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sponsored by a Zarathushti couple

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C o n t e n t s

WZO WEBSITE

www.w-z-o.org

PHOTOGRAPHS

Courtesy of individualswhose articles appear inthe magazine or asmentioned

04 Report presented at WZO AGM - sammy bhiwandiwalla07 Chairman’s statement on WZO (India) presented at AGM08 Darayus Motiwala, WZO Chairman elect09 Washington Post’s reporter behaves irresponsibly11 WZOs Annual Gala Dinner-Dance12 WZOs committee for 201013 Singapore-China Religious & Cultural Exhibition - minaz kanga15 WZO Trust Funds Programme at Navsari16 2009 Parliament of World’s Religions - sam kerr19 9th World Zoroastrian Congress - meher marker noshirwani26 9th WZC - “The Iranian Angle” - navaz bustani30 9th WZC - Connect, Collaborate, Create - sunnu golwalla31 The 2009 Ratanbai Katrak Lectures - farrokh vajifdar38 The Italian Mission in the Yaghnob Valley - antonio panaino42 The Zoroastrian Ethos of Compassion - homi dhalla46 Our Calendars: Real & Fake - farrokh vajifdar50 Bas-relief of Kourash the Great - sam kerr52 A chronicle of Parsis in Mombassa, part II - dara patel54 High Achievers of the Zoroastrian community59 Mhow - jehangir mehta62 Concert to remember Tina Murdoch - zareer masani63 New Membership Form with rates

COVER

Drawing by Anushka Rustomji, p22

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HAMAZOR - ISSUE 1 2010

I n t e r n a t i o n a l B o a r d M e m b e r s

Printed by:A A Graphics1721/31 LAC No 2Karachi 75420Pakistan

Funded by:A Zarathushti couple

Cover design by:Tannaz MinwallaKarachi, Pakistan

Design & layout by:Toxy CowasjeeKarachi, Pakistan

Volume LIV - Issue 1 2010

Note: WZO’s committee is extensive, these are just a few of the names given for member’s convenience

London, England

Mr Darayus S MotivalaChairmanE-mail: [email protected]

Mr Sam HBhiwandiwallaPresidentE-mail: [email protected]

Mr Dinyar ModiHon SecretaryE-mail: [email protected]

Mrs Khurshid BKapadiaMembership SecretaryE-mail:[email protected]

Er Jehan BagliMississauga, CanadaE-mail:[email protected]

Mr Dadi B EngineerPresident, WZO IndiaMumbai, IndiaE-mail:[email protected]

Mr Dadi E MistryNew Delhi, IndiaE-mail:[email protected]

Mr Rustom YeganegiTehran, IranEmail:[email protected]

Mr Darius MistryAucklandNew ZealandE-mail:[email protected]

Mrs Toxy CowasjeeVice PresidentKarachi, PakistanE-mail:[email protected]

Mr Russi GhadialiSingaporeE-mail:[email protected]

Mr Keki BhotePresident, US ChapterIllinois, USAE-mail:[email protected]

Mrs Meher AmerseyMumbai, IndiaEmail:[email protected]


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rom the EditorF

Toxy Cowasjee, 2A Mary Road, Bath Island, Karachi 75530, Pakistan

amazor is back again, after a lapse of four months, carrying scholarly articles and sharing the happenings which have taken place, primarily the much-talked about World Congress at Dubai. A gathering of “who’s who” in the Zarathushti community, with glitter and fanfare, providing all thosepresent a chance to meet up with old friends and tomake new ones. The entertainment was professional aswere the arrangments throughout the four days.

For reasons best known to the Congress organisers, WZO was given the ‘cold shoulder’, despitebeing promised a slot originally. It is a question one has to ask, if associations from smallpockets of Zarathushtis were given a platform to speak from; the four large bodies namely BPP,FEZANA, ZTFE & WZCC were prominently showcased, then why not the only World Body? Anothersurprise was, spouses not born as Parsi-Zoroastrians were not permitted to attend the Congresseven though this event avoided all topics pertaining to religion. Then WHY is the question, asthe excuse for exclusion in the sub-continent, is usually ‘religion’.

We at WZO are very proud for our own Dinshaw Tamboly to be awarded the Congress “CommunityService Award” who heads the WZO Trust in India, and is the ‘clearing house’ for giving charity in thecountry from donations sent to him. Likewise the acceptance speech of Sooni Taraporewalla was bothbold and frank, giving rise to a standing ovation from a packed room of attendees.

I share part of her speech: “... As a Parsi woman, I am nothing unusual. Through the centuries we have distinguishedourselves – we are living proof of a religion and a community that did not discriminate between men and women – who treated theirgirls at par with their boys. Yet despite this history of female emancipation, today if my daughter were to marry a non-Parsi, she andher children would be shunned while if my son were to do the same – we could celebrate his kids’ navjotes with much dhoom dhamat Colaba Agiary (while of course treating his wife, the mother of his children like an untouchable.) And then there are those who say–– ‘Treat both equally. Excommunicate the boys also!’It is a matter of great sadness to me that we, the Parsis of India, who were once at the forefront of reforms, who were the first Indiancommunity to embrace change, seem to be sliding backwards in so many ways – into the dark ages. I believe true spirituality isabout compassion, not cruelty. Let’s bring the kindness back into being Parsi, bring all the women we have pushed away, back intothe fold. We cannot afford to lose them or their children. ...” She said it all, in these brief but honest words.

Some changes have taken place - the timing for publishing the Hamazor will now be end January, April,July and October. Membership fees have been slightly increased but giving the new member moreoptions.

We take this opportunity of wishing you Naoruz Mobarak, a new beginning - one with tolerance,understanding and Hamazori.

h

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We commenced 2009 with confidence andour diary for the year’s social and culturalevents brimming with enthusiasm andcreativity. The Persian New Year celebrationsattracted growing numbers of Iranians whoapplauded our efforts for creating a Persianambiance to the spring Navroze celebrationswith Iranian food, music and a voluptuousbelly dancer thrown in for good measure. InJune we held an evening of lightentertainment with a violin recital by the verytalented Rustom Pomeroy and 13 year oldJessica Mistry on the Bansuri flute assupporting act. Both performers enthralledthe audience with their virtuosity and musicaldexterity and we record our sincere thanks toboth for offering their services free to WZO.

In late August on a lovely summer’s day wesuccessfully managed to squeeze in ascrumptious BBQ at the splendid residenceof our generous hosts Alex and Valerie Burns.This was followed a week later with theShahenshahi Navroze celebrations, anevening of charm and elegance combinedwith good food, wine and music. While thesesocial events brought merriment andtogetherness there was the serious purpose offundraising and I would like to thank mostsincerely all the willing hands who helped andthose who devoted their time in planning andorganising these events and in particular toArmaity and Benafsha Engineer.

On 21st November, Rumi Sethna and his wifeHilda organised the Annual Grand CharityBall. In spite of the present tough economicclimate nearly 135 guests generouslysupported the event and all the proceeds will

Report presented at the WZO AGM -Sunday 13 December 2009, by Chairman Sammy Bhiwandiwalla

Past Chairmen, Mr Shahpur Captain, Ladies and Gentlemen -

Your International Board of Trustees and I are delighted to welcome you to our 29th Annual GeneralMeeting.

be added to WZO’s Education Fund. Thesurprise event of the evening was the gracefuland elegant dance performed by our own ex-All India championship dancers Freny andNoshir Umrigar to the music of theAnniversary waltz on the very day of their50th wedding anniversary. The captivatedaudience showed their appreciation withrapturous applause. To Rumi and Hilda weconvey our sincere thanks for their annualfundraising effort not forgetting their constantcommitment and support to WZO throughoutthe years.

Taking a step back to 6th February 2009, at aspecial awards ceremony, President DadiEngineer of WZO India was awarded a“Lifetime Achievements Award” for his longand devoted services to the Zoroastriancommunity in India. On behalf of WZO UK,President Darayus Motivala presented Dadiwith a magnificent crystal bowl incommemoration of the honour bestowedupon him and we convey our best wishes toDadi for the future.

WZO is dedicated to imparting knowledge ofZoroastrian Religion, History and Culture andduring the year financed and participated infour major international conferences.

The season kicked off in March 2009 with asymposium on Cultural and HistoricalPerspective of Zoroastrian Faith held inToronto, Canada. The FEZANA KhorshedJungalwala Lecture was delivered by ProfOktor Skjaervo on Zoroastrian Literature asa Part of the Cultural Heritage of ModernZoroastrians. Papers were also delivered by


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Prof Jennny Rose on Keepers of the Flame:The Early Zoroastrians of Central Asia, ProfMaria Subtelny on The Water ofOmniscience and the Milk of Knowledge:Zoroastrian Elements in the Apocalypse ofMuhammad and by Prof Jamsheed Choksy onHow a Minority Adapts: Zoroastrians inCeylon/Sri Lanka from Antiquity to thePresent.

In April the Dastur Dr Sohrabji H KutarMemorial Lecture was delivered by DrRukshana Nanji from the University of Puneon the Zoroastrian Migration to India.

WZO’s annual seminar commenced in Juneand lectures were delivered by Dr AlanWilliam on Mythical Reality or HistoricalFiction? Understanding the Real Significanceof the Qesse-ye Sanjn, Dr ConstantinosSandis on Why did Nietzsche chooseZarathustra as his mouthpiece, and Ms ShahinBekhradnia on Zoroastrian Tajiks: Myth orReality?

The Gatha Colloquium held in New York onthe weekend of 27th/ 28th June was a majorcollaboration between WZO-ZAGNY where12 erudite scholars presented their papers onthe Gathas of Zarathushtra to a rapt audienceand was a successful event by all accounts.

All these events were fully reviewed inHamazor. We acknowledge with gratitude theconstant support from Farrokh Vajifdar whoplays a central role in organising lectures andseminars and for his scholarly contributionsto Hamazor. Our sincere thanks also to ErvadDr Jehan Bagli for arranging a very successfulsymposium in Toronto and to ShahinBekhradnia for arranging the annual WZOlecture series.

WZO continues to play a significant role inthe upliftment of many economicallydeprived sections of the Zoroastriancommunity in collaboration with numerous

charities. The Erach & Roshan SadriFoundation, UK, provided £17,500 towardsthe replacement of five mud huts with brickbuilt cottages and £14,285 to five farmingfamilies through the Farmers RehabilitationProject in the rural areas of Navsari. Inaddition a further £15,000 was awardedtowards education in vocational and 1st degreecourses and these funds were allocated toIndia and Iran.

WZO has always believed in serving thecommunities within which Zoroastrians liveand work and one of the projects that has beenvery successful, thanks to the intervention ofToxy Cowasjee, has been to support thecharity CHAL in Pakistan. The devastatingearthquake in the northern regions ofPakistan in 2005 ravaged poor communitiesand impacted severely on the lives of womenand children living in remote mountain areas.The Sadri Foundation very generouslyunderwrote the sum of £10,000 to provideprostheses to children who had lost their limbsas a result of the earthquake and will continueto be assisted by CHAL into adulthood. Weare indebted to the Trustees of SadriFoundation for their constant support andoverwhelming generosity, helping theunderprivileged and deprived sections ofvarious communities around the world.

WZO Trust Funds in India raise substantialsums towards a multiplicity of regenerationand self-help programmes for the communityin South Gujarat. During the year a propertyat Aspar Street, Asparwad, Navsari wasdonated by Mr Kersi F Aspar of Singapore andhis family in memory of his beloved parents.The plot will be used to construct the eighthapartment building for economic housing.The first tranche of funds for the constructionof apartments was received from the Trusteesof Bai Maneckbai P B Jeejeebhoy Deed ofSettlement Fund and the new building wouldbe named: “The WZO Trust Funds – BaiManeckbai P B Jeejeebhoy Building No VI.”Completion is expected to take place by

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around March 2011. To Bachi & DinshawTamboly we convey our immense admirationfor successfully implementing so manyworthwhile projects in India.

WZO relies very heavily on the WorldZarathushtrian Trust Fund, The DasturjiSohrabji Kutar Benevolent Fund and TheFiruz Madon Foundation to carry out itscharitable activities throughout the year. Weoffer our sincere thanks and gratitude to allthe Trustees of all the above Trusts.

The Noshirwan F Cowasjee MedicalBenevolent Fund assists towards the numerousapplications received each year for medical/surgical treatment. We also donate annuallytowards the scholarships awarded by the FaliChotia Foundation, USA, to deservingstudents in North America.

We must of course never fail to thank thenumerous individual donors and supporterswho each year contribute generously towardsworthy causes and with whose help WZO hasgrown to be what it is today.

Hamazor has grown from strength to strengthand its success reflects the creativity anddedication of one person namely ToxyCowasjee. She often prefaces each issue ofHamazor with biting editorials that clearlydon’t mince words when stating the facts andnever fails to raise the journalistic contentwithin to exacting standards.

Sadly I have to state that the costs of printingand postage have escalated over the years andthe free distribution is proving unsustainablein the present financial climate. We aretherefore seeking urgent support from well-wishers and members to become sponsors ofHamazor and no amount is too small to keepthe journalistic voice of freedom in our midst.Through the efforts of Toxy herself I mustinform you that issue 2 and 3 of 2009 weresponsored by two very generous donors of

whom one preferred to remain anonymous.The Committee wishes to expresses its deepgratitude and recognition of Toxy’scommitment and devotion to WZO.

Our sincere thanks to Keki Bhote, Presidentof WZO US Region, for his selfless servicesin North American and his constant supporttowards the future well being of WZO. I wouldalso like to record our thanks to MarziByramjee from Canada who will be steppingdown from the Board at the AGM. Marzihas shown total dedication, commitment andloyalty to WZO throughout his terms of officeand we are sorry to see him go.

I would like to conclude by thanking all thecommittee members who have worked withme over the last five years. I hope you agreethat during these years a lot has been achievedand certainly if one milestone is worthy ofmentioning it is that we were very fortunateto have received and transmitted towardscharitable causes more funds than ever before.Also I think we had a lot of fun andsatisfaction while doing so and long may itcontinue.

In conclusion there are two important mattersI wish to touch on. The first is that we mustmake a concerted effort to find new blood forthe Managing Committee in the UK and Ihope if all goes well a new member will beco-opted at the next meeting. The second isthat there is a lot of unfinished business forthe new year and you should welcome the newChairman and offer him your undividedsupport as soon as he takes up office. q

Sammy Bhiwandiwalla since arriving in the UK was in employment and in 1970, formedhis own company together with his wife Ursula, trading in chemical products for the

foundry and model making industry. After 35 yearsthey have called it a day, with six grand children tooccupy them.Ursula and Sammy always took an active interest incommunity matters in the UK and were greatlyinfluenced by the actions and sincere beliefs ofindividuals such as Noshirwan Cowasjee, ShirinbanooKutar, Shahpur Captain and many others, that in achanging world it was necessary to create a morebalanced and equitable community within the UK. Hewas requested to join the WZO Board and in 1988 waselected as Community Relations Officer. Later he waselected as the Hon Treasurer, followed as the Jt Hon

Secretary and since 2004 the Chairman.


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As I conclude my five year term ofoffice which to all intents and purposeswas a fruitful one, it is particularly sadfor me to mention that WZO (India)set up by one of our own senior BoardMembers Shahpur Captain has beenthe scene of unacceptable conduct byvarious individuals who have been itsoffice bearers at one time or another.

Individuals invited or selected to join anorganisation sometimes ignore the interestsof the organisation by using it to further theirown agenda. There is a loss of focus on theirreal responsibilities and their commitment tothe furtherance of the organisation’s ideals.

Unbeknown to us and over a number of yearsthe committee of WZO (I) failed toimplement the membership clauses passed bya special resolution in 1993. Applications fromintermarried families and their children wererejected contrary to our Articles ofAssociation. More disturbing was thealteration and issuing of new WZOmembership application forms in 2002 and areversal of our membership clause back to pre1993, thereby only accepting’“those who areborn into the faith”.

As per past practice, neither was membershipapplication forms sent to the UK forverification and election by the UK ManagingCommittee to the company’s resister ofmembers and these were serious deficienciesin operating procedures. Not happy tocontent themselves with their actions, someof these committee members were seekingelection to the main Board in an attempt toundermine the organization even further.

The attitude of these members of the WZO(I) committee was in the opinion of the main

Chairman, Sammy Bhiwandiwalla’s statement on WZO(India) presented at the AGM on 13 December 2009

Board, detrimental to the reputation of theWZO and its worldwide membership. It isimportant for a member of the WZO Boardto take a global view of the issues facing thecommunity and not a narrow, parochial one.The issue at the heart of all this was of courseour pristine religion and the practice of it.

For many in our community the pursuit ofreligious knowledge is of minimal interest andwould present an inconvenience to their dailylives. Many rely on the scant knowledgepassed on to them by their parents during theirchildhood and it is enough to be a Parsi or aZoroastrian by birth and little else matters. Itis Parsi-ism and not Zoroastrianism that theysubscribe to.

The prevalence of such attitudes continuesto have dire consequences for our communityand it is these self styled defenders of the faithwho wanted WZO to re-adopt and imposetheir narrowly focused belief system on therest of our worldwide membership. That wastheir agenda and in direct conflict to WZO’sown hard won membership criteria.

In the opinion of the International Board ofWZO a small group of WZO (I) committeemembers, were operating outside therequirements of the UK Company andCharity laws. They were prepared to violatethe fundamental human rights of others injustification of their own beliefs. Theydiscarded democratic rules and challenged thewill of the International Board, which wasunacceptable to the latter. By their actionsthey created conflict unnecessarily makingthe International Board doubly determinedto make sure that such a group could neveragain indulge in activities that are detrimentalto the world wide membership of WZO andits reputation.

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The surge of support from the international membership to protect WZO has been overwhelming bythe number of proxy votes held in favour of the Chairman at the last AGM. Later, we will be seekingyour approval to strengthening our constitution by appropriate changes to it. These changes will ensurethat WZO Board will not experience the situation it had to face this year and that those who wish todisrupt WZO are kept at bay. In the New Year we will engage in discussions with the President ofWZO India so we can resolve the present impasse that exists between the two organizations.

I wish to record my sincere thanks to the International Board for supporting me throughout the yearduring this very difficult time and for their understanding and co-operation in all our actions.

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Darayus Motiwala, WZO Chairman elect, addresses you -

It is indeed a privilege and an honour to be elected Chairman of the

World Zoroastrian Organisation, an organisation that has been an important partof my life for over 16 years. I am very pleased to inform you that WZO will becelebrating its 30th anniversary in the Spring of this year.

Through these years, WZO has gone through a lot of changes, always adapting tothe needs of the Zoroastrian diaspora. In 1993, WZO led the way by opening itsmembership to non-Zoroastrian spouses and their children because of their

significant contribution to our community, particularly in the West. In the pastdecade, we have changed our attitudes to disbursing charity from exclusively toZoroastrians in India to directing it to needy Zoroastrians wherever they are and,

on occasions, to deserving non-Zoroastrian causes. Whilst charity in India will continue to be ourmajor focus for many years to come, we have also been supporting our brethren in Iran, and assisting

Zoroastrians in the West with their medical and educational needs. We know we are on the righttrack with this approach as we continue to receive substantial sums to support our work.

Last year, after close consultation with all the members of the International Board, WZO sought toreview its membership clause to be more inclusive in a changing Zoroastrian Diaspora.

Unfortunately, a couple of Board members chose at the eleventh hour to oppose our plans and triedto impose their views on the worldwide membership. We had to take preventative action againstthem to safeguard WZO’s reputation and integrity. It is my intention to continue adapting thework done by WZO to meet the needs of the Zoroastrian community worldwide.

December end, I was very proud to represent WZO at the 9th World Zoroastrian Congress in Dubai.This was a good opportunity for me to meet many influential Zoroastrians of differing views. Wehad some interesting discussions and I hope that WZO has made some new friends as a result.

Under my Chairmanship, I hope to increase WZO’s membership size and its range of activities. Wewill continue to be inclusive in our approach and respect the view of others. Whilst we have a


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dedicated team on the Board, we cannot do it all by ourselves. We want you to take a more activerole as a member. Initially, I would urge all of you to recruit new members to this organisation asthis will have a greater influence in representing your views. We have made it easier for you byintroducing two new grades of membership; a Family membership which is open to all members of afamily living at a single address and a ‘Friend of WZO’ which is open to those persons who areinterested in WZO and Zoroastrianism but do not qualify under our membership rules. The lattergrade will not have any voting rights.’ Over time I will, through Hamazor, suggest other ways of youplaying your part as a member of WZO.

In the previous paragraph, I alluded to the dedicated team on the International Board on whom Iwill be reliant to help me fulfil my role as a Chairman. Please welcome Meher Amersey and HomiKhusrokhan, both from India, who were elected as Board members at the AGM in December. Iwould also like to take this opportunity in mentioning just a few exceptional persons whose vision

and commitment over the years has helped WZO to be what it is today. Shahpur Captain, afounder member who is always there for us providing a guiding hand from his vast experience as acommunity leader for over 40 years. Rumi and Hilda Sethna who continue to support our activitiesand raise tens of thousands of pounds for us from their Isle of Man retreat. Toxy Cowasjee whosequiet and unassuming manner affects and positively influences the Zoroastrian global community

way beyond her role as an editor of this excellent magazine, Hamazor. And saving the best for last,Sammy Bhiwandiwalla who has worked 24/7 as a Chairman of WZO for the last five years and theresults are very plain for all to see. Sammy is a hard act to follow and I am very pleased and relievedthat he has agreed to remain on the Managing Committee.

I would like to thank you all for your confidence in electing me as your Chairman and I will do mybest to live up to your expectations. Wishing you all a successful and prosperous 2010. May itbring you joy, peace and good health.

Tucker Carlson. Ana Marie Cox. He’s conservative. She’sliberal. They both write for The Daily Beast, he’s acontributor to Fox News and she’s a nationalcorrespondent for Air America Media. They were onlineMonday, Nov 9 to offer their analysis of the Obamapresidency and other goings-on in the world of politics.

Extracted brief:

Silver Spring, MD: I wonder if you two could help me.As you likely know, two tragic shooting rampageshappened last Thursday. Our media did anobsessively thorough job of telling me the first onewas done by a Muslim, but none of the stories aboutMr Rodriquez, the Florida shooter, informed me ofHIS religion. Since I desperately need to know whichfaiths attract dangerous, bloodthirsty animals so thatI can stereotype and steer clear of them, I am left

THE WASHINGTON POSThttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2009/11/06/DI2009110603445.html

Balance of Power with Tucker Carlson and Ana Marie Cox - Political Journalists (Monday, November 9, 2009; 12:00 PM

high and dry by the latter coverage. I’m assuming Rodriquez wasa Christian (as was Mr Cho of Virginia Tech), but the media isterminally shy when it comes to even mentioning if a shooter is“Christian”. How can I know whom to fear and hate when themedia is so spotty in its bogeymongering?

Ana Marie Cox: Well, you are in a pickle, aren’t you! I think youcould save a lot of time and just start being scared everyone - alonely but safe existence, OR you could not assume that themedia has the best judgment when it comes to relevant details.Also, why aren’t more crazy people Zoroastrians?

Not that I want to imply that there’s anything crazy (relativelyspeaking!) about Zoroastrianism, but man does it SOUND scary.Like, just the name, you know? “Zoroaster” could be the villain ina Ghostbusters sequel or something.

Tucker Carlson: ...

Please turn page for immediate response to this slandourous statement vq

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The Editor-in-Chief,Washington Post

25th November 2009

Dear Editor,

Re: Carlson–Cox exchanges on “Zoroaster”For and on behalf of the worldwide Zoroastrian community

composed by Farrokh Vajifdar

It has been brought to our notice that in reporting some low-grade banter in the prestigious Washington Post a deplorably inappropriatereference to Zoroaster as “villain in a Ghostbusters sequel or something” is as childishly vague as it is disquieting.

The puerile exchange between your two journalists makes us despair of seeing your high standards continuing. It indicates to us thatboth parties are overdue for refresher courses. Whilst we are aware that North American villains are all killed off, or bested, or evensuperannuated, there is surely little need to delve into the directory of greatly respected, universal figures from ancient History toreplenish lists where Plato can be replaced by Pluto (the dog, that is), and perhaps now Zorro by Zoroaster?

For your information, Zoroaster, the name by which he is popularly recognized by the intelligentsia everywhere, was Zarathushtra,the Sage of (pre-Islamic) Ancient Iran. His teachings, now realized as timeless and of universal application, are still treasured,revered, and followed by some 150,000 devout followers worldwide.

These teachings are of high ethics and preach only of profound moral values which would undoubtedly benefit a peace-seekingworld. Let it be noted that all great religious systems have assimilated what best suited, and respectfully researched what did not –from Zoroastrianism. The U.S. has several thousands: none of them “villain”ous!

Whilst the misuse and attempted derision of the name Zoroaster for cheap journalistic purposes may well be de rigueur for immaturetabloids, it very clearly ill befits the Washington Post to veer towards such miserly productions. As we are aware, the followers ofour ancient faith, Zoroastrianism, that bears the Founder’s glorious name have brought lustre and increase to all lands wherever theyhave settled over the centuries. True to our beliefs we have followed and respected the Laws of the lands, integrated successfullywith most communities, and have never subscribed to any villainous aspects of any societies.

We trust you will now be enabled to see why we have stoutly defended our Founder Zoroaster’s name against base suggestions fromuninformed figures who, we suggest, should at the very least could have consulted even the most compact encyclopaedia beforemindlessly besmirching Zoroaster, the Washington Post, and even Ghostbusters.

We wish you and all your colleagues the enlightenment that derives from Wisdom. For your added information “Wisdom” exactlytranslates Mazda, our benevolent Deity.

May we progress in Wisdom, Peace, and all Prosperity.

Yours sincerely,

Sammy Bhiwandiwalla, Chairman WZO

The World Zoroastrian Organisation135 Tennison Road, South Norwood, London SE25 5NF

Website: www.w-z-o.org

Charity No. 1023334


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The Hilton, London Gatwick Airport is not the most likely of places to hold a socialevent but its easy accessibility for those flying in to attend make it a great location and quite a few doso. With a very cooperative management and staff always ready to please our guests we can lookforward to a pleasant evening combined with good food, wine and entertainment.

In spite of the economic downturn we were delighted to have 135 guests who were keen to join inthe fun and bid generously throughout the auctions and fund raising games. Compere, BarryWilliams provided his highly entertaining one man show interspersed with some lively dance musicto the sounds of the “Beached Boys”, needless to say, a tribute band to the Beach Boys. The dancefloor was packed and everyone was enjoying themselves not wanting to come off till late in theevening.

The surprise event of the evening was the graceful and elegant dance performed by our own ex-AllIndia championship dancers Freny and Noshir Umrigar to the music of the Anniversary waltz on thevery day of their 50 th wedding anniversary. The captivated audience showed their appreciation withrapturous applause and we thank them both for their impromptu performance.

WZO expresses its heartfelt gratitude to the guests who have supported this event over the yearsand helped make each event as successful as they have been.

We must of course record our sincere thanks to Hilda and Rumi Sethna who journey back to the UKeach year from the Isle of Man for so professionally organising this annual event, not forgetting theirconstant commitment and support to WZO. Their combined efforts have rewarded us withsubstantial sums running into tens of thousands of £’s and this year was no exception with amagnificent £6,000 being allocated to WZO’s Education Fund.

WZOs Annual Gala Dinner Dance - 21 November 2009

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Your committee for the year 2010

WZO Managing Committee

Chairman Darayus S Motivala [email protected] UKPresident Sammy H Bhiwandiwalla [email protected] UKVice President Toxy C Cowasjee [email protected] PakistanHon Secretary Dinyar J Modi [email protected] UKTreasurer Framroze R Joshi [email protected] UKMembership Secretary Khurshid B Kapadia [email protected] UKSocial Secretary Armaity R Engineer [email protected] UKSocial Secretary Benafsha R Engineer [email protected] UKSocial Secretary Noshir J Umrigar UKReligious Co-ordinator Shahin Bekhradnia [email protected] UKGrants Co-ordinator Dr Godafreed S Irani [email protected] UK

International Representatives & Board Members

Canada representative Er Dr Jehan Bagli [email protected] CanadaNZ representative Darius Mistry [email protected] NZPakistan representative Toxy C Cowasjee [email protected] PakistanSingapore representative Russi Ghadiali [email protected] representative Keki R Bhote [email protected] USA

Shahpur Captain [email protected] UKSoonu Engineer [email protected] UKTirdad Sorooshian [email protected] UKRohinton Minwalla [email protected] CanadaRostam Yeganegi [email protected] IranAbtin Sassanfar [email protected] FranceMobed Kamran Jamshidi [email protected] SwedenMeher Amersey [email protected] IndiaDadi Engineer [email protected] IndiaHomi Khusrokhan [email protected] IndiaDadi Mistry [email protected] IndiaMahyar Ardeshiri IranDr Kersey Antia [email protected] USADr Meherwan P Boyce [email protected] USADhunmai P Dalal [email protected] USASohrab R Felfeli [email protected] USA


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It was the 60th anniversary ofthe Singapore Inter-Religious Organisation(IRO) and to commemorate the same, theyhosted a week-long Singapore-ChinaReligious and Cultural Exhibition. This tookplace at the convention centre ofSingapore’s swanky Suntec City from 15thDecember – 22nd December 2009.

Many distinguished guests and speakersvisited the exhibition including HisExcellency, Mr S R Nathan, President ofSingapore. The sprawling convention hallsmajestically ensconced stunning displaysand stalls set-up by each of Singapore’snine recognized religions, as well as manybreathtaking exhibits from China. It alllooked lovely and was definitely poised forsuccess.

Our Zarathushti stall looked dignified, yetstunning and was the cynosure of manyeyes, including those of our little visitors.The afarganyu, cleverly lit from below withhalogen bulbs, was fitted with an in-builtfan, which when switched-on, blew theorange and red “flames” in a most elegantand majestic fashion, so real from afar, thatit truly was a crowd-puller.

As always, we’ve wished to spread theword and to spread our wings. FarrokhVajifdar was invited by us from England,which was sponsored by WZO in total, togive a talk at the venue as was the casewith scholars from most other religions,whose booths were on display. Mr Vajifdaris a scholar who spearheaded the first everGatha Colloquium in England, sponsored bythe WZO in 1993. The WZO’s SecondGatha Colloquium in New York, June 2009,was his happy collaboration with ZAGNY’sDr Lovji Cama.

On 19th December, 2009 at around 5:00pm,Mr Vajifdar ascended the podium to delivera speech on his topic of choice, entitledThe Smallest Great Religion.

Singapore-China Religious & Cultural Exhibition

Minaz Kanga, Secretary of the Parsi Zoroastrian Association of Singapore, reports

He opened with a quote from the Germanpolitical philosopher Karl Marx who said,“Religion is the opium of the people.” He went onto explain that what Marx intended by thiswas that religion was meant to contain andnot ameliorate the social ills of his times.

He drew this parallel to the beginnings ofour own great religion, wherein a similarscenario of societal division andimpoverishment prevailed at the time ofZarathushtra, who Mr Vajifdar describes asthe Sage of ancient Iran. The Sage strovefor social justice, not social equality – hewas too focussed a realist to succumb toegalitarian pretensions.

He spoke of a pre-Zarathustra Bronze Ageand the ruling priesthood, who used religionas a tool for keeping the economicallyunderprivileged submissive and compliant,who shrewdly claimed to mediate forfavours with a number of “gods”.

He indicated the date and homeland ofZarathushtra, who according to the Gathas,lived amongst a predominantly pagan,settled society with traditionally polytheisticworship. Cattle and crops were themainstays of the economy. He explainedhow Zarathushtra formulated the FirstAnimal Rights Charter in promoting animalwelfare through man s proper awarenessand compassionate behaviour.

Mr Vajifdar threw light on Zarathushtra’soriginality. “Recognising the divine in allbeings, (Zarathushtra) made no claim todivine or semi-divine status and was a“Truth-speaker and not a foreteller”, hesaid to the idea of Zarathushtra being calleda prophet.

Our esteemed speaker enlightened us onZarathushtra’s ideology of a puremonotheism. He further elaborated saying,“… while his precepts were addressed to the elite theywere fully intended for universal dissemination.”

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Mr Vajifdar went on to explain ancestor-worship, tracing the origins of the ideologyof the fravashis and bringing it into clearmeaning for the present day. He spoke ofhow highly significant it is that in his poems,Zarathushtra never invoked the fravashisnor used the commonplace term “baga” forGod. He explained Zarathushtra’sapproach to Mazda in his poems “as friendto friend” (Ys. 46.2) and that suchimmutable friendship could never besustained through fear but in love and truth– both integral to Mazda’s personalityand not separate from Him.

Vajifdar says that in our approach to AhuraMazda, we should relate to Him through hisvarious aspects or agencies, chief amongwhich are Truth, also defined as Justice,Order, Rightness and the Good Mind, whichactivates these in man in all aspects of histhinking and behaviour. In thus aspiring tothe Divine, man himself becomes divine.

His speech threw light on the explanation ofterms like Asha and the twin PrimordialPrinciples of good and evil and what placethese hold in our great religion. “There existsfree will by which man is free to choose – thisfreedom of choice is towards either good or evilmodes of life”, Mr Vajifdar laid great emphasison the fact that each of us must takeindividual responsibility and accountabilityfor our own actions.

He spoke of our religion giving equal regardand rights to both men and women and alsoshed light on the concepts of Life and thesupposed Afterlife, and how the meaningbehind these concepts became changedover the centuries.

He further explained several other aspectsof the religion including its close relationshipwith science, the ideology behind dying anddeath, the modes of disposal of the dead,and shed further light on different verses ofthe Gathas with their meanings.

He went on to explain the means oftransmission of the religion over the centuriesand how the Iranian establishments spreadfar and wide in practically every global

direction. He spoke of the symbolism of theNavjote ceremony and the mode of worshipessentially being non-congregational. Hespoke of our festive and religious gatheringsalways being joyous affairs and also gave adeeper insight into the eclectic Iranian andParsi cuisines.

All in all his talk was extremely enlighteningand a pleasure to attend. I truly wish wehave many more speakers like him to learnfrom. His knowledge is deep and he impartsthrough happy notes. Likewise, I am goingto leave you on the very same note onwhich Mr Vajifdar wrapped up his speech.He asked the audience, “Do you know who arethe most dangerous people in the world?” Wheneveryone decidedly stayed silent his answerwas, “Little Zoroastrian ladies who write big cookbooks!”

Minaz Kanga was born andbrought up in Mumbai. Aftergraduating in Interior Design,she took-up a unique job as adesigner of pilot flight chartsfor Swissair. Alwaysinterested in languages shethen pursued further studies inGerman and has translatedmany works from German toEnglish. She has a love forwriting and is currentlypursuing a course in freelancejournalism from the BritishCollege of Journalism.

Dastur Meherji Dastur Kaikobad Meherjirana,of the renowned Meherjirana ‘gaadi’ of Navsari, passedaway on Saturday 23 January 2010, at the Surat Hospitalwhere he was taken on Friday night feeling uneasy. Hewas 73. Dastur Meherjirana, a staunch traditionalist, wasperhaps the last incumbent holder of the Meherjirana‘gaadi’, which was founded by the first Dastur Meherjiranaduring the reign of King Akbar in the 16th century.

Dastur Meherjirana was a great upholder and defenderof our faith as have been his ancestors, a gentle soul withgreat compassion towards all of creation. The Meherjiranafamily have been at the fore of ensuring that the religionand its customs and above all its values continues till thepresent day. The Dastur had the priviledge of seeing oneof his dreams coming to completion a few months ago,with the Meherjirana Library Annexe. For his work anddetermination to protect the manuscripts of the Library,the Dastur deserves the gratitude not only of theZoroastrians but of historians and culture specialists allover the world.

Dastur Meherjirana was one of the only six Parsi HighPriests in the world.

The International Board of Trustees of the The WorldZoroastrian Organisation offer their sympathies to theMeherjirana family and the loss to the Zoroastriancommunity.

In Memorium

Please turn to page 41 for update


15

Every year, since the last six years,WZO Trust Funds have been hosting aprogramme at Navsari when brightZoroastrian students who have performedwell in academics, are felicitated, as ameasure of encouragement and motivation.

On 2nd January 2010, a programme wasorganised by members of the LocalCommittee of WZO Trust Funds when notonly were students felicitated, buteducationists, teachers, support staff whohave been involved in the noble professionof education for 15 years & more and 25years & more were also acknowledged andfelicitated.

Dr Mehroo D Bengalee, Hon Member,National Commission for Minorities cameespecially to Navsari as Chief Guest for thefunction. Mr Yazdi N Karanjia, notededucationist, writer, stage artiste and socialworker was the Guest of Honour. VadaDasturji Meherji K D Meherjirana,accompanied by his wife Mehroo and theDistrict Magistrate and Collector of Navsaridistrict Mr D P Joshi were also honouredguests at the function. Mr Sam Vesuna,President of Zoroastrian Society of Ontario,Toronto, visiting Navsari on that day was avery welcome guest.

The programme commenced with a welcomesong specially composed for the occasionand rendered by children of Sir J J Primary(English Medium) school at Navsari.Thereafter, Trustee Dinshaw Tamboly,welcomed the honoured guests, introducedthem to the audience and felicitated themwith flowers, shawls and mementos.Expressing gratitude to the educationistswho had served in the noble profession for25 years and more, he remarked thateducation should be viewed as aninvestment and not as an expense. He alsosaid that education was the backbone ofprogress, the promise of peace & prosperity,the instrument of liberty and the foundationto build the lofty structure of a nation on.

WZO Trust Funds Programme at Navsari

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Report filed by the local Committee at Navsari of WZO Trust Funds

Pauruchisti Kadodwalla, Principal of Sir J JSchool informed the gathering that DinshawTamboly had been given an award for‘Outstanding Community Service’ at therecently concluded WZC held at Dubai. Thenews was applauded by the vast gathering.Dr Mehroo Bengalee, in her addresstouched upon the various issues thateducationists have to contend with in thepresent times and exhorted the 80 oddeducationists present to pursue their nobleprofession with dedication, imparting soundeducation through which youth can build asound future.

Guest of Honour Mr Yazdi Karanjiasuggested to the students to imbibe goodfamily values; his message to parents wasto help their children overcome stress factorthrough understanding and participation.His talk was laced by his outstanding senseof humour.

WZO Trust Funds felicitated 80educationists, 47 Zoroastrian children inNursery & KG, and 270 Zoroastrian childrenfrom 1st standard to final year in college,who had ranked 1st, 2nd & 3rd amongstZoroastrian students in their respectiveclasses.

A function of this dimension requiresconsiderable planning, which was ably donethrough a band of volunteers. Thereafter, aplay Albelo Parsee, written by Piyush Bhattand directed by Rumi Baria, both wellknown artists in Navsari, was presented.The curtain rung down on a very enjoyableevening by the rendition of Chaiye HameZarthosthi sung by one and all present inthe function.

Dinshaw Tamboly awarding a prize winner

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This part of the article relatesbriefly the ‘happenings’ during the GlobalInterfaith Meeting in the newly builtConvention Centre in Melbourne. I havededicated it entirely to the Zarathushtis ofMelbourne, who workedtirelessly as our hosts to makethe 10-day meeting a reallyjoyous one. We, the visitorshave really appreciated theirefforts. They stretched theirdaily courtesies most times tothe point of extreme fatigueand at the cost of their ownfamily welfare just so our stayremained comfortable. Duringmy many visits to Zarathushtisettlements and Zarathushticonferences throughout theworld I have, truly, notexperienced gestures offelicitations anywhere nearsuch a genuine and generous Zarathushtispirit.

Their arrangements for the overseas visitorsfrom around the globe as guests in theirhomes were attended to in great detailincluding the particular requirements ofeach visitor, their daily transport at splitsecond timing through the peak hour trafficto reach the Centre by 7:30 am and returnlate at night and genuine concern about ourgeneral welfare and comfort. RohintonRivetna of Chicago, one of the Foundersand Trustee of the Parliament with his vastexperience was the main guiding voicethrough the 15 month Zarathushtipreparation. Perviz/Nergish Dubashworked tirelessly not only to keep the likelyvisitors informed at all junctures, but alsosometimes even appeasing them afterminor email misgivings.

The well-prepared Zarathushti exhibitionbooth was entirely of their making and cost.

b y s a m k e r r

Zarathushti involvement and participation

Part 1There was no spare time left to accept themany dinner invitations during these hecticdays.

The reception laid out for us at the

Communities Night was really lavish,reminiscent of a Zarathushti weddingoccasion (as commonly experienced inMumbai). It was also associated with ashow - skits, dances and songs in Farsi andGujarati.

The newly built massive Convention Centre,with its state of the art facilities is the mostmodern and the largest I have so far hadthe privilege to participate in, during aglobal conference. The proceedings, whichcommenced 8 am daily and continued asthe evening Plenary Sessions lasting wellafter 9 pm, created a unique experience ofa life time.

The opening plenaryThe Religion of Zarathushtra being theoldest monotheistic faith was given the firstplace in the opening Plenary Session. Ourenacting of the welcoming ‘ZarathushtiBlessing ceremony’ was initiated by theincredibly moving orchestral strains of Thus

2009 Parliament of World’s Religions - Melbourne, Australia

Our Melbourne hosts with participants for PWR


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Sprach Zarathushtra by Richard Strauss aswe entered the stage and formed two lines.The children were in front - girls in floraldresses, the boys in white clothes andtopi, men dressed in the traditional whiteclothes with pheto or pagri and the womenin their colourful garas. Prompted by Ervad

KaivanAntia werecited thewords ofour prophetaudibly andin unison asanappropriatefinale to themusic and aprolongedapplause.

DailymorningObservances:Day 1 & 2 -

After a brief introductory narrative we beganby performing the daily morning KustiPadyab prayers followed by and a symbolicJashan ceremony demonstration by ErvadKaivan Antia and Ervad Armin Dumasia.

The following is a briefdescription of the Zarathushtiparticipation:

Panel discussions 1 on Z-stewardship for all Creations,the animate and the inanimate.The panel moderated byRohinton Rivetna was wellrepresented by Dr Homi Dhalla,

Homi Gandhi, Pervin Mistry and RashnaGhadialy. Drs Homi Dhalla and HomiGandhi presented an incredibly largenumber of valid instances from our holyscriptures. Rashna Ghadialy from Chicagolisted her own experiences and relatedthem to passages from our scriptures.Pervin Mistry of New Zealand contributedpassages from the Avesta regarding ourcare for all Creations.

Sharing The Zoroastrian EnvironmentalistFaith: Building Bridges with IndigenousCommunities, Rashna Ghadialy a researchscholar showed her heart rendering andconcerned involvement with the Pakistan‘Tharis’, tribal indigenous Hindus living onthe remote fringes of the Thar desert of oldRajputana. Her powerpoint presentationwith photographs showed her genuineconcern about this generally isolatedcommunity. As a dedicated ‘greeny’ it wouldbe interesting to read about her postParliament experiences in the Rain Forestof Tasmania.

Panel discussions 2 on Zs – their imperativeas Bridge Builders was moderated byArnavaz Chubb. Perviz Dubash gavedocumented instances in Gathic verses.

Dolly Dastoor gaveilluminating instancesamong Zarathushtiphilanthropists in Indiaand elsewhere, helpingpeoples of all creeds.Young KayzadNamdarian, who has justbeen awarded theprestigious prize - theKarmaveer PuraskarAward, Global Indian

The Religion of Zarathushtra being the oldest monotheistic faith was given the first placein the opening Plenary Session.

Symbolic Jashan with Homi Ghandhi, HomiDhalla, Rohinton Rivetna standing l to r.

Panel 1- L to R : Rashna Ghadialy, Homi Gandhi, Pervin Mistry, Homi Dhalla, Rohinton Rivetna.

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b y t o u r a j d a r y a e e

Category, as a “Noble Laureate” for his ‘e-activism and e-donation drive to end worldhunger’ did an excellent job in his modestdrive, building useful bridges in thecommunity and outside. I spoke a bit aboutmy own life experiences on the variouscontinents I worked, both in and outside myown profession.

The Many Faces of Peace by Homi Dhalla -an amazing study of statistical datapresenting a large number of instancesaround the world (as a powerpointpresentation) where injustice prevails andwhat can be done to address each situation.He showed how understanding anddialogue can bring an end to conflicts roundthe world.Sharing Wisdom in Search of Inner andOuter Peace – Homi Dhalla took part in adeeply thought inducing group discussion.Again he showed his passion for a cause heso relentlessly pursues.

The Ethos of Compassion. Homi Dhallaonce more showed his zeal and immenseknowledge of his contacts with the underprivileged and exploited peoples of theworld and his role in their emancipation. Ifollowed him to do my bit on Cyrus theGreat’s role as a humanitarian to bringtogether peoples of vast cultural differencesand spiritual persuasions in his enormousEmpire during a by-gone archaic age.Zoroastrian Benediction: Ervad Kaivan Antiaand Ervad Armin Dumasia recited a

q

Panel 2 - L to R: Perviz Dubash, Dolly Dastoor, Sam Kerr, Arnavaz Chubb, Kayzad Namdarian.

passage in Avestan from Doa tandrosti -Daham afriti with English translation.During Achaemenian times, commencingwith Daraius I’s rule, this benediction wasrecited solemnly by the Pontiff (Mobedan-e-Mobed) of the Empire with great tellingeffect in the presence of the Great Kingeven before the King spoke and

proceedings of the Courtcommenced. It was abenediction for happiness andharmony in a structured societyguided by a righteous order. Itreads: “In this house mayunderstanding obedience (Sraosha)overcome ignorant disobedience; mayharmony displace discord andgenerosity of spirit triumph overcovetous avarice; may respect replacederision and open honesty displacedishonesty. And, above all, may theRighteous Order prevail over the webof deceit and bring consequentialhappiness to all.”

Zoroastrian Blessings recited by Arnavaz Chubbat the Closing Plenary Session :I believe there is interfaith harmony inMelbourne when, like sugar softly sweetensmilk we dissolve into the fabric of Australiansociety enriching but never overpowering,contributing but not confronting, co-existingnot isolated, unified but still preserving ouruniqueness.

When through the co operation andcommitment of all the diverse cultures thatmake up this magnificent city, Melbourne,we are one in justice, one in truth, one inright action and the stream of clearreasoning leads to understanding, toleranceand respect towards all.

Fellow of the RoyalSociety of Medicine(London) and of severalColleges of Surgery, SamKerr was Surgeon/Lecturer, the Universityof NSW and CollegeHospitals, Sydney from1968 to 2003. He isnow Emeritus Surgeon atthe University andHospitals. He hasinitiated/been a foundingmember - AZA of NSW,Sydney. In addition tohis professional writing hehas lectured/published onthe social, cultural,historical and scripturalaspects of the religion ofZarathushtra.

Zoroastrian booth


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They wore gara’s and silksari’s, duglees and suits, and came fromdifferent parts of the world. The old and theyoung, the liberal and the orthodox, and forfour days they honoured their past,reinforced their identity as Parsi’s, united asZarathushtis, and pledged to uphold thetenets of their faith; Humata, Hutaka,Havarasta.

The 9th World Zoroastrian Congress (WZC)was held at the Crown Plaza, in Dubai from28th - 31st December 2009. Its theme “Unitythrough the Sands of Time” focused onbringing participants together to discussvarious issues confronting the Zarathushticommunity. The atmosphere in the hotelwas one of celebration, old friends meetingeach other in the lobby, Gujrati spoken in thelifts, and as more and more Parsis checkedin, the noise level in the hotel rose to festiveproportions. The aim of the Congress was “acelebration of not only our rich past, but whatwill bind us together in the future; a celebrationof the community’s resilience and strength andits contribution to the world”.

Pre Congress Activities

The Pre Congress activities began on 27thDecember with a meeting entitled “ComingTogether Round Table Conference” (CTR)which set the stage for the Congress. Itexplained the spirit of the Congress asHamazor, a concept which means “united inspiritual energy”. This meant the innerstrength essential for being assertive andaffirmative. In order for Hamazor to work weneed to have empathy for others,irrespective of their beliefs and learning’s. Inorder to develop empathy it is essential tounderstand and tolerate each other. Andsince those in leadership positions inZoroastrian organizations around the worldwere present, it emphasized that leadershipdemands responsibility. The theme of the

forumfor information sharing, dialogue andcollaborative action, among Zarathustis in Iranand India and in the Diaspora. The objective ofthe CTR is for the regional leadership to assumea pivotal role in setting future direction. Thefive Goals of the Congress were introduced:Youth, Women, Entrepreneurship, CommunityOrganizations, and Medicine”.

The Chair of the Congress, Meher Bhesaniawelcomed the participants to the 9th WZC.

She said750delegateshadregistered,and thisWZC wascommem-oratingthe 50thAnniversaryof theWZC’swhichbegan in1960. Thespirit oftheCongress

was to listen to each other, and focus on theneed for harmony in the community. Anunderlying issue of the Round Tablediscussions was to avoid conflict and worktowards unity within the community. Therewas a large delegation from Iran, whospoke Farsi, and emphasized theimportance of language as a unifying threadwithin the community. As the speaker of theIranian Anjuman said “if you lose yourlanguage you lose your religion”.

9th World Zoroastrian Congress - Dubai 28th - 31st December 2009

by meher marker noshirwani

CTR was “Connect, Collaborate, andCreate” and the genesis of the CTR’s wasexplained. This was based on a realizationwhich emerged during the 8th WZC in2005, on the urgency of keeping the globalcommunity connected. “The CTR serves as a

Meher Bhesania, Congress Chair

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Although the Congress team emphasizedunity and harmony, there was a distinctsense of issues which divided thecommunity. The differences between theIranian Zarthushti’s and the Parsis, and theopinions of the orthodox and the liberal,were underlying strains which threatened tosurface every so often in the discussions.And although controversial issues wereavoided, these must be addressed if thecommunity is to retain its diversity andstrength in the future. During the PreCongress session there was also a focuson the importance of communication as ameans to network within the community, touse technology to create more effectivechannels of communication among thediaspora, and to share information aboutvarious Zarathushti organizations. Thiswould enable Parsis all over the world tomaintain contact with each other, andprovide a space for the exchange of newideas. Community projects in various partsof the world were reviewed, and newinitiatives identified. Promoting the languageand alphabet of the ancient Iranian culture,collection of demographic statistics, andsupporting initiatives such as Z-net andNextGenNow, were discussed.

In the afternoon a Khushali nu Jashan washeld at the Astoria hotel, where mobed’sfrom Udwada, Mumbai, and Dubai,performed a Jashan to initiate theCongress. It was a moving ceremony withthe Vada Dasturji from the Iranshah inUdwada leading the prayers. Throughout

the Congress thepresence of the mobedsmaintained a spiritualtouch to the activities.Meher Bhesania honouredthe mobeds and said “theyhave kept the spirit of ourculture, customs andtraditions alive and are thebeacon of light for ouryounger generation.” TheJashan was followed bytea and traditional maleda.A WZCC Pre-AGMmeeting was held in theevening which was a

closed session. Registration formalities tookplace, and registration packs were providedin colourful bags with a book on the WZC,elegant file holders, ID cards, WZC pins,and lots of perfume, were eagerlyreceived by the participants.

Day 1

The Congress was officially opened withprayers, the Congress Anthem, and theunfurling of the Congress flag. The Anthemhad been written especially for the 9th WZCand the words to the song were placed onthe tables in front of all participants. TheOpening ceremony was held in the BanquetHall, and elegantly arranged. The lighting ofdiva’s, silence during the prayers, themobeds from Iran, Udwada, Bombay andDubai, who symbolized Zoroastrianism,created an atmosphere of unity, pride in ourheritage, and reinforced our identity. In theWelcome address Meher Bhesania said that“the community is ready to take on the futureand the challenges it holds”. She explainedthe reason why Dubai had been chosen asthe venue of the WZC because it was “asalute to Zoroastrians, who like the city ofDubai, have shown progressiveness and thespirit of innovation, while retaining theirculture and values”. Messages fromPresidents, Prime Ministers, Sponsors, and

Lighting of the divas, courtesy Roshan Rivetna

Khushali nu Jashan


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Heads of Zoroastrian organizations wereread out. Each message praised the Parsisfor their high achievements andcontributions to the countries they lived in.

This was followed by the Keynote addressdelivered by Lord Karan Bilimoria, CBE, DL.In his address Lord Karan captivated theaudience by his inspiring speech. Heacknowledged our forefathers, who hadbeen a part of the British Parliament in thepast. Dadabhoy Naoroji, Bhownaggree, andSaklatvalla, and honoured current leaderslike Ratan Tata. Lord Karan said he had “stood on the shoulders of giants”, and praisedthe Parsi community for having “achieved somuch with so little”. He stated that withgreat opportunity comes phenomenalresponsibility, and that the Zoroastrian faithand credo of “good thoughts, words anddeeds”, are guiding principles for action. Hereferred to poverty in India as a challenge,and emphasized the spirit ofentrepreneurship among Parsis withreference to the Tata Nano, and quotedMahatma Gandhi who said the Parsis were“in numbers beneath contempt, in achievementsbeyond compare”. Lord Karan’s speechbrought together the tenets of the religion,and reinforced the identity of the community.

A film Footprints on the Sands of Time wasviewed, which traced Zarathushti historyand the migration of Zarathushtis to othercountries. A ballet entitled Unity in Diversitywas also performed. This was an enjoyabledance, which began with the Kissa–e-Sanjan, and traced the migration from Iran

to India, and beyond. Later that evening, wewere entertained to more contemporarymusic and dance from Broadway musicals,and a fashion show. Keeping to the loveand appreciation Parsis have of the theatreand music the first day provided a wonderfulbalance of food for thought, and music forthe soul. As for food for the sheer pleasureof eating, the breakfast, lunch and dinnerprovided throughout the Congress rangedfrom eastern to western cuisine. The longqueue’s for food were ample evidence ofthe fact that good food plays a great part inour lives in any part of the world.

The more serious business of the Congresstook place through the sessions:Zoroastrian – Vision 2010 and Beyond, theDNA code, and Operation Eyesight a charityinitiative. These focused on presenting ablue print for the community, and theidentification of religion, demography,entrepreneurship, health, women,community organizations, youth, andsupporting the poor, as a roadmap forcommunity leaders to follow. Results ofsurveys conducted illustrated the issuesprevailing within the community. Thedeclining population, lack of housing, healthof women particularly breast cancer, areamong problems faced by Parsis today.

Speaking of developing the character of anindividual, the main message to theparticipants was, “watch your thoughts, theybecome your words, watch your words theybecome your actions, watch your actions theybecome your habits, watch your habits theybecome your character, and watch yourcharacter they become your destiny”. A sobermessage to the younger generation ofparticipants.

Lord Karan Bilimoria

Ballet - Unity in Diversity

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The youth were given a fair amount ofspace at the Congress to discuss, debate,and share their ideas on theirachievements, their projects, and theiraspirations. Web sites were identified,mentoring by the leadership in businesswas emphasized, ways of applying forsupport for higher education, and medicalproblems were shared. The WZC YouthInitiative focused on technology, youthoutreach and promoting social networks.The Zoroastrian Trust Funds for Europementioned how Gujrati classes for childrenhad been started, and the Youth LeadershipEnhancement Programme (YLEP)presented its projects. Finally, a session inFarsi on the Zoroastrian community in Iranwas held which gave the Iranians a feelingof inclusion at the WZC.

More entertainment was provided in theform of Astrological Predictions for 2010every lunch time. A hilarious account ofeach star sign by Bejan Daruwalla, kept uslaughing between meeting old friends andmaking new ones during the lunch breaks.Sightseeing tours were arranged, and theYouth Bash with DJ Scorpio, kept us goingtill the early hours of the morning.

Day 2

A lavish breakfast appeared on the 3rd floorevery morning at 7am. I usually wentdownstairs at about 8:30am, to find therooms full of women in sari’s, men induglees, eating akoori and drinking tea.Even at that hour of the morning we Parsiskeep to our traditions.

The previous day’s activities continued, withthe youth developing their plans further in asession on Youth Vision. A Trade Show wasopened by the CEO of Emirates, and we allmet in the plenary to listen to Nadir Godrejspeak on the spirit of entrepreneurship. Thiswas another inspiring session, sinceMr Godrej spoke in verse. His entire speechwas in the form of a poem encapsulatingthe spirit of Parsi entrepreneurship. It wasan enjoyable and thought provokingsession. This was followed by presentationson business, trade, and economic issues.

Lord Karan Bilimoria discussed thecontributions of Zarathushtis to WorldEconomies and urged the community toremember our past glory, but to continue tobuild towards a sustainable future. Thesessionswereinforma-tive,andeachspeakerreferredto thetrem-endousachieve-mentsof theParsis.In“Meet the Titans” the youth were given achance to ask specific questions to KaranBilimoria, Neville Shroff, and Nadir Godrej.However, this would have been more usefulif we had been able to have an informalsession with these individuals. Each of themhad so much to contribute and we couldhave learnt from their experiences if theparticipants and particularly the youngerpeople had been given the opportunity tocommunicate with them directly.

The afternoon sessions focused onWomen’s issues, Women Power,Zoroastrian Women’s InternationalNetworking (ZWIN), PARZOR, and a finallypresentation by FEZANA.

The ZWIN meeting was a disappointmentsince the session was cut short because theroom was needed for the WZCC AGM, andwe did not have time to discuss anythingsubstantial. Dr Zareen Karani Araoz, andDolly Dastoor made a presentation onZWIN’s projects, such as the ZEALprogramme, creating awareness aboutbreast cancer, and the need to revive socialsupport to the elderly. The turnout for thissession was good and many womenattended, but it was not well organized, sowe felt it was a lost opportunity. A sessionon Women Power was being held in the

“Meet the Titans”


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Plenary, which paid tribute to the role andcontributions of Zoroastrian women. DrDhun Noria, emphasized education,urbanization, and generational transfer oftradition and knowledge as the mainreasons for Parsi women having achievedso much professionally. However, runningbetween rooms to capture all theinformation in two back to backpresentations was not constructive. Eventhe PARZOR project which was thehighlight of the day was held in a smallroom, and should have been in the plenary.

PARZOR, presented by Dr Shernaz Cama,is a unique project begun in 1999 withUNESCO support. It focuses on revival andpreservation of the culture and traditions ofthe Parsis. Oral histories, documentation oftextiles, preservation of manojats,photographs, and research are conductedby the PARZOR team. Dr Camaemphasized the importance of our oraltradition which is disappearing, and theurgency with which we need to capture it.She said a rich legacy lives in the minds ofthe older generation, and we need to recordmemories and information before it is lostforever. She spoke of the threat to the

“Parsi Gujrati” language, and told us that inthe next few generations this too will also belost to the community. She appealed to theyounger generation to help in the research

Boman Irani at a serious moment

PARZORs stall

PARZOR wasconducting, andplayed somerecordedmanojats, whichmany of us hadlast heard ourgrandmotherssing to us asbedtime lullabies.PARZOR also hadan exhibition of itsproducts ondisplay. Exquisitehandmade garaembroidery onbags, stoles,mobile covers, anddiaries were

exhibited.

The FEZANA presentation showcased theorganization and the community in NorthAmerica who were firmly committed tostrengthen the Zarathushti community in theUSA.

Throughout the Congress, there was aconstant mention of the past which provided

a strong reference point for those of uswho live in an increasingly globalisedworld. Every speaker throughout theCongress spoke of our “roots” andemphasized the need for the community toretain its identity, while contributing to thecountries we live in. Over four days ofhearing these sentiments expressed it ledto a sense of pride among all those at theCongress, and will continue to guide usinto the future.

The evening was a hilarious show byBoman Irani who kept us in splits oflaughter, with his koilah jokes about theParsis and Iranian Zarathustis. This wasfollowed by the Gala Awards and musicand dancing till late night. By this time theatmosphere was one of constantcelebration, enjoyment, thinking over the

interesting presentations heard through theday, and a complete reinforcement of beinga Parsi/ Zarathushti. The only aspect wewould have benefited more from is, if there

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had been direct interaction with thespeakers.

Day 3

Another day of events and excitement at theWZC. This time the focus was on theyounger generation, the new leaders of theParsi community. Enthusiastic, articulate,energetic, and committed, young men andwomen from the diaspora debated,discussed, planned their projects, and madepresentations of their activities. Theyidentified their future goals as socialnetworking, religious education, globalexchange, and a one membership platformfor all. It was heartening to see so manyyoung people, and for a while the fear of adeclining population and a threatenedexistence of the community were forgotten.I felt another example of our presence as acommunity when someone who had beenlooking for me all morning said when she

found me in the afternoon, “normally in acrowded room a Parsi stands out a mile, amongall these Parsis I could not find you!”

In the afternoon, on our tables we found keychains with the Farohar embedded in it.Gifts from supporters of the Congress, andthe words to the Congress anthem werealso distributed so that we could sing alongto the song and reaffirm our unity as a forceto be reckoned with. This constantreinforcement of identity was important tous individually, who live as minorities in ourrespective countries. It subtly strengthenedthe community spirit.

The next priority was health issues.Infertility, neurological disorders, allergy andasthma, breast cancer, and medicaldiseases were presented and discussed.This was quite a technical session, butindicated the health status of the Parsis.Zarathushti organizations were also givenspace to present their annual reports. TheBombay Parsi Panchayat will host the nextWZC in 2013 in Mumbai. Zoroastrian TrustFunds for Europe, Associations of Australiaand New Zealand, illustrated how the Parsishave been assimilated in remote areas ofthe world, and still contribute to thecountries they inhabit. Every Parsi childknows the story of “Sugar in Milk”, thefabled Kissa-e-Sanjan, and when we learnthis from our parents and grandparents,somehow we internalize its implications,and continue to uphold an ancient promisemade by our forefathers to integrate andenrich the lives of those around us.

Another session in Farsi, on projects forZarathushtis in Iran, and the Youth in Iranwas held, which balanced the differentsections of the community. The CongressExpress, a newssheet covered the eventsand interviewed different personalities at theWZC. This was available on two days andwas a useful documentation of theCongress activities.

Entertainment was in the form of music byShayan, and a desert safari in the evening.This was also well organized, and whileShernaz Cama made us sing manojats in

Whirling dervish at Desert Safari

Shayan Italia


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the bus, we watched the Dubai skylinedisappear as we drove towards the desert.

Day 4: New Year’s Eve

On the last day of the Congress, NewYear’s Eve, we gathered in the Main Hall tolisten to the summaries of the discussionsheld earlier. The story of the ZartoshtyBrothers and their contribution to theZoroastrian Center for Europe wasexplained, and this was followed by apresentation by Khojeste Mistree whospoke about the ethnic identity of the Parsi /Zoroastrians. He urged the diaspora tomaintain linkages with India and Iran, andsaid that the concept of charity wasdecreasing within the community, and urgedparticipants to uphold the old adage of“Parsi thy name is charity”. He claimed thatour forefathers were wise since they knewthat if they looked after the community, thecommunity would look after the religion.

A Zoroastrian blueprint was presented, fromwhich a global working group would takethe plans forward to the next Congress.These included the BBP, FEZANA, ZTFE,and other Associations. Targets for Healthand the wellbeing of the community wereidentified as, the need for medicalinsurance, the creation of a center forscientific research, linkages to the PARZORproject, and awareness of breast cancer.Women’s issues where ZWIN was the nodalpoint would focus on parents and developprogrammes to instill Zarathushti values inchildren, and find ways to balance work andthe family. For entrepreneurship, the WorldZoroastrian Chamber of Commerce pledgedsupport to another 100 new entrepreneursby the next WZC. And the Youth decidedthey would focus on communication andtechnology.

As the Congress drew to a close, the BPPstepped in to take on the responsibility forthe next WZC to be held in Mumbai in 2013.Finally the closing ceremony began withmobeds lighting the divas, and theCongress anthem sung by all participants. Itwas an emotional moment since over thepast four days friends and strangers had

Meher Marker Noshirwaniis a Sociologist, and hasworked in the field ofwomen, development andenvironment since 1985.The period 1991-2009spans a career in womenand social development invarious positions withShirkat Gah, a women’sNGO established in 1975.She is currently workingindependently as aconsultant on gender anddevelopment issues, and isdoing social research for theParzor Foundation on Parsi/ Zoroastrian textiles. Withan interest in crafts, she alsodevelops hand crafted caneproducts using localresources made by skilledartisans to preserve a localcraft.

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come together on a common platform.Looking around the Hall during the ClosingCeremony, at 750 Parsis / Zarathushtis whohad made the effort to come to the WZC, Ifelt the power of numbers, the sheerstrength of being part of a large community.For four days we made our presence feltand I realized for the first time in my lifewhat it felt like to be part of a majority. As Isaid to my children, “tomorrow we go back tobeing minorities, today feel the power, strengthand security in numbers, and remember this iswhat the rest of the world feels like all thetime”.

New Year’s celebrations began with a photosession of all of us who had come fromPakistan. These photo’s will always remindus of the Congress, and we were givenmore goody bags as we entered the MainHall for the last time. Tables covered withballoons, hats, and enough hooters toshatter the sound barrier, were on eachtable. Shayan sang his soulful music; goldand silver coins were won by some luckypeople, and we ate, sang, danced, saidfarewell to 2009, and welcomed the 2010 asthe New Year, with optimism and hope.

The WZC had been my first experience of aWorld Zoroastrian Congress. I am glad Ihad the opportunity to attend, and hope tobe able to participate in the next WZC inMumbai in 2013.

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The Congress was held at the centrallylocated and spacious Crowne Plaza Hoteland was attended by over 700 delegates ofwhom approximately 150 had come from Iran.

The Congress started with prayers and thelighting of a lamp overseen by our greatMobeds including Mobed ArdeshirKhorshidian; head of Tehran’s MobedanAnjuman. This was followed by a welcomespeech by the Congress Chair, MeherBhesania, who welcomed the Iranianparticipants in Persian stating: “Dorood barhameh Irani Zarathostian-e-Gerami. BeCongre-e-khodetan khosh amadid. Omidvarim

ke az in congre yadegar-e-khoobi dasthe bashid.Behtarin arzoo ha-e-Elahi be hameh-e-shoma.Tashakor az hameh-e-shoma.”

Dr Esphandiar Ekhtiyari; Zarthushti Memberof Parliament in Iran, delivered his welcomeaddress which started with blessings to theGlorified Fravahar of the Aryan Prophet,Ashu Zarathushtra Spentemen and to theeternal and sacred souls of the Iranianmartyrs who had sacrificed their lives in

“ ”The Iranian Angle b y n a v a z b u s t a n i

defence of their country. He read outmessages of goodwill sent by Dr MahmoodAhmadinejad; President of the IslamicRepublic of Iran and Dr Ali Larijani; Speakerof the Parliament of the Islamic Republic ofIran. Dr Ekhtiyari stated that he was proudand honoured to be delivering his speech onbehalf of all Iranian Zarthushtis and from thebirthplace of the Great Prophet Zarathushtra;from all corners of Iran stretching from theCaspian Sea to the shores of the ever andeverlasting Persian Gulf.

He expressed his concern on the issue of‘migration’ and the fact that many Zarthushtiyouth, especially those from India and Iran,were emigrating in large numbers. DrEkhtiyari emphasized that the common pointamongst all members of the community wasbeing Zarthushtis and the belief in theteachings of the great Prophet Zarathushtra.It was of utmost importance that the youthwere educated as to the teachings of theProphet so that they could carry thisinformation with them wherever they go. Healso mentioned that it was important, at atime of ever increasing migration anddispersion of the community, that there beunity and contact between the mobeds andorganisations around the world so as tofacilitate the ability to network smoothly.

Dr Ekhtiyari invited all participants andmembers of various organisations in theworld to establish connections with theIranian Zarthushti Organisations andAnjumans and hoped that the separatecircles would be connected together to formthe beginnings of a universal network. Hehoped that there would be a proximity andbetter understanding of the differentcultures resulting in long-term benefits tosocial, religious and economic dimensionsfor the Zarthushti youth.

Dr Ekhtiyari ended by stressing that we areall part of one family and should try andbecome more familiar with one another andhelp each other in solving problems.


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Later on in the day the Young AchieversAwards were handed out in recognition of thewinners of the newly formed ‘YLEP’; the YouthLeadership Enhancement Programme. Thewinners were the team from Iran followed bythe Indian and North American teams whowere joint runners up. The Dubai, Australianand United Kingdom teams were joint winnersof the third prize. The Iranian team hadchosen the project “The first Congress ofoutstanding Zoroastrian youths” the main aimof which was the promotion of trust in thetalents of the Zarthushti youth in Iran.Congratulations to the participants of the Iranteam who were Behzad Jamasbi, ShahnooshBehzadi, Armita Kyani, FereshtehShagoshtasbi and Arman Falati.

The Young Achievers Awards was followedby a talk on the Zarthushti Community inIran presented by Colonel Dr RustomKhosraviani, Head of the Tehran Anjuman.The Tehran Anjuman, which had been inexistence for over one hundred years, isone of the oldest and strongest Anjumansand is involved in cultural and religiousactivities which are organised throughoutthe country. Dr Khosraviani started with ahistory of the Zarthushtis in Iran pointing outthat the great Prophet Zarathushtra hadbeen born in Iran in 1768 BC and had calledhis people to Ahura Mazda; the giver ofwisdom. He told his followers that theirswas the religion of wisdom. They were tochoose with the mind, which God had giventhem. He taught them the ways of ‘asha’and many empires that came afterZarathushtra followed the same path.There then followed a very difficult andturbulent time for the Zarthushtis in Iran.The oppressive Jeziyeh, a religious taximposed on the community, resulted in agreat reduction of the population. Later onit was a Parsi, Maneckji Limji Hataria, whowas instrumental in having the Jeziyehabolished. He was also responsible for theformation of the Kerman Anjuman. Therefollowed the creation of other Anjumans indifferent parts of the country and there arenow prayer places and cultural centres inmany parts of Iran.

One of the incidents affecting the communityin more recent times had been the eight year

war with Iraq in which Zarthushtis along withother Iranian youths fought and sacrificedtheir lives so as to defend their homeland.Functions are held every year to rememberthe Zarthushti youth who lost their livesduring the war. There are, sport, cultural andpolitical events being held and progress hasbeen made as far as the legal rights ofZarthushtis are concerned. For example; wenow have the same ‘Dieh’ (blood money)rights as the Muslims and the issue of theinheritance laws is also being addressed.

Dr Khosraviani concluded his talk by readinga poem by the great Iranian poet TooranShahriari Bahrami titled ‘Zarathushtra’.

Day Three of the Congress saw twoinformative talks given by Dr EsphandiarEkhtiyari; Zarthushti Member of Parliamentin Iran and Mr Alyar Dabestani, founder ofthe Dabestani Group of Companies.

Dr Ekhtiyari’s talk was titled Achievements ofYouth in Iran and addressed theachievements of Zarthushti youth in Iran whowere very much a minority. If one looked atthe statistics at best, one could say that thereis one Zarthushti youth to every five thousandIranian youths. Despite these figures theZarthushti youth had excelled in the fields ofscience, education, classical music, theatre,cinema, photographic competitions andtelevision. The community placed a highvalue on education and Zarthushti youth inIran did exceptionally well in universityentrance exams and postgraduate studies.The youth had accomplished much in thefields of invention, innovation and technology.In the field of athletics Zoroastrian youth hadparticipated in basketball, volleyball, chess,badminton, swimming, cricket and archeryteams at national level.

One field in which Zarthushti youth could beencouraged to achieve more was that ofcommerce. However, recently the youthhad been shining in the fields of internetand ICT centres. Dr Ekhtiyari stated that itwas important that the adults in thecommunity look more to the youth and offerthem opportunities. It was important thatthe adults act as mentors for the youth.

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Navaz Bustani i s anIranian Zoroastrian whohad the good fortune ofgrowing up in Iran andIndia. She is now settledin the UK where shepractices as a Barristerspecialising in the fields ofImmigration and HumanRights. She maintainsclose contact with Iran,where her parents live,and visits on a regularbasis.

Dr Ekhtiyari stressed that the youth of todaywere the future and it was important to givethem the tools they would need in pursuit ofa bright future. The youth had achievedgreat things but it was difficult being in sucha minority and it was important that theadults offer more help and support.

Dr Ekhtiyari commended the Zarthushtiyouth for carrying the torch of our religion.He gave the example of the youth in southAhwaz, who have no Sazman but still holdthe Jashans in our language. He concludedhis talk by showing a short film which hadbeen prepared on the Society of ZoroastrianStudents in Iran and thanked all those whohad attended the Congress. He hoped tosee all those present and more new facesat the 11th World Zoroastrian Congresswhich is to be held in Iran.

Mr Dabestani’s talk was titled Projects forZoroastrians in Iran and started byaddressing the fact that many Zoroastrianyouth were leaving the country. He statedthat more should be done to entice theyouth to stay and achieve their dreamswithin Iran. Mr Dabestani identified tenissues which he felt needed to beaddressed. They were as follows: 1)cultural awareness and educationalservices, 2) employment and jobopportunities, 3) tourist, pilgrimage andsightseeing sites, 4) sports and sports clubs,5) arts and drama, 6) promotion of effectivecommunication between the variousZarthushti organisations and anjumansaround the world, 7) creating a Zarthushticharitable trust, 8) forming scientific,research and religious education centres, 9)environment, health and health care facilitiesand 10) building on suggestions andconclusions in respect of the above.

Mr Dabestani discussed how there could beimprovements in the issues he hadidentified so as to assist the youth. Hepointed out that our forefathers had beenactive and it was now our duty to ensurethat the youth had better opportunities so asto access the best education, practicaltraining and jobs. It was also vital topromote effective communication between

Zarthushti organisations and anjumansaround the world. One of the biggestproblems was the language barrier and, ifthis could be overcome, Zarthushtis acrossthe globe would be able to communicateand understand each other better.

Mr Dabestani felt strongly that the youth in Iranhad made great strides in difficultcircumstances and urged the elders in thecommunity to offer what help and support theycould so as to encourage the youth to be ableto stay and achieve their full potential in Iran.

On the final day of the Congress, MeherBhesania thanked the team of thirty peoplefrom different countries who had beeninvolved in the organisation of theCongress. The Iranian organisers wereMobed Mehraban Khodamorad Firouzgary,Dr Esphandiar Ekhtiyari, Dr RustomKhosraviani and Mr Khodayar Attaie. Weare grateful to them and all the organiserswho contributed their time and ideas tomake the Congress a great success.

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all photographs used forthe Congress report iscourtesy of http://www.berasad.com,shared by ZNA Digestexcept where mentioned

Anushka Burjor Rustomji will be 21 inMarch this year. Born in Karachi, did herschooling GCE’O’ Levels from KarachiGrammar School and GCE ‘A’ Levelsfrom the Lyceum, Karachi. At present sheis in her 3rd year studying for a Bachelor’sdegree in Fine Arts - Painting fromNational College of Arts, Lahore. She isa big fan of English Football Chelsea Cluband loves dogs. Anushka is a gifted artistand has to her credit won many prizes indrawing and art.

The four drawings appearing in the Congressreports have been executed by AnushkaRustomji for Hamazor.


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Winners of the 9th WZC Awards at Dubai

Excellence in Medicine AwardFarrokh Udwadia (on right)

Technology and Engineering AwardMinoo Patel

Special Award given by the CongressOutstanding Philantrophy

Mehraban & late Faredoon Zartoshty

Outstanding Zarathushti AwardRohinton Rivetna

Excellence in Performing Arts, Painting or LiteratureSooni Taraporevala

Community Service AwardDinshaw Tamboly

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Rohinton Rivetna our Outstanding Zarathushti, chaired the 5th Coming Together Roundtable (CTR) aday before commencement of 9th World Zoroastrian Congress.

The first CTR was held in London immediately after the WZC there in 2005. The thought behind this was thatin the last half century, Zoroastrians had migrated from Iran and the Indian sub-continent to other parts of theglobe and had become a community without borders, who needed to be kept connected through informationsharing, dialogue and collaborative action.

The CTRs have had noteworthy accomplishments : The first CTR developed a list of issues, challenges andprojects; followed by two meetings in Mumbai in January 2007 and January 2008 and the 4th in Houston inDecember 2008. Collective result of these meetings have been:

• Developing the process and selection criteria for world congresses• Promoting celebration of Nou Rouz in North America• Awareness of community enhancement projects such as PARZOR, Operation Eyesight, Manuscript

restoration, Gene Study, Persepolis tablets, Parsi General Hospitals• “NextGenNow” a legacy of 3rd roundtable.• Ervard Bagli’s visit to Zoroastrians in South Africa• Iran Economic Advisory Council• “Study in India” programme for Iranian students• Creating documents such as “Duties, Rights and Privileges of the Diaspora”, “Ethnic of Collective

Giving” and “Code of Conduct”• Creating website www.zoroastrians.net by Yazdi Tantra which has made a virtual connection worldwide

Rohinton opened the 5 th roundtable with, “We are gathered here to build upon the good work done by many aroundthe world. We are gathered here to strengthen our bonds of hamazori and ashoi, through dialogue and joint action. Wemust focus on social togetherness, harmony and cooperation, with respect for our diversity because diversity is richness.”

Focus of Dubai roundtable was to engage Zoroastrian organisations worldwide in dialogue and action, anddiscuss socio-communal, spiritual / religious, educational / cultural, infrastructure and intellectual projects.

These were deliberated on Sunday 27th December from 9am to 3pm, followed by an-hour session on 30th and31st December culminating in following six goals:

1. Global Working Group - CTR (BPP, FEZANA, ZTFE, Iran)2. Health - BPP / Piloo Hakim3. Entrepreneurship - WZCC - all chapters4. Women - ZWIN (Drs Zareen Karani Araoz & Dolly Dastoor)5. Youth - Focus on Youth Leadership : YLEP6. Communication - Appoint countrywide communication managers

These will be Dubai Congress’ footprints in the sands of time.

Hamazor Bad! - Commemorating TogethernessHamazor Asho Bad! - Coming & Working Together in Spirit of Hamazori

b y s u n n u g o l w a l l a

Connect, Collaborate, Create

Hamazor means “united in spiritual energy”. It is a beautiful concept, but difficult to put intopractice because of our individual desires, beliefs and sense of personal rights and wrongs. Inorder for Hamazor to work, we need to have empathy for others, irrespective of their beliefs andleanings. To develop empathy, we have to have understanding and tolerance towards fellowbeings. Forgiveness is also an important aspect of hamazor.

Sunnu Golwalla is a bornand bred Karachi-ite andenjoys writing about ourcommunity and itsactivities. She has servedthe Karachi Zarthosti BanuMandal as HonorarySecretary and VicePresident till a few yearsago and professionally ispresently the Joint SeniorVice President of anInsurance company.

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Background

In 1922 Nanabhai N Katrakinstituted the dual series of lectures toperpetuate the memory of his second wife,Ratanbai (his first wife was also aRatanbai). They were intended to presentthe latest researches into fields ofZoroastrianism which preoccupied studentsinvolved in such studies. Originally devisedas a quinquennial Paris series, they were tobe shadowed by a decennial Oxford cycle.

The Paris Ratanbai Katrak Lectures [RKL]commenced with a heady sequence of thebest scholarship of the times. Thus EmileBenveniste, Arthur Christensen, and HenrikSamuel Nyberg delivered the RKL in pre-war France. The Second World Warintervened in their succession, bringing inits aftermath the collapse of the francentailing a precarious future for the FrenchRKL. Post-War times saw an attemptedrevival with the Jesuit R P Jean de Menasce,after which the Paris series folded.

Meanwhile the Oxford series soldiered onwith their own election of illuminati – Louis HGray, and Harold W Bailey, then a wartimeinterruption followed by Walter BrunoHenning (arguably the greatest influence onZoroastrian studies in the United Kingdom,continental Europe, and the United States),Ilya Gershevitch, Mary Boyce, John RHinnells, and Philippe Gignoux.

All the Paris RKL were published[additionally, the undersigned translated theChristensen and the de Menasce – the first,published unchecked by the K R CamaOriental Institute, Bombay; the latter was“lost” after receipt and, falling into privatehands, never saw the light of day!). All butone of the Oxford Series were published.

b y f a r r o k h v a j i f d a r

The 2009 Ratanbai Katrak Lectures

A series of Ratanbai Katrak Lectures at OxfordUniversity were held to commemorate the workof Mary Boyce on Zoroastrianism, on Tuesdaysat 5pm during the period 20th October – 24th

November 2009.

A radical departure by the 2009 OxfordRKL Trustees was from their one-scholar-per-set pattern by electing six lecturers eachto deliver one paper. Held on every Tuesdayover six weeks at the Oriental Institute,Pusey Lane, Oxford, they were dedicated tothe greatly lamented Professor EmeritaMary Boyce, prolific historian of theZoroastrian religion. In order of appearance,the six were: Dr Francois de Blois(Cambridge), Professor Philip Kreyenbroek(Gottingen), Professor James R. Russell(Harvard), Professor Frantz Grenet (Paris),Professor Albert de Jong (Leiden), and DrAlan Williams (Manchester). All sixlecturers had been Mary Boyce’s students,collaborators, and now her continuators:each acknowledged her fine qualities ofheart and mind, her devotion, and theloyalty she spontaneously gave andunstintingly received.

Five of “the six” were chaired by ProfessorTheo van Lint, Calouste GulbenkianProfessor of Armenian Studies, and one byDr Elizabeth Tucker, Senior ResearchFellow in Sanskrit and Avestan, both ofOxford University. All six lectures werewell attended with full audienceparticipation after each session.

First among the six to pay homage was deBlois who largely reprised his earliersimilarly titled Royal Asiatic Societylecture, “Mary Boyce: the Quest forZoroaster”, but without his Londonillustrations. The same personal details weregiven – attentive readers of Hamazor, 2/

2009,

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will remember these. Her great mentorWalter Henning once more took centre stageto explain Mary Boyce’s emergence on theZoroastrian field. It had taken herconsiderable courage, and not a littlebullying, to surface to the challenge ofZoroastrianism after her immersion inManichaean studies in which her initiatorhad been her stern “father figure”!

Where Henning had regarded Zoroastrianismas the most rational of religions, Mary Boycecame to be convinced of the continuity of itstraditions. And once again de Blois stressedthat she was not an ethnographer (seebelow); as anthropologist, she becamesteeped in its customs and rituals which shepersisted in tracing back to Zarathushtra’stimes. The fictional king-lists concocted inSasanian times to conform to its new-fangled“orthodoxy” do not provide credible regnalyears: her dating of the Sage was subject tovague notions of the unhistorical nature ofher chosen chronology, for the Gathascontain no hint of specific events, empiresand emperors, yet Zarathushtra was movedever further back in time from the Henning-influenced sixth century BC to 1800 BC andthen back again to 1200 BC! Not surprisinglyfor this writer, Boyce’s views on theZoroastrian calendar were disagreed by deBlois, himself a considerable authority.

Professor Philip Kreyenbroek next took thelectern with “On the Construction ofZoroastrianism in Western Iran”. Now,however, the focus moved from Boyce’sPlatonic idea of religion and the over-emphasized importance of Zoroastriantradition, on to the new horizons of religiousperception by contemporary students. Anexpert on oral traditions, orality, and thetransmission of cultural memories, heoutlined the role of the priesthood for whomthe elements of continuity accommodatedthem to the task of (re)construction of anancient Indo-Iranian system to the historico-religious requirements of State worship in

the Iranian west and indeed to the landsacquired and settled by Mazda-worshippers.

Mazda, as Wisdom, incorporated within his“person” the entities selected byZarathushtra from the ancient Indo-Iranianpantheon to suit his visionary purpose in hiselection of Mazda as sole Ahura. The originand distinction of the asura and deva weresatisfactorily explained, but constraints oftime – Kreyenbroek had much ground tocover – prevented fuller exposition. Hischosen title meant that he had to move ontothe well-attested cuneiform inscriptions ofthe first clearly Mazdayasnian emperor,Darius I to present the origins ofZoroastrianism as the first Imperial Persianreligion.

Darius had bequeathed to posterity twomajor sets of writings: the Behistun [= DB]group of five, and the Naqsh-I Rustam[= DNRm] two. The first outlines hiscoming to the Achaemenid throne and theexpansion of his empire – all throughAhuramazda’s will and favour; the second,at the portals of his rock-cut tomb, displaysthe Great King’s ethical and physicalqualities, again presented within a religiousframe. Based on DB.IV.78-80, Kreyenbroekindicated a departure from Darius’ Persianethico-religious claim in employingMesopotamian-inspired ideas with his useof jan-, “to smite”, and ni-kan-, “to destroy”in the context of the non-preservation andnon-dissemination of his inscriptions. Thosewho would destroy his religio-politicaltestament would themselves be struck downby Ahuramazda – to us it seems that hereDarius was not quite as Mazdayasnian as heclaimed! Perhaps he upheld the lex talionisin an expected, non-conventional, way byplacing retribution in the hands ofAhuramazda. Reward and punishment wereindeed Darius’ prerogatives, but was it forAhuramazda to chastise?Kreyenbroek believes Darius to be eitherZoroastrian or close to Zoroastrian


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traditions; his ethical pronouncementscertainly reflect Gathic precepts, but to lookfor mention of Zarathushtra would be futile.The Sage was indeed the founder of hisversion of Mazda worship, but it was theKing, Darius, and not the Founder in theeast, who established Mazdayasna in thewestern Perso-Elamite cultural setting.Originally followers of Magianism, thePersians later went over to Zoroastrianismwhose orthodoxy and orthopraxy wereshaped without benefit of scripturalauthority to fall back on. Their veneration offire was not the spiritualized worshipinculcated in the Gathas. The language ofritual was distinctive to the priesthood, andits commitment to writing in the “foreign”Avestic was the work of the 5th/6th centuryAD continuators.

Accommodation of another kind was requiredfor the Harvard Professor James Russellwhose tenure of Armenian Studies does notdiminish his vast knowledge of the folkloristicaspects of Zoroastrianism. His paper, “TheMagic Mountain: a Zoroastrian Archetype”was presented with added handout demandingclose attention to his arguments. It was atechnical tour-de-force with recourse toillustrations of hypergrams or alliterativepatterns – those curiously dissimulative,name-emphasizing literary devices which, forreasons best known to their authors, wereinserted to fulfil some hidden purpose withoutopenly declaring their hand. Among thoseArmenian authors who had, at their peril,broken free of coercive “orthodoxist”Sasanian Mazdayasna to embrace Christianity,was Movses Xorenac’i (= Moses of Khoren)who, in highly allusive language, fabricatedhis “History of the Armenians”. Armenianepic, it would seem, evolved from thetemplate of Zoroastrian myth.

The “Magic Mountain” of Russell’s storyhove into view through P’awstos(= Faustus) of Byzantium (?). Its outlinebecame discernible when the mighty

Shahpur II (309–379) confronted thediminutive Armenian rebel Vasak. ThisVasak defiantly explained he was “small inperson, great in size” and, as giant, hecrushed two mountain peaks underfoot.What did these peaks represent? To be sure,these were Ararat’s twin summits, and theirlevelling indicated the rise and fall of thesuperpowers of Iran and Rome. Just how anunimpressed Shahpur received this piece ofbraggadocio may be gauged from his kinglyreaction: he had the recusant flayed alive,and his body stuffed with straw.

P’awstos’ “History” turns out to be pureheroic epic, and not at all a true history.Movses’ “History” contains an account ofthe birth of the divinely descended triplets,one of whom sped southwards leashing amonstrous dragon to launch an attack uponArmenia. The dragon was Azi dahak, theSerpent King, equated with Astyages, theMedian ruler who subjugated their land:Movses calls the Medes the “progeny of thedragon”. Azi dahak’s evil nature is similarlyperceived in Zoroastrian literature.

As often with their early “historians”, theArmenians encoded names and throughthemes, colours and sounds, createdmultiple levels of perception in theirlisteners. For example, Vahagn/Varhragnwas Verethraghna (= “Breaker ofResistance”), and little Vasak owed hisname to a wordplay on “fox” (var) and“giant” (sakh). Among the colours werepurple, red, and a “heavenly colour” which,to the undersigned, remains vague. Soundswith sonic rhythms and patterns could beunderstood best in a culture-specific setting:sonorously recited Armenian doubtless wasemotive and compelling.

Through an extract, Russell provided adramatic account of the splendour ofChristianity, again with allusions to heights andabysses or pits of perdition – wisdom againstarrogance, that emerged through the sermon of

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St Grigor (= Gregory) of Narek, 10th centuryArmenia’s great mystic poet and hymnist.Whilst Christianity gained the ascendancy over“paganism”, the Armenian historians andapostles could not detach wholly fromZoroastrian themes and expressions.

With Frantz Grenet’s “Mary Boyce’s legacyto the archaeologists: From the Achaemenidtemples to Sogdian funerary practices (IVth

century BC – VIIIth century AD”, weentered his richly illustrated fourth RKL.Impossible as it is to reproduce any in thisreport for reasons of copyright, Hamazorreaders may be assured that hiscommentaries were extensive andchallenging. Mary Boyce’s part in Grenet’sfield = work – he is a world-renownedarchaeologist, specializing in the sitesuncovered and excavated in south CentralAsia – was in providing crucial supportingevidence through her wide knowledge ofZoroastrian scriptures and rituals.

What struck us was Grenet’s averment thatBoyce was not an ethnographer (contrastingwith de Blois’ view, above), had notpractised field archaeology, did not haveaccess to the more recent Russian articlesalthough aware of their documentation. Onthe other hand, the Russians occasionallycould be prone to some fancifulidentifications precisely through insufficientacquaintance with indications fromZoroastrian texts. Where, in former times,there was an occasionally tendency in somewestern circles to see Fire in everyscriptural statement, the Russians seeminglyhad a passion for declaring ash-heap findsas proof of earlier fire-altars!

Mary Boyce’s stubborn identification ofrock-tombs and nearby edifices at Naqsh-eRustam and Parsagada as sepulchres formembers of the Achaemenid royal familieshad to be partly discounted. Grenet gentlyeased us away with his penetrating logicfrom this hard and fast view, offering

alternative suggestions as to their functionsand even probable occupants. Boyce’sidentification of the three paired facingarmed figures on each of the three registersupholding the throne of the Great King(particularly Darius I) with the six AmeshaSpentas was similarly discounted.Iconoclasm – the disfigurement ordestruction of all cultic statuary – forpurposes of proscribing idolatry wasintermittently indulged in by religionsthroughout history. Zoroastrianism was seenas aniconic, yet the later Achaemenids werecharacterized by cult statues, Anahita–Nanaamong them. In Central Asia her cult wasassociated with the River Oxus/Wakhsh, andher depictions on wall-paintings, statuettes,coins and seals are well attested. TheSasanians too had an Anahita cult withintheir Mazdayasna: the well-known relief ofthe investiture of Narseh (r.293–302 AD) atthe hands of Anahita was adduced asevidence. (Ardashir I, the founding dynasthad been a superintendent of the AnahitaFire-temple at Stakhra in the Pars heartland).

Certain it was that the Sogdians whooperated from their home territory betweenthe Oxus and the Zarafshan to the north,used Zoroastrian deities mixed up withGraeco-Bactrian divinities: Anahita withArtemis, Arshtat with Athena, etc. TheZoroastrian Amesha Spentas figured inSogdian art, among them Vohu Mana andArmaiti, the latter even depicted as holdingan ossuary (receptacle for skeletal remains).They figured often on funerary objects suchas Sogdian ossuaries.

Speaking of funerary edifices, Grenetmentioned dakhmas as far afield as Izbisket,near Samarkand, and at Chilpik, near theAral Sea, hard by the Oxus river. Theformer was built with steps, not ladders – aswas the case with the dakhmas of centralIran, and there was no ossuary discoverednearby. It reinforces our view that suchbuildings served the safest practical purpose


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for the times, with the aim of protecting theelements of Earth and Fire: earth to preservescarce arable land from pollution, and firefor safeguarding precious fuel stocks.

Grenet’s identification of the Kuh-I Khwaja(“The Mount of the Master”) with MountUshidha-Ushidaren of the Zam Yazad Yashtis based on the row of cells uncovered in thecourse of excavations amidst the ruins of thevast religio-cultural complex at the Hamun-IHilmand in east-central Iran. Those cellswere the lodgings for trainee clerics in theherbedistan or priestly seminary. In theBuddhist temple atrium at Kara Tepe (inancient Termez of the Kushans inUzbekistan), a small fire-altar marks thespot for Zoroastrian worship. The connexionbetween Bactrian Buddhism,Zoroastrianism, and local Mazdean cults –all thriving in the area in those far-off timeswas given good space by the lecturer.

Particularly intriguing for this writer wasGrenet’s re-location of the original sanctumsanctorum in the vast building complex ofthe Adur-Gushnasp Fire-temple at thedramatic hill-top site today called the Takht-I Soleiman in north-west Iran. Using earlierground-plans of the cultic environment, here-directed us to the room where the RoyalFire continuously blazed, re-siting the mainante-chamber to the west of which was theroyals’ rest/changing enclosure. (Forforgetful readers, this is the Royal Firewhere the Sasanian kings made theirpilgrimage on foot after their coronation).

After drawing a week-long breath, wejoined Professor Albert (Ab) de Jong whoappeared for the penultimate lecture in theRKL series. The Netherlands University ofLeiden, where he professes ReligiousStudies, has long been reputed for its whollyopen-minded and enviously liberalapproach. Of great interest and a matter ofnatural impatience for us is his eagerlyawaited continuation of the wonderful

History of Zoroastrianism [HZ] commencedby Mary Boyce under whose hand threeextensive volumes had appeared before herdemise. The late Professor had herselfapproved the choice of de Jong to seethrough the four remaining parts of this vasthistorical project. (Volume IV itself wasrumoured to have been completed by her;the rumour became report; the report turnedinto certainty. This writer took occasionalopportunity to enquire into its progress fromher – yes, it was well into preparation; it hadneared completion – and then “There is noHZ-IV”!)

If the quality and sweep of de Jong’s paperis anything to go by, then indeed he is wellentrusted to complete this mammoth task.With the exact title “Regional Variety inZoroastrianism: the Case of the Parthians”.It will be recalled that the Parthians,Iranian-speakers from beyond north-eastIran, wrested the ruling power from theGreek successors of Alexander III, theMacedonian, anathematized by ourZoroastrian priests. Thereafter they engagedin long inconclusive wars with the Romanswho menaced the western frontiers ofIranshahr, ruling Iran with their feudal kingsfor some 450 years before they in turn weresubdued by the Sasanians.

De Jong reminded us that knowledge of theParthians was formerly founded on Greekand Roman Classical authorities, somecoins, inscriptions, reliefs, and monuments– levels of knowledge acquired andmaintained since the 1870s by CanonGeorge Rawlinson, brother of the famouscliff-hanging Sir Henry CreswickeRawlinson who was the first to decipherDarius I’s lengthy inscriptions with theaccompanying tableau at Behistun / Bisitun.Canon George’s The Sixth Great OrientalMonarchy (= the Parthian period) andParthia (in the popular Story of the Nationsseries) were the result.

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The often gruesome character and behaviourof Parthians was long held as proof of thebarbarity of the oriental monarchs until, thatis, the Roman side of their “civilization”was uncovered. De Jong spared us someterrible details, and moved on and awayfrom Rawlinson’s assessments. The Parthianrulers had described themselves tersely as“Philhellenic” on their coins, but to whatextent they had limited themselves toabsorbing aspects of Greek culture remainsproblematic.

They had abandoned the notion ofew-khwadayih, or “one empire” and allowedthe Iranian nation to be fragmented, withfeudal lords controlling the outlyingprovinces of Iranshahr. The very unity of thecentral area was divided between two kings.Certain it was that the thoroughly IranizedParthians had evolved their own political,social, economic, and religious affairs andpractices; their military tactics were equallyfamed as feared – remember their chain-mail,personal armour as well as shielding for theirmounts (the cataphractii), and above all the“Parthian shot”? Liberating of Jerusalem?

In the literary field, once again orallytransmitted, they had become famed asnarrators of dramatic events and romances.It is believed that the originals of theArda Wiraz Namagh, the Wis u Ramin,Yadgar-e Zareran, and Drakht-I Asurig harkback to Parthian times. (Mary Boyce, in aseminal article, The Parthian Goshan andthe Iranian Minstrel Tradition, had laid theground-work for such literary studies).Much of Firdowsi’s epic Shah-nameh owesits material to the various elements of theParthian-inspired Khwaday-namags whichdetailed the high deeds of lords, courtluxuries, and feats of arms. It remainsundoubted that the developed Parthianculture was distinctly Iranian, and that theywere indeed Zoroastrians, very likely that ofthe Zurvanite variety.

Sasanian propaganda was generallyunfavourable towards the Parthians whosefeudally constituted empire was regarded asan entity alien to Iranian interests. Inmatters of religion and its transmissionthrough difficult times, however, it wasclearly established that their religion wasZoroastrian-based. The Achaemenians hadfollowed a non-Zoroastrian Mazda worship– so de Jong, although here he divergedfrom Mary Boyce on beliefs and teachings.The Parthians had preserved the memoryand teachings of Zarathushtra through theirbringing together the oral scattered religiousliterature, including the memorized sacredtexts, and transmitted with remarkablefidelity, although “rarely used in a cognitiveway, except in the heads of priests”. DeJong had much to offer, and even muchmore to ponder: gallons of it in pint-pots!

With Dr Alan Williams, the 2009 OxfordRKL series was completed. His recentlypublished Qisse-ye Sanjan set the tone andcontent of his lecture, “The Re-placement ofZoroastrian Iran: a new reading of thePersian Qesse-ye Sanjan of Bahman KayQobad Sanjana (1599)”. For this writer, itwas Williams’ third public airing of the texton which by now one should regard him asarbiter and authority (he ventured forth,fourthly, at the Brill Publishers’ “launch” ofhis book earlier in January). It was sincelearnt that some over-heated pedant hadobjected to the “Re-placement” in hislecture’s title, and that it could have beenbettered with “Re-location”! Ho hum!

Alan Williams had very thoughtfullyprovided a Synoptic Chart of the Qisse’sNarrative Structure in a handout,indispensable for the uninitiated among hisaudience. And here he commented, inpassing, that the late Mary Boyce had a“finely grained ethnographic approach” tothe text! Those of us who knew her will nolonger retain any doubts on this, and so wemust remain. Boyce had apparently limited


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herself to S H Hodivala’s translation with itsreconstructed historicism. Williams foundJivanji Modi’s rendition “more accurate”.Some of us abided by Rustom Paymaster’sEnglish version. The name of a ShernazMunshi, who tragically died a little whileago, again cropped up, although this writerstill fails to grasp her hold on the affectionsof non-Parsi scholars. (She wasreverentially recollected by Kreyenbroekand Russell in their earlier RKLappearances, so one assumes she wassteeped in Parsi folkloristic traditions).

The fable of the “walking mango tree” wasrecounted, and its depiction figured onWilliams’book cover. For those not privy toits fabulous significance, it must beexplained that it was not noted in the Qissebut restored to fame by a delightful Parsiarchaeologist Rukhshana Nanji who retailedits strange story to Williams (and earlier tous during the 2009 WZO-Kutar lecture atSOAS, London). Williams duly used theprogrammatic element – it “walks” byvirtue of setting tendrils from a lowoverhanging branch which then rootpowerfully enough to found a new trunkwhile the earlier wilts away over time. Theprocess repeats, and Williams sees itsymbolic of the first storm-tossed Parsi (thename occurs just once in the text) refugeesputting down roots, and then purposefullymarching into the hinterland, and so on.Good, symbolically stirring stuff, indeedfrom which legends are made!

The narration here of Williams’ skilfulanalysis of the text is not necessary, formost know the story; some even embellishit with their own sayings and symbolisms.Suffice it to say that our RKL reader,himself an expert in Persian, beautifullyrendered some passages in the original,followed by his metrical translations. Howdid he characterize this text? Well, for aParsi-orientated piece, he addressed it aswould a Parsi – in negatives! We were told

what it was not repeatedly, leaving usgasping for knowledge of what it was!

Williams parried questions with deepknowledge of the workings of his book(which has the Persian original characters,with romanized transcription, and metricallyformed rendition). Several questionsremained unasked; some gave greatsatisfaction – even to the enthusiast whodemanded to know if the myth of the“sugar-and-milk” appeared in Sanjana’sunhistorical confection. Upon raising thequestion of the Qisse’s purpose, setting, and“traditions”, the response was curt:Williams was not a historian of India. Wepassed up enquiring after some notableabsences. We will leave our readers withsome names which very definitely shouldhave figured in “old Bahman’s” narrative:Naryosangh Dhaval, Nariman Hoshang,Meherji Rana, and, surely, the Great MoghalAkbar himself whose Ibadat-khaneh was bythen in full operation. Missing subjects are:the advent of the Avesta; its rendition intoPahlavi, then Sanskrit; the Sanjana-Bhagaria divide, and, not least, theRivayats: the first few of which were bythen well known.

The honorand of the 2009 Oxford RKL,Professor Mary Boyce, was admirablycommemorated by the Six. It was clear fromthe series that she had made a deep impressionon her loyal students who remain ever faithfulto her treasured memory. She had indeedtaught them how to think, speak, and actaccording to the motto of the Zoroastrianismshe so loved and lovingly taught. May her

memory be cherishedby all! q

Farrokh Vajifdar comes froma sensibly orthodox priestlyfamily. Life-long student andindependent researcher inIndo-Iranian cultures.Specializes in literature andlanguages of pre-IslamicIran. Focuses on Zoroastrian

religious beliefs and practices on which he writes, lectures,and broadcasts (radio and TV). He is referee and reviewerfor (as Fellow of) the Royal Asiatic Society.

ζ

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It is well known that small groups ofmountaineers living in the uppermost areaof the Zarafshan river in the Yaghnob Valleystill use a dialect directly descended from abranch of the Sogdian language which wasspoken along the Silk Road in Late Antiquityand early Middle Ages. Sogdian was aspecies of lingua franca, widely prevalent inthe Central Asian bazaars and markets, andbecause of its relevance it was used byBuddhist, Manichaean and Christianmissionaries, although many Sogdianscould well have been Zoroastrian. After thecollapse of the Sogdian confederation andthe assimilation of the local nobility toIslamic domination, their Sogdian languageprogressively disappeared, and by the endof the first millennium AD it had practicallyfallen into disuse in the main towns of theregion, such as Samarkand or Panjikent.On the other hand, in the mountain areas,local people still spoke ancestral varieties ofSogdian, although they becamelinguistically assimilated during the followingcenturies.

In the course of the first scientificexplorations of the upper Zarafshan by theRussians, when this region came under theTsar’s domination, Alexander L Kuhn (1840-1888), a prominent Russian linguistattached to the military Mission led byGeneral Abramoff, exploring the Yaghnobvalley in 1870, firstly realized that Yaghnobihad nothing to do with Tajik. Some yearslater, with the discovery of MediaevalSogdian, some scholars, in particular FrMuller, Carl Salemann and Fr Andreas,finally discovered that this dialect wasconnected with that north-eastern Iranianlanguage. In the following years a numberof expeditions entered this remote Tajikistanvalley. In the pre-Soviet period RobertGauthiot and Heinrich F Junker (1913)visited the valley, while after the OctoberRevolution, several Soviet scholarsdedicated important researches to Yaghnobiethno-linguistics.

The Italian Mission in the Yaghnob Valley b y a n t o n i o p a n a i n o

Life in this particular region has never beeneasy, nature being beautiful but hard. Evennow the Yaghnob valley remains isolated for8 months every year and connections withthe rest of the world, although alwayscurrent, have never been substantial oroverwhelming. For this reason we can, atleast in part, explain the high level ofpreservation of the traditional folklore,language, and cultural heritage which makeof the Yaghnobi a living linguistic monumentof the Iranian heritage.

At the beginning of the 1970s, inenforcement of a decision taken by the TajikSoviet Republic, these mountaineers weredispersed, mostly deported to the newlycreated town of Zafarobod, close to theUzbek border, in order to work as cottonpickers. At that time, the Yaghnobis (about500 families totalling some 3500/4000persons) were transferred, mostly toZafarobod and other little towns or villages(like Sughd, Varzob, Rudaki, Hissor,Shahrinav, Vahdat, Yowon-xatlon, Ganchi,Jovon, etc.); their original places weredestroyed, their animals sold on, with aseries of very devastating consequences interms also of fatalities, because the watersof the new settlements were partlypoisoned. This forced evacuation was alsoseverely criticized, within permissible limits,by Russian scholars. Towards the end ofthe 1970s, and again after the collapse ofthe Soviet Union, some Yaghnobis returnedto their homeland. Because of the crisis inwhich the Tajik State still presently lives,and in particular after the destructiveaftermath of the Civil War that devastatedthis country, no serious project concerningthe improvement of the living conditions ofthis ancient people has been reallyendorsed.

Presently, about 500 persons still live in 16villages, while the others are completelyabandoned. Earlier, all the villages hadbeen destroyed by the army, and those


39

which have been restored owe this work ofreconstruction to their inhabitants who hadoriginally lived there, and had now returned.Other villagers from the rest of the valleyhave decided against return. The road, as inSoviet times, reaches up to the villages ofBidev and Marghtimayn, but it is frequentlyleft in disrepair. The educational system andmedical conditions are most abject, andonly satellite communications are possible,while in the adjacent valley of Matchamobile telephones function normally. Alsothe animals, cows in particular, suffer fromdiseases, transferable to humans throughmilk, because of the lack of any veterinariantreatment, which, contrariwise, had existedin Soviet times.

Since four years the University of Bologna,starting from its base in Samarkand, hasdeveloped a project dedicated to thepreservation of the cultural heritage in theYaghnob area. From our point of view, theapproach to this particular region had to bemore diverse than in past expeditions. Wehave focused our attention not only on thelanguage (with recordings of oral sources,transcriptions of traditional stories, etc.),and the archaeological background of thisvalley (for instance, identification of theancient system of Sogdian fortifications,discovery of petroglyphs [rock drawings,carvings, and inscriptions] etc.), but also onthe actual conditions of the Yaghnobis. Forthese reasons, the Italian Mission (“Italian”only because it was promoted by theUniversity of Bologna and partly supportedby the Italian Foreign Ministry, butnevertheless open to the participation ofscholars from many countries, like England,Bulgaria, France, Russia, etc.), has involvednot only archaeologists and linguists, butethnographers, anthropologists, and amedical staff with a pharmacologist, expertin botanic and medicinal plants. With aprogramme of international cooperation, co-signed with the Academy of Sciences of theTajik Republic, we have already realizedthree different expeditions – in the years2007, 2008, 2009 – in which scholarly fieldresearch has been accompanied by avariety of humanitarian activities in order tosupport the local population. Medical

assistance, distribution of medicines, andalso distribution of basic educational booksfor children, toys, etc., have beenundertaken.

The presence of Yaghnobis in this area isvery ancient, as confirmed not only by thetenacity of the language, but also from thepresence of Sogdian fortresses locatedalong the Yaghnob valley according to afeudal system of overall control of theterritory and its pastures. In particular, afterthe completion of our survey in the Yaghnoband Matcha valleys (2009), it appears clearthat the two valleys were part of anintegrated economic and political system,which ultimately came under the control ofthe last Sogdian king, Dhewastich, who wascaptured after the capitulation of MountMug. The high mountain passes thatinterconnect both valleys were controlled bystrongholds of varying dimensions, and it isprobable that during the Arab invasion of722 AD, many Sogdians escaped into theperipheral Yaghnob valley, where theirposition was much more safe and secure.

Furthermore, it is clear that the Yaghnobvalley was earlier populated by other,probably Iranian, tribes in a proto-historicalperiod, since in some areas, in particulararound Tang-e Dahana and the village ofTag-e Chanor, we have found an impressivenumber of ancient petroglyphs, with someapparently Sogdian tamgas.

Additionally, the valley preserves a numberof Sufi shrines and sacred places of acertain antiquity, and it is still for the wholeYaghnobi community a kind of “memorial”,occasionally also visited by people livingafar.

The Yaghnobis have suffered greatlythrough their deportation, and some of theirsecular traditions have been partly losttogether with their ancient folklore. Forinstance, some rituals of pre-Islamic origin,such as the lighting of three fires on thetomb of a dead person in the first threenights after decease has only recently beenabandoned. But the Yaghnobis, althoughSunni Muslims, respect dogs, and do not

40


spit on the ground or on the fire, becausethese are regarded as offences againstthese elements. Several other particularobservances, also of socio-psychologicalnature, have been detected by our doctors.

Our hope, after the last mission, is to createan Ethno-cultural and Archaeological Park,under the protection of UNESCO and that ofthe Tajik State. In fact, the survival of theYaghnobis in their homeland, which hasbeen presently repopulated by some 500persons, today living in harsh conditions asremarked above, are important aims forTajikistan as well as the InternationalCommunity. This ethnic group amidst theirvalley home with its historical monumentsand its unique natural character can beconsidered as living witness of the secularhistory of the Silk Road. The Tajik Republicwould thus obtain the privilege ofpossessing one of the most importantexamples of a still living heritage of Sogdianorigin. In addition, we must emphasize that,apart from the preservation ofarchaeological monuments, it is the earliermentioned “immaterial heritage” whichshould deserve our careful assessment andattention, in particular in the case of apopulation that until relatively recently hadsuffered the consequences of deportationduring the Soviet period.

The Park project should be entered, wehope, onto the lists of protected areas byUNESCO as a unique example of ethno-cultural continuity, the last example of theliving memory of the ancient peoples of theSogdian Silk Road. In association with thePark, other archaeological and historicalplaces of the Matcha valley could beeventually included under the Parkauthority, because of their extraordinaryrelevance. While the Tajik government mustformulate the regulations governing thePark and the composition of its directorate,we suggest that an international ScientificCommittee should be established in order topromote, at international level, the activitiesof this new institution. These could be ofdiverse character.a) Properly directed cultural activities ofpreservation of the archaeological heritage.

b) Managed cultural programmes for preservation of the language.c) Tourist and visitor activities.d) New economic activities.e) Protection of flora and fauna.

As a general precaution, the Park wouldneed the presence of wardens. In the event,some of the Yaghnobis living there could beinvolved in this work after proper training,thus assuming a direct role in the process ofpreservation of the cultural and naturalheritage of their area. From a condition ofmarginalization, they could becameprotagonists of their own future. In addition,the school system of the valley could beimproved, and the local dialect preservedthrough specially devised programmes.Presently, there are some manuals forchildren in Yaghnobi, which could be givento young students, following the exampleset by us. We have suggested also thecreation of a modest museum dedicated toYaghnob folklore, which could be the mainbase for all the international missionsworking thereafter in the valley. This edificecould be used for meetings and shortconferences also for the local people andtheir children. With the institution of a Parkand a tourist presence, the Park authoritywill be in a position to realize theimplementation and revival of the localproduction of arts and crafts, carpets,woodworked objects, which had been ofmuch more importance in the past.Production of souvenirs for tourists andvisitors may offer another means of incomefor the local population. Also the localproduction of food – cheese, for instance –should be taken into consideration. In suchmatters it would be necessary to develop astrictly controlled veterinarian systembecause of the presence of brucellosis indomestic animals whose products aretransmittable to humans.

The Yaghnob valley has very interestingflora, in particular of lavender and otherplants that could provide an economicmarket, towards which the Park authorityshould start development programmes inthis field. Thus the new role to be attributedto the local people would create a balance


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between the community living outside thevalley (apparently more than 20,000persons, mostly now only Tajik speaking)and those perennially dwelling within it. Thisdialectic between “internal” and “external”Yaghnobis could implement the movementof people visiting the valley, thus offering amore engaged role for the small communityliving in this remote place, which will thenassume the new role of protector of theYaghnob heritage. The construction of suchregional Park should be developed incooperation with Yaghnobis living bothwithin and outside the valley. In particular,all our activities have received powerfulsupport from Dr Saifiddin Mirzoev, aYaghnob scholar with the Institute ofLanguages at the Academy of Sciences ofthe Republic of Tajikistan in Dushanbe,allied with the Rais of the Yaghnob valley(Mr Kalandarov Jamoluddin) and withvarious members of their community livingin Zafarobod.

Another aspect of the field research on theYaghnobis is emerging with enormousimportance. It concerns the study which wehave also developed, with the directauthorization of the local people, on themitochondrial DNA of the Yaghnobis. TheirDNA, also according to the highly importantresearches of the Genographic Project(National Geographic) presents a number ofvery rare and relevant markers. This factconfirms the antiquity of this people, whoseimportance emerges as a crucialrequirement for biological studies.

A detailed description of our activity hasbeen presented in our last report of the firsttwo expeditions: Sulla Punta di uno Spillo.[“On the point of a pin”], RapportoScientifico Preliminare sulla Prima MissioneEtnolinguistica nella Valle dello Ya≥nob(Repubblica del Tajikistan), 31 luglio 2007— 23 agosto 2007. [“Preliminary ScientificReport on the First Ethnolinguistic Missionin the Yaghnob Valley, (Tajikistan Republic),31st July – 23rd August 2007”]. Edited by GP Basello – D Guizzo – P Ognibene.Ravenna – Milano. Other articles in Englishconcerning our researches are currently inthe press.

Prof Dr Antonio PanainoChair of Iranian StudiesUniversity of Bologna at RavennaFaculty for the Preservation of Cultural HeritageVia degli Ariani, 48121 Ravenna, Italy

Prof Panaino with the Yaghnobis

q

Continued from page 14

The Bhagarsath Anjuman has elected ErvadKaikhushroo Navroze Dastoor (morepopularly known as K N Dastoor, or KND) asthe 17th Dastur Meherjirana in place of DasturMeherji Dastur Kekobad, who expired on 23rdJanuary.It was the written wish of Dasturji Meherji thatin case of his death, the Anjuman shouldconsider his request to nominate Ervad K NDastoor. This morning, the BhagarsathAnjuman met under the leadership of DasturFiroze M Kotwal and Dastur Meherji’s lastwish was put forward and discussed at themeeting. After deliberations, Ervad K NDastoor was offered the post and heaccepted.In this manner, without much fuss or attentionor controversy, but with deep spiritual importand in line with the nearly 800 year history ofthe Bhagarsath Tola, the seat of spiritualpower has passed from one member of theMeherjirana family to another. - ErvadMarzban J Hathiram, The Parsee Voice Team.

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b y h o m i d h a l l a

The focus of this paper is toexamine the concept of ‘compassion’ in theZoroastrian tradition and the impact it hashad on the lives of its adherents and others.The Zoroastrian texts graphically depictAhura Mazda the Creator, as the “mercifuland compassionate Lord’ and also the‘Forgiver of sins”. Besides being ‘Loving’,he is benevolent and kind towards Hiscreation.

All these attributes and many more, depictthe nature of Ahura Mazda. It is man’s dutyto emulate these qualities in his day to daylife so that he progresses. As progress isthe Zoroastrian watchword, he is expectedto move from the love of his family to thewelfare of all creatures. This ethos ofprogress as well as inclusiveness are one ofthe important elements of this ancient faith.

Compassion is one of the most articulatevalues in the Zoroastrian tradition. Thisspiritual value plays a significant role andwhich has actually been translated intoaction in many cases. To a Zoroastrian, thisfeeling of compassion is stronger thanempathy. It is a deep desire to alleviate thesuffering of others. This is demonstrated bya fervent prayer in the Atash Nyaish (Litanyto Light). Standing before the holy Fire,which is an inspiring and dynamic symbol ofDivine Light, a devotee fervently prays“Grant me a child ... who would relievedistress”. Another ancient text, theVisparad also accentuates “Ye Zoroastrians!Hold your hands and feet in preparedness... Relieve those who have fallen indistress”. This demonstrates a greatsensitivity to the suffering of all living beingsirrespective of caste, colour or religion. Thisselfless compassion would undoubtedlylead to spiritual evolution (kindness towardsanimals is a recurring theme in Zoroastriantexts). Moreover, a part of the Ahunavar

The Zoroastrian Ethos of Compassion

[Dr Dhalla spoke at length on this subject at the recent Parliament of Religions 2009, at Melbourne, withreference to the corporate social responsibility of the House of Tatas and Godrej]

which is the oldest and the most importantZoroastrian prayer affirms that “He whoprovides succour to the helpless poor,acknowledges the kingdom of God”.Prophet Zarathushtra asks Ahura Mazda,“O Mazda! What is Your kingdom? What isYour Will, by acting according to which, Imay come unto Your friendship? AhuraMazda replies: “You will come unto myfriendship by helping your poor fellowmenwho live righteously and with a loving mind.”

Furthermore, one is expected to go farbeyond the limits of compassion in relievingthe suffering of those in distress – theDenkard declares that “Apart from thesalvation for one’s soul, it is best to strivefor saving other people’s soul”. Hence, it isimperative to cultivate our minds and mouldour actions in such a manner that we workfor the liberation of others. This is a greatmoral and spiritual responsibility. Hence, aZoroastrian is expected not merely to workfor his own salvation but it is best for him towork for the liberation of other souls. Thisconsciousness of compassion will helpothers to be liberated from suffering.

A discussion about compassion would beincomplete without examining two of thefundamental principles of Zoroastrianism,nidhasnaithishem (non-violence) andkhaetwadatham (self-sacrifice or service).To a Zoroastrian, the life of every creature issacred. Any form of violent action isunacceptable. This compassionate andnon-violent attitude is to be extended evento nature as Zoroastrianism is an ecologicalreligion. A Zoroastrian is to live in harmonywith nature and hence should not pollute ordestroy any of its elements. Thiscompassionate attitude towards naturemakes him a trustee of nature and in thatcapacity he should not violate that trust bydestroying or harming nature.


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Khaetwadatham, leading a life of self-sacrifice, altruism or service to humanity isanother principle which is also an extensionof compassionate living. Service to ourfellow brothers has been greatlyemphasized in Zoroastrian texts.Zarathushtra declares that “one who strivesto understand and attain a true life, shouldpreach the law of Ahura Mazda to mankindbetter by acts of service than by words”. Andagain he states “... urging the inner self toserve mankind, O Mazda, the Highest shall bereached by deeds alone, for action true I striveand ever will”. Moreover, “joy comes to theone who brings joy to others”.

Closely connected to this concept is anotherimportant ideal which is also motivated bytheir religious tradition – that accumulationof wealth by honest means is consideredfundamentally positive. This, however, inturn brings with it a social obligation toshare one’s wealth with the less fortunate.

In this context, it is imperative to note thatthe one characteristic which is usuallyattributed to a Zoroastrian is his large-heartedness or philanthropy – “Parsi, thyname is charity”. This is considered asacred duty. There are several referencesin the scriptures, which extols this cardinalvirtue; one of these is from the Menok Xrat,which states, “The greatest act ofrighteousness is charity”. Besides this, theProphet declares “May we be surely like those,who make this world prosperous. May thechosen leaders of Mazda be helpers andsupporters of the world”. Hence, Parsi historyin India is replete with examples of how thisminiscule community of barely 70,000 in aburgeoning population of over a billion hasbeen endowing schools, colleges, parks,hospitals, dharamshalas etc. for the benefitof all communities, including hospitals foranimals.

Sharing the Fruits of Industry

Max Weber had stated that economic ethicsare considered as “the practical incentives forhuman actions which are derived from thepsychological and pragmatic dimensions of areligion”. In this context, it is also pertinent to

note the words of Andriano Tigher that“Zoroastrianism prized labour and gave it anethical value”. Perhaps the best example ofthis principle is that of Jamsetji Tata (1839 -1905), the man who laid the foundation ofIndian industry. Jamsetji was initiated intopriesthood at a young age and hence hisreligious tradition had influenced hischaracter and moulded his values of deepsocial commitment and philanthropy.

The late Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the firstPrime Minister of India had said, “The threefundamental requirements of India, if she is todevelop industrially and otherwise are: a heavyengineering and machine-making industry,scientific research institutes and electric power.These must be the foundations of all planning”.And Jamsetji provided India with all threeenterprises viz., Tata Iron and Steel Co. Ltd.at Jamshedpur, Tata Power – Hydro ElectricWorks at Lonavla and the Indian Institute ofScience at Bangalore. It is no wonder thatNehru had observed that “he was a one-manplanning commission”. Though a staunchZoroastrian, his catholic spirit is evident in aletter he wrote to his son from abroad in1902, five years before the site of the steelplant at Jamshedpur was finally located:“Be sure there is plenty of space for lawns,playgrounds ... and parks. Earmark areas forHindu temples, Mohammedan mosques andChristian churches”. Furthermore, hiscommitment to the development of Indiawas so intense that when he did not receivecooperation from the British government toset up a science university, in September1898, he announced a personal donation ofIndRs30 lacs (Rs3 million) to launch theIndian Institute of Science at Bangalore.

Although, he was concerned with giganticprojects of national magnitude, hiscompassion extended even to animals. Avery touching example of this trait came tolight only recently. In 1900, due to thefamine, millions were affected. In the smallvillage of Chharodi (35 kms. fromAhmedabad) in Gujarat, a large number ofanimals were starving to death; Jamsetjihad sent a donation to save these animals.This came to light in December 2008,through a marble plaque that was found on

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the land that his great grandson, Ratan Tatahas now been given by the Government ofGujarat to set up the small car ‘Nano’ plant.

On February 8, 1911, Jamsetji’s son, SirDorabji Tata, laid the foundation stone of theLonavla dam and thus commenced thehydroelectric project. On this occasion herecalled the lofty aims of his father by saying:“To my father, the acquisition of wealth was onlya secondary object in life; it was alwayssubordinate to the constant desire in his heart toimprove the industrial and intellectual conditionof the people of this country”. JRD Tata wholed the Tata industrial empire for over 50years once said: “The wealth gathered byJamsetji Tata and his sons in half a century ofindustrial pioneering formed but a minutefraction of the amount by which they enrichedthe nation. The whole of that wealth is held intrust for the people and used exclusively for theirbenefit. The cycle is thus complete; what camefrom the people has gone back to the people,many times over”. The pleasure in earningtruly lies in its distribution. JRD Tataacknowledged the humanitarian nature of hisreligious tradition when he wrote to a friendin April 1984: “The Zoroastrian philosophy ofhard work, honesty and charity is one that theworld should know today”.

The House of Tata has touched everyaspect of Indian life through its severalinstitutions such as the Tata Institute ofSocial Science, Tata Memorial Hospital forCancer, Tata Institute of FundamentalResearch, Tata Blood Bank and TransfusionServices, Tata Agricultural and RuralTraining for the Blind, National Centre forPerforming Arts and many others.

Corporate Social Responsibility ofthe House of Tata

RM Lala, author of the best-selling book onthe House of Tata, The Creation of Wealth,emphasizes that wealth is far from just profitor income generation. It has deep concernwith “weal which means well-being orhappiness” of all members of society whichbusinesses serve. The company’s soul liesin its social involvement. And that is whatthe Tata Group is determined to maintain.

In the last 16 years, since Ratan Tata tookover the leadership of the Tata empire, hehas been guiding the destiny of 114companies. The $70.8 billion Tata grouptoday has operations in more than 85countries and 350,000 employees. The2009 survey by the New York basedReputation Institute has ranked Tatas as the11th most reputable group out of 600 globalcompanies. This charismatic leader withextraordinary entrepreneurial skills hasalways been driven by a set of values byinfusing altruism into business. Ratan Tatahas said, “Our philosophy is to enhance thequality of life of the Indian people. Access towater, drinking water and nutrition is thefoundation of this quest”.

The panoply of community developmentprojects launched by the Tata companiesembraces everything from health,education, art, sport and more – therebytouching the lives of multitudes of Indiansacross the sub-continent. Theirinvolvement with corporate socialresponsibility amounts to approximatelyIndRs1700 crores (Rs17 billion) annually.The principle involved is to give back tosociety what came from the people. A fewof these may be mentioned here viz., theanti-leprosy crusade and AIDS awarenessinitiatives in Jamshedpur, the handicraftdevelopment project for women inOkhamandal, Gujarat, helping disabledchildren through their Tata Tea’sorganization Srishti, rehabilitation ofmaimed Indian soldiers of the Kargil war,aiding earthquake victims of Gujarat,supporting mentally ill homeless women inChennai etc. On November 26, 2008, theworld saw one of the most inhuman terrorattacks in Mumbai. Besides the Taj Mahalhotel, there were other areas whereinnocent people were killed. Ratan Tataimmediately set up a new Trust therebycatering to the needs of all the victims whohad suffered in Mumbai. He personallyvisited the families of all victims and offeredthem every form of help. This exhibited thedeep streak of compassion in the man.

The seed of industrial development wassown by Jamsetji Tata about 120 years


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back. Besides the industrial development, it has generated through its various companies, itcontinues to provide succour to the distressed, disabled and marginalized sections in the far cornersof India to this day. This spiritual motivation and sensitivity to alleviate the pain and distress ofothers has not only been a passive emotion but has been translated into action through severalprojects, thus transforming the lives of millions of people over the last 100 years. His life remindsme of the words of Meister Eckhart who had said, “What we plant in the soil of contemplation, we shallreap in the harvest of action”.

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Dr Homi Dhalla was awarded the MA degree by Harvard University and the PhD degree from MumbaiUniversity. He has represented the Parsi community at various international conferences focusing onthe issues of peace, ecology, human rights, inter-religious dialogue etc. He has also been very active inthe interfaith movement for the last 25 years both at the local as well as at the international level. Homiwas awarded the “Mother Teresa National Award for Interfaith Harmony” in 2007. As the Founder-President of the World Zarathushti Cultural Foundation, he has initiated various cultural projects forthe Parsi community.

excerpt from Behrooz Khalili’s report on http://www.berasad.com

The plan for building an artificial island in the shape of fravahar in the Persian Gulf is undercompletion. The confirmation for this project has also been issued. This island is being built on a sixmillion two hundred thousand square meter land measuring 3 x 5 km which is located in front of theoutskirts of the historical Siraf Harbour in the Bushehr province. It includes boarding and lodging sites,hotels, university, solar energy centre, playground, a large cultural International Hall for cultural speechand conversations etc.Dr Esfandiyar Ekhtiyari (The Iranian Zoroastrian MP) being the managerialmember of this team informed us thatin the near future the plan for this projectwhich is being supervised by 60executives will be executed after finalanalysis. The project being unique willbe displaying something of its own kindto the future generations.The artificialisland will be built in the southern partof Pars locality in the outskirts of thehistorical harbour of Siraf. Siraf beingone of the oldest cities of the Bushehrprovince, once being host to large shipsthat arrived from main Iranian andMiddle East harbours, but due to theearthquake and tsunami in the springof 398 Ghamari, most of the harbourwas destroyed and now the onlyremains are the Siraf Jame Mosque, theNasuri Fort, Dakhme (The ZoroastrianCemetery), and a market.

Fravahar Island in the Persian Gulf

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For those who lay claim totradition through pious observances andpractices of our Mazdayasnian faith, theissue of three differing calendars cannothave escaped notice. Far from beingscuppered and sunk without trace, suchmatters must be re-floated for publicreassessment, more especially in the landsof our Zoroastrian diaspora where theappreciation of our ancient cultural values issteadily diminishing. One reason is asobvious as it is alarming: being religiouslysanctioned, it is crucial that this truecalendar be explained, agreed, andfollowed for appropriate prayers during thetimely observance of our anciently devisedfestivals and commemorative rites.

Our Zoroastrian prayers, whether in GathicAvestan, Avestan, or Pazand, are primarilyaddressed to Ahura Mazda as Creator andsole Deity, his six Amesha Spentas /Amshaspands or attributes, and the yazatasor worship-worthy divine beings. Piousdedications are only made effective at theirprescribed times and, for ensuring this, ourcarefully devised calendar provides exactreligious guidance.

A survey of our calendar’s history showsthat over the long course of its evolution,there were several systems in simultaneoususe (as was also the case in AncientGreece). The Old Persian calendar of c.600BC had non-Zoroastrian month-names, andits days were numbered, not named. In the5th century, the slow adoption of theZoroastrian months and days, as we knowthem, took place: firstly alongside the OldPersian, thereafter linked to the officialAchaemenian state religion through mid-5thcentury reforms.

The order and names of our Zoroastrianmonths will be long known to all devotees.

b y f a r r o k h v a j i f d a r

Our Calendars: Real and Fake

[This piece is abridged from the author’s full-scale study of the history, problems, and solutions facingour Religious Calendar]

For those of forgetful natures, theirbowdlerized forms are:

Fravardin, Ardibehesht, Hordad, Tir,Amardad, Shahrevar, Mihr, Aban, Adar, Dai,Bahman, and Aspandarmad. There shouldbe no difficulty in identifying these with theirstrictly religious Avestic forms – thus,Fravartin: the Fravashis, Asha Vahishta:Best Truth; Haurvatat: Wholeness, Health;Tir/Tishtrya, (for which see below);Ameretat: Undyingness, Life; KhshathraVairya: Good Governance; Mithra: theancient solar deity of Friendship and thesolemn Word; Apan: the Waters; Atar: Fire;Datar: the Creator; Vohu Mana: Good Mind;and Spenta Armaiti: Bountiful Right-mindedness.

Unlike the uneven Julian and Gregorianmonths, each of our twelve Zoroastrianmonths has 30 days. With five end-of-yearGatha days added, we get the fullcomplement of 365 days. What happens tothe quarter-day shortfall each year will beexplained shortly. Each month is dividedinto “weeks” of 7 + 7 + 8 + 8 days; each“week” is headed by the day honouring theCreator Ahura Mazda / Ohrmazd. Thusweek 1 commences with his illustriousname; week 2 starts with Dai pa Adar;beginning week 3 is Dai pa Mihr; andheading the 4th week is Dai pa Din, Piousfolk always mention datar/dadar on thesedays – their staunch devotion has helpedpreserve and perpetuate knowledge of ourreligious calendar and much else besides

These are the approximate meaningsattaching to the 30 days:

Week 1: Ahura Mazda (Lordly Wisdom);Good Mind; Best Truth; DesirableGovernance; Bountiful Right-mindedness;Wholeness / Health; Undyingness / Life. In


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this week the full roster of the Six AmeshaSpentas / Amshaspands is present, withAhura Mazda at their head. In the Gathaswe notice the close association of Mazdawith Vohu Mana and Asha, and thepairing of Haurvatat and Ameretat,

Week 2: Creator of Fire; Fire; the Waters;Radiant Sun; Moon; Tir/Tishtrya; the Kine.Tir is the star Sirius; Tishtrya or Trishtar isOrion’s Belt.

Week 3: Creator of Mithra; Mithra; Sraosha;the Righteous; the Fravashis; Bahram;Peace; Beneficent Wind. Vata or Vayu, theWind god, displays a two-fold nature – asgentle zephyr or destructive storm force.

Week 4: Creator of Daena; Daena orspiritual vision; Good Reward; Rectitude;Sky; Blessed Earth; Sacred Word; theInfinite Lights.

Each day is divided among five watches(four in the autumn and winter periods).These are the gahs: from dawn to noon isthe Havani; noon to mid-afternoon is theRapithwina (though not during the autumnand winter months, when a double Havan isreckoned); Uzayeirina follows until sunset,followed by Aiwisruthrima until midnight.Ushahina sees the night hours through untilthe break of dawn: the full Vendidadceremony is performed during these hoursby priests determined on repelling demonseverywhere.

The solar-regulated or seasonal calendarhas been the preferred Zoroastrian methodof time-reckoning. The Bundahishn’s 25thchapter, “On the Religious Year”unequivocally warns, “As it is said, thosewho declare for the moon confoundeverything .... He who arranges the yearaccording to the moon’s revolution, mixesup summer with winter, and winter withsummer” – these were our priestlystrictures, together with good reasons,against the purely lunar calendar.

So far, so good! At six different periodsduring the year are placed the sixgahanbars or seasonal festivals, each

lasting for five days. The six have namesexclusively pertaining to their functions andtimes in the solar year, commencing withthe mid-spring Maidhyoizaremaya festival.Two of these clearly mark midsummer andmidwinter – the first, Maidhyoishema, is thesummer solstice when the sun is at itshighest in the noon sky, facing south, suchthat over the following six months it standsat a lower height each day; the wintersolstice, Maidhyairya, signals its lowestsoutherly point from which it begins its slownorthward climb to its high noon point.

This southerly direction – very clearly a solarindication – is called Rapithwin, after whichthe noon till 3pm watch, or gah, is named.Our texts dealing with our calendar give usthe exact dates of its “arrival” and“departure”: it occupies the full sevensummer months from March 21 to October16 (i.e., from Ohrmazd ruz of Fravardin mahto Anaghran ruz of Mihr mah or first day ofthe first month to the last day of the seventh).

Rapithwin is the only gah which is honouredwith its special blessing or Afrin. For apastoral and agronomic society in which ourremote ancestors lived, loved, andlaboured, this passage of the sun was ofcrucial import for their animal and farmhusbandry. Its great importance meant thatan accurate calendar system was arrangedaround it, and with that went the appropriateprayers and other festivals. An explanatorytext reads: “When winter gains strength, thespirit of Rapithwin goes below ground. Wintersets in on Adar ruz of Dai mah when they lightfires throughout”. The date corresponds toDecember 24 – the winter solstice fromwhen Mithra, Lord of Fire, arises to bless uswith warmth and light. Christmas? thinkagain!

Another indication of the astronomical basisof our true calendar may be noted by sharp-eyed investigators of such matters. Theinseparable pair of Haurvatat/Khordad andAmeretat/Amardad (months 3 and 5) havebeen parted by the intrusion of Tir/Tishtryaas month 4. Why an asterism to so disruptthe usual order? Its answer originates fromAncient Egypt where it was first noticed that

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this bright star was the last to be observedon the eastern horizon before sunrise. So,what may one ask is so wonderful aboutthat? Well, it just so happened that the Nileriver rose in flood at that very time, bringingmuch needed nutrients for fertilizing thecrops and legumes grown along its widebanks. The timing was carefully noted.

At about the same latitudes in Iran a similarobservation of Tir/Tishtrya predicted muchneeded rainfall on the summer-parchedland. Our feisty Tir Yasht tells the story ofthe vanquishing of the Drought Demon bythe advancing force of this heavenly army.The festival of Tirgan on July 1st , when thecoinciding of the thirteenth day of the fourthmonth – both named after Tir –commemorates this annual event: anancient cultural aspect brought to life inprayer and pleasure. It’s also Aresh’s story.

Three gahanbars are still to be accounted forand explained. They are centred aroundfarming and herding duties, followed by theirrespective festivities. In the calendar they arePaitish.hahya (harvest), Ayathrima (thebringing-in of cattle from the high pastures)and Hamaspathmaedaya whose favouredmeaning is something like “assembling forcountryside work”, uniting the work-force forclearing away the accumulated debris andundergrowth from fields and ditches, andfreeing their irrigation channels.

It is noteworthy that this last-named five-dayfeasting exactly coincides with the fiveGatha days – a reminder, were it needed,for man’s sacred duty to care for the landand his animals which sustain him. Itbecomes very evident that only a formal,fixed calendar, based on the sun, the stars(the zodiac) and the seasons, and – ah yes,common sense! – would satisfy all priestlyand lay requirements, at the same timeensuring harmony and happiness. It is notjust work and worship, but indeed that “workis worship”.

The solar year comprises three hundredand sixty-five full days. While the monthswere regulated according to the phases ofthe moon, their extent was approximately

twenty-nine and a half days or 354 days inthe year. The thirty-day month requires fivefloating days to be tacked on at their veryend. A quarter-day shortfall still remains,and that has given rise to the intercalationcontroversy, one in which both opposedparties appear to know little of what ourreligious calendar texts firmly recommend.

Firstly, there is a warning that the days andmonths should not be allowed toaccumulate in such arrears that theseasons are disarranged for normalreckoning purposes. Secondly, and this isfor the fear-stricken in our midst: ourfunerary rites and the accompanyingprayers are all askew, and for those furtherafflicted with superstitious dread, note thatthis neglect would hinder their souls fromattaining to Paradise. In Ancient Iran it wasformally declared that “the herbadhs/priestsmake their decisions on funerary rites and othermatters by this reckoning of summer andwinter”. This obviously implies a fixed time-reckoner and not the vague floatingcalendars of the Qadimi/Kadmi and theShahanshahi systems where in the year2009 the spring-commenced New Year iscelebrated on 20th July and 19th August,both high summer months ! Their mid-springgahanbars accordingly would fall during 29August – 2 September, and 28 September –2 October : late summer and early autumn,with dislocations of the appropriate prayers.

It is clearly enjoined that the quarter-dayexcess be made up as one full extra dayevery four years. The thoroughly impracticalsuggestion of adding one thirty-day monthevery one hundred and twenty years issimply unworkable, since five or sixgenerations’ lapse would certainly inviteforgetfulness and neglect – we see theconfused results to this day; yet ourignorant priests whose very ancestors hadrecommended this four-yearly intercalationdeny that it ever was so!

For the record, the 120-year method waslast followed in Iran in 1006 AD andadditionally in India in 1126 since when nofurther intercalations were ever made. Thetextual ruling is that up to five months’


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intercalations should not be delayed formore than 600 years (30 x 4 x 5), whichdoubtless comes as relief to those who hadnever intended to take any action in thematter in the first place! In their ignorance,little can they realize that the mandatory tendays’Muktad and the Fravardegan arehopelessly mistimed; yet the Shahanshahiand Qadimi factions are being hoodwinkedinto entrusting such deeply feltcommemorations to mere prayer-babblers!

The existence, therefore, of two erroneouscalendars may puzzle some. It was noted atthe time that the 1006 AD intercalation inIran was not universally accepted. TheParsis in India nevertheless continued onthat basis with their 1126 AD monthinsertion, and then, for some reason,completely failed to follow it up ever after. Itwas the visit in 1720 to India of the Kermanpriest Jamasp, called “Velayati”, that firstoccasioned the split within the Parsicommunity in the matter of the calendar.Jamasp had pointed out the month’sdiscrepancy between the Iranian and Indiansystems – of which no further notice wastaken until another Iranian, a layman versedin astrology came up with the sameobservation and recommendation that theIranian version be taken up in India.

In 1745 a calendar controversy – the kabisa –arose when a section of the Parsis decided tofollow the Iranian system. There ensued someviolent confrontations and even fatalities.Since then the Qadimi/Kadmi calendar hasbeen arranged one month earlier (ahead) ofthe Shahanshahis who took to callingthemselves Rasmi : “Traditionists”. Whatevertheir private epithets, both calendars areirredeemably erroneous, pointless, andtherefore religiously defunct.

This absurdly irreligious situation is far fromirremediable – its rescue comes from aquarter which saw several reforms with itsown calendar system: the Gregoriancalendar which is now universally agreedand followed by all civilized nations. Despiteits quirks of uneven month lengths andmovable and fixed feasts, it has scienceand logic in its favour. We are well

acquainted with its leap year system ofintercalating a day every four years. Withoutentering into technicalities, this system ensuresan accuracy of one day in 20,000 years.

The Gregorian rule for such regularlyobserved “leap” years is: “Every year thenumber of which is divisible by 4 is aleap year, excepting the last year in eachcentury, which is a leap year only when thenumber of the century is divisible by 4; but4,000 and its multiples, 8,000, 12,000, and16,000, etc., are “common” years”. Confused?Exhilarated? Indifferent?

There remains only to throw one morespanner into the works – that of ourcalendar eras. The utterly crazy notion thatwe follow the new-fangled date of 1725 BCas the Era of Zarathushtra ought to bediscarded with all possible haste, since itconveys only the results of feveredimaginations by some who fanciedthemselves as astronomers. We need notenter into the fictitious connexion madebetween Zarathushtra and some stellarconfigurations, except to register our protestat yet another dangerous lunacy beingforced upon us – ignotum per ignotius!

We are accustomed to counting ourZoroastrian Era from 632 AD, the accessionyear of the last Zoroastrian emperor of allIran, Yazdgard III. Whilst this is in keepingwith the optimistic spirit of Zoroastrianism,which would have frowned upon the erayear of 652 when His Imperial Majesty wasfoully murdered, we should seriouslyconsider instead the accession year of thegreatest Iranian emperor of them all,Kurush/Cyrus II, in 559 BC. The first worldEmpire’s foremost ruler would make for afar greater embracing of our Ancient Iranianculture and civilization. The proposed erawould then yield the year 2569 A.K. for2010 AD. Think on it!

Farrokh Vajifdar’s profile appears on p37

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On this day, 29 Nov 2009, alsothe anniversary day of Cyrus the Great, ascelebrated word-wide, the AustralianZoroastrian Association of NSW wasparticularly fortunate in having in ourpossession this magnificently executed bas-relief of Kourash the Great, who lived 2,500years ago. Fig 1: It was unveiled in thegarden of our Dar e Mehr. Presented byHomer Abramian, Founder of the CulturalFoundation in Sydney and his colleagueAkbar Eghbali in collaboration with PhilMadon of the World Zoroastrian Chamber ofCommerce - Australia; it was designed byHushang Saihun and sculpted by PeterScipperheyne. [The same sculptor whoexecuted “Thus Spake ...” which is atMelbourne. Hamazor Issue 2/06, pp 43-45].

Fig 2: This bas-relief appears to have beenbased on a colour painting done by SirRobert Ker Porter, English explorer, writerand painter in 1818 during his travels in Iran.As you see in this picture there is anextension at the top, which bears a one-lineinscription in three languages: Old Persian(the western dialect of the Avestan script ofour holy scriptures); Elamite & Aramaic (thelanguage of Jesus Christ). The top line inOld Persian reads “Adam KourashKhshyayathiya Hakhamanishya” – ‘I amKourash, King of Hakhamani descent’, asimple statement of serene dignitycommensurate with the deep humility inwhich the Great King lived in real life. If itwere etched in the pure Avestan language itwould have read “Ahami Kourash KhshathraHakhamani”. The six foot average Iranianman standing on the right side gives a fairidea about the dimensions of the bas-relief.Since the painting, the top part showing theinscriptions has been vandalized.

As is commonly taken Kourash the Greatwas not the founder of the Hakahmanidynasty. It was Hakhamanus his great-great grandfather. Clay tablets reveal thatHakhamanus ruled a small principality 700-

b y s a m k e r r

Bas-relief of Kourash the GreatLived 599 - 529BC. Ruled 559 - 529BC

Fig 1

Fig 2

675 BC (Gk: Achaemenes), had lead acontingent against the Assyrian Sin-Akh-Arba (Gk: Sennacherib) and defeated him inthe battle of Hallulina. The principality hethus maintained was known as Anzan. Thiswas the beginning of the HakahmaniEmpire and it was further expanded tooccupy a place recorded as Parshuash(later Parsava and now Pars). His son wasChishpaish 675-640 BC (Gk: Teispes).Then came Kourash I 640-600 BC whoseson was Khambujia I (GK: Cambyses) 600-559 BC. It was his son, Kourash II who isour Kourash the Great. A gold tablet foundin Varkana (now the region of Gilan) liststhe lineage of kings, who are cousins in thetwo separate kingdoms.

Kourash the Great’s cousin andcontemporary Vishtaspa (Gk: Hystaspes)who ruled in Varkana was not the same as

Sam Kerr’s profileappears on p 18


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King Vishtaspa, patron of our ProphetZarathushtra. They therefore gave theincorrect date of circa 550 BC as the era ofZarathushtra, partly also because the Pontiff’s(Mobedan Mobed) name was Zardust.

Fig 3: This is the original left bas-relief ofKourash the Great at the gatehouseentrance to Parsagard, the newly built capitalcity of Kourash’s vast empire. On theopposite side of the gatehouse was asecond bas-relief facing this left one. It wascompletely destroyed along with thegatehouse, the ruins of which are seen in theforeground. Note the tips of the mountainsof the Alborz range rising from the valleys inthe background. The stones, gravel and limestone blocks for the construction ofParsagard were harvested from thesemountains. Note also that there is nofortress wall built to guard the newly builtcity. Stone walls had no place in the greatking’s manner of thinking. The bestsecurity he could offer his subjects wasthrough their hearts and minds. Hisbenevolent nature certainly ensured thatthere was no revolt or disquiet during hisrule. We will shortly come to a slide with aline drawing of the bas-relief which willhelp to describe its intricacies.

Fig 4: Line drawing. It would appear thatthe bas-reliefs were commissioned byKhambujia, son of Kourash the Greatafter the death of his father. Within ninemonths he had conquered Egypt andbecome the first Iranian Pharaoh. Thebas-relief appears to reinforce hisfather’s vision of harmony among hissubjects of widely divergent cultures,beliefs, languages, tongues ... etc.

The 4-winged bearded person representsan Assyrian divinity. The crown is composedof a ring of several Egyptian crowns ofOsiris, each one showing the upper smallermountainous region and the lower broad deltaof the Nile. The two horns represent the dreamof Daniel in the Holy Bible. Even the HolyQu’ran mentions him as Dhu al Qarnayn – theone bearing two horns. The long encirclingfringed robe is Elamite. It is unlike a follower ofZarathushtra to allow the bare feet to touch

Fig 3

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Fig 4

good earth, butKhambujia wanted toidentify his fatherwith the commonpeoples of his vastrealm.

The two bas reliefswere fondly referredto by his subjects asrepresenting theSpirit of the GreatKing guarding thecity as angels in aphysical manifeststate.

Fig 5: The Great Kingwas 70 when he diedin a battle with thenomads in the regionof the presentKhazakstan. Note that2,500 years have noterased the memory ofthis great King. As youcan see his humane

legacy lives on. Rather than celebrate Nou Rouz tothemselves these Zarathushtis have decided to gathertogether and enjoy food and merriment along withMuslims, Iranian Jews, Christians, Indians on this,the first day of Spring and therefore of the SeasonalNew Year’s day in the Northern Hemisphere.Unshielded this tomb of the Great King has survivedthe test of time - 2,500 years.

Fig 5

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In the early days of the MombasaParsi Anjuman, meetings were held at thehomes of prominent Parsis, until apermanent building was acquired. In thosedays, the Anjuman had no steady income ofits own (due to lack of rental properties) andall the expenses were met by voluntarycontributions. In 1897, Seth Dinshaw andhis brothers bought a piece of land in thevicinity of the Anjuman’s cemetery fromRustomji Dhunjibhoy Talati and donated it tothe Anjuman for raising income for itswelfare and social activities.

In the early days of settlement, Parsi menkept their families in India and visited themevery few years. However, records show thatsome Parsis did bring their spouses andfamilies to Mombasa, and between 1895 and1925, some marriages took place there.

There was one colourful characterassociated with the Anjuman building,Kawasji Uranwala.

He was short, fair and could pass asEuropean and so the Africans called him‘Musungu Africa’ meaning ‘EuropeanAfrican’. The Parsis called him ‘KawasjiCock.’ He was a carpenter and worked forMackinnon Mackenzie and Co., in theCustoms verification department, where hisjob was to open wooden cases for Customsinspection, to repair damaged cases andrepack opened ones.

He was very popular amongst AfricanNgomas (bands) and he himself became aleader of one of these bands. The BritishColonial Government encouraged andfunded local African Ngomas to play andperform every Sunday and on publicholidays in a large public arena. Thesemusical performances were supplementedwith dances and mock war games. In hisspare time Kawasji built models of wooden

A Chronicle of Parsis in Mombasa by d a ra e du lj i p a te l

Part IIColourful characters and episodes amongst early Parsi settlers

naval vessels with fake guns and mountedthem on long, four-wheel hand carts.

During the naval war games, the Ngomaswore naval uniforms with fake armamentsand placed their carts, with model ships, infighting formation on opposite sides.Kawasji dressed up as the NavalCommander-in-Chief, fake decorationsand†medals hanging on his chest and asword in its casing, hanging on his torso.When the referee blew the whistle the mockbattle began, the naval band played martialmusic and the spectators cheered theirfavourite naval formations.

Kawasji stood on the upper deck (cart) ofthe model navy issuing orders through aloud hailer, in English and Swahili, to thesailors who manned the mock cannons inthe front and back. The attack on theopposing formation was marked by lettingoff fireworks. After an hour, the refereewould stop the war game and declare thewinner. Kawasji’s band usually won.

After an interval, the Ngomas changed intoarmy uniforms (bought at auctions) toengage in a new battle. Kawasji’s bandalways had the best uniforms and he led hismock army dressed as a Major General,holding a naked army sword in his righthand. There were at least four competinggroups, some playing African instruments,some playing brass instruments and othersplaying bagpipes. Kawasji led his mockarmy, marching to war music, in one part ofthe grounds. The spectators showed theirapproval by shouting and clapping. Similarlythe other groups marched in other areas ofthe huge ground, encouraged by theirsupporters. In the centre, a watchtowerwaserected from which a panel of refereesviewed the performance of various Ngomas.

After an hour, the referees called a halt,descended from the watchtower and retired


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to their office to deliberate. Meanwhile,various Ngomas played popular music andsome Ngomas performed exotic dances; thespectators bought food and cold drinks fromthe kiosks. After some time, the leader of thereferees would emerge from the office andinvariably declare Kawasji’s Ngoma thewinner - to the delight of the crowds.

Kawasji’s Ngoma won trophies year afteryear, and these were displayed in his office.When he retired after forty-five years ofservice, on a meagre gratuity and pension,he stopped participating in Ngomas. Lateron, he was employed by the Anjuman, ascaretaker of Parsi Shamba (Parsi garden)and lived in the assembly hall. He plantedflowerbeds and decorative shrubs and treesand improved the garden.

Kawasji was hot headed and never toleratednonsense, jokes or criticism. If provoked, hewould utter expletives in Gujarati and so wasknown as ‘Kawasji Cock’. However, thePresident of the Anjuman, Bamanji HormasjiMistry, was able to control him. WhileKawasji never participated in the generalmeetings of the Anjuman, he played a ritualrole during its proceedings: if the argumentsgot heated and there was commotion in themeeting, he would rush into the hall and sayto the President loudly,“Bamanji soti laa-u?Sala-o ne fatkaro!” (‘Bamanji shall I bring acane? Whip the blaggards!’). Bamanji wouldreply, “Ama taru kam nathi, tuu bar jaa” (‘Youhave no business here; please leave’) andKawasji would exit obediently, having hadthe effect of calming the meeting.

He never married and died at the ripe ageof 96 years and is buried in the Anjuman’scemetery. When the Parsi volunteer pall-bearers entered his room to bring his bodyout for sachkar, they saw his favouritesword in its casing, hanging on the wall.They also found naval and army uniforms,fake decorations, medals and a dentedloud-hailer in his trunk.

Dasturji Charna: In July 1901, Rustomji NTalati sponsored Dasturji Charna, on a threeyear contract, to come to Mombasa andofficiate as the resident priest. He wasaccommodated in one of the rooms of the

Anjuman’s prayer hall and assemblybuilding. There was a garden round thebuilding, known as Parsi Shamba.

The Parsi Community were pleased with thereligious services of Dasturji Charna.Notably, he never failed to perform the kustiprayers five times a day. He did this on theveranda of Parsi Shamba, facing theMakupa Road (now Jomo Kenyatta Avenue),in full view of the local natives passing by.They watched the Dasturji performing thekusti, first with amusement and then withsuspicion. Word soon spread amongst thenatives that a certain Muhindi (Indian) waspracticing witchcraft, mumyani, in ParsiShamba. The rumours became morefanciful: that the Muhindi was capturingAfrican children, bleeding them in order toconcoct blood potions and then throwingtheir bodies down the well of Parsi Shamba.

One Saturday, when Dasturji Charna wasperforming kusti prayers on the verandah, amob entered the Shamba with the intentionof killing him. When the Dasturji saw themob approaching, he fled and ran towardsthe centre of the town, with the mob in hotpursuit.

When Dasturji reached the bazaar, someIndians and Arabs intervened and savedhim from the blood-thirsty mob. Some of therioters were arrested by the police. As theDasturji was roughly handled by the mob,he was traumatised and unable to performreligious ceremonies. The Anjuman decidedto repatriate him to India, with full pay andgratuity. Until 1903, when another Dasturwas called, there was no Dasturji inMombasa. [The use of the title “Dastur” is usedby some quite freely, and possibly thisgentleman was a mobed - Ed]

Dara Patel was born (1925) andbred in Mombasa. He supported thefreedom struggle and served as theTreasurer and Publicity Secretary ofthe Kenya African National Union(KANU) and as Treasurer of theKenya Freedom Party (Asianpolitical party, affiliated to KANU).He was a manufacturer withorchards and poultry farms in

Mombasa and is now retired and settled in Canada.

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High Achievers of the Zarathushti community

Dr Persis J Amrolia and his team of scientists have developed a new bone marrowtransplant technique that only requires a small dose of chemotherapy. This may therefore maketreatment safer and less distressing for children with genetic defects in their immune system (primaryimmunodeficiencies or PID).

A consultant in Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) at the Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH),London, United Kingdom, Dr Persis Amrolia received his Fellowship of the Royal College ofPhysicians in May 2006 and was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists in January2007. He obtained a PhD in Medicine from the London University in April 1997.

Traditionally patients needed a matched donor for a transplant, however almost all children have ahalf-matched donor in their parents. Half-matched, haploidentical stem cell transplants are verydifficult as the immune cells from the donor are mismatched and these T-cells can attack the patientcausing graft versus host disease (GVHT) which frequently results in death.

Dr Amrolia and his team pioneered the use of antibodies that recognize the bone marrow, to preventrejection and create space for the donor stem cells i.e. the bad cells which cause GVHD are selectedand the remaining good immune cells are given back to restore patient immunity. This process isknown as allodepletion. This antibody treatment avoids some of the most devastating short and longterm side effects caused by standard chemotherapy e.g. hair loss, sickness, organ damage andinfertility.

A major clinical study carried out in collaboration between GOSH and the Centre for Cell and GeneTherapy, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, using this approach was published in the journalBlood (15 September 2006). Lead researcher Dr Amrolia treated 16 half-matched transplantpatients. Half were given low doses of the allodepleted T-cells and the other half were given highdoses. Patients receiving the high dose of allodepleted donor T-cells had much quicker recovery oftheir immune systems after transplant and had a low mortality rate from infection, although somepatients did still relapse. GOSH / ICH (Institute of Child Health) research is now in the process ofrefining this method of allodepletion with the aim of improving outcomes for children undergoing half-matched transplants i.e. cell therapy to improve patients’ immunity after BMT; reducing the intensityof the conditioning drugs used before BMT; and gene therapy for genetic immunodeficiencydisorders.

As Dr Persis Amrolia sums it up, “Given how sick some of these children were before transplant, theresults are remarkable.”

Dr Firoze Patel, Karachi, PakistanSource : Daily Express of 2 September 2009 and the Internet

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For over ten years now, Khushroo Poacha has stood by the sole belief that to do good workyou don’t need money. Poacha runs indianblooddonors.com (IBD), a site that lets blood donors andpatients in need of blood connect with each other almost instantaneously. He also does not acceptcash donations.

The site has been live for almost ten years and with over 50,000 donors in its database, IBD isperhaps a classic example of what the Internet is truly capable of. But more importantly, it is areflection of a single human being’s desire to make a difference to this world.


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It started in the mid-’90s when Khushroo Poacha, an employee with the Indian Railways in Nagpursaw a doctor being beaten up because he couldn’t save a patient’s life. No one in the mob seemedto understand that it was the lack of blood that caused the death. Poacha, however, had no clueabout how he could make a difference until one day, sitting in a cyber cafe with a 56 kbpsconnection, the idea came to him. “I did not know head or toe of the Internet, let alone about domainnames, but I knew this would be the tool that would make a difference,” he says.

“I had spent almost IndRs 40,000 in developing the site and had gone practically bankrupt.” Poachasays he even went to a local newspaper to place an ad. The silver lining to the dark cloud camewhen someone from the outskirts of his hometown Nagpur contacted him, expressing interest.

Visibility, however, was still an issue. No publication was willing to write about him. No major hospitalor blood bank was interested in taking his calls. And then the 2001 Gujarat Earthquake happened.As visuals of the devastation flashed before his eyes on television, Poacha realised yet again he hadto do something. Only this time he knew just what. “I called up Zee News (TV channel) andrequested them to flash the site’s name on the ticker and they agreed.” Five minutes later, the tickerwas live. Ten minutes later, the site crashed. He explained the situation to them was put on a freshserver and over the next three days or so received some 3,500 odd registrations. Realising thedifference he had made, the 42-year-old started working on getting visibility again.

Interestingly, IBD is not yet registered as an NGO. “We function as individuals. We don’t takedonations and only accept bumper stickers (of IBD) and postage stamps to send out those stickersto create awareness,” he says. “I was asked to deliver a lecture at IIM during a socialentrepreneurship seminar and was asked what my sustenance model was. I replied I didn’t haveone. And I have been doing this for the last ten years.”

Today, the database of IBD is growing at the rate of 10-15 users every day and the requests havegrown from 25 to 40 per day. IBD is currently on an auto pilot mode and Poacha continues to keephis day job. He says, “Initially I would take the calls and personally connect the donor with thepatient’s relative. But I know only three languages and I’d get calls from all over India,” he laughs.

Last year Poacha was invited to the Asian Social Entrepreneurs Summit 2008 in South Korea whereventure capitalists argued that it wasn’t possible to sustain an endeavour without money. He says, “Ifyou want to do good work, you simply do it.”

From the article written by Abhishek Mande

ζThe fundraiser for “Three Cups of Tea” took place at the Hyatt in Brunswick, New Jersey

on October 24 th 2009. It began with a reception at which Greg Mortenson and

Bapsi Sidhwa signed books for patrons. By six o’clock the banquet hall waspacked with a sold-out crowd of over 800 guests. Entertainment included a children’srecital, silent auction and Quawalis. Distinguished guest and internationally acclaimedwriter, Bapsi Sidhwa was introduced to the audience and was constantly beingapproached by the crowd to autograph her novel, “Cracking India”, which was included inthe gift bag for every guest at the dinner.

The theme for the evening was defined by the book’s subtitle “One Man’s Mission toPromote peace – One School at a Time” Greg Mortenson, a mountaineer who has built over 150schools in North Pakistan and Afghanistan, spoke of the pressing need for education in a region thathas almost no schools. Since its inception, The Central Asia Institute founded by him has promoted

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Usheen Davar, New York, USA

Note from the Ed: The ‘wonderman’ Greg Mortenson of course is not a Zarathushti, but Bapsi Sidhwa is. Theirachievement fits well in this section of the Hamazor, so just a little latitude please.

and supported community based education, especially for girls, in the remote and almost inaccessiblereaches of the mighty Karakoram and Hindu Kush mountains. The Institute not only helps build schools,but provides scholarships, medical facilities, teacher training and seeds incipient library projects.

Through his personal story in “Three Cups of Tea”, Greg Mortenson has been influencing peopleglobally. He has been able to motivate students to launch the Pennies for Peace programme inschools all across America. For more information on this programme, please visit http://www.penniesforpeace.org/

Today, “Three Cups of Tea” is not only sold in bookstores worldwide, but is part of curriculums inschools and a mandatory read within US military and government organizations assigned to the area.Earlier this year, Mortenson launched a Young Readers version of the book aimed at elementaryschool children and in December he hopes to launch his second book: “Stones into Schools”.

The well organized event was enjoyed by all the guests, who also found the evening’s talks andfilms inspirational. The dinner raised around two hundred and thirty thousand dollars.

To learn more about The Central Asia Institute or to make a donation, please visit https://www.ikat.org/ Bapsi Sidhwa’s website: www.BapsiSidhwa.com

ζFirst recipient of the gold medal award for Service to International Neurology was presented to

Dr Noshir H Wadia, MD, FRCP, FNA, FAMS, FASc, DSc (Hons), on 26th October 2009at Bangkok, Thailand during the 19th World Congress of Neurology.

The World Federation is an affiliation of more than 100 National World Societies andAssociations with a total membership of several thousand neurologists, which activelypromotes Neurology in its every aspect at the international level. It was established in 1957.National Societies were asked to nominate a Neurologist worthy of this award and the IndianAcademy of Neurology of which he is a member had sent in his nomination.

Prof Noshir Wadia was asked at age 32 years to set up a department of Neurology at thegovernment JJ Hospital, Bombay when there were few dedicated neurologists to Asia and Oceania.Within five years he developed a department of Neurosciences recognized by National Institute ofHealth, USA, in 1961 for a collaborative project with the Massachusetts General Hospital, and thefirst President of the World Federation of Neurology invited him to be founder member of the‘Problem Commission of Tropical Neurology’.

This despite paucity of funds and equipment as was in those days. Initially his only help was aMedical Registrar to treat a sizeable number of patients in an honorary capacity, which he did for 25years. Yet he found time to identify and document the prevalence of local and unique diseases tobuild up a regional neurological nosology as is documented in his book ‘Neurological Practice – anIndian Perspective’ which received laudatory reviews internationally.

He has about 150 scientific publications in peer reviewed high impact national and internationaljournals.


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Through his teaching he attracted medical students to Neurology and is now known as amentor to more than a 100 neurologists practicing globally, some of whom have becomeinternationally renowned.

His services to the disabled is recognized by his participation in their many societies.He is an elected fellow / member of National and International medical and sciencesocieties. He has delivered many prestigious orations and received national andinternational awards and was appointed President (Chancellor) of an Institute ofNational Importance related to Neurosciences and Biotechnology, a position he held for seven and ahalf years.

His continuing service to WFN was recognized by Past Presidents who presented him “proudly”certificates of “appreciation for services to Neurology” and which was also acknowledged by thecurrent President, who has called him “father of contemporary Indian Neurology”.

He is a caring physician, educator, role model, researcher and pioneer in the development ofregional and International Neurology who emerged from a developing country in the 1950s.

After a due process of selection the World Federation of Neurology found Dr Noshir H Wadia worthyto be chosen as the first recipient of the medal for “Service to International Neurology”. The Presidentof the World Federation of Neurology, Prof Johan Aarli wrote to him – “It is a great pleasure andan honour for me to inform you that there is a world-wide support for you as theawardee for the first medal, Noshir for your work for service to internationalneurology”.

ζ

Cyrus Todiwala, Chef Patron of Cafe Spice Namaste, has been awarded an OBE in the 2010Queen’s New Year’s Honours List for his services to the hospitality industry. Cyrus says he is deeplyhonoured and humbled to receive this recognition, which came as a lovely surprise. [Announced on31 December 2009 ]. Cyrus previously was awarded the MBE.

A further honour was bestowed, early December 2009. During its annual graduation ceremonies on2nd December, London Metropolitan University conferred an honorary doctorate degree on Cyrus.

Awarding the degree, Bob Morgan, Head of the London Metropolitan University Business School,said, ‘It gives great pleasure to award this degree to Cyrus Todiwala in recognition of his outstandingcontribution to the international hospitality and catering industry and his support for providing training anddevelopment opportunities for young people and adults.’

Cyrus said, ‘I am deeply honoured to receive this degree and only wish my mother could have been here.Education is perhaps one of the most valuable assets we can have in our lifetime, and once we have it, no one cantake it away from us. That goes for both academic and vocational education, which must have equal esteem.’

ζ

Dinaz Vervatwala, a fitness trainer at Secunderabad, has made it to the Guinness Book ofWorld Records for completing 26-hour-long aerobics marathon that ended on Sunday 10th January2010.

700 volunteers took the stage with Dinaz to help her set the new world record. The polo groundsresonated with applause and encouragement of army officers, participants and audience who werepresent in large numbers.

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Oxford University Press, Pakistan, launched on Thursday 14 January 2010 at the Beach Luxury

Hotel, Karachi, Ambassador Marker’s memoirs – “Quiet Diplomacy”. The evening was anelegant one, just as it should be for a man who is himself, refined, quiet, unassuming and a‘complete’ diplomat.

Jamsheed willingly and patiently signed each book, the queue running well beyond the banquet hallof the hotel, sharing his charming smile with one and all. After the welcome address by AmeenaSaiyid, MD of OUP, past Ambassador Aneesudddin Ahmed held an interesting conversation withAmbassador Marker, bringing to light the various experiences, both pleasurable and difficultsituations faced by Jamsheed. The floor was then thrown open for questions to Ambassador Marker,some of which were “googlies” brilliantly caught by the ardent cricketer-diplomat.

The Man - Jamsheed Marker is a veteran Pakistani diplomat. He was Pakistan’s top envoy to theUnited States and to more than a dozen other countries including the former Soviet Union, Canada,East Germany, Japan, the Federal Republic of Germany and France for more than three decades,earning the distinction as the ‘world’s longest-serving ambassador’. During his Ambassador-ship tothe US he helped negotiate the Soviet military withdrawal from Afghanistan. Reportedly, he is listedin the Guinness Book of Records as having been ambassador to more countries than any otherperson. He has served as United Nations Under-secretary General, as a special advisor to UnitedNations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, and won praise for his role in bringing about the resolution ofthe East Timor conflict and the independence of that nation. He speaks English, Urdu, Gujarati,French, German, and Russian. He is currently teaching political science at Eckerd College in StPetersburg, Florida, USA.

Ambassador Marker’s earlier publications include: “East Timor: A Memoir of the Negotiations forIndependence & “The American Papers : Secret and Confidential India-Pakistan-BangladashDocuments, 1965-1973”, jointly with Roedad Khan.

ζ

Dinaz said, “I’m happy that I’m the first person to set a new record and the first woman to have gotthis achievement. The feat couldn’t be achieved without support from my friends and family. I’mextremely happy that the city will now be noted in the entire world. The aim of the event was tospread the message of fitness and healthy living.”

Information from The Hindu of 11th January 2010, sent through courtesy of Jehangir Bisney

ζ

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Vera Danesh Dinshaw was conferred the ‘Chevalier de l’Ordre National duMerite’ (Knight of the National Order of Merit) by the President of the French Republic forher distinguished achievments for the Government, at the residence of the ConsulGeneral of France, Pierre Seillan, at Karachi, Pakistan, on 30th January 2010. Vera hasbeen working with the French Government for the past 30 years and in recognition forthis long service she received the ‘Medaille d’Honneur des Affaires Etrangeres’ on 23August 2008.

The National Order of Merit is an Order of Chivalry. It was founded on 3rd December 1963by President Charles de Gaulle and was created to replace the large number ofministerial Orders previously awarded by the ministries; and to create an award that canbe granted more liberally than the Legion of Honour.


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Mhow, a small cantonmenttown in Madhya Pradesh was establishedin 1818 as a result of a treaty between theEnglish and the princely Holkars who ruledIndore. My journey to Mhow in 2008 had thedistinct expectation of a place that enjoysquite a European climate and where theZoroastrian community once lived wellamidst the British residents in what wasonce a class conscious Anglo Indiansociety. A Shangri-La, where the rich andfamous Zoroastrians sipped their high teason the manicured lawns of their bungalowsand beautiful gardens. A serene little townblessed with the cold and mild weather ofMalwa plateau of central India. Where once,horse drawn Victorias were used totransport friends and family and where polowas played with gusto. The British didchoose some excellent places to set uptheir cantonments.

I returned from Mhow with the reality thatthose were day’s bygone and the grandeurhas sadly been replaced with worn downbungalows in disrepair, the noisy pollutingtrucks and the three wheelers. Where oncethe Parsi woman was the principal of an allEnglish school, today there are now, only ahandful of families residing in Mhow.Economic migration to the cities has seenthis small town meet its fate like others. ButMhow has a few tales to tell of its eminentZoroastrians, the magnificent heritage of itsphilanthropic tradition and the brave sons,once part of the military institution in Mhowwho fought and died in the wars.

I stayed with my friends Sherni and CyrusMancherji at their lovely bungalow. Inpersonifying the open-hearted countryhospitality of a Mhow Parsi, Cyrus hadensured that all my needs were taken careof, including sending his car and driver topick me up from Indore - a journey of 22kms which takes an hour on the Mumbai-Agra highway. A dinner party that night

b y j e h a n g i r m e h t a

Mhow – Tales of Generosity, Philanthropy and Valour

[The article is based on the author’s personal observations during his visit to Mhow]

hosted by Cyrus included swag of peoplefrom the community with whom I couldshare and reminisce the nostalgia and talesof what was once a thriving, prosperous anda cohesive community.

Mhow cantonment has three premiermilitary training institutions – The InfantrySchool, The Military College ofTelecommunications Engineering and TheArmy War College, formerly known as theCollege of Combat. My day in Mhow wascarefully planned and included a drive up tothe Parsi Hill and the Mhow dokhma.Although the dokhma is still maintained, thebungli is now in ruins. The adjoining landowned by the Anjuman has now become atalking point due to its pristine location,danger of encroachment, and the saleablevalue attached to it. A state highwaypassing through the area is alreadyattracting property developers, builders andretired army personnel. With the ultimatedemise of the Parsi population in nextfifteen to twenty years, the question is not if,but when the decision will be made to sellthe property. The current estimate of theMhow population is approx 60 individualsand many over the age of seventy - typicallysenior citizens. It once boasted a populationof 1000 strong.

A social outing in Mhow would mean apicnic to the Bercha Lake. Artillery firingexercises take place over the lake andaccess to those areas is restricted by themilitary personnel during those times. Theadjoining forest rich in teak and sal woodand wildlife is also prey to unscrupulouspoachers and illegal deforestation. Mhowagiary was built in 1916 and the Dotiwallahall once boasted gala functions andghambhars – a meeting place for Parsis ofthat era, is now a sad reminder.

That afternoon, I met Mrs Roshan Markerwhose husband Late Group Captain

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Dhunjisha Marker served in World War II atIraq and Mesopotamia in 1944. Dhanjisha’sfather came to Mhow in 1918 and ownedthe aerated drinks company called MarkerCold Drinks. Their present bungalowbelonged to the Dewan of Dhar (primeminister of Maharaja) and the bungalowpre-dates the Indian Mutiny. Roshan’ssister in law Banoo Merchant taught at theSt Mary’s convent in 1953 - when only theBritish children were admitted. Later on,Anglo Indians and then the Parsis wereallowed.

Early Parsis of Mhow were businessmenengaged as contractors to the British Armyand later to the Indian army, buildingeducational institutions and hospitals.Almost every institution, be it educational,social, medical or welfare oriented, carriesthe indelible Zarathushti hallmark. KhanBahadur Eduljee Pestonjee built the MhowZoroastrian School in 1866 and in 1886 hebuilt another school which even today isknown as Khan Bahadur Eduljee PestonjeeVernacular School. In 1875 KB EduljeePestonjee established the CantonmentHospital. Another icon of Mhow, KhanBahadur Dhunjisha Dotiwalla’s majorcontributions as a contractor andphilanthropist was building roads, theBercha Lake embankment, army barracks,Flag Staff House (where the senior mostGeneral in Mhow resides), and theDotiwalla Hall next to the agiary. The WhiteHouse complex which he built was laterdonated to the Anjuman by the benevolenceof his children as residences for needyZoroastrians.

Other eminent Parsis in the 1800’s - ArdeshirDadabhoy Bhote was one of the firstIndians to be appointed the IndianDivisional Forest Officer. He was mademember of the Victorian Order (MVO) forhis contribution in enhancing theGovernment’s forestry revenue throughscientific and eco-friendly means. EduljeeBharucha (Edibhai) started powerhouses inMhow in 1928 and he earned the reputationof not permitting any power failure to last formore than a couple of minutes. Ironicallytoday Mhow experiences power cuts lasting

several hours during summer. Hisdescendant Zal Cowasji is a stockbrokerand lives in their ancestral home on PostOffice Road. Ardeshir Dadabhoy(Masalawala) donated the Pirojbai Library in1914. Dr Adi Dastur who had his earlyeducation in Mhow qualified as nuclearphysicist and took leadership in developingCanada’s deuterium uranium reactor andwas affectionately dubbed “Young Einstein”by his Canadian colleagues.

Miss Homai Illava’s name is synonymousfor her social work in Mhow. Honoraryteacher at the Parsee School Mhow, shewas founder member of Asha Kala Kendra,the Mahila Sangh, Pratap Bal Mandir andthe President of the Ladies Committee ofthe Indian Red Cross Society Mhow. Shewas the trustee of various Illava Charitiesand President of Mhow Anjuman 1978 -1997.

Mhow has seen the passage of many of itsbrave and inspiring Parsi Army officers.Some of them won the highest gallantryawards. Late Lt Col Adi Tarapore won theParam Vir Chakra for his heroic actionduring the Indo-Pak War in 1965 destroyingsixty enemy tanks and finally succumbing tohis wounds. Cyrus Pithawala is now aBrigadier. As 2nd Lieutenant in 1981, Cyruswon the Ashok Chakra for capture of armedextremists in Manipur. Lt Gen RustomNanavati served in Kargil and comes toMhow as guest lecturer. Brigadier FarokhBulsara won the award for leading the ParaBrigade to Maldives and saving itsGovernment from the Tamil militants whohad tried to take over. Late Field MarshalSam Maneckshaw was the Commandant ofThe Infantry School as a Brigadier based inMhow. Many other Parsi army officerscontinue to visit Mhow for higher coursesand since retirement, numerous Parsi armyofficers have served the community atMhow.

Today the Mhow Parsi Zoroastrian Anjumanis said to be the second richest per capitaAnjuman in India after the BPP. Much of thewealth was gifted to the Anjuman by thebenevolence of the rich and famous Mhow


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families, whose foresight towardscommunity welfare can be compared to theTatas, Wadias, Petits and Jamsetjees ofMumbai. They truly believed that charitybegins at home and the Mhow communityto them meant a close-knit family. Therewas friendship and harmony and all theneeds were taken care of. Sadly all that isforgotten, and the Anjuman homes andresidences that gave the community a roofover their heads, has now taken an uglyslant. The old houses need constant yearlyrepairs and the Anjuman funds are notinfinite. Some residents have locked up theAnjuman properties and shifted to the citieshoping to cash in on future developmentand saleable returns of the assets.

Everyone wants to have a lion’s share ofthe pie and not contribute a single penny forthe repairs and maintenance. It is a muchdivided community and the root cause is“what’s in it for me”. Mhow Anjuman faces astiff challenge and the solution is not easy.There is guidance coming from wellmeaning individuals, but none that will beeasily resolved. The bucket of money isattracting interest from all quarters and lonesharks. Value of assets has gone up andthe ever rising dollar value is pulling andpushing the Anjuman and the communityinto a vicious spiral of disharmony, greedand loss of friendships. Nominating thefederation of Parsi Zoroastrian Anjumans ofIndia as the custodian trustee for the fundsand properties in Mhow may be a wisemove, but will it restore the past Parsi gloryto this town in full measure.

As the dinner party at Cyrus’s bungalowprogressed through the night and the coolnight was warmed by the burning wood andcoal fire on the bar-b-q, there was anunderlying pessimism that this dilemma offinding a solution to the end seems a longway away. I can only be as hopeful as theLate Gp Capt Dhunjisha Marker who in hisaddress as the president of Mhow Anjumansaid, “May Ahura Mazda grant us our prayersand guide us on the righteous path toaccomplish this dream (increasing thepopulation in Mhow) - I am convinced that wecan create in Mhow Anjuman a socio-economic

model that may later be adopted at otherplaces.”

It is a common saying that “money is theroot of all evil” but I think it would be a muchmore accurate statement to say that theroot of most evil is man’s greed to increasehis own status. Blaming money for evil islike blaming the generosity of thosemagnificent philanthropists to whom we owesuch a lot today. The glory and thetribulations are a part and parcel of thedynamics of any community.

Reference: The Souvenir on the occasion of theFederation of Anjumans of India meeting held inMhow in 1999.

Jehangir Mehta, withhis wife Phyrooza livesin Perth, WesternAustralia.

Marker bungalow. Below with the Marker family

Dotiwala Hall

Cyrus & Sherni Mancherjee

With Cyrus on Parsi Hill

Mhow Dokhma

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b y z a r e e r m a s a n i

Although I’ve known DinuSuntook literally from the cradle, I had noidea until last Sunday (22nd November 2009)what a talented young singer she had growninto. I knew, of course, that she had alwaysbeen bright at school and college, and wasdoing well as an up and coming Londonlawyer. But seeing her perform on an autumnafternoon at a charming North London churchwas a revelation.

Although well over 100 people attended, I wasstruck by how remarkably composed andrelaxed Dinu appeared. The programme washighly varied in style and mood, with aneclectic mix of pieces. It began with anextremely challenging religious motet for solosoprano by Vivaldi, and Dinu copedremarkably well with the virtuosic demandson her voice. There followed two operaticexcerpts, a serious one by the relativelymodern composer Menotti and a hilariouspiece about a mechanical doll fromOffenbach’s Tales of Hoffman. The latterinvolved Dinu being carried on stage by astrong young man, who we later discoveredwas her cousin, and being regularly woundup with a key by her piano accompanist. Theconcert ended with a beautiful Schubert liedand a Broadway song. Each of these madeconsiderable demands both on Dinu’s singingtechnique and interpretative skills. And shealso demonstrated a dramatic talent rare inclassical singers, charming the audience withher passion and humour.

For the Schubert piece, The Shepherd on theRock, Dinu was joined by the clarinettist LucyAsquith, who also played a piece for clarinetand piano. The piano accompaniment wasprovided throughout by Neil Cloake, who readmusic at Cambridge University and has beena music teacher and accompanist ever since.Dinu herself has the Diploma in Performance(with honours) from the Guildhall School of

Concert to remember Tina Murdoch

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Concert dedicated to the memory of Tina Murdoch (1948-2009) held at St Annes’s Church, Westgate Hill,London, on 22 November 2009 in aid of Cancer Research UK.

Music and Drama, and while at university shewas awarded music bursaries and also wonfirst place in the Warwick Concertocompetition. She has sung solo at publicvenues and she has also been invited to singat a number of private functions. In December2009 Dinu took her Licentiate examinationwith Trinity College of Music in London. Inbetween all this musical activity Dinu hassomehow found time to pursue her othercareer, working as a trainee solicitor at a lawfirm based near the Houses of Parliament!

The afternoon lasted for about two hours, thefirst part being taken up by the recital itselfand the second by a social get together overtea and homemade cakes generouslyprovided by the parishioners. Everybodyseemed to have a thoroughly enjoyable time,both while they were listening to the musicand after that chatting with friends – altogethera very jolly affair! The concert helped raise£300 which would be sent to CancerResearch UK.

Dr Zareer Masani currentlyworks as a freelancejournalist and broadcaster,having for two decades beena current affairs producer forBBC Radio 4. He is theauthor of a celebrated anddefinitive biography of IndiraGandhi and two otherhistorical books on India. Heis the son of the well knownIndian author and politician,the late Minoo Masani.

A feedback from Farrokh Suntook:“As you may recall, the concert was a sort of “dressrehearsal” for the LTCL (Licentiate from TrinityCollege London) exam which Dinu was toundertake in December. Having recently learnther results, Maneck and I are very pleased to saythat Dinu managed to achieve a distinction (thepass mark is 60%, the minimum mark for adistinction is 80%, and Dinu got 85%).

We are all sure that the experience of the concerthelped her to achieve these results, because itenabled Dinu to focus in the few weeks betweenthe concert and the exam on outstanding thingsrequiring final attention - so we would like tothank you all very much indeed for the supportyou offered which made it possible for us to holdthe concert.”


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