The Parsi Dairy Farm on Princess Street, Marine Lines is hard to miss. The bright blue building with its aroma of milk, ghee and a variety of sweets is considered to be one of Mumbai’s most iconic food establishments, coming from the erstwhile Irani café era of the city.
However, the 99-year old dairy seems to be nearing its end. The family is planning to to sell its 300-acre land at Talasari, an agricultural land in Warvada village on the Maharashtra-Gujarat border, according to a a report by The Times of India. The Nariman family, which founded the dairy, bought the land back in 1968 for livestock and to support its dairy activities. The reports also suggests that the family may look to shut shop or sell the brand in the near future.

While it is unclear whether the family will actually sell the store as well, if it does happen, it will be the end of yet another iconic Parsi establishment in Mumbai. The Parsi Dairy Farm was founded in 1916 by Parsi entrepreneur Nariman Ardheshir, and has since been run by the Nariman family. It was included in CNN Travel’s 10 vintage Bombay brands in 2010 and is one of the most frequented sweet shops in South Mumbai.
However, this may not be the end of the establishment, as it has faced other problems in the past but managed to sail on. In 2006, the store was shut for months due to a labour strike. The shop remained closed from November 2006 to June 2007 after workers went on strike protesting non-payment of dues, according to this Mumbai Mirror report. In 2008, the workers planned another strike over wage issues, continues the report. The overall production of the farm has also gone down, over the past decade-and-a-half, with the business plummeting from supplying 15,000 litres of milk a day to barely 2,000 litres today, says The Times of India.
The establishment was then revamped a few years later thanks to brothers Bakhtyar, 31, and Sarfaraz K Irani, 28, who joined the family business in 27. A Mumbai Mirror interview quotes them as saying that they focused on marketing, advertising, packaging and new product creation.
Parsi Dairy Farm is not the only iconic eatery from the bygone era struggling to stay afloat. The once popular joints are being fazed out, especially in South Mumbai, as the city moves from ‘brun maska’ to burgers. The Bastani and Co bakery, very close to Parsi Dairy at Dhobi Talao, shut a few years ago. Merwans, a traditional Iranian café at Grant Road was on the verge of shutting down in 2014, however it managed to continue running, along with a handful of other iconic Iranian establishments in the vicinity.
While the future of the dairy as it approaches its centenary year remains to be seen, hopefully we can enjoy a few more years of the malai kulfi and sutarfeni there.

A UN tribunal on Monday asked both India and Italy to “suspend” all court proceedings involving two Italian marines charged with killing of two Indian fishermen in 2012 and also refrain from initiating new ones that might “aggravate or extend” the dispute.

Hearing Italy’s appeal in the case, the President of the International Tribunal on Law of the Sea (ITLOS), Vladimir Golitsyn asked the two countries to submit the initial report in the entire incident by September 24.

The judge said pending a decision by the arbitral tribunal, “Italy and India shall both suspend all court proceedings and shall refrain from initiating new ones which might aggravate or extend the dispute submitted to the…
arbitral tribunal or might jeopardise or prejudice the carrying out of any decision which the arbitral tribunal may render.”

He further said, “Italy and India shall each submit to the Tribunal the initial report…not later than 24 September 2015, and authorises the President, after that date, to request such information from the Parties as he may consider appropriate.”

The 21-member UN-mandated court located in this German city issued the order with 15 in favour and six against. Unhappy over India’s handling of the marine’s issue, Italy took the matter to the ITLOS challenging Indian jurisdiction in the case.

It has pleaded that India must cease to exercise any form of jurisdiction over the Enrica Lexie Incident and the Italian Marines, including any measure of restraint with respect to Sergeant Latorre and Sergeant Girone.

The two marines, who were on board ship ‘Enrica Lexie’, are accused of killing two Indian fishermen on February 15, 2012 off the Kerala coast. ITLOS is an independent judicial body established by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas to adjudicate disputes arising out of the interpretation and application of the Convention.

JAMMU: India and Pakistan must hold their dialogue in a neutral country, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah said on Sunday after the collapse of the NSA-level talks.

“I think the way forward is they can’t talk in this country or in Pakistan. They have to find another third neutral country where they can talk,” the National Conference leader told the media.

“Otherwise I don’t see there is going to be ever any breakthrough between these two countries,” he said.

Islamabad on Saturday axed the talks between the Indian and Pakistani national security advisers after New Delhi strongly opposed to any meeting by the visiting Pakistani officials with Kashmiri separatists.

The former chief minister also said Pakistan needed to realise how terrorism was affecting it.

He said everybody was hoping that something better would come out of the NSA talks in New Delhi and bombing on the Kashmir border would stop.

“I think Pakistan does not realise that how terrorism is eating its own land.

“Every day they also have incidents where lots of people die. If they do not want to stop terrorism, India cannot help,” Abdullah added.

Srinagar, Aug 19 (PTI) The Pakistan High Commission has invited Kashmiri separatist leaders for consultations with Sartaj Aziz ahead of the National Security Advisor-level talks with India in New Delhi next week.

The Pakistan High Commission extended the invitation to the separatist leaders including chairmen of both factions of Hurriyat Conference yesterday.

Spokesman of the Geelani-led faction Ayaz Akbar told PTI that “Chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani was invited for the talks with Pakistan NSA Sartaj Aziz. A decision on whether to accept the invitation will be taken at a meeting of the Hurriyat Conference.”

Akbar said the stand taken by Pakistan was welcome as “they have asserted that there will be no dialogue with India without inclusion of Kashmir issue”.

The moderate faction headed by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq has also been invited to meet Aziz during his visit to India for talks with National Security Advisor A K Doval.

“We are meeting today to take a decision on the issue,” a spokesman of the Mirwaiz-led faction said.

Sources in the Mirwaiz-led Hurriyat said the meeting today was a formality as “We believe in dialogue as a solution for the Kashmir issue”.

“We have met Pakistan officials in the past and nothing has changed in recent times to force a rethink,” the sources said.

India had last year cancelled Foreign Secretary-level talks with Pakistan after its High Commissioner invited separatist leaders for a meeting ahead of the talks.

Doval is scheduled to meet Aziz here for talks on terrorism-related issues for the first time on August 23 in New Delhi, as decided in a meeting between Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif last month in Ufa in Russia.

India is expected to present strong evidence of terrorism emanating from Pakistan highlighted further by recent attacks in Gurdaspur in Punjab and near Udhampur in Jammu and Kashmir.

India’s case is bolstered by the capture of Mohammed Naved Yakub, a Pakistani national and a LeT operative, who carried out an attack on a BSF bus near Udhampur.

In his early twenties, Naved is from Pakistan’s Faislabad area. During the talks, India is expected to share evidence provided by Naved to prove that he is a Pakistani national and crossed-over from Pakistan to carry out terror attacks in the country.

It’s fair to say the controversial spiritual leader Radhe Maa has entered our national consciousness. She is practically everywhere and even ended up being debated on TV by Arnab Goswami which is the universal standard for importance. And now she has her own dubsmash! A guy actually dressed up like her and mouthed her iconic: “I am pure and pious (pice)!” The guy even wore make-up and performed the to the Student of the Year track Radhe On The Dance Floor.

The controversial godwoman has been in the news for a variety of reasons. Born Sukhvinder Kaur in Gurdaspur on April 4, 1965 has been accused of indecent behaviour, abetting suicide, dowry harassment and was banned from the Nashik, Mahakumbha.

Today he is reveling in the huge success of Bajrangi Bhaijaan, has praises and appreciation coming in from all corners and is regarded as a fine actor who has even left a mark on the international shores. However, for actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui, it has been a long journey from a small town called Budhana in Muzaffarnagar, UP to the big glamorous world of Bollywood. On route to his stardom, he worked as a chemist in some petrochemical company, even took up a job of a watchman before finally facing the camera and doing what he does the best – entertain. Nawaz’s success story is not only inspiring but also reflects his passion for his craft, which has brought him so far in his life.

Starting up on his own, with no godfathers in the industry, the actor faced many hurdles and setbacks before reaching where he is today. “I have struggled a lot,” says the actor without any hesitation, he adds, “I have never got things easily. During my struggling days, people around me would get offers and roles for films after a couple of attempts, but even after trying so hard, I was finding it difficult to get work. People kept saying — ‘You are a very good actor.’ But I was hearing that since my theater days — ‘What a performance!’, ‘You are fantastic’ etc, but it never got translated into work, at least initially. It took me so many years to reach where I am today. About 10 – 13 years in Bombay. And 7 years before that in Delhi.”

Elaborating further on his days of struggle, which lasted for over 15 years, Nawaz says, “Times were really bad. I had no money. I used to borrow money from people and then when the time used to come to return it back, I would borrow it from someone else and return it to the first person I had borrowed it from. This cycle of lending money went on for a very long time. I often thought I should go back home, but then felt, people back home would make fun of me. When I left my village to become an actor, many people from my village told me — ‘Kya actor banega, you don’t even look like an actor.’ ‘You need a good body, good looks… you will be wasting your time in Mumbai’, but somewhere deep down I knew this was my calling and I had to pursue it.”

Well, those who have the courage to chase their dreams and passion despite all the setbacks definitely reach their goals. “I always believed that hard work pays. Maybe a little late in life, but hard work certainly pays,” says the National Award winning actor, whose strength during those tough days was his mother.

“My mother was my strength, she once wrote a letter to me in which she mentioned this one particular quotation, which has stayed with me ever since. I remember it had been almost six years since I was struggling in Mumbai to find work, to make a mark for myself. And at that time, my mom sent me this letter, which said – ‘baara saal main kachre ke bhi din badalte hai toh befikar raho, do whatever you want to do just don’t give up.’ When I read that quotation, I was like – abhi toh sirf 6 saal hua hai. It is not 12 years yet. After 7 – 8 years, things finally started working out for me. Every time I used to feel dejected, I used to remember my mom’s quotation. Main yehi samaj raha tha ki main kachra hoon, but one-day things will change.”

And things did change eventually. In 2012, Gangs Of Wasseypur released and Nawaz’s destiny took an about turn. The film not only made people sit up and take notice of this versatile actor but also got him international acclaim. Then came the National Award for his notable performances in films like Kahaani, Gangs Of Wasseypur, Talaash and Dekh Indian Circus. Not only off-beat cinema, but Nawaz is also making his mark in commercial films like Kick, Badlapur and the recently released Bajrangi Bhaijaan. Today Nawaz is at the peak of his career and has set and inspiring example for one and all – that no matter how tiring the road is, once you start on your journey don’t look back till you reach your destination.