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Each time advertising-print media executive turned entrepreneur Tinaz Rohilla travelled abroad on official visits, she would come back with handcrafted roosters. "It was instinctive… My house has roosters from all over the world. But my business took a formal shape only after I resigned from my corporate life in The Times of India in late 2021. It was a time of introspection and reflection,” she stated in an interview with Parsiana on April 24, 2023. Parodarsh, the Avestan word for rooster, is what she named her sole proprietorship firm. The business creates and markets artefacts with the rooster motif in various mediums. "Only roosters,” she emphasized.  

Rohilla has created roosters in ceramics, wood, brass, glass, mosaic, stone, marble, laser cut metal, wrought iron, papier mache and on carpets and lamps. Paintings include varied Indian art forms — Gond, Madhubani, Miniature, Mata ni Pichadi, Surpur and Warli. The products are "an extremely comprehensive palette” in terms of art forms. "We have just started and it’s virtually a limitless sky of possibilities.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 "I discovered Zarathushtra’s respect and admiration for the rooster as a bird who stood for courage, steadfastness, truth and light,” she stated. As explained Ervad (Dr) Ramiyar Karanjia, principal of the Dadar Athornan Institute, when Parsiana asked for his comments, "Beneficent animals have a positive role in Zoroastrian teachings, and the rooster occupies a place of pride among them. A rooster is called Paro-darsh in the Avesta, which literally means ‘he who foresees (the dawn),’ because it wakes people up at dawn, seemingly to pray and be industrious.” The bird directs people against the vices of sloth, lethargy and laziness, he wrote, adding, "Being an opponent of vices, a rooster becomes a natural ally of the good forces of the universe. The rooster has a special alliance with Sraosha Yazad (the protector of souls) and is said to be a keen and faithful follower of his.”

The entrepreneur said during the course of her research she realized the rooster holds a unique position in Persian folklore.  She also found that "a rooster was a part of not just Iranian but world cultural heritage… From Japan to Portugal and from remote villages of China to villages of Gujarat and Meghalaya in India, there are stories about the good luck and courage of roosters.” 

Stating that Covid had emerged as a new reality when she quit corporate life, for 52-year-old Bombay-based Rohilla, "the rooster came out as the perfect antidote, a being full of positivity, energy and gumption to wake up each day with excitement and take on life’s challenges with courage and steadfastness… The idea of establishing an online e-commerce company curating rooster handicrafts started taking shape against this background.” She started work on designs and mediums that interested her. This involved searching out award winning artists in different art forms and travelling around the country "discussing my designs and ideas with them, from Kutch to Chhattisgarh, from Srinagar to Madras.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Parodarsh sells its products only through its website https://www.parodarsh.com. At present there are no plans to sell in shops. A store in Bombay is not feasible right now, she stated. "Pop-ups also, not right now, till I establish my brand.” Pop-ups are temporary retail spaces used to introduce a new product line or test a new market.

All products are designed by Rohilla. The designs are shared with artists all over the country who work on producing them in their own comfortable environment. "I and my artisans also leveraged technology and the tens of video meetings and calls I organized were as productive as my corporate calls… The Indian artisan is an extremely adaptive and honest human being. They just need new ideas, color schemes and faith in payments… The handicrafts sector within India is changing at a supersonic speed…  At least at the higher end where you are dealing with educated and established artisans.”

In her business, values are "deeply important,” stated the entrepreneur. "The artisan decides the selling price. I trust their judgment and I do not negotiate after that…In the last two years, there has not been a single occasion of my having been cheated…They ask a fair price…I make 50% advance payment and I always take delivery of all the pieces. If they are not up to my standards, I keep them in my house but the artisan is not burdened with rejects.” Going ahead, Rohilla stated that she is "open to establishing a company with all my artisans as shareholders. Let’s see, how all this takes shape...

"I strongly recommend to all budding Parsi entrepreneurs… start as sole proprietors first… The formation is cheap, super-fast, you have huge autonomy and above all, you can plan your next move in a very organic manner,” the businesswoman advises.

Husband Sanjeev is a chief general manager with the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development. "He is the source of my strength, encouraging me to go ahead and take up all the crazy ideas I come up with.” Daughter Naomi is in England, pursuing her master’s degree at the London School of Economics while son Sheroy is preparing for his master’s degree in information technology overseas while working in a security software company. Tinaz’s father Firoz Daver, a former bank employee, has been the "longest serving secretary of the Ahmedabad Parsi Panchayat,” stepping down this year at age 85. Mother, late Rhoda, was a bank employee too, and a supporter of the Parsi Youth League of Ahmedabad. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Though not a "born-again devout Parsi praying two times a day,” Tinaz believes that Zoroastrianism sits "on the top of the pyramid of world religions.” As a child she was told that "my religion gave the first coded set of societal living norms and individual values rooted in humata, hukhta, and huvarshta (good thoughts, good words and good deeds)...

"An interfaith marriage is a personal choice… only those of such marriages have survived which are deeply secular… Sanjeev is extremely proud of my cultural lineage and both my kids are practicing Zoroastrians… Their navjote was a close-knit family event… My son has his own library of world religions…We celebrate Diwali, Christmas and Navroz with the same lamps and that, within itself, is quite a lesson in life.” 

Tinaz believes that in the days of old, dakhmenashini was a supreme gift of humanity. "Persisting with the same today comes with some questions…We, as an educated community, should come together to question what is important to be questioned and interpret ancient traditions from today’s perspective... The joy and purity of the religion is in spreading the wisdom and making it a truly dynamic living force.”