PUBLICATION OF THE FEDERATION OF ZOROASTRIAN ASSOCIATIONS OF NORTH AMERICA Vol 24 No 4 Winter / December 2010 Zemestan 1379 AY 3748 ZRE President Bomi V Patel www.fezana.org Editor in Chief: Dolly Dastoor 2 Editorial [email protected] Technical Assistant: Coomi Gazdar Dolly Dastoor Assistant to Editor: Dinyar Patel Consultant Editor: Lylah M. Alphonse, [email protected] 6 Financial Report Graphic & Layout: Shahrokh Khanizadeh, www.khanizadeh.info Cover design: Feroza Fitch, 8 FEZANA UPDATE-World Youth Congress [email protected] Publications Chair: Behram Pastakia Columnists: Hoshang Shroff: [email protected] Shazneen Rabadi Gandhi : [email protected] 12 SHAHNAMEH-the Soul of Iran Yezdi Godiwalla: [email protected] Behram Panthaki::[email protected] Behram Pastakia: [email protected] Mahrukh Motafram: [email protected] 50 IN THE NEWS Copy editors: R Mehta, V Canteenwalla Subscription Managers: Arnavaz Sethna: [email protected]; Kershaw Khumbatta 72 INTERFAITH / INTERALIA [email protected] SPRING 2011 ZARATHUSHTI PHILANTHROPY 82 PAGE FROM NAMC GUEST EDITOR Dr Mehroo Patel SUMMER 2011 FOOD FOR BODY AND MIND 93 PERSONAL PROFILES GUEST EDITORS Sarosh and Benafsha Khariwala, Arnavaz Chubb, 97 MILESTONES Photo on cover: 101s Between The Covers s 113 Business Zemestan 1379 AY 3748 ZRE Dae –Behman – Spendarmad 1379 AY (Fasli) Amordad – Shehrever- Meher 1380 AY (Shenshai) Shehrever – Meher – Avan 1380 AY (Kadimi) Cover design Opinions expressed in the FEZANA Journal do not necessarily reflect the Feroza Fitch of views of FEZANA or members of this publication's editorial board. Lexicongraphics Photo credit see Published at Regal Press, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada FEZANA Journal Vo 24 No 4 ISBN 1068-2376 page 4 (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 $15 (US) ; $20 (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 – Winter 2010 A word from the Editor Dolly Dastoor The dreadful first decade of the 21st century is over. (WZCC) And what a decade it has been, One cannot help but conceptualized in think of the events that defined this decade: starting the Diaspora with 9/11 and the rise of terrorism, with the loss of marches on with thousands of lives; in the streets from Bali to Mumbai, chapters in every two wars with further loss of civilian lives, health continent. The endemics: natural disasters from tsunamis to Diaspora earthquakes to devastating floods, religious intolerance participated of ethnic cleansing in Darfu, to Rwanda to Burma. and effectively in the the decade closing with an economic upheaval of Parliament of World historic proportions and a growing gap between rich Religions, Cape and poor, rising anger, impatience and paralyzed Town, 2000, political institutions This decade has defined the world Barcelona, 2005, into "them vs us". Melbourne, 2009. UNESCO and the White House now And how did we the global Zarathushti community recognize the interface with this first decade?. It saw the birth of celebration of WAPIZ, the World Alliance of Parsi Irani Zarathushtis, Navroz, the an ultra conservative group which dominates the Diaspora present Indian scene, a decade which saw the adult participates in UN World Summits. (see FJ Fall 2010). franchise for the BPP. A decade which saw the erosion The Singapore Diaspora participated actively in the of equal rights for women and men married outside the Interfaith Cultural Exhibition, The Archbishop of faith in life and in death, a decade which saw the Canterbury paid a historic visit to the Zoroastrian epithets of "rogue priests" and "un-zoroastrian" House, London, This decade has seen the growth and attached to Zarathushtis who believe and practice the surge of the Zarathushti Diaspora. religion in its original form. In this issue we celebrate people who made history in their time, 1000th anniversary of the Shahnameh A decade which preferred to see Parsi properties in written by the renowned Ferdowsi, the 150th Udvada and land surrounding the Iranshah swallowed anniversary of the illustrious Rabindranath Tagore and up by people from outside the community, rather than the 100th anniversary of Sir Sorabji Pochkhanawala, being preserved as "Heritage Site" with the fear that the banker par excellence. non-Zarathushti tourists may come visiting!! What is more important, that Japanese or Swedish tourists visit the Heritage site or a cosmopolitan Indian community All of us need to bear in mind that more than a lives in these homes? How long will it take for the thousand years of monumental effort of an extra present 100 parsis of Udvada to become 50 and then ordinary exemplary nature can be washed away in less 20? Will the rest of the non-Zarathushti world ever than a thousand days. Such is the power of the waves know or care that the Zarathushti Heritage of Udvada is of discord. Persepolis was not built in a day, but burnt lost forever? down in a night. When all minority communities around the world want May the second decade bring us back from the path of to preserve their "way of life" for their children to absorb self destruction and move us once again to communal the culture of their ancestors, the Parsi community in peace, harmony and growth. And while we dream of a India thinks otherwise. better tomorrow let us not forget that tomorrow is made of many todays, and how we live our today will shape our tomorrow. And yet the Diaspora marches on, The Diaspora held three very successful World Zoroastrian Congresses FEZANA/Houston 2000, London 2005, Dubai 2009. The World Zarathushti Chamber of Commerce 2 FEZANA JOURNAL – Winter 2010 SHATRANJ AND TAKHT-E-NARD Behram Pastakia invents the game of Takht-e-Nard. Nushin-Ravan, pleased with his vizier asks Bozorjmehr to travel to A joy of living in a India and give it to the Raja himself. At the Indian court, North American the Raja, impressed with Bozorjmehr's knowledge of Zarathushti numerous subjects, exclaims: "This is truly an eloquent community where we and wise man, quite apart from the business of chess practice our traditions and nard!" has been the rediscovery of the The pictorial displays in the commissioned celebrations of manuscripts of the Shahnameh provide us an Sisdeh-Bedar and opportunity to delight in a unique art form. The Tirgan. These embedded calligraphic text replicates what is illustrated celebrations, on each page. Unlike paintings hung on a wall, the atrophied in Parsi pictures are best appreciated close up in a book. The culture, are artist uses his skills to interpret the text with his paint celebrated by brush. The game of chess is difficult to find in this Zarathushtis from particular representation of the story. The artist chose Iran with gusto as instead to detail the beauty of the Sasanian court. In a decreed by the masterpiece of world literature which covers fifty seasons every year. monarchs (three of them women) beginning at the A particularly delightful aspect of these "Picnics in the dawn of time, there are relatively few moments of Park" is the inevitable playing of board games, i.e., peace and respite in the narrative; of which this is one chess and backgammon. I was recently introduced to of them. The sense of cultural refinement and respect a remarkable innovation, a four person game of for each other's kingdoms between Iran and India is chess! Of many a memorable conversation, as we palpable as one reads the manuscript. Put in this battle in the games with our wits, one which often historic context it is easy to understand why Parsis crops up is the question of whether Shatranj (Chess) chose to go to India when they were persecuted in Iran was invented in Iran or in India. While truth can be for their religious beliefs. difficult to define, especially in worldly matters, if the Now in the North American Zarathushti Diaspora Shahnameh is to be believed, we can bring this we are getting back together again. Bring out the chess ongoing debate to a close. and backgammon boards and let the games begin! The Shahanameh can broadly be divided in three parts: the mythical, the legendary and the quasi- Acknowledgements: historical. In the historic section, the story is told of an Embassy of Sind (Hind) arriving in the court of Kesra We are grateful to: Nushin-Ravan who reigned in Iran from 531 to 578. (i) Ms. Massumeh Farhad, Smithsonian Museum Known for his civil and judiciary reforms and fair in Washington D.C., in sharing her knowledge in the treatment of his subjects, Nushin-Ravan was interpretation of Iranian pictorial and calligraphic art. commonly known as the "just" (adil). (ii) The Lee and Juliet Folger Fund that made the In the finely balanced court scene on the cover of exhibition and brochure, from which much of this this issue of the Journal, the king dressed in Safavid material is taken. fineries, is enthroned on the right. He addresses the Reference: envoy of the Raja of Qanuj who has arrived with camels, elegantly saddled horses and white elephants "Sunset of Empire" -Stories from the Shahnameh of laden with sumptuous gifts of gold, silver, rubies, Ferdowsi Volume III translated by Dick Davis: ISBN 0- diamonds and ambergris. After all these gifts are sent 934211-68-X Mage Publishers www.mage.com away to the treasury, the envoy offers his most special and mysterious gift: Shatranj ! When no instructions are provided for the rules of the game, it falls to the astute vizier Bozorjmehr to decipher its strategy.