Batliwala, Bottleopenerwala, Lakdawala, Screwwala, Papadkhao, these are all iconic Parsi surnames. Parsis have a unique tradition of having surnames related to profession, places, and even food.

But what was the reason behind this tradition? If you guess it has something to do with the British then you are absolutely right. During the 1900s, British came up with registration and census laws. Parsis as a community didn’t have any surnames. They migrated to India free from their past identity. But now they were forced to come up with new surnames. Parsis were rather laid back. They found fun and

amusement in everything.

Of course, they took this as fun too. They came up with the most unique surnames, related to their profession (Engineer, Batliwala,), places (Surti, Bharucha) and food (Papadkhao, Kakdikhao).