Latest news with #Parsis
Express Tribune
2 days ago
- Business
- Express Tribune
Pakistan's Parsi community dwindles
The front elevation of the Mama Parsi Girls High School, which has the bust of Ardeshir Hormushji Mama, its Zoroastrian founder, engraved on its facade, in Karachi. Photo: AFP From a gated community for her Zoroastrian faith in Karachi, 22-year-old Elisha Amra has waved goodbye to many friends migrating abroad as the ancient Parsi community dwindles. Soon the film student hopes to join them — becoming one more loss to Pakistan's ageing Zoroastrian Parsi people, a community who trace their roots back to Persian refugees from Iran more than a millennium ago. "My plan is to go abroad," Amra said, adding that she wants to study for a master's degree in a country without the restrictions of a conservative Muslim-majority society. "I want to be able to freely express myself," she added. Zoroastrianism, founded by the Zarathustra, was predominant religion of the ancient Persian empire, until the rise of Islam in the seventh century. In Pakistan, once the Parsi community had as many as 15,000-20,000 people but now the number is 900 people in Karachi and a few dozen more elsewhere. Amra acknowledges her life is more comfortable than many in Pakistanthe Parsis are in general an affluent and highly educated community. But she says she wants to escape the daily challenges that beset the city of some 20 million people — from power cuts, water shortages to violent street crime. Zubin Patel, 27, a Parsi working in e-commerce in Karachi, has seen more than two dozen Parsi friends leave Karachi for abroad in the past three years. "More than 20-25 of my friends were living in Karachi, they all started migrating", he said. That is not unique to Parsis — many young and skilled Pakistanis want to find jobs abroad to escape a country wracked with political uncertainty and security challenges, a struggling economy and woeful infrastructure. The number of highly skilled Pakistanis who left for jobs abroad more than doubled according to the latest figures from the Pakistan Economic Survey — from 20,865 in 2022, to 45,687 in 2023. Parsis are struggling to adjust in a fast-changing world. "There is a better chance to find a Zoroastrian partner in Canada, Australia, UK and America than in Pakistan," said Dinshaw Behram Avari, 57, the head of one of the most prominent Parsi families. Avari, who heads a chain of hotels, points out that Parsi population of Toronto is some 10 times greater than Karachi. He said that a wave of Parsis left Pakistan during the hardline military rule of Ziaul Haq in the 1980s. Since then, violence has targeted religious minorities, and while Parsis say they have not been targeted, they remain wary. Avari suggested the community's high levels of education and Western outlook to life meant many eyed a future abroad, while for those who do stay, family size is shrinking. "Couples are more interested today in looking after their career; they are not interested in family," he said. "When they do get married, they will have one child — and one child is not enough to make a positive impact on the population." Parsi members were among the pioneers of the shipping and hospitality industries in Karachi, and the city's colonial-era historic district is dotted with Parsi buildings including hospitals and schools. But as the community declines, many buildings have crumbled. For many among the younger generation, the only pull left keeping them in Pakistan is their ageing relatives. Patel said that he would leave if he could. "It would be a difficult decision," he said. "But if I have an opportunity which would give my parents ... a healthy lifestyle, then I'd obviously go for it".
Economic Times
2 days ago
- Business
- Economic Times
Salaried job vs business mindset: How British rule manipulated India's entrepreneurial potential, explains Saurabh Mukherjea
Generations Were Pushed Into Salaried Roles by Colonial Bias Against Indian Businessmen. (Representative Image) India's deep-rooted shift from a nation of business owners to one dominated by salaried employees did not happen by chance. According to founder and chief investment officer of Marcellus Investment Managers Saurabh Mukherjea, this transformation was a result of deliberate colonial manipulation that systematically dismantled the country's entrepreneurial ecosystem. Drawing on historical research and economic insights, Mukherjea explains how British rule disrupted India's flourishing business culture and replaced it with a mindset centered around job security and government service. In a video clip shared on his LinkedIn, Mukherjea, citing the book India Before the Ambanis by historian Lakshmi Subramanian, highlighted that during the Mughal era—spanning the 16th to 18th centuries— Indian entrepreneurship was thriving. The subcontinent enjoyed flourishing commerce that extended beyond domestic markets to the Middle East and Southeast Asia. He pointed out that several wealthy Indian merchants and financiers, such as Virji Vora, Shantidas Jhaveri, and Jagat Seth, operated at a scale comparable to today's unicorn founders. These business leaders were not just traders but multi-sectoral giants who worked in areas like shipping, textiles, and money lending. Their success symbolized a deeply rooted entrepreneurial ecosystem that thrived under the Mughal this momentum was disrupted as British colonial influence grew stronger in the 19th century. According to Mukherjea, the British began systematically displacing Indian entrepreneurs through discriminatory regulations and social engineering. He referred again to Subramanian's book, which documents instances where Indian business communities such as the Parsis in Bombay and families like the Tagores in Bengal were deliberately explained that the British also ran a long-standing campaign to shape public opinion against Indian businessmen. Over time, they associated Indian entrepreneurial groups—particularly Gujaratis, Marwaris, Sindhis, and Parsis—with negative stereotypes. By painting them as cunning or untrustworthy, the British were able to diminish their social stature and curtail their influence in India's independence in 1947 marked the end of British rule, Mukherjea argued that the colonial mindset persisted through the newly empowered bureaucracy. The civil service, inherited from the British Indian administration, continued to hold a skeptical view of private enterprise. This bureaucratic suspicion delayed India's return to its business roots and suppressed entrepreneurial initiatives for stated that it wasn't until the 1991 economic reforms led by then-Finance Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao that the tide began to turn. Liberalization policies encouraged private enterprise and slowly helped India shed the lingering effects of colonial economic on the present, Mukherjea noted a sharp resurgence in Indian entrepreneurship. The number of companies being registered in India has tripled over the past decade, signaling a renewed embrace of business creation. However, he emphasized that this revival is not just about policy change but also about challenging the deep-rooted narrative that once pushed generations into salaried jobs instead of entrepreneurship.
Time of India
2 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Salaried job vs business mindset: How British rule manipulated India's entrepreneurial potential, explains Saurabh Mukherjea
India's deep-rooted shift from a nation of business owners to one dominated by salaried employees did not happen by chance. According to founder and chief investment officer of Marcellus Investment Managers Saurabh Mukherjea, this transformation was a result of deliberate colonial manipulation that systematically dismantled the country's entrepreneurial ecosystem. Drawing on historical research and economic insights, Mukherjea explains how British rule disrupted India's flourishing business culture and replaced it with a mindset centered around job security and government service. In a video clip shared on his LinkedIn, Mukherjea, citing the book India Before the Ambanis by historian Lakshmi Subramanian, highlighted that during the Mughal era—spanning the 16th to 18th centuries— Indian entrepreneurship was thriving. The subcontinent enjoyed flourishing commerce that extended beyond domestic markets to the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Explore courses from Top Institutes in Select a Course Category Cybersecurity Project Management Data Science Finance PGDM others Others Artificial Intelligence Technology Management Product Management Leadership Data Analytics Public Policy Healthcare Operations Management healthcare MBA Degree Data Science Digital Marketing Design Thinking MCA CXO Skills you'll gain: Duration: 10 Months MIT xPRO CERT-MIT xPRO PGC in Cybersecurity Starts on undefined Get Details He pointed out that several wealthy Indian merchants and financiers, such as Virji Vora, Shantidas Jhaveri, and Jagat Seth, operated at a scale comparable to today's unicorn founders. These business leaders were not just traders but multi-sectoral giants who worked in areas like shipping, textiles, and money lending. Their success symbolized a deeply rooted entrepreneurial ecosystem that thrived under the Mughal administration. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Victoria Principal Is Almost 75, See Her Now Reportingly Undo British Colonial Strategy: Undermining Indian Business However, this momentum was disrupted as British colonial influence grew stronger in the 19th century. According to Mukherjea, the British began systematically displacing Indian entrepreneurs through discriminatory regulations and social engineering. He referred again to Subramanian's book, which documents instances where Indian business communities such as the Parsis in Bombay and families like the Tagores in Bengal were deliberately sidelined. Mukherjea explained that the British also ran a long-standing campaign to shape public opinion against Indian businessmen. Over time, they associated Indian entrepreneurial groups—particularly Gujaratis, Marwaris, Sindhis, and Parsis—with negative stereotypes. By painting them as cunning or untrustworthy, the British were able to diminish their social stature and curtail their influence in commerce. Post-Independence Continuity of Colonial Bias While India's independence in 1947 marked the end of British rule, Mukherjea argued that the colonial mindset persisted through the newly empowered bureaucracy. The civil service, inherited from the British Indian administration, continued to hold a skeptical view of private enterprise. This bureaucratic suspicion delayed India's return to its business roots and suppressed entrepreneurial initiatives for decades. Mukherjea stated that it wasn't until the 1991 economic reforms led by then-Finance Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao that the tide began to turn. Liberalization policies encouraged private enterprise and slowly helped India shed the lingering effects of colonial economic suppression. Reflecting on the present, Mukherjea noted a sharp resurgence in Indian entrepreneurship. The number of companies being registered in India has tripled over the past decade, signaling a renewed embrace of business creation. However, he emphasized that this revival is not just about policy change but also about challenging the deep-rooted narrative that once pushed generations into salaried jobs instead of entrepreneurship.
Scroll.in
11-07-2025
- General
- Scroll.in
The signature food of the Parsis: A history of dhansak and the many ways it can be made
I got my first taste of dhansak during the mid-1990s on a visit to Mumbai with my childhood friend Anupama. Jeroo Nariman, the matriarch of Parsi Dairy Farm, knew Anupama's family well and had invited us to join her weekly Sunday dhansak ritual with the brood at her 100-year-old home on Princess Street. Jeroo's family – her nieces Meheru and Shernaz, along with their respective husbands and kids – was big-hearted and zestful, and welcomed us to the table without a shred of formality. The mutton dhansak arrived along with its cavalcade of caramelised white rice, golden prawn kavabs, and crunchy kachumber or salad of finely diced onions, cucumbers, and tomatoes. The spicy dal, with large chunks of meat, had so many parts that it felt more like a production than a dish to me. As the achingly tender meat fell apart in our mouths, we oohed and aahed over its luscious texture. Platters were passed, conversations sparked, banter exchanged, and frustrations vented. The meal ended on a high note with Jeroo's spectacular caramel custard, and Rambo the dalmatian scoring a regal dollop of white butter. All too soon it was late afternoon. Replete with Duke's Raspberry Soda and buoyed by the boisterous bonhomie of our hosts, we headed back. It was a good Sunday, and a fine lunch. The deep love for good food and hospitality that made Jeroo's dhansak so memorable has long been a hallmark of Parsi culture, traceable to the community's Persian ancestry The Zoroastrian descendants of Parsis sailed across the Arabian Sea to escape religious persecution in Persia and landed in Gujarat, sometime during the 8th century CE. Before the Arab conquest of their homeland in the 7th century, they were a part of the great Sassanid or Sasanian Empire, one of the most developed and prosperous empires of the ancient world. Many elements of dhansak, including the love of meat, would have existed in Sasanian Persia. According to food historian KT Achaya, 'pulses would have taken the place of rajmah beans and spinach used in Iran.' He notes that 'at least three dals, and even up to nine' went into making dhansak, which also included 'pieces of fatty meat, tripe and vegetables'. One can only imagine the early journey of the dish. Stew-loving Zoroastrians, with their rich tradition of meat-and-vegetable blends from Iran, would have arrived in Gujarat. The unique taste of Indian spices and produce would have piqued their interest. Before long, they would have succumbed to the Gujarati passion for sweet, tangy, spicy flavours, leading to the creation of dhansak. Over the centuries, the dish would have evolved, replacing the mellow preparations of Persia with a spicier concoction through the liberal use of Indian spices and condiments. Filtered through the hands of countless cooks and melded with the local ingredients and Gujarati culture, dhansak would become, well before the 20th century, the flagship food of the Parsis. The version of yore was cooked on wood fire and made with masalas prepared at home. Though the essential recipe hasn't changed, it has become less elaborate, calling for fewer ingredients and steps. The nine dals Achaya talks about got reduced to one or two, the use of tripe got omitted, and everything went into blenders and pressure cookers. The basic recipe for making dhansak calls for vegetables – pumpkin, onions, eggplants, methi (fenugreek) leaves, and mint – to be cooked along with lentils, before straining the mixture to a smooth, velvety blend. A vaghar or slow tempering of tomatoes with masalas is then prepared, to which the lentil and veggie mush and boiled mutton (or chicken) are added and left to meld. Each ingredient plays its part in producing the astounding range of flavours – sweetness derives from pumpkin and onions, bitterness from methi, citrusy notes like coriander and mint, tartness from tomatoes, heat from red chillies, and complexity from spices. With as many dhansak variations as there are cooks, the devil is often in the details. Some home cooks like to use only toor (tuvar) dal, others prefer a combination of two or three lentils (mostly masoor, toor, and moong). Some swear by the tried-and-tested red pumpkin and eggplants, others add carrots or even pineapples. Some like their dhansak smooth, others like it a bit grainy. Some like to add jaggery and tamarind, others shun them. Some dump all of its ingredients into a pressure cooker, others believe in more thoughtful assembly. Mahrukh Mogrelia, a food entrepreneur who owns a brand called Mahrukh's Kitchen, holds that the flavour of dhansak should derive from the natural sweetness of vegetables like pumpkin, and not from sugar or jaggery. 'Dhansak shouldn't be obviously sweet; it should have that spiciness. And the dal must be strained to a smooth consistency. God forbid if a pumpkin piece gets into a Parsi's mouth; he will know it has veggies, and never eat dhansak again!' she said, laughing. Homogenising the ingredients made it easy for Mahrukh to sneak some nutrition into her unsuspecting children's diet. 'Mum would grind all kinds of veggies into the dhansak without letting us know. Once she added beetroot, and I asked her, 'Why is the dhansak red today?' But she just said, 'It's so tasty. Chaakhi le, dikra (Taste it, son)!' And I lapped it up!' her son Khurshed recounted with mock horror. Jeroo Shroff, a gourmet chef and culinary teacher of forty years' standing, strongly disapproves of the current practice of using masoor dal instead of the traditional toor. 'Nowadays, people use masoor because it's cheaper, but it alters the taste,' she said. She also emphasised the technique of giving the vaghar the love it needs. 'You have to put the vaghar on a very slow flame and for a very long time, and cook the tomatoes till all the water dries up. Only then add in all the masalas.' Food photographer Yasmin Khambatta's preferred way of making dhansak, following her mother's recipe, is to use a combination of four dals – toor, chana, masoor, and moong. 'Mum did not use eggplants as they made the dal very dark. Instead, she added carrots along with pumpkin to make the dish a bit sweeter. And she always served dhansak with murabba made from small mango pieces cooked in sugar syrup,' she said. The choice of meat elicited sharp reactions, dividing the cooks I met into the mutton and the chicken camps. The former stressed that mutton dhansak cooked with the meat bones adds flavour to the dal, whereas the latter, like Khurshed, preferred the soupy texture of chicken dhansak. 'Trust me, chicken dhansak tastes better. Always,' he declared. The strikingly different ways home cooks worked with the dish are a testament to its adaptability. The ultimate validation of this flexibility comes from that most revered of Parsi cookery bibles, Vividh Vani. Authored by Meherbai Jamshedji Wadia, the late nineteenth-century tome mentions not one but three recipes of dhansak, each with slightly different ingredients and techniques. And it clearly says that either chicken or mutton could be used. Interestingly, my own practical lesson in dhansak-making was replete with rule-flouting. Magan, my lawyer friend Pervez Rustomkhan's cook, was a reluctant teacher. The veteran brought a devil-may-care impunity to his cooking. He omitted the vegetables and methi leaves, sneaked in some curry powder, and threw in a handful of curry leaves. It was a killer dhansak.
Hindustan Times
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Asaduddin Owaisi vs Kiren Rijiju over ‘benefits' to minorities in India remark
A verbal tiff broke out between Union minister Kiren Rijiju and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi after the Bharatiya Janata Party leader said India is the only country where minorities are given so many facilities. Kiren Rijiju said that the Bharatiya Janata Party is secular and does not do politics on the basis of religion or cast.(ANI) The AIMIM leader lashed out at Kiren Rijiju, saying he holds a constitutional post, "not a throne", adding that "minority rights are fundamental rights, not charity". Rijiju, who is the minority affairs minister, on Friday accused the opposition parties of playing politics in the name of minorities, referring to their objection to the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Bihar. The BJP leader noted that there are six minority communities in the country, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Parsis, Jains, and Buddhists, and said all of them get the same facilities as the majority Hindu community. "Minorities are also given additional protection and facilities. There is no country in this world that gives so much facilities to minorities. The politics being played in the name of minorities to take political advantage is not right," Rijiju said. He accused the Congress and some other parties of trying to instil fear among minorities, saying that "they should not try to mislead the minorities". The Union parliamentary affairs minister, Kiren Rijiju, had also accused the Congress of scoring political benefits by using Muslims as a vote bank. "The Congress ensured that Muslims remain poor, now they should not shout 'Muslim, Muslim' and insult them," he said. Rijiju said the Bharatiya Janata Party is secular and does not do politics on the basis of religion or cast. "The Congress and these people are the most communal. They keep doing 'Muslim, Muslim' and take political advantage while keeping them poor," he said while responding to a question on Owaisi's attack on Bihar electoral roll revision. However, Rijiju's statements drew the ire of Owaisi, who asked whether being called Pakistani, Bangladeshi, jihadi, or Rohingya every single day a "benefit". 'Only demanding what Constitution promises' "Is it 'protection' to be lynched? Is it protection that Indian citizens were kidnapped and pushed into Bangladesh? Is it a privilege to watch our homes, masjids, and mazaars being bulldozed illegally? To be made socially, politically, and economically invisible?" the AIMIM chief asked a series of questions in a post on X. He alleged that the minorities in the nation "are not even second-class citizens anymore. We are hostages". Owaisi further raked up the Waqf Board row and asked about 'favours' to the minorities, "Can Muslims be members of Hindu Endowment Boards?" "No. But your Waqf Amendment Act forces non-Muslims onto Waqf Boards — and allows them to form a majority," he added. The AIMIM leader further alleged that the Centre also discontinued the Maulana Azad National Fellowship, defunded the pre-matric scholarship, limited the post-matric and merit-cum-means scholarships. "Muslims are now the only group whose numbers have fallen in higher education. Their presence in the informal economy has gone up. They have been among the worst-hit by your economic policies. This is your own govt's data," Owaisi wrote in his X post. He claimed that Indian Muslims of today's generation are worse off than their parents or grandparents. "Intergenerational mobility has reversed. Muslim-concentrated areas are the ones most starved of public infrastructure and basic services," he added. He said that the minorities are not asking for more than what the majority community gets. Owaisi said that they are just demanding "what the Constitution promises: social, economic, and political justice". Rijiju responded to the AIMIM leader and said, " come Minorities from our neighbouring countries prefer to come to India, and our Minorities don't migrate?" The union minister said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's welfare schemes are for all. "The schemes of the Ministry of Minority Affairs provide additional benefits to the Minorities," he added. Owaisi further sharpened his attack against Rijiju and called him "Hon'ble Minister Against Minorities". "According to Hon'ble Minister Against Minorities, if we don't migrate it means we are happy. Actually, we are not in the habit of fleeing: we did not run away from the British, we did not run away during partition, and we did not run away because of Jammu, Nellie, Gujarat, Moradabad, Delhi etc massacres," he added. He said it is their history that minorities neither collaborate with nor hide from their "oppressors". "We know how to fight for our democratic rights and we will inshallah. Stop comparing our great nation with failed states like Pakistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal & Sri Lanka. Jai Hind, Jai Samvidhan! Thank you for your attention in this matter!" Owaisi added.
