Shamsunder & Perveez Aggarwal and Vanita Bhandari hosted a gracious Navroze party at their DBS House (Fort, Mumbai), a heritage building right in the heart of the city, winner of the UNESCO award for heritage conservation. Once the property of Jamsetji Tata, DBS House has many a historic tale to tell – if only its walls could speak!
Preserving the Traditions
Preserving the traditions of the past while keeping in step with modern times, is one thing the Aggarwals and their daughter Vanita Bhandari (Director, DBS) passionately believe in.
DBS House was the perfect setting for celebrating one of the most important Zorastrian festivals — Navroze , which marks the beginning of the Parsi new year.
The Navroze Table
Pride of the place was accorded to the ‘Navroze Table’ with its ritualistic items, each signifying a particular blessing for prosperity, love, friendship. The menu was a combination of traditional Parsi and modern cuisine, the dishes specially created to complement each other.
HAFTSIN (Persian) or the 7 ‘S’s is a traditional Iranian spring celebration. Here, the haft sin table includes 7 specific items – all starting with the sin in the Persian alphabet.
The items symbolically correspond to 7 creations and holy immortals protecting them:
- Sabzeh – Wheat, barley, mung sprouts growing in a dish- symbolizing rebirth
- Senjed – Platter of assorted dry fruits- symbolizing love
- Sir – Garlic symbolizes medicine
- Shakar – Iranian sweets – symbolizing happiness
- Somaq – Platter of assorted fruits -symbolizing sunrise
- Seeb – Fruits and apples symbolizing health and beauty
- Serkeh – Vinegar symbolizing old age and patience.
The Guests at the Table
The city’s socialites and well-known business personalities were there to make this a truly special occasion, mixing good food, friendship and conversation. Elegance, hospitality, a certain style – it is evident that the hosts bring these same qualities to their social evenings as they do to business.