"We wanted to support Gujarati Parsi nataks,” which unfortunately not many are doing today, stated Xerxes Dastur, chairman, Mumbai Chapter of the World Zarathushti Chamber of Commerce (WZCC). The Chapter selected Big Bang Productions’ (BBP) Mix Breed as a fund raiser. "The tradition of Parsi nataks should not be lost to the community,” Dastur informed Parsiana on August 11, 2022.
Structured in "record time,” Dastur, also a Bombay Parsi Punchayet trustee, stated that "in two weeks we identified the production house… The production team has bent over backwards to accommodate us…We managed to locate an auditorium (Birla Matushri Sabhagar)…We have managed to pull in sponsors.” Confident that the fundraiser on August 21 would be successful, Dastur said, "The important part was to create a platform where our members could interact with each other…We have given advertising space to our members…We are hoping our members would come in large numbers.”
BBP is a partnership comprising Huzan Wadia, Marzban Bhesania and Rumy Zarir. "Sam Kerawalla is not a partner any more, but he is always with us,” Zarir told Parsiana. Set up in 2015, BBP have put up "more than 20 plays,” he stated.
In his three-year term as Mumbai Chapter head Dastur promises to "provide value to our members… a platform to interact freely…sound each other out.” The Chamber is "not only for entrepreneurs… it is for professionals too, to network and upgrade their skills. There are many budding entrepreneurs in the community who need guidance and advice from various professionals… Parsi professionals are willing to give back… WZCC will play a pivotal role to ensure that entrepreneurship is a viable option,” he averred.
F. J.