美国国家公共电台 NPR Parsi Cafes, A Centuries-Old Tradition In India, Are Vanishing（在线收听）

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

Mumbai, India, has been at the crossroads of cultures for millennia. In the 19th century, refugees from Iran fleeing religious persecution opened what came to be called Parsi cafes. At one point, there were 400 of them. Today, there are fewer than 40. Rebecca Rosman visited one of the last Parsi cafes.

REBECCA ROSMAN, BYLINE: The first thing you notice when you walk into Britannia & Co., one of Mumbai's most popular Parsi cafes, is that the place is kind of falling apart. Giant paint chips cake the ceiling. The brown walls are peeling. And the cash register, if you can call it that, is just a series of old wooden drawers.

ROMIN KOHINOOR: Very old-fashioned, very old-fashioned, see. And I don't want to change it because I've got so used to it.

ROSMAN: Fifty-eight-year-old Romin Kohinoor has been working behind this register for four decades.

R KOHINOOR: This is my grandfather's counter bell.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

R KOHINOOR: It's 98 years old, and it is made from British gun metal. See the echo. See the echo.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

R KOHINOOR: Even the restaurant is very old-fashioned - 96 years old. It's all peeling out. It's all dropping. I'm going to put up a board now that you enter at own risk because if something happens, somebody'll hold me liable.

ROSMAN: Luckily for Kohinoor, these quirky interiors are seen as more of an attraction than a liability and so is the food - Iranian comfort food. One of the most popular menu items is a dish called chicken berry pulao - a rice pilaf topped with moist chunks of chicken and stewed in a fragrant tomato sauce, garnished with sour barberries, giving the dish a sweet and sour punch, and served with fresh lime soda. But one of the biggest draws here is the owner.

BOMAN KOHINOOR: I come here every day from 12 o'clock till 4:30. I have been coming here now nearly about 80 years.

ROSMAN: That's Romin's 97-year-old father Boman Kohinoor. Boman's father opened the restaurant in 1923. But every day since Boman was about 16, the chattier Kohinoor has slowly made his way around each table to partake in one of his favorite activities - schmoozing. Today's topics for the endearing owner include Hillary Clinton, the British monarchy and his longevity plans.

B KOHINOOR: You know, the oldest man in the world, he died one year ago. How old was he? One hundred Forty-Six.

ROSMAN: One hundred forty-six.

B KOHINOOR: Yeah.

ROSMAN: Oh, in Indonesia.

B KOHINOOR: Indonesia - I'm going to break his record.

ROSMAN: Kohinoor's great-grandparents came to Mumbai more than 180 years ago after fleeing religious persecution from the dominant religion in Persia - Islam. They were Zoroastrians, one of the oldest religions in the world, founded on three main principles.

B KOHINOOR: Good thoughts, good words and good deeds.

ROSMAN: The hundreds of thousands of Zoroastrians who fled to India became known as Parsis. And in the 19th century, many started opening up these cafes. Now most are gone.

B KOHINOOR: In another 20 years or 30 years, there won't be none.

ROSMAN: The Parsi population is dwindling. Today in India, there are just over 60,000 Parsis. You have to be born into the religion. Zoroastrians don't believe in conversion. But the more immediate problem for families like Kohinoor's is a generational one. Younger people don't want to inherit the long hours and risk of low returns that come with running a restaurant. Even Boman's 58-year-old son Romin Kohinoor admits he is only helping to keep the business going for one reason.

R KOHINOOR: I'm doing this only for my dad. He doesn't want to close this place down. He doesn't want to sell it out. I'm doing it just for him.

ROSMAN: Romin has a 27-year-old daughter Diana. She comes in at the end of each day to do the restaurant's books, a job that requires a computer, meaning it's too techie for anyone else in the family. Diana was studying law at university but didn't really like it. I asked if she would have any interest in taking over the family business.

DIANA KOHINOOR: I would like to because we make good money out here. It's like a set business. It's there since 1923, and I would not want it to end because of me. So let's take it ahead - forward.

ROSMAN: But with her grandfather still going strong, her promotion from accountant to owner may take a while.

For NPR News, I'm Rebecca Rosman in Mumbai.