A festive air marked the 30th anniversary celebrations of the Zoroastrian Association
of Arizona
Text: Dilnavaz E. Bhagwagar Photos: Elizabeth Munshi
The resonant sounds of the Avesta prayers filled the early evening air as Ervads Shyamuk Sidhwa, Vispi Karanjia and Jamshed Tata performed a jashan to herald the 30th anniversary and Navroz function of the Zoroastrian Association of Arizona (ZAAZ) on March 25, 2017 at the Ahwatukee Foot Hills Golf Club.
Parsis, inter-married Parsis, their spouses and children all joined in, with harmony and heads covered, as did their friends of different faiths, each one bowing reverently before the holy fire at the end of the prayers and partaking of the ‘blessed’ fruits. It did not matter that the prayers were not understood by many. The underlying feelings of piety, bonding and sharing in the joy of the occasion were important.
Above (from left): Vispi Karanjia, Gulnar Sidhwa, Zarin Mehta, Perseus Munshi, Noshir Hansotia;
(2nd, from left) Villu Karanjia, Allen Mehta and Nergish Sidhwa cutting the cake;
jashan by Ervads Shyamuk Sidhwa, Vispi Karanjia and Jamshed Tata
From far left: Scene from Sala Vera no Dali; children’s dance; a section of the congregation
The jashan was followed by fellowship over super snacks: fresh and dry fruits (that were part of the jashan ceremony), sweet dahi, batasas that came from Houston, chicken puffs, samosas and chips. Tea, coffee and soft drinks were also on hand. A well stocked bar and bartender could make and serve whatever else you wanted but that was on payment. Navroz greetings with kotees (hugs) and kissies (kisses) were exchanged aplenty as members of the community caught up with each other.
Also scheduled for the evening was a general body meeting when ZAAZ president Karanjia outlined the activities of the past year. Treasurer Zarin Mehta gave a brief account of the financial health of the Association. An interesting activity mentioned was a donation made every year to a deserving person or association, alternately from India one year and from Pakistan the next. Membership of ZAAZ that has grown to over 130 has an almost equal number of members from both countries. [It is estimated that the Persian-speaking Arizona Zoroastrian Association (AZA) has approximately 70 members.] Mehta also thanked those whose efforts made the evening festive, fun and financially feasible.
In addition to Karanjia and Mehta who were reelected, the new team of office bearers, speedily and cordially elected (Bombay Parsi Punchayet to note!) for the year 2017-2018, were vice president Gulnar Sidhwa, secretary Perseus Munshi and joint secretary Noshir Hansotia. With a Masters degree in Architecture from the Arizona State University (ASU), Karanjia who hails from Bombay is managing partner at Orcutt Winslow Architecture and being a navar performs jashans for the community. Sidhwa from Nagpur has worked with various facilities and design management companies after studying this subject at ASU. She had earlier served as ZAAZ secretary. Karachi born Mehta who has a PhD in audiology is an associate professor at A. T. Still University in Arizona. She has been ZAAZ treasurer since 2015. Munshi who has been involved with ZAAZ since 2001 teaches business courses at ASU. Hansotia who was in the family financial services business in Kansas City has only recently moved to Phoenix.
On the 30th anniversary the role of the founding members of the Association was recalled. The first board of directors included president Roshan Bhappu and secretary, the late Dr Darius Ghaswalla, originally from Karachi; vice president Phiroz Rivetna (who with his wife Cathy was the only founder member present at the 2017 function) and treasurer Rustom Mirza, both originally from India.
Fostering festivities
As part of the 30th anniversary celebration was the staging of the much awaited Gujarati natak with the intriguing name Sala Vera no Dali. Only at the end of the natak did one realize, it was the hero Bomi Darling’s take on artist Salvador Dali! The play, conceived and written by a popular and active member of ZAAZ Diana Dinshaw was received with much applause and laughter.
The cast had the mandatory trio of every Parsi natak — a domineering wife Cilla, convincingly played by Sidhwa; her hen-pecked, sudreh-legha clad, absent-minded husband Bomi Darling enacted by the normally very dignified, high profile technologist, recently retired from Intel, Furrokh Cooper; and Ramu the domestic help, played by the inimitable Khushroo Antia, who elicited the maximum laughter and applause. Danesh Boman was the daily sabziwalla who along with selling vegetables dispensed gossip of the Baug. Purviz Collie portrayed Bomi’s niece Nikita, an art dealer who had come down from London to see a Salvador Dali painting, discovered by the young, good looking Ronny Paintwalla (Kairash Ferozpurwalla). A delightful dance by a group of young children also found its way willy-nilly into the natak. It was performed by Anita and Yasmin Antia, Tatum and Regan Hansotia, Pravin and Kamal Munshi, Neha Karanjia, Rashi Verma and Zubin Sidhwa.
The dinner that followed was a gourmet’s delight with the best from a Middle Eastern, a Pakistani and an Indian restaurant. For the young and young at heart, DJ Lucky kept the music and dancing going.
The draw of lucky number tickets added to the zest and fun. They were announced in a most unusual way. "One lucky chair, does not have a bow. Sitting on it, is the winner of our chair prize!” "One lucky plate has a blue cross on it. Turn over your plates and if you see a cross you are the winner of our plate prize!” The last raffle prize was a lucky number draw that was won by Hooty and Noshir Hansotia. The prize? A year’s subscription to Parsiana!
Kudos to ZAAZ for fostering such brotherhood and bonding within and outside the community and for keeping the flag of our faith flying high. I heard more than one non-Zoroastrian ask, only half in zest, "Can you not make me a Zoroastrian too?”