Iranians in India - the Model Minority

[ishaqzaade]

Zoroastrian Worship - Iran - YouTube

Tour Of Iran - Journey to Sacred Zoroastrian Temple - YouTube

thanks buddy for video.

 

[jatt+gutts]

why aint there no parsis in punjab? any reasons. and when did parsis arrived in india. 100s of years ago or 1000s year ago.

 

[livingdead]

Interesting to read about parsis , i my self have studied in a parsi school in karachi , its was one of the best and still is... we had loads of parsi teachers and students .. i many parsis use to live in karachi in that era not sure now if there are still that many !? but my school is standing there tall and shinning .. Parsis have funny names though , our teachers had names like gaon wala . oonwala .. supariwala

bandookwala, daruwala, batleewala....
May be based on the commodity they were trading. lol
Can any parsi tell us the secret behind their surnames? They are clearly not from persia.

 

[IND151]

This is not a political thread about Iranians - Arabs or Shia - Sunni. This is not a political thread about anything. So please do not bring politics here. Thanks Arian for prodding me to start the thread.

in 10th century AD, some Iranians from the province of Khorasan reached the Gujarat coast of India to escape the political turmoil in Iran. They were given refuge by the local King Jadi Rana on certain conditions. These people came to be known as Parsi and they prospered in trade over the millenia. They maintained their own religious and cultural practices at the same time adopting the Indian way of living, including language and dressing. They do not marry outside their community to maintain their identity in a huge country like India. However genetic studies have shown that they have absorbed Indian women in their community in the past.

In the last three centuries, they were joined by Iranians fleeing the rule of Qajars, who came to be known simply as ''Irani''. They form a smaller group who are culturally distinct although of the same ethno-religious background.

Quoted from Wikipedia



Today Parsis in India number only about 60,000 due to falling birth rates and move to western countries. But their small numbers only highlight their achievements. There is a Parsi monument of achievement in every corner of Mumbai - the financial capital of India. They are the most prosperous minority in India and are the pride of this nation.

Parsis have held some very important posts in India and have been instrumental in making todays India.

some important Parsis

Dadabhai Nauroji - founding member of Indian National Congress

Jamshedji Tata - father of Indian Industry. Founder of Tata group which is still Parsi run and the largest industrial group in India and the most reputed and well known with revenue of 83 Billion USD in 2010-11.

Homi Jehangir Bhabha - father of Indias nuclear programme

Sam Manekshaw - Former Indian Army chief and the Second Indian Field Marshal. India's greatest war hero - led the Indian Army in the 1971 Bangladesh war.

Aspy Engineer - Former Chief of the Air Staff, Indian Air Force

Fali Homi Major - Former Chief of the Air Staff, Indian Air Force

Jal Cursetji - Former Chief of the Naval Staff, Indian Navy

Ardeshir and Pirojshah Godrej - co founders of the Godrej group - one of the most prestigeous Industrial families in India (revenue of 3.3 Billion USD in 2011)

Zubin Mehta - musician; Musical Director for Life of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, former director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic and Bavarian State Opera and presently (--2011)the Israel Philharmonic.

Bhikaji Cama - political activist, co-creator of the Indian nationalist flag

S H Kapadia - current Chief Justice of India

Sam Piroj Bharucha - Former Chief Justice of India

Pallonji Mistry - Industrial Tycoon and now (after marrying an Irish passport holder) the Richest man in Ireland with personal wealth of 9.7 Billion USD.

Soli Sorabjee - Former Attorney General of India

Freddie Mercury - (Farroakh Bulsara) - probably the most famous of them all - rock icon and lead singer for Queen

An incomplete list of famous Parsees and Iranis (with some overlap) can be found here

List of Parsis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Irani (India) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Parsi Cuisine

Parsi cuisine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Parsis are very prominent in Law, Audit and Accounting. Medicine and Industry in Mumbai and its impossible to name them all. Suffice it to say they are part of the very fabric that made Mumbai a great city and today's modern India. Given their very small numbers their achievements are stupendous, only accentuated by their charity work and humble nature.

Finally this thread is dedicated to my two best Parsi buddies from Mumbai - P and F.

you didn't add Feroze Jehangir Gandhi

http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rc...lKHqCA&usg=AFQjCNHZuxrO0ZyDbiUqCIQBAybJrY-JbQ


http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rc...lKHqCA&usg=AFQjCNHZuxrO0ZyDbiUqCIQBAybJrY-JbQ

 

[Gandhi G in da house]

Interesting to read about parsis , i my self have studied in a parsi school in karachi , its was one of the best and still is... we had loads of parsi teachers and students .. i many parsis use to live in karachi in that era not sure now if there are still that many !? but my school is standing there tall and shinning .. Parsis have funny names though , our teachers had names like gaon wala . oonwala .. supariwala

Pakistan still has Parsi population of around 3000 to 5000 .

 

[notsuperstitious]

bandookwala, daruwala, batleewala....
May be based on the commodity they were trading. lol
Can any parsi tell us the secret behind their surnames? They are clearly not from persia.

Those are the things they traded in. A lot of Bohari Muslims also have the same practice. Alternatively it can be name of their native place, for example Punawala, or of some religious importance, like Bamji (priest I think).

''Wala'' in Gujarati can be translated to ''kar'' in Marathi - a lot of local marathi last names end in ''kar'' and also represent their trade or native place.

 

[harpoon]

By the looks of it Parsis may be the first community that will disappear due to low birth rates.

 

[curioususer]

We have a small silver container in which dry vermilion (kumkum) powder is kept. And another fish shaped tin silver bowl in which some of it is mixed with water to form a wet paste. Which is all part of the ritual silver salver (ses) which also has a small afardanyu (on which is a silver platter on which the sandlewood sticks - sookhar - are arranged for the atash), a conical silver container (which contains sweet batasas), and a silver rosewater sprinkler.

The ceremonial "teeli" (the vermilion paste) is usually applied with the tip of a finger or a match stick end on to the shoes as well as the forehead, after which raw rice grains are stuck on to it and sprinkled over the head of the person to denote fertility and luck and prosperity as well as to remove nazar. Usually on birthdays, weddings, before exams, some important task, etc. Its called sagan.

thanks for answering my question. they are so much like hindu rituals.

 

[Dance]

We have quite a few of Parsi's in Pakistan too:

Byram D. Avari

owns and operates the Avari Group of companies, of which he is the chairman.

Jamsheed Marker

A veteran Pakistani diplomat. Reportedly, he is listed in the Guinness Book of Records as having been ambassador to more countries than any other person.

Bapsi Sidhwa

Author of Pakistani origin who writes in English.

Isphanyar Bhandara

CEO of Murree Brewery.

Minocher Bhandara

Pakistani businessman and former minority representative and member of the National Assembly of Pakistan

Dorab Patel

was a Pakistan jurist, and lawmaker who served as a former Chief Justice of Supreme Court of Pakistan and former Chief Justice of Sindh High Court.

Deena M. Mistri

educationalist from Pakistan.


Aban Marker Kabraji

Pakistani ecologist, Asian regional director of IUCN

 

[Dance]

Here's more:

Ardeshir Cowasjee

renowned newspaper columnist from Karachi, Sindh in Pakistan

Jamshed Nusserwanjee Mehta

the first elected Mayor of Karachi and remembered as the "Maker of Modern Karachi

Nadya Mistry

Pakistani fashion designer

Tapu Javeri

Photographer


Zoe Viccaji

Singer

Zarnak Sidhwa

Chef and Cooking Expert at Masala TV.

 

[Developereo]

Interesting to read about parsis , i my self have studied in a parsi school in karachi , its was one of the best and still is... we had loads of parsi teachers and students .. i many parsis use to live in karachi in that era not sure now if there are still that many !? but my school is standing there tall and shinning .. Parsis have funny names though , our teachers had names like gaon wala . oonwala .. supariwala

A fellow BVSer, eh?

"Towards that best light"

Deena M. Mistri

She was the Principal of my old high school.

 

[angeldust]

thanks for answering my question. they are so much like hindu rituals.

One of my close Hindu friends said the same when he went the whole hog through a big fat Parsi wedding. As ancient Aryan faiths, I do suppose there will be more than a few uncanny resemblances that have survived to the modern age. The fire being the central theme is one such. The investiture/thread ceremony is another (though in our's its for both genders). I have heard Hindu priests chant, and obviously ours chant too. If you do not concentrate on the exact words and just the rhythm and sound, it is difficult to make out the difference.

 

[angeldust]

Tapu Javeri

Photographer

Not a Parsi. He is Muslim.

 

[Gandhi G in da house]

Such insecurity !

A Parsi narrates how his religion was persecuted by Arabs and how India provided a refuge and there comes the Pakistani with the "Oh us poor Muslims" complaint !





How does it matter to you "Pakistani" even if Indians wish "Iran" reverts when even the Iranians have not objected to it ? Are you a pseudo-Iranian ? Or are you afraid that your nation will be the next domino to fall ?

Please let this thread remain politics free man . We had already decided to ignore them . Also I don't think most Indian care about what religion Iran believes in .

 

[angeldust]

Every Parsi is meant to wear a Sudreh and Kusti. This to most non-parsis looks like e a white vest and holy thread tied around the waist. However there’s great significance in the making and wearing of the two for us Parsis. And the Sudreh and Kusti are first worn by Parsis when their Navjote is performed – that is when they’re formally and ceremonially inducted into the Zoroastrian religion.

THE SUDREH

The word Sudreh mean good path and reminds us not to abandon the good path of life. It is made of white muslin (cotton) as white stands for purity.

The front and the back of the Sudreh remind you of the past and the present and the material word and the spiritual world.

The 9 parts of the Sudreh:

•Side seam
•side seam
•Sleeve seam
•Sleeve seam
•Neck seam
•Girdo
•Gireban
•Straight Tiri
•Triangular Tiri
The seams tell us that even poor people can make a Sudreh by joining cloth together.

The Girdo which is at the back stands for (a) future good deeds (b) prevents evil spirits from attacking us, and (c) reminds us of the burdens of the past.

The Gireban or Kisse-e-kerfeh is the pocket of good deeds and reminds you to offer your good deeds to God. It is only an inch in size to suggest that we should not be too proud because all our good deeds are small compared to the goodness of God.

The Straight Tiri reminds us of evil that is present around us.

The Triangular Tiri reminds us of Good Thoughts, Good Words, and Good Deeds.
THE KUSTI

The Kusti, or the pathfinder leads us in the direction of light and truth and it is a symbol of service to God.

It is made of sheeps wool and made up of 72 tars which stand for the 72 Has or the chapters in the Yasha (the Book of Worship). The Yasna contains the Gathas (songs composed by Zarathushtra) and hence are the most important part of The Avestha.

The Kusti ends in 24 strands or ‘Lar’ which suggest the 24 chapters of the Visparod (The Avestha contains Yasnas, Visperad, Vendidar Yasths and Khordad Avesta).

We wear the Kusti in the middle of our body suggesting that we follow the middle path. The Kusti is knotted 4 times on the Sudreh Kshothenanam meaning that we will follow Ahura Mazda’s path in “action”


Source - » The Sudreh and Kusti – What they symbolise Delhi Parsis