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The two gems in the crown of the World Zarathushti Chamber of Commerce (WZCC),” founder president Rohinton Rivetna and immediate past president Minoo Shroff, were both conferred the honor of president emeritus of the association at the global annual general meeting (AGM) held at the Rhythm Resort in Lonavla on January 3, 2020. While Rivetna from Chicago received the scroll of honor from current president Edul Daver, nonagenarian Shroff being indisposed, his scroll was to be presented to him later in Bombay.
The scroll gave credit to Rivetna for the "farsighted vision in laying the foundation and establishing this Chamber of Commerce. Your very thought of combining Zarathushti ethos with commerce, built on a strong foundation of the principles of honesty, charity and service deserves praise.” Shroff was commended for "your outstanding contribution towards its growth, credibility and stature in our community, country and in the international arena… Your extraordinary and timely contribution in building a strong financial base has helped the Chamber to have a long and fruitful innings.”
The AGM was part of the global conclave from January 2 to 5 that saw nearly 200 Zoroastrians register for the event organized by the India region under the leadership of Capt Percy and Arin Master. The theme of the conclave being "Power of youth driving future generations,” several youth from Bombay and Poona were drawn to the proceedings on January 4. The day started with a speed networking session planned by the youth at the Maple Room and the momentum gathered steam during the course of the day when there were two panel discussions; a talk by Nawshir Mirza, former director of Tata Power Company Limited on "Pitfalls in Business and How to Prevent the Same;” and the unraveling of the business journey of Meher Pudumjee, non executive chair of Thermax Limited, during her fireside chat with Viraf Deboo, erstwhile president of the Poona chapter of WZCC. The second edition of the Zoroastrian Shark Tank saw five entrepreneurs present their pitch to four sharks: real estate investor Alayar Dabestani, founder and CEO of Qualitas Global PWR Neville Patel, managing director of Godrej Industries Nadir Godrej and partner of Jeena and Company Cyrus Katgara.

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the awards ceremony the same evening, chief guest Dr Ramesh Mashelkar, erstwhile director general of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, spoke on "Creating Next Gen Pole Vaulting Entrepreneur Leadership.” Financial support from the Tata Group and the Parsi community helped him to pursue his educational goals and emerge as a respected author and director of leading companies, he revealed.
Farrokh Cooper who chairs Cooper Corporation in Satara was named Outstanding Zarathushti Entrepreneur for the year 2019. Dr Cyrus Hirjibehedin from MIT Lincoln Laboratory was the recipient of the Outstanding Zarathushti Professional award. The Outststanding Young Zarathushti Entrepreneur/Professional Award went to Pervin Taleyarkhan, a legal counsel at Whirlpool Corporation. A new category introduced this year was the Outstanding Zarathushti Social Entrepreneur that was awarded to Mira Mehta, founder of Tomato Jos, a tomato paste company based in Nigeria.
The official proceedings commenced a day prior with the lighting of the inaugural lamp by Dastur Keki Ravji Meherjirana of Navsari, together with Daver and Percy Master who is regional director for WZCC India. Ravji and his son Ervad Hormaz then performed the jashan in the morning.
Planned for the first and last days of the conclave were field trips to the Tata Central Archives and the Serum Institute of India in Poona, the Tata Power Company precincts adjoining Walwan Dam and Della Adventure Park in Lonavla that gave delegates insights into the working of these institutions.

"Keeper of the torch”
A global conclave offers "a perfect environment to network with the best of the best,” stated Daver at the AGM. During the last 19 years WZCC has grown to include 14 chapters and five area regional offices (ARO). In the coming years, they hope to start a chapter in New Zealand and a couple of more in India in areas like Ahmedabad, Baroda and Surat.
The international board makes progress through their quarterly conference calls for global real time communications. "I would encourage all chapters to go paperless,” requested Daver. With the creation of the Zoroastrian Entrepreneurship Development Foundation in North America in 2019, WZCC hopes to get permission in the next nine months to be able to offer loans to upcoming entrepreneurs. This is similar to the WZCC Initiative introduced in India in conjunction with The WZO (World Zoroastrian Organisation) Trust Funds where interest-free loans up to Rs 25 lakhs have been extended to five entrepreneurs.
An Honorary Members Guild Meeting has been planned for the first time "to utilize the acumen and benefit from the experience” of 13 business and professional leaders who have been conferred with honorary membership.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"There is always room for improvement,” stated Daver. With the annual membership fees in India being Rs 1,000 and the lifetime membership fees being Rs 10,000 he advocated that the fees be increased to Rs 20,000 as generally "the life membership fees are at least 20 times the annual membership fees.” While the WZCC is continuously striving to introduce programs that would appeal to the youth, they hope "the youth will become members. It can’t only be a one-way street,” pointed out Daver. A Youth Team was specially constituted in September 2019 comprising youth director from India Jehaan Kotwal, directors Dr Zubin Sethna of UK and Afsaan Kermani of USA with Rashna Sanjana Aga of India as a special appointee.
"Technology is an enabler,” stressed WZCC global vice president Yazdi Tantra referring to the WZCC presence on all social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp. He was keen to promote social entrepreneurs who whilst making money also contribute to society in many ways. Opportunities in this domain "that go well with the Zoroastrian ethos are in production of energy using solar and wind power or waste management to conserve environment and minimize pollution of air, water and land. There is limited competition in these areas but it involves a lot of passion.”
"WZCC is the real keeper of the torch for entrepreneurship and professionalism. It has grown over 19 long years, something we should be proud of,” reminded global secretary Adi Siganporia. Viewing integrity as the key word in the WZCC logo, he felt the organization should capitalize on this virtue and proclaim, "If you want to learn integrity, come to us. Parsis know it better.” He recalled billionaire investor and philanthropist Warren Buffet’s famous quote, "Look for three things in a person — intelligence, energy, integrity. If they don’t have the last one, don’t ever bother with the first two.” Seeing how stakeholders suffer when banks pack up, Siganporia felt organizations like the WZCC should get together and formulate a procedure to ensure defaulters are punished immediately and the innocent are compensated.
"Some like Rivetna are proactive and will send the annual accounts for the Chicago chapter even before I ask for them. Getting from other chapters is a challenge,” related honorary treasurer Katayun Kapadia when presenting the global treasurer’s accounts. She specified that for Iran, the activities are funded by the Tehran Zoroastrian Anjuman and to encourage membership there was a temporary waiver of dues last year. The UK region has been particularly fortunate that their chairs, Lord Karan Bilimoria earlier and Shernaz Engineer currently have subsidized or funded some activities as have other benefactors like Dorab Mistry, Godrej, Tata UK, Cyrus and Pervin Todiwala. For the production of the WZCC publication SynergyZ, expenses have been borne by Meher Bhesania of Dubai for the last 15 years while the income from advertisements is retained by the Mumbai chapter, stated Kapadia.
"Quantitative growth counts but qualitative development matters,” remarked Percy Master giving a synopsis of the activities in the India region that includes chapters in Bombay, Poona and Bangalore with an ARO in Delhi. He believed that more important than the gross national product is gross national happiness. While conceding that an educated youth leads to an educated nation, Master maintained that "there is no substitute for experience.” To an audience comprising mainly of senior citizens, he recommended, "Even when we feel we are in our prime we should make way for the new generation... Women should be given the power to do all the good they can.”
USA has five chapters — Central Florida, Southern California, Chicago, Houston and New York with two AROs in Boston and Seattle, reminded regional director Rustom Engineer. He referred to speakers being shared among chapters. In New York, the highlight was the career fair. In Houston one special session taught teens how to market products. Having started their Toronto chapter in 2019, chapter chair Cyrus Patel was happy to announce that at the end of four events including talks on strategy and networking, they are operating in the black. Currently they have 25 members and hope to double the number by next year, "There is a lot of potential in Toronto. We need to tap into the experience and knowhow. Youth have shown passion,” he observed.
"We don’t have a WZCC chapter but we have a lot of youth activities,” stated  Neville Shroff, president of the Zoroastrian Charity Funds of Hongkong, Canton and Macao, observing that their youth show "tolerance, realization and cooperation.” The majority of their talented youth being inclined towards finance and banking rather than the professions, he noticed that through their connectivity and networking they have been "helping each other in finding jobs, placements.” Occasionally they have invited university lecturers to address the youth and the anjuman finances their social activities. "The women’s front is very active in organizing activities where no man dare interfere. They are given a free hand.” As he further jested, "Some say I am a de facto president. ‘We know who the real president is.’”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The small Iranian delegation for whom speaking in English is a challenge chose to let Dabestani of Seattle, USA, summarize their activities. Members of the community gather together every fortnight in Iran when they invite entrepreneurs. Ever grateful to Manekji Hataria who helped the Zoroastrian Iranians of yore, they look forward to continued help from Parsis.
The Women Entrepreneurs Wing of the WZCC, chaired by Behroze Daruwalla, has been organizing training programs and workshops, networking sessions and business promotion meets, offering advisory and mentoring services to women "to start and scale up their business… capitalize on their inherent capabilities, realize their true potential and fulfil their aspirations of attaining higher economic standards.” Daruwalla urged every chapter to have one youth and one woman on their core committee if they are unable to have separate wings.
The goal of the WZCC youth team is to "empower every Zoroastrian in three years’ time,” declared youth director Jehaan Kotwal. While last year they were focused on networking and knowledge sharing, this year they will train their energies on incubation and industry exposure. They have 820 participants on their 10 WhatsApp groups and hope to reach out to 10,000. His colleague Farida Dahee referred to their efforts to target 200 children of the Xtremely Young Zoroastrians organization in the age group of five to 12 years as part of their Kidpreneurship program by creatively engaging them through craft and clay activities to understand innovation, risk taking and acceptance of failure, the key ingredients in a business.
Business and social entrepreneurship are being given due attention by the WZCC but "academic entrepreneurship is what we don’t have,” observed Prof Farrokh Mistree of USA who through the Zoroastrian Faculty Network is keen to identify students and suitable professors who can mentor them at overseas universities, tap funds and internship opportunities. "We need to think big and start small and graphically scale up,” he stressed. Currently one student has been shortlisted for admission to a masters in engineering leading to a doctorate degree at the Systems Realization Laboratory, University of Oklahoma, Norman, USA. A specially created website zoroastrianfacultynetwork.org carries announcements relevant to the student fraternity.
Special advisor on WZCC’s Business Advisory Committee Phiroze Kharas rhetorically enquired, "What is the contribution of members of WZCC? All are not doing what is necessary for the growth of WZCC. The Bombay administrative office has no money. Only three people were involved in getting sponsorships of Rs 17.5 lakhs. If each member could get one lakh a year we could get Rs 100 lakhs. As members we should remember the words of former UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill, "You make a living by what you get but you make a life by what you give.” He wondered whether the e-blasts from the WZCC were serving any purpose considering there was not a single response to the two announcements regarding a delegation of German executives willing to share their technical expertise at the invitation of the Indian Merchants’ Chamber and a Chinese company manufacturing machines that segregate plastic and thereby help with waste management. "We need to do something about communication. It is not working. I was told members are not seeing the mails because they may be going in the junk mail.” Kharas is spearheading a WZCC effort to lead a delegation to the World Expo: Dubai 2020 to explore business opportunities in China. This country is not considered a promising partner due to its internal problems as also the embargo from the US, stated Engineer. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                  
"As an organization, we will keep making progress,” assured Daver. Hoping that WZCC will "continue to be vibrant for all times to come,” Siganporia felt that due attention should be paid to Kharas’ views "so that all work equally hard.” He referred to the Tata Athletic Club holding its annual meets when J. R. D. Tata would come to the Brabourne Stadium at the dot of 4 p.m. At one such meet, finding none of the managing directors of his companies present, he sent off a letter the following day to reprimand them.
The next annual general meeting will be held in London from May 26 to 30, 2021, announced Sethna, London based international director of WZCC, inviting members on behalf of the local community and chapter chair Shernaz Engineer. London being a top tourist destination boasting a vibrant art and entertainment scene, a short promotional video featured the historical and popular sites that would interest visitors. Sethna referred to "Britain being open for business, offering trade links and social entrepreneurship possibilities.”
With the lights dimmed in the Grand Oak Banquet Room, in Olympic style a runner carried a LED torch burning intermittently to Master who then presented it to Sethna, the torchbearer for the next meet in London.