Dear Readers,

The past six months as Editor has been a fabulous journey. I’m grateful to have grown in knowledge of detailed insights into our religion, culture, traditions, but most importantly, our people. And it is with the intention of celebrating the spirit of our people, that the Parsi Times team decided on ‘Parsipanu’ as the theme of this Bumper Special New Year Issue. We hope you enjoy reading this issue, as much as we have enjoyed compiling it!

So, what really is Parsipanu? Is it the food? The skin color? The culture? The language? The achievements? The quirks? Or the history? We asked a number of Parsis to define ‘Parsipanu’ in one word. Some of the answers included the words: integrity, philanthropy, foodies, honesty, cultured, light-heartedness, fun-loving, quirky, etc. It’s a touching privilege for me to share that the two most frequently uttered answers that best described ‘Parsipanu’, were ‘kindness’ and ‘grace’. Yes, indeed! Our ancestors left behind an inimitable legacy, of these two divine qualities, that sets us apart as a people even today, and it is our solemn duty to further it. Insomuch, Parsipanu lies in the heart, and at heart, we are a happy, celebratory people. Parsipanu is an attitude – it is the way we think and behave. And going by the high esteem in which we are held by our nation and the world over, we’ve definitely got reason to celebrate!

In fact, next week we double our celebrations with our 70th Independence Day falling on the 15th of August. Save a couple of names, not much is known about the freedom fighters and war veterans from within our community, who risked it all so that we could breathe easy in democracy. Check out ‘Tribute To Our Bravehearts’ in this issue, honoring our freedom stalwarts. We also bring you most areas that symbolize true Parsipanu – including food, bikes, cars, religion, philanthropy, Parsi humour, et al.

As we prepare to enter our Navu Varas next week on the 17th, let’s look forward to creating a beautiful New Year for our loved ones and ourselves, based on the wondrous qualities that we spoke of – kindness and grace. And that would make us even better Zarthostis, as kindness and grace are the direct progeny of ‘Good Thoughts, Good Words and Good Deeds’!

A special note of thanks to Rahul Gandhi (MP, Lok Sabha) for reaching out to wish our community through Parsi Times. Also, many thanks to our fabulous Bollywood brigade for sharing warm words and cheerful wishes with our readers.

On behalf of Team Parsi Times, here’s wishing all our readers and community members a hearty Navroze Mubarak! May the new orbit ring in every happiness and success for each of you!

Ushta Te!

– Anahita