On Friday March 8, 2019 Rati Framroze Cooper passed away in Lahore, Pakistan. It may be coincidence or not, that one of the most amazing women educators of the Indian sub-continent, passed away on International Women’s Day.

I had the opportunity to meet Rati Aunty only for a few days on my trip to Lahore in January 2016. I was introduced to her and her sister Perin Aunty, through several contacts and I first met up with them in the lobby of the Avari Lahore. Rati Aunty has to have been the most energetic octogenarian I have ever known in my life. Over the next three days I got to know more about her and Perin aunty having spent most of those days as they showed me around the city of Lahore with a sense of pride that only comes from those who have lived in a place for generations. However in Rati Aunty’s case that was not necessarily so.

Rati Aunty was a lifelong educator and academician at one of India’s greatest private schools….the Rajkumar College of Rajkot, Gujarat, India. She spoke of her students who today are all over the world having achieved great success professionally. She had an amazing memory and could recall details about students from decades ago. She was also a veritable encyclopedia of all things Parsi in Lahore and that was so evident when she and Perin Aunty took me to see the Cooper Agiary that their parents had built in Lahore.

The stories of pre-Partition India, of Rajkumar College, of Parsis in Lahore and of Pakistan as a society today was what we spoke about over the next three days. On the last day that I was in Lahore, Rati Aunty asked me if I could take a book for a student of hers who lives in New York. And in the “its such a small world after all” way, this ex-student of hers happened to be my first boss in NYC where I had interned as a student of architecture years ago.

I never got a chance to meet Rati Aunty again. I am told that she was planning on being present at the opening of the Houston Atash Kadeh in a few days from now, and I would’ve got a chance to have met her again. Alas, it is not to be.

Garothman Behest Rati Aunty, and deep deep condolences to Perin Aunty.

This picture was taken at the home of Sajida and Pervaiz Vandal in Lahore. Rati Aunty is second from right.

Below is an article that appeared in the alumni pages of the Rajkumar College archives.

A reluctant young lady from a sophisticated and elite Zoroastrian family in her twenties was persuaded by the British Council to just visit a school in Rajkot. She was received at the airport by a member of the well known Wadia family and escorted to the Rajkumar College at about 11 am that fateful day in March 1958. And the rest is history. What attracted her to immediately decide to accept the invitation to serve the Rajkumar College is anybody’s guess. Was it the aesthetic beauty of the campus, the prevailing ethical environment, the cheerful atmosphere, the wry humor of the Principal or his persuasive ways?

Miss Rati F. Cooper

Whatever it was, Miss Rati F. Cooper was a great catch for the Rajkumar College! Young though she was, she was both highly qualified and experienced – Bachelor’s degree in English, French and Philosophy from the Sacred Heart College, Master in Philosophy of Education from New York State College, Albany, USA, and a summer course in English language from Oriel College, Dept. of Extramural Studies, Oxford. She was a recipient of the Fulbright Award for Travel and Study in USA and the British Council Visitorship Award for summer courses that included one on Shakespeare, another on Marlowe and yet another at the Visual Aids Training Center in London. She had also done several courses in Western Classical Music – Pianoforte and the Art of Teaching from Trinity College of Music, Rochester USA, and another course from Aspen Institute, Colorado, and the Western House College, Warwickshire.

Before joining the Rajkumar College she had already taught in the Cathedral School, Lahore, the Lawrence College in Murree, and the Green Mountain College in Vermont. USA, and had been the Director of Child Development Department of the College of Home & Social Sciences. Lahore. Whew! All these qualifications and experience while she was only in her twenties!

But more importantly, Miss Cooper brought with her a passion for education, unadulterated affection for children, devotion to duty, and commitment to her chosen vocation and respect for her seniors and rules and regulations of the College. She was so different from both Mr. Wynter Blyth and Mr. Rogerson and yet the three of them formed a formidable trinity to guide the destiny of the institution which was dearer to them than their Own lives. Mr. Wynter Blyth and Mr. Peter Rogerson served the school till their last breath. Thankfully, Miss Cooper is getting younger as the days go by and as Principal Emeritus, is ever ready to guide us.

While Mr. Rogerson befriended anyone and everyone who met him for a short time, Miss Cooper “suffers from a malady’ that makes her restless and in great discomfort until she has found a way of helping everyone she has met. Be it in terms of doling out vast sums of personal money to those in need of a house or seriously ill, or moving heaven and earth to get a deserving person admission into a good institution, or persuading those in power to do their best for the needy, or even giving away her own fan or cooler so someone’s elderly mother may sleep more comfortably, Miss Cooper’s compassion flows out towards all.

As Head Mistress of the Junior School, her sterling example, innovative ideas, and ability to create a team of dedicated educators brought about a sea change. She began working with the dynamic and saintly Mother Maria Teresa Unzu as Joint Head Mistress of the Junior School. Although they were of different dispositions, they worked together with mutual respect for each other and continue to be lifelong friends. They had a way with colleagues and created a culture of sincerity, good work and cheer without ever compromising on effort expended. As a teacher in class, she brought along with her an impeccable command over English, a wealth of knowledge about innumerable subjects and an ability to interest the students in more than just academic learning process.

Because she could be trusted to give her total commitment to any assignment given to her, she was loaded with multiple responsibilities. Apart from being the Headmistress of the Junior School, an onerous task in itself, she also became the House Mistress of the Preparatory House, a duty that. I believe, she enjoyed immensely and of course, she left her unique imprint on the delicate task of nurturing the youngest lads of the school and made the job of the House Masters of Junior and Senior Houses easier. She developed a beautiful yard for the Prep boys to assemble for multifarious activities. The Prep Yard had a tree house, a pond and a little zoo with rabbits, deer, pigeons, sheep and a clutch of peacocks and peahens. She inculcated an interest in looking after birds and animals in many children, who wore the tags of peacock boys, pigeon boys and the deer man with pride. All the three Principals have been nature lovers and have made Rajkumar College the greenest spot in this area. Miss Cooper continued to conscientiously add and protect trees in the institution.

Evidence of her aesthetic input can be seen in the functional and attractive construction of the Jam Shri Digvijaysinh Memorial Wing as well as in the renovation of the Dhrangadhara Hall. In all the major functions and in looking after the VIP guests – their comfort and meals and conversation -Madam’s input was invaluable. Her stamp can easily be seen in the production of the magazine Endeavour – attention to detail, choosing of the quality paper and layout and all other aspects immaculately conceived and executed.

Under her guidance children took part in the Commonwealth Essay Competitions and performed very creditably. She encouraged creativity amongst teachers to give their imagination free rein and vacant walls in the school were plastered with what we called Child Art. She believed in the philosophy of trust begets trust and gave opportunities to the non-athlete Senior Boys to perform as Officials during the Annual Athletic Sports, which they carried out successfully. She decided that RKC should participate in as many IPSC meets as possible. A very successful and thoroughly enjoyable “Atmiyata Meer” with Daly College, Indore was undertaken. She hosted the IPSC Principals Conference in 1997 and treated the Principals to RKC’s specialty, the Searchlight Tattoo. Incidentally a record of sorts was set when the Tattoo was held twice in the same year. Miss Cooper put in quality time for her school, spending what seemed like 30 hours a day for all 48 years of her life here. In spite of her unbelievable work schedule, she never forgot to greet hundreds of her colleagues, friends, admirers and acquaintances on their birthdays, wedding anniversaries, etc.

She, along with Rani Saheb of Jasdan, conceived the idea of a Pre School for the Rajkumar College. Priyalok Vilas is much appreciated and in great demand.

One can go on writing about Miss Cooper the person and her wonderful ways and realize that one has still not been able to do her justice.

A better job was done by a set of students a few years back when they presented a small booklet they had prepared and given as a farewell gift to all the Staff Members on passing out from the school.

This is what they wrote about her and to her (excerpts):

One of the boys wrote about Miss Cooper moving about the dormitory at midnight and on realizing that a beam of light from outside was disturbing him, she very quietly took a towel and put it on the mosquito net crossbar in such a way as to create a curtain. He then watched her looking at the sleeping boys affectionately and tucking in the mosquito nets that had come off. He realised that her rounds at nights were a regular feature and she quietly sow to the comfort of her boys.

“I will have to unfold a post chapter of my school life to write about my most memorable moment. When I was in the Prep House, a week before the vocation I fell ill and was hospitalized. I was very sad as I missed taking port in the play to be performed on the lost day of the term and also missed out on chocolate pockets that were sure to be distributed. On the first day of the new term, after 10 weeks of summer vocation, I was summoned by Miss Cooper to her room and there were not one but two packets of chocolate waiting for me. Madam, Thank You.”

“We remember the amount of time and toil you have put in to prepare us to take all the challenges in our stride and carve a niche for ourselves in later life”.

“You have taught us to take a brood view of things: of thinking with courage and acting with faith: of keeping our ideals and moral principles intact, regardless of what conditions or what kind of world we might one day be called upon to face.”

In 2000, on Miss Cooper’s wish to retire from active service, the President and Members of the College Council resolved to honor her with the title of Principal Emeritus of the Rajkumar College, a position of dignity and esteem.

Nearly half the work in the restoration and facelifting of the century-old Parsi Opera Theatre at Bhawani Natyashala in Jhalawar has been completed, state government officials said.

The Rajasthan archaeology and museum department is carrying out the restoration at an estimated budget of Rs 5 crore.

Article in Hindustan Times

The Rajasthan archaeology and museum department is carrying out the restoration work at Parsi theatre in Jhalawar.Photo by: HT Photo

The repair, restoration and facelifting works commenced in September 2018 and will continue till 2021, when it completes 100 years.

Mahendra Kumar Nimhal, the in-charge of the archaeology and museum department of Jhalawar, told HT that around 45% of the work at the Bhawani Natyashala has been completed. “Repairs and facelifting works including plaster, flooring work, light fitting, window repair and other works have completed,” he said.

Work on the lounge, stage, and roof are being carried out now, he said.

Restoration and facelifting works of Rajasthan’s only Parsi opera theatre in Jhalawar. ( HT Photo )

Chairs for permanent seating and stone benches within the campus will be fixed next, he said. “We are also finishing works on light fittings, switches and colouring of the building,” Nimhal said. Also, separate toilet facilities for the tourists will also be constructed at the opera theatre building, he said.

He added that the restoration work is being done in such a way that the historicity of the Bhawani Natyashala is not affected.

Now situated near the Garh Palace, the theatre was constructed by the Maharaja Bhawani Singh of Jhalawar in 1921 and will complete 100 years in 2021.

Plays like Abhigyan Shakuntalam, Rana Pratap, Bhul Bhulaiyya, Mahabharat, Raja Harish Chandra and others were staged at Bhawani Natyashala till 1950 but after that very few plays were staged there.

Work on the 2B corridor, which will connect D N Nagar and Mankhurd, has begun at several places along its 23.6km route. The corridor will run along the 3.6 km-long arterial BKC road.

MMRDA metropolitan commissioner R A Rajeev did not respond to calls or texts by TOI.

A senior MMRDA official said, “Earlier, the Metro 2B viaduct and the flyover at Kala Nagar were to be constructed on the same pillar on the BKC road median. The flyover was planned on Level 1 and the viaduct on Level 2.”

Article in the Times of India

Now, there has been a change in the alignment at the 200-metre stretch between the Kala Nagar junction and the family court junction on BKC road. The Metro corridor will be built on the pavement of the carriageway that takes traffic from BKC to the Western Express Highway.

The official said, “The Matoshree bungalow is located close to the BKC road. We did not want to take any chances at a later stage of the project when work would be on in full swing. Hence, we felt it is better to shift the viaduct further south from the median to ensure there is a safe distance between the viaduct, the proposed Metro station and the Matoshree bungalow.”

The official further said the other reason was that land for the station would have proved to be inadequate, “which also prompted us to shift the pavement by around 10 metres”.

Another official said, “We plan to complete the construction of the Kala Nagar stretch much earlier, probably before October when assembly elections are held. Constructing the Metro corridor is a time-consuming task, which could have delayed the flyover project too. Hence, a decision was taken to segregate both the projects.”

Citizen activists are up in arms against the realignment. Juhu resident and architect Nitin Killawala, who has been demanding an underground Metro corridor for the same project on behalf of Santacruz and Juhu residents, said, “MMRDA has not even considered the structural stability or safety of our buildings or shown any concern for loss of open space, but in this case it has moved with alacrity.”

Structural engineer Jamshed Sukhadwala said, “MMRDA is worried about the safety of one particular family but MMRC (Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation) had been ignoring and has ignored a minority community’s religious sentiments. As compared to Metro 2B, we Parsis only wanted minor changes in the Metro 3 alignment by shifting one of the tunnels by 7 metres, so that the Metro 3 corridor does not pass below our fire temple. But MMRC was adamant, and only after legal proceedings, was willing to shift the tunnel by merely 3.5 metres. They could have easily cooperated a little more and shifted an additional 2.5 metres by bringing the tracks closer at Kalbadevi station, like the next Girgaum station along the same corridor, and under similar conditions. Metro 3 itself has carried out a number of changes on its corridor, prominent being redesigning its station near the domestic airport to save a 100-year-old tree.”

In Tanaz Bhathena’s new YA novel, The Beauty of the Moment, Susan is new Canada. She’s not used to the cultural freedoms in this new country, she’s used to live in Saudi Arabia. Susan is reserved, wary of boys and determined not to get her driving license.  She is very bright and her parents have high expectations of her. They want her to be a doctor although in secret she wants to be an artist. Then she meets Malcolm, and her world spirals into a completely new direction.

Article by Lucas Maxwell | Book Riot

Told in alternating perspectives, The Beauty of the Moment is a very honet and realistic look at teen relationships, culture shock and finding your own voice.

I was lucky to have interviewed Tanaz on her YA novel, A Girl Like That, which received international acclaim.

I once again had the privilege of interviewing Tanaz for The Beauty of the Moment, sure to be a huge hit when it’s released in late Feb 2019.

Enjoy my interview with her!

Lucas Maxwell When Susan arrives in Canada in The Beauty of the Moment, she appears overwhelmed by her new freedoms, she doesn’t want to learn to drive and she misses her friends in Saudi Arabia. Did this feeling of culture shock mirror your own when you came to Canada as a teen?

Tanaz Bhathena: It does! I didn’t really want to leave Saudi Arabia when we were immigrating. I was entering Grade 11 which meant I’d be moving into one of the two senior-most grades at my school. I had a great group of friends. Now suddenly, with the move to Canada, I was a new kid again and, that too, in a completely different country.

What’s funny is that I also really liked Canada. Mississauga mirrors Jeddah in several ways: they’re cosmopolitan, both are located near large water bodies, everyone crowds in the malls during the weekends! But there was also culture shock because in Canada I had a lot more freedom than I had in Saudi Arabia—and frankly I didn’t know what to do with it at the time.

LM: The Beauty of the Moment covers many themes, one of them is parent’s expectations of their children vs what the children actually want. Do you think that monumental parental expectations and fears of failure can create a self-fulfilling prophecy?

TB: I think it really depends on the person. I know a lot of people who have lived up to their parents’ expectations quite successfully even when doing something they didn’t really love.

I came close to this while studying commerce at university with the idea of becoming an accountant. It was only in my fourth year that I really began questioning my career choices; my heart wasn’t really into what I was doing. Recruiters from the Big 4 accounting firms (who hired several students from my undergrad program) picked upon my disinterest way before my parents did. I failed my interviews and finally had to admit that I really wanted to be a writer and not a CA.

LM: Susan, the protagonist, is a newcomer to Canada and her parents want her to be a doctor when she secretly wants to be an artist. Do you feel that parental expectations differ in different cultures? Does Susan’s experience mirror your own in this regard?

TB: Susan’s experience certainly mirrors mine in terms of our career choices. Parental expectations play a major role and do differ in some ways between cultures. Family ties are paramount in South Asia, for example, and a child’s behaviour, their successes and failures are seen as a reflection of their upbringing.

I remember how as a child, if I did something wrong or foolish, I’d hear a grown-up say: “Her parents didn’t raise her right.” Or “Her parents spoiled her.” This sort of thinking carries into a child’s academic performance in school and later on their career choices. If a child picks a non-traditional career path (not engineering, medicine, law, etc.) and is unsuccessful at it, it often reflects poorly on the parents.

LM: A recent study in the UK showed that of all the books published for children in teens in 2017, only 1% had protagonists who were from a diverse background. Do you think representation in publishing in North America has improved? Did you see yourself in the books you read as a teenager?

TB: I didn’t see myself in books I read as a teenager. It’s the main reason I write books featuring teens who are South Asian and/or Zoroastrian. I’m grateful for organizations like We Need Diverse Books in the US and the Festival of Literary Diversity in Canada, which are doing a lot of work to bring diverse, #ownvoices authors to the readers’ attention, and their efforts are bearing fruit. The results have been fantastic over the past year or two.

But change doesn’t come easily. The fight for accurate representation is an on-going process and still requires consistent effort on part of the writing and publishing communities. As a writer, I’m not perfect either and I’m doing my best to listen and learn from others so that I can write better books.

LM: In The Beauty of the Moment, Susan’s parents are considering a divorce, their family dynamic was written in a very nuanced way that, although it’s clear the split is precipitated by her father, it let us feel empathy for both sides. Was it difficult to write this? Did you find yourself siding with one side or another?

TB: Thank you so much! It was definitely tricky to write, because I had to dig through my own emotions and sift through experiences with my own parents to understand what Susan’s parents were going through. I found myself siding with each parent at different times over the course of the book because, ultimately, it takes two people to make or break a relationship.

LM: The teens in The Beauty of the Moment are very authentic in that they have a moral duality that resides in all of us but is heightened because of hormones and the fact that they are experiencing things for the first time. Do you feel teens are accurately represented in YA literature in general?

TB: I’m not sure if I’m the right person to answer this as I’m not a teen anymore! But I do feel that the diversity of experiences reflected now in YA books are more authentic to the world we live in—unlike some of the YA books I read as a teen.

LM: Malcom’s sister, Mahtab, acts in many ways as Malcom’s moral compass. Did you have someone like that as a teen or were you a Mahtab to the people around you?

TB: My best friends from high school are my Mahtabs and I’m so grateful for them.

LM: The Beauty of the Moment also touches upon the Syrian refugee crisis, did you have to do a lot of research on this topic and did you find anything surprising? I ask this because the biggest myth here in the UK surrounding the worldwide refugee crisis is that we “take too many in” despite the truth being that the UK takes in less than 1% of the world’s refugees.

TB: A couple of years ago, I came across an article propagating the myth that government assistance in Canada for refugees is a lot higher than it is for immigrants/pensioners. The government had to put out notices explaining that this wasn’t true. I’m also troubled whenever I hear accusations of refugees of misusing the welfare system—or “having things come to them too easily.”

I think it’s incredibly difficult to assimilate and settle into a new country where you don’t speak much of the language, have a large family to take care of, and are still struggling to find employment. As of December 2018, news channels interviewed a few of the 25,000 refugees Canada took in between 2015-16 and I learned that they are still facing challenges. A year’s support (which the maximum the government offers to the refugees it sponsors) is often not enough.

LM: I know many adults who will love The Beauty of the Moment. In fact, in 2017 it was revealed that 55% of YA’s readers are adults. Why do you think adults like to read coming of age stories or stories about teens working out what they want to do with their lives?

TB: Thank you, I’m glad you think so! As an adult, I love reading YA books because they allow me to feel hopeful again. As a teenager, your life is still beginning in a way and full of possibility. I think these stories are popular with adults as they allow them to vicariously live out their own teenage dreams?

LM: Where do you see Susan & Malcolm in 5 years?

TB: Great question! I believe Susan will definitely be working in art with an art-related job. Malcolm will be working toward a CPA. I have the feeling that both of them will move in together after university at some point—though Susan’s mother will likely need a solid year of convincing

Hong Kong-based Parsi tycoon Jal Shroff may withdraw his offer to donate Rs 150 crore to Parsi General Hospital (PGH) after March 31 if challenges to a controversial agreement are not resolved by then. Shroff arrived here on Wednesday, even as the joint charity commissioner on March 15 will hear an application challenging the deal signed between the PGH management and Gurugram-based Medanta Group.

Article by Nauzer K Bharucha | TNN

Some Parsis moved the charity commissioner’s office on the ground that PGH is surrendering part of its 10-acre Breach Candy plot to Medanta for 45 years without a lease agreement or adequate safeguards. The hospital’s managing committee denied the charge and claimed no part of the land will be alienated.

It has now come to light that the agreement was not stamped, as required under Maharashtra Stamp Act, 1958. “It was not registered with Sub-Registrar of Assurances too, as required under Indian Registration Act, 1908,’’ said the applicants, Zoru Bhathena and Aspi Deboo. Shroff ’s donation will be used to build a hospital building inside the PGH complex. The new building will then be handed over to Medanta to operate for up to 45 years. Part of the proceeds and 5% of gross revenue from the new hospital will cross-subsidise the 106-year-old PGH, which is incurring a loss of Rs 6 crore annually.

“The agreement is nothing but a lease of a substantial part of the property for 45 years in favour of Medanta, without sanction of the charity commissioner, as required by Section 36 of the Act,’’ the applicants said. “The agreement, as it stands today, is an attempt by the respondents to improperly alienate a substantial portion of the property in favour of Medanta, and is therefore legally void and cannot be acted upon by the parties. The agreement was carefully structured and designed merely to circumvent safeguards provided under the Act for alienation of trust property,’’ said the application.

Another challenge raised by advocate Khushru Zaiwala, to be heard by the joint charity commissioner on March 15, sought dismissal of the PGH managing committee. “The managing committee of the hospital trust, constituted only for internal management of the same, are collaborating and colluding with each other, to transfer a substantial area of the hospital, worth over Rs 2,000 crore, to Medanta Corporation under the guise of a management contract,’’ it said. It sought an injunction against the hospital management from transferring the property to a third party (Medanta) without calling for “best offers’’ through advts/public auction, followed by the charity commissioner’s permission. The PGH management said, “Only alleging of charges is not important, it has to be proved with documentary evidence. The applicant hopelessly failed to bring documents on record to prove the charges. On this ground, the application may be rejected with heavy costs.’’

Navroze, The Persian New Year is right around the corner and that can only mean a celebration full of great food. For those of you who do not have Parsi or Irani friends willing to feed, you don’t fret. Restaurants across the city will come out to celebrate but more importantly, you should know what you need to eat! We picked 5 stellar Parsi dishes that we think you should indulge in and exactly where you can find them. The cuisine, of course, has a lot more to offer but these 5 are a great place to start. Navroze Mubarak and Happy Eating!

Article by Roxanne Bamboat | Eazy Diner

Saas Ni Macchi – The most advertised dish at restaurants is Patra Ni Macchi, fish that is coated in a fiery green chutney and steamed in a banana leaf, but the truth is that most Parsi’s prefer a Saas ni Macchi. Its fish ( preferably pomfret ) cooked in a thick tangy white sauce ( saas ) is always a part of any celebratory meal. You do not find it on many menus but you can deep dive into a plate of this with hot chapatis at either Jumjoji in Andheri or Jimmy Boyat Fort.

Mutton Pulao With Daal – When you think of Parsi food the first dish that comes to mind is Dhansak but many do not realise that this heavy hearty meal is reserved only for Sunday lunch or during the morning. Contrary to popular belief, it is not a celebratory dish, so you would not find this during Navroze but its close cousin and equally delicious is a Mutton Pulao often served with the same Dhansak Daal. The Daal is meatless but you will find that in the Pulao minus the signature Caramelised Brown Rice. It is no Dhansak but it has got its own flavour profile and is a power packed meal. You can tuck into a great Mutton Pulao at Ashmick’s Snack Shack in Bandra, Jimmy Boy or even Cafe Mocambo in Fort.

Sali Murghi – The community is true blue meat lovers so, despite the mutton inclusion, a list without a chicken dish is incomplete. A popular choice at any wedding or celebration within the community is a chicken dish cooked with apricots and liberally garnished with thinly fried potato straws ( Sali ). Much like the Saas ni Macchi, the Sali Murghi or Jerdaloo Murghi with Sali ( both names are often used ) is eaten with freshly made chapatis. The dish is slightly sweet because of the apricots but still has a bit of spice and tang and a lot of crunch from the Sali which is a common snack in most Parsi homes. You can enjoy this dish at SodaBottleOpenerWala with multiple outlets across the city or even Britannia and Co.

Kolmi Nu Patio – There are plenty of Parsi dishes that do not always make it to restaurant menus but are outstanding. Such is the Kolmi Nu Patio which is a sweet and sour though sometimes spicy prawn relish. It is best eaten with rice and yellow daal and can sometimes be served as a gravy. It is a unique flavour and you can also have a fish patio but the kolmi or prawns are king. You do not see this on too many menus but you will find it at Cafe Military on a Wednesday and Jumjoji.

Lagan Nu Custard – Any Parsi meal must end on a sweet note and the sweetest of them all is the Lagan Nu Custard. A traditional Parsi custard studded with dried fruit and served up as part of a wedding feast, Lagan meaning wedding. This milk-based dessert is such a hit that almost very Parsi restaurant has it on its menu. Slightly different from a regular caramel custard or flan as the top layer is caramelised and it is flavoured with cardamom powder and nutmeg along with other ingredients. Tuck into a delicious Lagan Nu Custard at any of the outlets of SodaBottleOpenerWala or Ideal Corner and Jimmy Boy which are both located in Fort.

Say all problems should have been taken into consideration, some call it blatant discrimination

Reports of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) realigning Metro 2B near Bandra Kurla Complex due to security concerns for Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray’s residence Matoshree have irked the Parsi community.

Article by Jyoti Shelar | Mid-Day

The community had been demanding realignment of the underground Metro 3 tunnels to preserve the sanctity of two fire temples located near the Princess Street junction, but their request was not considered.

“They have violated our religious sentiments. They destroyed the sanctity and desecrated our ancient and holy fire temples,” community member Jamshed Sukhadwalla said. “They considered realignment for a particular family’s safety. We have no objection to that. But, it shows that the planning was never perfect. All such issues should have been taken into consideration while planning and preparing the estimate of the project,” he said. This also means that the authorities can consider the suggestions selectively, if they want to, Mr. Sukhadwalla said.

The 188-year-old Wadia Atash Behram and 122-year-old Anjuman Atash Behram, located near Princess Street junction, house the highest grade of fire for the Parsis. The community had demanded a realignment of the Metro tunnel by just four metres to ensure the spiritual sanctity of the fire temples is maintained.

Community member Viraf Kapadia termed the BKC realignment a “blatantly biased” move. “They have hurt the sentiments of the Parsi community. We were demanding something that was very important for us. They ignored such an important demand, but made changes for the concern of one family. How is that fair?” he said.

The community has even moved the Supreme Court for relief. In the latest development in the case, the Metro authorities proposed to move the Kalbadevi station 20 metres away from the nearest boundary wall of one fire temple.

The reports of the realignment at Bandra Kurla Complex have also upset citizens who have been fighting against a Metro shed coming up in the Aarey forest.

The following is an op-ed by Munchi N. Cama, past Trustee of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet.

Manchi writes…

I have read a recent mail comparing the B.D.Petit Parsee General Hospital in Bombay with The Ruby Hall Clinic in Poona. Since the cowardly author of that mail, needless to say, anonymous, has sought to do so, to belittle the B.D.Petit Parsee General Hospital and its management. I am writing to put things in their correct perspective.

First of all, The Ruby Hall was a property gifted to late Dr.Grant personally and it was his personal fiefdom. Late Dr.K.B.Grant was a perfectionist and a workaholic as are Aban and Homa Petit of the B.D.Petit Parsee General Hospital, but, whereas the Ruby Hall was not meant for charity and had support from Government, it did not have the restraints of the B.D.Petit Parsee General Hospital. What is generally perceived as the Ruby Hall Hospital, is not one unit, but a cluster of entities.

The B.D.Petit Parsee General Hospital was meant for charity and to help the indigent and poor of the Parsi Zoroastrian community. It was never established as a corporate hospital, which The Ruby Hall has now become. The Ruby Hall is cosmopolitan from the very beginning and today, despite its excellent facilities, most Poona citizens find it very expensive and it is out of reach for the average citizen of Poona, let alone for Parsees, who go to more affordable institutions.

The Ruby Hall is run on corporate lines for profit. Late Dr.Grant took bank loans on personal guarantees, which he was free to do, to ensure speedy expansion of the hospital. It is run as a corporate investment and not as a charity hospital.

Poona is an ever expanding city, whereas the Parsi Zoroastrian population of Bombay is shrinking. Honoraries here in Bombay at the Parsee General Hospital are required compulsorily to treat poor patients free – no such compulsion in Poona.

Diagnostic facilities – a revenue earner for hospitals cannot be sustained by a charitable and communal hospital. However, many diagnostic facilities are available to the Parsi Zoroastrian poor of the Parsee General Hospital at neighbouring hospitals, free of charge to the poor, including conveyance to and fro, as the Parsee General Hospital picks up the tab.

To the best of my knowledge, there is no other hospital where deserving patients are treated free – free hospital bed, free food, free doctors, free treatment, free diagnostics, other than the B.D.Petit Parse General Hospital. Even municipal and Government hospitals charge for these. The Masina hospital has also been cited as an example having embarked on a massive renovation project where nothing is free.

Why the venomous hatred towards Homa Petit? He is a very hardworking workaholic and honest beyond measure. He does not need to siphon off funds from anywhere. By nature, instinct, DNA and choice he is an honest man with a simple lifestyle. He has slaved with his urge to serve the hospital at times even to his personal detriment. It is only Aban and Homa who took the plunge and maintained the B.D.Petit Parsee General Hospital as a medical institution serving the poor and middle class, and which is the pride of the community and the envy of others. It is only their personal track record of honesty and hard work and the integrity of the other members of the Executive Committee, that brought in the millions to make this possible.

If the new project does not take off, imagine what it will be like for the poor of the community? Will they just have to suffer till they die a miserable death in neglect and abject dejection? What happens if the B.D.Petit Parsee General Hospital is forced to make a cy pres and go cosmopolitan? Will that satisfy the present objectors and make them happy that theirs was done? And for those who think that this is not possible, I suggest, they read up on their law.

The recent episode of the Parsee Lying-In Hospital has scared off donors. Despite this, can you imagine the Shroffs have come forward with their largesse from their personal funds, out of sheer love for their community and to continue to make the poor well looked after. And then disgustingly, to be accused of trying to siphon off funds? This is disgusting beyond belief. The Shroffs have come forward from abroad with money from their private coffers and not from charity trusts. No Indian donor has come forward because the Parsee Lying-In Hospital perhaps still strikes a strident warning bell to keep off.

A few decades ago, Parsi Zoroastrian schools which were only for Parsi Zoroastrian students had to go cosmopolitan to survive – those that did still exist – those that did not vanish. However, in the case of the B.D.Petit Parsee General Hospital, the New Hospital will be a separate structure and the present Hospital will continue for Parsees only, with its “Parsipanu” – best of both worlds !

The present agreement between Parsee General Hospital / Medanta has received the approval of some of India’s best legal brains – Parsees and non-Parsees – former Judges, Solicitors and Senior Counsel. Are we as a community so stupid as to ignore them and follow the ramblings of a few obstructionists in the community?

Our good friend Kainaz Amaria was a recent guest on the “On Africa” podcast. Kainaz is an award-winning photojournalist and is current at Vox News where she is an outspoken voice on many critical issues of our times.

This episode of the On Africa podcast examines the West’s historical and contemporary uses of photography and photojournalism to shape narratives of Africa and African peoples. Our discussion ranges from the New York Times’ controversial coverage of the January 2019 Al-Shabab attacks in Nairobi, Kenya; to the historic role of National Geographic’s imagery; and the standard tropes related to Africa that permeate Western Media – exploring their racist implications, double standards and harmful impacts.

We are joined by photojournalist Kainaz Amaria, who serves as the Visuals Editor for Vox News and is an outspoken voice on these issues.

A play that imagines a world with no Parsis reminds us why we need them more than ever

There are people outside of Mumbai, who think Parsis are a figment of our imagination. “You can’t blame them,” says theatre director Meherzad Patel. “Sixty thousand is literally the crowd in this area. But, we are so loud and boisterous that one Parsi sounds like 50 Parsis. We look at swear words as punctuation.

Article by Ekta Mohta | Mid-Day

The way we treat our car, our bike, our food, our drinking habits: we don’t consider it as alcohol. I have a one-year-old, and at weddings, they’ll dip their finger [in a drink] and give to the baby. That’s the initiation into the Parsi culture.” Who in their right mind could make this up?

Meherzad Patel, theatre director, 30

Twice a year, during Nowruz in March and Parsi New Year in August, Patel finds new ways of taking the mickey out of his community. In 2014, he cooked up The Buckingham Secret, in which the inmates of the Buckingham Palace were actually Parsis in crown jewels. In Amar Akbar Akoori (2017), a Gujarati, a Bohri and a Parsi live as PGs in an old Parsi dame’s house, all pretending to be Parsis.

This Nowruz, he’s created Geedra of Thrones, a Gujarati play in which the throne room is the trustees’ office of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP). “The premise is that the government sends a letter, saying that your community is about to shut down, because you are too few to be called a religion. Pick another religion or pack your bags and get out. The trustees have been given the task of informing the Parsi public.” While this is no laughing matter, Patel says, “On Nowruz, if it’s not funny, it’s not going to work. It’s a fictitious story because we don’t want to make fun of the trustees. But, yes, if you’re holding a public post, we will make fun of your office.”

The BPP trustees have opened themselves to ridicule because they regularly make headlines for their catfights. “As a tiny community, you get to know everything instantly. And yet, if you ask any Parsi of the seven trustees’ names, nobody will have a proper answer. Initially, there was no election. Seven honourable people were nominated by the people in charge of these funds.” And then, the powers-that-be decided to set up a ballot. “The minute it goes from a nomination to an election, you become a politician.”

The play addresses the thorn in the flesh of every Mumbaikar. While we fight for breathing room in Nallasopara, the Parsis dispose of their dead on Malabar Hill. “Any Parsi will tell you that there’s enough funds to support every Parsi alive, for a couple of generations easily. But, it’s not the job of the seven trustees to come up with these formulas. They’re not politicians – they behave like that – but they’re not. They’re not allowed to come up with principles, laws and agendas. They’ve been given a set of guidelines: ‘This is what you need to do with this money. That’s all.’ It’s like a trust fund that’s handled by somebody.”

In the play, the youngest trustee, played by Shazneen Acharia, is 32, and the oldest, played by Moti Antia, is 84. The age difference doesn’t matter because, “They all behave like 20-year-olds.” For instance, Antia tells us later, as a matter of great pride, that she nurses a whisky a day. Patel and his cast have woven the play with oddities like this.

“In our play, there’s a lady, who’s very particular about a set of 12 handwoven embroidered napkins her husband gave her. The husband’s dead, but she’s held on to it. Parsis are big hoarders. My wife loves collecting plastic bags. Today, she says, ‘I knew this day would come. He’s banned it, but I have it.’ I had an uncle, who passed away recently, who had 35 years of newspapers in his house. Why? What are you doing with it? That’s very normal. An expiry date [on a can] means nothing. These are funny things that work. We’re not making fun of the way someone believes in god or religion, but the communal aspects are epic.”

Where: Tata Theatre, NCPA, NCPA Marg, Nariman Point When: March 21, 5 PM and 7.30 PM
Entry: Rs 300 to Rs 1,500
To book: bookmyshow.com

Every year in the third week of March, Manijeh Irani, 64, makes a tour of the markets of her adopted city, Mumbai—grocery stores, stalls of fresh and dried fruit, sweet shops, even an aquarium—for goods to adorn her festive table for Nowruz, the Persian New Year.

Article by Chandrahas Choudhury | Wall Street Journal

Nowruz (”new day”) is pegged to the Northern Hemisphere’s vernal equinox and symbolizes the upswing of the forces of light and life after the dark cold days of winter; it is one of humanity’s oldest holidays. In Tehran, where Mrs. Irani spent the first 18 years of her life, every household marked Nowruz by setting up a haft seen, a festive tableau of seven or more items whose names begin with the Persian letter “s.” These include sonbol, the flowers of the purple hyacinth; senjed, dried fruit; shams, a lighted candle; and sabzeh, a bowl of live greens such as wheatgrass. Mrs. Irani also adds pomegranates; a bottle of rose water, “which makes life sweet-smelling and fresh”; a goldfish bowl; a mirror, “in which you see your smiling face reflected, to keep you smiling through the year”; and a platter of colored eggs.

Nowruz, which falls this year on March 21 in Iran and India (and on March 20 in North America), is the first day of the calendar of Zoroastrianism, the state religion of the great Achaemenid and Sassanian empires that preceded the Islamic conquest of Persia in the 7th century. The faith sees human existence as a battle between good and evil overseen by a divine creator, Ahura Mazda. On Nowruz, the sun—the symbol of Ahura Mazda’s light and energy—wrests back the day from winter, and the entire world is filled with the zest of new life.

In recent years, Mrs. Irani has seen the observance of Nowruz spread in Mumbai through a peculiarly 21st-century process of emulation. “Although there are many Zoroastrians living here for centuries who celebrate Nowruz, it was very rare when I first came to see a haft seen table, and my table was a great attraction. In the past decade, though, because of YouTube and Facebook , many Indian Zoroastrian families can see how Nowruz is celebrated in Iran, and they have begun to set up their own tables.”

In modern-day Iran, Nowruz is a secular festival celebrated by all—including the country’s Shiite Muslim majority—with weeks of exuberant feasting and singing, family reunions and vigorous spring cleaning. Many countries of the Silk Road, part of the ancient Persian world, also celebrate Nowruz, as do the tens of thousands of the Iranian diaspora who have migrated in recent decades to the U.S.

But in Mumbai, Nowruz is strongly linked to the faith (and fate) of the Zoroastrianism from which it first emerged. It is a day when the city’s prosperous and influential Zoroastrian community—founded more than a thousand years ago by refugees fleeing persecution in newly Islamic Persia—celebrates its long history as part of the mosaic of Indian civilization.

In Iran, the land of its origin, Zoroastrianism has dwindled to about 25,000 adherents, for whom religious discrimination is a fact of life. Meanwhile, the Parsis—as Indian Zoroastrians are called—number about 60,000, mostly settled on the west coast of India in Mumbai and Gujarat. Though themselves now depleted by declining fertility rates, out-marriage and emigration to the West, the Parsis of India now constitute the epicenter of world Zoroastrianism. That makes Nowruz in Mumbai a day to dream of the rejuvenation of the faith itself.

Yet Zoroastrian history in India, like most other Indian histories, is a palimpsest. There is a more explicitly Iranian layer to Nowruz in Mumbai as well. In colonial India, the ancient Parsi community rose to become a part of the elite and thereby also became highly anglicized, but in common parlance, the term Parsi is also applied to Zoroastrians among a second group, the Iranis. A vivid, voluble community in modern India, they trace their origins to 19th-century immigrants from Iran, mostly from the mercantile classes, and include both Zoroastrians and Muslims. Mrs. Irani, as her name suggests, married one such Zoroastrian.

Separated from their coreligionists by several centuries of life in the Indian subcontinent, Zoroastrian Iranis live in a sometimes uneasy coexistence with the older stratum of Zoroastrian Parsis. They share their places of worship, a philosophical and ethical lexicon, a nostalgia for a lost homeland and a golden age, and a reputation for hard work, integrity, volubility and eccentricity. But just as often they define themselves in opposition to one another.

“Parsis think of Iranis as loud and unsophisticated, we find them snooty and prissy,” said Mrs. Irani’s husband, Sheriar Irani. “They gravitate toward professional occupations like corporate life, law and journalism; we prefer to run businesses and restaurants.”

“It’s true, we Zoroastrians are a very spirited and argumentative people, which is why it seems like there are more of us in Mumbai than we really are,” said Shernaaz Engineer from behind the desk of her fifth-floor office in the city’s art district. Herself a Parsi, Ms. Engineer holds a position of great importance in the community. She is the first female editor of the weekly Jam-e-Jamshed, the primary forum of Zoroastrian opinion in India and, at 187, the second-oldest newspaper in the country.

When I met her, Ms. Engineer and her small staff of eight were hard at work putting together the newspaper’s special Nowruz issue—a 72-page edition (up from the usual 20) showcasing the vibrancy, even stridency, of Indian Zoroastrianism. It teemed with notices from caterers and restaurants advertising elaborate festive menus, clubs and associations inviting patrons to their feasts, and priests and intellectuals offering Nowruz-centered exegesis.

But where could I have a taste of Nowruz before the day? I followed one of the advertisements in Jam-e-Jamshed (“Iranian Sweets Palace, One & Only Shop for Nowruz sweets in India”) down to its source: a nondescript lane in the city’s Bhendi Bazaar. There, Mohammad Hasan Hajati, an Irani Muslim, had just pulled up the shutters of the tiny, 110-year-old shop that his great-grandfather started. Inside, the spry sweetmaker was bent over a copper platter the size of a manhole cover. He was cutting into diamond-shaped pieces the crusty golden baklava, redolent of pistachio, almonds and rose water, that he had just baked.

“This is no ordinary baklava,” he said, giving me a piece to taste. “All my ingredients are imported directly from Iran; you will not find them in any other shop in Mumbai. Further, real baklava must always be set in copper vessels, cooked over a wood fire and then fed with honey for two days.”

It was clear that Mr. Hajati was skilled in the arts of both baklava and rhetoric. “I must be the only merchant in Mumbai who tells his customers, ‘Don’t take more, take less.’ That way there will be some left for each customer. And after all, a single piece of this baklava is enough to keep you happy for a long time.” Licking my sticky fingers, I agreed, and asked for a box to take home to my friends in Delhi. Licking my sticky fingers, I agreed, and asked for a box to take home to my friends in Delhi. As I took my leave, I wished him “Nowruz Mubarak,” happy new year.

“Nowruz Mubarak!” he responded. “But why just Nowruz? Each and every day can be a new year, if you are happy.”

—Mr. Choudhury is a novelist and essayist based in Delhi. His new novel “Clouds,” set in the world of Zoroastrian Mumbai, comes out in September from Simon & Schuster.

Our dear friend and the resident dasturji of the Hong Kong Anjuman Ervad Homyar Nasirabadwala speaks about the amazing contribution of Sir Hormusjee N Mody, a distinguished Parsi businessman and a renowned philanthropist and benefactor. Sir Hormusjee N Mody made a major donation towards the founding of HKU. Without his generosity, the University’s existence may not have been realised. The below is a collaborative video production between Technology-Enriched Learning Initiative and U-Vision

Jamshedi Navroze 2019 and the subsequent days shall long remain etched in the memory of the hundreds of Zarathushtis who gathered here to witness the inauguration of North America’s latest place of Zoroastrian worship. What makes this place an Atash Kadeh and a first in many a ways is that it designed to have a continuously burning consecrated fire and spaces to perform some of the higher liturgical ceremonies, including the navar and martab ceremonies for the initiation of mobeds.

The creation of the Atash Kadeh also harks back to a very Parsi trait of one benefactor/donor putting in the money to make the project happen. In this case it was Shernaz and Firoze Bhandara who took it upon themselves to make this a reality by funding the entire project.

Conceptualized and designed by our dear friend and architect Cyrus Rivetna of Chicago; the building evokes the grandeur of Persian architecture and brings in the elements of filtered light, high ceilings and beautiful spaces that are conducive to worship and make the entire process from the moment you enter a very spiritual one. In a collaborative spirit, the laser cut frieze panels have beautiful gara design by the brilliant textile designer Ashdeen Lilaowala.

Spread over four days, the Zoroastrian Association of Houston pulled out all the stops in true Texan style in making sure that all those present would remember it for a lifetime.

The hustle and bustle of activity was present from Wednesday March 20th, when the last touches of paint were being put on the building and the landscape was being spruced up for the opening. People from all over Houston dropped off Sukhad and Rakhiya to be used for the opening day ceremonies.

On Navroze Day, Thursday March 21, 2019 the entire community gathered for the first Baj ceremony in the Urvish Gah of the new Atash Kadeh. After that, a boi was performed in the existing Atash Gah and a procession of priests carried the fire from the old building into the new one. The procession was beautifully created so that the oldest priests started the procession and passed on the fire to the younger generation, symbolizing the passing of the torch from the old to the new and the fire from the old prayer room to the new Atash Kadeh.

Later that evening in a wonderful Jamshedi Navroze celebration the Vada Dasturji of Iranshah Dastur Khurshed Dastoor who was visiting Houston specially for the Inauguration addressed the gathering. He asked the Houston Zarathushti community to step up and take responsibility of making sure that the Atash Padshah remains burning in perpetuity and asked Ahura Mazda to shower his choicest blessings to the entire community on this very momentous occassion. He urged those gathered to take the middle path, and to adhere to the tenets of the religion and show the adequate respect when visiting the Atash Kadeh.

On Friday morning March 22nd, 2019 at 1:45 AM the Vendidad ceremony at the Atash Kadeh began. The Vendidad was performed by 7 mobeds from Houston, Dallas, Washington D.C. and London. For the 100 or so folks who were present all night for the prayers it was a beautiful serene and surreal experience to hear prayers being chanted in the new Atash Kadeh. The prayers ended just before sunrise. A community breakfast was organized by ZAH and sev dahi, pora pav and chai made everyone feel at home.

The evening program was organized by the ZAH Library Committee and it was a fantastic production spearheaded by the amazing Aban Rustomji, our dear friend and mentor. Aban who is also the Co-Chair of the FEZANA FIRES Committee and her team organized a beautiful exhibition titled Down Memory Lane where they recreated scenes from the past using original period artefacts. An entire kitchen was laid out, as was a sandalwood shop in Navsari. The newly acquired artefacts from the estate of Prof. K. D. Irani were on display for the very first time.

The literary giant Bapsi Sidhwa made a rare appearance in person. Even with her fraility she delivered a beautiful address as she spoke about her kid brother Firoze and his journey from their native Lahore in Pakistan to Houston in United States. In her fantastic style she regaled the crowd with personal anecdotes of them growing up as siblings and shared insights into the motivation that led Firoze and Shernaz Bhandara to make this magnificent donation.

Architect Cyrus Rivetna addressed the gathering and gave insight into the creation of the building and some of the firsts that this building has established.

The evening formal program had the Vada Dasturji Khurshed Dastoor as the keynote speaker. He spoke about the Zarathushti way of life and reminded us of what our prayers say and how we can implement the teachings in our day to day life.

Saturday morning March 23, 2019 dawned bright in Houston. People gathered in droves to witness the first Jashan in the new Atash Kadeh followed by the first Boi ceremony.

25 mobeds led by Vada Dasturji Khurshed Dastoor performed a beautiful Jashan witness by over 300 people. There were generations of priests in the jashan with the oldest in their 80’s and the youngest being Freyaan Vimadalal at 13, who just had his Navar ceremony in early January. What was really impressive and heartening to see was the large number of local Houston young mobeds participating in the Jashan.

After the Jashan was completed, the fire was carried to the Atash Gah and the main afarganyu fire lit for the very first time followed by the Boi ceremony. The first Boi was performed by Ervad Behramshah Sanjana a senior local mobed in Houston.

After the Jashan those gathered posed for a huge group photograph with the Atash Kadeh in the backdrop. Chasni and other refreshments were shared by all to conclude the morning series of events.

Later that evening the Gala Dinner had over 640 people gathered. So large was the demand and turnout that ZAH had to set up a tent in their parking lot to house the large turnout.

Local politicians, the Indian Consul General and other dignitaries graced the occassion and spoke on the momentous occassion. Firoze and Shernaz Bhandara thanked all the folks at ZAH who had worked tirelessly with them to make this building happen. He thanked the various local officials who intervened at the right times to allow the building’s construction to remain on schedule.

The evening ended with a delicious spread and a lot of merriment and dancing.

Sunday March 24, 2019 was the last day of festivities and a Ava Yazad Parab Nu Jashan was performed to bring to close the 4 days of celebration.

The Houston community once again proved that collective resolve, passion, a sense of belonging, and a combined purpose can move mountains and make dreams into reality.

The unequivocal support from Zarathushtis of North America and the world was evident in the number of out of town guests, the FEZANA Executive, past and present FEZANA Presidents, presidents of many Zoroastrian associations across from all over North America and friends and family who flew in from all over to be there in Houston to witness this auspicious once-in-a-lifetime event.

The opening of the Atash Kadeh is truly the end of the begining. Now the real work begins. It is now upon the ZAH community to use the beautiful Atash Kadeh to fulfill all their spiritual needs. As the Vada Dasturji emphasized, the continuous burning of the fire into perpetuity is the only way that this truly amazing gift by the Bhandara family can be honoured. In the days and weeks ahead the hope is that the fire is one day consecrated, and in the future the first generation of Navar and Martabs in the western world shall come from this Atash Kadeh.

Atha Jamyat Yatha Afrinami.

The ban on the distribution of the newspaper in community housing estates, which houses nearly 5,500 families, was ordered by the BPP’s chairperson Yazdi Desai

Last week, HT had reported that a newsletter, which was critical of the management of the Bombay Punchayet (BPP) – the largest Parsi-Zoroastrian representative body – was banned from some housing colonies, called baugs, controlled by the trust. The fortnightly, which has been publishing reports about alleged corruption in the BPP, claims a circulation of a few thousands.

The ban on the distribution of the newspaper in community housing estates, which houses nearly 5,500 families, was ordered by the BPP’s chairperson Yazdi Desai. Though we were told that the newsletter was banned only in one housing estate in south Mumbai, the publication’s editor said that he was planning to take to take up the issue of the ban with the BPP board.

Article by Manoj Nair | Hindustan Times

There is still a debate whether the banned publication can claim the status of a newspaper, or even a newsletter, and there is speculation about the identity of the publisher, but bans of this sort are nothing new in the bitter politics of the trust.

Desai’s group is familiar with such bans. In April 2007, after the adoption of a Bombay high court (HC) scheme that allowed every adult member of the community to vote in elections to select trustees (earlier, only donors to the trust and area associations had voting power), the group had planned to contest elections to the trust. Their periodical, published by their group, WAPIZ (World Association of Parsi Irani Zoroastrians), was banned from the baugs.

Desai’s wife Anahita, who edits the WAPIZ newsletter, which is still distributed with a city newspaper, though only occasionally now, said that when they started publishing the supplement, they were stopped from distributing it in the trust’s housing estates.

“We were told that it was for private circulation and that we need to take the permission of the landlord (the BPP). That was the reason why we decided to distribute the supplement with a newspaper,” said Desai.

For a group numbering less than 40,000 in the city, Mumbai’s Parsis have a disproportionate number of newspapers and journals reporting about their issues. Desai said the reformist and orthodox section in the community have their mouthpieces.

“Some of these are newsletters and not newspapers. Also, the BPP has become a political body, with elections and adult franchise. Because it a political body there are factions and rivalry; it goes with the territory,” said Desai.

A former BPP chairman, who was a senior lawyer in the HC had told HT that community journals were common even in the 19th century, when issues on religious and social rules generated fierce debates, like it does now.

This engagement in issues of community interest means that the Parsi press has a history as old as the Indian newspaper industry. The first newspaper in an Indian language was the Gujarati daily Mumbai Samachar, published in 1822 by Fardoonjee Marzban. The newspaper is still being published, though its readers also include non-Parsis. The Jam-e-Jamshed, one of the oldest newspapers in the country, is now a bi-lingual, with a section in English for the new generation of readers not familiar with Gujarati. The fortnightly Parisana is published as a magazine. A more recent addition is Parsi Times, a weekly with English and Gujarati sections. Its owner, Kersi Randeria, who is also a trustee in the BPP, said, “There is a reasonable amount of interest in what happens in Parsi baugs. We came up with the Parsi Times particularly for the younger generation.”

The list of defunct publications is longer. Kaiser-i-Hind started in 1882 to campaign for reforms but closed down after a few decades. In 1851, Independence leader Dadabhai Naoroji started the Rast Goftar that campaigned for religious and social reforms. He also published a journal called Dharma Marg Darshak that discussed religious issues. There were also lesser-known publications called Chabook (whip) that wrote about corruption in the BPP. Then there were the Parsi Voice, Parsidom and Parsi Punch.

A Hong Kong-based Parsi tycoon and his wife on Saturday renewed their pledge to donate $22.5 million (Rs 160 crore) to the financially-ailing Parsi General Hospital (PGH) at Breach Candy in south Mumbai.

The couple, Jal and Pervin Shroff, had earlier set a March 31 deadline to resolve the fierce opposition by some Parsi activists against a controversial deal signed between the PGH managing committee and Gurugram-based Medanta Group.

Article by Nauzer K. Bharucha | Times of India

Two separate cases have been filed before the charity commissioner, challenging the deal, which the applicants – advocate Khusru Zaiwala, Zoru Bhathena and Aspi Deboo – said is a “sellout”.

The statement issued by the Shroffs on Saturday triggered speculation in a section of the community that the Medanta deal had been called off. However, when TOI contacted Jal Shroff in Hong Kong, he said, “It would not be correct to say the deal has been called off.” He refused to comment further.

Shroff’s statement emailed to this newspaper, said: “Regarding our original pledge of $22.5 million to ensure the future viability of the Parsee General Hospital, we, Pervin & Jal Shroff, had set a deadline of March 31, 2019, which regrettably has now lapsed. After our recent discussions with the members of the executive committee and the honorary doctors of the Parsee General Hospital we wish to clearly state that we shall continue to support the hospital in any way deemed prudent and financially sound to ensure the PGH’s “future survival and well being.”

Early last week, eminent Parsi doctors who treat Parsi patients at PGH appealed to the Shroffs not to withdraw their donation and to extend the March 31 deadline. They supported the agreement with Medanta, stating that it is “one of the very best and most prestigious state-of-the-art medical institutions in the country”.

Under the agreement, a new hospital building with Shroff’s donation will be built on part of the 10-acre PGH property. This new building will then be handed over to Medanta to operate for up to 45 years and part of the proceeds and profits from the new hospital will cross-subsidise the old hospital.

“We are given a legal assurance that Medanta will equip and manage the Shroff Medical Centre for a fixed time frame, with no title and interest in the building, land and complex, merely to manage the hospital with no hint of alienation of the community property,” said the doctors in a signed letter.

On Saturday, the two activists, Bhathena and Deboo, who have raised the legal challenge against the Medanta deal, wrote to the doctors: “You all are requested to please first read the agreement between PGH and Medanta before issuing such appeals. Surely none of you are aware of the facts, or else you would never ever have written such an erroneous and misleading appeal.’’

“Are our esteemed doctors aware that Rs 160 crore is being donated to build a two lakh sq ft unfurnished building (with no equipment or beds)?” they asked. “Are our doctors aware that a two lakh sq ft building costs just about Rs 60 crore to build and not Rs 160 crore?”

Bhathena and Deboo further questioned the doctors if they knew that a bare unfurnished building will be handed over to Medanta for 45 years on a Rs 100 stamp paper.

“No stamp duty is being paid and there is no registration of the agreement. Also there is no legal permission obtained to allow Non-parsi patients inside a Parsi-only Trust Hospital. Would any of these Doctors hand over any of their own properties without following basic legal paperwork?” they asked.

This near-300-page volume is an encyclopaedic account of Ideal Jawa and Yezdi’s history and is overflowing with insights.

Book reviewed by Ruman Devmane | Autocar India

That The Forever Bike makes you huff, puff and grunt every time you attempt to lift it off the coffee table, is itself an exciting premise for anybody with motorcycling inclinations. This is, I must say at the onset, the most in-depth treasure trove of everything related to Ideal Jawa and Yezdi – names that dominated the Indian motorcycling scene in the 60s, 70s and 80s – and its sheer bulk gives away the exhaustive nature of its contents.

Adil’s book starts at the dawn of India’s independence from the British Empire, when the opportunity to manufacture two-wheelers finally became recognised as one with immense potential. It swiftly transitions to tracing the early footsteps of long-standing friends, Rustom S Irani and Farrokh H Irani, starting from Ideal Motors – an agency that would import BMW and Sunbeam motorcycles from its Gunbow Street office in Mumbai. From there, it charts the course the friends traversed; hitting it off with the Czechs and landing the authority to be distributors and importers of CZ and Jawa motorcycles in western and southern India. The very first thing (the book reveals) Ideal Motors did with the first consignment of motorcycles it imported, was to assign four motorcycles for racing!

The Forever Bike goes on to encapsulate every miniscule detail of Jawa’s Indian journey; and delightfully, it is as much of an eye-opening read as it is a visual delight. Every turn of the page presents a meticulously photographed Jawa or a Yezdi in varying states of existence, and every picture of significance has been captioned to impeccable detail. To be honest, it can be an overwhelming read if the names Jawa and Yezdi featured prominently in your growing-up years because every little indigenous hack, idiosyncrasy and character associated with these motorcycles finds a worthy mention – just in case some of them had managed to fade away from your blue-smoke-filled memories!

One of the most enthralling chapters is ‘Somender’s Sing Bang Theory’. It is as much of an account as it is an ode to the man who was Ideal Jawa’s strongest R&D supporter and critic – Somender Singh. An elaborate spread on over a dozen of the Singh’s fantastic go-faster mods will certainly leave you gasping for breath, and the braver amongst you may be tempted to go tinker with your own Jawas and Yezdis. Proceed with restraint, however, because Singh ‘had the temerity to strap a modified Road King engine upside down to a microlight in the early 1990s and make it reliable enough to not conk out in mid air.’ Need we say more?

The book also features owners who have remained loyal to the brand and its machines over the years, in addition to some absolutely staggering overland expeditions you wouldn’t believe were attempted back in the day! Another chapter, among others, that’s worthy of a round of hearty applause is ‘Keepers of the faith’, which celebrates the mechanics that have kept the Yezdi and Jawa fires burning against all odds. Because the book brings to life the magic Ideal Jawa created, reaching the ‘End of the line’ chapter leaves you heavy-hearted, with haunting images of the abruptly abandoned factory; and its contents leaving you with anything from dejection to fury – depending on what the company meant to you. Thankfully, the Jawa Reimagined section of the book cheers you up with the complete story on the Jawa brand’s recent revival, courtesy Classic Legends.

For its candid, yet respectful and extremely informative approach to the subject at hand, The Forever Bike is a must-have in your collection of automotive books; and if you don’t boast of one, this book is certainly a phenomenal way to begin. As a bonus, the simple task of picking this book up is the equivalent of a small workout – so you may emerge a fitter person by the time you’re done with it.

Title: The Forever Bike
Author: Adil Jal Darukhanawala
Published by: DJ Media, Pune
Price: Rs 4,500
Available in bookstores, online, Flipkart and Amazon.

“Let’s just start with the word “vagina.” It sounds like an infection at best, maybe a medical instrument: “Hurry nurse, bring me the vagina.” “Vagina.” “Vagina.” Doesn’t matter how many times you say it, it never sounds like a word you want to say. It’s a totally ridiculous, completely unsexy word. If you use it during sex, trying to be politically correct — “Darling, could you stroke my vagina?” — you kill the act right there.”

Eve Ensler ‘s The Vagina Monologues is a revolutionary play which continues to empower women around the world by normalising their body, by giving them agency, by speaking out about insecurities and injustices which they might not dare voice in real life.

Article by Amrita Paul | She The People

Having performed over 1000 shows in 17 years, actor and director Mahabanoo Mody-Kotwal has played an important role in making the play accessible to Indian audiences. When she had watched the play for the first time in the US, she was “simply blown away by the power of the piece and its effect on the 1,500 people in the audience.”

The intent behind writing this seminal piece is so pure and brutally honest, that it resonates not with just the female gender, but even the males who come to the performance.

Kotwal is now planning seven shows in April which will be performed over two days at the Prithvi Theatre to celebrate the play’s 17th anniversary in India and also shed a spotlight on two global movements, V-Day and One Billion Rising which the play’s company, Poor-Box Productions, first brought to India.

The actor feels that The Vagina Monologues speaks to everyone – “The intent behind writing this seminal piece is so pure and brutally honest, that it resonates not with just the female gender, but even the males who come to the performance.”

She further adds, “With a variety of the great actors I have been blessed to have in my cast, each actor imparts her own perception of how the piece she is doing should be approached.”

With a variety of the great actors I have been blessed to have in my cast, each actor imparts her own perception of how the piece she is doing should be approached.

There have been many challenges over the years, like finding actors at first, lack of sponsors, and many theatres, even today, not allowing the play to be performed.

“But we continue with the support of our audiences, many of whom come repeatedly and leave us with their own stories in our comment books, and also personally. We have also done 10 shows for women in the past totally free, in collaboration with the NGO SNEHA in Dharavi. A special show was done for 1,200 policewomen at the request of the then police commissioner, Mr Mariah. Many women have narrated life-changing experiences after seeing a performance of the play.”

Has Kotwal seen the gender dynamics and the reaction to violence against women change over the years that she’s been performing the play? Have things in any way changed for the better?

“The most important issue this play has tackled is that women these days have been openly talking about abuse, whether it is physical, emotional or mental and are trying to seek legal or public protection. The ‘vagina’ is no longer a ‘dirty’ word for many, as it should not be… I am told that a group of men now mentor other men to stop this abuse.”

The ‘vagina’ is no longer a ‘dirty’ word for many, as it should not be… I am told that a group of men now mentor other men to stop this abuse.

The thespian has also started hosting Empathy Meetings since August 2018 to provide a platform for women’s life stories to be heard out of empathy and not sympathy. It all started with her putting out a simple Facebook post and a number of women turned up. She informs, “There is no judgement and the stories are not to be shared beyond the four walls of the room we meet. Not everyone has a sorrowful take…we have many who come to empathise. The women tell their stories without fear of being censured. Some stories are also about how senior citizens are being harassed.

It’s a wonderful little group. The tag line of this group is SHARE, SUPPORT, SURVIVE. There are no fees or hidden charges. I have received so much support and affection myself, that this was one way I wanted to give back to society, what it has given me in abundance.”

Coming back to The Vagina Monologues, the rate at which the play is being accepted and helping victims of assault or violence, Kotwal doesn’t see it ending in the near future. She says, “We would like to take this play to high schools and colleges. Only one school had us perform the entire play with Classes 11 and 12 and then we had two days of intensive workshops with those students. We would also like to cover more bastis throughout Bombay.  So, yes. The Vagina Monologues looks like it’s there to stay.”

On a typical-looking stretch of southwest Houston — down the street from Kwik Kar Lube and Storage Choice, across from a privacy fence hiding cookie-cutter McMansions — a Zoroastrian fire temple opened last week: a brand-new, sparkling-white place where priests from one of the world’s oldest religions tend a holy flame.

By Lisa Gray, www.houstonchronicle.com

When fully consecrated — the process can take years — the Bhandara Atash Kadeh temple at 8787 Airport will be the first temple in North America able to offer all of Zoroastrianism’s highest rituals, including the boyhood ordination of its priests. It’s a potent sign of the ancient faith’s growing strength on this continent.

That strength is especially notable given that the number of Zoroastrians is plummeting worldwide. At Zoroastrianism’s peak, a few hundred years before the birth of Christ, it was the world’s dominant religion.

The central tenets of the monotheistic religion, founded in what is now Iran, revolve around the opposition between the faith’s supreme creator, Ahura Mazda, and the forces of evil. Zoroastrians believe fire represents God’s light.

Zoroastrians don’t meet for weekly sermons. But the Atash Kadeh includes a space for seasonal gatherings. Photo: Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographerPhoto by: Photo: Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

These days, only 190,000 Zoroastrians remain, and everyone agrees that their number is dropping fast. India, Zoroastrianism’s stronghold, was home to 115,000 Zoroastrians in the 1940s. Now, it has only 60,000.

Over the same few decades, though, the U.S. population has grown substantially. Waves of immigration from India, Pakistan and Iran have brought the number of Zoroastrians here from nearly zero to more than 15,000. Of those, about 1,000 live in the Houston area.

Dinyar Patel, a University of South Carolina professor of South Asian history, is himself a Zoroastrian. “The way the population is shifting,” he said, “in probably a few decades, there will be more Zoroastrians here in North America than in India.”

That’s not to say that there will be many Zoroastrians in North America. Across the globe, for the past few generations, Zoroastrians have had very low birth rates: It’s estimated in India that for every Zoroastrian born, four are dying. The faith’s highly educated practitioners tend to marry late and have few children.

They also tend to marry people outside their faith. Even for those so inclined, there simply aren’t that many Zoroastrians to choose from. And among many Zoroastrian groups, customs make it difficult or impossible for a non-Zoroastrian spouse to convert, or for the couple’s children to be fully a part of the faith.

This Houston temple, though, will be open. “We must adapt in America,” Feroze “Fred” Bhandara, the donor behind the Atash Kadeh, told the crowd at its opening ceremony. “Otherwise we risk losing our children to other faiths.”

The new temple at 8787 Airport Road. Photo: Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographerPhoto by: Photo: Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

His children’s happiness

“My children are approaching their 40s,” Bhandara, 66, said recently. “My No. 1 priority is their happiness.”

One of Bhandara’s sons, Zubin, married a non-Zoroastrian, Eloisa, and their daughter Angela is very much on Bhandara’s mind. What his ancient religion needs, he believes, is more American-style openness and tolerance.

Like many Zoroastrian immigrants, Bhandara and his family have thrived in the U.S. He was born in Lahore, Pakistan, to a Parsi family whose successful brewing business seemed likely to run afoul of an increasingly conservative Muslim government. He came to the U.S. to study engineering, worked as an aerospace engineer in Palo Alto, Calif., and invested in real estate on the side.

In the 1980s, while in Houston to visit his sister, novelist Bapsi Sidhwa, he realized that the oil bust had made the city’s real estate an enormous bargain. He began shifting his investments, and in 1992, he and his family moved here full time.

They joined a growing Zoroastrian community. In 1975, when the Zoroastrian Association of Houston formed, it had only 15 members, but that number soon exploded, as immigrants from India, Pakistan and Iran settled here. Soon after Bhandara arrived, the association had amassed enough people and money to build a meeting hall with a small prayer room. Particularly for the Indian and Pakistani Zoroastrians, called Parsis, it was a place to socialize — a place to speak Gujarati and eat the foods they remembered from childhood.

They soon expanded the building to include Sunday school rooms. That was an accommodation to the U.S.: Zoroastrians don’t traditionally gather on Sundays. They worship chiefly at home, gathering only for feasts a handful of times a year. But the immigrant parents wanted their children — who spoke no Gujarati and whose friends were U.S.-born — to get at least a weekly dose of their culture.

They worried that their culture, and in particular, their religion, might disappear. The U.S. Zoroastrian population has grown chiefly through immigration. As in India, Zoroastrians gravitate toward higher education and professional careers, with most putting off marriage and childbearing until later in life, and so having few children. “One wonders, in two to three generations, how many will still practice the faith,” Patel, the USC professor, said glumly.

Iranian Zoroastrians are generally open to converts, but in India, orthodox believers frown on them and outright prohibit them from participating in services. Bhandara has seen non-Zoroastrian spouses and children with only one Zoroastrian parent treated rudely at cultural gatherings.

Aban Rustomji, the unofficial historian of Houston Zoroastrians, admires an Iranian display for Nowruz, the holiday that celebrates the spring equinox. Photo: Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographerPhoto by: Photo: Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

Five years ago, the real-estate developer began thinking about donating money to build a proper fire temple in Houston. He wanted a temple where his granddaughter and her mother would feel embraced by their community. He felt that a majority of Houston’s Zoroastrians would side with him. But he also knew that a minority would be strongly opposed.

Fearing rejection, he anonymously offered full funding — he won’t say how much — to build a temple that would be open to anyone who wanted to come in, would welcome converts and might serve as a magnet to draw young Zoroastrian families to Houston.

In secret, he prepared a PowerPoint presentation laying out the case for a temple that would be open to everyone, American-style, and let people believe that the anonymous proposal came from overseas, maybe from Hong Kong. After it was presented, he waited nervously for the association’s vote.

Eighty-seven percent voted to accept.

‘Fire catches people’s imagination’

On a recent Friday morning, after staying up all night for the temple’s opening rites, Bhandara removed his shoes, then showed a couple of non-Zoroastrian visitors the ritual areas where men and women would wash their hands and faces, purifying themselves before they draw nearer to the fire.

“It’s a living faith, an agrarian faith — about nature, water, soil,” he explained. Like other temples, this one includes an outdoor fountain, but it’s not called a water temple. “Fire catches people’s imagination.”

Aban Rustomji, the association’s unofficial historian, noted that in practice, Zoroastrianism boils down to three things: “good words, good thoughts, good deeds. So simple, so hard to adhere to.”

Looking around proudly, she pointed out how serene the temple felt, simultaneously modern and traditional. Chicago architect Cyrus Rivetna, she noted, studied ancient fire temples in India and Iran before designing it.

“I have a son who’s married to a non-Zoroastrian,” Fred Bhandara, left, asked priest Zerkxis Bhandara. “How do we get together as a family to meet our spiritual needs?” Photo: Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographerPhoto by: Photo: Melissa Phillip, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

A young priest visiting from California tended one of the prayed-over, purified fires. Zerkxis Bhandara — no relation to Feroze — prodded a log that was burning in what looked like a giant silver trophy cup.

Zerkxis, 24, is, as is customary for Zoroastrian priests, a son from a priestly family. When he was a kid in Orange County, Calif., older Zoroastrians would look at him hopefully and say things like, “You’ll be next.” Still, when he was 11, his father, the most active priest in Southern California, offered him a choice: Did he want to be ordained?

Zerkxis did. Ordination required trips to India. He traveled with family members and two other boys his age who aimed to be ordained. There were two sets of 10-day ordination rituals, each of which included nine days of isolation from the world in a room at a temple. So that he’d have no contact with the world, he wore gloves, but really, he says, the isolation wasn’t severe: He was allowed to talk with family members. And during the first round, at the more relaxed of the two temples, his gloved friends even played Gameboys.

Zerkxis wasn’t a Gameboy kid. In him, there’s a streak of longing for the old Parsi ways. He’s the rare second-generation American who speaks Gujarati, and in college, he majored in religious studies. For his thesis, wrote an ethnography about Zoroastrian practices in the U.S. He’s currently applying to graduate schools in anthropology, where, ideally, he’d be able to study Zoroastrians again.

At the Houston fire temple, Zerkxis accompanied Bhandara, Rustomji and the visitors to the seclusion rooms where someday young priests could stay as they seek ordination.

Everyone agrees that ordaining American priests would be a big deal. Arda Minocherhomjee, president of the North American Mobeds Council, said that though his own young sons went to India to be ordained, he’s not sure that his grandchildren will. For the generations who don’t speak Gujarati, it’s an intimidating trip. Houston would be far easier.

Zerkxis, though, wasn’t as sure that initiating priests here would be a good idea. To his way of thinking, India is where the orthodoxy lies. Faced with a difficult question, he asks himself, what would they do in India?

Suddenly, outside the isolation rooms, Bhandara turned to him with one such difficult question — testing him, maybe, or showing the non-Zoroastrians how the conservative wing of the faith thinks. “I have a son who’s married to a non-Zoroastrian,” Bhandara said. “How do we get together as a family to meet our spiritual needs?”

“That depends,” Zerkxis replied, unrattled. “Do you pray at home daily?”

Bhandara said that wasn’t what he meant — that he wants his daughter-in-law and granddaughter to feel fully a part of the Zoroastrian community, both here at the temple and at the community center across the parking lot.

“I’m orthodox,” Zerkxis said flatly — politely but pointedly not giving Bhandara the answer he wanted. No conversions: That’s what the priests in India would say.

For a long couple of seconds, the conservative young priest and the progressive old philanthropist looked at each other without saying a word. Then Bhandara shrugged and continued leading the tour.

This sparkling white temple, and its policy of openness, was his argument, the best he could do to see that his faith survives.

lisa.gray@chron.com

The Parsi community who otherwise shows the united front is split when it comes to voting this election season. The members who are known to support the Congress, are now divided.

Many members of the community backed BJP last general elections. This time the drift is because of the BJP-Shiv Sena joining hands. “Their decision to not realign metro route was the big disappointment. They did not realign the route when we requested them to. We even approached the matter legally, but no decision was taken. But when the Metro issue was raised by the Thackerays, as it was to be constructed above the Thackeray house it immediately got clearance,” said Dr Viraf Kapadia, member of community and resident of Napean Sea Road.

Kapadia was among the many Parsis who was against the metro route going beneath the Fire Temples. “The young in the community are not so concerned. However, the older generation have raised issues like the party engaging in hate politics, the BPT land matter, non addressal of civic issues among others. These unresolved issues are the reason behind many supporting the Congress,” said Jamshedian Irani, resident of Colaba.

Some Parsis are also backing the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance. “Many are with the Narendra Modi government. They want to give him another five year as they believe he has done more for country as compared to Congress. Both parties are being accused of robbing the country, but there have been positive developments and that is what has gone down well with community,” said Tehmtan Dumasia, resident of Napean Sea Road.

Published in DNA India

We are really proud to hear that our dear buddy Arashasp Shroff has been selected as one of the Top 30 Under 30 Hospitality professionals in Ontario, Canada.

Per Parsi Times:

On March 28, 2019, Toronto-based restaurant manager and sommelier at the CN Tower, Arashasp Shroff, was awarded Ontario Hostelry Institute’s ‘Top 30 Under 30 Award’, 2019, which featured over 150 nominations across the province. The winners, who are chosen from across all segments of the Hospitality and Food Service Industry in the district, are recognized for excellence not just within their profession, but also for their body of work in education, mentoring and commitment to improving the industry.

Having graduated top of his Advanced Beverage Management program and bestowed with the Wines of Spain Award, Arashasp is the secretary of WZCC’s Toronto Chapter. He’s part of the Professional Advisory Committee for the Advanced Wine and Beverage Program at George Brown and is working on establishing a mentorship and networking group for young hospitality professionals.