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Saal Mubaarak Bawaji !!
 On the 21st of August this year falls the Parsee New Year.
The whole team of Indias-Best.Com
greets all the Parsees "Saal Mubarak"
and wishes them all a very prosperous
New Year.
What are Parsees like? Why do they
cover their head and not allow non-Parsees
to enter their fire temple? What is
the secret ?
The secret of being a Parsee is....Well,
there's no secret! They are just like
that only! Known for their direct
approach and bang-bang nature; they
are like all normal Indians. Since
their ancestors had migrated from
Persia or Iran, they are distinct
in appearance. You could easily mistake
a Parsee for a European!
"Large-hearted people' and
'with a hilarious sense of humour'
are the two phrases, which I got
to hear from more than a dozen people
when describing what a 'Parsee-bawa'
meant to them. Known as the most generous,
well-mannered, and jolly people who
enjoy life to it's fullest", says
Kiran Roy.
Parsees are European in their tastes
but speak Gujarati and English. Their
houses are spick and span, with beautiful
flowery curtains adorning every window
and door, the furniture is mainly
wooden and antique British in quality.
Every Parsee inevitably owns a piano.
Music, food and the occasional drink
make for all occasions; New Year or
not! Parsees are known to live the
longest lives. Anyone born a Parsee lives atleast twenty years more than
a non-Parsee! Though women generally
outlive their male counterparts!
To preserve their culture, Parsees
prefer to marry only within their
caste. Their population being a bare
minimum, they end up marrying their
first cousins or far off relatives.
My paternal grand-aunt is a Parsee
lady, my best friend at school too
was a Parsee and also my first crush.
Well, I would definitely miss them
if they got extinct! But knowing their
temperament, few would worry of the
extinction of their race!
Jokes apart, let's find out how
R Bharucha, a Parsee gentleman
other than being a well-known author
and editor of an international emag.
plans to spend his New Year:
"On Pateti - which is the last
day of the previous year, we are supposed
to dwell on the wrongs or sins we
may have committed the previous year,
and atone for them. The next day is
New Year and like all religious, ritualistic
Parsees do, I too shall - '
pehle Petoba and
then Vithoba ' - that
is, have my breakfast first and then
go to pray! With my family of wife
and my two little angels, all dressed
in new clothes, we shall visit the
Agiari closest to our
home. We are expecting guests at home
for lunch and also plan to visit a
few of our close relatives and friends
during the course of the day.
It's not much of a celebration
now but in the earlier days, a typical
Parsee would decorate his home with roses, marygolds, lilies and
sunflowers. Spray rose water generously,
burn incense sticks and burn sandalwood
powder on live coals kept in a censor
and decorate the front porch of the
home in a very Hindu-like way, with
designs of white chalk powder. Donations
and gifts to the not so well-to-do-families
is still in practice though. Wearing
new 'Sadra' and 'Kasti' is also a
part of the festive ritual.
For us Parsees, food and drink
plays a very important part
in our lives- festival or not! Parsee
cuisine is a delicious blend of western
and Indian cooking. Meals consist
of traditional Parsee dishes, including
dhansak with brown rice, pulao dal,
sali boti, and patra-ni-machchi. The
evenings are reserved for the theatre
or a movie or an outing with the family.
The day ends with good food and drink.
This is how a Parsee would celebrate
New Year's day - say till a decade
back. The people and the pallets have
varied with the times. Today going
to a restaurant in the evenings is
more common."
On popular demand, we have for our
readers, a traditional Parsee recipe
of Dhan Sak.
Guarantee: You could win
the heart of any Parsee by cooking
this right and serving it with the
most important ingredient - Love.
- Kamakshi Vyas
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