At the 20th anniversary celebrations of Ahmedbad’s Ushta-te Foundation, 64 award winners, including members of sister communities, were felicitated. A song-cum-dance sequence, the release of 20 pink and white balloons by the children of Zarathusti Awareness Group of Ahmedabad (ZAGA) and a skit based on the life of Persian poet Firdowsi marked the event. A mime conveyed the message of secularism and peace, while Bharat Natyam exponent Revanta Sarabhai delivered three short performances at the March 23, 2019 awards function of the Foundation.
ZAGA, a wing of the Foundation, conducts religious and cultural Sunday classes for children, once or twice a month. A note on the event held at Natrani amphitheater on the banks of the Sabarmati River was sent to Parsiana by Perin Unwalla, senior volunteer of ZAGA.
1st row: children of Zarathusti Awareness Group of Ahmedabad (ZAGA) welcome audiences at Ushta-te Foundation’s 20th
anniversary celebrations; 2nd row from l: Piloo Aga; ZAGA volunteers with Meher Medora (ext r), Shirin Kanga (5th from r)
A monajat and prayers by the ZAGA children kicked off the evening. Chief guest businesswoman Piloo Aga gave a "crisp and motivational speech,” noted Unwalla. She spoke of the need to respect our environment, Parsipanu and the need to strive for excellence in every field. Ahmedabad Parsi Punchayat (APP) president Brig Jahangir Anklesaria (retd) was the guest of honor. Honorary secretary of the Foundation Mini Patel read out a report of their activities for the last two decades. Earlier, managing trustee Meher Medora welcomed the audience while senior trustee Shirin Kanga gave a vote of thanks.
In a separate email to Parsiana, Medora recounted that though Ahmedabad has a small number of Parsis, "yet we had 64 achievers who were felicitated, including three PhDs.” She singled out Delzad Khambatta (for entrepreneurship), Cyrus Gandhi and Parinaz Wadia (finance), Cyrus Daruwalla (arm wrestling), Ariz Bokdawalla (community service). Special appreciation awards were given to Khushnum Avari, Dr Astad Pastakia, Azzmin Mehta, Nafeeza Pavri and Pervin Doctor, she noted. Medora appreciated the work of Pastakia in popularizing the Foundation’s Gatha calendar (see "Ushta-te’s annual day,” Events and Personalities, Parsiana, January 21, 2016) in India and overseas.
President of social service organization Jyotisangh Jayshree Lalbhai was honored with the Meher Contractor Award for excellence; Ashweeni Kumar and Reenaben Jasani were recognized with the Rustomji Contractor Award for work with the visually impaired; Anju Sheth was felicitated for her efforts at establishing and running a suicide prevention helpline, Saath. Other members of sister communities who were awarded were Chandini Zala and K. Rajeev for their puppetry.
Choreographers for the evening were Khushnuma Solai and Dilshad Guard while Pervin Watchmaker provided the idea for the mime. Music for the monajat was provided by Kaizad Dalal. Katy Daruwalla directed the skit.