The Parsi community, which gave India many of its firsts— first cotton mill in the country, the first Indian-owned newspaper, airline and bank, to name a few—is now gearing up for another first. The Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) and Parzor, a UNESCO project for preservation of Parsi-Zoroastrian culture, have launched a first-of-its-kind academic course on the community’s heritage.

For a group that accounts for a mere 0.06% of India’s population, the ethno-religious minority has pioneered many of the country’s advancements; a fact that President Droupadi Murmu highlighted last week as she greeted the community on the occasion of Navroze on August 15. Despite their many contributions as nation builders, not many outside the community know about their traditions and culture. The hope is that this will change with the TISS-Parzor course.