Monthly Archives: June 2013

Wear it Parsi style: Lady Gara

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Parsi girls become women the day they wear a sari. The sari perawanu or sari-wearing ceremony is a rite of passage. At the centre of the celebration are five married women who help the girl wear a gara or sari for the first time. They tie a small knot of rice, a symbol of fertility, into the corner of the pallu before sprinkling it with rose water. If tradition is identity, then what you wear is one of its clearest markers.

“The most distinctive item of Parsi women’s clothing from the third quarter of the nineteenth century was undoubtedly the gara,” write Shilpa Shah and Tulsi Vatsal in the introductory chapter of the book Peonies & Pagodas: Embroidered Parsi Textiles from the Tapi Collection(2010). The book traces the origins of the gara — imported from China into India by Parsis between 1830 and 1865 — and its reinvention in modern times. The history comes to life with oral accounts of how different Parsi families came to acquire garas. So for example, novelist Bapsi Sidhwa inherited three garas from her mother which she passed on to two of her daughters. “One of them is most unusual — it has coloured birds and flowers all over the purple sari and looks stunning,” she told the authors.

 Click Here for the full story, with some exotic pictures

F rohar F ilms

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Sending you  HHH WRITEUP ANNOUNCEMENT.

Thanks.
Dr.Arnavaz M. Havewala
Project Co-ordinator
Frohar Films.
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Your Popular Tele-Serial

HUMATA   HUKHTA   HVARSHTA –

SUVICHAR    SUVACHAN   SUKARMA

Now on Zee Jagran  –

Every 2nd & 4th Sundays of the Month at 11.30 am.

F R O H A R   F I L M S’

HUMATA   HUKHTA   HVARSHTA  –

SUVICHAR   SUVACHAN  SUKARMA

 

Please Note the Change of Channel & Timings    – on ZEE JAGRAN

Frohar Films presents – the only  Tele –  Serial on Zoroastrian Religion & Culture – Humata Hukhta Hvarshta – Sunday 23rd June, 2013  on  Zee Jagran – Zee TV Network, at 11.30 a.m. –

 

Watch “FRAVARANE by Dr. Mrs. Pillo Jungalwala” of New Delhi.

“This episode based on a book “FRAVARANE” by Mrs. Pilloo Jungalwala which explores the basic routes of the Zoroastrian Religion in an interesting dialogue  between 2 children. …….

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This Tele-Serial of Frohar Films is Designed and Directed by

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Navjote – an important Talismanic Ritual

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Navjote is a very important Talismanic Ritual – Jehangirji Sohrabji Chiniwala
<< Second Tarikat is the performance of the Navjot ceremony in the morning only and not in the evening. The child born is a Mazdyasni and then by the Navjot ceremony it becomes a Zorastrian i.e. the child is enrolled as a soldier of Ahûrmazd with a vow to fight against Ghanâmîn in the interest of himself, his parents, relations, nation and the whole world.

The roll is kept in what is known as ‘Pavmahel’. Vidaevo-dat, the special weapon to check Ganamin from the Pavmahel citadel which is consecrated and talesmanic, wherein is situated the throne of Ahûrmazd, is the special feature of the Zarthosti Daen. Every Zorastrian is a soldier who fights evil from the garrison of this Pavmahel wherein he is enlisted as a soldier by the Navjot ceremony.

The authorized athravan priest in charge of the roll of enlistment enlists the child in the roll by the Navjot ceremony. The authorized athravan priest is himself an instrument out of the 33 instruments of Pavmahel to be used against Ganamin. The priest by virtue of undergoing the priest-making ceremonies of Navar and Maratab has attained his position as an athravan becoming a weapon against Ganamin. He is thus affiliated to the Pavmahel talismanic powers and authorized to keep the register of enlistment to enlist the child in the roll of Pavmahel to be a soldier of Ahûrmazd. Thus he is the proper person to perform Navjot ceremony of a child.

In order to preserve the power of being an instrument of Pavmahel against Ganamin the athravan has to keep his attachment intact with the talisman ofPavmahel. This is done by:

(1) the Barashnum  bath of nine days to be bathed once every six months and by

(2) performing Yazashane ceremony for the awakening of his Ruvan called Khup-e Ruvan every four days. Such an athornan is all attached to the talisman of Pavmahel and hence attached to the throne of Ahûrmazd, being thus a weapon himself against Ganamin.

By the Navjot ceremony, he, the athravan through his priestly powers and attachment with Pav-mahel connects the breath and Khoreh (electro magnetic wave round about the child) of the child with the talismanic powers of Pav-mahel, thus making the child affiliated with the Pavmahel and Vidaeo Dat instrument.

In the Navjot ceremony the child is dressed with Sudreh and Kusti both considered to be the instrument against Satan in virtue of their make and cut, denoting so say the signature of Ahûrmazd. It should be remembered that Pavmahel is not only the talismanic garrison but also the mansion of Ahûrmazd containing His throne where a divine court is held. This mansion of the divine court remains open only in the morning which is one of the reasons why the ceremony is to be performed in the morning.

The above-said authorized athravan through his authority of Barashnum and Khup presents the child before the throne of Ahûrmazd where the child takes the oath of allegiance to Hormazd by putting on Sudra and winding the Kusti round its waist reciting the prayer of homage named Hormaz Khodai. After he has worn the sudra sworn the oath of homage allegiance by wearing the Kusti on waist reciting Hormaz Khodai he is proclaimed as a soldier of Ahûrmazd and an adversary of Ganamin. For this proclamation the child is made to recite afterwards the prayer of Kemna Mazdâ which is a prayer indicating a challenge to Ganamin.

Thus it is that a child puts on Sudra Kusti by Navjot ceremony performed in the morning when the court of Ahûrmazd is open by an authorized athravan the master possessor of Barashnum and Khup. >>[1]

<< In order to explain what I mean I shall have to say a few words regarding the Navjote Ceremony which is the ceremony of initiation into the Holy Zorastrian faith. A Parsee is born with the faith of Zorastrian Religion and that faith is reasserted and ignited by the Ritual of Navjote.

Some of our Iranian Scholars are under the false impression that the Navjote Ceremony is only for the declaration of Zorastrian faith but it is not merely a declaration of faith. Navjote is a very important Talismanic ritual.

The Navjote Ceremony also consists of two parts. The first part is the purificatory ceremony of Nahan, and the second part is a very holy ritual, to connect the Ushtaan i.e. the life-breath of the initiate with the Pav Mahal i.e. an unseen living institution of Zorastrian Religion, for receiving the special blessings of Ahura Mazda, which descends in the form of a Zarthoshti Aura, on account of the association of the Pav Mahal.

This ceremony is performed by priests possessing “Bareshnoom” and “Khupe Ravan” i.e.spiritual power. The ceremony is called “Nav + Jote“ because the initiate becomes the “new associate” of the Pav Mahal”.

A Parsee Zorastrian priest possessing the power of “Bareshnoom”, is himself endowed with particular kinds of Ahuramazda, which descend on him in the shape of a Khoreh i.e. Aura known as “Akhretar Khoreh“.

This is again a very extensive subject and the literature of occultism relating thereto, is not extant. However, in the Jamyad Yasht, there are different kinds of Khorehs spoken of “Kavem Khareno” or “Kaiyan Khoreh”, ”Arepat Khoreh”, ”Akharetar Khoreh”. It is the import of Karda VIII-53 of “Jamyad Yasht” that the priest of the Zorastrian Religion possesses “Akharetar Khoreh” and other Zorastrians can get the benefit of that Aura from him. The priest by performing the Navjote ceremony blesses a Navjoteia i.e. the initiate with holy Manthra, so that the benefit of the “Akharetar Aura” of the priest, is acquired by the initiate and such Aura can only continue to be possessed by the initiate, so long as he or she retains implicit faith in all the commands of Zarthushtra. >> [2]

 

 

Reference:
[1] A Sequel To Essentials of Zoroastrianism (1951) Late Dr. Framroze Sorabji Chiniwala B.A., L.M.&S.page 5&6. Bold fonts and italics are not there in the original book.This book is online at Frashogard Blog. http://www.frashogard.com/


[2] Article written by Jehangirji Sohrabji Chiniwala. Bold fonts, italics added. This article is online. URL given below

http://tenets.zoroastrianism.com/diniawaz33a.pdf

 

Courtesy : K F Keravala

Parsi colonies, on which the sun never sets!

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After the British colonies, still left are the Parsi colonies, on which the sun never sets!

Because at 2 am old ladies are chasing stray dogs with sticks….

At 3 am somebody’s TV is loud enough to keep the watchman awake….

At 4 am the grannys wake up to pee….

At 5 am the duudhwala comes from ‘Parsi dairy farm’….

At 6 am somebody takes 46 kicks to start the old Lamberetta scooter….

At 7 am the 3rd floor neighbour goes “piche ka side ko barabar se dhona, mein roj dekhta hu, tum aisa hi dutty kapda mar ke nikal jata hai” ….to the ‘gari dhowa walo’…..

At 8 am you hear a frantic mother shouting “Mehernosh, tu bhonu no dabbo bhuligayo” running in a nighty, down the ‘main street’ of the “Bagh”….

At 9 am someone starts playing “chaiye ahme zartosti “so loud that you are forced to agree that no one else would… cause such torture….

At 10 am the ladies are clapping from balconies to call the ‘taja paplet kolmi walo’, n all such vendors….

At 11 am the jobless, wifeless, TV less and hopeless ahdas come down with a war cry of MC, BC gaars, to play cricket or volleyball…..

At 12 PM someone breaks a glass and then starts a fight…..

At 1 PM the fight is still on….

At 2 PM the fight ends when the aromas from people’s kitchens reminds them that stomach is mightier than the sword…..

At 3 PM the school kids are returning in a shrill argument over what happened in class, and by the stories, you wonder if they even go to same school….

At 4 PM the old man’s club comes down for a walk and asks the silly obvious questions like “bajar laine aavi” , “bank thi aavi”, “college thi aavi” to all aged women returning from anywhere, everyday….

At 5 PM the old woman’s parade starts, where the aunties want to walk and the gangubais escorting them want to sit….

At 6 PM the ‘chillar’ comes down to play….

At 7 PM the hero of the Parsi colony arrives with ‘karak and naram’ options for all the ladies….

At 8 PM some aspiring Stuntbawa is practicing a willy with his bike and melodramatic teenage girls squealing louder than required….

At 9 PM you can hear people saying bye to each other for an entire hour, as the gossip has no end, meanwhile the “bhonu” is waiting….

At 10 PM someone gets enough bones only for 1 stray dog, so the other dogs create havoc…..

At 11 PM someone’s grandfather clock gongs out loud eleven times and by the time it stops you missed hearing the last part of your TV serial…..

At 12 PM the watchman has to show he is working and goes banging the stick….

At 1 am some guys play loud music in a car, this time the guy on the 2nd floor wakes up, fights with the youngsters and threatens to call the police. You are peeping from the window to see the commotion, and when he goes in, the old lady thinks it’s the stray dogs barking again and comes out with a stick to chase them.

 

…………….

 

SOURCE: SOMEONE FROM A PARSI COLONY!

Courtesy : Jehangir Bisney

Aspi Bardy Grant for higher studies

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Mancherji Joshi Memorial Education Fund

invites applications for

Aspi Bardy Grant for higher studies

from parents/guardians of poor and deserving Parsi / Zoroastrian students for higher studies such as post graduation, doctoral studies, engineering, medicine, computer science, chartered accountants and any discipline where specialized courses are conducted. Applications forms can be obtained from the following committee members:

For boys approach Mrs Zareen J. Engineer 623 Marker Mansion Lady Jahangir Road Parsi Colony, Dadar Mumbai 400014

For girls approach Ms Katy R. Bharucha 617 Ahunavar Jame Jamshed Road Parsi Colony, Dadar Mumbai 400014
All parents/guardians staying in Surat city or district should apply for application forms and submit them duly completed to our representative of Surat Shri Phirdaus J. Dutia Superintendant Parsi Boys Orphanage, Shahpore, Surat 395003

Can Women Become Mobeds As Per Zarthushti Tenets?

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Can Women Become Mobeds As Per Zarthushti Tenets?

(By Pervin J. Mistry)

Recently, some Zarthushtis in North America have started a debate as to why women are not initiated as mobeds in our religion. They give various arguments in the guise of “progress”, “reform” and so-called “righteous freedom of choice” that prove that these individuals have not really thought about what they want and how their claim can be justified.

Any Zarthushti who has reverence for Ahura Mazda will never rebel against His Infinite Intelligence. Is Ahura Mazda a sexist to create men and women differently? Sex equality in ordaining mobeds may not be what Ahura Mazda in His Wisdom has so willed. Nature itself has not created men and women identical.

Women are certainly equal to men in dignity and respect but women are not and they cannot be biologically identical to men. Women can and do attain the spiritual heights any man can, but the difference is in manifesting the outcome of the sacred rituals which rigid purity demands. Women, biologically, are unable to maintain ritual purity and therefore, ritual equality in ordination is spiritually wrong.

The goal of rituals is to unite the physical with the spiritual. If women are allowed to perform sacred rituals during their biological cycle, inevitably, adverse effects will be the outcome of these improper, deceptive rituals as the presence of the excreted blood would not affect the union of any impure physical condition to the Divine Spirit which is pure. Can there be ritual purity in the midst of bodily impurities? No! No communion with the Divine can be established through blood which is considered a “druj”; but, in sorcery, blood is one of the essential requirements to fortify and unite with the dark forces of Nature. Centuries ago, cults of priestesses existed, mostly in Europe. These were replaced by revealed religions. Human and other sacrifices are banned in all revealed religions since the ensuing blood attracts the negative influences of the lower elementals or nature spirits. Sorcery and witchcraft are effectually solemnized through blood which is the magnetic agent to attract the dark forces of nature.

As Zarthushtis we must accept biological differences with grace and wisdom, instead of questioning the traditional way our rituals have been performed since countless millennia. Ignoring Nature’s Laws is not civilized education but barbaric ignorance! Have we forgotten faith and obedience as virtues that are absolutely essential to wisdom? To say women can and should become mobeds is to display stark ignorance about the rules of ritual requirements and also physical hygiene. Read more

Can Women Become Mobeds As Per Zarthushti Tenets?

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Can Women Become Mobeds As Per Zarthushti Tenets?

 

 

Recently, some Zarthushtis in North America have started a debate as to why women are not initiated as mobeds in our religion. They give various arguments in the guise of “progress”, “reform” and so-called “righteous freedom of choice” that prove that these individuals have not really thought about what they want and how their claim can be justified.

 

Any Zarthushti who has reverence for Ahura Mazda will never rebel against His Infinite Intelligence. Is Ahura Mazda a sexist to create men and women differently? Sex equality in ordaining mobeds may not be what Ahura Mazda in His Wisdom has so Willed. Nature itself has not created men and women identical.

 

Women are certainly equal to men in dignity and respect but women are not and they cannot be biologically identical to men. Women can and do attain the spiritual heights any man can, but the difference is in manifesting the outcome of the sacred rituals which rigid purity demands. Women, biologically, are unable to maintain ritual purity and therefore, ritual equality in ordination is spiritually wrong.

Read more

Dorab Mistry awarded OBE

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2013 is the 60th anniversary of the coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

I am delighted to inform you that my illustrious predecessor Dorab Erach Mistry has been recognised for his services to the Zoroastrian community and to Inter Faith Relations by being awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List.
All of us who are active within the ZTFE know that Dorab has served our Association and our community for many years.  But in the light of Dorab’s recent honour it is appropriate to give our members and well-wishers a background on Dorab and why he was awarded an OBE.
Dorab E Mistry was born in India on 7th April 1953 and graduated from Bombay University in commerce in 1973.  While at Bombay University Dorab become one of the youngest leaders of the Indian National Congress I Youth Section and was well known to the Prime Ministers of India Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi and their families.  Dorab qualified as a chartered accountant in 1976, having won the President’s Gold Medal.  He started his career at GODREJ, one of India’s leading industrial group, in 1976.  Since 1977 Dorab has been based in London handling the vegetable oil buying and trading portfolio for GODREJ.  The company’s wide ranging interest in vegetable oil processing, animal feeds, oleo chemicals, alcohols, soaps, toiletries, foods and plantations gives him a unique perspective of the Indian vegetable oil scenario.  Dorab is also one of GODREJ’s Vice Presidents, in charge of the Far East; he is an international traveller, making several work related journeys abroad every month.  Since 1996, Dorab has been a regular speaker on vegetable oil Price Outlook and is regarded as a leading analyst of price behaviour.  He also writes and speaks regularly on the Indian economic scene.  Since 2001, Dorab served as India’s representative on the managing committee of the International Association of Seed Crushers and was its Vice President from 2006 to 2008.  When Dorab makes his speeches on palm oil forecast, international traders take note!
Even with his hectic work schedule, Dorab still makes time to undertake community and inter faith work in an honorary capacity and never claims expenses.  He is one of my illustrious predecessors, elected to the Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe (ZTFE) Managing Committee in 1996.  The following year he was elected as its 24th President, serving in the top position until 2005.  The ZTFE is the oldest Asian religious voluntary organisation in the United Kingdom and also the oldest Zoroastrian Association in the West, established in 1861.  During his tenure Dorab succeeded in persuading the Zoroastrians of UK in 2000 to purchase a disused cinema in a grade II* listed building on 440, Alexandra Avenue, Harrow.  In 2005, with the collaboration with English Heritage, this disused cinema was inaugurated as the Zoroastrian Centre for Europe.  The purchase and refurbishment of the Zoroastrian Centre was from donations from within the Zoroastrian community, especially the late Zartoshty Brothers, and no application for funding was made to government or external agencies.  Besides winning awards for conservation, the Zoroastrian Centre in Harrow is a contributory factor in making the London Borough of Harrow the most religiously diverse borough in the UK according to the national census.  It is an asset to the Zoroastrian community as well to the local community in Harrow, used for fund raising and other charitable activities by Harrow Council, Harrow Inter Faith Council, faith communities especially the Tamil Sri Lankans as they do not have a local centre of their own.
During Dorab’s presidency, the ZTFE was successful in organising the first Royal Visit in 2002 of HRHs Prince Edward and Sophie – Earl and Countess of Wessex for a Thanksgiving Service to mark the Golden Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.  Also during his presidency funds were raised to establish the Zartoshty Brothers Lectureship in Zoroastrian Studies, later to become Zartoshty Brothers Chair, at School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at London University, making SOAS the only institution in the world to have a permanent Chair of Zoroastrian Studies.  Besides performing voluntary service, Dorab is also a regular donor to various charities.
Dorab has also demonstrated a longstanding commitment to the promotion of good interfaith understanding and activity in the UK.  Besides serving the Zoroastrian community in an honorary capacity, Dorab is also active in several inter faith organisations since 1997.  After passing the baton of presidency in 2005, Dorab continues to serve on the ZTFE Managing Committee as its Honorary Treasurer and External Relations – Inter Faith Officer.  Dorab represents the ZTFE and the Zoroastrian community on several local and national inter faith organisations in the UK.  Since 2006 Dorab is one of the Directors of the Inter Faith Network for the United Kingdom (IFN) currently its co-Vice Chair, since 2005 the Vice Chair and Honorary Treasurer of the Faith Based Regeneration Network (FbRN), Honorary Treasurer Council of Dharmic Faiths (CoDF) since its inception in 2010.  Dorab was the Zoroastrian representative on A Year of Service (AYOS) to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.  He is also Zoroastrian representative on Barnet Inter Faith Council, his local borough where he resides.
Dorab is happily married with his childhood sweetheart Shehnaz; they have 3 daughters, Tina, Sherie and Roxanne.  Like their father, his daughters Tina and Sherie have served the ZTFE as it elected Chair of the Young Zoroastrians (YZs), both have represented the ZTFE at inter faith gatherings in the UK and abroad.
For the ZTFE and the Zoroastrian faith in UK, Mr Dorab E Mistry has been one of our prominent ambassador who has brought us recognition, acceptance and participation in the wider inter faith community and in public life.  The ZTFE is overjoyed that Mr Dorab E Mistry has been awarded the OBE from Her Majesty’s Government in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List.  It is justly deserved! Congratulations Dorab.
Yours sincerely
Malcolm M Deboo
President
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