hamazor - issue 4 2010 - the world zoroastrian · pdf filehamazor - issue 4 2010 1 c o n t e n...

HAMAZOR - ISSUE 4 2010

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C o n t e n t s

WZO WEBSITE

www.w-z-o.org

PHOTOGRAPHS

Courtesy of individualswhose articles appear inthe magazine or asmentioned

04 Message from the Chairman05 How is WZO structured?07 WZO BBQ - report, sammy bhiwandiwalla09 The Shahnameh - 1000 years old

kourosh ziabaribabak salamatyfarrokh vajifdarshahrokh vafadari

20 MIT Astrophysicist Nergis Mavalvala21 Gifford honoured once again22 Lest we forget23 British Museum loans Iran, Cyrus the Great’s Cylinder24 Jehan Bagli interviews Eric Banks29 Ripon Club - bachi karkaria33 YMZA, Karachi, celebrate their centenary - shahpur maneckji36 The Lord Archbishop of Canterbury visits ZTFE - malcolm deboo42 “Quiet Diplomacy ...” - review, Jamsheed Choksy44 Parsi Mumbaikers47 Chef Jehangir Mehta - deena guzder50 An American Journalist ... flood in Pakistan - deena guzder53 WZO assists flood victims of Pakistan - toxy cowasjee57 Flood 2010 - a photographic awareness63 Membership Form with details

COVER

Photograph courtesyOAKDF. Man’scourage in makingmake-shift bridge forthe stranded to crossover the raging river.

Finding alternate routes as all tracks have been washed away. District Kohistan. p63

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sponsored by late Nariman K Irani & his wife Franey

M e m b e r s o f t h e M a n a g i n g C o m m i t t e e

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

Funded by:late Nariman K Irani & his wife Franey

Cover design by:Tannaz MinwallaKarachi, Pakistan

Design & layout by:Toxy CowasjeeKarachi, Pakistan

Volume LVII - Issue 4 2010

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

London, England

Mr Darayus S MotivalaChairmanE-mail: [email protected]

Mr Sam HBhiwandiwallaPresidentE-mail: [email protected]

Mr Dinyar ModiHon SecretaryE-mail: [email protected]

Mrs Khurshid BKapadiaMembership SecretaryE-mail:[email protected]

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

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

Mrs Meher AmerseyMumbai, IndiaEmail: [email protected]

Mr Rustom YeganegiTehran, IranEmail:[email protected]

Mr Darius MistryAucklandNew ZealandE-mail:[email protected]

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

Mr Russi GhadialiSingaporeE-mail:[email protected]

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

The World Zoroastrian Organisation


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rom the EditorF

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

t Three months have gone by since our last publication, though it feels much more. Time keepsmarching onwards at a fast pace, but we Parsi Zoroastrians seem to have all the hours in theworld to go on bickering at each other.

I speak for myself when I say, does the diaspora need “big brother” in Mumbai. Ourcommunities in each country carry on with their own ideals, their own aspirations, their owngoals and at most times effectively.

With this in mind, WZO decided, with the endorsement from the entire Managing Committeewhich included people on the Board from all countries, that it was time we broke away from WZO (India)who felt it was their right to dictate terms to WZO. It is to be noted that we at WZO accepted the rightof WZO (India) to follow their own viewpoint as long as it was for India only, where they have their ownjurisdiction. Unfortunately WZO (India) has behaved as a spoilt child who wails away for attention, byinserting advertisements / letters in the Indian press, creating a combination of mis-information,scaremongering and ignorance. It is time for us to move on, which is our desire, so our energies may befocused on continuing to do useful work in the world.

Our latest gesture of goodwill has been to try and alleviate the immense hardships the internallydisplaced people of Pakistan are facing due to the onslaught of the flood in July. Donations were soughtfrom our community and friends, and though there is a donor fatigue we have collected substantial funds.Quite a few pages have been taken showcasing this disaster, as it is important the world realises thatgood people do exist even in Pakistan, and to inform our generous donors how their money has beenutilised.

I have been meaning to further update our past donors through Hamazor, regarding the projects WZOundertook to carry out after the Earthquake of 2005. The 133 winter shelters that were meant to be astop gap till houses were rebuilt, are still being used either as homes or storage place or shelter foranimals. They have withstood the weather and time admirably. The two containers that were convertedinto Basic Health Units and placed at Dahola ran successfully as just that for a number of years andtoday is being used as a community office both by men and women. Similarly the supply of fresh water toKhoti Khetar is functioning well giving this facility to approx. 1,400 people, though damage was caused atthe source due to 2010 flood. The access road built for the village of Gheri and environs, the walls gaveway this summer but the villagers have rebuilt this, a necessity which they have grown accustomed to! 21young children were fitted up with prosthesis which is on-going till they reach maturity. [Subsequentlymore donations have been received specifically for this purpose]. And the Women Friendly Space at Sirla,being a fore-runner of the concept of women having a place of their own to learn, train, discuss issues,socialise, is thriving. They even permit men to hire the venue for their gatherings! Together we haveachieved.

As another year comes to an end, let us wish peace for all, less hunger and illness for the unfortunatemillions, and for our Zarathushti community the wisdom to strive for Hamazori.

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My dear Members,This is the last issue of Hamazor for this year and what a year it has been for WZO. The mostmemorable being our 30 th Anniversary celebrations in June.

Since my last message to you, my colleagues on the Managing Committee and I have been very busy ona number of issues. We launched our appeal for the Pakistan Flood victims and your response has beenmagnificent. To date, we have received nearly Pak Rs 3,000,000 (US $ 35,000; £ 22,000) fromaround the world for which we thank you. There is a report in this issue on the conditions facing these

poor victims and on how we have used your money and hope to further assist. Our Vice-President, ToxyCowasjee, deserves our utmost gratitude for all her efforts which she did with total dedication, passion andthought. She has ensured that your money has made a difference to them, however small, and will continue tillthe contributions last.

After almost 26 years in the role, Dadi Engineer has resigned as President of WZO (India). We wish to thankhim for his outstanding service to WZO, WZO (India) and the Zoroastrian community. Dadi will continue toserve WZO as a fellow Managing Committee member.

As we approach the end of the year, WZO will be holding its AGM in London. We would urge all thosemembers who are able to do so, to attend the AGM to learn at firsthand what your Managing Committee hasbeen doing this year and get an opportunity to have your say in the running of the organisation. If you are notable to attend, then please return your completed Proxy Form nominating the Chairman or another person tovote on your behalf. Please do make your vote count as it does make a difference. You will be receiving theAGM Notice and your personalised Proxy Form through the post. This reminds me, do we have the rightaddress for you?

We are in touch with the organisers of the 5th World Zoroastrian Youth Congress (5WYZC) which will be held inVancouver in the summer of next year. Amongst others, Benafsha Engineer, a young Managing Committeemember, will represent WZO. WZO recognises the importance of the Zoroastrian youth to the community andyour Managing Committee took a decision in June to engage with them as a priority task. This initiative is led byMonaz Dalal, another young member of the Managing Committee. We urge all Zoroastrian youth to attend theCongress and we request the adults to provide the necessary encouragement and sponsorship to them. Pleasecontact me if you would like to sponsor them through WZO. If you would like further information about theCongress, please visit their website at www.zsbc.org/congress2011 or email them at [email protected].

You may have noticed in this issue that our logo has been improved. The lines and text are now crisper and wehave added our name as part of the logo. Our thanks go to Darren Contractor, grandson of our pastChairperson Ruby Contractor, for redesigning it for us. We hope you like it.

Let me take this opportunity of wishing you and your family a very happy and prosperous New Year and we lookforward to serving you and the Zoroastrian community next year.

Yours truly,

Darayus S [email protected]



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Our Chairman, Darayus Motiwala explains, as there is much confusion in the minds of our members especiallythose in India. – Ed.

Unless you are familiar with the WZO organisation, the role of the various WZO trusts and charities canbe confusing. This article will attempt to clarify any misunderstandings.

It would be easier to look at the WZO Organisation in the image below. Until recently, it was a completering with each of the divisions communicating and co-operating with each other. Let us look at the roleand aims of each component.

WZO was created in 1980 in the UK to provide assistance to Zoroastrian refugees from Iran. Itthen turned its focus on its charitable activities in India and latterly in other parts of the world,particularly Iran. From its early days, WZO disseminates information on Zarathushtra and theZoroastrian religion by way of seminars. I am currently the Chairman of WZO and am supportedby the Managing Committee and in particular the President, Sammy H Bhiwandiwalla and the

Vice-President, Toxy Cowasjee.

We have members from 24 countries and representatives from 10 countries serve on our ManagingCommittee. We are headquartered in the UK and are currently a registered charity in the UK, USA andNew Zealand. In the UK, we run local events to bring the community together and to raise funds. TheHamazor is a publication of WZO.

We receive funds from individuals, through the website, by post, through bequests and at specialevents from both Zoroastrians and non-Zoroastrians. However, the bulk of our income comes fromcharities and trusts such as ERSF and the Firuz Madon Trust. This is because we are trusted todisburse funds judiciously and responsibly.

Our charity giving in India is primarily through the WZO Trusts there, whilst elsewhere we give directly tothe needy or through a local trusted charity. We have a number of restricted funds for specific purposessuch as the Noshirwan Cowasjee Medical Benevolent Fund and the Aloo Vatcha Education Fund.

We organise an annual summer seminar in the UK, and we sponsor seminars with other Zoroastrianorganisations around the globe. Last year, we sponsored the Gatha Colloquium in NY in conjunctionwith FEZANA and ZAGNY.

There are two WZO trusts in the UK which provide financial support to WZO. Both these trustsdisperse their money from revenues received from its capital, and only through WZO. TheManaging trustee of both these Trusts is Mr Shahpur Captain who is the founder member ofWZO and still serves on our Managing Committee.

The World Zarathushtrian Trust Fund (WZTF) was set up by a generous endowment of £150,000from Mehraban and Goli Farhangi. Its role is to support WZO with its charitable work. The rural Gujarat

How is WZO structured?

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project which is now the cornerstone of the work done by the WZO Trusts in India was initiated througha generous donation from WZTF.

The Kutar Fund set up by an endowment by Dr Shirinbanoo Kutar in memory of her late husband, DrSohrabji S Kutar. It was supplemented by her own legacy upon her death.

There are three WZO Trusts in India originally set by WZO and now ably managed by DinshawTamboly and his wife, Bachi. Whilst they do receive funds from individual donors, a large proportionof their income is from other charitable institutions around the world including WZO. In the lastfinancial year, these trusts received and spent a total of Indian Rupees 5.5 Crores which is equivalentto US $1.2m or £720k sterling. Their charity giving is within India only.

The World Zoroastrian Organisation Trust administers the Medical and Education funds as well as therelief of poverty programme which includes the provision of a regular income to the poorest in ourcommunity and the replacement of the cow dung/mud huts with brick built cottages.

The Women & Children Fund is an initiative by Mr Rustam Gai of New Delhi and financed by the late DrShirinbanoo Kutar. It provides free holidays for those most in need.

The WZO Trust manages the two Senior Citizen Centres, the Sanjan Sanatorium, the eight low costhousing buildings and the self employment schemes.

WZO India was set up WZO to represent its interest and ethos in India. Until recently, they werepart of the WZO organisation but WZO was forced to severe the links due to the unreasonabledemands of some of their committee members. Our reasons for this action have been detailedadequately in the past and WZO India is mentioned here just for completeness.

I trust that the above helps you to understand the structure of the WZO organisation. Whilst we areindependent charitable trusts, we all work together for the Zoroastrian community worldwide. If youwould like further information on us and our activities, please do not hesitate to contact me [email protected] or at our registered office in the UK.


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having enjoyed one of the longest spells of dry weather for years and spending the best part ofFriday and Saturday in the sweltering sun erecting four gazebos in the lush gardens of our warmhearted and generous hosts Valerie and Alex Burns, Sunday morning opened with cloudy skies anda light drizzle of rain. In a temperate climate like ours, characterised by rainfall all year round,perhaps the efforts of the previous two days would turn out to be a blessing. Luckily by midday theskies began to clear and our guests arrived, many bringing presents for the raffle and gifts of foodand sweetmeats.

After an extensive course of delicious starters to get everyone in the mood, the fundraising startedwith Bingo, the duty of calling the numbers and running the game falling on Nari Contractor. We then

broke for yet more food with BBQ ChickenTikka, Lamb stuffed with rice / mince and

nuts, (a very popular dish with our guests), combined with a host of salads and breads. This wasfollowed with Baklawa and authentic Parsi tea. What more could one ask for?

After the raffle, Rohinton Irani with his excellent fund raising skills guided the auctions encouragingguests to bid for hotel accommodation at the grand Radisson Lexington, New York and dinners atthe famous Cafe Spice Namaste, Hilton and Runnymede Hotels. This was followed by a prizewinning game for the guests, guessing the weights of a watermelon and a donated cookie jar.

A group of Goan musicians called Mustang entertainedus all afternoon, were well appreciated by our guestsand many of them took to the dance floor during theevening.

WZO Honorary Secretary Dinyar Modi controlled the barand the drinkers with professionalism. And if that wasnot enough he showed that he is capable of multitasking

WZO BBQ held on Saturday 1st August 2010

Reported by Sammy Bhiwandiwalla


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when he took to the dance floor with Ursula Bhiwandiwalla for a fast paced rock and roll number andas the photograph shows, openly declared his Zoroastrian credentials.

Finally to round off the evening’s entertainment, the evergreen Nari Contractor was ushered back onstage to entertain us with his collection of hilarious jokes.

WZO wishes to record its sincere gratitude to Valerie and Alex Burns for their hospitality and openingtheir home and gardens for our fundraising event again this year.

The day’s programme was meticulously planned and organised by Armaity Engineer and RohintonIrani, ably assisted on the day by willing volunteers and well wishers and our sincere thanks to all ofthem.

To all our corporate and individual sponsors our heartfelt thanks for their contribution towardsmaking this a day of fun and enjoyment and a big success. The net receipts of £2,507 indicated thegenerosity of those who attended and we thank them sincerely. All the monies collected will beallocated towards WZO’s Education Fund.

Dinyar Modi & Ursula Bhiwandiwalla

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Ursula with Alex Burns


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The Shahnameh is the result of 30 years ofunyielding and steadfast endeavor by themaster of Persian literature, HakimAbulqasim Ferdowsi who is known to theIranian people and the Persian speakingnations as the reviver of Persian language.Iranians owe to Ferdowsi the survival andfortification of their language and that is whyFerdowsi is considered to be the mostprominent Persian poet of all times, eventhough there are disputes between thescholars who believe that Ferdowsi’s work,in a literary and formational context, cannotbe compared to those of Hafiz, Sa’di, Rumiand Rudaki as the nature of Ferdowsi’swork is essentially different from what othernotable Persian poets have brought intoexistence; however, to the majority ofscholars, researchers and literary experts,The Shahnameh, regardless of its formatand content, features because of itsremarkable contribution to the culture ofIran and the historical identity of Iranianpeople.

It is widely believed that Ferdowsi startedthe composition of The Shahnameh whenhe was 30 years old. According to his ownpoetry, Ferdowsi invested more than 30years on the foundation of The Shahnamehto preserve the heritage of Persianlanguage.

The Shahnameh is a mythical, 30,000-distich poetic opus which is dedicated to the

The Shahnameh - 1000 years old

Tby kourosh ziabari

The United Nation’s cultural body (UNESCO) has named the year 2010 as1000th anniversary of the composition of The Shahnameh, the renownednational epic of the Persian-speaking world which has been traditionally asource of honour and a manifestation of ancestral identity to the Iranianpeople and nations such as Tajikistan and Afghanistan who have loyallystuck to their lingual and cultural background after separation from Iran.

history of ancient Iran. The content of TheShahnameh can be divided into three mainsections: the mythical age, the heroic ageand the historical age. In the mythical age,Ferdowsi demonstrates his adherence tothe moral and ethical values by praising andeulogizing the Almighty God whom heconsiders, thanks to his Muslim backgroundand monotheistic mindset, the sole creatorof the universe and only initiator of the life.He starts his poetic oration in the name ofGod:

In the name of the Lord of both wisdom and mind,To nothing sublimer can thought be applied

Then he comes to admire the Almighty God and hisextensive, endless power:

The first thing needful for thee is to knowThe sum of primal elements which He,Who maketh all things, made from naught to showThe greatness of His own supremacy

Ferdowsi then continues by telling the storyof Kayumars who is legendarily believed tobe the first human being descended onEarth, having been endowed with thecelestial grace of the Almighty God, whichhe calls “Farr”.

In the mythical division, Ferdowsi describesthe accounts of two legendary kingdoms inIran which the holy texts of Zoroastrians,including Avesta, include some references

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to: Pishdadian Dynasty in which 11emperors ruled, and the Kayanian Dynasty.The heroic age of The Shahnamehcomprises the greater part of the work,including the account of Manuchehr until theconquest of Iran by Alexander the Great.The famous story of Seven Labours ofRustam and the death of Siavash fall underthe heroic category of The Shahnameh.

The stories of Arsacids and Sasaniddynasties which are retold briefly belong tothe historical age of The Shahnameh whereFerdowsi demonstrates his power of artistichistoriography dexterously.

The Shahnameh has been translated inmore than 40 languages and exists in theworld’s largest libraries in miscellaneous,luxurious versions. The BayasanghoriShahnameh which is an illuminatedmanuscript of the work being kept in theTehran’s Golestan Palace has been listed inthe UNESCO’s Memory of the WorldRegister of cultural heritage items.

As a literary masterpiece, The Shahnamehhas played a vital role in recording theantiquity of Iranian culture, preserving theheritage of Persian poetry, purifying thePersian language and ensuring itsindependence from the other languages.Ferdowsi inspired several poets whoattempted to surmount his unparalleledrhetoric several years after his demise;however, the history of Persian poetryhasn’t proved any poet to be of greatereminence, competence and reputation thanFerdowsi up to now.

The British orientalist, surgeon and artistJames Atkinson was the first to introduce anEnglish translation of The Shahnameh in1832. Atkinson was a multilingual surgeonwho served many years as the AssistantSurgeon in the Bengal service of HonorableEast India Company. He was completelyfluent in Persian and that would give himthe precious opportunity to make anacquaintance with the most noteworthymasterpieces of Persian literature. He firstmade an abridged translation of Rustamand Sohrab story of The Shahnameh in

1814 and then completed his freetranslation in 1829 which was published in1832 and won him an Oriental TranslationFund gold medal the same year.

Oriental Translation Fund was establishedin 1828 as a part of the Royal AsiaticSociety of Great Britain and Ireland’s effortsto further “the investigation of subjectsconnected with and for the encouragementof science, literature and the arts in relationto Asia.”

A British poet named Matthew Arnold whowas a cultural critic and school inspectorand at the same time, a close friend ofWilliam Wordsworth, published anotherabridged translation of Rustam and Sohrabtragedy in 1853. [our own Renu Setna, UK actor,had performed this soliloquy admirably, for thecommunity of Karachi in November 1999.- Ed.]

In 1925, the brothers Arthur & EdmondWarner published a complete, 9-volumetranslation which paved the ground for thefurther acquaintance of the English readerswith The Shahnameh.

Germans were also among the pioneers oftranslating The Shahnameh into Europeanlanguages. In a speech dated September27, 1934, the renowned German Iranologistand orientalist Hans Heinrich Schaederelaborately explained the efforts made bythe Germans to introduce Ferdowsi and TheShahnameh to the international community.

In his speech titled “Firdosi und dieDeutschen”, Schaeder called the year 1819a pivotal juncture in the course of Germans’familiarity with the oriental culture. Alongwith the publication of new Deutschtranslations of Hafiz and Rumi, therenowned German writer Johann Josephvon Gorres completed his translation of TheShahnameh in this year which receivedgreat welcome with the German readers.

According to Schaeder, The Shahnamehhad a great impact on the Germanorientalists and inspired many scholars toconduct exploratory researches aboutFerdowsi. The other credible translation of


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The Shahnameh belonged to the Germanpoet and historian of literature, AdolfFriedrich von Schack whose version waspublished in 1851. Friedrich Ruckert’stranslation was also published after hisdeath in 1866.

However, the French also played afundamental role in bringing into the lightthe exquisiteness of Ferdowsi’smasterpiece. They contributed to thefamiliarization of Europeans with TheShahnameh predominantly and translatedthe epic opus of Ferdowsi several times.The volume of researches done by theFrench orientalists about The Shahnamehand Ferdowsi is indispensably noteworthy.

In 1826, the French government assignedthe mission of translating The Shahnamehto Jules Mohl, the renowned Frenchorientalist and philosopher. He astonishinglydedicated 40 years of his life to thetranslation of The Shahnameh andaccomplished the mission up to his death in1876. He reviewed several partly-translatedversions and even sought the help ofIranian scholars in interpreting the oratory ofFerdowsi. The first volume of his translationcame out in 1838 with a well-researchedpreamble he had written on it. Thispreamble is said to be one of the mostreliable introductions on Ferdowsi and hisworks in French language.

One millennium has passed since thecomposition of The Shahnameh by HakimFerdowsi and every Persian-speakingcitizen knows well that the magnificenceand majesty of this Muslim, Iranian poetcannot be erased from the pages of world’scultural memory. Millions of words andsentences do not suffice to introduce andinterpret Ferdowsi. He passed awayphysically, but he rejuvenated the Iranianidentity and perpetuated his name until thesubsistence of the world:

I am deathless, I am the eternal lordFor I have spread the seed of the Word

Courtesy of: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=127973&sectionid=3510304

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the Millennium Celebrations forFerdowsi, have not been kept up in Iran, asintended originally. In spite of the fact that15th May of every year had been nominatedas a National day to honour Ferdowsi, yetfor this year, which has been nominated byUNESCO as the 1000 th year of thecompilation of the Shahname, the caliber ofcelebrations, in Iran, for this world famouspoet has been the least impressive.

Some four months back the SecretaryGeneral of The Ferdowsi Foundation, YaserMovahed, in a press review with the FarsNews Agency, criticized the various CulturalOrganizations involved, especially those ofthe Cultural Heritage Maintenance and theTourism as well as the Ministry of Culture, fortheir lack of cooperation in organizing suitableevents to celebrate this Millennium event.

In early 2010, Mir Saeedi, who is anassistant-in charge of the CelebrationsCommittee of the Iranian Cultural HeritageOrganization, while formally announcing theUNESCO’s declaration of 2010 as the1000th year of the writing of the Shahnamedeclared that in view of the impending coldwinter any official celebrations would beconsidered soon after the start of theIranian New Year. However, in spite of ourbeing towards the end of the third Iranianmonth and even after the existing annualFerdowsi Memorial Day, no worthwhilecelebrations have been held for this greatpoet who is considered to be the custodianof Farsi language and literature.

About the only official Ferdowsi MemorialProgramme that has been held this year,was the one that was held in Tehran on 13 th

May. Even though personalities likePresident Ahmadi Nejad, and the heads ofthe Cultural Heritage Organization and the

Celebrations for the

Shahnameby Babak Salamatytranslated by Mobed Mehraban Firouzgary

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Iranian Handicraft Industries attended theget together held at the Tehran NationalLibrary, the programmed events were hardlysatisfactory.

President Ahmadinejad started his speechby saying “During the entire course of historyIranians have been the only nation that have upheldjustice, and monotheism. The Shahname allthrough, is a message of unity”. A brieftranslation of some of the highlights of hisspeech are:-

The culture and beliefs of Iranians all along,has been that creation has been formed onan equal basis for the entire human raceand not limited to a specific boundary orlimitations. The real progress for humankindlies in the provision of equal justice for all.The outstanding characteristic of theIranians has been that, throughout theirhistory they had the power and intuition tospread tolerance throughout the wideterritory that they ruled, and even beyond.During the reign of the Iranian Emperorswho ruled over vast territories one cannotfind any evidence that this Empire wasfounded on the use of force andspearheads; on the contrary we have variedevidences that the surrounding weakernations were attracted to the prevailingjustice and civil rights, joining within thecircle of the Iranian Empire.

President Ahmadinejad then proceeded inpraising the immense cultural and academicachievements that Ferdowsi created,especially for the Iranians and in general,for humanity.

President Ahmadinejad is reported to haveunveiled a rare copy of the Shahname atthe Iranian National Museum, in Tehran.

Celebrations outside Iran

The Secretary General of The FerdowsiFoundation, Yaser Movahed, in a pressreview with the ISNA News Agency on 15 th

April 2010, announced that:-

With the effective follow up of The FerdowsiFoundation (Iranian), with the support of the

Iranian Ministry of Culture and theAssociation of Musical Talents, theMillennium Celebrations for Ferdowsi werecelebrated on 31st March at UNESCOheadquarters in Paris in the presence ofrepresentatives from 192 UNESCO membercountries.

According to him during this programme 16melodramas under the subjects of Nowruzand Shahname, along with introductions ofIranian touristic attractions sponsored bythe Ferdowsi Foundations and directed byShahram Salemi were brought to stage.The programmes included Shahnamerecitations with and without acting andsome musical concerts as well.

Round-table discussions at a scientific andresearch level on the subject of “Nowruzand Shahname” with the participation ofShahname research experts from eightworld countries and high level UNESCOmanagement level personalities was also apart of this Paris UNESCO heldprogramme.

In addition to the above, with the joint effortsof the Ferdowsi Foundation (Iran) and theIrano- German Friendship Association the“Fifth Congress to honour Ferdowsi” wascelebrated at the Concert Hall of theCultural Centre of Berlin on the occasion ofthe Shahname Millenium Celebrations. Thiswas on 28th May.

Mr Movahed added that the staging ofconcerts, traditional music, Shahnamerecitals with and without acting, anddisplays of miniature and other Shahnamerelated paintings as well as ancient copiesof Shahname will be displayed in theDehkhoda Cultural Centre Gallery as wellas The Sea Red Rose Hall in Berlin.

With the help of the Malek o Shoaro BaharFoundation “The Shahname and Youth”Congress will be held in the Zone 15Municipality Hall, which is the usual meetingpoint of local Iranians. Resident Iranianlanguage students and other Farsi speakerswill attend. The making of a serialized film“The Fame of the Millennium” directed by

Babak Salamati, born in1972, in Torbat Heidarie,NE Iran, where his fatherheld a military post, beingthe only Zartoshty family.Babak’s primary schoolingwas in Torbat, high schoolyears at community schoolsin Tehran, graduating fromYazd University inElec t r i ca l /E lec t ron ic sEngineering but changed toManagement.Through hisUniversity years he was anactive member of theKanoon e Daneshjooyan eZartoshty (Association ofZoroastrian UniversityStudents, a country wideunit and licensed by the IRIran). In Yazd, he foundedthe Kanoon’s ConsultationCommittee. This unit laterbecame independent andcontinues as the Associationfor the coordination inMantra Recitations for theentire community youths.In Tehran he wasinstrumental in centralizingthe Annual SportsCompetitions under thename of “Martyr’s Cup”Competitions. He managedthese sports for four years.

Babak joined the AmordadNews Publications in 1999as a News ServicesSecretary. Since 2004 he isthe Editor in Charge andManaging Director of thepublications. He is wellversed in the recitations andinterpretations of Shahnameand conducts classesregularly.


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Mahnaz Rokniwith having an objective ofintroducing Ferdowsi and his Shahname onthe occasion of the Ferdowsi Millennium tothe English language speakers is yetanother activity of the Ferdowsi Foundation.

Amongst the other programmes envisagedfor outside Iran will be the Shahnameexhibitions to be held in Germany duringmid December to mid March 2011. Theabove programme was decided during ameeting between Dr Stephen Weber, Headof the Berlin Islamic Arts’ Museum with DrRahnema the Cultural Attache of the IranianEmbassy, there. Several Shahname relatedcultural programmes are envisaged. TheIslamic Arts museum is one of the mostpopular museums and in the year 2009 ithad over 550,000 visitors.

The Honouring of Ferdowsi by NGO’s andcommon people (In Iran)

This year’s public celebrations for theAnnual National Day of FerdowsiCelebrations which used to be held everyMay 15th, or around, has not had any worthmentioning events except for a few shortand low quality celebrations. Many believethat the main reason has been the refusalfor the use of public halls by theMunicipalities due to the existing publicgathering restrictions since the last electionrelated events. Even some of thepermissions that had been granted to NGOswere cancelled at the last stage.

Shahname experts and learned personssuch as Dr Mir Jalaludin Kozazi, DrMohamedali Eslami Nadushan, Dr MansoorRastegar Fassayi, Dr Fereidoon Jonneydiand the likes who used to keep very busyduring this period had hardly anyappearances anywhere.

Ferdowsi’s Shahname is gaining popularityday by day amongst the Iranians. I, thewriter of this article am a witness to thepopular demand for attending Shahnameclasses and private recitations. It is as if theShahname is being reintroduced after 1000years of it’s writing.

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this article presents the historicalbackdrop and scope of a thousand-year-oldpoem of epic proportions – the Shah-namah– enshrining the history of pre-IslamicAncient Iran. It covers a time span from anindeterminate legendary past of severalthousand years to the well-attested 652 ADwhen the last Zoroastrian king of Iranshahr,the sovereign State of Iran, was murdered.Here we possess a narrative record, bothreal and imagined, of the epochs of heroesand kings, beauteous yet strong-willedladies, and villains and usurpers, composedby Firdausi, the poet of incomparablegenius from eastern Iran.

Many an attempt had been made to recordthe turbulent and checkered history of thatancient land. The earliest such narrativewas commissioned by Yazdgard IIIShahryar, who ruled from 632 – 652 AD. Itscompiler was a dehqan, a scholarly scion ofthe landed gentry (a feudal lordling?)named Daneshwar who, assisted by severallearned Zoroastrian priests, pieced togetherthe stories of the land from the first manGayomard or Kayumars down to thedespicable emperor Khosro II Parvez (591 –628), grandfather of Yazdgard III, andlikewise murdered. That collection was theKhwaday-namagh or “Book of the Lords”: alearned prose compilation, drafted in MiddlePersian or Pahlavi.

Edward Browne had concluded, “The samecause which led to the loss of the scientific andphilosophical nasks of the Avesta (thehatak mansarik), namely, the comparativeindifference of the Zoroastrian priests, who werepractically the sole guardians of the old literatureafter the fall of the Sasanian Empire, to all bookswhich did not bear immediately on their owninterests, led, no doubt, to the loss of the greater

Firdausi and the Iranian

National Epic: from

background to centre-stage

by Farrokh Vajifdar

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part of the profane literature of the Sasanianperiod”.We can hardly blame Alexander III for theArabs’ cultural vandalism of a thousandyears after the gizistag Macedonian’sdepredations.

The despoliation of the Arab conquestwould account for the disappearance ofmany literary works. The strict supervisionof the political and cultural affairs of post-Sasanian Iran was effected by the firstOmayyad Caliph ’Umar (634–644). Patrioticliterature was discouraged, whilst works ofother kinds were to be destroyed asunnecessary and superfluous, seeing thathenceforth the Qur’an was deemed thepure fount of all knowledge.

The Pahlavi original of the Khwaday-namagh was lost shortly after the Musliminvasions of Iran, but it had been firstlytranslated into Arabic, and from there intoNew Persian, the kindlier linguisticdescendant of Middle Persian. Chief amongthe 8th century Arabicizers was theconverted Magian, Ibn al-Muqaffa’, a pastmaster in both Pahlavi and Arabic. Hisconversion to Islam was merely expedient;in 759 AD he was put to death for hissuspect orthodoxy.

With the commencement of the Abbasidcaliphate in 750 AD, there was aresurgence of national pride. The Persiandynasty of the Samanids ruled fromBukhara for 125 years (from 874–999 AD).Its founder was one Saman, an Iraniannobleman descended from Bahram Chubinwho had briefly set up a rival kingshipagainst Khosro II Parvez. Under theAbbasid Caliph Harun al-Rashid (r.786 –809AD) Saman’s four grandsons served asgovernors in Samarkand, Ferghana, Shashand Herat in north and eastern Iran. A livelyinterest in Ancient Iran was maintained bythe amirs [“commander; governor; prince”]at the Samanid courts.

Among the many fragmentary Shah-namas(“Books of the Kings”) was one compiled inPersian prose in 957-8 on the orders of thegovernor of Tus, a convert to Islam named

Abu Mansur bin Abdur-Razzaq: its authorswere four Zoroastrians from Herat, Sistan,Nishapur, and Tus, who had used sourcesadditional to the Khwaday-namagh.But even more influential upon Firdausiwere the two 9th century Pahlavi redactionsof the Yadgar-i Zariran, or “Memorial of theZarirs”, also called the “Shah-nama ofGushtasp”, Zarir being Gushtasp’s brother,and the Karnamag-i Ardashir-i Pabagan , or“Book of the Great Deeds of Ardashir, sonof Pabag”. Both these secular works dealwith the semi-historical personages of earlyIran, and it is the latter work that yields thegreater resemblance to our poet’s Shah-nama.

Many of these 10th century prosodists andstory-tellers sought to preserve the heritageof Ancient Iran before it was forgotten andabsorbed by the new Islamic culture whichwas changing the old Persian language bya massive influx of Arabic words andexpressions. But this intrusive influence wasalso substituting new ideas and ideals forthe Ancient Iranian mores, preserved in thelays of minstrels and early folklorists.Professional story-tellers – naqqals(“transmitters”) – transmitted episodes fromthese oral traditions with their ownembellishments. Patriotic impulses forpreservation of the old world in new wayshave helped transmit the Iranian NationalEpic down to our own times, and serve asguide-posts to a forever vanished AncientIranian civilization.

Among the most brilliant of the newgeneration poets was the famed AbuMansur Muhammad bin Ahmad (940–975/980) who bore the takhallus or nom-de-plume of Daqiqi. His patron at the Samanidcourt was Nuh II, son of the amir Mansurbin Nuh (961 – 976), who commissioned thetalented lyricist to versify the mass ofmaterial inherited from the epic history ofpre-Islamic Iran. It was a remarkable tour-de-force, for in Persian literature, epicpoetry is at the opposite pole to lyric poetry.His work came to a premature end,however, for he was murdered by hisTurkish man-servant for whom, it wasrumoured, he had conceived an illicit


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passion. Equally plausibly, despite hisMuslim name, his Islamism was at bestlukewarm, and his true leanings weretowards the Zoroastrian religion of hisPersian forefathers. Indeed, he hadcompleted but a thousand verses exactlycovering the episodes of Zoroaster’sappearance and the conversion ofGushtasp (Vishtaspa) when he was killed.Those thousand verses were taken up andincorporated by Firdausi into the fabric ofhis own great national epic.

Daqiqi’s alleged Zoroastrianism has beenadduced mainly from two distichs:

“Of all that’s good or evil in the worldFour things suffice to meet Daqiqi’sneed:|| The ruby-coloured lip, the harp’slament,The blood-red wine, and Zoroaster’screed.”

Elsewhere, Daqiqi had further fuelledsuspicion of apostasy with his declaration: “Iaffirm before God that the one who does nottread the path of Zoroaster shall not attainto Paradise.”

Firdausi was the takhallus conferred uponthe dehqan Abu’l Qasim Mansur, born inTus around 940. His pen-name signifiesParadise, just as hakim, his honorific(laqab), indicates his scholarly status oflearned doctor, or sage. Firdausi hadcommenced his great work in 975 ADwith the encouragement and sponsorship ofthe governor of Tus, Husayn bin Qutayba,and the local aristocracy. When theSamanid kingdom passed into the rule ofthe Ghaznavid dynasty under SultanMahmud bin Sabuktagin (971–1030 AD),the vast materials collected from the earlypoetic and prose sources on the pre-Islamichistory of Iran were finally entrusted toFirdausi.

The epic style was well established beforeFirdausi. The mutaqarib metre employed byDaqiqi remained the only one used in epic,and the language was clearly differentiatedfrom that of lyrical poetry: it was much less

arabicized, and instead was full of archaicIranian words. The Arabs had neither epicnor epic poetry, and this low proportion ofArabic vocabulary was also a feature ofprose works on similar subjects. Firdausi’sShah-nama contains as little as four percent of Arabic words.

Mahmud of Ghazna ordered his treasurerKhoja Hassan Maimandi to pay to Firdausione thousand gold dinars for everythousand verses, but the dehqan preferredthe sum to accumulate till all his work wascompleted. His reason given was to amasssufficient capital to construct a barrage forhis native city of Tus which had longsuffered from defective irrigation – a projectwhich had been the chief dream of hischildhood. The poet, however, hadsomehow incurred the growing displeasureof paymaster Khoja Hassan, who oftenwithheld the interim payments due oradvances sufficient for the necessities ofsustenance, such that Firdausi passed thelatter portion of his life in great privation,despite enjoying royal favour and fameaccruing from his work-in-progress.

He completed his great work in 60,000couplets, some thirty-five years later in 1010AD, when he was into his seventies.Keeping to his word, Mahmud orderedKhoja Hassan to take the poet as muchgold as an elephant could carry; thedisgruntled treasurer managed to persuadehis master that it was far too generous, andthat an elephant’s load of silver would bemore commensurate! 60,000 silver dirhamswere accordingly placed in sacks on camel-back and taken by the Sultan’s Turkishfavourite, Ayaz, to the aged poet who,enraged at this deception, gave away20,000 pieces to the courier Ayaz, the sameto the local bath-keeper, and handed therest to a beer-seller. Firdausi huffily sentback the response that it was not to gainmoney that he had taken so much trouble.

With the same courier Firdausi also sentMahmud a sealed paper which was to behanded him after 20 days had elapsed. Thisgave the aged poet ample time to set off onhis travels – actually in anticipation of the

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Sultan’s wrath, for the sealed articlecontained the celebrated satire whichnowadays is prefixed to copies of his Shah-nama, and which is perhaps the bitterestand severest piece of reproach everpenned. In it he had taunted Mahmud on hisslavish birth. As expected, Mahmud flewinto a violent rage and sent after the poet,promising a large reward for his capture, butFirdausi was already in comparative safetyin far-off Mazandaran whose prince Kabusreceived him well and promised him bothpatronage and protection. When Kabus,however, came to learn of thecircumstances under which the dehqan hadfled Ghazna, and fearing the vengeance ofthe all-powerful Mahmud, he dismissedFirdausi with every decent dignity and amost handsome present.

A different, but related, account is given byNizami Arudi-i-Samarqandi (11th/12thcentury). Fleeing Mahmud’s anger, Firdausisought refuge in Tabaristan with theSipahbadh Shirzad whose origins were fromthe family of Yazdgard III. To him the poetgave his Shah-nama, including the satire onMahmud, saying, “I will dedicate this Shah-nama to you instead of to Sultan Mahmud,for this book deals wholly with the legendsand deeds of your forebears”. Shirzadreasoned with him to retain his originaldedication to Mahmud after expunging theoffending 100 couplets for each of whichdeletion he paid Firdausi 1,000 dirhams.

The poet next went to Baghdad to findrefuge at the court of the caliph al-Kadir(991–1031). There he composed Yusuf andZuleikha – a poem of 9,000 couplets on theQur’anic theme (in Sura 12) of Joseph andPotiphar’s wife (Gn. 39). This poem, lesswell known than his immortal Shah-nama, isextant.

In the meanwhile Sultan Mahmud wasminded not to pursue Firdausi further, andwas even prevailed upon to give him fullreparation for his now completed work.Mahmud’s change of heart, however, cametoo late. Firdausi, now a broken anddecrepit old man – he was in his eighties –had by then returned to his native Tus.

There, whilst wandering through its streets,he chanced to hear a child lisping a versefrom the very satire in which he beratedMahmud on his lowly birth. The old manwas so affected by this proof of universalsympathy with his misfortunes that when hefound his way home, he succumbed to amelancholia and died shortly after in theyear 1020 AD.

He was buried in a garden just outside thecity gate. The bigoted chief sheikh of Tusrefused to read the usual prayers overFirdausi’s tomb – shades of thismisbehaviour in India against out-marriedZoroastrian women? – on the spuriousgrounds that the poet had been of a hereticaldisposition – a Rafidhi, or Shi’ite, and aMu’tazili, or Seceder – having during his lifeglorified fire-worshippers and misbelievers!An extension to this story tells that thissheikh dreamt on the very next night that thepoet had appeared in Paradise, clad in greenand wearing an emerald crown, therebyadroitly restoring the deceased Firdausi tofull post-mortem orthodoxy!

On hearing his chief adviser recite someverses pertinent to a stand-off during one ofhis many raids, the Sultan enquired aftertheir authorship, to be told that they wereFirdausi’s who had been so mistreated byMahmud. Upon his return to Ghazna, aconscience-stricken Mahmud arranged for60,000 dirhams’ worth of indigo laden on hisown camels to be sent, with his apologies, toFirdausi in Tus. But even as the sumpterbeasts were entering through the RudbarGate, the corpse of Firdausi was beingcarried forth from the Gate of Razan. Thestory of Firdausi’s funeral is repeated byNizami with the variation that the bigotedpreacher had denied the poet’s burial in theMusulman cemetery, and instead hisremains were interred in a garden belongingto the poet outside the Razan Gate. Thepoet’s garden tomb is now a national shrine;the fanatic’s resting-place is all but forgotten.

Mahmud’s considerable gift of indigo wasthen offered to Firdausi’s daughter, a feistylady “of very lofty spirit” – so wrote Nizami –who declined it, saying “I need it not!” News


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of the preacher’s disgraceful action wasconveyed to Mahmud who ordered that thefanatic be expelled from Tabaran for hisofficiousness, exiled from his home, and forhis money to be given for repairs to a rest-house on the boundaries of Tus along theroad between Nishapur and Marv. Hisinstructions were faithfully obeyed.

On the subject of Firdausi’s allegedheretical leanings, the accusation has nofactual basis. As Robert Zaehner hadaffirmed, the poet was throughout his longlife “a pious Shi’a Muhammadan, and in his Shah-nama Zoroastrianism is presented to us in auniformly pietistic and respectably monotheisticgarb: Zurvanites and dualist Mazdaeans mightnever existed!”

The character of the Shah-nama mirrors thecharacter of its author. Reuben Levy hassummed it up admirably: “Firdausi’s genuinecompassion for the poor and the wronged, hisremarkable and persistent sense of social justice, hiscourageous and vocal condemnation ofirresponsibility of rulers, his altruism and idealism –in short his profound humanity – account for someof the most moving and ennobling passages in theShah-nama and endow it with a consistentintegrity”. Firdausi’s grand epic is acollection of episodes not composed inchronological sequences proper to a workof history. Nevertheless, drama, comedy,tragedy – all are immortalized here.

Descriptions of Nature and of the Seasonsare the nourishment of 10th and 11thcentury Persian poetry. Iranian festivalssuch as the nauruz, the autumnal mihragan,the wine-harvest, and mid-winter sada –celebrated at night by great fires, were alleulogized in wine and verse in Sasaniantimes – at the majlis-i sharabs – as well asby their Muslim successors. Recent Islamicattempts at prohibiting these festivities inIran on grounds that they belonged to thepagan period – the period of jahiliyya or“ignorance” abusively applied by unculturedArabicized Iranians – were met with deepmisgivings, the stiffest of protests, and wereultimately frustrated. It is understood thatpassages from Firdausi’s Shah-nama wererepeatedly brought to the attention of the

kill-joy Muslim authorities who neverthelessstill strove to obliterate the varied jubilantexpressions of Iran’s rich pre-Islamiccivilization.

“The Shah-nama lives on!”

Farrokh Vajifdar comesfrom a sensibly orthodoxpriestly family. Life-longstudent and independentresearcher in Indo-Iraniancultures. Specializes inliterature and languages ofpre-Islamic Iran. Focuseson Zoroastrian religious

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

Ferdowsi’s Tomb at Tus

Regarding the veracity of his stories, he cautions the reader not to relegatethem to the realm of “lies and myths.” Rather, he insists, his stories must beunderstood to contain both knowledge and mysteries:

“Deem not these legends lying fantasy,As if the world were always in one stay,For most accord with sense,” [source New World Encyclopedia]

All illustrations are from Wikipedia Commons and no copyright is due.

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Shahrokh Vafadari wasborn in Kerman in apriestly family. After hisearly education inKerman he finished highschool in Alborz, Tehranand later on studiedengineering at theUniversity of Londonwith post graduatestudies in businessm a n a g e m e n t . H eworked as a consultantto the petroleumindustry.After retirementhe attended SOAS andwas the last student ofMary Boyce. He hasfounded a researchcentre for learninga n c i e n t I r a n i a nlanguages at theUniversity of Kermanand is a Trustee ofNikan Foundation inKerman and FerdowsiTrust Fund in the UK.

q by Shahrokh Vafadari

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“I am incredibly humbled and sograteful to my colleagues and everyonewho has supported my work,” she said

from her office at MIT on the afternoon thewinners were announced.

When she received the call 10 days agofrom MacArthur Fellows Programmedirector Daniel Socolow, Mavalvala wassure it was a hoax. It wasn’t until she wokeup on 28 September, to 200 congratulatorye-mails, that she realized she had actuallywon.

Mavalvala, who was born and raised inKarachi, studies gravitational waves, whichcan penetrate regions of space which lightor electromagnetic waves cannot. AlbertEinstein first predicted the existence ofgravitational waves in 1916.

“Everything we know about the universecomes from observing light,” saidMavalvala, adding that gravitational wavesare a different kind of tool that allowresearchers to learn “new and enormouslyinteresting things.”

“Black holes, for example, are very dense,massive stars that light cannot escapefrom”, said Mavalvala. But by usinggravitational waves, researchers canexplore the environment close to blackholes, she explained.

MIT Astrophysicist Nergis Mavalvala Wins MacArthur Grant

M42-year-old Mavalvala is uncertain yet howshe will use her half-million dollar grant.“The thing that very much excites me aboutthis grant is that it can be used forspeculative, risky, flat-out crazy ideas thatwould otherwise be hard to get funding for.”She declined to elaborate on those ideas,jokingly saying she wasn’t prepared forcolleagues to hear them yet.

Mavalvala attended the Convent of Jesus &Mary School in Karachi, where she wasinspired by her physics and chemistryteachers.

“Advanced biology meant dissecting ananimal, and I knew I couldn’t do that, so Iquickly moved to the physical sciences,”said Mavalwala with a laugh.

The daughter of Minoo and Meher Mavalvala(who now live in Vancouver, BC), Nergislives in Arlington, Mass., with her partnerAida Khan and two-year-old son, Evren. Shecredits her parents for recognizing her abilityin math and science early on, and alwaysencouraging her work. An older sister,Mahrukh, who also studied physics, is nowan actuary living in Seattle, Washington.

Mavalvala received her PhD in physics fromMIT in 1997, and a bachelors’ degree inphysics and astronomy from WellesleyCollege in 1990.

MIT quantum astrophysicist Nergis Mavalvala was announced onSeptember 28 as one of 23 winners of the coveted 2010 MacArthurFellowship, also known as a genius grant, and will receive a $500,000 “nostrings attached” award over the next five years.

“I had always known of the MacArthur fellowship and all the wonderfulscientists, historians and artists who had won it in the past, but I never,ever, in my wildest dreams thought that I would be one of them,” Mavalvala,the first-known Parsi to receive the award, told India-West.

The MacArthur Fellowshipprogramme began in 1981.Each year awards grants to20 to 30 fellows, to pursuetheir own creative,intellectual, and professionalinclinations. Grants aremade to individuals, notinstitutions, and there is noapplication process.

The 2010 fellows include astone carver, a quantumastrophysicist, a jazz pianist,a high school physics teacher,a marine biologist, a theatredirector, an Americanhistorian, a fiction writer, aneconomist, and a computersecurity scientist.

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excerpts from http://www.indiawest.com/readmore.aspx?id=2535&sid=1


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Now Zerbanoo is honoured in an exhibitioncommemorating the 90 th anniversary ofwomen being given the vote in the UnitedStates. “The 90 th Anniversary of Suffrage”, agallery and online exhibition of photos ofthose who have advanced women’s rights,was staged by the Sewall-Belmont Houseand Museum in Washington DC, andopened on Equality Day, August 26 th, 2010.

The inscription accompanying Zerbanoo’sphoto reads, ‘To a woman who has dedicated herlife to women’s rights internationally and who isfearless of standing up for freedom and justice.’

When asked how she felt about such anaccolade for her work championing thecause of women internationally, Zerbanoosaid, “Women’s equality is the final frontierfor those who fight for a fairier and more justworld. If man can land on the moon, andspend billions on armaments of war, thensurely we can ensure than every girl ischerished at birth. She should be given arounded education, her health and nutritioncared for, and she should be allowed toexpress herself with her own unique giftsand encouraged to take her rightful place inher community. Degrading and suppressingwomen must be a thing of the past. It istotally unacceptable to crush the lives ofhalf of the world’s population for no otherreason than their sex.

Gifford honoured once again

Z

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Zerbanoo Gifford, the Indian-born Zoroastrian philanthropist and foundingdirector of the ASHA Centre in the Royal Forest of Dean in Britain, whoholds the Nehru Centenary Award and the 2006 Zee TV Woman of the YearAward for her humanitarian work, was honoured with her third major awardin America. In 1986 Zerbanoo was given the Freedom of the City of Lincoln,Nebraska, for being at the forefront of the campaign against modernslavery. Her second came in 2007 in Hollywood, when she received theSplendor Award for her outstanding global achievements in the field ofhuman rights.

“I have seen agradualimprovement inthe status ofwomen over mylifetime and beenfortunate to meetsome of the mostextraordinarywomen in theworld who haveexcelled in everyfield of endeavourand yet kept theirhumanity. I havealso beenfortunate to be atthe heart of theinternationalmovement to ensure that women are able toshare power and resources and to reclaimtheir dignity as equals. I am proud to havededicated my life to empowering womenand enlightening men.”

The Sewall-Belmont House and Museum keeps alive thestories of the women who fought for the right to voteand houses the largest collection of suffrage artefacts inthe United States. Sewall-Belmont was also included inthe original Save America’s Treasures Act, together withthe Star Spangled Banner, the Constitution, and theDeclaration of Independence.

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Lest we forget

Jamshedji Nusserwanji Guzder

Jimmy Guzder was a successful businessman but humble and always accessibleto one and all. Poor and needy Parsis used to meet him virtually everyday at hisoffice at Neville House with their problems and he seldom let anyone return emptyhanded or disappointed. He gave because he found joy in giving and putting asmile on people’s faces. He was a man who loved life and even at a veryadvanced age looked dashing – he exuded happiness.

When he completed his term as Chairman of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet, his colleagues decided toconfer a unique honour upon him – something unprecedented in the entire history of the BPP. He wasmade Chairman Emeritus – an honour which he so richly deserved. Jamshed had served as a Trusteeof the BPP for 27 years.

He not only looked like a traditional Sethia – he indeed was one and probably the last of this class oftrue philanthropists.

Jamshed went to his heavenly abode on 20 August. [Excerpts from Noshir Dadrawalla’s article on Mr Guzder]

Homi Nusserwanji Sethna

Former Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) chairman and one of the guiding lightsbehind India’s first nuclear test, Homi Nusserwanji Sethna, died on 5 September athis Walkeshwar residence after a prolonged lung ailment. He was 87 years of age.

Sethna’s career started neither in a laboratory nor a workshop, but in the swimmingpool of the Wellington Club near Haji Ali. Legend goes that nuclear scientist Homi Bhabha met Sethnawhile the two men were enjoying a swim at the club during the late 50s. Sethna impressed Bhabha somuch that he invited the young man to his office. The next day, after a brief interview, Sethna wasoffered a job.

Sethna helped conduct its first nuclear test in 1974 at Pokhran. “Sethna actually came to Pokhran 48hours before the experiment. He was in New Delhi meeting officials. Some officials at the Prime Minister’sOffice wanted the test to be delayed,” recalled Iyengar, a team member. “Sethna telephoned us atPokhran and explained the situation. We said we cannot stop the test at this stage. He then met MrsGandhi who gave the go-ahead.”

During their meeting, Sethna reportedly told Gandhi: “I am pushing in the device (bomb) tomorrow andafter that do not say remove it because I cannot. You cannot tell me to stop.” On the day of the test,Sethna said to his colleagues: “Whose head will be chopped if the test fails?” Iyengar replied: “If thelaw of physics works, no head will be chopped.”

The test conducted successfully, Sethna sent a coded message to Gandhi,” saying “Buddha IsSmiling”. [Information from the Times of India]

Colonel Bharucha-Reid

Commander of Fort Mead’s Army Field Support Centre was laid to rest with fullmilitary honours at Arlington National Cemetery on 9 September. Brig (Rtd) ErvadBehram Panthaki led the funeral procession with the army chaplin. A posthumous


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award of Legion of Merit was presented to his mother and only two days before his death ColonelBharucha-Reid was presented with the Hall of Fame Award for his work in Human Intelligence (HUMINT).This is only the second time that such an award has been given. He was 55 and died of pancreaticcancer.

He joined the army in 1973 and in 1980 was assigned to the Special Forces Detachment Korea,commissioned as a military intelligence officer in the late 1980s, deployed to Bosnia, then Afghanistanas the first HUMMIT officer to provide direct support to the US Army Special Operations Command. In2006 Bharucha-Reid was deployed to Iraq serving in an interagency coordination cell. Called a ‘greatAmerican Soldier’, Bharucha-Reid was remembered by about 500 colleagues and friends from theIntelligence Corps in Army, Navy and Air Force who had gathered to honour his 37-year army career.The Zarathushti community was well represented at the ceremony including the Colonel’s familymembers. [Excerpts from the report compiled - information supplied by family and Brig (Rtd) Panthanki]

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British Museum loans Iran, Cyrus the Great’s Cylinder

‘On 10 September, the Cyrus Cylinder, which has so far been kept in the British Museum, arrived inIran,’ Vice President Hamid Baghai, who heads the Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and TourismOrganisation, told Fars news agency.

He said the artifact arrived ‘under special security and will be on display for four months. Forty yearsago was the last time the cylinder was in Iran, when it went on display for 10 days.’ The CyrusCylinder was last shown in Iran in October 1971 during the reign of the former Shah, for commemo-rations marking 2,500 years of the Persian monarchy.

In February, Mr Baghai said Teheran had cut ties with the British Museum in protest at repeateddelays in lending it the antique, and in April he was reported as saying Iran wanted 300,000 dollarsin compensation over the delays.

The treasure’s showcase has also been brought from London, and on Saturday [11th Sept] ‘in thepresence of experts the cylinder will be placed in the display.’ It will be shown in Iran’s NationalMuseum, according to its director Azadeh Ardekani.

The British Museum justifies the loan by saying: In recognition of the fact that the Cyrus Cylinder istruly a part of the world’s cultural heritage, the Trustees of the British Museum are eager that asmany people as possible should have an opportunity to see it, particularly in Iran where Cyrus theGreat is held in special reverence. Although political relations between Iran and the UK are at themoment difficult, the Trustees take the view that it is all the more important to maintain the culturallinks which have been so carefully built up over a period of years and which could in themselveslead to a better relationship based on dialogue, tolerance and understanding. Colleagues in Iran’smuseums are part of a world-wide scholarly community in which the British Museum plays a leadingrole.

The loan reciprocates thegenerous loans made by theNational Museum of Iran to theForgotten Empire and Shah Abbasexhibitions in 2005 and 2009 atthe British Museum.

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How did you meet the Wadias? What role did they play in bringing HAPTADAMA to life, and what is thegenesis of the title HAPTADAMA?

I met Nariman and Coomi on my first trip to Mumbai, in December 2004. I wasworking on a project with my ensemble, The Esoterics, of choral music inspiredby Hinduism, and was interested in publishing a series of six Vedic choralhymns by the composer Vanraj Bhatia, a friend of the Wadias. I actually metNariman and Coomi on the internet via their son Sorab, through the activity oftheir choir, The Paranjoti Academy Choir, and their involvement with

Mr Bhatia’s work. After working closely with the Wadias for a month in Mumbai, and on the day ofmy departure for the US, Nariman gave me a small book of Zoroastrian prayers, which I read on theplane ride home. I have long been interested in Zoroastrianism, ever since I first read Gore Vidal’shistorical fiction entitled Creation. Nariman’s small gift only ignited the spark of my already abidinginterest in the various different world religions, their original ancient scriptures, and ‘reading betweenthe lines’ thereof.

On my second trip to Mumbai, Nariman arranged for me occasion to study the Gathas andBundahishn at the Cama Oriental Institute, and also arranged for me to hear the Gathas sung byseveral devout Parsis, priests and non-priests alike (because I obviously was not able to attendworship in any fire temple). Nariman also loaned me his fantastic portable recording equipment(because British Airways lost my luggage – and therefore my own equipment – for the entirety of mymonth-long trip), so that I could document this fantastic singing and transcribe it at home. After Iread the entire Bundahishn at the Cama Institute Library, I retold several of their stories to Narimanand Coomi. The Wadias were wonderful ‘sounding-boards’ for my process of deciding which partsof the scripture to include in my ‘libretto.’

The title of The Esoterics’ concert series, HAPTAD¬M√, was my rendering of “the seven creations” inan Avestan/Pahlavi hybrid. The title of my opera is The seven creations – I think it’s a beautifulphrase, one that can draw an audience that is eager to learn more.

You have coordinated the Gathas and Bundahishn beautifully in your libretto. These are twocompositions separated in time by more than two millennia. In your opinion, do you perceive anymajor distinction between them?

Thank you! The linguistic difference between the languages is very obvious to me. Avestan is amuch older language, and therefore has much more phonemic variation – the very specific soundsof Avestan have simplified as the language evolves through Pahlavi toward present day Farsi. Interms of phonemic wealth, almost every modern language is simpler than its ancient predecessors.In terms of structure, the Gathas are clearly songs, with meter and rhyme; the Bundahishn is moreprosaic, and much more dramatic – it’s a creation myth, and one of the most beautiful cosmogoniesthat I’ve ever read.

The Gathas speak very sparingly about creation. How closely do you see the creation story ofBundahishn reflected in the Gathas?

There are several Gathas that ask directly about the origin of the world, and I found several versesfrom the Bundahishn that answer these questions in dramatic and compelling detail. During myresearch, most of the Zoroastrians that I spoke with were very familiar with the Gathas, but several

Jehan Bagli interviews Eric Banks


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of them had never even heard of the Bundahishn. This surprised and saddened me, because I findthe Persian creation story to be so beautiful. I realize that this creation story was documented longafter the Gathas were recorded, and that there may be very little relationship between the two texts,but as an outsider that has spent equal time with both texts, I find the connection to be strong.

The Gathas are believed to be the words of Zarathushtra. What was your impressions of the Gathic hymnsa) as poetic composition and b) in their Divine message ?

The Gathas, as poetry, seem obviously to be the result of a very long oral tradition, with layer uponlayer of symbolism assigned to them, and generations of scholarly exegesis to consider. For me,the divinity of the Gathas is measured by the great care with which these songs have been protectedover the millennia to the present day.

Please explain for our readers what is an a cappella choral opera? What is the role and innovativecontribution of The Esoterics in it?

A cappella is the term used to describe choral music that is sung without the aid of any instruments.I called this work an opera (which is merely the Latin term for ‘works,’ the plural of opus) because itwas large (concert-length) and dealt with a dramatic subject matter. The work was composed forThe Esoterics, the choral ensemble that founded here in Seattle. It was written for 40 voices thatsing together in ensemble, but each singer has a distinct role in the story as well. Twelve singersrepresent the constellations of the zodiac, seven represent the planets in the sky, one sings the roleof Gav (the first animal), and another sings the role of Gayomart (the first human) – these are justsome examples of the 40 roles I composed into The seven creations for the singers of TheEsoterics.

What moved you to believe these Avestan scriptures would translate to the medium of an a cappella choralwork; which is a form more usually associated (or at least originating) with Judeo-Christian music?

Every culture on the planet sings together without the aid of instruments. A cappella singing is notan art form that originated in the Judeo-Christian tradition. It is just the tradition that cultivatedsinging and capitalizes on today. My mission with The Esoterics is to take unaccompanied singingout of this particular Judeo-Christian box, and develop a repertoire of choral music that is moreuniversal and culturally inclusive.

The work does not appear to posses a story line in the conventional linear sense, though, interestingly,such linearity is a feature of Zoroastrian theology. How would you describe the structure ofHAPTADAMA for the listener?

I respectfully and strongly disagree. The libretto, as I’ve constructed it, is highly linear. A synopsisofThe seven creations would go something like this. Ahuramazda and Ahriman are the universaldeities of good and evil. Before the beginning of time, Ahriman climbs out of the abyss and attacksAhuramazda on high. Ahuramazda chants the ancient melody of the Ahuna var, and stuns Ahrimaninto submission. While he is unconscious, Ahuramazda creates the world, which takes seven forms:the Sky, the Water, the Earth, the Plants, Gav (the first animal, an ox), Gayomart (the first human),and the Fire (that which is sacred to all Zoroastrians). After these seven, Ahuramazda creates theSun, the Moon, the Stars (including the zodiac), and his six avatars: the Holy Immortals. AlongsideAhuramazda, the Holy Immortals become the caretakers for each of the seven creations. When hecomes to, Ahriman attacks each of the seven creations, bringing death and destruction to each, butalso contributing to the beautiful form of the world as we know it. Ahriman is vanquished by the SkyWarrior and the Frahvars, and thrown into Hell. The world is then repaired by Tishtar, the WindWarrior, the Tree of Life, and of course, Ahuramazda himself.

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You have always been interested in the esoteric ideas. What was it that particularly focused yourattention on the Zoroastrian cosmogony?

I think that Zoroastrianism interested me, first and foremost, because it is the world’s oldest recordedmonotheism. I think that anyone who is interested in studying religion or its influence on historicalevents would find these texts interesting. Personally, I find that too many people are interested in‘interpreting’ texts of their own religion, and too few people are interested in reading the originalscripture of religions other than their own, to find potential common ground. I wish that this were notthe case, but it seems to the world in which we now live. With works like this opera, I have tried touse my artistic vision and vehicle to tell a story that others would not otherwise hear.

The first movement Before time sets the stage for the seven creations. How do you perceive the ethicaldualism embedded in that section?

What I love about this first conflict (between Ahura Madza and Ahriman) is that good repels evil bysinging to it, and stuns it into submission. What a wonderful testament about the non-violent powerof singing.

In Zarathushtrian theology, fire is a physical incarnation of Ahura Mazda, and commands boundlessreverence. How do you perceive fire as described in the Gathas relative to the creation as elaborated inBundahishn?

Obviously, the last of the seven creations is the most holy and mystical. Fire seems to be the most‘physical’ manifestation of Ahura Mazda in Zoroastrianism. In my musical representation of fire, Itried to capture it in all of its attributes – glowing, warm, living, moving, even smoldering andsmoking – attributes given to it by Ahriman in his initial attack.

Vohumanah is philologically interpreted as ‘good mind’ or ‘good thinking.’ With a few exceptions, youhave consistently interpreted it as ‘love’ (G 50.1, 44.3). Is that just artistic license or is there arationalization in your meaning?

In my study, I encountered several translations of this word, and ‘Love’ was the one that appealed tome most among them. “Mindfulness” was certainly a contender (and spoke to my Buddhistsensibilities), but I found ‘Love’ to be more malleable and multi-faceted as a concept, and more easyto personify (like ‘Strength’ or the other Holy Immortals).

In the movement The restoration of the world you have used Tishtraya and water extensively. How doyou perceive a place of element water in Zarathushtrian theology as a whole?

Water, the second creation, surrounds the earth in the story of the Bundahishn, and Tishtar useswater to cleanse the surface of the earth (the third creation) of the venom left there by Ahriman’svermin. I love that this ‘venom’ is transformed into ‘salt’ in the oceans and seas. I don’t feelcomfortable speaking about water’s role in Zoroastrian theology (or any aspect of Zoroastriantheology, for that matter). As an artist, and as a reader of this story, I found the role of waterpoignant and beautiful, and wanted to tell its story.

The last movement of the opera is entitled The house of song. Can you summarize its significance andhow it relates to The seven creations?

Although Gav and Gayomart perish at the end of the Bundahishn, their legacy lives on in amultiplicity of animal species and humankind, and their essences are enshrined in the Sun and the


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Moon, to reflect upon our world and remind us of their sacrifice at the beginning of time. As well, theplants are enshrined in the myriad of stars in the sky. After these celestial beings are redefined, thenarrative continues upward, to the outer realms of the sky. Here, I chose to conclude the opera withsome of the most joyous Gathic strains that refer to heaven with the unforgettable moniker: “thehouse of song.” What singer and choral enthusiast wouldn’t love to endorse such a description of theafterlife?

Not having heard the work yet, how does the work’s harmonic structure reflect the seven creations?What should we listen for?

There are so many things to listen for! Each of the seven creations has its own consonant key area,and with evil comes the introduction of dissonance. I have tried to stay true to the meter of theGathas in my scoring, and have even harmonized them with parallel intervals that refer to how theyare often sung by several dastur in the agiary. My musical manifestation of the constellations of thezodiac is actually a choral mapping of the stars along the ecliptic (the celestial equator) over time.Many people are very fond of the progression that I use to describe the creation of the world (whileAhriman is asleep). My musical description of fire (at the end of the second movement) is lively andcomplex, like a licking flame. My setting of Ahriman’s attack upon creation (in movement four) isquite frightening, and my setting of the “house of song” is some of the most ecstatic music that I’veever written. However, I’ve lived with this music for several years now. My opinions could bebiased.

The Avestan script in the libretto, demonstrates beautiful calligraphy. Did you learn Avesta and writethe script?

I learned both Avesta and Pahlavi, and converted the Pahlavi of the Bundahishn into transliteratedAvestan for the libretto. I did not write the script, although I love all things calligraphic; the libretto isin the font called Avesta.

If they are useful, here are the notes from the frontispiece of my score:

The seven creations is concert-length a cappella opera that recounts the creation story of theancient Zoroastrians. This composition is the result of two separate sojourns to Bombay, India (inJanuary 2005 and January 2007), and my friendships with Nariman, Coomi, and Sorab Wadia, whowere my first exposure to this fascinating culture and faith. Zoroastrianism is arguably the world’sfirst monotheism, and was the most populous faith on earth during the life of Christ. Even thoughZoroastrianism began in what is today modern Iran, north India is home to most Zoroastrians (whoare known as Parsis, to differentiate them from Zoroastrians in Iran, called Iranis). In India, Bombayis among the most densely-populated enclaves of Zoroastrianism, a faith which predates and hasinfluenced the most populous religions on the planet: including Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism,Christianity, and Islam.

While I was in Bombay, Nariman Wadia was kind enough to arrange for me the opportunity toresearch Zoroastrian texts at the Cama Oriental Institute. While there, I was able to read from copiesof the Avesta (the compiled sacred texts of the Parsis), including the Gathas and an ancient copy ofthe Persian cosmology, called the (Greater Iranian) Bundahishn. While the Bundahishn is adocument with its recorded origins in the 6th or 7th century AD, the Gathas are hallowed as thewords of Zarathushtra (known as Zoroaster in Greek). The Gathas are most likely the oldest music inrecorded history, and have been handed down by the rote oral memorization of Zoroastrian priests(or mobed), from father to son, since Zoroaster first uttered them. Some think that Zoroaster livedbetween 1500 and 2000 years before Christ, perhaps 4000 years ago.

Winner of th is year’s DaleWarland Singers CommissionAward from Chorus Americaand the American ComposersForum, Eric Banks has garneredsignificant acclaim as one of themost creative choral musicians inthe United States – for h i sunwavering commitment to newmusic for unaccompanied voices.Eric completed his BA in Musicat Yale University, and earned hisMaster’s and Doctoral degrees inChoral Studies and MusicTheory at the University ofWashington in Seattle. In 1992,while still in graduate school,Banks founded the professional-caliber chamber chorus, TheEsoterics. The Esoterics hasperformed over 300 concertsthroughout the PacificNorthwest, has commissionedand premiered over 100 newworks for a cappella voices indozens of languages, and hasmastered many of the mostvirtuosic choral works of the lastcentury. The Esoterics has alsoreleased twelve CD recordings tofavorable reviews in TheGramophone and AmericanRecord Guide. In recognition forits efforts in choral innovation,Banks and The Esoterics havebeen honored four times with theASCAP/Chorus AmericaAward for the AdventurousProgramming of ContemporaryMusic (in 2001, 2003, 2006,

and 2008).

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The language of the Gathas is so old that, when Zoroastrian priests finally decided to record them inthe 6th century, they had to invent a phonetic alphabet to do so. At that time, the priestly class spokeMiddle Persian (or Pahlavi), which was the language of the Bundahishn. However, the language ofthe Gathas, which only priests could speak or understand, had been so pristinely preserved that itcontained many sounds that were foreign to the vernacular. So, the priests invented a language torecord the Gathas, and since the language and its script were meant only for this sacred text, theycalled it Avestan. This is the beautiful font that you will find throughout the texts and translations ofthis entire cosmological cycle.

The relationship between the Gathas and the Bundahishn, even over such a vast stretch of time, istruly remarkable. The hymns of Zarathustra ask so many questions about the origins of the universe,and the cosmological text from two millennia later answers them in great and beautiful detail –always acknowledging the cosmic balance between good and evil, and emphasizing the humanchoice between the two that is so essential to the Zoroastrian faith.

A synopsis of The seven creations would go something like this. Ahuramazda and Ahriman are theuniversal deities of good and evil. ... Although Gav and Gayomart perish, their legacy lives on in themultiplicity of animal species and humankind, and their essence is enshrined in the Sun and theMoon, to reflect upon our world and remind us of their sacrifice at the beginning of time. Throughoutthe narrative of this cosmology, verses from the Gathas are interspersed, concluding with the mostjoyous strains that refer to Heaven with the unforgettable moniker: “the House of Song.” What choralsinger or enthusiast wouldn’t love to endorse such a description of the afterlife?

I must acknowledge the writings of Mary Boyce and Raiomond Mirza, as well as the library of MarkKetter, who helped me immensely with gaining the cultural context to undertake writing this piece.The timeless melodies of the Gathas included in this composition were given wonderful voice byErvad Aspandiyar Dadachanji. There are so many people to thank for making this work possible:from Pervez, who fixed my dying computer in a single afternoon, to Bobbo, the British Airways agentwho found my missing luggage. I also have to acknowledge the kindness of Mary Wieneke, whoallowed me to work on movements IV and V at her camp at Bear Island, New Hampshire, and thepatience of Jon Seydl and Daniel McLean, who provided the solace for movements VI and VII inCleveland, Ohio. However, none of this would have been possible without generosity of the Wadiafamily: Sorab, Coomi, and most of all, Nariman. I will always cherish their kindness and grace.

[Raiomond Mirza wrote about his studies “House of Song” for Hamazor Issue 3/05 pp 62-65 : Issue 4/05 pp 39-45 & Issue

1/06 pp 27-29]

Ervad Dr Jehan Bagli retired asDistinguished Research Fellow fromWyeth Research. He is an ordainedpriest through Navar and Martabceremonies. He was the foundingpresident of ZAQ, and editor of NorthAmerican periodical Gavashni for 16years. Presently he is chairperson of

Research and Preservation committee of FEZANA, immediate pastpresident of North American Mobed Council, and Director onInternational Board of WZO. Jehan is a recipient of FEZANAexcellence in Profession/business award, and author/coauthor of threebooks: Understanding and Practice of Jashan Ceremony,Understanding and Practice of Obsequies and Religion of AshoZarathusht and Influence through the Ages.

The Esoterics’ 2010 season

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Jimmy Pochkhanawalla, the successfulexcise duty lawyer, is in animatedconversation with retired Supreme Courtjudge, Sam Variava. What draws him and theloyal long table groupies to the Club everyafternoon, despite summer swelter, monsoonsquall or year-round temperamental lift?Convenience? Yes, it’s just a brief’s throwaway from the High Court. The food? Yes,you are unlikely to get as hearty a lunch atthis price elsewhere. But the true attraction ismore visceral: “It is the Ripon Club’s Parsicharacter, and we will resolutely ensure thatthis never changes,” says apro Jimmyemphatically.

He elaborates, “In the 45 minutes or so thatI spend here, I can get my mental cellscompletely rejuvenated in the company oflike- minded — or more often unlike-minded– fellow Parsis. We can joke irreverentlyabout our own foibles, everybody else’sshortcomings, and freely use language thatwould make non-Parsis take offence.”

And what is this magically rechargingconversation about? Pat comes the reply:

Ripon Club

MMumbai’s Ripon club has passed into legend. I’d like to say ‘in its lifetime’,but I’m not so sure whether this place is actually alive, or whether I havewalked into a spectral place haunted by wraiths of a gilded past. Certainlythe gentlemen in white long-sleeved shirts lined up at the long table arepale and wan. However, no ghost would be able to summon the robust ‘MC-BC’ so-called ‘second-language’ of the Parsis which is flying thick and fastover the chicken dhansak being ritualistically demolished.

The Ripon Club, established 1884, is spoken of in hushed and hungry tonesnot just in Mumbai, but in the world beyond. Today, a BBC film crew is toarrive to capture this place straight out of the Raj, perhaps even Dickens.There’s something 19 th century about the place, and ‘By Gad, sir, we’regoing to keep it that way!’ Institutions are not to be trifled with, and no oneis better at preserving them than the Parsis. Arguably because everyinstitution in Mumbai seems to be Parsi. And vice versa.

by bachi karkaria

“Lewis Carroll!” and our lawyer friendlaunches into a schoolboy recitation of ‘TheWalrus and the Carpenter’: “ ‘The time hascome the Walrus said / To talk of manythings./ Of ships and sails and sealing wax /Of cabbages and kings.’ Yes. Madam, thetalk on any afternoon will cover any andevery thing.”

There’s a sanctity about the long table. Onlymembers can sit there; if they have broughta guest, they are relegated to one of thesmaller four and six-seat arrangements inthe cavernous hall. All the tables are laidwith white table linen, unstarched butunbowed.

Apro Jimmy, who joined the club in 1981, isa toddler as memberships go. The oldest interms of age is Minoo Vajifdar, 94, formerMD of Tata , and he was elevated to thisslot recently with the death in July of HomiVakil at 88, who had outlived all the peoplewho had joined the club when the pastcentury was still young. Alas, Rustomjee KBomanjee who held this record when I hadfirst encountered the Ripon Club some 40

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years ago, has passed on to the great longtable in Paradise. Lingering over mint teaand the Evening News of India (which too isnow history) in white cotton three-piece suitwith detachable mother-of-pearl buttons, hehad acerbically corrected me, “I am theoldest in membership, not in age. I’ve beenhere since 1916.” Peering through the hazeof cataract and memory, he recalled that “the club was a far livelier place. There wasan exchange of ideas. And it had thereputation of serving the best food at areasonable price. For twelve annas I usedto eat a six-course meal. And I hope youdon’t mind my saying so, Madam, but thisclub used to be more relaxed before ladieswere allowed in.”

Indeed, this was the most cataclysmic†ofthe small gusts of change that have creptpast the club’s heavy doors. At first theywere admitted on the premises only after 4pm, then they were allowed as associatemembers. But the doughty women lawyersand brokers from the nearby Bombay StockExchange soon asserted themselves, andnow enjoy full-fledged rights. The old stagemblem of the club is a mocking reminderof a historic defeat.

The secretary, Mediomaha (‘Jarthostsahebna mamava’) Canteenwalla, rifles through adog-eared AGM report and informs us thatmembership today stands at 669, withwomen accounting for 79. Mr Canteenwallais a “retired chemical engineer who spent allmy working life at Godrej”. The ‘joonnajamana ni’ 10-ft high steel cupboardsflanking the flaking walls of his ledger-piledoffice however bear the imprimatur of‘Allwyn’. Sacrilege!

We forgo the fabled Wednesday dhansak(an even bigger sacrilege). Over the akurion toast starter to the main course of ‘keema pan rolls’ (mine) and macaroni-cheese (hers), my member host, KamalMulla, tells me of the long-drawn outproblem with the building’s lift which hasmade the earlier lunch-time attendance salithin. But Wednesdays and Fridays offer farethat still makes members haul themselvesup three flights of the wide, wooden

staircase. Friday is “Parsi too, usuallypulao-dar, murghi na farcha etc”.

What do the members want of themeals,which are the club’s only noticeableactivity? The caterer, Tehmtan Dumasiareplies promptly. “Sojju ne sastu, good andcheap.” He hands us a xerox-ed copy of themonthly menu and the gratuitous


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information that he “also caters for the ParsiGymkhana, Campion school, daily dabbasand party orders”. In fact, the Ripon Clubitself is happy to host a member’s dinner oreven high-tea party; non-Parsi guests covetthe opportunity to slip into this time quainttime warp that has survived Mumbai’stsunami of change.

Indeed, for a brief period in the 1980s the‘RC’ was ‘discovered’ by the young(Sacrilege no.3?) when jazz concerts usedto be held on its terrace thanks to theaficionado Niranjan Jhaveri,who wasn’tParsi, but his wife Marina was. Theseended after ‘some’ residents of nearbybuildings objected. “Of course we Parsiswould never break the rules, less so pay tobreak them, and so we stopped the music,however popular it was,” chimed in anothermember.

For the same reason, the ‘Pithu’ hasperforce undergone a ‘change in userstatus’. It’s a strange cane trellisedenclosure. It began life as a bar, hence thename which comes from the stills in the oldParsi settlements where alcohol waslavishly brewed and quaffed. But, asPochkhanawalla points out, “We realizedthat there were too many licences to beapplied for and too many bribes to be paid.”Which the upright community would neverstoop to, no? So a TV set was installed andmembers watch cricket matches, no doubtrecalling the good old days of ‘apro Nari andapro Polly’. You can bet your last dagli thatno one, but no one, would deign to switchon the saas-bahu soaps that have the restof India enthralled.

“Times have changed,” despairsPochkhanawalla, “and it breaks my heart tosee the club’s antique Chinese vases andsilver tureens now locked behind glasscases instead of being proudly displayed.So many businesses, and Parsis, havemoved to the more affordable northBombay; the ‘Fort’ stronghold of thecommunity is a shadow of itself.”

But Sir Pherozeshah Mehta’s bust on themarble pedestal remains steadfast. Indeed

unmovable. Justifiably so. Wasn’t he themoving spirit behind the Ripon’s foundingon a sultry August Sunday in 1884 in thestately drawing room of the baronialReadymoney Hall on Malabar Hill? Inattendance was a glitter of worthies, theJeejeebhoys, Petits, Jehangirs, Banajees,Wadias, Camas, Kangas ...

With the typical compromise of thecommunity, a club formed to instilnationalism was named after a BritishViceroy. (‘I say, Sir Dinshaw, we can’t call itthe Rammohun Roy Club, can we?’)Besides, wasn’t Lord Ripon known to selectpro-Indian jurors even in cases where aBriton was in the dock? Hadn’t a Europeanclub, incensed by his sympathy for the“damned Black”, hoisted a garland of shoeson its flagpole the day he sailed away fromthe shores of Ind?

The Club grew, and soon its excellent bill offare became more popular than its politics.No one can blame the Parsis for not gettingtheir priorities right. Grand banquets andlavish entertainment was laid on for thecity’s important citizens; the magnificentterrace was the venue of many a ball wherethe finest orchestras played and the gentrywaltzed till dawn broke over the tiled roofs.When Sir Cusrow Wadia bowed out of thetextile industry selling his Century Mills toSir Chunnilal Mehta, where else could thefarewell dinner be held but at the Ripon?

But soon the glitter began to tarnish. Thesun had set on the Empire, and with it fadedthe Parsi hey-day. The past glory slunk intothe shadows, or at least sunk into the‘fornicator’ arm chairs still lining one wall ofthe dining room. They remain the privilegeand preserve of the older solicitors snoringaway their lunch.

Tread softly, stranger, for the ghosts thatlurk here are precious and unique. Outsideroars a raucous world of thundering double-deckers and strident commerce. But here inthe cool shaded hall, this is but a distantwhisper. The faded portraits of baronets, thedull black Burma teak sideboards, thechiming clocks, yes even hat racks, all

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stand observing an eternal minute’s silence to the memory of amore gracious era. In the mottled glass bookcases, volumes quietlydisintegrate: D F Karaka and Rustom Masani, the classics, outdatedencyclopedias, bound copies of†ancient National Geographic.

We tiptoe out of this world of Dhansak and Dickens and leaveundisturbed Muncherjee Micawber waiting for something to turn up(probably caramel custard), Pestonjee Pickwick perusing theafternoon papers and Cyrus Marner poring over his gilt-edged pot ofTata shares.

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Photos taken by Tommy Dumasia on behalf of Hamazor, after written permissionsought from Ripon Club, Mumbai.

Bachi Karkaria is National Metro Editor of The Times of India. She is the first Indian on the board of theWorld Editors Forum; she also sits on the Board of the India AIDS Initiative of the Bill & Melinda GatesFoundation.

She is popular columnist, an authority on urbanisation and AIDS, and recipient of the internationalMary Morgan-Hewitt Award for Lifetime Achievement. She is the author of ‘Dare To Dream’ (Viking-Penguin), the best-selling biography of M S Oberoi, as well as two collections, “Erratica” and “Your FlipIs Showing”. She has adapted The Rummy Game, a play which has been successfully staged in India,Europe and the USA.

The first Indians to take up cricket when theBritish introduced the game in India, wereParsis. They dominated the game in Mumbaifor more than a century but lately the Parsisof this city are not attracted to the game.

The Parsee Gymkhana, the Parsee CyclistClub and former captain of the Indian teamNari Contractor have announced a project torevive the game in the community. The BPPwill provide grounds at its housing colonies inByculla, Colaba and Napean Sea Road totrain young Parsis in the game with formerRanji player Zubin Bharucha as coach.

The Rustomjee Group who are financing theproject have created pitches, trainingenclosures and will provide kits. Boman Irani,chairman and managing director said,“Cricket is an immensely popular sport inIndia and the world over, and is a favouriteamong the Parsi community. We are happy tobe associated with the cause and sponsor the

game among younger generation of thecommunity to further promote cricket.”

After the Oriental Cricket Club was formed in1848, more than two dozen other clubs sprungup in the Parsi localities. When a group ofParsis travelled to Britain in 1886 to play, theywere the first Indians to do so. Players such as,Russy Mody, Polly Umrigar, Nari Contractor,Farokh Engineer and Rusy Surti played for thenational team. In the 1961-62 Indian tour toWest Indies, there were four Parsis on the teambut the last time any Parsi was on the Indianteam was wicket keeper Farokh Engineer in the70s. Since Bharucha played in the MumbaiRanji team in the 1990s there has been noplayer from the community. Neville Wadia, aformer Kanga League player was recentlymentioned in the Guinness Book of Recordswhen he became the oldest player to score acentury in T-20 cricket at the age of 64. q[source: http://www.ndtv.com/article/cities/cricket-pitch-parsis-aim-to-recover-lost-ground-59705]

Mumbai Parsis encouraged to play cricket


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In its hey day the YMZA had its own cricketteam and even offered ambulance and firstaid services under Dr KaikhusrowContractor. The YMZA was often thepreferred forum for lectures by the learnedDastur Dhalla. In addition the society hostedliterary activities including readings fromShakespeare and the Shahnameh as wellas religious activities including communalprayers on Hamkaras. The association’scommitment to literary and cultural pursuitswas such that in 1923 the great poet and

Young Mazdayasnian Zoroastrian Association, Karachi,celebrate their centenary

FFew organizations endure past the first few years of their existence. Oncethe fervour of the initial founders dims it is difficult to sustain theorganization and after those founding fathers are gone often so is theorganization that was founded on high principles and noble aspirations. Notso the YMZA. Founded in 1910, by the then youthful and enthusiastic malemembers of our community (and thus the name) it was named the “YoungMen’s Zoroastrian Association”.

YMZA was founded along the lines of the Young Men’s ChristianAssociation (YMCA) with a special emphasis on religion, literature anddrama. The call to form the organization was given by Pherozeshah RMehta, the editor of the Parsi newspaper the Parsi Sansar. DinshawNadirshaw Kabraji mobilized the young men of the BVS to come together toform the organization and thus the YMZA was founded with Sir JehangirKothari as President, Sheriarji Contractor and Jamshed Nusserwanji assecretaries, Dinshaw Kabraji as Treasurer, and Dr Dhalla as Advisor.

by shahpur maneckji

Pherozeshah R Mehta Sir Jehangir Kothari Sheriarji Contractor Jamshed Nusserwanji Dinshaw Kabraji Dr Dhalla

writer Rabindranath Tagore accepted aninvitation to the society to an event held inhis honour. [this event was jointly hostedwith KZBM, the ‘sister’ assoc. - Ed]. Inaddition classical Indian dancer, UdayShankar and singer, Omkarnathperformed for the patrons of the society.By this time the YMZA had its own hall,the Hormusji Katrak Hall and a library,the Sohrab Katrak library.Other prominent presidents and workersof the YMZA include Sohrab Katrak and

Rabindranath Tagore

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later on Behram Rustomji who revived theYMZA after a period of inactivity along withZal Contractor, Feredoon Dadachanji,Kawas Colabewala and Godrej Sidhwa, thelatter who continues to render service to thecommunity and the YMZA.

The organization which was formed inBritish India has weathered turbulent timesfrom the partition of the subcontinent towars and civil strife and a changingdemographic landscape, which has seenyounger members of the community moveaway from Pakistan.

But with the exodus of the Parsis to far offlands the youth of YMZA went into oblivionand were left with some die hard memberswho struggled to keep YMZA alive but dueto lack of enthuse a time came when allYMZA activities came to a halt.

Even though the YMZA has been dormantfor stretches of time some young stalwart orthe other has always come along toshepherd it through difficult times and into anew era of community service.

In 1990, one such group of our community’syouth took over the reigns and after ahiccoughing start set the ball rolling. Therechristened Young MazdayasnianZoroastrian Association (to be moreinclusive and allow females into its rank andfile and onto the Council of Management)has rekindled the flame alighted by ourforefathers. In these last two decades,YMZA has managed to successfullyreactivate all the dormant events of YMZAand introduced some new activities. Theresponse of our community towards allthese events has been overwhelming.YMZA’s signature events, the elocutioncompetitions, film viewings and religiouslectures are being held in tandem with thenewer annual events like the musiccompetition, the art competition and GujratiNaataks (plays). A conscious effort towardsour elders is being made by way of holdingregular activities for the BMH Parsi Hospitaland infirmary patients.Today’s Council of Management include -Shahpur Maneckji (President ), Ervad

Sohrab Katrak Behram Rustomji Zal S D Contractorcourtesy Aalla Contractor

Feredoon Dadachanjicourtesy Zarin Kakalia

Godrej Sidhwacourtesy Dina Sidhwa

No photograph availableof Kawas Colabewala

YMZA building in 1920 which unfortunately does not exist today

Godrej Sidhwa, Behroze Khambatta, KaizerIrani (Joint Honorary Secretary), Dinshaw BAvari (Joint Honorary Secretary), FreddySidhwa (Honorary Treasurer), NergeshJamasji, Perin Mama, Shahrazad Irani,Natasha Mobed, Natasha Mavalvala &Ratanshaw Makujina.

YMZA’s main aims are -a) The diffusion of secular, ethical andreligious knowledge and the cultivation ofelocutionary and argumentative powers bymeans of lectures, debates, and readings

All photographs arefrom the archives ofToxy Cowasjeebarring thosementioned


35

on literary and scientific subjects, openeither to the members of the Associationonly or to the general public as theAssociation may from time to timedetermine.

b) The promotion of the interests ofthe Parsi community.

c) The promotion of goodwill andfriendliness by means of social gatherings,entertainments, and such other functions.

d) The promotion of all sports andgames indoors and outdoors – for thephysical well being of the Parsi community.

The Association as a body being non-political does not join nor affiliate itself withany political activity or movement. Thisshall not, however, debar members fromlecturing on subjects political under theauspices of the Association at meetings ofthe Parsi community.

YMZA’s main competitions are -

q Katayun & Navroze Maneckji’s DrPithawala English Poetry & Prosecompetition in Englishq Athornan Mandal’s Macca & DarabSachinwala Gujrati elocution competitionMinwalla Music Competitionq Jamshed Mehta English Elocutioncompetitionq Hilla & Noshir Jamasji Drawing &Painting Competition

The YMZA library, initially established at theKatrak Hall, has been moved to theDinshaw B Avari Colony and amalgamatedwith the Dastur Dr Dhalla library.

To commemorate the centenary of theYMZA on 21st March 2010, acommemorative silver coin was made andsold to the Karachi Zarthostis and thediaspora; a jashan ceremony held on March21; on special request by YMZA, MrsRashna Gazdar’s (nee Bhumgara) Schoolof Music put on a piano recital on March 28,for the community; a special Centenary

competition entitled “Su Tamay PaanchmiClass Na Student Thee Hushiar Chao?” onJune 5; finally, a natak troupe will performfor the entire Gujarati community of Karachion November 5 th - 7th 2010, called “Kutra NiPunchdi Waaki” also known as “BicharoBurjor”, directed by Yazdi Karanjia.

Synopsis:For starters,Kutra ni Punchdi Waankimeans a dog’s tail is never straight. Nomatter how much and how long one tries, adog’s tail can never straighten. This is thetheme that runs through this hilarious dramaabout a play-boyish husband and his family.

Burjor is the main character of the play - acarefree young man prone to gaiety. Hetakes full advantage of the opportunityafforded by the temporary absence of hiswife, Farida, to invite over an old flame,Dinavaz. Unfortunately, Farida’s suddenreturn earlier than expected upsets Burjor’sapplecart. Farida comes home just at thewrong time, when Dinavaz is visiting himand scampers to hide somewhere. Indesperation, to conceal the reality, Burjorcalls upon his friend Jehanbux to extricatehim from his awkward predicament. To addinsult to injury, Burjor’s ‘ex-ex’ old flame andother acquaintances drop by. Now thesituation is one complication after another.The two friends work as a team to keepeveryone happy. Will they succeed? q

YMZAs commemorative coin

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The Archbishop waswelcomed to theZoroastrian Trust Fundsof Europe (ZTFE) by MrMalcolm M Deboo,President of ZTFE, on arainy Friday afternoon, 1October 2010 at 1:45pm.Parsi Zoroastrian womenwearing traditionalcolourful garas welcomedHis Grace by performingthe traditional ‘achhumichu’ ceremony andshowering him with rice.Mrs Shernaz B Sadri JP,ZTFE Joint SocialSecretary, placed agarland of flowers on theArchbishop’s shoulders,followed by the IranianZoroastrian women - MrsMahnaz Ostad and Mrs MandanaMoavenat, sprinkling rosewater, allowingHis Grace to see his face in the mirror andoffering him figs, almonds, pistachio nutsand Persian sweets.

His Grace was delighted to see thephotograph of his friend the Late ProfessorMary Boyce “Honoured Friend of the ZTFE”adorn the walls of the Zoroastrian Centre.President Deboo was informed by HisGrace that he had known Professor Boyce

The Lord Archbishop of Canterbury visits ZTFE, UK

report from malcolm deboo

ZZoroastrians welcomed The Most Rev’d & Rt Hon Dr Rowan Williams, LordArchbishop of Canterbury to their place of worship in Harrow. Thefoundation of the See of Canterbury by St Augustine dates from 597 AD,thus it was a historic first for both religions – Zoroastrianism andChristianity for the senior most religious leader in the UK, second only toHer Majesty, The Queen, and the senior most primate bishop of theworldwide Anglican Communion to visit a Zoroastrian place of worship.

and aware of herimmense contribution toZoroastrian Studies. HisGrace had spent much ofhis earlier career as alecturer in divinity at theUniversities of Cambridgeand Oxford successivelyand was delighted to learnfrom President Deboo,that Professor Boycetogether with theZoroastrian philanthropistsZartoshty Brothers hadestablished the only Chairin Zoroastrian Studies inthe world at the School ofOriental and AfricanStudies, University ofLondon.

Malcolm Deboo formallywelcomed His Grace, The Lord Archbishopof Canterbury, noting the visit as “historical,the first time in the 149 year old history ofthe Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe, thatwe have been graced by the presence ofthe Archbishop of Canterbury. To the bestof my knowledge it is the first time in thehistory of Christianity and Zoroastrianismthat an Archbishop of Canterbury has madean official visit to a Zoroastrian place ofworship. We are delighted and humbled youhave put time aside to spend the day with

Shernaz Sadri welcoming The Archbishop of

Canterbury. © Max Nash


37

us face to face and get to know us better.We believe you are a true friend to make somuch free time available to us. WeZoroastrians value your friendship andpresent to you today a mosaic spread of ourZoroastrian religion, heritage, culture andcuisine”. He invited the Archbishop to raiseany question and points he may wish to beaddressed.

His Grace the Lord Archbishop responded bysaying, that he was looking forward to hisvisit and added; “For a community relativelysmall in size, its contribution has beenenormous to the life of this country and alsoto the life of so many great world religions.”His Grace added; “In the light of thiscommunity I feel that I am touching somevery great root of the religious inspiration ofso many of the world religious faiths at thispresent point in time”. The Archbishopexpressed his delight at being invited to“listen, learn and deepen our friendship”,adding that “for a small community in sizeyour contribution is great”. His Graceconcluded by thanking his Zoroastrian hostby stating; “It’s important in this country toremember the smaller communities of faith,just as I have sometimes said; there is nosuch thing as a small church, only smallChristians. Heart and vision is whatmatters.”

Lord Karan Bilimoria CBE DL Baron ofChelsea, spoke of the close links that theZoroastrians had forged with the BritishEmpire, who considered the community asimpartial and people of integrity. HisLordship gave an account of the first threenon-English members of Parliament whowere all Zoroastrians, the contributions ofZoroastrian owned global companies to theBritish economy, such as the House of Tata,which since its foundation in the nineteenthcentury has given away two thirds of allprofits to worthwhile causes.

Dr Rashna Writer, Historian and Lecturer inZoroastrian Studies at SOAS, gave anaccount of “Who are the Zoroastrians?”ZTFE Past President and current VicePresident Paurushasp Jila gave a powerpoint presentation of the history of the

establishment of the present dayZoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe. CounselEmeritus Noshir Avari, informed theArchbishop of the concept and mode ofZoroastrian worship in the United Kingdomand mentioned that during all the 35Jashans, the Zoroastrian priests pray for‘the monarch, for it is under her rule, in herland that we must live’.

Ms Nazreen K Avari, Religious Teacher ofthe Zoroastrian Education Fun Club, gave apower point presentation on how Zoroastrianvalues were being inculcated into the veryyoung through the religious educational funclub she runs with two other teachers.Master of Ceremonies, Past President DorabMistry, invited the Archbishop and guests towatch a short film “Zoroastrian footprints onsands of time”, premiered at Ninth WorldZoroastrian Congress in Dubai 2009. The filmhighlighted the advancement of theZoroastrian community as they have migratedthroughout the world in the last 50 years.

Ms Shernaz Engineer, the founder of VerityGroup, a London based employmententerprise, and Chairperson of WorldZoroastrian Chamber of Commerce (WZCC),UK Chapter, informed the Archbishop of herendeavour to promote entrepreneurshipamongst the Zoroastrians therebyexpressing ethical and moral values throughcommerce. Mr Jehangir Sarosh, an eminentinterfaith representative and PresidentEmeritus of Religions for Peace Europe,spoke about the Zoroastrian community’sactive involvement in furthering interfaithdialogue in UK and Europe.

Mrs Zerbanoo Gifford founder Trustee ofAsha Centre, eminent Social Worker, writer,politician and former Harrow Councillor –first Asian Councillor elected - and Liberalpolitician, spoke of the “Asha Centre”, as aplace of ‘beauty and inspiration for all faithsand people’ on Zoroastrian principles for thepreservation of the natural elements of theearth and of goodness and charity.

After the formal presentations His Graceengaged with the speakers by askingquestions on the various presentations he had

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heard. This was followed by a tea breakwhere The Archbishop sampled sweet milkytea with mint and home made Zoroastriandelicacies including sweet natural yogurt,sev and ravo (roasted vermicelli andsemolina dishes garnished with almonds,cashews, pistachios and sultanas), dar-nipori (pie made from rice flour stuffed withsweet lentils), dried fruits and nuts, Iranianbaklava, naan khataai and batasas (sweetand savoury crumbly biscuits).

The Archbishop together with the Bishop ofWillesden and other eminent guests wereinvited by the Zoroastrian priests, dressed inwhite robes, to visit the Setayash Gah(prayer room) to witness a demonstration ofthe Zoroastrian Bui Ceremony (feeding theHoly Fire) with the recital of the Atash Nyish(litany to fire). President Deboo explained toHis Grace the significance of various stagesof the procedures for the act of reverence ofthe Fire; that the Zoroastrian religionrecognises a consecrated sacred fire as aliving entity. Thus it has an immortal souland a proper name, generically referred toas “Atash Padshah”.

At 5pm the Zoroastrian Centre was open toZTFE members and their families to celebrateJashn-e Mehregan and dine with His GraceThe Lord Archbishop of Canterbury. Amongstthe 400 plus audience were many invitednoteworthy guests. His Grace The LordArchbishop of Canterbury together with theBishop of Willesden re-entered the ZartoshtyBrothers Hall, the fire was lit in a silverafarganyu (fire urn) on the stage and AtashNyish (litany to fire) recited by the Zoroastrianpriests. During the recital, His Grace had hishead covered and was following the prayersin the Khordeh Avesta in EnglishTransliteration and Translation by ErvadKavasji Edulji Kanga. After the recital ErvadRustom K Bhedwar gave a brief explanationof the ceremony.

Following the prayers, Mandana Moavenatwished everybody a happy Mehregan inEnglish and Persian followed by apresentation on the observance ofMehregan. Mandana concluded by thankingthe generosity of Mrs Goli and Late

MehrabanFarhangito whomZTFEextendtheirheartfeltgratitudefor theircontinuoussupport ofJashn-eMehregan.

TheArchbishop,honouredguestsand theZoroastriancongregation,were thenentertainedby thechildren ofthe

Zoroastrian Education Fun Club, aged from 4to 14, to the performance of Sheer-e Shireen– The Sweetened Milk. His Grace thoroughlyenjoyed the performance and the positivemessage of Sheer-e /Shireen of welcomingrefugees.

President Deboo in his address welcomed HisGrace The Lord Archbishop, as a Friend ofthe Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe and ofthe Zoroastrian community in the UK. ThePresident stated that Zoroastrians valued thisfriendship as it allowed them to sweeten themilk by contributing to the wellbeing of theUK, just as Zoroastrians continue do in India,the country that gave our ancestors religioussanctuary over a thousand years ago.

Past President Dorab E Mistry narrated thejourney of the ZTFE, during his presidency,purchasing a heavily dilapidated grade II* listedheritage building in 2000. By working inpartnership with English Heritage and HarrowCouncil the building was restored by 2005under the supervision of architect and pastPresident Mr Shahrokh Shahrokh. Herecounted that when the ZTFE entered into

The Archbishop with President Malcolm Deboo.

© Harrow Times


39

agreement to purchase the site from theexiting owners it did not have the requiredfunds, but the Zoroastrian community hadrallied and donated money. Past PresidentMistry was certain that there was aninvisible hand working in background as itbrought forward the Zartoshty Brothers, thelegendary philanthropists to contribute thelion share of funds not only to purchase butalso to restore the building to its originalbeauty for which the Zoroastrian Centrewas awarded the plaque by HarrowHeritage Trust. Today the Zoroastrian Centreis the only registered Zoroastrian place ofworship in the UK.His Grace commenced by thanking theZTFE and the Zoroastrian community fortheir warmth in welcoming him earlier in theafternoon and thanking all those who madepresentations to educate him, verysuccessfully and so very attractively aboutZoroastrianism. His Grace also thanked theyoung children for their magnificentperformance of ‘Sheer-e Shireen’ observingthat he had expected to meet some newfriends today, but had not expected to meetprophets, priests and kings. He informedthe audience that he was familiar with theZoroastrian faith in his personal capacity ashe had a Zoroastrian friend, but alsoacademically recognised that the threeAbrahamic religions – Judaism, Christianityand Islam, were deeply saturated withIranian (Zoroastrian) religious imagery andideas. In his closing remarks, His Gracereturned to the Zoroastrian integrity andstanding before a purifying fire, which iscentral in the Zoroastrian tradition, aconcept shared by all in the UK and in ourworld at the moment. He concluded bythanking the Zoroastrians not only for theirhospitality but for inspiration. [TheArchbishop’s full address follows after thereport].

The Zoroastrian priests made apresentation of a woollen shawl, wrapping itaround the shoulders of His Grace, which isa traditional mark of respect to holders ofhigh office, together with a silver ZTFEmedal. This was followed by a presentationof the Gatha CD by Trustee Ervad RustomK Bhedwar. On behalf of the Iranian

Zoroastrian community, Mandana Moavenatpresented His Grace with a Zoroastriancarpet from Iran. ZTFE Presidentpresented a copy of the 6kg book; “AZoroastrian Tapestry: Art Religion andCulture”, edited by Pheroza Godrej andFiroza Punthakey Mistree.

Following the close of the formalproceedings, His Grace The LordArchbishop was escorted out of theZartoshty Brothers Hall and led to thebalcony accompanied by ZTFE Presidentand Lord Bilimoria, to engage withZoroastrians and invited guests. Forty-fiveminutes later, the Archbishop re-entered theZartoshty Brothers Hall and was invited topartake in Ghambar with all present, forsagan-nu dhun dar (rice and lentil dish),kolmi-no paatio (prawns in sweet and sourtomato gravy) and lagan-nu custard (bakedcustard). His Grace enjoyed the hearty mealjust as he had the various Zoroastriandelicacies served earlier at tea.

At exactly 8:30pm as previously agreedbetween Lambeth Palace and ZTFE, HisGrace departed the Zartoshty Brothers Hallfor the last time to the cheers and claps ofZoroastrians. q

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Archbishop of Canterbury’s address to the Zoroastriancommunity

President Malcolm Deboo, Lord Bilimoria, Honoured Guests andfriends:

My first very pleasant duty is to say what a great pleasure and privilegeit’s been to be welcomed as I have been welcomed this afternoon bythis community. I must say a special word of thanks first to all thosewho made presentations this afternoon to educate us so verysuccessfully and so very attractively about Zoroastrianism.

Second my thanks to the young people who presented us with such amagnificent performance of the ‘sweetening of the milk’. I hadexpected to meet some new friends today, but I hadn’t expected to meetprophets, priests and kings.

One of my dearest friends came from a Zoroastrian family - the late,much lamented and much loved Nadir Dinshaw, who although he hadgrown up as a Christian spoke to me time and time again of howimportant in his life had been the heritage of the Zoroastriancommunity and Zoroastrian faith. Almost every time we met and thatwas quite frequently over many years, he would speak about his belovedgrandmother and about how most of what he understood about Godhad come from his grandmother. I think it is possibly something that grandmothers do the world over, topass on the knowledge of God, but that’s a matter for another session.

But I remember what he said because it brought alive for me the way in which some religious communitiesseem to be destined by their history to be interpreters of different worlds. Very often these are communitiesthat have been through deep trauma, that have been uprooted, displaced, that have a history of suffering, andyet somehow through all that have been given the great gift of spreading reconciliation because they have hadto inhabit so many different worlds and speak so many different languages. They have a role in bringingstrangers together; and this is one such community. It is a community whose history going back overthousands of years now is a history of displacement, after that long period of which we have been remindedtoday, when Zoroastrianism was the faith of one of the world’s greatest civilisations and one of the greatempires of the ancient world. From that came centuries of wandering and of creating new life in alienenvironments. Lord Bilimoria spoke a little while ago about the way in which loss and suffering brings youclose to the edge of despair and yet generates somehow a strange energy and perhaps a new depth. That iscertainly, once again, the history of this community.

Years ago when I was first doing my academic research I focused on the life of the Russian ÈmigrÈs; in Parisand there once again you see a small group of people dispersed, uprooted and traumatised, stripped of thepower and influence they once had. And yet, when they arrived in Western Europe they became anextraordinary catalyst for new thinking, new discoveries, new spiritual depths. That kind of communityshows some kind of analogy to what’s happened in Zoroastrian communities century after century.

Of course it is one of those many areas in which the experience of the Zoroastrians and the experience ofthe Jewish people comes so close together. I spoke earlier this afternoon in my introductory remarks about

The Archbishop addresses the

Zoroastrian community. © Lambeth


41

the way in which the Zoroastrian faith and the Zoroastrian heritage had fed into the mainstream of so many of the greatreligions. When I first began to study the Bible seriously and began looking at the footnotes (not always a good ideabut sometimes it has to be done) again and again there would be references to “the influence of Iranian ideas”. Andmost of those who have read the Jewish scriptures with care and attention will realise that, yet again, the experience ofuprootedness and exile for the Jewish people, exiles in the Persian culture, meant that they too became carriers andinterpreters of new ideas. When they returned from exile they brought with them a new vision of angelic protectors, ofa battle between good and evil forces in the universe, a sense of the impending end of things when we would standbefore our maker, even the hope of a saviour.

Through that Jewish absorption of Iranian ideas, Christians themselves took on many of the most characteristic featuresof their faith. And when the Muslim faith begins centuries later there is once again a sense of the deep penetration ofthe imagery and thinking and poetry of that faith by some of these ancient traditions and insights. When we speak ofthe three Abrahamic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, we might speak of three religions deeply saturated withIranian ideas and religious traditions also.

But that’s not all, because the Zoroastrian community, displaced into the great Indian sub-continent, that astonishing,fertile, hospitable environment where so many religions have rubbed up against each other for so many centuries oreven millennia, that transposition to India meant that the Zoroastrian community became yet again an interpreter, amediator between different worlds. It carried with it an understanding of the complex religious environment of India,the Hindu & Sikh traditions, Jainism and Buddhism, as if this community through its history and its geography wasdestined to be one carrying all these histories, all these legacies, all these understandings of God, befriending them all,threatening none of them. That is a very great gift of God, a very great gift to the rest of us through this community.

But there is a little more to say and Lord Bilimoria has once again given me the cue to say it: ‘Industry and integrity’.Integrity is something we all long to grow into in our own lives and is something that we long to see in our society.When there is a bit of a famine of integrity we all feel it - and we have all felt it at times, sadly, in this country in thelast few years. We know what we’re missing: integrity, the word itself, comes from the Latin for ‘wholeness’. Integrity isthe ability to hold your life together, not to let it be fragmented, broken up, with parts of it hidden and parts of itrevealed, but rather to be able to stand in the light, in the truth without fear. That’s integrity, but for that to be real weneed a sense of the living truth, of a living light to which we are answerable, which pours out strength and benefit uponus; a reality that we’re responsible to and yet a reality that is a caring environment for us, the reality ultimately of God.

We Christians read in our Scriptures that ‘our God is a consuming fire’. We recognise that that image of painfulpurification fire suggests is one which tells us that integrity, that wholeness, is costly. It’s hard work letting go of ourlives and our self protections and that is why the call to integrity is something which will never be simple, yet is alwaysattractive, because we want wholeness.

So this faith, this religious tradition and this community, for which the concept of integrity standing before a purifyingfire, is so central, is a tradition and a language which has a very great deal to say to all of us in this country and in ourworld at the moment. Integrity is vital for us, integrity is hard work - but it can be done when we believe that the light,strength and life in whose presence we stand, the God in whose presence we sit, is a God whose will is for ourwholeness and our welfare.

So let me say thank you not only for hospitality but for inspiration. Thank you for witness to that fiery integrity whichmany centuries, many millennia of your history shows us. Thank you for that contribution to the world of religiousdialogue which you represent and which you have inhabited in so many different places and in so many differentlanguages, and in all of them shown the same honesty and welcome. Thank you for the gifts you have given all of us,the gifts God has given through you; thank you once again for making me so much at home in this unforgettableenvironment and this unforgettable community.

© Rowan Williams

q

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PHis trials, tribulations, and “exhilaratingexperience” (p 415) of peacemaking as theUnited Nations Secretary General’sPersonal Representative have beenchronicled by Ambassador Marker in anearlier volume – East Timor: A Memoir ofthe Negotiations for Independence(Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland,2003). The current volume leads readersthrough the complicated world of thesecond half of the 20 th century – fromcolonialism to post-colonialism and the riseof nationalism and fundamentalism.

Through it all, Jamsheed Marker did notsimply hobnob with the globe’s movers andshakers; he was and still is one of themdespite the modest title of his narrative tourde force. On each page of Quiet Diplomacy,the reader will glean not just Marker’s“constant endeavor ... to record ... theevents” but will learn much about how andwhy events transpired as they did thanks tohis generously proffering “personal thoughtsand reactions at the time they [ie, theevents] occurred” (p 420).

Early in his diplomatic career within Ghana,Guinea, and Mali, Marker witnessed the riseand fall of African hopes for stable statesthat should have represented citizens’ willsand fulfilled their aspirations (pp 13-40). Hedoes not mince words in summing up an

Quiet Diplomacy: Memoirs of an Ambassador of Pakistan

Quiet Diplomacy:Memoirs of anAmbassador ofPakistanJamsheed MarkerKarachi: OxfordUniversity Press,2010pp. xii + 448Pakistan Rs795

reviewed by jamsheed choksy

Pakistan’s President Field Marshal Ayub Khan made an exceedingly wisechoice when he recruited Jamsheed Marker into the Foreign Service in 1965at the suggestion of Foreign Secretary Aziz Ahmed (pp 1-9). Alreadyseasoned by training and service as an officer in the colonial Navy, andhaving garnered entrepreneurial skills in the maritime industry of newly-independent Pakistan, Marker was ripe to combine those skills with theimpeccable graciousness of his family background in forging a gloriouscareer first as a national ambassador and subsequently as an internationalpeacemaker.

underlying reason for the devastation thatAfrica has been experiencing: “a regioncaught up in the throes of theconsequences of an event, which hadtranspired on a different continent, in anearlier century ... The Berlin Conference ...[and] ... Partition Treaties” (p 18). Yet heappropriately points out that local leadersoften were “autocrats” (p 17) whose“ideological whims proved even moredamaging to the economy” of nations (p 23)where problems were already beingcompounded by mounting poverty (p 37).

Marker’s career is remarkable for his knack atbeing at the right place at the right time, fornext he held ambassadorships to Romania,Bulgaria, and the former Soviet Union (pp 45-164) during the turbulent late 1960s and early1970s when American and Russian rivalrieshad crystalized in the Cold War. Markercontrasts the “stunning variety of naturalbeauty” (p 47) with those communist nations“ruthless” leaders (pp 59, 79). Woven amidstthe geopolitics are cultural gems likeperformances of the Bolshoi Theatre (pp 81-82) and tender memories of his daughterswishing goodnight to Soviet spies wholistened through a microphone in theirbedroom (p 113).

Then he plunged into nuclear proliferationissues as ambassador to Canada (pp 171-


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q

172). Yet there too Jamsheed Marker foundtime to savor the land – even the ArcticCircle (p 176). After stints in thencommunist East Germany with concurrentaccreditation to democratic Iceland,Ambassador Marker learned the ways ofthe Land of the Rising Sun – especially inconnection with Japaneseentrepreneurship, foreign policy, andnational security (pp 225-229). Next in hissteady upward rise, it was off to the UnitedNations in Geneva where constantinteractions with international bureaucratsserving the various UN organizations furtherhoned Marker’s already monumentaldiplomatic skills, from 1978-1980 (pp 239-259), even as he endured a family tragedy.

Jamsheed Marker would go on to representPakistan in Bonn, Paris, and Dublin aspolitical, economic, and social conditions inAfghanistan deteriorated and Pakistani-American involvement there grew (pp 298-302). So it was most fitting that he waschosen to serve as Pakistan’s ambassadorto Washington DC in 1986 where he wouldbe directly enmeshed in dealing with “therevolving door of the American politicalsystem, whereby persons of talent,capability, and wealth move into publicoffice ... and place their skills andexperience, at the service of the nation” (p312). President Ronald Reagan’s warmwishes for Marker’s birthday, whichcoincided with his presentation ofcredentials at the White House (p 316),proved an auspicious beginning. DespitePakistan’s nuclear ambitions and the crisisin Afghanistan owing to the Soviet-Russianpresence there, Marker would become amost-highly respected diplomat not onlyamong his international colleagues but withAmerican politicians as well (pp 328-353).

A brief interregnum, filled with teaching atEckerd College in Florida, was quicklyinterrupted by a return to national service –this time as Pakistan’s PermanentRepresentative to the United NationsGeneral Assembly in New York. That 4-yearassignment (pp 368-415) took Marker intothe heart of global decision-making: the UNSecurity Council. Twice during his tenure in

New York, Pakistan assumed the rotatingpresidency of the Security Council (p 393).There, at the lofty heights of internationaldiplomacy, Ambassador Marker’s greattalents were put to test dealing with crises inBosnia, North Korea, and Rwanda.

Ambassador Marker’s diplomatic memoirsare a poignant tale as well, by an astuteinsider, of how much Pakistan itself haschanged from “a moderate Muslim state –peaceful, progressive, and developing onsound economic lines” (p 3) to “nationalself-denial ... with the government inIslamabad becoming dysfunctional” (pp413-414). It is a sweeping eyewitnessaccount of a world and a nation in the trialsof modernity, by an individual who is verymuch an homme engagÈ involved in theimportant events and ideas of his time.

The characteristics of “idealism andintellectual humility” that Jamsheed Markerobserved among the best of humans duringhis travels far and wide (p 421) apply in fullmeasure to him as well. Throughout threedecades of serving Pakistan and the world,Ambassador Jamsheed Marker was notonly aware of the “successes and failures”of statecraft but, as important, brought tothat great endeavor “the test of reason” (p421). So read Ambassador Marker’s lavishlyillustrated book, and learn from aninternationally-respected statesman howand why geopolitics is so complicated,vibrant, and absolutely pertinent to all ourlives.

Jamsheed K Choksy is professor ofCentral Eurasian, Iranian, Islamic,and International Studies and formerdirector of the Middle Eastern Studiesprogramme at Indiana University,Bloomington. He also is a member ofthe National Council on theHumanities at the US NationalEndowment for the Humanities. Theviews expressed are his own.

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to mark the Shenshahi Navroze, 10 Parsi personalities who one would enjoymeeting or want at your dinner table were profiled by Deepika Sorabjee on19 August, 2010.http://www.cnngo.com/mumbai/life/10-mumbai-parsis-you-wish-you-knew-847800

Shaheen Mistry, 39, social activist and educationistShaheen Mistry makes one marvel at how a simple idea, when backed withdedication and belief, can make a real difference to so many. She is the founderof both Akanksha and Teach for India. For 20 years Akanksha’s dedicatedvolunteers, led by Mistry, have changed the lives of underprivileged childrenthrough art and education. And they continue to do so. They’re now looking toexpand into existing government schools.

Teach for India, a newer idea and larger in scope, is taking the endeavor furtherafield. “Teach For India is a nationwide movement of outstanding college

graduates and young professionals who will commit two years to teach full time in under resourcedschools...” They’re currently open for applications for their fellowship programme, which has 8,000places to fill. Through education, Mistry, a recent TED India speaker, hopes that the people shetouches will become more self sufficient, with a possible route out of poverty.

Astad Deboo, 63, contemporary dancerHe apprenticed with the legendary Pina Bausch and the Wuppertal Dancecompany early on in his career, which led to his life-long dedication to dance.Facing hardships that all new art faces in terms of funding and appreciation, hisis a remarkable career that blossomed against the odds. “The main problem isthe lack of platforms and presenters for modern dance,” in India, he says.

Deboo’s performances with Manipuri drummers, the deaf children from Chennai andthe children of Mumbai’s Salaam Balak Trust have taken him from Brazil, tochoreographing a dance in Mani Ratnam’s latest film “Raavan,” to the recentcoronation of the new King of Bhutan. He will soon go to the Commonwealth Games

in Delhi. His new work “Incontro” is a collaboration with Swiss choreographer Thomas Mettler andpremieres in Munich late October. Sadly the world sees far more of him than we do in Mumbai. [Hamazorhad commissioned Ramu Ramanathan to interview Astad Deboo which appeared in Issue 3/2002 pp50-52]

Sarosh Patel, 39, event managerHis unflappable manner helped Zubin Mehta conduct the Israel PhilharmonicOrchestra smoothly through an outdoor concert with Placido Domingo singing infront of a 5,000-strong crowd at the Cricket Club of India grounds in 2008. It wasPatel’s covered stage and arrangements that ensured a successful eveningthrough the light drizzle and subsequent spectacular fireworks. As the evening hadto observe Mumbai’s strict 10 pm ‘noise’ deadline, his clockwork arrangements andon-the-spot adjustments were just the thing to please all parties.

His event management firm Effects Tech hosts corporate events for majorcompanies across India and music concerts as well.

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Kainaz Messman, 29, chef entrepreneurKainaz Messman’s Theobroma has, in the few short years since it first fired itsovens, become something of an institution at the southern end of ColabaCauseway. Serving cakes, sandwiches, excellent brownies and coffee, it is ahangout for tourists, the college crowd and all us mums who need to tuck in anduse ‘stocking up for our hungry kids’ as an excuse. Messman’s family pitches in;after all Kainaz cut her teeth early helping in her mother’s home-baking businesswhile still a young girl.

Ever smiling, she finds time to chat however busy and will often ask you to samplesomething new from the ovens with your coffee. After graduating from catering

college at the Institute of Hotel Management in Mumbai, she honed her skills as apastry chef with years of rigorous training at Oberoi hotels around the country. Thebusiness took a while to pick up as she learnt commerce on the job, but she now hasoutlets in Bandra and Mahalaxmi.

Zane Dalal, 46, conductorDalal, a Parsi who came from Los Angeles to Mumbai in 2007, was intrigued whentold by an uncle that a Symphony Orchestra of India had been started at theNational Centre of Performing Arts under the aegis of its Chairman KhushrooSuntook. He said the idea of the Indian orchestra sounded “wild and fantastical.”He stayed on after, sitting in at a rehearsal.

Three years on as Resident Conductor, working alongside conductor MaratBisangaliev, Dalal is kept busy exploring “new territories with an orchestra stillbeing built.” He finds his temporarily adopted city warm and welcoming andaudiences and local Parsi friends have embraced his handsome presence. Last

year he conducted a series of well attended music appreciation classes makingWestern Classical music more accessible to newer Mumbai audiences. [Profiled inHamazor Issue 3/08 pp 56-60]

Shireen Gandhy, 45, galleristDon’t let that boisterous, lustrous spring of hair fool you. The head that liesbeneath is a strong one. While much of the art market has slowed in recent years,Gandhy, at the helm of her gallery, Chemould Prescott Road (CPR), has not onlymanaged to stay afloat but in the last year has taken her artists to the best fairsaround the world. In a year which saw major downsizing in the budgets of the artworld, her unstinting support of her artists and a substantial gallery practice is tobe applauded.

She has ably taken over the mantle of one of the oldest galleries in Mumbai,founded by her parents Kekoo and Khorshed Gandhy, and in its fifth decade CPR

has spacious new premises, an admirable roster of artists, both established and thenew. And you can bet your last paint brush that at an after party she’ll be the first toshake her leg on an improvised dance floor.

Kaiwan Mehta, 35, architect and lecturerMehta brought Peccha Kuccha nights to Mumbai. A Japanese concept where youhave 20 slides projected for 20 seconds to tell your entire story, turned out to be ahit in Mumbai. An architect and writer he also teaches art history while pursuing hisdoctorate at the Centre of Culture and Society in Bangalore.

Mehta’s book “Alice in Bhuleshwar - Navigating a Mumbai Neighbourhood”documents fast disappearing architectural details and a way of life in his “native

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town” of Mumbai. He assisted as urban researcher on a recently completed project on Abu Dhabithat was seen at the Venice Biennale in 2009 and he is in the process of establishing, as one of itsfounder directors, Arbour, Research Initiatives in Architecture to be launched in October 2010.

He is a wonderful speaker and a joy to listen to as he walks into Jnanapravaha’s Indian Aestheticsclass, almost always kurta clad, unraveling myths and symbols for you.

Mehlli Gobhai, 79, abstract painterIf you know Mehlli well, then you will accept that a visit to his studio will involve several phonecalls as the light changes during the day. The way the light falls on his canvases will influencethe time of your visit. But a visit to the studio of India’s foremost abstract painter is a wonderfulmorning into afternoon into evening kind of conversation that meanders, a persistent affabledog at your legs and, in the past, the cawing of a rescued and tenderly looked-after crow. Andthen the paintings. Parchment like weathered paper and canvas stack the walls and immerseyou in the most mesmerizing grays and charcoals and reds all painstakingly layered anddefined as the light changes in the studio and enters his canvas. Every flat surface is coveredwith books.

Having had successful shows with Chemould Prescott Road gallery in the past, we look forward tohis next show with them in a few months as he promises to take on a new dimension in hiscanvases.

Sooni Taraporevala, 53, filmmakerPetite and gentle under her trademark bob hairstyle, Taraporevala has packed in someamazing work in film since graduating from Harvard and NYU Cinema Studies. She wrote thescreen play of Mira Nair’s critically acclaimed cross-over film “Salaam Bombay” andsubsequently the scripts for “Mississippi Masala” and “Such A Long Journey,” among others.

Growing up within the community Taraporevala has chronicled the Parsis both in her book,“The Parsis: The Zoroastrians of Bombay” and in her critically acclaimed first feature film “LittleZizou” which won the National Award for the Best Film on Family Values. In both she capturesthe quaint, unique qualities and the fine nuances and eccentricities of this dwindling communitythat in years to come will be a documentation of customs that may have disappeared forever.

Between writing scripts and screening her films at film festivals around the world, she roamsMumbai’s streets with her digital Leica camera, capturing still moments in our busy city.

Rishad Naoroji, 59, conservationist and photographerI have always found it ironic that as a Parsi, Naoroji should be so enraptured by raptors. He isan independent researcher specializing in raptor conservation. His definitive book, “Birds ofPrey of the Indian subcontinent” took years in the making, perching on macchaans in varioussanctuaries for months at a time and extensive travels around the country. His work over threeyears in Rajpipla forest resulted in the area of 500 square kilometers being turned into theShoolpaneshwar Wildlife Sanctuary.

An accomplished photographer, he works closely with the Himalayan Club and the BombayNatural History Society. Spend an evening with him and you will be regaled with stories of thewild not often heard in Mumbai’s salon circuit; after all, such single-minded dedication is rare

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Small plates for sharing include greenmango paneer, anchovy tamarind pizza,and chickpea crusted skate with mint yogurtsauce. Foie Gras raspberry crostiniaccompanies a walnut salad, and grapefruit“confit” tops pork dumplings worthy ofBeijing’s best eateries. Another customerfavourite is the duck Portobello gratinee.The restaurant’s signature dish is pickledginger scallops with candied red chilies. Fordessert, try the hazelnut chocolate caviarcupcake with chocolate-chip ice cream.These gourmet dishes range from $7-15USD and are infused with enoughpassion and verve to compensate for therestaurant’s somewhat cramped diningquarters.

Chef Mehta was born in 1971 in Mumbai,India and grew up enjoying large portionsof dhun-daar prawn patia (yellow lentils,spicy prawn salsa, and boiled rice) aswell as other Parsi delicacies. Mehta’sgrandfather was very knowledgeableabout the medicinal properties of variousingredients and cured his grandson’sailments with hot milk with turmeric or —in the case of the sniffles — one

Chef Jehangir Mehta: Rise to Culinary Fame

Iby deena guzder

tablespoon each of honey, limejuice andbrandy. As a child, Mehta grew fascinatedabout the curative properties of differenttypes of food.

Much to the amusement of his family’smaids and cooks, young Mehta took aninterest in the goings-on of the kitchen.Although Mehta’s father was a CharteredAccountant and his uncles and grandfatherwere all bankers, the child knew he was farless interested in counting rupees than

If you stroll through the trendy East Village in New York City towardsTompkins Square Park, you may accidentally miss a tiny gem of arestaurant nestled between 1st and 2nd Avenue on East 10th Street. The 18-seat culinary wonder is none other than “Graffiti”, the brainchild of theacclaimed Parsi chef, Jehangir Mehta.

Graffiti is a food and wine bar known for its eclectic interior design andcreative Indian-infused dishes. Ornate chandeliers, kitsch cutlery, andintricate wooden carvings give Graffiti’s brick-laden central dining room acozy and comfortable aura. “Graffiti is a form of personal expression andmy cuisine and the food I prepare is my personal expression,” explainsMehta. “I offer guests envelopes at the end of the meal, actually the billcomes in them and we encourage the customer to graffiti about their diningexperience that evening.”

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onions, carrots, and peppers. The youngman eventually announced his desire tolearn about the culinary world beyond India,pursue a career as a chef, and eventuallyopen his own restaurant.

Since Mehta’s parents raised him to pursuehis passions even if they did notconform to other people’sexpectations, they put their fullsupport behind him and sent himto the Culinary Institute of Americain Hyde Park, New York. Mehtathrived at the prestigious cookingschool, especially since he hadalready gained a strong culinaryfoundation by working at theInstitute of Hotel Management,Catering, Technology and AppliedNutrition in Mumbai.

After Mehta’s first job at L’Absinthein New York in 1996, the aspiringchef landed a position he trulylonged for at Typhoon Brewery,where he worked as the pastrychef to the brilliant James Chew ofVong fame. From there it was ashort yet logical jump to Jean-Georges in 1997. The followingyear, Jean-Georges Vongerichten selectedhim to open his new restaurant, MercerKitchen, quickly to become one of thehottest destinations in New York. Desiring achange of pace from the high volume ofMercer Kitchen, Mehta accepted a positionto work with Rocco di Spirito 1999 at UnionPacific, and in 2001 he joined Jean-Georges’ colleague Didier Virot who wasopening his own restaurant. Following ashort-lived but highly acclaimed run at Virot,Mehta solidified his reputation for creatingavant-garde desserts as pastry chef ofCompass. During this time, he extended hispartnership with Didier Virot, and in 2002opened the Upper West Side culinarydestination Aix.

In 2003, Mehta launched his eventmanagement business through an onlinesite partistry.com. The same year he startedCandy Camp to encourage children agedbetween 4 and 14 to appreciate the

complex ingredients in food, by preparingsimple savory and sweet dishes. “I firmlybelieve healthy eating is not about depravation anddieting but just about making small substitutions thatyou will be able to stick to in the long run,” saysMehta. “To give you an example, if you love sweetthings, instead of having a dessert after every meal,

incorporate sweet ingredients in your meal, such asscallops, yams and beet.” Mehta, more recently,has travelled all over the country promoting anew initiative called, “Kids Food Adventurewith Chef Jehangir”, which involves takingchildren on a shopping spree at WholeFoods (a large food store in the US) andencouraging them to taste new foods. “Byencouraging children this way, I hope to open theirminds to healthier food choices,” explains Mehta.

In 2007, Mehta opened his restaurant Graffitiand released his first cookbook “Mantra theRules of Indulgence” (Harper-Collins). Fromhis 50 square foot kitchen, Mehta producessome of New York’s most artistic yetscrumptious dishes, which have beenreviewed in numerous food magazines.Over the years, Mehta has appeared onmany national television programmesincluding Martha! and on the Food Network.

In August 2009, Mehta was a contestant on

Chef Mehta


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Iron Chef America where he competedagainst Iron Chef Morimoto in “BattleCoconut.” In October 4th 2009, Mehta wasa contestant on the Food Network’s “TheNext Iron Chef.” Most recently, Mehta hasauditioned to appear on the Oprah Show.

Mehta says operating a restaurant ischallenging, especially given a limitedbudget. “There are innumerable restaurants inNew York City and even I as a guest, would notdine at a place that does not offer somethingexceptional,” says Mehta. “So my biggestchallenge then was to be consistently excellent withthe quality of service and food. Consistency is thekey. For in a restaurant you only have oneopportunity to please the customer. If you fail thefirst time, you will never be given a second chance.”Fortunately, the bustling kitchen and packedtables at Graffiti testify to customer’simmense satisfaction with Chef Mehta andhis staff.

When asked about his advice for youngParsis considering entering the culinaryworld, Mehta replied, “Enter this field only ifyou are really passionate about food and aboutpleasing people.” He added, “For, the first tenyears in this career are very hard. No matter howtalented you are, and no matter what you havestudied, you have to work with a well-known chefso you can learn more and gain credibility in theindustry. The hours of work are very long, and thework is physically demanding as well. Plus you haveto be prepared to never spend any fun occasion withyour family as you are always working that day. Soit’s important for you to have a supportive family.Having said that, let me add that it is also a veryrewarding career for you get recognized for yourtalent and feel so satisfied knowing that you madesomeone happy through your food.”

Cumin eggplant buns

Chickpea crusted skate with mint yogurt sauce

Deena Guzder is an independent journalist who has reported on human rights across the globe.Her work has appeared in Time, Mother Jones, Common Dreams, National Geographic,Washington Post, Ms. Magazine, and elsewhere. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Peace & ConflictStudies from Oberlin College as well as advanced degrees in journalism and international affairsfrom Columbia University. Guzder is currently finishing a literary nonfiction book on religion-inspired social justice movements throughout US history, Divine Rebels (Chicago Review Press,2011). Her website is www.deenaguzder.com

Photographs courtesy Bill Durgin ©

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In August 2010, epic floodsinundated vast expanses of Pakistanin the worst natural disaster in thecountry’s recent history. The floodsdisplaced an estimated 20 millionindividuals, damaged 5 millionhomes, submerged 5,000 miles ofroads, and washed away 7,000schools and 400 health facilities thatwill take years to rebuild. As themedia coverage of more recentworld events overshadows that ofPakistan’s unprecedented flooding,

the crisis continues unfolding.

I arrived in Pakistan in mid-September on agrant from the Pulitzer Center on CrisisReporting to cover the floods. As anAmerican journalist who had never visitedPakistan, I did not know what to expect.For many Parsis, Pakistan is seen as adangerously volatile country full of armedreligious zealots. Most Americans’exposure to the country is limited to photosof Taliban fighters and suicide bombers. Thereality I found in Pakistan bore noresemblance to this widely disseminatedmisperception. When traveling across thecountry, from the southern tip of Karachi tothe northern tip of Kohistan, I met countlesspeople who greeted me with genuinewarmth and kindness. Pakistanis treated

An American Journalist reflects on covering the flood in Pakistan

by deena guzder

TThe wind-whipped open expanses of Gharo, halfway between Karachi andThatta, are cramped with refugee camps billowing in the wind like sails on astagnant ship. A motley crew of curious children follows me through theAitemaad camp practicing their rudimentary English — Hello, Hello! — andsmiling widely. Some of the younger children look fragile and bird-like, yetmany of them manage to return my smile and share their stories. “I wasscared when the water came to swallow us,” whispered one little girl whosehair is discolored from malnutrition. Most of them seem relieved to have atent to call home and rice to fill their bellies. “I am happy here, not afraid!”exclaimed a barefoot little girl who is expertly balancing a baby on her hip.

Article written exclusively for Hamazor

me with more respect and appreciation thanmany of my compatriots back home, andthey often invited me to join them for a cupof chai after our interview although they hadrecently lost their entire lives during theflood and were not in the position toentertain guests.

My trip across Pakistan started in Karachiwhere I spoke with doctors at the SindhInstitute of Urology and Transplantation(SIUT) to gain a better understanding of thechallenges ahead. Although internationalorganizations such as UNICEF and RedCross are often seen as a third-worldcountry’s first-line of relief after a disaster,regional medical outfits such as SIUT areoften better positioned to respond to localdisasters since its medical staff is alreadyversed in the problems afflicting its ownpopulation. Doctors at SIUT told me themost common post-diluvia ailments includescabies (a highly contagious parasitic skindisease that flourishes in cramped, moistquarters), gastroenteritis (a painful


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inflammation of the stomach and intestinesthat causes vomiting and dysentery), andconjunctivitis (more commonly known aspink-eye). Just southeast of Karachi, in theflood-destroyed historic city of Thatta, Imeet an overworked surgeon donningseaweed green scrubs who shows mearound the SIUT field hospital and mobileclinics. “We set off with a van and ask ifthere are any ill people,” explained DrRehan Mohsin. “They come to [us] and wedistribute oral rehydration packages,medicines, and anything else needed.”Back in Karachi, I speak with a fashiondesigner named Yousuf Bashir Qureshi whois one of many Pakistanis taking flood reliefefforts into their own hands. Immediatelyafter the floods, Qureshi sent out a personalappeal to his family and friends: “pleasecome under one flag—the Pakistani flag—and for the sake of humanity.” Soon,Qureshi and his team had launched “UnitedPakistan” with the tagline, “Rescue, Relief,Rehab, and Rebuild.” He transformed threeempty warehouses into storage spaces forrelief supplies and converted his artists’commune into an auction room wherephotographers, painters, and sketchersdonated their work for charity.

The next day, I fly to the third largest city inthe Sindh province, Sukkur, which issituated on the west bank of the IndusRiver. I spend the day with a Pakistaniphilanthropist named Afzaal Shaikh, awildlife photographer and dolphinconservationist who runs a constructionbusiness in Karachi. Shaikh, a burly manwith a broad build and moon-shaped face,jumped into action when he learned thefloodwaters were rapidly approaching hiscity. Shaikh started an organization,” VNeed U”, which defrayed the cost ofSukkur’s main hospital and provided freefood, medicine, and shelter for 3,000 peoplein an IDP camp that Shaikh continues to runtoday off Airport Road in Sukkur.

I spend the remainder of my time inPakistan’s rugged northern region. Unlike inthe south where the floodwaters slowly andstealthily supersaturated entire villages, inthe north the floodwaters raged through the

steep mountains with theferocity of a derailed train.Today, parts of Pakistan’sKhyber PakhtunkhwaProvince region stillresemble a warzone:battered bridges, crushedschools, and leveledvillages. Instead of bulletholes, there are watermarks.

In Islamabad, I meet the staff of theOmar Asghar Khan DevelopmentFoundation (OAKDF). They are striving tobuild a democratic and peaceful societybased on the values of equity, tolerance andjustice in which all people areassured a life of dignity andquality. The foundation works withcitizens, particularly the poor andvulnerable, to promote bothpolitical and socioeconomicjustice for Pakistanis across classstrata. Through town hallmeetings, OAKDF encouragescitizens to engage with the stateto reform institutions and revamp policies.The foundation promotes skill buildingworkshops, credit provision programmes,micro-finance plans, people participatorymeetings, and community infrastructureprojects. The OAKDF staff of 60 activistsare building a grassrootsmovement through adecentralized decision makingprocess in which power ishorizontally shared.

After the floods, the foundationvisited Kandian Valley andcollaborated with the communityto design a cash-for-work projectto reconstruct pedestrian paths destroyedby mudslides. OAKDF is currently workingon constructing a new suspension bridge inDubair, Kohistan. “What we’ve seenwork very well is collaborating withthe people affected by the disastersas equal partners,” explainedRashida Dohad of OAKDF. “Weestablished principles and guidelinessuch as trust-building andcommunity empowerment opposed

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to giving out tokens [such as dropping foodparcels from helicopters]. We believe ourapproach is more effective and it allowsdisplaced people to preserve their dignity.”

En route from Islamabad to Charsadda withOAKDF staff, we drive past smashedschools and collapsed homes. “The floodswere a natural disaster but linked to that isthe state’s failure to invest in vitalinfrastructure such as dams and canals,which would have made the flood lessdevastating,” explains Dohad. We stop at aunion council in Utmanzai, Charsadda thatOAKDF set up to help community membersvoice their hopes and frustrations in wake ofthe flood. In a dimly lit room with a mudfloor, we meet with a group of seventeen

women who range from youngadults to grandmothers. “Thepeople we voted for did notcome until five days after theflooding,” complains an elderlywoman wrapped in a colorfulshawl. More recently, OAKDFhas organized art therapyclasses in Charsadda to helpchildren cope with anxietyresulting from the flood. “In our

psychosocial session for children, we askthem to draw what they fear most,”explained Dohad. “Many of the drawingsare full of blue, full of water.”

The next day, I embark on a nine-hour tripwith OAKDF staff members, Mumtaz Tanoliand Hassan Ali Khan, to the northern districtof Kohistan. Quite aptly named, Kohistanmeans “land of mountains” in Persian. Wezigzag through jagged roads, abruptlyhalting and speeding as the potholesdictate. Driving past a pile of rubble, Alinotes: “People built a 18 kilometer road andelectric plant here, but now nobody canbelieve there was anything here before thefloods.” After the raging floodwatersdemolished a bridge between Shangla andBattagram, OAKDF helped install a cablecar so villagers could cross the Indus River.We stop in Battagram, catch a ride on thecable car, and speak with locals benefitingfrom the new form of transportation. “Weare very happy and grateful,” says an

elderly man with a fluffy beard anddiscolored snaggletooth.

Shortly before leaving Pakistan, I speakwith CNN correspondent Reza Sayeh overgreen tea in Islamabad. Sayeh notes that,“Pakistan is seen as dangerous and scaryto many Americans.” With a tinge of irony,he continues, “The US mainstream mediaexaggerates violence in Pakistan” anddrowns out the voices of ordinaryPakistanis. “We report fanaticism as if it’sthe only story,” he says. As a journalist, I ampainfully aware the media is interested inwhat’s most sensational, what’s most likelyto sell. I am extremely grateful I had theopportunity to visit Pakistan and witness theother side of the story that rarely catchesworld headlines. And, that is the story of anation full of warm-hearted and generouspeople who are elbow-deep in the nitty-gritty work of rebuilding their country,bridge-by-bridge and life-by-life.

This article was reported with a grant fromthe Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting

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Photographs : Deena Guzder / PulitzerCenter on Crisis Reporting

Deena Guzder’s profile appears on p 50


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On 24th August, nearly a month after thecrisis began, WZO solicited donations inorder to help the victims primarily giving aidto SIUT, as they were treating anddistributing medicines in all four provinces.The delay in taking action was due to theextensive area of the flood, too manyindividuals rendering assistance, andrelevant question - how best to achieveresults. Earlier, individuals did approach meand were directed to send their donations toOmar Asghar Khan DevelopmentFoundation, if they wished, having workedso closely and effectively with them after theearthquake of 2005.

Flyers were sent off through out the world toall the people whom I knew would assist ifthey could, both to Zoroastrian organisationsand individuals. Our Chairman, Mr Motiwalainformed our members wherever emailaddresses were available.

Report written on 24 September aftervisiting various locations on 17th, 19th, 20th –22nd September.

I was planning to go and see various placesmuch earlier, but Deena Guzder anIndependent Journalist who has written forHamazor and met once in Houston, contactedme saying since she was at present inKathmandu could I arrange a trip for her sothat she could interview the displaced personsand write about the situation prevailing atpresent. Various publications have since

WZO assists flood victims of Pakistan

by toxy cowasjee

TThe 2010 Pakistan floods began in July following heavy monsoon rains inthe Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan regions of thecountry. United Nations estimates that more than 21 million people areinjured or homeless as a result of the flooding, exceeding the combinedtotal of individuals affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the 2005Kashmir earthquake and the 2010 Haiti earthquake. At one point,approximately one-fifth of Pakistan’s total land area was underwater due tothe flooding. [source Wikipedia].

asked Deena to write which will hopefullyopen the minds of individuals. I invited her tostay in our home and travel with mewherever I had planned to go.

Our first stop was at the camp set up by agroup of individuals, headed by known pastgovernor of Sindh and retired SupremeCourt Judge – Fakruddin Ibrahim, the Trustbeing registered as Aitemaad Pakistan. Thecamp was half way to Makli on the mainroad between Dhabeji and Gharo which isin Thatta district. Their local volunteer, MrAhmad Mazari, arranged by Zahid Ibrahim,was there to show us around and answerany questions. The large tents had beendonated by the Swiss Red Cross suitablefor a family of even eight with groundsheets, being the only camp which wevisited having this facility. Tents werepitched in straight lines, with large walkingspaces between rows. Food rations aregiven out to each family on a weekly basiswhich is then managed by themselves –cooking as they wish. Utensils, clothing,charpois [local bed] were allocated to thedisplaced as they arrived, whereas freshwater is brought daily in tankers andsupplied to all. Large water containers areall along the rows of tents for the people touse for washing and drinking. A separatetent with a medical practitioner wherepeople can come for immediate treatment,and those who are more serious aretransported to the closest hospital byambulance. The common problem seen


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everywhere was scabies, diarrhea,malnutrician and some suffering frommalaria. In this well run camp wherecontentment was obvious, the men weremainly fishermen, a few labourers, barbersand carpenters.

Our next stop was the SIUT medical campat Makli where the present exodus isreaching from middle Sindh. [on 17th thiswas the case but the dire situation inOctober is Sehwan, Dadu and environs].SIUT have taken over a small governmentbuilding which they have converted intotheir lab, scanning room etc. Outside on anarrow strip of grass, three large tents havebeen set up. The middle tent is for thedoctor on duty who attends to any out-patients, with full treatment being given atone time saving the patient to return daily.The other two tents are used for keepingpatients who need more supervisedtreatment. The serious cases are sent byambulance, to the main SIUT hospital atKarachi.

As there were no out-patients at the time,the two doctors came with us to visit theSaudi run camp and hospital. Enroute, tentcamps stretched for about five miles, beingmethodically arranged by the army to be runeither by NGOs or private parties. TheSaudi run hospital which was housed in thearmy barracks and reputed to be state ofthe art, unfortunately we were not permittedto enter. The camp for the refugees wasopposite which seemed to be receiving allthe necessary aid and though the lanes inbetween the tents were more spacious thanelsewhere, they too had no ground sheetand only the earth to sleep / sit on.

The SIUT run a mobile medical facility twicedaily in Makli, parking at a site wherepeople can come easily. Here we saw quitea few people though no more than 70, butwere informed an average of 700 peopleare treated daily.

All along the way from outer Karachi toMakli / Thatta, we saw unauthorised tentson both sides of the road, some genuinerefugees, some capitalising on the situation

and generosity of people. [Update: as SIUTdo not require funds for purchasingmedicines for the flood victims at present, Ihave diversified the donations].

On 19th early morning we flew from Karachito Sukkur via Mohenjodaro. As weapproached Mohenjodaro we could see theextensive flooding. The raging river hadabated now flowing peacefully, having mademany incursions and destruction. At Sukkur,a friend of my daughter’s Afzaal Shaikh,who is from this area but lives in Karachi,was our able guide for the day. Afzaal, is agiant of a man both in stature and heart. Hehas set up two camps, which are definitelythe best in this city with his own resourcesand that of some friends. Now they needmonetary assistance or commodities inkind. Weekly rations are handed out,treatment for every ailment is on handhaving volunteer doctors coming daily whospecialise in eyes, stomach, or generalproblems. A large tent where an equallylarge blackboard has been placed, makinga temporary school for the children who areabout 800. They attend daily for lessonsboth in Urdu and a bit of English and whenthe children leave they are given biscuits,juice packets and chocolates. In this campthe food is very generous, with meat orchicken once a week, as well asvegetables, flour, rice, pulses and cleanwater. A volleyball court has been set upwhere they play under floodlight with theamazing young men who are volunteeringtheir time. Football and board games arealso supervised. All refugees are registeredwhen they arrive with name, age andnational ID number. While driving aroundSukkur, we saw SUVs or jeeps which hadtrailers containing fresh water hooked on,supplying to camps and to individualpitched, courtesy of “V need U” or AfzaalShaikh.

In the grounds of the Civil Hospital theCanadians had set up a large enclosedcapsule, obviously brought with them,complete with airconditioning to treatcholera patients. They had worked heremost effectively for some weeks leavingbehind a grateful community but before


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departing, teaching the doctors from theIndus Hospital, Karachi, how to manage thisdeadly disease.

We drove to the Sukkur Barrage and overthe Rohri Bridge where the river had been30 feet high which was hard to imaginenow. While driving from one location toanother, Afzaal showed us the Sukkuragiary and another building which musthave been a dharamsala, in total neglect,housing squatters in the spacious groundsof 6000 sq yds. The engraved sign on theagiary building was still there, though withmissing words and above the words ‘Mama’was the very prominent farohar. Theadjacent building had ‘Marker’ inscribed,and on the same road was the old Parsicolony, now owned by others.

On 20th we flew to Islamabad where wewere welcomed by my friend of postearthquake days, Ali Asghar Khan andsome team members of OAKDF at theiroffice. Soon thereafter we left forCharsadda which took well over three hoursto reach, though travelling on good surfacedroads. Charsadda is the district adjacent toNowsherra having suffered the sameoutcome due to flooding. To explain howareas work in Pakistan, we have a district,in it is a Union Council, in which there aretowns, and hamlets known as ‘mohalla’.

Destination was Mohalla Saadat, UCUtmanzai, Charsadda. This mohalla istucked away and approached by smalllanes, all destroyed now, and as we drovewe could see houses ravaged, thoughmade from red brick and even some sturdyconcrete ones. Main exterior walls weregone with gaping large expanses nowremaining. Some people were remakingtheir walls, some still camping in their ownterritory in tents, but nothing was left whole.This was due to the flooding of the JindiRiver (colloquially called a nullah, literally atrickle normally), which is a tributary of themain Kabul River that meets the Swat Riverand flows into the Indus at Attock. Deenahas already mentioned the meeting ofwomen and children. Our next stop was tosee the rural damage at Mohalla Chena, UC

Mirza Dher - just miles of water logged sugarcane fields destroyed. One cannot fathomhow strong and fast these rivers must haveflowed till one physically sees the destructionleft by them.

Twenty-first morning, our long butinteresting trip to Kohistan which began at7am and ended at 9:30pm at Abbottabad,where we were staying in Ali’s office to savefurther hours commuting to Islamabad. Atlast I was going to a territory which hasbeen on my “wish list”, via the KarakorumHighway; carved through the mountains bythe Chinese and the Pakistan army to Chinabetween the years 1958-78 and considereda modern wonder of the world. “Highway”as the West may conjure in their mindsshould not be taken literally. It is a surfacedroad enabling to and fro heavy traffic tomove safely which is used mainly for trade.After leaving Battagram, the road was moreor less running parallel to the river and wecould see the havoc caused. The land hadreceded by double, the watermarks of theflooding was visible, and the huge riverstones weighing hundreds of kilos, hadbeen left behind all over the landscape.

Our stop was at Kund, where 18 bridgeshave been swept away, the only means ofcommuting. At present with all walkingtracks lost, people take from four to six daysto come from their homes to the road. Thesolid concrete bridge had collapsed intopieces, but no sooner the people had madea “cage” of sorts, which was suspended onrope, produced from where I don’t know andmanually operated across the river. Onecannot help but admire their courage forimprovising a means of crossing where theriver had turned into a rapid at a height of100 feet. Ali and his team were the first toarrive at this site to render help and a cablecar was installed, operating on cable wirewith a truck engine having gears. Verybasic, but safe and effective. The cable carhas been handed over to the committee torun themselves now, which is greatlyappreciated by the Union Council. And thenthe fun part, going across in the cable carand returning – just terrific and so fast, highup in the air across a vast span! Our last

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stop was the beginning of the Dubair valleyin Kohistan where the Dubair nullahdestroyed the whole market, bridge, road,and taking away a large section of the land.This area is part of Tehsil Pattan of DistrictKohistan. While this destruction was takingplace a villager took a video on his mobilephone which he has given to Ali. The linkwhere you may watch this scene is:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFS-dY1_FUA&feature=relatedhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yotH0CnFGk&feature=related

Once again Ali with his team were the firstto come here with food and basicnecessities, which they are still supplying.The only way these people have managedsince ever, has been walking on their trackseither for basic needs or moving theirlivestock. These having gone now, theyhave to scale the Karakorum mountains tillsomeone renders help with the remaking ofcountless tracks, as Kohistan is a forgottenarea of Pakistan.

Websites of the four worthy NGOsmentioned in the report is shared. We areblessed with countless good Samaritanswho quietly carry on doing whatever theycan. We are not all terrorists or corrupt asPakistan is popularly pictured.

Omar Ashgar Khan DevelopmentFoundation – http://www.oakdf.org.pkSIUT - http://www.siut.org/index.phpAitemaad Pakistan – http://www.aitemaad.pk/V Need U – http://www.vneedu.com

WZO gratefully acknowledges and thankseach donor for coming forward to assistenabling us to help the less fortunate.GBP 2,332.48 is with WZO in UK which willbe transferred to Pakistan. Rs3,650,102/-[average rate taken: GBP 27,239 or US $42,942] is the amount received by me till15 October, primarily from overseas,from which the following has already beengiven for:

3 Rs500,000 for two portable ultra soundmachines to SIUT on 2 September, sent tothe Makli medical camp and one to Sehwan.

3 Rs200,000 for Lifestraw-family units on 14September which gives good potable water withoutthe use of electricity or batteries. This amount hasbeen matched by United Bank who are a privatebank in Pakistan. 157 units have been purchasedand will be sent by UBL on our behalf to remoteareas of Sindh. Check out: http://www.vestergaard-frandsen.com/lifestraw/lifestraw-family/features

3 Rs30,000 to OAKDF on 22 September, to holdtherapy sessions for children in various locationswhere relief work is being carried in Charsadda &Nowsherra districts.

3 Rs400,000 to OAKDF on 22 September, to builda wooden jeep-able bridge at Dubair Valley,Kohistan, work to commence week of 18th October.

3 Rs1,100,000 to OAKDF on 14 October, tocomplete the 7.31 km jeep-able track in the DubairValley, which will link three Union Councils havingmore than 30,000 people. Half the amount has beenpaid now, balance on completion. The peoplethemselves have already made tracks with their barehands of 13 km and now need this assistance tocomplete their ‘road’. The project will take 6-8 weeksto complete. This has been made possible throughthe generosity of ZSO & OCZF of Toronto, Canadawho collected funds from their community for theflood relief.

There is much to be done but together we canachieve!

Donations may be sent by bank transfer direct to :

Mrs Hutoxy Cowasjee WZO, a/c No: 18-1049259-01, Standard Chartered Bank, I.I. Chundrigar Road,Karachi 74000, Pakistan. Swift Code SCBL PKKX.Please inform me by email: [email protected] sothat I may follow up my end.

Or to: Cheques payable ‘WZO’ and sent to theChairman, WZO, 135 Tennison Road, SouthNorwood, London SE25 5NF, for UK residents. Foroverseas: By Bank Transfer to HSBC account; SortCode 40-44-51, Account No 71455982, AccountName WZO. Swift Code MIDLGB2159J. The IBN isGB94MIDL followed by the Sortcode 404451 and theAccount no 71455982.

photographs : Deena Guzder / Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting

q


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SIUT medical camp, Makli - [photographs: Toxy Cowasjee]

Tent life Tanker water being supplied daily

Cooking on village style stoveBaby on the mend after fall from ‘joola’

Being treated for severe scabis

Aitemaad Pakistan - Dhabeji camp - [photographs : Deena Guzder / Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting]

Outpatients arriving at SIUT camp. [Deena Guzder] Tent for outpatients

Visit to the camp doctor

Good quality cooking utensils

Above left: Doctor sorting medica-tion for mobile van, right: boy beingadministered a drip for dehydrationat the camp. Bottom row : peoplecrowding for attention from doctorson Mobile van, facility given twicedaily.

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Sukkur & VneedU camp - [photographs : Afzaal Shaikh]

Exodus entering Sukkur

Rescuing old man afloat on his ‘charpoi’ Children crossing river on their buffalo

Flooding of Sukkur Barrage

Centuries old historical site, flooded

Immediate right: children’s playground under water, seen are the two topbars of the slide. Far right above: children taking shelder under ‘charpoi’,below: Afzaal fed people daily along the high river bank during Ramadan.

Photographs appearing from pp50 -62 may not be used withoutpermission.


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‘VneedU’ SUVs ‘VneedU’ camp with school & volley ball area being centre point

‘VneedU’ free water supply

for displaced persons

‘VneedU’ camp school

Mother with new born son after losing threebabies at birth. Born a day before our visit at‘VneedU’ camp

Charsadda - [photographs : Omar Asghar Khan Development Foundation]

Aerial view


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[photographs : Omar Asghar Khan Development Foundation]

Landsliding on Karakoram Highway

Riding the ‘dollie’ - a wooden small platform to getacross the river

One man’s courage - building a ‘bridge’ using the fallen pylon andwires, so people may cross over

Another ‘bridge’ made by the people after the flood

Beautiful Dubair before the flood

Dubair , what is left after the flood

Manual operated cage for crossingthe river at Kund

Damaged bridge at Dubair

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Tracks are gone, people find alternative ways of carrying relief goods back home or tobring the sick tothe nearest point of transport.

Dubair Belabridge forpedestrians,underconstruction,below -completed byOAKDF earlyOctober

Above two photographs show the site in Dubair Valley where the jeepable track isto be constructed by OAKDF on behalf of WZO. The jeepable bridge will connectup with the track making a complete project costing Rs1,500,000/-

Two portable ultra soundmachines purchased and given toSIUT to be used in their medicalcamps for flood displaced persons.Rs500,000/.

Lifestraw-family units for floodaffected persons in Sindh. 157 unitsfor Rs200,000 matched amount byUBL Pakistan.


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