Medals not only acknowledge excellence
but they also offer an insight into the community’s
history and priorities
Shailen Bhandare
The prize medals instituted by the Parsi community of Bombay present us with an interesting insight into making of the identity of a colonial elite group in a fast-changing urban space. As such they are firmly contextualized in the urban history of a colonial metropolis, reflecting the reformulation and revivalist movements in the community, and also the community’s engagement with the greater good — both within the community and outside. They are testimonies to the drive for wider social engagement, patronage and philanthropy which Parsis took very seriously while remaining true to the chief tenets of the Zoroastrian religion: Good......