On the eve of India’s Republic day, two Parsis are amongst those who are conferred the Padma Awards.

The Padma Shri awards are conferred to Areez Khambatta (posthumously) and Coomi Nariman Wadia

Areez Khambatta was conferred in the field of Trade and Industry and Coomi Wadia in the field of Arts.

Coomi Wadia is recognised internationally as a conductor of choral music, as a judge at music competitions, and for her definitive first performances of new music from across the world, especially from India.

At a time in history when female conductors were rare even in the West, Coomi Wadia was blazing a trail as India’s first female conductor   She rose to prominence with her innate talent and musical brilliance, bringing home the 1st prize for Overall Excellence at the IX International Choral Song Festival in Poland way back in 1974 Today at 89 years of age, she has been the Music Director and Conductor of the Paranjoti Academy Chorus for 55 years since the demise of founder Dr. Victor Paranjoti in 1967.   She was a woman on a mission: to introduce new western choral music into India and open the eyes of the West to the beauty and sonorities of Indian music.

She was a woman on a mission: to introduce new western choral music into India and open the eyes of the West to the beauty and sonorities of Indian music.  For western audiences it was exciting and ground-breaking to see sari-clad women and men in bandh-galas singing western and Indian music. Wadia raised awareness of Indian talent and has been a brand ambassador for India from the 1960s to today.

The musical excellence of the Paranjoti Academy Chorus under Coomi’s baton has been acclaimed internationally. At the “Stuttgart Partnersingen”, a festival of the sister cities of Stuttgart in 1981, Coomi was selected to conduct the final concert with over 700 singers.

Rasna founded by Areez Khambatta is one of India;s leading brand and available across the length and breadth of the country and also available is 53 countries. Rasna has 9 manufacturing plants with ISO 22000-2005, 26 depots, 200 super stockists, 2000 stockists, 3000 sub-stockists, 7 regional offices and available in 1.6 million outlets. The company and the brand are recipient of innumerable awards and accolades.

Khambatta started India’s original start-up by creating the world-famous Rasna brand, which today also quenches the thirst of millions of Indians at an affordable price point of Rs 1.