18 facts about Farokh Engineer: The Original poster boy of Indian cricket

Farokh Engineer can be described as the actual swashbuckler of Indian cricket who set examples for other future dashers like K Srikkanth, Ganguly and Sehwag to follow. The wicket keeper-batsman was versatile and batted as an opener as well as a lower order pinch hitter during his career. His agility behind the stumps made him India’s first choice keeper in the late sixties and seventies and kept wickets for the famed spin quartet of Bishan Singh Bedi, Erapalli Prasanna, Bhagwat Chandrasekar and Srinivas Venkataraghavan. At the peak of his career, the colorful character was a respected for his mastery as a wicket keeper in the India as well overseas.

1. Born on:

Farokh Engineer was born to Minnie and Maneksha at Bombay Hospital on February 25, 1938, in Bombay (now Mumbai), Maharashtra.

2. Family:

Farokh, which means happiness in Persian, grew up with his parents and had an older brother. His father was a Medical doctor by Profession while his mother was a housewife. He is of Parsi background and studied at the Podar College, Matunga.

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3. Love for cricket:

Farokh’s love for sports came from his father who loved playing Tennis and was a club cricketer himself. His older brother, Darius, was also a good club cricketer and inspired the young Farokh to take up the sport.

4. Unique surname:

‘Engineer’ is an occupation-related surname. In the late nineteenth century, Farokh’s great-grandfather joined the newly built engineering industry. Hence, the last name ‘Engineer’ was adopted by his family.

5. The art of catching:

Farokh grew up studying in the Don Bosco School and was a mischievous kid. On one occasion, his mathematics teacher Mr. Lobo got annoyed at the kid who was talking with his classmate and threw the duster. To everyone’s surprise, Farokh caught the duster and this remains one of most discussed moments of his childhood.

6. Early cricketing career:

His father enrolled him to Dadar Parsi Colony Sporting Club where learnt the nuances of the game from the seniors and later became a regular member of the team.

7. Flying ambitions:

Farokh aspired to be a pilot and had passed his private pilot’s licence at Bombay Flying Club. But his mother did not want Farokh to be a pilot since she was afraid of losing her son. So Farokh, who had already taken giant strides from being a club cricketer to becoming a Test cricketer, began concentrating on his cricket.

8. Initial stardom:

Farokh routine was like every other young cricketer in Mumbai. He would attend college in the morning and then would take a train from Dadar to Churchgate and go to Cricket Club of India. He would often travel in crowded trains and would hang on the door with his kit hanging outside. However, everything changed after the Test selection as people recognised him, making way for him and gave place to sit in the train

9. A prized possession from Dennis Compton:

Farokh and his older brother were avid cricket lovers. Darius took Farokh on his shoulders at the East Stand of the Brabourne Stadium. Farokh saw Dennis Compton fielding there and started calling him. Compton was impressed by the little fellow and gave him a chewing gum to eat which he saved it as his prized possession for many years.

10. Doting Mother’s last words:

Farokh was the closest to his mother, Minnie and accompanied her everywhere. When Minnie was dying, Farokh was playing at Jamnagar. As soon as Farokh came to know about his mother’s deteriorating health, he rushed to Bombay. The Maharaja of Jamnagar had ordered the Indian Airlines flight to wait for him as Farokh rushed to his mother. Seeing his son weeping like a child, she promised Farokh that she will return to him as his first daughter. Those were Minnie’s last words. Farokh was sure that his first child would be a daughter and those words came true as his first child was a girl.

11. International debut:

Farokh made his Test debut during the 1961-62 season against England in Kanpur. He came out to bat at number 9 in a batting line-up which consisted of the likes of ML Jaisimha, Nari Contractor, Vijay Manjrekar and Salim Durani

12. Tames the famed West Indies to cement his place:

Farokh faced intense competition for the place of wicket keeper in the Indian team from another fine wicket keeper Budhi Kunderan. He struggled to cement his place until he struck a belligerent century against West Indies in Chennai in 1967. He batted audaciously against the bowling line-up consisting of Wes Hall, Charlie Griffith, lance Gibbs and Gary Sobers.

13. Contribution India’s historic win:

In 1967-68, Engineer also played a pivotal role in India’s first ever Test series victory away from home in New Zealand. He showed good glovework behind the stumps and also chipped in with useful runs. In fact, he ended that series with more than 300 runs to his name.

14. The famous catch of the famous tour:

The 1971 tour is fondly remembered for India’s first Test series win against England in England. Farokh Engineer, who was the wicket keeper that series, also has his great moment in the series after he grabbed an acrobatic catch to dismiss John Edrich off Bishen Singh Bedi. A quicker one from Bedi hit the rough and jumped off to clip the shoulders of Edrich.

15. ‘The Brylcreem Boy’:

Farokh became a household name successful 1965/66 season after his performances against West Indies and New Zealand. There were a lot of commercials waiting to sign Farokh as their brand ambassador. He was offered a contract by Brylcreem. The sales of the cream went up and Engineer was known as the ‘Brylcreem Boy’. One of the UK tabloids also offered him handsome money to endorse for them. He had to be without his shirt on and carry his daughter Tina on his shoulders.

16. Best in the ‘Rest of the World’:

Farokh Engineer was the wicketkeeper for the “Rest of the World” team that played matches against England in 1970 and against Australia in 1971-72.

17. Lancashire man:

In 1967, Lancashire signed him up as an overseas player. He got used to the life in Manchester. He was provided with a house and a car to commute daily. Later, Engineer became a revered figure in Lancashire which had become his second home. His wife Julie is also a Lancastrian.

18. Honors:

Farokh was announced as the Indian Cricket Cricketer of the Year in 1965 and was awarded the fourth highest civilian award in India, Padma Shri in 1973.

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In the first episode of ‘Storied’, Shradha Sharma, founder of India’s leading Mediatech company YourStory interviews Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons about his life, learnings, and his love for startups

yourstory.com/2016/02/ratan-tata-kstart-6/

There’s no shortcut to building trust: Ratan Tata in a Q&A at Kstart launch

The Kstart launch event last Friday gave young entrepreneurs an opportunity to interact with their role models in person through a Twitter-based contest asking them to submit their questions. Ratan Tata, having just finished an interaction with Kalaari MD Vani Kola before an audience of nearly 500 people, proceeded to patiently answer the questions that the young entrepreneurs had for him – and did so very clearly in the context of startups and the current business environment in the country.

How do you build a highly trusted brand?

“Your brand or what you do to promote the brand should not overpromise and underperform. You should always make the brand stand for something that’s the other way, that it understates what the brand can do. And that’s easier said than done because it takes many years to achieve that,” advised Mr Tata.

One entrepreneur wondered how startups could do that, given they were young companies, with virtually no history. “There’s no shortcut to building trust. That shortcut doesn’t exist. Trust has to be built on actual performance,” Mr Tata emphasised. “And I’d like to say that companies who have built trust over a period of years can lose it just like that. Trust has to be permeated through the organization.”

Is creativity in organizations overrated?

“Creativity is something that one looks for in a company,” he said, adding that a company without creativity could be one that’s too complacent about its market position, about its brand, its capabilities and might one day wake up to find out that someone new has taken its place. “True creativity can never cause chaos. Creativity in its true sense is something I would personally look for in an organization. It means that people are creating new ideas and that there’s somebody who’s listening to them and encouraging them.”

He cited the example of Tata Motors, which had a tradition of having a suggestion box for employees: “Most of the creative suggestions came from the shop floor, from people who were uneducated in relative terms. But they saw a creative solution for something that engineers in the lab had never noticed. There was no chaos, no sense of discord. Creativity can come from anywhere but needs to be heard, needs to be listened to.”

Asked how a large corporation could encourage creativity, Mr Tata said that would come about only by creating an environment of greater informality. “The startup industry today in India is creating that informality for the first time. I think that’s going to create that kind of equality amongst people where the CEO gets addressed by first name.” Google, he said, was a good example of creating a culture that’s fostering creativity even if it is huge, “by virtue of creating departments that talk to each other, no silos, I think that’s the kind of environment we should seek to establish”.

Mr Tata regretted the fact that we did not have an environment of equality and encouragement at our scientific institutions, which in turn stifled and limited innovation.

“Medical breakthroughs is an area where this is particularly apt, because this decade is going to be the breakthrough decade in treatment for cancer. We could have all the other tools, but it needs an environment that will enable it to happen and not have scientists be pulled down and not be allowed to express themselves.”

What were the legend’s biggest failures?

Asked about business failures he had presided over, Mr Tata promptly rattled off several instances: “The Nano was a terrific high, and then for various reasons, one was the pulling out of the plant when it was almost completed and moving it to another part of the country. Then there was the complacency of having 300,000 cars booked with full payment, and feeling that a year later the same excitement would prevail. And personally not staying with the Nano and allowing it to be branded by the salespeople as the cheapest car, which became a negative.”

His learning from these experiences was that if a project has a champion, it was best to let him or her stay with it till it’s fulfilled. “Many organizations hand over a new product or development to the department that will take it forward, but continue to have the involvement of the creator is very important all the way to the end,” he cautioned.

How important is it for startups to live their values?

“It’s very important. It’s even more difficult in large companies to uphold values; in a small company, when you start is the time you insert the DNA; it’s easy. It’s very unfortunate if that company is built on lack of values/ethics,” he stated.

Asked about business practices that were non-negotiable, he reiterated that it was important to uphold these values. “What you honestly believe is what’s fair to the customer/community that you’re serving and the manner in which you go about your business (ethically).”

Answering a question about whether startups should give back to society while they were trying to grow, Mr Tata said he did not believe it was necessary. He pointed out that some companies give back to society in what they do – for instance, a company that makes a low-cost water purifier – but other than that, it wasn’t a mandate for startups to follow.

Asked about what one piece of advice he would give an early-stage entrepreneur, it would be to try and build an enterprise that makes a difference: “Not that you also ran, not that you mixed in the noise but that you made a difference.”

The remark elicited a follow-up question about why, when the country already had Fiat, Ambassador and Maruti, did Tata Motors launch the Indica. “Maruti was a game-changer,” he explained, “but it had had a capacity of 50,000 cars/year. Today, the country produces 4 million cars a year and it has every single manufacturer in the world. So the question is: Is there a demand?”

And of course, no entrepreneur ever lets Ratan Tata leave the room without asking what he looks for in a startup. He responded as he always does: he examines the area the startup works in, ensures it’s not a me-too company. But most importantly, it’s his discussion with the founders, their passion, sincerity and enthusiasm. “It’s difficult to put that into words, but I ask questions and I form an opinion,” he added.

As he graciously posed for pictures with his young admirers, Mr Tata said he was glad that his association with VC firms gave him the scale that he didn’t personally have to invest in new and exciting companies.

(Disclaimer: Kalaari Capital and Ratan Tata are investors in YourStory.)

The post Ratan Tata on early life, learnings and love for startups appeared on Parsi Khabar.

As the Everlasting Flame exhibition gets ready to make its India debut on March 19th in New Delhi, we bring you a critique of the original exhibition in London in 2013.

The Achaemenids At Ankleshwar

by Zareer Masani, outlookindia.com
November 18th 2016 8:13 PM

It means well, but fails to do justice to its subject. A new exhibition at London’s School of Oriental and African Studies is an ambitious but flawed attempt to understand Zoroastrianism, which claims to be the world’s first monotheistic faith and the state religion of the first global superpower, ancient Persia. Both claims are shrou­ded in antiquity, but deeply embedded in the psyche of India’s tiniest and most successful minority, the Parsis.

Sometimes called ‘the Jews of the East’, the Parsis too have a history of a very creative diaspora. Having migrated from Persia to Gujarat during the 8th to 10th centuries AD, one of their founding myths in India was that they were refugees from Muslim persecution after the Arab conquest of Zor­o­astrian Persia. But historical evidence shows that their migrations were motivated as much by trade as by religious dissent.

The London exhibition, with its lack of any narrative structure, sheds little light on such questions. Nor does it define the role of Zoroastrianism in Persia’s mighty Achaemenid Empire, which ruled most of the known world at its peak in the 5th century BC. The first imperial inscriptions honour Ahura Mazda, the Zoroastrian Lord of Light, as the chief deity in a land which also worshipped pagan gods and goddesses, similar to those of their Vedic Hindu contemporaries. One has no sense in this exhibition, with its small and dingy spaces and unreadable labels, of the majestic friezes and colonnades of Persepolis and Susa, with their giant winged bulls symbolising Achaemenid global dominance. The tawdry attempt at creating a walk-in replica of a Bombay fire-­temple lacks the solemnity or tranquility of the real thing.

The existence of the prophet Zoroaster (Zarathustra), unl­ike that of Christ and Mohammed, is undocumented, res­ting solely on oral traditions that date him to prehistoric times. But that doesn’t prevent his followers from depicting him visually as a Christ-like figure with a flowing beard and robes. Such portraits apart, the Parsis are iconoclasts: only the sacred flame, burning at the heart of their temples, symboli­ses the presence of Ahura Mazda. The thrust of the religion is abstract, ethical: good thoughts, good words, good deeds.

Growing up in India in the 1950s as the child of a then very rare Parsi-Hindu love match, I was acutely conscious that the Parsi sense of ethical superiority was closely linked with a myt­hical belief in their racial purity. Despite obvious visual evidence of inter-marriage with Gujaratis, there was a tacit faith in the superiority of the ideal Parsi type: fair-skinned, even blue-eyed, with aquiline noses. My grandmother clos­ely fitted that ideal, and I still remember her scrubbing me in the bath in a vain attempt to lighten my brown, Hindu colouring.

Perhaps it was that sense of ethical and ethnic distinction that first drew the Parsis closer than any other Indian community to the British colonial rulers. Despite their tiny numbers—1,00,000 in a subcontinent of 600 million—the Parsis dominated the upper echelons of the Raj, excelling at everything from industry and banking to science, education and the arts. There were obvious parallels with the success of the Jews in pre-wwii Europe; but Parsis have so far escaped any racist backlash. The credit must go partly to Indian traditions of tolerance and partly to a peculiarly Parsi sense of bonhomie, which made even their racial exclusivity seem more idiosyncratic than offensive. Other Indians, and Parsis themselves, like to joke about the lovable eccentricity, sometimes sheer lunacy, of Parsi families shaped by centuries of inbreeding.

The London exhibition offers little sense of how well the Parsis have assimilated into Indian life. The most telling example might have been Parsi cuisine, with its unique blend of sweet Persian fruit and nut flavours with more fiery Indian spices. But exhibitions have to make do with artefacts; and the most beautiful on display here are the embroidered Gara silks and Tanchoi brocades which the Parsis imported into India as part of their booming 19th century trade with China. It was typical of the pragmatism of Bombay’s Parsi merchant princes that they made their fortunes selling opium to the Chinese, but spent much of those profits endowing the phila­n­thropic and educational trusts for which they are ren­owned, and from which many non-Parsi Indians still benefit.

The post The Achaemenids At Ankleshwar appeared on Parsi Khabar.

The Parsis are descendants of a group of 10th century Zoroastrians from Iran, practitioners of a three-and-a-half thousand year-old faith. Fleeing persecution under their Muslim Arab conquerors, the ancestors of today’s Parsis traveled to India by open boat, according to legend, to seek religious freedom and economic opportunity.

The great Parsi families made their money in trade in the 19th century and they were among the first Indians to embrace Western education, enjoying friendly professional and personal relations with the British and prospering under the colonial government. Their success continued after independence, when the real estate they owned became more valuable than the commodities they’d once traded and produced.

Despite their enormous influence, the Parsi population has been declining steadily since 1955, and today numbers about 60,000 in India. They are concentrated in Mumbai, where a large number of schools, hospitals, streets, and monuments bear their distinctive names.

Photographer Chiara Goia traveled with writer Nell Freudenberger to report on the Parsi community and to document the stories of this declining community.

An area designated for the display of the body during the funeral service, before it is taken to the tower of silence, inside the Doongerwadi complex. Image by Chiara Goia. India, 2014.

Photographs lie on a shelf inside the home of Feroza Vakil, a 103-year old Parsi woman. Image by Chiara Goia. India, 2014.

Continue here to see more photographs by Chiara Goia

The post House of Fire: The Declining Community of Parsi in Mumbai appeared on Parsi Khabar.

When egos dissolve, grandmasters evolve! Here’s a sneak peek into a gathering with the elite of the society and in the grace of Baba Ramdev exclusively. And we are not surprised that our very own India’s best and one of the world’s finest talent of fitness, holistic health, and wellness—Mickey Mehta—was treated extremely special as you see in the pictures. This gathering was a high tea organized by senior BJP spokesperson and leader Shainaa NC, where Baba Ramdev applauded Mickey’s contribution to India and the world in the field of overall well-being. Baba referred to Mickey with pats and side warm hugs a couple of times in lighter moments as you can see. There couldn’t be a better gift for Mickey as he completes 33 years in the industry this year! Also, Baba Ramdev has invited Mickey to his health farm in Haridwar.

Article on thehindubusinessline.com

And let us tell you more on 20^th June, the World Yoga Day, Prime Minister tweeted “congratulations” to Mickey Mehta that virally spread within a few seconds and topped the ranks of twitter trends in Mumbai and Bangalore, exceeding the regular top handles including that of PM Narendra Modi! No wonder social samosa, a premium forum for digital media, rated veteran Mickey Mehta as the no. 1 wellness influencer on Twitter and he is the only most celebrated and respected Asian to be listed on Wikipedia. Proud to be a Parsi!About Mickey Mehta Mickey Mehta, is a leading fitness guru and holistic expert personified for more than 25 years has undertaken extensive research in this space. A philosopher to his clients, a life coach to his friends, an author for his fans and a brand name for the others. Mickey Mehta believes in interwoven philosophies like zen, tao, tantra and ved complemented by blended disciplines of exercises like Calisthenics, functional training, boot camp, agility drills, tai chi, pilates, yoga, swimming. Some clients who swear by his holistic teaching include; Bollywood Actress and Models like Sunny Leone, Priyanka Chopra, Preity Zinta, Bipasha Basu, Lara Dutta, Smriti Irani and many more. Mickey has various activities in Mumbai as well as all over the country. He also plans to expand his wellness centers to countries overseas. Mickey is highly passionate about what he does and is constantly looking to enrich the lives of people around him. His reputation and accomplishment speak for themselves.

Photo Caption: Mickey Mehta and Baba Ramdev, India’s top two most celebrated wellness talents came together

The post Mickey Mehta got Mickeymized: India’s top two most celebrated wellness talents came together! appeared on Parsi Khabar.

Boman Irani Launches Parsi Bol 2

Complied by Sooni Taraporevala and Meher Marfatia

Date : March 15, 2016
Time : 5:30-7:30 pm
Venue : Kitab Khana

About the Event :
Fans of the bestselling, out-of-print Parsi Bol can look forward to fresh phrases in this expanded edition (Parsi Bol 1 and Parsi Bol 2) which has an accompanying audio CD of hilarious phrases spoken by veteran Parsi actors Boman Irani, Dolly and Bomi Dotiwala.

RSVP :to.kitabkhana@gmail.com

The post Parsi Bol 2 Launches on March 15, 2016 in Mumbai appeared on Parsi Khabar.

Saam Bharucha, a Parsi lawyer from Bombay, has been sent to the princely state of Junagadh to be the legal adviser of the nawab there. The year is 1947 and there are talks about British plans to divide India. The nawabs are in distress. Whom do they support? Do they go to Pakistan? Bharucha realises that the princes do not really take a liking to his advice and he takes a backseat and whiles away his time.

Article by Mandwi Singh, indiatoday.intoday.in

Keki N Daruwalla’s second novel, Ancestral Affairs (HarperCollins: Rs 499) alternates between Bharucha’s narration and his son Rohinton’s in the 1950s. Daruwalla must have been 10 when Partition happened, yet his detailing of the period – the movies and cricket matches, the referendums, the communal divide – is impeccable.

Also read: Extract: Jhumpa Lahiri’s latest book In Other Words is a memoir in Italian

Says Daruwalla, “I was in Junagadh. The law member’s son whose name was Ahmed was in my class. So was the Dewan’s son whose name is the same as in the book – Shafeeq. My father was tutoring the prince. That is how I heard the stories. If you want to bring the transition of Junagadh to Pakistan, then you have to be a member of the state council or somebody who knows law. So I got Saam Bharucha and I wanted him to be a Parsi. Apart from this and a few other characters, everything else is fictional.”

Bharucha’s wife Zarine talks about her worry that Rohinton would be bullied by the English boys in school. Daruwalla says his brother, who studied in Lawrence college, “counted 51 fist hiccups” with his classmates in the first year. It is in these tiny anecdotes that Daruwalla brings forth a past long forgotten.

Daruwalla says his memory of Junagadh is very vivid. Even the movies that he mentions in the books are the ones that he watched during his childhood. “The princes had a lot of cars, it was a grand province. During Partition, my brothers were in Lalpur, which is in Shah Faisalabad now. I remember listening to news on a Philips radio anxiously.”

Also read: META awards: 10 best theatre plays nominated to be staged in Delhi from March 5

Later, Rohinton talks about his experience in school, the girls, his friends and his MBBS degree. Daruwalla’s characters are strong and layered, and that is what makes for an interesting read. Even the ones that appear for two pages carry something with them that is difficult to forget.

The affair that Bharucha has with a widowed English lady, Claire, distances him from his son. Daruwalla explains the uneasiness in Rohinton’s life with the same passion as he did Bharucha’s.

He falls in love with a Parsi girl but in an unfortunate turn of events, Rohinton is expelled. “But he later picks up the pieces and ends up marrying the girl he loved,” says Daruwalla. All is well that ends well. Keki N. Daruwalla’s closing is open to interpretations. He lets you decide if everyone lived happily ever after.

The post Ancestral Affairs: A Parsi writer and his take on India’s partition appeared on Parsi Khabar.

Professor Sunil Khilnani explores the life and legacy of the industrialist Jamsetji Tata, one of a series of remarkable individuals who have made India what it is today. Tata played a vitally important role in establishing India’s manufacturing base and went on to create the conditions for the country’s future industrial development. Tata companies now constitute around five per cent of India’s gross domestic product from hotels to power generation and IT. In the days of empire, the British dreamed of ‘making the world England’; Tata helped to make the world more Indian.

Listeners can catch up with the series and see the list of remarkable Indians featured on the Radio 4 website.

Producer: Mark Savage

Readings: Sagar Arya.

Click here to hear the podcast

The post Jamsetji Tata: Swadeshi Capitalist appeared on Parsi Khabar.

Zoroastrians, or Zarathushtis as they are traditionally called, are fighting stereotypes about the community’s decline, opening a new religious and cultural center in Pomona, N.Y. this March, and counting a steady rise in their numbers. The new Dar-e-Mehr building is inspired by ancient Persian and Zoroastrian architecture of the fire temples of India.

Article by Ela Dutt | News India Times

The small community of 500 families of both South Asian and Iranian extraction, raised $5 million over a period of four years from local, national and international sources, to build a home for future generations, a press release from a group of organizations said. The current Zarathushti population in the Greater New York area is estimated at about one thousand and growing as the community becomes more culturally flexible and intermarriage is accepted.

On March 26th, Zarathushtis, from the Tristate area will inaugurate the new Arbab Rustam Guiv Dar-e-Mehr building, a religious and cultural community center, in Pomona, NY. The Zoroastrian Association of Greater New York (ZAGNY), the Iranian Zoroastrian Association (IZA), and the Dar-e-Mehr Zoroastrian Temple (DMZT) will host the event. The inauguration is scheduled to coincide with the week of Navroze, the start of the Persian new year, and March 26th coincides with the birthday of the Prophet Zarathustra.

“This will be the community’s third home in the last 40 years, but the first that will reflect traditional Zoroastrian architecture and character,” Mrinalini ‘Mindy’ Nair, spokesperson for the Dar-e-Mehr Zoroastrian Temple, who is married to a Zarathushti, Sherazad Mehta, told Desi Talk. She also said that contrary to reports about a decline in population, there’s been an increase in membership of the Zoroastrian organizations. “There are multiple reasons for this growth, including more of them coming from India and other parts of the world to the U.S., more kids, and more marriages to non-Parsis,” Nair said.

The first Dar-e-Mehr in the country opened in 1977 in New Rochelle, N.Y. It soon proved too small to meet the community’s needs. It was relocated to an old Jewish synagogue in Pomona, N.Y. after the land and building were purchased. The desire to build a traditional Dar-e-Mehr and infrastructural problems with the old Jewish synagogue, drove leaders like Edul Daver, to rally others and fundraise successfully to achieve that goal. Sixteen individuals pledged $500,000 combined. “In March 2014, they had enough money to pull the trigger and start with the groundbreaking,” Nair said and the construction began.

Considered one of the oldest religions, Zoroastrianism once widely followed in ancient Persia, found a home in India when followers had to flee religious persecution. The Tristate community prides itself o being able to maintain their cohesiveness, and follow the basic tenets of their religion attributed to Prophet Zarathushtra 3,000 years ago.

Zoroastrians have made an outsize contribution to India’s growth in contrast to their numbers, as leaders in business, film, science, education, national security and other fields.

The post Zoroastrians Build New Religious And Cultural Center In New York appeared on Parsi Khabar.

Wanted! Young Parsis to maintain agiyari

Article by Tushar Tere | Times Of India

Vadodara: When the Parsi agiyari in Sayajigunj recently celebrated its 90 years of existence, the entire building was cleaned and lit up by the community members.

While many admired the spic and span agiyari, few knew that the fire temple management is finding it increasingly difficult to maintain and clean the huge building.

The trustees have even begun looking for young Parsi volunteers to clean up and maintain the agiyari every weekend.

“Only Parsi community members are allowed in the agiyari premises. So we cannot hire non-Parsis to maintain and clean the building.

Keeping the premises clean is now a major challenge for us as we don’t have enough young Parsi volunteers,” said Nikitin Contractor, one of the trustees in the agiyari.

Established in 1923, the agiyari was built by Nikitin’s great grandfather Pastonji Contractor at a cost of Rs one lakh and it is spread over nearly 3,000 sq feet. Pastonji’s father Faramji was the main contractor of the erstwhile state of Baroda and he had decided that the agiyari should be managed and financed only by the family members.

“The agiyari has big rooms, tall ceilings, antique furniture, paintings and statues. It is a tiring job to clean up entire premises. We do have a team of 20 volunteers who do the cleaning every weekend but most of them are ageing. The city is home to nearly 250 Parsi families but we are not able to get more youngsters as many of them have left the city for better opportunities,” Nikitin told TOI.

The trustees are now trying to motivate the youngsters to join the as volunteers. “There is a team of Parsi volunteers in Mumbai that cleans up agiyari across the country but we haven’t invited them yet,” Nikitin added.

The post Baroda Agiary Seeks Volunteers to Maintain Premises. appeared on Parsi Khabar.

Volunteering is a way of life for community icon Dilnaz Billimoria

To those in Melbourne’s Parsee community, Dilnaz Billimoria is a well-loved figure.

Her genuine desire to make life a little more liveable for many in need, especially new migrants, has seen her become a role model and icon in the community.

Article by Carl Buhariwala | Indian Link

This Australia Day, she was recognised for her efforts with the 2016 Menzies Community Australia Day Award, presented by Kevin Andrews MP (Federal Member for Menzies), and the 2016 Whitehorse Australia Day Civic Award for Community Achievement, presented by Mayor Philip Daw.

“Being a Parsee migrant myself, and a descendent of ancestors who fled persecution by the Arab invaders in the 7th century, I understand the barriers migrants face and wish to ease their transition into the Great Southern Land with a warm and welcoming environment,” Billimoria told Indian Link. “As a migrant here myself, I understand the difficulties involved in moving to a new country and want to make sure that no matter where you come from, there will always be friends waiting to appreciate your arrival.”

A workplace diversity specialist within the finance industry, Dilnaz is an upstanding citizen and ambassador in the community for multiculturalism. After her day job, you will usually find her running off to a committee meeting, helping set-up an event or working with councillors and organisations on new community events.

Over a decade ago, she started volunteering with the City of Whitehorse on projects like the Human Book Project and Blackburn Lake Sanctuary, and assisting at local op shops. She also became a member of the Manningham Interfaith Network, Women’s Interfaith Network and Centre for Melbourne Multi-faith and Other Network.

These days, she is busy organising faith tours, volunteering at the Migration Settlement Centre and working on projects such as the ‘Matters of Trust’ seminar that helps elderly people stay alert to financial abuse.

Blessed with unbounded energy and a bright personality, Billimoria is always on the go and confident in her stride. But she is always willing to stop for a quick chat, ready with a smile and a warm embrace.

A deeply spiritual person, Dilnaz is a member of a very old monotheistic religion. Founded by Zarathushtra around 3,500 years ago in the city of Yazd, located in ancient Iran (Persia), Zoroastrianism has had a profound influence on the development of eastern and western civilisation. Predating Islam, Christianity and Judaism, Zoroastrians worship the fire (purity) and practice three simple tenets: good words, good thoughts and good deeds. They pray to Ahura Mazda and practice the law of Asha – the divine order of things.

Although her own faith is very important in her life, Billimoria respects all other faiths equally.

“I am sure that all faiths and cultures encourage their followers to assist all mankind,” she remarked.

She wishes to educate the public on diverse faiths and likes all cultures to participate in sharing their skills.

Through the course of her work, Billimoria has come in contact with people of diverse backgrounds. This has led to an engagement with activities that help to promote understanding, increased tolerance and greater acceptance.

She has organised faith tours to different places of worship, seminars on meditation and yoga, lessons on spirituality through music and dance, and workshops for refugees and asylum seekers on their role, rights and responsibilities.

She has served on the committee at Manningham Council to discuss issues surrounding violence against women. She has worked with refugees and members of CALD background understand their rights to access health resources. As well, she regularly participates in International Women’s Day events organised in Whitehorse and Boroondara, to make women aware of opportunities and to continue to work towards gender equality. She recently worked with the Whitehorse Interfaith Network on organising a panel event for the public to witness the stories of an asylum seeker’s journey to Australia.

Dilnaz is also a great leader and team player. She has volunteered, for some years now, as the MC for the Global Fiesta and Harmony Day events in Whitehorse as part of Cultural Diversity Week in March and the Spring Festival in October for the Multicultural Stage.

As a well-spoken role model, Dilnaz embodies a can-do and down-to-earth persona. Her free and giving nature is remarkable and many people respect her because she is positive and productive, bubbly and proactive.

She never misses an opportunity to inspire others towards community work.

“Volunteering takes passion, professionalism and patience – the three Ps, I say. A volunteer has to be committed to the cause and has to be passionate about helping and supporting others. It comes from the heart. Never take ‘no’ for an answer and search for a win-win solution.”

She advises everyone to volunteer in whatever way possible “It will help you become a better person at work and at home.”

The post Dilnaz Billimoria: Happiness is helping others appeared on Parsi Khabar.

On Sunday 28th February 2016 the groundbreaking ceremony of the Shroff Medical Center at the B.D. Petit Parsee General Hospital was performed. The Shroff family of Hong Kong donated US$ 22.5 million towards a state of the art hospital with over 200 beds. The project is slated to be completed in three years and will bring super-speciality capabilities to the Parsee General.

The post Groundbreaking: Shroff Medical Center at Parsee General Hospital appeared on Parsi Khabar.

ROSHANI ~ (Shenazz Nadirshah) is An Advanced Certified Medium for Angel Card Reading & Holistic Healing, Wholeistic Living Spiritual Coach, Mentor, Empowerist & Counselor; Certified from Charles Virtue, son of Doreen Virtue, USA & Archhana Lakhotia, – AND – A Certified Reiki MASTER – Reiki Healing Medium & Practitioner through the Usui System of Natural Healing By Dr. Mikao Usui.

India’s first book on Angel Oracle messages with 365 days of affirmations, along with channelled illustrations is getting a great response, since its release last month. We spoke to the author Roshani Shenaz about her debut book and more. Excerpts from the interview…

Article by Debarati S Sen

Tell us a little about your debut book. What is it about?

ROSHANI: My debut book is called Angels Speak ~ Your Daily Dose of Divine Love. It is said to be one of the firsts from an Indian author – a book of channelled 365 Days Angel Oracle Messages and affirmations, along with channelled illustrations of the 15 Archangels. It is a book for one and all. Whether anyone is a medium, counsellor who wishes to help clients and loved ones through its guidance, or just about any other on the block of life wanting to invite the assistance of this Divine Task Force as I call them. It is a book even for people who have never ever been on any spiritual path or known anything about the Angels. It’s a heartfelt pouring of channelled information that turned into this simple book, filled with the most potent and powerful energies of the very source of light that we all are – God or the Creator, the Higher Consciousness or whatever name we would wish to call the Grand Old Man up there with. The book is about helping each individual to be spiritually independent to transform their life to what they can truly become, by optimising their own inner potential and limitlessness, thus gradually recognising the latent divinity within themselves and in everyone and everything.

What made you choose this topic for writing your book?

ROSHANI: The work on the book started way back in 2011, when I was guided to channel daily messages and affirmations and put them out on my social networking healing page and other social media. Just before completion of the first year itself, I was given this beautiful message that “in its divine timing these messages and affirmations shall be made into a book, a mobile app, an oracle deck of cards, video messages, computer download software and many other platforms across the spectrum of human reach. It shall be made to become a daily application tool for helping humanity to be ushered into the new phase of their soul’s journey.” I was clearly told that I should speak of it only when guided and whom I am guided to speak to.

In January 2012 my first ever article ‘Heartspeak’ was about to appear in a prestigious life positive magazine. During that time, I received guidance that the magazine should be spoken to for publishing of that guided book, and to speak with the editor. On 9th Dec 2011, I sent a mail, asking her if they would make a book on this concept of 365 Days of Messages and Affirmations.

After the mail, she was kind enough to meet me but tenderly informed me that they do very few books and the decision making team is totally different. I rested my case and knew God would the needful when the time is right. I had gone through the whole process of reaching a conviction, that only that which is meant for everyone’s highest good, in its divine timing is what shall ultimately happen.

When did you first come into contact with the divine?

ROSHANI: I would say partial consciousness of the divine connects was always there all my life. I always felt connected to the divine force or the power of God. I experienced intuitions and dreams too but in the fast paced life as a media and films professional I was always thought to be just a blessed feeling of God’s love and faith being translated into events. As a child even though being born a Zoroastrian, I grew up with a very close bond and affiliation with Lord Ganesha. My first brush with the Lord Ganesha was way early in life when I was a 10-months toddler. The major turn-around points of this divine force was experienced at three to four key events in my life, the major being during my brush with death during my prolonged illness in 2005, and the last being in 2009 when the entire Mary Poppins bag seemed to have opened up, spilling divine guidance and messages left, right and centre.

Tell us about Meher Baba – since when and how do you know Him and have been following Him?

ROSHANI: As I truly know, believe and live by this fact that; I do not follow Meher Baba. I love Him, I love God. And each day I try to seek His help and grace to love Him more and more and to see, feel and experience His Glory in everyone and everything. Yes I mean everyone and everything which includes the seeming bad as we term it in our earthly ways. We all know Him since lifetimes, but in this life and incarnation I consciously know of Him since 2010. The important thing being, we do not go to Him, or know of Him, rather it is He who brings us to Himself, and brings His Name to our tangible senses of experiencing life.

What is your message to your readers?

ROSHANI: My message to all my lovely human siblings is that we break free from any and all dogmatic thoughts and beliefs that bind us or that which separate us from our true self. To move away from thoughts of a punishing God. To be God loving rather than God fearing. To respond rather than react to life and its situations or people. I wish to be that ‘fellow journeyor’ helping them to tap into the reservoir of their unlimited self, break free from all illusions and shine their light upon the world each day, in any small or big way they are ordained and at a soul level chose to do so. To know that even if we know of it or not, whether it is small or large, we all have a purpose to serve. Just the very intent with conscious awareness that ‘I wish to serve my purpose’, shall start opening doorways to its manifestation.

Is there another book in the pipeline?

ROSHANI: Yes the second book is in the pipeline and has been embraced by the same publishers.

The post India’s first daily Angel Oracle messages book gains popularity appeared on Parsi Khabar.

The 2016 Zoroastrian Return To Roots Trip started today in Mumbai. 15 Fellows from six countries will spend the next 13 days experiencing Parsi Zoroastrian India. Participants from USA, Canada, UK, Australia, Pakistan, Iran and India will spend the first three days in Mumbai. Highlights include visits to the Atashbehrams, an open deck bus tour, visits to the Esplanade House, Doongerwadi, Parsi General Hospital and the true highlight….a one hour meeting with Ratan N. Tata.

From Mumbai they will make their way to Nargol, Sanjan, Udvada, Navsari and Surat. Highlights include visiting the archeological digs of the oldest known Dakhma in the Indian Sub-continent, dating back to the 1400’s; Varoli River bank, meeting the Vada Dasturji of Udvada, a Machi at the Iranshah, visits to Meherjirana Library, Kusti Weaving Demonstrations in Navsari, and visits to the Surat Parsi Orphanages and the Dotiwala Bakery.

From there the group heads to New Delhi to be special invitees of the Ministry of Minority Affairs of India, for the opening of the Everlasting Flame Exhibition and two other mega exhibitions about Zoroastrians. Navroze celebrations will be with the Delhi Parsi Anjuman on the lawns of the National Gallery with an Astad Deboo dance performance.

To follow the trip realtime check out the facebook page.

I have been very fortunate to have been associated with the Return To Roots program since inception. On this my third trip with a new group of Zarathushti youth from around the world, there is a deep sense of knowing that what started as an idea in 2012 has over the years become a fascinating program. Alumni from previous trips have returned to help organize and participate in this one, and the true essence of what the program wants to do is alive and kicking. To empower the Zarathushti youth of tomorrow with the knowledge and experiences of their rich and varied religion and culture is what the Return To Roots set out to do, and in the third trip it is bearing fruition.

If you know youth between the ages of 22 and 35, ask them to join us the next time. We promise a life-transformative experience.

The post Zoroastrian Return To Roots 2016 Kicks Off appeared on Parsi Khabar.

On Saturday March 12, over 150 die hard petrolheads gathered at the Mercedes Benz showroom at Shaman Auto in Kalina. The occassion was the launch of the fantastic tome Winning ! Mercedes Benz.

It goes without saying that Adil Jal Darukhanawala the author behind this collector’s item is truly the father of Automotive Journalism in India. And that many in the crowd were there just to honour him and his work, even if they drove other brands !

Adil regaled the crowd with interesting stories including the one about how he accidentally got into automotive journalism while being a bystander on the Bombay Poona Highway watching the London-Singapore Rally pass through Poona in August 1977.

The beautiful book with over 197,000 words and hundreds of rare archival photographs from the Mercedes Benz archives find their way into the book.

Adil who is first a motorcycle man, but a close second as an automobile man said that the secret of his passion and success as a journalist is that he has never looked at it as work. That is clearly evident to anyone who has read his work over the decades or been fortunate to know him.

Thank you Adil. We look forward to the next volume in the series !

The post Winning: Adil Jal Darukhanawala and Mercedes Benz in India appeared on Parsi Khabar.

The 21^st century’s Indian government major concern is to rejuvenate the India’s manufacturing base and the job it creates. To achieve this objective the present government has initiated the ‘Make In India’ program. A special focus has been given to this in the recent 2016-17 budget  by our finance minister Arun Jaitley. The 19^th century mill owner and industrialist Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata would have shared the same concern.

Article by By Gauri Kumari

India’s first industrial manufacturing boom in the latter half of the 19^th century gave birth to the father of Indian industry Jamsetji Nassurwanji Tata– The Founder of the Tata Group. Jamsetji’s vision now stands in front of us in the form of ‘The Tata Group of Companies’, India’s one the largest conglomerate contributing approximately 5% to India’s GDP alone.

EARLY LIFE

Born as Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata to Nusserwanji and Jeevan Bai Tata on 3^rd march 1839 in Navsari , a town in south Gujarat  in a family of Parsi Zoroastrian priests. His father Nusserwanji  was first to try his hand in business. Nussrewanji moved to Mumbai then known as Bombay and began his career by setting up an export trading firm. Jamsetji  took admission at the Elphinestone College in Bombay at the age of 14. Being an exceptional student during college years , the principal decided to refund his fees once he completed the degree. He graduated from there as a green scholar in 1858 which is nowadays equivalent to  a graduate degree. Since, child marriage was prominent in those days the future business tycoon got married at the tender age of 16 to the 10 year old Hirabai Daboo.

INITIAL STAGES OF HIS CAREER

He began as an opium trader. Soon after graduating from college, he joined his father’s trading firm. Unlike cast Hindus Parsis didn’t see traveling abroad a sin and this gave them considerable advantages. Jamsetji was put to work in China and his immediate task was to get opium and cogon to Hong Kong and Shanghai and to send back tea, camphor and gold. He stayed in Hong Kong for four years to accomplish his fathers dream of setting up a ‘Tata & company office’ there. Soon after achieving this milestone he moved to London, Europe to manage the cotton export business. There he received a crash course in world economics. To expand his father’s export business was not the sole motive behind his stay in London, he was also there to set up an Indian Bank. However, this venture of Tatas proved to be a total failure with the financial crisis hitting the Indian markets and the time being not favorable for the banking sector. A large sum of loss was faced by the Tata companies in India and all over Asia due to this collapse.

LATER PHASE OF JAMSETIJI’S CAREER

Jamsetji worked under his father’s shadow until the age of 29. In 1868 with the confidence , knowledge and experience that he gathered  by working under his father for 9 years he started off with his own trading company with a capital of worth Rs 21,000. Howsoever, Tata was left with many worthless bills of credit due to which he had to liquidate his company.  Jamsetji made his move into textile industry by buying a bankrupt oil mill in ‘Chinchpokli’ in 1869 converting it to a cotton mill and later renaming it as ‘Alexandra Mill’. However, he sold it two years later for profit to a local merchant. He established another cotton mill in 1874 in Nagpur naming it ‘Empress Mill’ which brought huge profits to him. He opened several other mills, three years later. To better his mills he made frequent trips to England to learn fine spinning technology. He also traveled to Egypt to master cultivation and grow higher quality cotton. These cotton mills brought him huge revenues, but were later sold by him for huge sum of money .

JAMSETJI’S VISION, INTERESTS AND LIFE

Jamsetji was a fan of the great exhibitions of the 19^th century and was very obsessed with innovation and technology. His home had electric piano, a cinematograph and other most advanced technological toys of the 19^th century. Moreover, his horse carriage was the first in India to have rubber tires. It was Jamsetji who introduced cold storage to Bombay, which can be seen in the form of cold storage room in Taj hotel’s old building. He actually tried it to ship business mangoes to Britain in cold storage.

His contemporaries relied on cheap labor and family to run business. Unlike them Jamsetji realized that modern industries needed professional managers and a satisfied and willing workforce. He was the first of his kind who tried to initialize the idea of human capital to work with technology. The first millionaire of India to introduce pension funds for his employees. He as well introduced other policies as well, which were never heard during those times, namely medical facilities for sick and women with children, accident compensations and on job trainings. This was not sentimental generosity he showed but the benefits provided by his company gave a reason to the skilled workers to stay.

His vision was to establish

• A steel and iron plant
• A learning institution
• A world class hotel
• A hydroelectric plant

To achieve these visions of his little could stop him. He traveled to America and got in touch with the American engineers to build his steel plant amidst the Indian jungle. He traveled to America and Europe to educate himself on the production of steel out of iron. Moreover, in order to realize his dream he wanted to grasp each and every piece of information about the technological advancement that had taken place all over the world over the years and use it for his benefit.

Unfortunately, he could realize only one of his dream till the time he was alive i.e. the establishment of world class hotel “The Taj Hotel”- the first to have electricity and a lift. The other three visions of his were turned to reality by his successors but he was not alive to see them , the foundations  of which were laid by him.

In his final years, in a series of letters he wrote to his son Dorab, he expressed his idea of building a township around his iron and steel plant. He wrote “be sure to lay wide streets planted with shady trees, every other of a quick growing variety. Be sure that there is plenty of space for lawns and gardens. Reserve large areas for football, hockey and parks. Earmark areas for Hindu Temples, Mohammedan Mosques and Christian Churches”. This vision of township would eventually become Jamshedpur.

JAMSETJI’S DEMISE

Jamsetji Tata passed away on 19 may 1904. After his death the Tata group was succeeded by his two sons Dorabjee Tata and Ratanji Tata.

On his demise, Dr Zakir Hussain ,the Former President of India said “while many others worked on loosening the chains of slavery and hastening the march towards the dawn of freedom, Tata dreamed of and worked for life as it was to be fashioned after liberation. Most of the others worked for freedom from a bad life of servitude; Tata worked for freedom for fashioning a better life for economic independence.”

His dreams were realized to reality. Tata’s iron and steel plant was set up in Sakchi village, Jharkhand. The village grew into a town and now a metropolis known as Jamshedpur. Moreover the Railway Station there was named Tatanagar. It is Asia’s first and India’s largest and world’s fifth largest steel company. The Tata power company is India’s largest private electricity generating company.

“Make the world England” was a popular slogan at the height of the British empire, but today the Tata’s have made the world more Indian.

The post Jamsetji Tata: Glancing at the journey of the pioneer of Indian Industry appeared on Parsi Khabar.

The post Parsi Bol 2: Book decoding Parsi-Gujarati lingo gets second edition appeared on Parsi Khabar.

It was all laughs and some pretend gaffes at the launch of Parsi Bol-2, an anthology of unique Gujarati-Persian-Urdu mix of phrases and words used by the Zoroastrian community in India.
Actor Boman Irani had the audience in splits at the launch of Parsi Bol 2, a compilation of Parsi-Gujarati-Urdu phrases. The book has been compiled by Sooni Taraporevala and Meher Marfatia (flanking Irani), and was released last evening at Kitab Khana.

Pic/Shadab Khan
The book has been compiled by Sooni Taraporevala and Meher Marfatia (flanking Irani), and was released last evening at Kitab Khana.
Its writers, Sooni Taraporevala and Meher Marfatia were welcoming guests into the Fort bookstore, Kitab Khana last evening. There was a buzz when chief guest and actor Boman Irani arrived in a sharp black suit.
“Yeah, there are some non-Parsis in the cheap seats,” he said jocularly and there was a titter all around. Irani opened to the chapter, Sarcasm and Insults, saying his wife, Zenobia, practices these on him. He then chose the choicest of phrases, some risque, asking the non-Parsis if they knew their meaning. When they stumbled, he said, “That is why it’s important to have such a book.” He ended on a serious note, though, “It is important to keep this lingo alive and it will be very sad if we allow it to die.”
After that, it was vintage Boman, as he added as postscript, “There’s a suggestion for another book on Parsi gaalis…that one will be so thick and expensive.” To that, Taraporevala quipped, “My dad, Rusi, will write that because nobody dare arrest an 85-year-old man!”
Parsi visitors were still trickling in as we walked out, the store a-cackle with talk about ‘Mehr na dikra ne Jamshed ni dikri nu chakkar,’ Dina Hotel Mahableshwar’s spiraling tariff and good ol’ baug gossip.

The post Say it like the bawas appeared on Parsi Khabar.

The post Return To Roots: Garas ‘n’ bhonu, Mumbai ish-tyle appeared on Parsi Khabar.

Adil jal Darukhanawala the father of automotive journalism in India is also an avid car driver and motorcycle rider. He writes in to tell us about a new record he and his team have set.

Adil writes

In August 2003 I headed the 4-member team that set the first Indian national time, speed & distance records by driving a Maruti Alto 800 nonstop over 24 hours to 3082.50km.

At 9:15 a.m. On March 15, 2016 I beat this officially ratified record driving a Tata Bolt that covered 3161.5km over 24 hours.

My team hasn’t stopped though & we also had a Tata Zest & two Tata Tiagos which also broke the 24 hour record.
However we haven’t stopped since the record was broken & we have been driving flat out at the VRDE in Ahmednagar and now in another half an hour’s time, I will be back in the Tata Bolt to take it past the 10,000km mark – to be achieved in 3 days & 4 hours of nonstop flat out motoring.

No Indian car has ever been taken to this distance and within the next hour all the remaining three cars would also go past the magic 10,000km mark.

UPDATE: Our man Adil Jal Darukhanawala did it! First recorded Indian to do 10,000 km non stop #GearedForGreat

The post Geared For Great: 10,000 Kms Non Stop in an Automobile appeared on Parsi Khabar.