej, designer Ashdeen Lilaowala and philanthropist Tehnaz Bahadurji, who practises Zoroastrianism. Ashdeen, who specialises in gara embroidered saris, offers a glimpse of quintessential Parsi embroidery through his collection of textiles which will be showcased in the city between November 25 and December 3.

“The embroidery they use is beautiful, with satin stitches and motifs of flowers and cranes, which is more of a Chinese tradition. Parsis, who were into trade, are known to have been travelling between China and India. That explains the influence of the Chinese designs. Later, the Parsi families who settled in India, took  interest in the embroidery and started making it themselves,” says Usha.

Parsis are known to have come from Iran to Gujarat. Traders by profession, they have always been associated with stocks and market, says Usha. “Even now, if you see in Gujarat, most of them are businessmen,” she says. They also have the practice of putting kolams, like South Indians do — the origin of this practice, however, still seems to be a grey area, she says.

Besides art, when it comes to food, there are a few specific items which would be present in every Parsi menu. Parsi Patrel (Colocassia rolls with a gram flour filling) and Batata Vada (potato fritters), she says. As part of the event, authentic Parsi food will be flown down from Mumbai on November 25. “Parsis like their biscuits with tea and other drinks include mint-flavoured chai with a tinge of lemon grass,” she says.

The event will also have a Phulkari exhibition that will feature rare pieces from Jasleen Dhamija’s collection.

For details,  contact 9840438608.

The post Parsi Weaves and Palate Offerings at Chennai Exhibition appeared on Parsi Khabar.

Al Jazeera English TV had a panel discussion revolving around the Jiyo Parsi scheme and recent ad campaign. The panelists were Shireen Havewala of Zoroastrian Return To Roots, Hoshaang Gotla of XYZ Foundation, Simin Patel of Bombaywalla  and Parsi Khabar’s own Arzan Sam Wadia.

Check out the video recording. If you are in the USA and cannot view the video, try this link

The post India’s Declining Parsi Population: Al Jazeera appeared on Parsi Khabar.

Two Liverpool inventors have brought their boyhood dream to life.

Brothers Kersi and Kayo Kadva’s impatience at waiting for papadums to cook in oil one at a time sparked an idea to quickly satisfy their cravings.

Article by Alison Balding | Daily Telegraph

The Papadum Express was born — a specially designed and crafted microwave tray which can cook up to 10 papadums in a minute.

“We sat down one day and said, ‘there’s got to be an easier way to cook papadums faster’,” Mr Kadva said.

“To think how far we have come since that conversation in 2011 is amazing.”

The Mumbai boys, who have called Liverpool home for more than 10 years, are proud of their product’s western Sydney origins.

“The tray is manufactured in Moorebank, the plastic supplier is in Hoxton Park, the stickers and printing is done at Liverpool and the boxes are from Chullora,” Mr Kadva said.

“It’s the hardworking spots like Liverpool where all the great products are being created.”

The post Papadum Express: Kayo and Kersi Kadva appeared on Parsi Khabar.

At the 10^th World Zoroastrian Congress held in Mumbai in 2013, it was announced that the global population of Zoroastrians was less than 140,000, one-third of whom are aged above 60.

India, home to the largest Parsi population (Zoroastrians who fled to Iran in the seventh century AD after Muslims rose to power) has witnessed a decline from 114,000 Parsis in 1941 to 69,001 in 2001, according to their last fully published census.

Following this trend, the 2013 birth-and-death ratio among Indian Parsis was 735 deaths compared to an abysmal 174 births. While the decline in population has not been documented in Pakistan, evidence of shrinking numbers is indisputable.

The Saddar area in Karachi, which was once dotted with tea shops, bakeries and restaurants run by Zoroastrians, is now a shadow of the legacy many have left behind.

Even Parsi stalwarts, including the likes of Karachi’s first mayor Jamshed Nusserwanji Rustomji Mehta and the widely revered Ardeshir Cowasjee, who were once visible on the societal forefront, participating in politics and making notable contributions to cultural discourse, have gradually faded away.

To prevent the decline of possibly the world’s smallest religious community, in 1999 Unesco initiated the PARZOR (Parsi-Zoroastrian) project in India. This was to create awareness regarding dwindling numbers and to revive interest for the cause within the community, country and globally. The project has since become a catalyst for change with its biggest success being the launch of the Jiyo Parsi scheme in 2013.

An initiative of the Indian government, backed by the PARZOR Foundation and Bombay Parsi Panchayat, the programme primarily targets the community’s married couples, encouraging them to procreate, and provides financial support for fertility treatment, if needed. For families with an annual income of INR1,000,000 and below, the government has assured 100% financial assistance, which is slashed to half for families whose income falls within the bracket of INR1,500,000 to INR2,000,000. In total, a sum of INR100 million will be spent over a period of four years.

With India’s Parsi population expected to drop to 20,000 by 2020, this scheme might be the only road to recovery. Backed by seven-year research conducted by the PARZOR Foundation and the Tata Institute of Social Sciences — which identified late marriages, a growing number of unwed Parsis and low fertility as the primary causes of decline — it launched its tongue-in-cheek print campaign this month.

Although the ads which prod single men and women with messages such as ‘it’s time you broke up with your mother’ and urges couples to ‘be responsible, don’t use a condom tonight’, have been met with mixed response, the scheme has already proven successful with the delivery of a pair of twins and two baby girls. Over the course of six years, it is expected to facilitate an additional 200 births.

While the Indian government has taken a step to pay their debt to the Indian Parsis, the Pakistan government — still struggling to give its minorities their basic rights — has entirely sidelined the Zoroastrian population. The extent of neglect is visible from the exclusion of Zoroastrians from demographic studies conducted by the National Institute of Population Studies in Islamabad. The only time the community suddenly crosses the mind is when it’s time to vote or participate in a dharna.

So far, no attempt has been made to preserve Zoroastrian culture by either engaging in sustainable research and documentation or initiating a scheme like Jiyo Parsi.

While the community has always extended a hand for support and been a shoulder to lean on, be it through opening the doors of Karachi’s Mama Parsi Girls’ High School and Bai Virbaijee Soparivala Parsi High School for all, to donating Jahangir Park and Kothari Parade Clifton and establishing the charitable Eduljee Dinshaw Dispensary, it has now become the victim of a one-way relationship.

Grappling with the threat of imminent extinction, the community has been forced to consider unorthodox solutions. In a desperate attempt to bring about instant change there have even been talks of reversing the non-proselytising rule in Karachi.

Each successive year, the Papeti mela held at Beach Luxury, Karachi, is a stark reminder of the waning community. The Karachi Parsi Institute which hosted annual sports events, including swimming galas, cricket, football and badminton tournaments and a special ‘hungama’ event for Navroze, where teams of four would compete against each other in a series of races, now struggles with a shortage of participants. The community has long moved past the stage of denial and many say that it is now time the government and Zarthostis collaborate to put two and two together and come up with a formula to revive the population in Pakistan.

But this is easier said than done since many in the community are not in favour of such drastic steps. They prefer to stay away from the limelight — even if that means slowly fading away with time.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 29^th, 2014.

The post Pakistani Zoroastrians Must Keep The Fire Ablaze appeared on Parsi Khabar.

Largely ignored by political parties as a vote bank, the Parsi community in Jamshedpur has reserved their votes for a candidate who can bring a Central government scheme, that promises to save their community, to Jharkhand.

Launched by the previous UPA regime in 2013, Jiyo Parsi – a scheme to revive the dwindling Parsi community in the country – the Modi-led government repackaged and launched the programme with a series of ad campaigns.

Residents of the Parsi colony in Jamshedpur’s Subarnarekha Link Road said that though candidates rarely bother to visit them, they are willing to vote for the one who promises to save the dwindling community.

“I don’t want to comment on any party or leader. However, we support the Jiyo Parsi,” said Karshid S Patel, a teacher with Baug-e-Jamshed school. “It is not everyday a government pulls out a scheme for us.”

“I remember that in the 50’s, Jamshedpur had more than 1,000 Parsi families. Now, there are just 150-200 families. Most are elderly couples,” she said, adding that she was not even sure if there were Parsi families left in Patna, Bihar.

For Varun Gazder, owner of Jamshedpur’s only Parsi restaurant, the scheme itself is not enough. The scheme only addresses a miniscule of the community’s problems, he said, adding that the state government should take more steps for the welfare of the community.

The Parsi colony, which is part of the Jamshedpur West constituency, is poised for a direct fight between the Congress and the BJP in the second phase of polls in Jharkhand on December 2.

The post Ignored by state parties, Parsis in Jharkhand look to PM Modi appeared on Parsi Khabar.

Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal, an actress of repute and the power behind the wildly successful Vagina Monologues in India; speaks candidly at a recent event in Mumbai.

For the second guest of the day in this session of Jam with Sam, we have the indomitable Mahabanoo Mody-kotwal.
A prolific actor, director and producer in theater, film and radio, she’s also a microbiologist and a change agent who’s highly passionate about women empowerment.

Mahabanoo was chosen as one of the 50 most powerful women in India and one of 200 most inspirational women in the world. She runs her own production company “poor box productions”, has acted in Bollywood films such as “Black”, graced countless magazine covers and made the highly renowned and extremely popular vagina monologues.

Roots
Coming from a family of doctors, she got a double degree in microbiology and geology from St.Xavier’s college but had no aspirations to be a doctor herself. She went on to work with the man who made crest toothpaste but realized her calling was in theatre.

Vagina Monologues
One day she watched the play vagina monologues abroad after hearing about it from her son, and was blown away by it. She wanted to bring it to India and discussed with Eve Ensler about it, eventually becoming a good friend of hers.

But she did encounter problems with actors and producers, but fortunately never with censorship except by theatres themselves, so decided to invest in the production on her own before she found a terrific set of actors and rest, with over 1000 shows including Hindi version till date, as they say is history.

They’ve been able to give away more than 1 crore through fundraisers through the play, with more men coming to see it these days.
The feud with Alyque Padamsee was touched upon even though she insisted she had no problems, but only felt it was ill timed and badly written. Her cheeky answer to media at that time for the latter’s failure was ” The penis has to flop sometime”

Movie time
Her first movie was set in London, about a boy with brittle bones called ” sixth happiness” where they had got the real life kid to play the protagonist. Her second movie was “Black”.
She loves Rock Hudson and Paul Newman as well as admiring Amitabh Bachchan who stands out amongst everyone else.
Theater
She feels theater has changed a lot with audience being more receptive although she dislikes the experimental stuff of the new age. She loves Marathi plays and told a story about how tendulkar was scared to translate vagina monologues in Marathi due to the fear of a political party.
Quick gun Sam
A new and exciting part of the show had Sam asking the guests their first reactions to specific words with Mahabanoo answering the following.
Money – Lovely
Men – Nice
Bollywood – No comments
India – Hopeless
Mumbai – More hopeless
Politics – Bullshit
Karan Johar – Love him

Personal
Mahabanoo feels social media can be a great instrument for social change and elucidated an incident where a show for 300 underprivileged children and women was sponsored by strangers from social networks.
She spends her time alone, is socially autistic, loves elephants for their human quality and is against hunting for sport. She’s also a big advocate of NOTA and hopes more people will vote for it to bring a change.
She also said that being alone helped bring about a big change in her life views and overcoming her fears.

Women in India
Mahabanoo feels India is the worst state for women, with us being a misogynistic society, and like a famous oriya writer after watching her play said, it will take more than 100 years to change the mindset. She is trying her best to bring awareness on it and told a heart wrenching story about a woman who escaped an abusive relationship after watching the vagina monologues, which made her really proud.
She feels laws and their implementation have been useless and feels it to be insult to compare ourselves to Arab and African nations.

She’s against the rehabilitation of juvenile rapists, feeling that if they’re old enough to rape, they’re old enough to face the gong and supports death penalty of rapists and murderers. She recited the following poem.

A woman stood at the heavenly gates,
Her face was scarred and old.
She stood before the man of fate
for admission to the fold.
“What have you done,” St Peter asked,
“To gain admission here?”
“I’ve lived in India, sir,” she said,
“For many and many a year.”
The pearly gates swung open wide,
St Peter touched the bell.
“Come in and choose your harp,” he
said. “You’ve had your share of hell!”

What’s ahead

She’s working on new play called emotional creatures, a series of life stories about women around the world and another dark tale about the catholic church apart from her work for social causes and women empowerment.

The post Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal: In Conversation appeared on Parsi Khabar.

Cawas Panthaki was trapped in crossfire between warring factions of the trust: Sources

The post Parsi Punchayet senior executive quits in frustration appeared on Parsi Khabar.

Bring up the rare

A forthcoming show of rare collectibles, curated by art historian Dilnavaz Mehta, is a lesson on India’s lesser-known stories

By Reema Gehi | PuneMirror

Art historian Dilnavaz Mehta, who has previously curated seven exhibitions of uncommon collectibles tracing India’s splendid history, is in the process of putting together a new edition of Rare Finds – Hindoostan Revisited that will be on view at Cymroza Art Gallery, Bhulabhai Desai Road, Mumbai, from December 3 to 9. “The idea behind displaying them is to spread awareness and educate the public at large about our history,” says Mehta, as she offers a glimpse into her collection comprising prints, old maps, rare books and advertisements (many of them are of companies, products and stores, which used to or continue to exist in the city).

1. VIEW FROM MALABAR HILL, ON THE ISLAND OF BOMBAY, 1834
The coloured engraving by James Forbes shows the town, and harbour of Bombay, connected with Colaba (or Old Woman’s Island). Beyond the harbour and shipping are the Island of Caranjah, and the high land on the continent. The nearer landscape represents Bombay, consisting chiefly of cocoanut woods and rice fields, interspersed with English villas and plantations. In this image, we can also see two bungalows, one, the Retreat, and the other, Tankaville (on the borders of a tank of fresh water) near Malabar Hill. On the right is the Tower of Silence.

2. MADRAS, 1867
British artist William Simpson’s chromolithograph shows the line of customs and port authority buildings located north of Fort St George on the beach. Before the construction of an artificial harbour in the late 19th century, goods and passengers would land on the beach. They were transported through the high running surf by the native masula boats (non rigid craft made of planks lashed together with coir ropes).

3. FESTIVAL OF GODDESS DURGA AT CALCUTTA, 1858
Russian Prince Alexis Soltykoff’s coloured and tinted lithograph depicts Calcutta’s vibrant Durga puja. The idol of the goddess is in a corner and the activities being enacted by the natives are drawn in detail. The artist has depicted musicians and their instruments, the onlookers, the lamps hanging from the ceiling with the swinging fan dominating the picture and the presence of Europeans.

4. MAPS, 1592 (TOP) AND 1715 (BELOW)
On the top is an unusual map, by cartographer Sebastian Munster. The traditional classical world is surrounded by clouds and twelve wind heads; with their Latin names inscribed on banners. The continents have unexpected shapes and are all connected by a great southern continent, Terra Incognito Secundum Ptolemaeum. The map below by bookseller and printer Renard (a suspected spy for the British monarchy in Amsterdam), on the other hand, represents the world as a single sphere seen on a north polar projection. The sphere is held on the shoulders of the Greek mythology hero, Atlas. California is shown as an island and the continent of Australia is not depicted accurately.

5. TATA’S EAU DE COLONGE
The painting shown in the advertisement (1948) is by the modern painter K H Ara. In fact, the fine print of this promotional feature of the eau-de-cologne, popular amongst the Parsi community, reads, “Oil painting by Ara illustrates the charm which the work of this energetic young Indian painter so often displays.”

6. K D & BROTHERS
This advertisement, published in 1921, suggests that K D & Brothers were the biggest film producing concern in India at that time. The advertisement contains publicity portraits of actresses of yore such as Pearl White, Theda Bara, and Corinne Griffith.

7. DUNLOP RUBBER COMPANY (DUNLOP TYRES)
This 1921 advertisement shows a game of polo on probably the Bombay Gymkhana grounds with Mr Dunlop (in a white beard) leaning against a fine car fitted with Dunlop tyres and driven by an Indian.

The post Dilnavaz Mehta: Bring Up The Rare appeared on Parsi Khabar.

We still don’t know how to make him talk, but if you want to hear Rohinton Mistry sing, give him a lifetime achievement award. The lawns of Bandra’s Mehboob Studios turned into a makeshift Texas for a while on Sunday evening when Mistry , after receiving his award at the Times Litfest, belted out a cowboy song from his childhood to everyone’s surprise.

By Sharmila Ganesan | Times Of India

`Don’t fence me in. Let me run through the wild’, sang the writer, eyes firmly fixed on his podium as the audience applauded his rarely heard yet gifted voice.

In a dapper brown blazer, the Indian-born Canadian author who recently told a TOI reporter that “Bombay is all I have“, let the audience in on a little-known side of his childhood. The side that wanted to be a cowboy , if not “Bombay’s Bob Dylan“. Mistry interspersed his nostalgic speech with songs, each of which got a ready applause. That he chose to belt out Mother India’s `Na Main Bhagwaan Hoon, Na Main Shaitaan Hoon’, at Mehboob Studio, where the film was shot in 1954, was a happy coincidence.

“It is a cliché, but Rohinton will agree that it has been such a long journey for him,“ said festival director Bachi Karkaria, while handing Mistry , author of `Such A Long Journey’, the lifetime achievement award. “Mumbai is a promiscuous muse which has seduced many and angered many authors, but Mistry is different, not just because I am a Parsi,“ said Karkaria. “His relationship with the city is like a love poem, lyrical and searing.“ When Mistry was gifted a pen sponsored by a corporate, Karkaria threatened to keep it, saying he didn’t need another pen. “This one costs Rs 45,000,“ she said, and Mistry fished out his modest pen, requesting a barter in jest.

“A lifetime achievement award is a funny sort of thing, like a death or a funeral,“ said Mistry , opening his speech.“When an author gets one, it reminds me of his or her books. It is also the beginning of the end.“ Like his friends from other professions who had taken to writing when they retired, he now felt free to take up brain surgery or rocket science, he said. While talking about his yearning from Mumbai, the Ontario-based author took the crowd through his youth in Mumbai–the sixties and seventies–with its spinning gramophones and blunted needles, air-conditioned foreign libraries, the Beatles, flowery frocks and Enid Blyton. It was a Beatles LP that he had lent to a friend in Mumbai that made him realize his longing for home. “Remembering brings a benediction,“ concluded Mistry . “A delinquent loan is a blessing realized.“

The post Rohinton Mistry Wins Lifetime Achievement Award at the Times Litfest appeared on Parsi Khabar.

This book is a revised and updated edition of Sam Bahadur’s approved biography, written by his trusted military assistant. Many biographies tend to be anecdotal and chronological, and this one is no exception. The chapters, The Early Years, Move to Delhi…. Prelude to War, The War, and The Aftermath, substantiate the same.

Reviewed by Khushwant S. Gill

Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw: Soldiering with Dignity
by Lt. Gen. Depinder Singh, PVSM, VSM.
Natraj.Pages 271. Rs. 525

As a record of Sam Manekshaw’s interactions with people around him, the book sheds considerable light about his life. He was forthright in his dealings and spent a lot of time visiting junior officers to discuss their issues and problems. The author quotes an incident when he was a Corps Commander and he personally intervened on behalf of an officer to help him get his leave approved. Manekshaw called the officer’s immediate superior and said, ‘Look, I have had a letter from the youngster’s father asking that the boy be sent on a spot of leave as there is some family problem to sort out. I am sure we can spare the bugger for a few days, let him go, we won’t miss him’.

Manekshaw, for all his bluster, was still an officer cut from the ‘traditional, no-nonsense’ mode. On one occasion, while visiting a battalion, he asked the Commanding Officer what action he took against a man who had contracted venereal disease. The disease could have been prevented by being self-discipline, which is quite a big deal in the army. It shows a laxity in command and general carelessness in approach. The Commanding Officer in question announced that strict action would be taken and that his head would be shaved off. Manekshaw boomed in retort, “Shave his head off? Dammit, he didn’t do it with his head.”

Running a contented and happy team was Manekshaw’s specialty. Some officers have this quality but some don’t. But Manekshaw had far more to his credit as we saw later during the 1971 Indo-Pak War. In the past, he has been criticised for not having a firm grasp on strategy that he was known for. Lt Gen. JFR Jacob, the erstwhile Governor of Punjab has written that Manekshaw lacked strategic sense and that instead of setting Dhaka as the main objective, he was overly concerned that China would intervene in the war.

The author refutes these allegations and states that Manekshaw had a shrewd strategic mind. His advice to Indira Gandhi that they would have to wait till winter to launch full-scale operations against East Pakistan showed that he understood the disastrous strategic implications of launching an attack just before the monsoons set in and also when the Army was widely dispersed on election duty in Assam and Bengal. A lot of other reasons convinced Indira Gandhi about Manekshaw’s wise advice, and consequently she suggested him to start operations at a time that he thought was apt.

Manekshaw was one of those generals who had the ability to look into the future. He realised the importance of helicopters in the present-day battlefield and had plans prepared for training a large number of officers on piloting helicopters. He was an avid advocate of a well-educated Army and advocated the affiliation of the Defense Services Educational Institutions with the Jawaharlal Nehru University.

The Field Marshal was obviously a great leader too. And leaders don’t hesitate in taking bold decisions. One famous ‘Manekshawism’ was ‘If you are going to be a bloody fool, be one quickly’.

This biography makes for an interesting read in parts. However, there is only some anecdotal writing one can take, before the need for an underlying storyline or character development arises. Plot and character are central to any writing, fact or fiction, and their paucity results in some heavy reading. Sam Manekshaw was a colourful character and to bring him alive within the covers of a book probably takes a truly supreme effort by any author.

The post Master of the Field: Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw Soldiering with Dignity appeared on Parsi Khabar.

Backed by Tata, the US-based non-profit XPrize Foundation plans to make an announcement on 11 December about its India operations

Mumbai: Axiom Research Labs Pvt. Ltd-owned Team Indus, led and co-founded by Rahul Narayan from Bengaluru, is no stranger to the US-based XPrize Foundation.

The team has already built a land rover for the moon, and is a finalist for the Google Lunar XPrize competition despite being the last to register.

“We were quite surprised that there was no one else who has registered from India. So we decided to take part, with an objective of just putting India on the map,” said Dilip Chhabria, co-founder of the company, over the phone.

Similarly, Chennai-based American Megatrends India Pvt. Ltd-owned Team Danvantri, led by Sridharan Mani, the company’s chief executive and director, has created an affordable device that is small enough to fit in the palm, yet sufficient to diagnose diseases in an entire village.

Team Danvantri, too, is a finalist for the Qualcomm Tricorder XPrize.

Both Chhabria and Mani are awaiting the final results that will be announced by December 2015.

There’s good news for entrepreneurs like them.

The XPrize Foundation—known to award prizes like the $30million Google Lunar XPrize, the $10 million Qualcomm Tricorder XPrize, the $2.25million Nokia Sensing XChallenge and the $2million Wendy Schmidt Ocean Health XPrize—is finally coming to India.

Backed by Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of Tata Sons Ltd, the US-based non-profit XPrize Foundation plans to make an official announcement on 11 December about the foundation’s country operations and launch of India-specific awards.

The efforts of Tata, who has made personal investments in companies such as snapdeal.com, bluestone.com and urbanladder.com, are being supported by Paresh Ghelani, co-founder, chief executive officer, 2020 Company, LLC, and Naveen Jain, founder and chief executive of Inome Inc., a public information services firm.

XPrize Foundation had partnered with the ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE) and the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi to launch a global competition to develop and deploy clean and efficient cooking stoves on 30 August 2010. It had also announced that it would launch India-specific XPrizes in December 2012.

But the plan did not materialise.

“I came on board last year and since January, we have been charting out the plan for the launch in India on 11 December,” said Zenia Tata, programme director, global expansions at XPrize Foundation, over the phone.

The first India prize will be launched by April 2015, said Zenia Tata, and will be designed to address concerns such as availability of and accessibility to clean water.

“XPrize believes that the next big breakthrough innovation will come from India and impact billions across the globe,” she added.

For instance, Axiom Research Labs, which was founded in 2011, focuses on making spacecraft that can “soft-land on the surface of the moon” and also develop a rover that can travel about 500 metres and capture high definition pictures of the moon.

“We think that the competition is just a way of starting the first project for the company. Irrespective of the outcome of the competition we have a number of quality projects, IPRs (intellecutal property rights) to work on which can make a sound business model,” said Narayan.

According to Zenia Tata, the Foundation has been working with Indian experts to evaluate and identify the challenges that the country faces.

“Once we have identified the challenges, we will design the prizes and appeal to Indian philanthropists to fund them,” she said.

Participants across the globe can apply with their ideas but the winners of the prize would have tested their solution in India and then moved it to similar locations.

“India has play on a level field and keep pace with the technology that is creating solutions for the world. It has to create solutions that are tremendous in scale and that can impact thousands of people,” said Ravi Gururaj, chairperson of the product council and member of the executive council of software lobby body Nasscom, over the phone.

Gururaj and a few other industry experts have been invited by Ratan Tata to discuss the execution process for the India chapter in Mumbai. Nasscom runs a 10,000 start-up programme to mentor and support start-ups.

“In India, XPrize will have to localise its functioning process, keeping in mind the culture, entrepreneurial ecosystem and other factors. In terms of execution, things in India may take longer than what they would in other geographical location. Challenges are different here,” he said.

The post Ratan Tata to bring XPrize Foundation to India appeared on Parsi Khabar.