The Seth Rustamji Dhanjibhai Tarachand Parsi General Hospital, locatedin the centre of the city in Shahpore area, was started in 1920. The general hospital, which will celebrate its centenary next year, currently has just a single doctor and seven nursing staff.

Article by Kamaal Saiyed | Indian Express

The upgraded hospital will be a 100-bed, multispeciality facility with two new buildings housing ICU wards, labs and other medical facilities, built at a cost of Rs 115 crore

The nearly hundred-year-old Parsi General Hospital in Surat is all set to be renovated and revived by Tata Trusts, after Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of Tata Sons, accepted the request of the Parsi community in the city for funds to renovate and expand the medical facility which has fallen into neglect. Two days ago, a team from Tata Trusts visited Surat to examine the state of the charitable hospital.

The Seth Rustamji Dhanjibhai Tarachand Parsi General Hospital, located in the centre of the city in Shahpore area, was started in 1920. The general hospital, which will celebrate its centenary next year, currently has just a single doctor and seven nursing staff. Patients of the Parsi-dominated area coming to the 20-bed hospital, run by the Surat Parsi Panchayat Board trust, have dwindled over the years. Except a few senior citizens who come for regular treatment, most people in the area prefer to go to private hospitals with better facilities.

However, the hospital has potential for expansion, standing on a built up area of around 53,000 square feet.

Parsi youth Roman Ilaviya, who is deputy mamlatdar in Surat district collectorate, took up the initiative to revive the hospital, after hearing a lot about the old times when the hospital had been running full swing. A resident of Shahpore, where the hospital is located, Ilaviya wanted to do something, seeing the poor condition of the hospital.

Ilaviya spoke with the Surat Parsi Panchayat Boart trust that runs the hospital and discussed the need to redevelop the hospital. He also wrote an email to Ratan Tata on May 8, 2018, in which he requested funds and even suggested that Tata Trusts take over the hospital and turn it into a professionally-run multi-specialty hospital with an intensive care unit. He wrote about the plight of old and poor Parsi families who cannot afford expensive medical treatment and had to depend on the hospital, which was not in a state of proper functioning owing to unavailability of funds.

On May 18, 2018, Ilaviya received a reply from the office of Ratan Tata, saying the request had been forwarded to the business leader and philanthropist.

Since, then the office of Ratan Tata has been in regular touch with Ilaviya, and an expert agency was hired to prepare a detailed project report. Representatives of the agency visited the Surat hospital and submitted the report to Ratan Tata’s office in December 2018.

Later, president of the Surat Parsi Panchayat Board Jamshed Dotiwala, one of the trustees of the hospital, also met officials of the Tata Trusts’ office in Mumbai personally with regard to the redevelopment of the hospital.

The joint efforts of Ilaviya and the Parsi trust received a positive response from Tata Trusts office. This week, Farokh Subedar, CEO of Tata Trusts, visited Surat and held a meeting with Roman Ilaviya and members of the Surat Parsi Panchayat Board to discuss the project. Subedar also visited the hospital and gave his suggestions to the trust.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Ilaviya said, “Farokh Subedar gave a positive response about the project and he assured us that he will discuss it with the people concerned in Mumbai and personally recommend the sanction of funds for revival of the hospital at the earliest.”

Dotiwala said, “We are happy that our proposal for the revival of the hospital has received a positive response from Ratan Tata.” He added that while they had sought support to upgrade the hospital, “if they (Tata Trusts) want to run the hospital, we have no objection.”

The upgraded hospital will be a 100-bed, multispeciality facility with two new buildings housing ICU wards, laboratory and other medical facilities, he added, saying that its overall cost is expected to be Rs 115 crore.

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“As soon as the project is approved and funds are allotted, the renovation work will begin.” said Dotiwala, adding that the construction is expected to be completed in about two years. “As soon as the project is approved and funds are allotted, the renovation work will begin.”

Roman Ilaviya said, “Next year, we are celebrating the centenary of Parsi General Hospital and we will also extend an invitation to Ratan Tata.”

Let alone India’s first cotton mill, first steel plant and first institute for fundamental research in science, we have Parsi Theatre to thank for the musical routines of Bollywood!

by Amulya B June 20, 2017, 5:57 pm

In the last few years, the world has been grappling with the refugee crisis. The innovations in technology has made the whole experience of witnessing a crisis very visceral and we hadn’t encountered a crisis of this scale since World War II.

However, it is undeniable that human history is centred around victories and conquering lands. And the present may not be too different — people losing lives or being displaced from their homelands.

In India, the distinct Parsi Community might now be part of the colourful fabric of minorities stitched together, but they were once refugees too, who much like today’s Syrians, fled their homeland on boats and ships. After the fall of the Sassanian Empire (which had endorsed Zoroastrianism as the state religion) in Iran in 642 CE to Arab Muslims, a group of Zoroastrians sought refuge from religious persecution in the western shores of India.

This Zoroastrian group, which sailed from the Pars region of Iran to today’s Gujarat, is known as Parsis.

Parsi Woman and Son, 1900/WIKICOMMONS

According to Qissa-i-Sanjan (Story of Sanjan), a 16th century lore on the life of the early Zoroastrian settlers in India, when the refugees first arrived on the shores of Sanjan, they were presented with a full glass of milk by the local ruler Jadi Rana. It was a metaphor conveying the message that there was no space for the newcomers. It was then that the Zoroastrians responded by adding a spoonful of sugar to the milk, demonstrating that they would be ‘like sugar in a full cup of milk, adding sweetness but not causing it to overflow’.

They were allowed to live and follow their religion after agreeing to a few of Jadi Rana’s conditions: they would explain their religion to him, they would learn the local language, the women would wear sarees and they would conduct weddings after sunset. This “selective assimilation”, as termed by Harvard Pluralism Project, is what led to the distinctiveness of Parsis from their Zoroastrian counterparts who stayed back in Iran.

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These remaining Zoroastrians started arriving on the familiar shores of Western India during the 19th century, and are today known as Iranis. To reiterate, they too are Zoroastrians like the Parsis, but are culturally, socially and linguistically distinctive from them.

The qissa of Zoroastrians demonstrate mainly two things: The Indian subcontinent always opened its doors to people from the world and religions survive only when they adapt to the demands of the epoch. Religion, much like any cultural practice, must always be open to change, if it has to survive. However, that does not mean you have to give up your own culture and identity. The ‘selective assimilation’ of the Parsis exhibited integration into a host country while holding on to the distinctiveness.

Though the Zoroastrian community seems to take the Story of Sajan lore at face value, there have been numerous debates regarding the authenticity of its content since it has been written based on oral tradition, centuries after their arrival. However, the lore is important in understanding how Parsis themselves saw their arrival and settlement in a foreign land.

Nevertheless, it is indisputable that both distinct groups of Zoroastrians who arrived at two different moments in history of India were never turned back. Today, the community, though very small and living amid the fear of dwindling numbers, has a special place. This is the community that gave us freedom fighters like Dadabhai Naoroji and Bhikaiji Cama, a visionary like Jamsetji Tata, nuclear physicist like Homi J Bhabha, and advocates like Fali Nariman. In fact, despite representing less than 0.6% of the Indian population, Parsis have helmed all three defence wings of the Indian Armed Forces. Let alone India’s first cotton mill, first steel plant and first institute for fundamental research in science, we even have Parsi Theatre to thank for the musical routines of Bollywood!

All these achievements could be included in the pages of Indian history because a local ruler of Gujarat did not close his doors to a shipload of refugees, but welcomed them home.

A Parsi woman in the eyes of Raja Ravi Varma/ WIKICOMMONS

The nation-state of India has a different story to tell. We haven’t been a signatory to 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention nor its 1967 Protocol. Though the reason for this is not known publicly, it is speculated that since the borders of South Asia are extremely porous, any small disturbance can upset the demographics and infrastructure of a nation that is indeed poor by global standards. Yet, despite being a non-signatory, India has been hosting refugees from Tibet to Sri Lanka.

However, it is important to note that global refugee crisis has its roots in the apparatus of nation-state and colonial era borders, whose continued relevance is exacerbating the situation. It is essential to remember that borders are man-made. The least one can do is offer compassion to refugees instead of contempt. After all, refugees of today are citizens of tomorrow.

Minutes of the Oct-16 Tata Sons Board Meeting at Bombay House.

There was not much time to think. Mistry messaged his wife, Rohiqa, that he may soon be sacked. There was probably no time to consult a lawyer. Surely, there were some board members who would side with Mistry?

Mistry walked a few paces from his office to the boardroom to get the meeting started. This was the last stage in the game of chess.

Present in the room were:

Ratan Tata – chairman emeritus (an honorary member with none of the usual rights associated with board members).

Ishaat Hussain – finance director since 1998; career-long Tata professional.

Vijay Singh – nominee of the Trusts since June 2013; former IAS officer with over forty-seven years of experience.

Nitin Nohria – nominee of the Trusts since September 2013; dean of Harvard Business School and regular adviser to Piramal Enterprises companies.

Ronendra (Ronen) Sen – independent director (a non- executive director on a company’s board usually tasked to represent the interests of minority shareholders and uphold corporate governance) since April 2015; diplomat, India’s Ambassador to the US between 2004 and 2009.

Farida Khambata – independent director since April 2015; strategist at Cartica (an investment firm that acquires companies and controls their management in emerging markets), and former member of the International Finance Corp.

Venu Srinivasan – independent director since 26 August 2016; chairman of TVS Motors.

Ajay Piramal – independent director since 26 August 2016; chairman, Piramal Enterprises,

Amit Chandra – Trust-nominated director since 27 August 2016; MD, Bain Capital, part of the Asia leadership team and India head, also brother-in-law of Nitin Nohria.

Mistry walked past some members to settle into the chairman’s seat, which was marginally bigger than the others.

The Tata Sons board had nine members: three trust-nominated members, four independent members and two executive members: Mistry and Hussain.

What transpired after that can be best described as “Gone in 60 minutes” because the meeting lasted just that long.
Mistry sat in the chairman’s seat and initiated the meeting at 2 p.m. He was officially informed that Ratan Tata would be joining them.

Nohria: Tata Trusts has asked us to bring before the board a motion [not mentioned in the agenda].

Amit Chandra: We, the trust-nominated directors, held a meeting earlier this morning and have agreed to request Mr Mistry to step down as chairman. Mr Mistry, would you like to reconsider and resign before we initiate formal proceedings to change the board?

Mistry: I’d request Mr Tata to please say a few words.

Mr. Tata: At this stage, I am just an observer.

Chandra: Mr Mistry, do you have any views on the motion? [to remove you as board chairman]

Mistry: The motion, sir, is illegal. The Board, including all its members, must be informed at least 15 days in advance before such a motion can be put before it.
This set the tone for Mistry’s refrain for the rest of the meeting. On everything else that ensued as well, Mistry noted his objection to no avail.

Chandra: We actually have obtained a legal opinion which suggests that in the current situation the notice is not necessary.

Mistry: Gentlemen, would you be so kind as to share this legal opinion. I am not aware of it and I do not agree with it.

Chandra: Mr Mistry is an interested party, I would like to bring this before other board members. For the purpose of this meeting, I propose Mr Singh act as chairman hereon. Let’s put this to vote.

Ishaat Hussain: I would like to abstain from voting on this.

Farida Khambata: I would also like to abstain, please.

It was later said that Hussain and Khambata were caught unawares and were reluctant to make a hasty choice either way. While Khambata was brought to the Tata Group by Cyrus Mistry, Hussain had spent his whole career with the group.

The remaining six directors supported the motion and Mistry was now just a “man” without the “chair”. Khambata abstained from all resolutions proposed and passed during the rest of the meeting. Hussain voted in favour of all nine resolutions the board passed during the rest of the meeting.

The minutes of the board meeting show that first Vijay Singh became chairman for the rest of the meeting. He then proposed other resolutions that were not mentioned on the agenda.The first was to strip Mistry of all executive powers and annul all power he had been granted on behalf of Tata Sons. Then, the retirement age for directors that was set at seventy-five years was removed.

This was necessary because without that, Ratan Tata could not be nominated to the board.

Ratan Tata was nominated to the board as additional director and then made interim chairman. A selection committee was formed to appoint a new chairman.

Finally, sixty-year-old Farokh N Subedar, company secretary and chief operating officer, was given management control as the new chief executive of Tata Sons till a new leader could be identified.

Mr. Tata: We must recognise the work Cyrus has done over the last four years. It is important for the Group to move forward as seamlessly as possible. Cyrus, would you like to continue as a director on the board?

Mistry: Yes.

Chandra: Should we adjourn the meeting to consider this?

Mistry: Are we planning to make a public statement on what has happened here?

Hussain: Does Mr Mistry continue as the chairman of the Group companies? If not, this is a material change and the listed companies must report it to the stock exchanges.

[While Tata Sons is unlisted, its companies like Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Consultancy Services and others are listed on public stock exchanges. The Tata Sons chairman typically is also nominated as the chairman of the top few of these companies as a measure of control. Cyrus Mistry was on the boards of seven such companies.]

Mistry: I will think this over and let you know.

Mr. Tata: Keeping directorship on the board is really up to you.

Khambata: Can we already announce this? There seems to be a question on the legality of these resolutions.

Chandra: I am not carrying the opinions, but they are from eminent lawyers and ex-Supreme Court judges.

Mistry: Could I please get copies of the written opinions? How can the rest of the board act without ever seeing these opinions? I would like to see these opinions today itself, please.

Chandra: Sure, we will check with the lawyers.

Mr. Tata: These are material developments to our company. What has happened here must be reported today itself. We should call a press conference.

All other items that Mistry had planned to discuss just over an hour ago were deferred to the next board meeting. His five-year plan was shelved without any further debate. Mistry was pushing for “tough love” of some projects that the board members nominated by the Trusts – and Ratan Tata – still believed in.

Mistry walked back to his cabin. He checked with Subedar whether he should return for a handover the next day. Negative.

Bombay House buzzed once again, readying for an explosive press announcement.

Three members of Mistry’s group executive council – a five-member panel that deliberated all strategic moves of the Group companies – were sacked summarily that night in a very American fashion.
‘It was literally like there was no need to come, your personal effects will be couriered to you,’ quipped a former Tata employee. These were Nirmalya Kumar, Madhu Kannan and NS Rajan.

Insiders and senior executives at other Tata companies were rattled that everyone was on the watch list. Many of them searched through their emails. Were there any that could be perceived as backing the wrong horse, they wondered.

Wadia – Tata Battle

It wasn’t just Cyrus Mistry who was removed from the Tata Group company boards. The shareholders of Tata Steel, Tata Chemicals and Tata Motors voted Nusli Wadia out too. The notice to remove Wadia came on the day he had convened a meeting with some independent directors.

It all started when Wadia spoke in favour of Mistry at the Tata Chemicals board meeting. Wadia could have been Ratan Tata’s staunchest supporter, but as events unfolded, Wadia and Tata ended up on opposite sides.

After the board meeting, in which Mistry was retained as chairman, according to senior executives and board members of Tata Steel, meetings were held by Wadia to discuss how to support Cyrus Mistry further. Wadia had been on the boards of Tata Steel for over three decades and Tata Motors for about two decades. Though Mistry was sacked as chairman of Tata Steel, he retained the position at Tata Motors.

The Tata Group’s retaliation against Wadia was more acute perhaps because Ratan Tata felt betrayed by a friend and ally, or perhaps because Wadia had the power to sway other decision-makers. Either way, the move to sack Wadia himself from the boards was put in motion and it was decided that this matter, too, would be taken to the shareholders at the extraordinary general meetings.

Nusli Wadia loves a good fight.

He fought for his business when he was twenty-six. He has litigated for possession of this home. He has litigated and won when he was accused of being a Pakistani spy, on account of being the grandson of Muhammad Ali Jinnah. It took some boardroom and shareholder mobilization for him to buy biscuit maker Britannia.

When Ratan Tata became the chairman of Tata Sons, Wadia fought to establish Tata against the satraps of the group. He continues to fight to secure land left in FE Dinshaw’s estate as the trustee of Dinshaw’s trust. He was now fighting once more in Tata’s boardrooms. Perhaps not as much for Cyrus Mistry as for his lifelong habit of taking a stand. ‘He isn’t fighting for Mistry . . . there is no special love for Mistry,’ points out a lawyer. ‘He’s fighting for a principle.’

Wadia started his business career with a battle. He returned after completing his education in England, to join Bombay Dyeing, his father’s business, in the late 1960s. In 1970, his father told him, he was selling the firm to settle overseas.

His father, Neville Wadia, backed by Pallonji Mistry, wanted to sell Bombay Dyeing & Manufacturing Co. Ltd., to RP Goenka, and planned to retire overseas. Young Nusli, who intended to expand the Wadia empire, was determined not to allow this to happen. He swung into action, and relied on advice from his godfather, JRD Tata. He mopped up shares from his mother and sisters, and stirred up the employees of the group into action. The employees forked out capital to buy shares, and blocked the deal with Goenka in support of Wadia.

With that Wadia became the leader of Bombay Dyeing from the get-go – he didn’t work his way to the top like other Parsi business scions. With JRD’s help Wadia was able to assert his control over Bombay Dyeing and other Group companies.

When JRD Tata was due to retire in 1991, Wadia, then forty-seven years of age, was even considered a potential successor to him. But, it was rumoured, that some years earlier, when it came to inducting Wadia on the Tata Sons board, Pallonji Mistry refused to allow it. So instead JRD appointed Wadia to the Tata Steel board in 1979 and the Tata Chemicals board later.

When JRD chose Ratan Tata to succeed him, Wadia supported his mentor’s decision. Ratan Tata had worked on the shop floor and had risen over the previous decade assuming various roles at most major Tata companies including TCS.

Boardroom wizardry was not quite his forte back then. He was generally retiring, little known and considered weak in front of stalwarts such as Russi Mody, Darbari Seth and Ajit Kelkar. Word on the street was that these strong operational heads of Tata group companies would soon marginalise Ratan Tata.

Wadia played a big role in proving the world wrong about Ratan Tata.

A magazine even called Nusli Wadia the corporate samurai of Ratan Tata. In fact, when Darbari Seth exited Tata Chemicals, it was seen as a personal victory for Wadia who helped edge him out. After the boardroom coup to overthrow Russi Mody, Wadia was rewarded with the post of vice president on the TISCO (now Tata Steel) board. Of course, at the time Wadia denied any prior knowledge of the impending reward.

Tata and Wadia were often seen together, both professionally and socially. Friends of both the men say that Wadia may have expected a seat in the Tata Sons board at some point but this was never given to him. Ratan Tata instead nominated Wadia to the Tata Motors board in 1998.

Indeed Wadia was a close professional ally of Ratan Tata’s. In 1997, Indian Express published illegally tapped phone conversations of Wadia. In those conversations, Wadia was heard lobbying for Tata Tea in Assam. The conclusion drawn by many from the tapped conversations was that Wadia shepherded Ratan despite Wadia’s businesses being significantly smaller than the sprawling Tata Group. The tapped conversation led to some distance between Ratan Tata and Nusli Wadia.

A Times of India report observed it was the first time in years that the two industrialists were not seen together at any major social event. Several people close to them say, though, that the drift was only for show.

In 1999, when Atal Bihari Vajpayee became prime minister, Wadia started spending more time in New Delhi. He had forged relations with Vajpayee and LK Advani over the years. People close to both Tata and Wadia believe this was when the two really started to drift apart.

Excerpted from ‘Tata vs Mistry; The Inside Story’, by Deepali Gupta, published by Juggernaut Books.

We are thrilled to share the news that our dear friend Cyrus F. Hirjibehedin received the Royal Microscopy Society (RMS) Gold Medal in Manchester, UK on July 2, 2019 for his work in STM microscopy when he was at University College of London at the London Center of Nanotechnology.

The award was presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis Conference, the the largest meeting of the AFM, STM, and scanning probe microscopies in the UK.

Per the MMC2019 post:

“The SPM medal to Prof Cyrus Hirjibehedin for his wonderful work on the physics of matter at atomic scale. Inspired by Sergei Kalinin ‘s plenary lecture that took us to the future of microscopy with his vision of communities collaborating globally to extract the physics from microscopy that will lead to revolutionary discoveries in materials and technology.”

Parsi Khabar readers will remember this award being announced in August 2018. Here is the text from that announcement

RMS Medal for Scanning Probe Microscopy for outstanding progress made in the field of scanning probe microscopy

Dr Cyrus F. Hirjibehedin from University College London

Cyrus F. Hirjibehedin has made outstanding contributions to the field of scanning probe microscopy (SPM) through his study of atomic-scale quantum nanostructures, revealing new insights into low-dimensional systems. As a Professor of Physics, Chemistry, and Nanotechnology at University College London (UCL), Dr Hirjibehedin applied SPM techniques to study how the local environment affects the properties of quantum nanostructures at the atomic scale. Results from his group are at the forefront of using SPM to study quantum phenomena at the interfaces of atomic layered materials, including novel Dirac materials like silicene as well as thin, polar insulators like copper nitride and sodium chloride. In recent papers in Nature Nanotechnology and Nature Communications, his group has explored how electronic coupling mediated by atomically thin insulators or molecular ligands can be used to tune the properties of a quantum spin system, enable novel forms of charge and spin transport (like magnetoresistance) through an atomic or molecular spin, and even induce bistable polarization in atomically-thin layers of rock salt.

Dr Hirjibehedin has also applied SPM techniques to gain new insights on low dimensional systems, ranging from defects in traditional semiconductors like silicon to novel layered materials like graphene and silicene, including recent work published in Advanced Materials showing that silicene domain boundaries are a novel template for molecular assembly. Very recently, Dr Hirjibehedin has moved from UCL, while retaining an Honorary Professorship, to join the Quantum Information and Integrated Nanosystems group to apply his expertise in the field of quantum computing.

The work that Dr Hirjibehedin has done at UCL built on his experience as a post-doctoral research assistant in the group of Dr Don Eigler and Dr Andreas Heinrich at the IBM Almaden Research Center. There, Dr Hirjibehedin pioneered the application of SPM to create spin systems with atomic precision and to perform inelastic electron tunnelling spectroscopy on them. This powerful way of accessing collective, low-energy spin excitations in artificially engineered nanostructures has revolutionised scanning probe studies of magnetism. Today, many world-leading groups utilise this uniquely powerful spectroscopic technique that is analogous to electron spin resonance yet applicable with single atom resolution – work that has received over 1000 citations – to study a broad range of quantum magnetic phenomena. At IBM, Dr Hirjibehedin also contributed to outstanding progress in the development of combined scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) studies of atomic manipulation that directly measured the force needed to move an individual atom across a surface.

Internationally recognised as a leader in the SPM community, Dr Hirjibehedin has given invited talks at 58 conferences, including 2 plenary and 4 semi-plenary/keynote talks, as well as 89 invited seminars, including 10 colloquia, at universities, government research laboratories, and private companies around the world; he is also a member of the Programme Committee for the 2018 International Conference on Nanoscience + Technology (ICN+T), one of the preeminent conferences in the fields of scanning probe microscopy as well as nanoscience and nanotechnology. In the last few years, Dr Hirjibehedin has written “News & Views” articles in Nature Physics and Nature Nanotechnology to provide insights and perspectives on new work in the field of spinsensitive SPM, and was the guest co-editor for a special section in the Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter highlighting recent advances in SPM. From 2010-2017, he also served on the Scientific Committee for the Advanced Microscopy Laboratory in Zaragoza, Spain, providing external advice for their SPM group.

Dr Hirjibehedin has played a leading role in both the development of SPM techniques for the fabrication and spectroscopy of atomic-scale electronic and magnetic systems as well as in advancing the understanding of quantum nanostructures.

It was a select group of his inner circle that accompanied Cyrus Poonawalla, founder and chairman of Serum Institute of India, when he received an honorary degree from the University of Oxford for his work in the field of life-saving vaccines and philanthropy, recently. Besides his daughter-in-law, the glamorous Natasha, there was Karan Billimoria (Baron Billimoria of Chelsea), the British-Indian entrepreneur who is a life peer in the UK House of Lords and founder of a popular global beer brand; Mumbai-based Gautam Kotwal, Poonawalla’s old friend and bloodstock advisor; Rusi Dalal, head of London’s Parsi community; Mrs and Mr Pervez Grant, owners of Pune’s Ruby Hall hospital; James Underwood , international racing authority and celebrated Mumbai-based criminal lawyer Satish Maneshinde.

“Cyrus was at his very best dressed in traditional robes at the garden party held at Worcester college,” said Kotwal, who is back in Mumbai, when we spoke yesterday. “Later that evening, he threw a party at one of Oxford’s Michelin starred restaurants.” Following the billionaire philanthropists’ honor, Natasha had posted a picture of the two together, saying, “Spent the day conversing with some incredible faculty, discussing ways to further our global health impact through our vaccine work at Serum Institute and even more interesting to me was their in-depth knowledge of issues relevant to India for the Villoo Poonawalla Foundation to further our philanthropic endeavours.” And then, in customary style, we are informed that the workaholic septuagenarian caught a chopper to an airstrip near London from where he flew out in his PJ to Pune, and straight to his office!

According to a 2017 study, almost 99.9% Parsis within the age group of 18-25 said they wanted to marry within the community

Parsi youth can now find a match within their community with the help of a newly-launched mobile application, Parsi Shaadi.

The app was launched on Saturday by the Parzor Foundation, in collaboration with shaadi.com, a popular matrimonial website, at the Banaji Atash Behram in Girgaum.

The initiative is part of the Centre’s Jiyo Parsi scheme to increase the rate of marriages within the community and subsequently, their population.

Parsi Shaadi, according to its makers, will contain 17,000 profiles of eligible Zoroastrian-Parsi youth.

“Youngsters these days do not like their parents interfering with their matrimonial decisions. With the help of this app, they can make their decisions with the assurance that their data is kept safe,” said Sam Balsara, chairman of Madison World, who is a part of the initiative.

Balsara said that around 30% of Parsi youth marry outside their community, according to available data.

A spokesperson from shaadi.com, who created the app, said that of the total number of registered people on the app, 25% are from Mumbai and Pune, 8% from Gujarat and 5% from Delhi. Of the total users, 60% are men and 40% are women.

“Currently, the app is in its beta stage, but we will create a mechanism to conduct background checks of those registered after suggestions and changes,” said the spokesperson for Parsi Shaadi.

Dr Shernaz Cama, director of the Parzor Foundation, said although there are events organised to help Parsi youth find a match for themselves from within the community, the use of technology would make it easier.

“According to the census, 30-40% people from the community, within the age group of 20-40, are unmarried. There has been an 18% decline in our population as recorded during the last census in 2011. To increase the population of our community, it is necessary that people marry within the community. This is a reason why the government asked us to concentrate on matrimony,” said Cama.

According to a 2017 study, said Cama, almost 99.9% Parsis within the age group of 18-25 said they wanted to marry within the community.

Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw is an iconic figure in the Indian Armed Forces.

He’s known for many things-

• for successfully fighting for the country in major wars,

• for being in the first batch to pass out of the Indian Military Academy (IMA),

• to being one of the first person to be commissioned into the Gorkha Rifles post-Independence, and

• for being the only known man to have called the then extremely formidable Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, ‘sweetie!’

Article By Samyuktha Nair

Humble Beginnings

Born into a Parsi family settled in Amritsar, Manekshaw’s first ambition was to become a doctor like his father.

His family could not afford to send him abroad for his education, so he studied science at the Hindu Sabha College in Amritsar.

A Rebel From The Start

When a formal announcement was made regarding an entrance examination for the first batch at the Indian Military Academy, Manekshaw expressed an interest in writing them.

However, his father was against it. Following his own will, Manekshaw wrote the exam anyway, and ranked sixth in the merit list.

We’re glad he had a rebellious streak in him, for he played a major role in some of India’s notable victories!

A Man Of Action

Manekshaw’s military career has become the stuff of legend – his competence and bravery were recognised by his peers and seniors from the start, and his fluency in various languages resulted in his being appointed an interpreter for the army.

Manekshaw was badly injured during World War II and was fighting for his life, when his general swiftly pinned his own Military Cross on Manekshaw for his extreme bravery, saying that a dead person couldn’t be awarded one.

On being taken to an Australian doctor for treatment, the doctor initially declined because the injuries were too severe, but when Manekshaw, to put it in today’s parlance, ‘sassed’ him by saying that he sustained his injuries after being kicked by a mule, the doctor decided he was ‘worth saving.’

‘Sam the Brave’

Manekshaw fought successfully in several important wars in Indian history:

• World War II
• The Indo-Pak War of 1947
• The Sino-Indian War
• The Indo-Pak War of 1965
• The Bangladesh Liberation War

Thanks to these multiple displays of courage, he was nicknamed ‘Sam Bahadur’ or ‘Sam the Brave,’ a name by which he is fondly referred to even today.

His brilliant military career also resulted in is becoming India’s first ever Field Marshal – the highest rank in the Indian Army.

The King Of Sass

Not only was Manekshaw known for his bravery, he was also widely known for his acid tongue and dry humour.

When he was asked by the then-Defence Minister what he thought of the Chief of Army Staff at the time, Manekshaw said that he was not supposed to think of him, and that such thinking ruins the discipline of the army.

Manekshaw was extremely stern about the way his soldiers treated women, and issued a dire warning against molesting or raping women. He said, “When you see a begum, keep your hands in your pockets and think of Sam!”

On the eve of the 1971 war, when PM Indira Gandhi asked him if he was ready, he replied, “I’m always ready, sweetie!”

His Legacy

Manekshaw passed away in 2008 at the age of 94, and has been honoured all over the country. A flyover in Ahmedabad has been named after him, a statue of him was erected in Wellington, Tamil Nadu, and the Ooty-Coonoor road has a bridge named ‘Manekshaw Bridge.’

Bollywood director Meghna Gulzar is also making a bio pic on Manekshaw slated to release late next year, starring Vicky Kaushal as the dynamic Field Marshal.

Left: Vicky Kaushal, Right: Sam Manekshaw

True To Form

Manekshaw was a true military man till the end- when he was dying of pneumonia in the Military Hospital, Wellington, at the age of 94, he never admitted that he was suffering.

His last words were, “I’m okay!”

Is it fair to keep low rent, charity apartments in prime localities of the city locked while the tenants have migrated to the US or Canada? The Bombay Parsi Punchayat (BPP), the city’s biggest private landlord which controls over 5,500 flats meant for the ParsiI-rani community, does not think so. It has been issuing eviction notices for the last few months to families who have migrated abroad but have retained their flats.

Article by Nauzer Bharucha | TNN

Notices have been pasted on the doors of these apartments in Parsi residential colonies and baugs across the city. Some of the prominent Parsi enclaves are Cusrow Baug at Colaba (in pic) , Rustom Baug at Byculla, Navroz Baug and Jer Baug at Parel, and Ness Baug at Nana Chowk. In these five baugs itself, the BPP identified 54 flats and have slapped eviction notices on 41 of them. “We are in the process of filing cases against them,” said BPP trustee Kersi Randeria.

In other baugs and residential colonies across the city, the Punchayat, which looks after the affairs of the community in Mumbai, identified 200 flats of which 82 occupants have received eviction notices.

Soon after these notices were slapped, three tenants surrendered their flats, while two others settled to vacate in lieu of monetary compensation. In another three to four flats, the occupants are negotiating with the BPP for a payment to vacate the premises. After the crackdown, three families returned to their apartments. “For the first time we have sent out a message. And the results are beginning to show,” Randeria told TOI.

The BPP has claimed that many of these flats have been locked since decades, but the families still hold on to them. Many of these tenants have brazenly kept their flats locked since decades.

Since the past few years this issue has plagued the BPP on how to tackle such errant tenants, who are protected under the Rent Control Act. Trustees said these families use these community flats as ‘holiday homes’. “They visit Mumbai once a year or once in a couple of years and keep the flat locked. This is not fair for young Parsi couples who are waiting for a panchayat flat,” said Randeria.

Currently, the BPP is focussing its attention on families who live in USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. These are families who have shifted permanently but still hold on to their flats in Mumbai. The ones residing in the Gulf are not being targeted because these families invariably come back to the city.

Activist Zoru Bhathena said it is “legally foolish” to issue such a warning notice to the tenant. “Moment the tenant gets such a notice he will start using the flat. By law, non-use of a flat has to be proved for six months prior to filing the suit and not six months prior to the notice,” he said. “If after receiving such a notice, the tenant starts using the flat, the landlord loses his right to evict (unless there is a subsequent period of six months where flat is not used, which is a fresh cause of action.”

BPP controlled flats are much sought after. There is a waiting list of 695 families. Priority is generally given married couples without a house and poor families. However, there have been allegations of favouritism and nepotism from time to time.

The 24th World Scout Jamboree will be held at the Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve in West Virginia from 22 July to 2 August 2019.

The hosting duties will be split between the Boy Scouts of America, Scouts Canada, and Asociación de Scouts de México. The theme is Unlock a New World.

On Sunday 28th July 2019 at 11: 00 AM there will be a Zoroastrian Humbandigi prayer at the Faith and Beliefs area of Jamboree Central. The humbandigi will be led by Scouter Ervad Ratansha Vakil.

Zoroastrian scouts and scouters from all parts of the world will be attending the Jamboree.

Please pass on this information to them.

If you are a Zoroastrian scout or Scouter and attending the Jamboree as a participant or part of the International Service Team, please email news@parsikhabar.net or drolap@hotmail.com so you can be added to a Whatsapp group to stay in touch with other Zarathushtis during the Jamboree.

It is scarcely deniable that the Zoroastrian faith is in the throes of a long-term population decline, an observation this is not merely confined to the 11% decline estimated by a comprehensive FEZANA demographic survey between 2004 and 2012^[1].  One must also consider our alarming Total Fertility Rate (the potential number of births per woman), which at around .9 children per woman falls far short of the replacement level of 2.1^[2].  If the global Zoroastrian population constituted a single country, it would comfortably rank last in the world in this regard (The Republic of Korea currently possesses this dubious honor with 1.11 children per woman)^[3].  This phenomenon merely exacerbates our already high proportion of senior citizens vis-à-vis children, which is especially problematic in India, Pakistan, and Australia, and portends a further decline barring major demographic reversals or a mass infusion of new adherents.

In this light, recent reports of a Zoroastrian revival in Iraqi Kurdistan (which enjoys autonomous status within Iraq and thus does not pose quite the same dangers to academics and reporters as its counterparts in the Middle East) presents an interesting scenario for our long-term growth.  However, questions exist about the size of this conversion, the degree to which the global Zoroastrian community accepts Kurdish coreligionists, and the role Kurdish nationalism has played in Kurds’ desire to distinguish themselves from their overwhelmingly Muslim antagonists in Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and Syria (which fascinatingly transcends the Sunni-Shia divide).  Each of these questions deserves significant attention, for our response to this question would impact our future demography for years, if not decades, to come.

Although the Kurds largely practiced Zoroastrianism during the reigns of the three great Zoroastrian Persian Empires, the Arab Conquest ushered in a long period of Islamization.  Historical Kurds include Saladin, the Sultan who successfully opposed Richard the Lionhearted’s Third Crusade and reconquered Jerusalem (which Muslim rulers continued to hold until World War I).  However, the Kurdish people have largely endured oppression for centuries.  Their dispersal between four neighbors (some of whom exercise significant regional power) and the abandonment of the 1920 Treaty of Sèvres crushed Kurdish hopes of independence in an era defined by a nearly inexorable tide of nationalism.  Undeniably, the revival of Zoroastrianism in Kurdistan has been closely associated with Kurdish nationalism — Abdullah Ocalan, founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), “openly taught that Zoroastrianism is morally and intellectually superior to Islam”^[4], while Zoroastrian and Kurdish symbols share pride of place in religious and community ceremonies and festivals^[5].  Additionally, the Kurdish politician Karim Sureni has claimed that Zarathushtra (Zardasht in Kurdish) was of Kurdish origin^[6] — indicative of the interconnectivity between religion and nation at the heart of the Kurdish struggle.  An editorial in Parsiana magazine highlighted this occasional spotlight on Zoroastrianism, reporting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s dismissal of the PKK as “atheists” and “Zoroastrians… not acting with our values”^[7].  Meanwhile, in the autonomous Kurdistan Region of Iraq, prominent Zoroastrian figures, including Awat Tayib, the Zoroastrian representative to the Ministry of Endowment and Religious Affairs, have pointed to the rise of the Islamic State and its brand of radicalism as a root cause of the Zoroastrian revival in the region^[8].  Interestingly, the Kurdish Peshmerga has won widespread praise for its resoluteness and bravery in their struggle against ISIS, with female soldiers (utterly taboo in the Middle East outside of the Israeli Defense Forces) earning special praise^[9].

I recently had the privilege of attending the 7th World Zarthushti Youth Congress in Los Angeles, where Mr. Pablo Vazquez, who is currently working on a dissertation on Kurdish Zoroastrianism at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies, presented a fascinating lecture on the subject.  Mr. Vazquez spoke extensively about the themes mentioned above and provided detailed information on the distinct Kurdish elements in their practice of their faith — such as their use of a woolen thread thicker than the kusti but eschewing the sadra, the existence of male and female pirs (a term analogous to mobed and borrowed from Sufism), and the lack of any clear hierarchy within this order of pirs (unlike the distinction between ervads and mobeds among Parsis).

Mr. Vazquez spoke lucidly of the implications of this synthesis of nationality, culture, and religion.  He foresees that global Zoroastrianism “will follow its historical path of cultural-regional localization” prominently witness in Sogdiana, Armenia, and China historically and by Parsis and Iranians in the recent past.  The Kurds are merely testament to the supreme adaptability and dynamism of our religion as it establishes roots both in Kurdistan by conversion and in North America, the United Kingdom, and Australia and New Zealand primarily (but by no means exclusively) by immigration from India and Iran.  In each country, the religion has indeed slowly adapted to its surroundings as its adherents slowly solidify their ties to the new religion.  Our role in India and Bombay’s development has long been a matter of supreme pride for Parsis with ties to India, and we continue to revere figures such as Dadabhai Naoroji or Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw who devoted their lives to the service of India.

In conclusion, the growing embrace of Zoroastrianism in Kurdistan bodes well for our future demographically and potentially portends a return to a historical diversity in religious practices not seen since the fall of the Sassanian Empire helped usher in a period of duality in the faith between Indian Parsis and Iranians.  While there are genuine reasons to suspect nationalist motives behind this phenomenon, it is far from certain that this should be feared, given the current and historical admixture of Zoroastrianism and nationalism.  Most interesting is the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party’s firm support for Kurdish Zoroastrianism.  This includes official recognition of the faith in August 2015^[10], support for the Yasna Organization (founded by Awat Tayib), and the establishment of an official fire temple in Sulaymaniyah (the epicenter of the Zoroastrian revival)^[11].  The California Zoroastrian Center has been especially welcoming of Tayib and her Kurdish Zoroastrians.

About Jeh Z. Mory

Jeh Z. Mory is a 19-year old studying Business at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. He has lived extensively in both India and the United States, and is intimately familiar with both countries.

Jeh has served as a Content Writer with Laugh Out Loud Ventures, a start-up that creates humorous educational content for Indian schoolchildren, by winning a national essay contest with about twenty-five thousand entries. He actively participated in the Bombay quiz circuit for about five years, winning multiple annual city-level quiz competitions and occasionally appearing in nationally televised events. He also enjoyed participating in Model United Nations and my schools’ basketball team and choir.

Bibliography

Fatah, L. (2015, November 26). The curious rebirth of Zoroastrianism in Iraqi Kurdistan. Retrieved from Projects 21: https://projects21.org/2015/11/26/the-curious-rebirth-of-zoroastrianism-in-iraqi-kurdistan/

Homa, A. (2017, April 10). Kurdistan, the only government in Middle East that recognizes religious diversity. Retrieved from Kurdistan 24: https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/culture/321804d4-5b58-4008-848d-e1cc263230b4/kurdistan–the-only-government-in-middle-east-that-recognizes-religious-diversity

Marouf, H. (2018, October 10). Peshmerga Female Fighters: From Frontline to Sideline. Retrieved from The Washington Institute for Near East Policy: https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/fikraforum/view/peshmerga-female-fighters-from-frontline-to-sideline

Othman, S. (2016, September 28). A Zoroastrian Temple Opens in Kurdistan. Retrieved from Parsi Khabar: https://parsikhabar.net/kurdistan/a-zoroastrian-temple-opens-in-kurdistan/14439/

Parisana Magazine. (2016, September 7). “Nothing will come of them”. Retrieved from Parsiana Magazine: https://www.parsiana.com/current-issue/articles.aspx?id=M7V3HilUQ1Y=

Rivetna, R. (2012). The Zarathushti World – a Demographic Picture. New York: FEZANA.

Szanto, E. (2018, April 4). “Zoroaster was a Kurd!”: Neo-Zoroastrianism among the Iraqi Kurds. Iran and the Caucusus , pp. 96-110.

World Population Review. (2019). Fertility Rate By Country 2019. Retrieved from World Population Rate: http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/total-fertility-rate/

[1] (Rivetna, 2012), pg 4

[2] (Rivetna, 2012), pg 11

[3] (World Population Review, 2019)

[4] (Szanto, 2018), pg 98

[5] (Homa, 2017)

[6] (Szanto, 2018), pg 97

[7] (Parisana Magazine, 2016)

[8] (Parisana Magazine, 2016)

[9] (Marouf, 2018)

[10] (Fatah, 2015)

[11] (Othman, 2016)

Throughout history Parsees have seen success in an array of endeavours – from entrepreneurs and industrialists to singers and actors.  But can a Parsi be a successful politician? YES – WE CAN!

Article by Good Parsi Wife

From growing up in the Indian coastal town of Dahanu, to entering the 40^th Parliament of Western Australia, local superstar politician and family man Yaz Mubarakai implements the founding principles of Zoroastrianism into his daily approach as Member for Jandakot in Perth, Western Australia.

Growing up in a house that had three generations under one roof, Yaz fondly remembers his upbringing surrounded by family and love in Dahanu.  Chiku farming flows through his blood, and after years of watching is his father and grandfather in action, it was always his intention to run the family business. It seemed however, that the Universe had other plans for the budding entrepreneur as Chiku farming experienced a downturn during his teenage years. Yaz was forced to re-evaluate his plans for his future, and decided instead to migrate and study in Western Australia – with his family’s blessing.  

While studying in Australia, Yaz persevered through a few tough part time jobs including working at call centres, warehouse food picking, and working at a petrol station. Not only did these experiences expose him to the Aussie workplace culture, but also helped him build on his principals of commitment, being on time, taking initiative and working as a team. All these factors prepared him in taking the leap of faith and investing in local small business.

“To this day I am still that little boy that believes anything is possible, as long as you believe in it and apply yourself unconditionally.” – Yaz Mubarakai

After running a few businesses in his local constituent, Yaz was inspired by his Mother (who herself took on local Government positions during his youth in Dahanu) to give back to community. So by stepping out of his comfort zone, he ran for and was elected councillor at the City of Cockburn. He thoroughly enjoyed the role and realised his passion for helping his community over the next four years. After his term was up, Yaz offered himself for re-election but it was not meant to be and he lost his position. But, every cloud has a silver lining and his hard work and dedication did not go unnoticed. A month later, Yaz was approached by state Labour leader Mark McGown and Fran Logan (Member for Cockburn) who saw his potential and wished to mentor him to be candidate for Jandakot in 2017 state elections – truly a WOW moment for Yaz! Supported by his family and friends, Yaz had nothing to lose and was elected to state parliament in 2017! He is one of the first two members born from Indian heritage to enter any legislative assembly in Australia.

During his current term, over a billion dollars’ worth of state government investment has been pledged to tackle traffic congestion bursting projects which Yaz has been associated with such as widening of roads, the addition of the North Lake Bridge, and Metronet which will reduce congestion and improve connectivity for residents and workers. He has also worked with State Government to address safety and crime by allowing community members 24/7 access to local Armadale and Cockburn Police stations.

“Living with Good Thoughts, Good Words and Good Deeds is in my DNA – it is the oxygen to my soul.” – Yaz Mubarakai

Not everything runs smoothly in the world of local politics, and Yaz has faced many challenges – especially those of meeting his own expectations in serving his community who rely on help during difficult times. Yaz tries to implements the tenets of our religion when he represents his community, and in every decision he makes as a Parliamentarian.  He is also constantly striving to juggle the demands of work and being present in his family life – Yaz’s family is his world. His whole family supported his career choice and accepted his long hours and workload, so returning support is his overall goal. Yaz also hopes to be a mentor to his children – to guide and support them through the upcoming teenage years and assist them in pursuing their dreams, as he has pursued his.

Yaz would be privileged to continue his journey in politics and represent his electorate, while also focussing to help small business and multicultural integration – two issues close to his heart.  With no current plans for Federal Politics, he plans to return to his passion for small business and spend more time with his family if not re-elected in state parliament.

So, for any budding Parsi Politicians, here’s some advice from Yaz: “Know your values and go for a grassroots approach to make change. Talk to the people in the community about what matters most, and let the people drive your passion and guide you to a common goal.”

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After 50 years as musical director

Israel Philharmonic bids emotional farewell to Maestro Zubin Mehta

Conductor, 83, performs one last time at Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park to a vast crowd of adoring fans; Mayor hails him as the ‘crown jewel of Israel’s cultural life’

Article By Hannah Harnest | The Times of Israel

Maestro Zubin Mehta performing his final concert with the Israel Philharmonic on Saturday night, July 13, 2019 (Courtesy Hanoch Grizitzky)

Music lovers came out Saturday night to bid an emotional farewell to Maestro Zubin Mehta on the completion of his impressive 50-year tenure as musical director of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

The grassy expanse of the Yarkon Park in Tel Aviv was filled with an enormous crowd of young and old, who rose almost simultaneously as the now frail, but still charismatic maestro took the stage, opening with the orchestra’s moving rendition of Israel’s national anthem, “Hatikvah.”

Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai noted that the Indian-born Mehta had written part of the history of the State of Israel, calling the conductor the “crown jewel of Israel’s cultural life.”

Zubin Mehta performing with the IPO and visiting vocalists at a goodbye performance at Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park on July 14, 2019 (Courtesy Hanoch Grizitzky)

The 83-year-old Mehta, who has had principal posts at the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, the Metropolitan Opera New York, the Vienna State Opera, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, La Scala, Chicago Opera, Bavarian State Opera, and at the Salzburg Festival, has shaped and influenced the development of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra as its director for life.

“When I started my work in Israel, all the members of the orchestra were twice my age, and now everyone is three times younger,” he said jokingly, recalling his debut with the IPO in 1961.

Mehta successively became the IPO’s musical advisory in 1969, musical conductor in 1977 and director for life in 1981.

His skills were still on display at Saturday night’s performance. Over the course of his long career, Mehta has continuously been praised by critics for his precise and subtle hand gestures, which exert the utmost control over any orchestra he conducts.

This has not changed with age: The two big screens on both sides of the stage let the public view the gentle and vigorous sides of the maestro’s body language, which immediately translated into magical musical moments.

There was a thumbs up and smile on Mehta’s face as a spontaneous compliment to one of his many capable players produced cheers from the audience — evidence of the rapport between Mehta and his colleagues.

Zubin Mehta accepted a gift from Tel Aviv mayor Ron Huldai on July 14, 2019 (Courtesy Hanoch Grizitzky)

Befitting Mehta’s expertise in the operatic world, for his farewell he invited a stellar cast of internationally acclaimed singers, who are also currently on tour with the maestro with performances of “Verdi’s Requiem” at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem, and the Charles Bronfman Auditorium in Tel Aviv.

On Saturday night, American soprano Mary Elizabeth Williams, Russian mezzo-soprano Olesya Petrova, American tenor Gregory Kunde and Moldovan bass Oleg Tsybulko gave a glimpse into the vocally challenging world of arias by Puccini, Gounod, Verdi, Gershwin and Rossini.

The celebration finished with an impressive display of fireworks over the skies of Tel Aviv.

Tears in orchestra and audience as Zubin steps down

Article By norman lebrecht | SlippedDisc

This weekend saw Zubin Mehta’s farewell concerts as music director of the Israel Philharmonic after 50 years in the role.

The Times of Israel reports of the Saturday night event: ‘The grassy expanse of the Yarkon Park in Tel Aviv was filled with an enormous crowd of young and old, who rose almost simultaneously as the now frail, but still charismatic maestro took the stage, opening with the orchestra’s moving rendition of Israel’s national anthem, “Hatikvah.”’…

Read on here.

An orchestra player writes of Verdi Requiem on Sunday:

“Libera me” … and then just like that, the audience, the orchestra and Zubin Mehta were all crying.

After 50 years, Zubin Mehta conducted his final performance in Tel Aviv as Music Director of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

I have no words.

SEEING the legendary Farokh Engineer among the spectators at the Old Trafford, with his shock of curly white hair and a Falstaffian girth that seemed to meld nicely with his incorrigibly impish smile, my mind went into the enticing time machine for a rendezvous with the great Parsi cricketers India once flaunted.

Then, the penny dropped.

Article by Jawed Naqvi | The Dawn

The 1983 and 2011 Indian cricket teams that won the world cup encompassed what Rahul Dravid would call the country’s cultural colours, which were just about missing in Virat Kohli’s social mix. This is not to say that a cultural mix is necessarily more formidable or that it would have produced a happier result, say, in the critical semi-finals that India lost to New Zealand. In fact, on the flip side of the argument, the all-white South Africans were probably the stronger team in the world on their day, even if few were willing to court them for fear of violating stringent anti-apartheid laws.

The all-black West Indies could be just as invincible on a given outing, but they gained and certainly didn’t lose when Rohan Kanhai and Alvin Kalicharan came into the squad with a different colour of skin, just as Makhaya Ntini, Hashim Amla or Imran Tahir among others brought new energy to the post-apartheid South African team.

The link between cricket and the nation was neither natural nor inevitable.

And why forget that even the West Indies inducted a white player in the squad against New Zealand in the 1970s.

And doesn’t it behove mention that the solitary black man in the squad who delivered the crushing blow for the mainly white English team in the nail-biting finals against New Zealand at Lord’s was not even in the national eleven a few weeks earlier?

In the early days of Indian Test cricket, it was a common habit to expect Parsi players of the order of Nari Contractor, Polly Umrigar, Engineer or Rusi Surti to embellish every Indian’s favourite team. It was thus that for a predominantly Hindu country, Kapil Dev’s squad that lifted the first World Cup for India boasted of Roger Binny, Syed Kirmani and Balwinder Singh Sandhu who added to the cherished moment on the world stage, just as Harbhajan Singh, Sreesanth, Zaheer Khan, Yusuf Pathan and Munaf Patel were in the trophy-winning squad in 2011.

One could identify at least two solid players in the Bangladesh World Cup squad who breached its dominant cultural profile. And in a heavily Sinhalese Sri Lanka, where would the team stand without the priceless talent of Muttiah Muralitharan?

Pakistan, where display of majoritarian religion has gained currency for a variety of sociopolitical reasons, Anil Dalpat and Yusuf Youhana had fortified the squad. It is another matter that Youhana discovered greater spiritual solace in embracing the identity of Pakistan’s religious majority.

A country’s approach to inclusivity need not, of course, be worn as a cultural amulet in a thread around the neck. New Zealanders, for example, found a subtler method to express their eclectic cultural expanse — by singing the national anthem in two languages, English and Maori, spoken by the country’s original inhabitants.

We had read in school about Britain’s bold, risky, but often humorous enterprise to initiate the natives of Gilbert and Ellis Islands to cricket. A Pattern of Islands by Sir Arthur Grimble was a regaling story as much as it also informed the reader about the colonial celebration of cultural diversities they tried to encourage and preserve, including by introducing cricket to the remote Pacific islands.

A friend recently forwarded an essay from the BBC’s website by Prashant Kidambi of Leicester University. It offers a brilliant insight into the early efforts of Indian and British elite to stitch together an ‘Indian’ cricket team.

“In this last decade,” Kidambi quotes former cricketer Rahul Dravid as saying in 2011, “the Indian team represents, more than ever before, the country we come from — of people from vastly different cultures, who speak different languages, follow different religions, belong to different classes.”

And yet, the link between cricket and the nation was neither natural nor inevitable.

“It took 12 years and three aborted attempts before the first composite Indian team took to the cricket field in the summer of 1911. And contrary to popular perception — fostered by the hugely successful Hindi film Lagaan — this ‘national team’ was constituted by — and not against — empire.”

The first Indian cricket team sparked great interest in the British press, according to the historian from Leicester. A diverse coalition of Indian elite and British governors (among others) made possible the idea of Indians on the cricket pitch.

The ‘Indian’ cricket team was thus first broached in 1898, inspired by the rise of Kumar Shri Ranjitsinhji, or Ranji, an Indian prince who bewitched Britain and the wider imperial world with his sublime batting.

The early British ventures failed to put together a team “because of fierce divisions between Hindus, Parsis and Muslims over the question of their representation in the proposed team”.

When they succeeded, the captain of the team was 19-year-old Bhupinder Singh of Patiala, “the pleasure-seeking, newly enthroned maharaja of the most powerful Sikh state in India”.

Others were selected on the basis of religion: there were six Parsis, five Hindus and three Muslims in the side. Palwankar Baloo, the Dalit bowler, was the “first great Indian cricketer”, Kidambi writes.

“The composition of this team shows how in the early 20th-century, cricket took on a range of cultural and political meanings within colonial India.”

Farokh Engineer’s presence in Manchester reminded me of a hair cream the debonair cricketer advertised — and a generation embraced. But he also triggered memories of an interview the great playback singer Asha Bhosle gave. Asked to choose between Kishore Kumar, Mukesh and Manna Dey as her favourite legendary duet singers, she said: “You have forgotten Mohammed Rafi.”

The writer is Dawn’s correspondent in Delhi.

Published in Dawn, July 16th, 2019

Freny Manecksha on fighting the myopic vision of society that denounces single Parsi women for being ‘choosya and ‘selfish’

My progression into singlehood happened, perhaps, because I had started enjoying my independence a little too much. Some relationships had not culminated in marriage. I had consented to ‘seeing’ a few prospective matches more to assuage my mother’s guilt than from any inclination of mine. I confess I always returned from the meetings with a sense of quiet relief that it had not worked out.

Perhaps it also helped that Parsis have late marriages. Pressures to get married are far less than in other communities, and being single is not an anomaly. Today, I am appalled at the way community attitudes have hardened and calcified, and I am disturbed by some aspects of the Jiyo Parsi campaign. Some of the initial approaches of the Jiyo Parsi scheme, like offering treatment for infertility and financial help for struggling families to have more than one child, cannot be faulted in any way. But to me, what is disconcerting is the way an outreach programme has been tacked on to address attitudinal change. A publicity campaign with advertisements was conceived to create ‘awareness among the younger generation of marriageable age’ and to put the onus on young Parsi men, and particularly on women, to marry young and procreate.

Advertisements that are markedly sexist have denounced single Parsi women for being ‘choosy’ and ‘selfish’. Such ads reveal a myopic vision in seeing women solely as baby-making machines. Fortunately the ads have, by and large, been robustly dismissed with hearty laughter or outrightly condemned by many Parsi women. For that matter, an assumption in one advertisement that those who choose to remain single will be lonely and find themselves checking into old-age homes, has been denounced by some men as well!

On my part, I began to experience some of the subtle and insidious attitudes and values regarding my own worth and respect in society as I hit my late 30s and 40s. My sell-by date had passed, even accounting for the late marriages of Parsis. (I use this terminology deliberately to highlight the terrible commodification that is typified in phrases like left ‘on the shelf ‘.)

I recall a pre-nuptial function at which a modern young Parsi woman peremptorily announced that I could not participate in the mardo saro, or planting of a mango sapling, a ritual performed to signify fertility, because I was single. I ran off to join the men for a round of drinks and then to eat a hearty lunch! But, yes, it was an ouch moment.

I still encounter attitudes of condescension and pity even though I am now in my 60s. A relative rang to enquire after me in the aftermath of a violent bandh in the state. She added, ‘You see, I tell everyone I must think of you because you are all alone!’

I had to assure her that I am not really alone, I have good friends who look out for me. Moreover, I think I’m still pretty capable of looking after myself and, as a journalist, have travelled and lived alone in many parts of India. I get off lightly with just the ‘bichaari’ tag. It could be worse!

Excerpted from Single By Choice: Happily Unmarried Women! Edited by Kalpana Sharma (Women Unlimited)

I have done many other things. First, I thought of becoming a psychologist.

It has been 35 years since Shernaz Patel debuted with the play, The Diary of Anne Frank. Excerpts from her time in Indian theatre and Bollywood:

You grew up absorbing Gujarati Parsi theatre, and yet most of your plays are in English, why?
I don’t know. We grew up on Gujarati Parsi theatre but we are three siblings and none of us speak Gujarati. Besides, I think, I was brought up with a convent education and by the time I reached college and decided to pursue theatre, my parents had moved on to the English theatre. So, by the time I reached the age where I decided to pursue theatre, they moved to English.

Were you always certain of doing theatre?
I have done many other things. First, I thought of becoming a psychologist. So, I joined a Masters in Psychology and lasted exactly four months before I ran away.

Then I did a television show and got fascinated with how it functions, so I joined a television company. I worked with them for one year and then joined UTV, where I worked for four years. Then I had my own company for a good eight years where we made corporate and ad films. It was when I was about 38 that I said theatre is what I want to do and I went back to academics.

You have also lent your voice to The Lion King. How did you become a voice-over artist?
Yes, I have. I have given my voice for Simba’s mother Sarabi and it was lovely. I enjoy doing voice-overs and watching what the voice can do and its power. I have been doing voice-overs since college days and over the years, I have done it for a lot of big movies like Avatar and Doctor Strange. Right now, I am doing audiobooks for Audible. 

Although you have done films like Black and Guzaarish, we don’t see you doing them often.
A lot of actors feel that you don’t arrive until you do cinema. But, I never felt that. I always felt that theatre is everything for me. But, of course, whenever good roles came to me like Khandaan, Black, TVF Tripling or even Band Baaja Baarat, I did them and they were great fun. Now, I am in my 50s and the roles that come are of grandmothers and whenever that happens, I ask them to call me after 10 years. People have a misconception that I am choosy, I am not. I just won’t do bad roles.

And, what is a good role?
I will go for a good script, I am a huge lover of text. The more interesting it is, the more I would gravitate towards it. Then I am looking for good parts, which theatre gives me.

Our dear friend Niloufer Mavalvala has just launched her latest cook book titled “The World Of Parsi Cooking: Food Across Borders”.

Niloufer is an award winning author and chef, and has over the years painstakingly archived, resurrected and perfected Parsi food recipes, many of them long forgotten. She runs the hugely succesful website Niloufer’s Kitchen where she shares a lot of her recipes.

The book launch was from 6.30 PM onwards on Sunday July 28th, 2019 in Toronto. Niloufer recreated an old fashioned Parsi Table. It included the use of the thaals, khumcho, karasyo, katoris, and even a small afargan in which 7 divas were lit!

The table cloth was flown in from Karachi as old fashioned pieces like these are hard to find now. The trio of ravo dahi and sev, badam pak and daar ni potlis ( a new creation much like an open daar ni pori.) all the chutneys and achars and murumba to taste with crackers and cheese, and a fresh mango macaroon torte which is significant in Niloufer’s life as it is what i started baking with.

Niloufer’s Villie fui is the creator of this wonderful recipe which is now shared with all. The chutney na sandwich and freshly fried bhakras were the stars of this evening.

No Parsi celebration can be complete without a bit of red and white wine to relax with. The evening was in the beautiful Mavalvala residence and garden. It was well attended by over 100 people and Niloufer was fortunate enough to have lots of family from the world over to join this very special day.

In this exclusive interview, Niloufer Mavalvala, author of The Art of Parsi Cooking: Reviving an Ancient Cuisine, speaks to James Blake Wiener of Ancient History Encyclopedia (AHE) once again about the joys of Parsi cuisine and her new title: The World of Parsi Cooking: Food Across Borders.

JBW: Niloufer Mavalvala, thanks for speaking with me once more about the richness of Parsi food culture and its interesting history! You have continued your journey of exploring Parsi culinary delights in The World of Parsi Cooking: Food Across Borders, which is due out on July 28, 2019 CE. Why did you decide to continue your research and publish yet another book on Parsi cuisine?

NM: There are several reasons cookbooks are created. This one is one for the records. It is time for this great cuisine to be shared with the world, and what better than sharing a family’s treasure trove of recipes? Mine are tried, tested, and praised. I have written this book with the hope that it will be timeless and used in perpetuity. Created with stunning colourful pictures, it is a chance to promote Parsi cuisine and entice not only our own children and grandchildren but also an open invitation to anyone interested in food and food history.

While each recipe has ancient roots, gradual changes and adaptations have been included, while ensuring the authentic flavours are bold and maintained. With the importance of preserving what continues to be a core part of our very existence, I like to think of it as almost an anthology, a part of our beautiful culture and heritage. I have had a strong desire to share Parsi cooking on a world platform for decades, and I am delighted to have the chance to do so.

JBW: Niloufer, you believe that Parsi cooking, in essence, is about “fresh and simple ingredients and an added emphasis on healthy spices.” Could you elaborate further, stating why you believe this is true, and how this differentiates Parsi cuisine from other cuisines?

Deep, rich, & ancient is what best describes the world of Parsi cooking.

NM: Yes, Parsi cooking is really all about fresh and simple ingredients with an emphasis on healthy spices. With ginger, garlic, turmeric, cinnamon, cloves, and onions being the very base of our recipes, these incredibly healthy spices and roots provide the nourishment required in each meal. Eating seasonally sustainable food is how we grew up and how most Parsi families cook and eat especially on the Indian subcontinent. Thus, our food predates by centuries the current food trends of organic and local eating, so fashionable in the Western culinary world today!

In my opinion, Parsi cuisine is differentiated from other cuisines with its enormous flavours in spite of its simplicity. The inclusion and perfectly balanced addition of tikkhu khattu mitthu (spicy-sour-sweet) is the key between mediocrity and excellence in any Parsi dish.

JBW: Parsi cuisine seems to be the amalgamation of many differing traditions. How does The World of Parsi Cooking explore the history of the Parsi people across time and space?

NM: Parsi cooking is neither authentically Indian nor Persian, but a delicately refined fusion of the two. “Deep,” “rich,” and “ancient” are what best describe the world of Parsi cooking. It has been over 2,500 years since this cuisine was born, and it has journeyed across the borders of ancient Persia, through Gujarat, Maharashtra, and many other regions of India, into Pakistan, Bangladesh, and most recently into the UK, Australasia, North America, and now the world at large.

Persian influences in Parsi food are clearly marked by our love for rice, meat, and eggs. While we enjoy a variety of vegetables topped with egg, called the per edu, the Persians make something similar and call it kuku. The coconut curry and chillies are part of the Indian influence as are the use of vinegar and spices. The inclusion of dry fruit and nuts gives sweetness to our food. A distinct and unique flavour of Parsi cooking is a result of the unique history that the Parsi-Zoroastrian community continues to celebrate.

It took moving to Canada and being away from my familiar surroundings to feel an innate gratitude and sense of pride for being part of a community with such a rich cultural heritage, filled with traditions, which go back several millennia.

JBW: When researching and writing your new title, did you learn any new facts about the Parsis or Parsi cuisine that you were previously unaware of? If so, what are they, and how did you integrate this new knowledge into your title?

NM: Yes, interesting facts always result from the research. Firstly, the word vasanu is incorrectly used to mean sua pak – a dill-seed spread. Used in the right context vasanu refers to dry fruits, nuts, and seeds, a collection of ingredients used to make various paks – caramelised spreads.

Secondly, research and new facts lead me to create a more practical version of the daar ni pori, a very sweet, lentil-filled crust that dates back centuries. My findings show that 90 per cent of earlier cooks did not prepare this hard-to-make crust while wasting most of it because the proportion of lentil to crust is too small. Renaming it daar ni potli – potli means “money bag” or “pouch” – this sweet lentil crostata is simpler to prepare and has a generous share of lentil filling in a tastier crust.

JBW: Which are your favorite recipes in The World of Parsi Cooking? Are these favorites relatively easy and inexpensive to prepare?

NM: I would say kheema sali per edu, which is ground-minced mutton or beef cooked with spices, and served with crisp potato matchsticks and a fried egg on top. Often served with a tomato ginger lime jam, it can be enjoyed with fresh rotli or in a bun much like a sloppy joe!

My love for the many varieties of the mango – the “king of fruits” – and the numerous ways of including it in our food both in the ripe and unripe state are further personal favourites. We prepare the mango in all possible forms: cooked and pickled; with and without the skin; juiced and in a lassi; creamy mango ice creams and kulfis. Besides the mango recipes, I also enjoy it perfectly ripened served fresh. 

Parsi food is not only inexpensive to prepare, but it has very little waste; besides the mango or the lemon, even vegetables like the humble white bottle gourd has a recipe for making cutlets from its skin!

JBW: Who would you say who has had the greatest influences on your career path with regard to cooking and food history?

NM: My dad was the greatest influence in my life, urging me to always give everything a try. To live life to the fullest and reaching for the stars. Sadly, he passed away 28 years ago, while he was rather young. The desire to follow his example has become even stronger now.

My mum was always pushing me toward excellence, and she is a perfectionist by nature. She has exact recipes and everything has to always be precise. Another mentor I am grateful for is my father’s sister Villie fui. She shared her in-depth knowledge, encouraged me to cook with my mind’s palate, taught me to create from leftovers rather than to discard them. At 88, she still cooks and bakes from memory, refusing to ever keep a diary or journal. With three very loving yet extreme influences, I have learnt to draw from the best of them.

All this aside, while I enjoy cooking from my own heart and at will, it would have been impossible and impractical to write a cookbook or a food blog without learning the art of precise measurement!

JBW: Niloufer, thanks for speaking with AHE once again, and we wish you much success inside and outside of the kitchen!

NM: Thank you for inviting me to share my views, James. It has been a pleasure.

Readers can access AHE’s earlier interview with Niloufer Mavalvala on The Art of Parsi Cooking here: http://etc.ancient.eu/interviews/ancient-indian-flavors/ ;

Born and raised in Karachi, with London, Toronto, and Dubai also very much a part of her life, Niloufer Mavalvala started to bake when she was eight years old and taught her first solo class at 17. Nonwithstanding a love of travel, it is culture through its cuisine informs Niloufer’s passion in the kitchen. Niloufer organizes frequent cooking demonstrations and classes at her home in Canada. Over the years, she has gone on to teach many more cooking classes all over the world, including at Le Cordon Bleu in London. In 2013 CE, Niloufer decided to start a simple recipe blog – Niloufer’s Kitchen – in which she shares old and new culinary creations to over half a million visitors from around the world. Author of 10 e-cookbooks, she has also hosted a TV-show on Parsi cooking in the USA. She is currently pursuing food photography and continues to write and create recipes for an assortment of international magazines and journals. She is the author of The Art of Parsi Cooking: Reviving an Ancient Cuisine and The World of Parsi Cooking: Food Across Borders both of which are available on Amazon.

Scouting and Guiding are very much a part of the Parsi DNA for over a century. India’s oldest continuously running scout group is the Sethna’s 18th West Bombay Scout Troop and since its inception in 1914 there have been dozens of other scout troops started by Parsis, many of them alumni of the 18th.

And hence its no surprise that Parsis are present at the ongoing 24th World Scout Jamboree.

Scouts, Guides, Scouters and Guiders from India, UK, Singapore and host USA are attending this Jamboree held at the Summit Bechtel Reserve in West Virginia, USA.

On Sunday the group got together for the Zoroastrian Humbandigi prayers at the Jamboree. The Humbandigi was led by Scouter Ervad Ratan Vakil of Singapore and he was joined by nearly all the Parsi attendees. The service was attended by other scouts and guides and was open to all.

Below are pictures of the Humbandigi, as also other pictures of some of the day visitors who met up with the full attendees of the Jamboree.

Official website of the 7WZYC: https://wzycongress.org

All Congress Sessions on Video: https://wzycongress.org/video/

All Congress Photographs: https://wzycongress.org/memories/

400 Zarathushti youth from all over the world gathered in sunny Southern California to participate in the 7^th World Zoroastrian Congress earlier this month. The Congress returned to Los Angeles, also the home of the very first Youth Congress 25 years ago. There was a sense of déjà vu for some of the Congress mentors and advisors, but also one of unbridled optimism that this would be an event that begins something new. And the Congress delivered on that in abundance.

Participants from 12 countries (India, Pakistan, UK, UAE, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Iran, Singapore, Hong Kong, Kenya and the host nation USA) started arriving a day earlier on Sunday June 30^th, 2019 at the beautiful Pacific Palms Resort in City of Industry, California. Many of them started bonding at the LAX and ONT airports itself as they waited for the volunteers to pick them up by buses and vans. A lucky few even got to arrive in a party bus!

The Congress began on a perfectly beautiful sunny California morning.  A Jashan ceremony performed by 14 Mobeds and Mobedyars set the tone for the morning. It was very heartening to see the youth sit through the entire jashan that was beautifully conducted by youth Mobed Zerkxis Bhandara a local of Southern California and one of the volunteers at the Congress.

The opening ceremony saw a series of beautiful performances by the local kids and youth and speeches by Arman Ariane, Chair of the Board of Trustees of California Zoroastrian Center, the host association. FEZANA President Homi Gandhi also addressed the gathering. The biggest cheer was reserved for youth Parshan Khosravi the Chair of the 7WZYC. Addressing his fellow youth from all over the world Parshan made a strong case for inclusivity and breaching the barriers that politics and governments put on our small community. He called on his fellow youth to speak their mind, share, discuss and network with each other over the next 6 days, and do it with respect, dignity and within the framework of the tenets of our beautiful religion. Parshan reiterated inclusivity at the Congress and said that no matter who we love, we are all Zarathushtis and welcome to this Congress.

Dr. Mickey Mehta, the legendary wellness and holistic health guru from India delivered the keynote. This was the largest gathering of Zoroastrians he had spoken to, outside of India and he regaled the crowd in his patented style and left them all “Mickeymized”.

After the keynote, the regular sessions for the day began. It included a variety of talks by Meher Amalsad and Arman Ariane and panel discussions on Climate Change and how the World Youth Congresses had come a full circle.

The Climate Change discussion generated lots of energy and one could feel that the youth totally got it that they need to do something for our planet and especially the fact that our ancient religion has always respect for nature and the elements at the core of all our beliefs and practice.

Food Trucks pulled into the resort’s parking lot for a fun evening of merriment and dinner. Over tacos and dosas, the youth bonded as the first day drew to an end.

The movie Bohemian Rhapsody, featuring the life story of Aapro Freddy Mercury was screened at night along with a competition for participants to dress up as Freddie. An old school ice cream parlor was set up for intermission time at the movies.

Day 2 was split between talks and panels at the venue and then taking all the participants for a truly LA experience. The morning started with Rosheen Kabraji making a fantastic case for Home and Belonging as it pertains to the youth growing up in the Zoroastrian diaspora. The Zoroastrian Return To Roots program presented their previous trips through an awesome video and presentation by three of their alumni. At the end of their presentation 29 of their alumni who were present in the crowd came up on stage. It was heartening to see many of these alumni also being speakers and panelists through the duration of the Congress. It showed that one of the aims of the RTR program, to get youth involved in community events is actually happening.

The last session of the day saw 8 amazing women take the stage to speak about how they and their generation can change and influence the world’s oldest faith. Moderated by the articulate Benafsha Shroff, the panelists spoke about their stories as it pertains to the countries they come from and their hopes and aspirations for the future.

A testament to the success of all these talks was the fact that the Q&A sessions would extend way beyond the allocated time as the energy in the room was charged up.

Later that afternoon everyone got on to buses, experienced the legendary traffic of LA, before being dropped off for a few hours at the Santa Monica Pier and beach. Later that evening everyone got back on the buses to go to Hollywood Walk of Fame and check out the stars of their favorite stars. A big shoutout to the 7WYC transport team that not a single person from the 400 odd youth got lost or missed the bus !!

Day 3 of the Congress was a complete first on all levels. Never before had any Congress hosts invited other Zoroastrian institutions to run an entire day at the Congress. As a first, the 7WZYC invited the Youth Wing of the World Zarathushti Chamber of Commerce (WZCC) to have an entire day of events, panels, talks and the world’s very first Zoroastrian Shark Tank.

WZCC Youth led by its International Youth Director Jehaan Kotwal and ably assisted by Rashna Sanjana organized a fantastic series of events that kept the energy high and the audience participation at full capacity the entire day. Xerxes Wania, Cyrus Mistry, Tanaz Mody, Homa Dashtaki enthralled the crowds with their unique perspectives and stories. The Boss Women’s panel brought out the amazing work that Zoroastrian women are doing in their spheres of business, profession and the unique challenges and opportunies they see.

The professional networking session saw all the participants meeting others in a professional networking roundtable with the opportunity to meet new folks every 20 minutes in a speed-networking style.

The Zoroastrian Shark Tank brought 5 Zoroastrian run business from all over the world to pitch their ideas to 5 Zarathushti “sharks”. What followed was an unbelievable session for over two hours and nearly every one of the businesses getting at least one, if not more offers from the “Sharks”.

Once the formal part of the day was over, the participants gathered with other local Zarathushti guests for a night of standup comedy followed by a Dance night.

Day 4 of the Congress began with speakers who spoke about various aspects of our religion as they relate to practice in daily life. Mobed Fariborz Shahzadi and youth Ervad Jimmy Mistry spoke about practice of the faith in daily life. Youth lady Mobedyar Mahshad Khosraviani spoke about her journey in becoming a mobedyar and her struggles, hopes and aspirations for the future.

Pearl Mistry made a compelling case for youth involvement in community matters and Nazneen Engineer took us through the implications of the Mazgaon navjotes from more than a century ago and their repercussions to this day.

The second half of the morning had young Zoroastrian filmmakers speak about their experiences in documenting community life on the big screen. And the 7WZYC welcomed Nazneen Contractor, Behzad Dabu and Sue Obaidi to speak about Zoroastrians in the Media.

To celebrate the Independence day of the USA, the participants then made their way across town by buses, to board a boat for a harbor cruise which ended with a fantastic display of fireworks.

Day 5 was the penultimate day of the Congress. It began with the first of its kind experiential installation at a Congress. Choreographed by the amazing Tinaz Karbhari, it gave the participants a feeling of experiencing an entry to a sacred place of worship. In total darkness, with the smell of “loban” in the air, and to the tolling of bells and the beautiful voice of a dasturji in prayer, the participants entered the main ballroom. For a second one could believe that they were transported to their favorite agiary in India, Pakistan or Iran. Vada Dasturji Khurshed Dastur addressed the youth and answered questions patiently over video conference from Udvada.

This led to the second marquee panel of the 7WZYC that appropriately brought 5 young active mobeds from all over the world along with 3 mentors for an indepth discussion on the roles of Mobeds today and in the years ahead. The 5 young mobeds calmly spoke of their beliefs and took on some tough questions from the audience. It was heartening to see these young mobeds take stands and what emerged from the session was that even though these young mobeds reside in different parts of the world, they are equipped to guide the community on matters of religion in the years to come. This panel was organized and facilitated by the North American Mobed Council who were invited by 7WYZC to lead it.

A series of concurrent sessions followed the entire day. The panel on LGBTQ issues had an open and frank discussion by some of the participants on the stereotypes that exist in our society and community and the amazing takeaway was the welcoming inclusive nature of our community in general, and the participants in particular bringing an amazing quality of inclusiveness to the congress. Pablo Vazquez spoke about the emergence of Zoroastrianism in Kurdish lands. Sanaya Master enthralled the audience with information about the World Zoroastrian Young Leaders Forum. It was great to see 11 of the 20 WZYLF Fellows present in the audience at the Congress, and a testament to the success of the Forum that every single of the Fellows present at the Congress was a speaker or panelist, some on multiple ones.

The panel on Zoroastrian Advocacy was an eye opener. It showed the potential of strong advocacy at all levels and the benefits it would have on our community, especially in countries where we are newer minorities. Through the dialogue between the panelists what was also evident is that Advocacy is not an option but a compulsion in today’s society.

The post-lunch sessions addressed the presence of Zoroastrians at the United Nations and the role FEZANA plays in facilitating that. Elected community leaders made a case to the youth for more involvement and the pros and cons of that in the session on the Joys and Pitfalls of Community Service.

The evening Gala started with a formal vote of thanks by the chair Parshan Khosravi to the various donors, sponsors and the entire volunteer team that made the Congress a reality. This was followed by a fantastic Indian dinner spread out. And then Nauzad Sudry and his band got the crowd moving and shaking way past midnight.

Day 6 arrived and it was a somber mood as people realized that it was the last day and most folks would head home.

The day began with a Congress retrospective where Arzan Sam Wadia took the audience through some of the key moments of the Congress. This was followed by a couple of song and dance performances by the local children. Future Zoroastrian Olympics and Congress Hosts gave short presentations about their events.

The final event was the passing of the torch to the next hosts of the 8WZYC. Sheherazad Kapadia and Sanaya Khambatta co-chairs of the 8^th World Zoroastrian Congress 2023 accepted the torch from Parshan Khosravi, Chair of the 7WZYC. London will be the host city of the 8WZYC 2023 and the audience gave a thunderous applause as the Congress was declared closed by Parshan.

Now some candid observations, all my own.

This youth Congress brought together a large swath of Persian Iranian and Parsi Zarathushtis in the core team to work side by side. This was a very positive development.

The Congress showed that a little bit of guidance and mentorship goes a very long way in empowering youth to pull off a successful event.

This was a Congress of many firsts.

First Congress to have a true social media impact with pre-Congress buildup on Facebook and Instagram.

First Zoroastrian Congress of any kind to be streamed live completely.

First Zoroastrian Congress of any kind to have a majority of women speakers and panelists.

The first Youth Congress to have the videos of all the sessions posted online on Youtube for posterity.

And some lessons learnt…

Youth Congresses should not have sessions that begin before 9:30 J

Youth Congresses need to build in more time for overflow and delays. Unlike regular adult Congresses, these youth Congresses don’t necessarily run on Swiss time !

The Zoroastrian youth the world over are more similar to each other than say a generation ago. In a globalized world that they live in today, with social media and the internet keeping them connected, they made the jump from acquaintances to buddies very quickly. It was heartening to see youth from all parts of the world and with differing belief systems, be they traditional or liberal, being friends first.

The Congress provided the right and safe space for everyone to be open and share their views and take a stand, without having to worry about how they will be perceived.

The passion and the energy of the volunteers was outstanding. For nearly 90% of the volunteers this was their first Congress of any kind. Even with no prior experience of having attended the Congress, they pulled out all the stops to make it a truly memorable event for the attendees. The passion and commitment was a real eye opener, and the hope is that the host association will harness this youth power to good use in the years to come. That indeed will be the lasting legacy of this Congress.

May the Zarathushti youth meet in larger numbers in 2023 in London at the next Youth  Congress.

Freddy Vachha, London’s Regional Chairman has been selected by 1,400 UKIP members to stand in the election for the next leader of the UK Independence Party.

Having run UKIP London totalling 15% of the country he is now ready to take on 100% of the job.

Born in Bombay to an English mother and a Parsi father, Freddy has lived in the UK for his entire adult life. Freddy told Politicalite: “Immigration is like water, too little and you dry up, too much and you drown. Where we are now is right at the drown end”.

Freddy is a veteran campaigner who has stood for UKIP in the 2015 and 2017 general elections, in the 2016 London Assembly elections and most recently this year for the European Parliament.

“A leader, needs to lead, a leader needs to have charisma… We have to take the fight to the enemy… we have to win against an implacable and deadly foe, that lies, that cheats, that intimidates…” said Freddy to a packed hustings at the recent UKIP Conference in Eastbourne.

Freddy holds first class university qualifications in physics, mathematics and accountancy; Ernst & Young trained, a businessman and a serial entrepreneur, he said: “I know how to win. I’ve spent my life winning.”

Confident both of his prospects and the party’s, Freddy went on to say: “I am going to win. Make me leader. I know what needs to be done, let me do it. Give me the tools. I will start and finish the job. UKIP will be great again!”

Endorsements are flooding in from UKIP members including senior party figures.

Most notably, Stuart Agnew, MEP for the East of England, 2009-19. Mr Agnew said “I have known Nigel Farage for twenty years too – and known him well enough to know that he would see a UKIP led by Freddy as a genuine threat to any other party. Including his own.”

Ballot papers will be sent out this week to the 26,000 UKIP members across the country. The count is set to commence on 10 August 2019 at UKIP HQ in Newton Abbot, Devon. Results are expected to be declared that day.