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Instead of the usual early morning pick-up, children had to gather at their designated bus halts at 11 a.m. for the Zochild Day celebrations that continued with its usual gusto, with songs, dances, skits, martial art displays and so on until dinner. Organized under the auspices of the Zoroastrian Children’s Foundation (ZCF) whose chairman is Shihan Vispi Kapadia, ZCD is now in its 17th avatar. The program encompassed a fun filled day of music, dance and dinner at St Mary’s School (ICSE), Mazgaon, the venue of the events, on November 16, 2019.
The morning commenced with the solemn ceremony of hoisting the Indian tricolor and the ZCD flag. Fond tributes were paid to ZCD’s inspiration — Fareena — Kapadia’s young daughter who succumbed to an illness very early in life as well as the late former Director General of Police Arvind Inamdar and late ZCF committee members.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Praising Ahura Mazda were the monajats mellifluously rendered by girls of The Bai Avabai F. Petit Girls High School and Lady Engineer High School followed by the Swingers of Surat who performed a dance item and also a comedy action item. Activity School’s talented children depicted the shocking Nirbhaya rape incident which had rocked the nation seven years ago. The terpsichorean skills of the Petit girls were on display as they performed zumba — a unique mix of dance and exercise.
Over the years Zoroastrian keynote speakers — titans of the community — have been invited to share their thoughts with the children. It was observed that the youngsters would be distracted, talking among themselves or loitering. Since this was unfair to the speakers who were sharing their knowledge, the ZCF managing committee decided to bring about a change. Children don’t want to listen to "lamba (long) lectures,” Vispi’s wife Shiraz, a key member of the committee, mentioned in a chat with Parsiana.
With the increasing use of social media, cyber-crime is proving menacing. "Don’t divulge too much personal data,” Vidushi Daga, an expert on the subject advised, citing real life examples of how children are misled and trapped by "virtual” friends. She offered the audience safety tips and precautionary measures. 
Awardees honored included ophthalmic surgeon Dr Keiki Mehta, artist and painter Jamshed Irani, hockey coach Merzban "Bawa” Patel, High Priest Dastur Keki Ravji Meherjirana, educationist Mithoo Wadia, formula F1 racer Jehan Daruvala and police inspector Cyrus Irani. Rising Stars honored were Darish Mehta (karate), Yohan Behramkamdin (swimming), Roshni Irani and Diana Tanttra (kho kho).
Various community patrons, Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) chairman Yazdi Desai and former chairman Dinshaw Mehta as well as BPP trustees were also felicitated.
"A lot of planning and then putting those plans into action goes into ensuring the smooth execution of ZCD,” explained Shiraz in response to Parsiana’s email queries. The managing committee includes Hoshedar Khambatta, Khorshed Kapadia, Diana Marfatia, Hutoxi Aibara, Urvax and Yasmin Dhanda, Dinaz Raimalwala, Kobad Kerawala, Kashmira Kapadia, Nancy Dalal and Veera Mundroina.
On November 17, outstation children who had come from Surat, Navsari, Valsad, Nagpur, Ahmedabad, Dahanu, Baroda and Poona were taken to the Nehru Science Centre at Worli. Later, at the Sir C. J. School in Tardeo, they ate a Chinese lunch catered by Mao Restaurant and Caterers. The M. F. Cama Athornan Madressa at Andheri, the Bandra Parsi Convalescent Home and the Panday Dharamshala at Charni Road lodged the outstation youngsters. 
"We’d like to encourage more Zoroastrian children to register for this and enjoy the learning and benefits that come from being a Zochild,” was Shiraz’s parting note.