This week marks a historic milestone for Mumbai’s Parsi/Irani Zoroastrian community as the revered Bhikha Behram Well completes 300 years. The historic tricentenary was celebrated with a gala thanksgiving celebration on 21st March, which also marked the most auspicious Jamshedi Navroz. To commemorate this momentous occasion, a series of tributes, including a special commemorative coin, […]
– Adil J. Govadia – East India Company, which began developing Bombay in the 18th century, invited Parsis to the city from Navsari and Surat to mainly work as interpreters. They took to Parsis essentially because of their flair for spoken languages like English, French and Portuguese, often addressing them as ‘Dou-bhashas’, meaning those who know […]
‘Steel Man’ from Surat, the nation’s leading martial artist and strength athlete, Vispy Kharadi made history yet again by setting another Guinness World Record for the ‘Longest Duration Holding Hercules Pillars (Male)’. Displaying unparalleled strength and endurance, Kharadi held the towering Hercules pillars, measuring 123 inches in height with a 20.5-inch diameter and weighing 166.7 […]
We have just celebrated the spring festival of Navruz and commenced Nature’s New Year as per the Fasal or Seasonal Calendar, on 21st March. However, as per the Shahanshahi (Royal) calendar, today (22nd March 2025) is Roj Ava of Mah Ava or the sacred Parab of the water Divinity which according to the Fasal calendar […]
The highly anticipated seventh edition of the All-Zoroastrian Arm Wrestling Competition unfolded with electrifying energy, sportsmanship, and community spirit at the Parsee Gymkhana, on 8th March, 2025. Sponsored by Justice (Retd.) Shahrukh Kathawala, Er. and Mrs H.P. Antia Trust and WZO Trust Funds, the event saw a large number of brawny participants performing to a […]
There has been an increasing appeal from Mumbai’s community members to the Maharashtra Government to formally name the junction near Churchgate station as ‘Bhikha Behram Chowk’, in commemoration of the glorious 300-year anniversary of our sacred Bhikha Behram Well, located near Churchgate. The proposed renaming is seen as a tribute to Bhikaji Behram Pandey’s enduring […]
Cyrus The (Not So) Great! Aapro Cyrus Broacha, the Maharaja of Masti, is back to tickle your funny bone! This time, he’s diving headlong into the most bizarre (yet oddly believable) theory – could Donald Trump secretly be a Bawaji? Fasten your seatbelts for a rollercoaster of laughs, lunacy and legendary Parsi humor, in our exclusive column, […]
– Zaara M. Kapadia – Ours is a community that can debate for hours about the best way to cook one dish. And if there’s one dish worth fighting over, it’s our national dish – Dhansak. Forget democracy, forget world peace… if you’re looking to start a real war, just walk into any Bawa home […]
– Darius J. Irani – The Persian Empire, with its vast history spanning numerous dynasties and centuries, gave rise to some of the most formidable rulers the world has ever known. While legends like Cyrus the Great, Darius I, and Xerxes I dominate history books, countless intriguing details about Persian sovereigns remain hidden in the […]
The Spring Equinox, as observed in the Northern hemisphere, is the time when the sun crosses the celestial equator (an imaginary line in the sky above Earth’s equator). This phenomenon happens every year on March 19, 20, or 21. Usually, Zoroastrians celebrate the first day of spring on 21st March. However, this year this ancient Iranian spring […]
In a heartwarming collaboration between Xtremely Young Zoroastrians (XYZ) and the World Zoroastrian Organization Trust (WZOT), four members of XYZ Seniors (the youth wing of XYZ Foundation, comprising age group 15-25) – Afreen Irani, Vahishta Mehta, Aazdan Bulsara and Mehernaz Marshall – embarked on a mission in Navsari, to reinforce WZOT’s mission of distributing food […]