India’s iconic Parsi journal to close down after 60 years

[ad_1] Cherylann Mollan BBC Information, Mumbai

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/9331/live/eb8c0fd0-8a35-11f0-a26a-51aa2f3dec3f.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/9331/live/eb8c0fd0-8a35-11f0-a26a-51aa2f3dec3f.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/9331/live/eb8c0fd0-8a35-11f0-a26a-51aa2f3dec3f.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/9331/live/eb8c0fd0-8a35-11f0-a26a-51aa2f3dec3f.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/9331/live/eb8c0fd0-8a35-11f0-a26a-51aa2f3dec3f.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/9331/live/eb8c0fd0-8a35-11f0-a26a-51aa2f3dec3f.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/9331/live/eb8c0fd0-8a35-11f0-a26a-51aa2f3dec3f.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/9331/live/eb8c0fd0-8a35-11f0-a26a-51aa2f3dec3f.jpg.webp" loading="eager" alt="BBC A collage of Parsiana magazine covers from over the years" class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> BBC The journal was began in 1964 to chronicle the group in Mumbai

In an previous, neo-gothic constructing in Fort, an upmarket space in India's monetary capital Mumbai, is a run-down workplace that produces considered one of nation's oldest and most distinguished Parsi magazines - Parsiana.

The journal was began in 1964 by Pestonji Warden, a Parsi physician who additionally dabbled within the sandalwood commerce, to chronicle the group within the metropolis.

Since then, the journal has grown in subscribers and attain. For a lot of Parsis, it has supplied a window into the goings-on locally, serving to members internationally really feel linked and seen as their numbers dwindled and dispersed.

After 60 years, Parsiana will shut this October as a result of dwindling subscribers, lack of funds, and no successor to run it.

The information has saddened not simply subscribers but in addition those that knew of the journal's legacy.

"It is like the tip of an period," says Sushant Singh, 18, a pupil. "We used to joke about how you were not a "true Parsi" for those who did not find out about Parsiana or wax eloquent about it."

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/40b0/live/141dcdd0-8a36-11f0-a26a-51aa2f3dec3f.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/40b0/live/141dcdd0-8a36-11f0-a26a-51aa2f3dec3f.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/40b0/live/141dcdd0-8a36-11f0-a26a-51aa2f3dec3f.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/40b0/live/141dcdd0-8a36-11f0-a26a-51aa2f3dec3f.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/40b0/live/141dcdd0-8a36-11f0-a26a-51aa2f3dec3f.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/40b0/live/141dcdd0-8a36-11f0-a26a-51aa2f3dec3f.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/40b0/live/141dcdd0-8a36-11f0-a26a-51aa2f3dec3f.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/40b0/live/141dcdd0-8a36-11f0-a26a-51aa2f3dec3f.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Jehangir Patel, wearing a white shirt, sits in his office at the Parsiana in Mumbai" class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Jehangir Patel led the journal since shopping for it for only one rupee in 1973

For the reason that information of the journal's closing was introduced in considered one of its editorials in August, tributes have been pouring in.

In its September version, a reader in Mumbai writes: "To assume that such a small group as ours could possibly be chronicled with such diligence and fervour appears a frightening endevour. Nonetheless, Parsiana proved greater than equal to the duty."

One other reader, based mostly in Pakistan says that the journal has been "greater than a publication; it has been a companion and bridge connecting Zoroastrians internationally".

A Washington-based reader praised the journal for holding the group knowledgeable "but in addition bringing a contact of realism on contentious points".

Jehangir Patel, 80, who has led the journal since shopping for it for only one rupee in 1973, says he all the time needed it to be a "journalistic endeavour."

When Warden began the journal as a month-to-month, it solely carried essays by Parsis or Warden's medical writings.

After taking up, Mr Patel turned it right into a fortnightly with reported tales, sharp columns, and illustrations that tackled delicate Parsi points with honesty and humour.

He employed and skilled journalists, arrange a subscription mannequin and ultimately, turned the black-and-white journal into color.

Mr Patel recollects his first story after taking up the journal; it was in regards to the excessive divorce fee throughout the group.

"No person anticipated to learn one thing like that in Parsiana. It was a bit surprising for the group."

In 1987, the journal broke new floor by publishing interfaith matrimonial adverts - a daring transfer in a group recognized for strict endogamy.

"The bulletins created a furore locally. Many readers wrote to us, asking us to discontinue the apply. However we did not," Mr Patel says.

He says Parsiana by no means shied from controversy, all the time providing a number of views, and through the years spotlighted points just like the group's dwindling inhabitants and the decline of the Towers of Silence - a spot the place the Parsis bury their lifeless.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/0c7f/live/ff4aa9d0-8a2d-11f0-b917-03bcebef22ec.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/0c7f/live/ff4aa9d0-8a2d-11f0-b917-03bcebef22ec.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/0c7f/live/ff4aa9d0-8a2d-11f0-b917-03bcebef22ec.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/0c7f/live/ff4aa9d0-8a2d-11f0-b917-03bcebef22ec.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/0c7f/live/ff4aa9d0-8a2d-11f0-b917-03bcebef22ec.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/0c7f/live/ff4aa9d0-8a2d-11f0-b917-03bcebef22ec.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/0c7f/live/ff4aa9d0-8a2d-11f0-b917-03bcebef22ec.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/0c7f/live/ff4aa9d0-8a2d-11f0-b917-03bcebef22ec.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Two women, both Parsiana staff, work on their computer on the next issue of the magazine" class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Parsiana will shut this October as a result of dwindling subscribers and lack of funds

The journal additionally chronicled group achievements, key social and non secular occasions, and new Parsi establishments. In Might, Parsiana coated the inauguration of the Alpaiwalla Museum in Mumbai - the one Parsi museum on the earth.

Now the 15-member group, many of their 60s and 70s who joined underneath Patel, is getting ready to finish each the journal and their journalism careers.

"There is a sense of tiredness combined with the unhappiness," Mr Patel says. "We have been doing this for a very long time," he provides.

The workplace, stacked with previous editions, exhibits its age with peeling paint and crumbling ceilings. It's housed in a former Parsi hospital that has stood vacant for 4 a long time.

Mr Patel says the group has no grand plans for his or her final day, however upcoming points will function tales commemorating Parsiana's lengthy journey and legacy.