Parsiana, the iconic magazine of the Parsis in India, has shut shop. The demise of a niche magazine that was loved by its readers for well over 60 years certainly calls for a look into its history and why it folded. The notion that “print media is dead” was first talked about sometime in the early 1980s. While newspapers have been shutting down ever since, magazines, on the other hand, have thrived. Parsiana started in Mumbai in 1964 to chronicle the Parsi community. The fortnightly magazine’s final issue was published in November 2025. One of India’s oldest and most prominent Parsi magazines, Parsiana stopped publication after a six-decade run of documenting the country’s declining Zoroastrian minority population. I do not think there is another magazine exclusively catering to the Parsi community in India, at least not to my knowledge. As a Parsi gentleman put it, it has moved “to the Tower of Silence.”I am neither a Parsi nor do I have too many Parsi friends, yet I have always loved both the community and Parsiana magazine since I first saw it in Bombay, displayed outside an Agiyari at Dhobi Talao (Charni Road), sometime in 1977.As an indicator of the times, the cover image on its October 21-November 6, 2025 issue, the last one, carries a picture of a functional grandfather clock in a dark mahogany wooden case with a golden dial. It is the clock at the Maneckji Nowroji Sett Agiary in Mumbai, the second-oldest Parsi Fire Temple. The cover story is titled ‘Changing Times.’ Subscribers and people who had been reading Parsiana could relate to the title and the underlying subtext of its lead story. The magazine had been printed uninterrupted since 1964. For 61 years, it represented the heartbeat of the Parsi community in India. Who will now give us a peep into the “Bawa” world? Bawaji is an affectionate, colloquial nickname for Parsis.The last issue of the Parsiana magazine. Photo: Rajinder Arora.In his editorial note to the last issue, editor Jehangir R. Patel says:“Our cover story on the clocks in our fire temples is representative of the state of the community. Some of the timepieces are functional and preserved, others show an incorrect time or have stopped working or are not wound regularly. A few have had their metal mechanisms removed and replaced by battery-powered motors…. The clocks are remnants of a time when only the wealthy could afford a watch. The rest had to rely on timepieces placed in the public domain. Today, with the agiyaries mostly bereft of devotees and wristwatches available for a few hundred rupees, times have changed…. Everyone now knows the time but not necessarily how to spend it.”As if indicating the collapse, the final issue also features clocks in other Zoroastrian fire temples. Some of those tower timepieces at the 50 remaining temples in Mumbai do not even function anymore. Patel wrote: “We’ve written about clocks in the fire temples, how they are maintained, how they are looked after…To find parts for them is not easy…A lot of these clocks are just not working, or are just lying there, only to get one person who maybe comes to wind them up. But even that person is too old now to come around…At our fire temples, there are hardly any visitors, hardly any devotees.”He added:“Parsiana’s current team has 15 members. Most of them have been working at the publication for 40 years and are in their 60s. One lady is almost 80, and I’m also 80, so it didn’t seem possible for us to continue…”:To find new people to come and work with us, or even non-Parsis, is very difficult, and generally in journalism, people are looking to other professions.” How sad this reads.BeginningsFounded in 1964 by Pestonji Warden, a Parsi doctor and entrepreneur, Parsiana was for the first nine years focused largely on religious, historic, and academic subjects. Its focus changed to current affairs in 1973, when it was bought by Jehangir Patel, who had returned to India a few years earlier after graduating from Yale University.Having worked for the San Francisco Examiner and the Hartford Times in the US, and upon returning to India, for the Mumbai-based Freedom First magazine, Patel brought on board professional journalists to cover contemporary issues concerning the Parsis both in India and abroad.But over 60 years after its founding, the magazine’s readership had been shrinking along with the community, which has declined sharply over the past decades, leaving the editorial board without successors to continue running it.Parsiana started its website in 2002, which carried extracts from the magazine. Beginning in December 2012, the entire contents of Parsiana issues were published online. The website remains active today, with its old issues available on it. Strangely, the subscription page is still active, inviting new subscribers.“It is not about the funds or the revenue generated by the magazine,” wrote Patel. “Financially we are sound and we always break even. It is just that we don’t have the personnel, and that is why we have to close down. It is felt that there is also no successor to run it.”The magazine had some very interesting and exclusive sections like “What is the roz and mah today?” or “The Parsi Calendar,” which still retains its significance.A longstanding cultural foot-printParsis are a tight-knit Zoroastrian community of Persian descent who migrated to India, mainly Gujarat, between the 8th and 10th centuries to escape persecution. They fled the Arab-Islamic conquest to maintain their religious identity. They worship Ahura Mazda, their god, with fire as a symbol of purity. Their culture features unique traditions like Navjote, the initiation ceremony, with a blend of Gujarati influence.Iranshah Atash Behram in Udvada, Gujarat-the oldest Zoroastrian fire temple in India. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.Over the last century, the number of Parsis has fallen by half due to late marriages and low birth rates. “We’re dwindling. According to the 2011 census, 57,000 Parsis were in India. Now, fifteen years later, the figure must be less than 60,000,” Patel writes.The enterprising community has disproportionately influenced India’s industrial, philanthropic, and scientific sectors, with iconic families like the Tatas and Godrejs. A few thousand Parsis also live in the US, the UK, and Canada. There is also a diaspora in India’s south, in Bengaluru, and in Karachi, Pakistan.As Patel puts it:“It’s very hard to increase the population. No government in the world has succeeded in reversing a declining population trend. People don’t want to get married. If people get married late, and maybe have one child or don’t have children, our replacement ratio is probably less than one percent… It’s an aging community.”The community is facing a significant population decline due to low fertility rates, late marriage, and high rates of emigration, prompting community initiatives like the “Jiyo Parsi” scheme. Parsis are known for their distinct, often westernised, urban, and educated lifestyle, with a high concentration in Mumbai, Pune, and Gujarat.Despite their small population in India, they played a major role in developing India’s industry, with key figures including J.R.D. Tata, Ratan Tata, Nusli Wadia, Shapoorji Pallonji Mistry, Dadabhai Naoroji, Fali Nariman, Soli Sorabji, and nuclear scientist Homi Bhabha. Some other well-known Parsis are music conductor Zubin Mehta, writer Rohinton Mistry, actor Boman Irani, and singer Freddie Mercury.Parsiana issues of 2024-2025. Photo: Rajinder AroraParsi wisdomMy understanding of the Parsi community can also be attributed to two of my dear Parsi friends based in Bombay and Pune, both engaged in spirituality and religious writing. Ruzbeh Bharucha is one of the most influential spiritual writers of our times, having penned more than 22 books, and Kamal Rustomjee is a spiritual leader and author of two books on Sai Baba of Shirdi.Speaking to a Parsi family in Delhi, I learnt that Parsis came to Delhi in the mid-19th century and established their first Anjuman. After the British moved the country’s capital to Delhi, a few respectable Parsis joined the Railways, Delhi Power Station, Singer Sewing Machine, and Godrej factories. Most of these families had settled in or around Kashmere Gate, which was the area of the city’s elite before Lutyens’ Delhi came up.The first Parsi cemetery was established on the outskirts of Shahjahanabad, around Tis Hazari, in 1860, close to the Christian and Jewish cemeteries.As the new British capital was coming up between Delhi Gate, Nizamuddin, and Mehrauli, the Delhi Parsi Anjuman was established in 1925 to serve as a cultural, social, and spiritual hub for the city’s Parsi community. It is still located at the same place on Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, near Delhi Gate, serving as the primary place of worship for the Parsi community.The first Parsi Fire Temple, also called Agiary or Dar-e-Meher, was established in Delhi in 1961 within the Anjuman compound. It serves as the main place of worship for the Parsi community in the city.One of the finest community medical facilities in Delhi, Dr. Shroff’s Charity Eye Hospital, was founded by a Parsi, Dr. Sorabji P. Shroff, a pioneering ophthalmologist, sometime in 1915. Its Daryaganj building was inaugurated in 1927. By one estimate, there were fewer than 100 Parsis in Delhi at that time.With Parsiana ceasing publication, my delicate contact with the community and its social activities has nearly come to an end. On last count, I had two famous Parsi friends, of whom we lost one during the Covid epidemic in 2021, renowned contemporary dancer and choreographer Astad Deboo. The other, Dadi Pudumjee, is the world-renowned puppeteer who is doing astonishing work.A void Tributes have been pouring in since Parsiana announced its closure. In one of its editorials in August, a reader commented that its closure would leave a void.“Your professionalism, courage, and passion have not only elevated the standards of community journalism but have also given a voice to countless Zoroastrian stories,” they wrote in a letter to the editor. “Parsiana has been our pride and our companion. Its absence will be deeply felt.”Another reader said, “We will sorely miss you, PARSIANA!“Sadly, age and infirmity have caught up with the small yet brilliant team of Parsiana. As youngsters opt for careers in social media and related fields, print journalism is not a preferred vocation. Parsiana has decided to go down with all guns blazing as they regretfully shut shop… As one more community institution goes down, we wonder about the future of the community. We mince no words. It is bleak.”A reader based in Pakistan says that the magazine has been “more than a publication; it has been a companion and bridge connecting Zoroastrians across the world.”With over 3 billion copies of print magazines sold in 2025 alone, printed journals are not strictly dying, but they are undergoing a significant evolution due to digital competition and declining ad revenue. While mass-market publications have shrunk, many niche, luxury, and independent magazines are thriving by offering high-quality, tactile, and curated content that serves as an antidote to digital fatigue. With very short forms of journalism in vogue, only time will tell if digital magazines survive.While writing about a magazine dedicated to Parsis in India, I also look at magazines aimed at and catering to other religious communities which are thriving well with community support.Magazines dedicated to Sikhism, covering theology, history, culture, and contemporary community issues, include The Sikh Review, Sikh Phulwari, Anhad Magazine, and Kaur Life for Sikh women.Those focusing on Islam include Islamic Voice, The Milli Gazette, Afkar-e-Milli, Radiance Views, and Spirit of Islam.For followers of the largest faith in India, magazines oriented towards Hindu culture are Organiser, Kalyan (Gita Press), Swarajya, and Hinduism Today.As Generation Alpha (2013-2025) is inseparably hooked on to digital devices, print journalism may see a dip in coming years, but I strongly feel that the tactile feeling and the smell of ink on paper will charm them into seeking the printed word.Bye, Parsiana.Rajinder Arora is a mountaineer, trekker, photographer and a memorabilia collector but a graphic designer by profession. He is the author of several books in Hindi and English.