FEZANA JOURNAL FEZANA FALL PAIZ 1378 AY 3747 ZRE VOL. 23, NO. 3 FALL/SEPTEMBER 2009 G FALL/SEPTEMBER 2009 MehrJOURJO – Avan – Adar 1378 AY (Fasli) G Ardebehesht – Khordad – Tir 1379 AY (Shenshai)N G KhordadAL – Tir – Amordad 1379 AY (Kadmi) FROM ROOTS TO WINGS The Next Generation of Zarathushti Leaders Also Inside: ZAGBA’s 25th Going Global: Anniversary Celebrations Tales from Sri Lanka My Faith Restored Social Media Revolution: By Khushnum Kermanizadeh Boom Boom Pow! PUBLICATION OF THE FEDERATION OF ZOROASTRIAN ASSOCIATIONS OF NORTH AMERICA PUBLICATION OF THE FEDERATION OF ZOROASTRIAN ASSOCIATIONS OF NORTH AMERICA Vol 23 No 3 Fall/September 2009, PAIZ 1378 AY 3747 ZRE President Bomi V Patel www.fezana.org Editor in Chief: Dolly Dastoor 2 Editorial [email protected] Technical Assistant: Coomi Gazdar Dolly Dastoor Consultant Editor: Lylah M. Alphonse, [email protected] 3 Message from the President Graphic & Layout: Shahrokh Khanizadeh, 5 FEZANA Update www.khanizadeh.info Cover design: Feroza Fitch, [email protected] 15 Financial Report Publications Chair: Behram Pastakia Columnists: 19 Rites and Rituals in the Diaspora Hoshang Shroff: [email protected] Shazneen Rabadi Gandhi : 24 Gatha Colloquium 2009 [email protected] Yezdi Godiwalla: [email protected] Behram Panthaki::[email protected] 38 From Roots to Wings Behram Pastakia: [email protected] Mahrukh Motafram: [email protected] 79 In The News Copy editors: R Mehta, V Canteenwalla Subscription Managers: 90 Interfaith /Interalia Kershaw Khumbatta : [email protected] 100 North American Mobeds’ Council Arnavaz Sethna: [email protected] WINTER 2009 107 Youthfully Speaking “Religious Perspectives: The World Parliament of Religions” 108 Personal Profiles Guest editor Jesse S. Palsetia SPRING 2010 111 Milestones Priesthood and Scriptures: Zoroastrian Odyssey to Preservation Guest editors Ervads Soli Dastur and Jehan Bagli 115 Between the Covers Photo on cover: 122 Business Mehr- Avan – Adar 1378 AY (Fasli) Ardebehesht – Khordad – Tir 1379 AY (Shenshai) Khordad - Tir – Amordad 1379 AY (Kadmi) Cover design Opinions expressed in the FEZANA journal do not necessarily reflect the views of Feroza Fitch of FEZANA or members of this publications’s editorial board Lexicongraphics Please note that past issues of The Journal are available to the public, both in print and online through our archive at fezana.org. FEZANA Journal Vol 23 No 3 ISBN 1068-2376 (USPS 021-495) published quarterly by FEZANA 5750 S. Jackson St Hinsdale Il 60521-5109. Periodical postage rate is paid at Oakbrook, IL 60523 and at additional mailing offices. Annual subscription $25 (US) ; $25 (Canada); $30 (surface) and $50 (air) for other countries; details on subscription Form. POSTMASTER: send changes to Fezana Journal, 8787 W. Airport Blvd. Houston, TX 77071 1 FEZANA JOURNAL – Fall 2009 A word from the Editor The old saying goes, "Time and tide waits for no racial profiling man", and however much we long for the nostalgic and police times of your youth, when the world was "perfect", to brutality (Niaz our young eyes, we cannot go back. Every generation Kasravi), in moves on and stands on the shoulders of the previous, countries and hence it behooves each generation to provide a undergoing solid foundation of values and principles for the next to war and turmoil stand on. " (Shirin Kiani), This issue of the FEZANA JOURNAL is dedicated in music, to the NextGenNow, the generation to whom we have creating provided the wings to soar, the generation that will take harmony (Faro over from us, hence we also need to provide them with bag Cooper), the wind power to soar. They need our unconditional and a beautiful support, and our encouragement in their attempts to and moving find their wings. Each generation lives in a different piece about a time period and each has to adapt to their own human being realities. We grew up with typewriters which used who was carbon paper, which messed up our hands, and dearly loved by "Gestetner" cyclostyling machines with which we made his family and copies. Today everybody is on internet and words fly who passed across oceans in split seconds, photocopies are done away from this very cleanly. Do we want to go back to a typewriter? life and his brother's activism for the cause he died for. All facets of the Zarathushti community as lived by the Just as technology evolves and improves the NextGen is laid before the reader. quality of life for all of us, our brain has evolved and our thought processes have also evolved, we see and The NextGenNow has a sharp social conscience perceive things differently, we interpret events from and energy to match, hence in the same issue we have different angles. The NextGenNow sees activism, the work of Deena Guzder and the "Stitch Project" she service, leadership, communications and inclusion started and we have portrayed a young dynamic duo of from multiple angles, They have gone into professions Boston (The Dubashs") who are taking their we would not have dared, they are activists for abused community to great heights. We also portray the next and battered children, abused and battered women, generation of young mobeds performing navjotes, they go to penitentiaries to help in rehabilitation of jashans independently and confidently. prisoners, they help AIDS and HIV patients, They are The NextGenNow brings a paradoxical mix of not afraid to accept people as they are with their global consciousness and self-interest, curiosity about shortcomings, their disabilities and their sexual ancient practices as well as the living-out-loud styling preferences. This issue is to highlight the of Facebook. They bring a devotion to faith but not its NextGenNow--who promotes inclusion and institutions built by previous generations. FEZANA as acceptance. They do not tolerate oppression and they an organization has been active in social causes and do not nurture discrimination against those whose human rights issues by its involvement at the UN and voices might differ from theirs. They recognize other interfaith groups and the NextGenNow will differences and celebrate them. continue to do so The roots we have sown has allowed For this issue four youthful adults, from varied the wings to grow. We need to be proud of ourselves backgrounds, have been the guest editors. The for having nurtured such a productive NextGenNow. seamless collaboration between four busy Let them soar! professionals located in four different cities in three countries augurs well for our far flung Diaspora. This issue of the journal gives us a taste of how cybertechnology connects Zarathushtis in creative collaboration. They have grouped together people who work in interfaith activities (Kamalrukh Katrak Khan), in the environment (Rashna Ghadialy), in the field of 2 FEZANA JOURNAL — Fall 2009 A Message from FEZANA President While we concentrate our efforts on supporting the upcoming World Congress in Dubai on December 28-31, 2009, I am happy to announce the success of our North American Youth Congress which was held in July 2009. The preliminary numbers show good success and in black even after repaying back FEZANA the subsidy amount that FEZANA gave to each youth participants. I congratulate the Youth Chairs for the success. I hope future North American Congress Hosts (Adult and Youth) will learn from this and keep the cost at minimum for all forth coming congress. At the World Congress in Dubai, FEZANA is sponsoring the Khorshed Jungalwala Lecture Series and also participating in various sessions including a joint session "Community Cares" with BPP, FEZANA, WZO, ZTFE, ZTFHK, Australian Zoroastrian Associations and Zoroastrian Association Singapore. Our Youth is also actively participating in the Youth Leadership Enhancement Program (YLEP) and will be presenting their projects at the congress. (http://wzcongress.org/events.htm) The FEZANA/WZCC jointly sponsored Zoroastrian Stimulus Plan - A YLEP Project for Private Job Search & Career Counseling Service, with joint efforts of Jasmine Dadachanji (Victoria, BC), Eric Engineer (Dallas, TX), and Carl Irani (Orlando, FL) has been very well received and supported by our community. The project has excelled and exceeded all expectations. (http://fezana.org ) While we see some light of hope and improvements on the financial markets, I once again take this opportunity to thank Mr. Kavasji Dadachanji, FEZANA's financial and investment consultant for his timely advice which allowed us to convert all our investments in to cash just in time before the market crash and minimized any losses. Mr. Dadachanji has now retired and stopped his practice. We wish Kavasji and his family the very best. The Finance committee has now appointed Mr. Adil Masani as our new financial consultant. I welcome Mr. Masani to FEZANA family and look forward to working with him. The 2010 FEZANA AGM will be held in Toronto sponsored by Ontario Zarathushti Cultural Foundation (OZCF) Bomi Patel President FEZANA JOURNAL – Fall 2009 3 VOICES Behram Pastakia "Therefore one raises his voice in accord with both his heart and his mind, be he false speaking or true speaking, be he knowing or unknowing." Yasna 31:12 (1) A time to speak and a time to listen…… being heard. Or shall we, like our co-religionists in Europe, wait for more than a century and still be waiting This issue of the journal is designed for us to hear to realize our dream of establishing a consecrated place the voices of our youth. The views expressed are often of worship in North America? disparate. We encourage different points of view. It is by listening to each other that we shall deepen For it is through listening to each other's voices, understanding to find common ground and successfully learned or unlearned that we shall find compassionate meet our collective needs. devotion to stand by to deliberate with the spirit of those of us perplexed by doubt [Yasna 31:12] to give our Intrafaith dialogue can help create bridges not bodies the sustaining breath of life [Yasna 30:7] (4).