Participation in the annual Jamshedi Navroz celebrations organized in Bombay by Dadar’s Mancherji Edalji Joshi Memorial Trust (MEJMT) at the Colony Gymkhana grounds on March 21, 2019 showed better participation as compared to previous years, say the organizers. Parsiana received a write-up on the event from trustee and master of ceremonies Mahiyar Dastoor. The audience was welcomed with songs by the children of Ervad (Dr) Ramiyar Karanjia’s prayer class. Pulmonologist Dr Zarir Udwadia was the chief guest at the occasion. Management professional and erstwhile Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) chairman Minoo Shroff was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award, with a special award going to the veteran actor Dinyar Contractor, who recently was awarded a Padma Shri. Fareez Vasania was felicitated for his athletic contributions. The Jal Mistry Memorial Award was presented to architect Kayzad Shroff, with the Rohinton Chinoy Awards for Excellence in Academics and Sports being presented to Colony and other achievers.
From l, 1st row: Dr Zarir Udwadia, Kayzad Shroff, Fareez Vasania, Sharukh and Ervad Kaizad Karkaria with Kayan Dadyburjor,
2nd row: Mahiyar Dastoor, Mithoo Jesia, Dinyar Panthaki, Ervad (Dr) Ramiyar Karanjia, Gool Udwadia, Arnavaz Mistry;
3rd row: Danush Dumasia and Zyra Nargolwala with little entertainers
Photos: Sarosh K. Daruwalla, Mazda Studios
Writer, actor and director Kayan Dadyburjor was presented the Kavina K. Karkaria Award for the most promising Colony youngster. Ervad Darabshaw Sidhwa, who has served the Rustom Framna Agiary for more than 60 years, received a Lifetime Achievement Award. Other mobeds felicitated were Ervads Harvesp and Adil Sanjana.
The entertainment segment of the evening, titled "Here we go” featured singers Zyra Nargolwala, Danush Dumasia, Delraz Bunshah and Kayo Billimoria, along with talent from the Colony. Food could not have been far behind: "The whiff of caterer Tanaz Godiwala’s traditional Parsi dishes was all across the grounds” began Dastoor’s write-up.
"Interesting competitions were conducted over the preceding weekends,” noted Dastoor. These included programs for children, those with a taste for Bollywood, and housie, among others.
Sponsors for the event included the Sterling and Wilson Group, the Zoroastrian Cooperative Bank Limited, Central Bank of India, and the Pirojsha Godrej Foundation among others. Associate sponsors were the WZO Trust Funds of India, Della Adventure and Resorts, the Bombay Parsi Punchayet and Rustomjee Group.
MEJMT trustees include, besides Dastoor, Dinyar Panthaki, Zareen Engineer, Jimi and Mithoo Jesia, Tina Patel, Daraius Zaiwala, Homai Daruwalla and Behram Rabadi.
Borivli and Suburban Zoroastrian Association: enthusiastic seniors
Elderly members constituted the majority of the "record number” of 67 who attended the Navroz celebrations of the Borivli and Suburban Zoroastrian Association (BASZA) on March 31, 2019, at the Rustomjee International School in Dahisar. They had to be coaxed by games anchor Heena Vala to get off their comfortable chairs to play games, noted Association secretary Khurshed Pastakia in an email to Parsiana. But later, "almost everyone was up and about enthusiastically playing a variety of games that were a ton of fun and, at the same time, not very tiring,” he noted. A game based on Hindi film songs "surprised everyone (when they noted) such phenomenal and enthusiastic singing talent emerging,” Pastakia noted. "The elderly players show(ed) no sign of fatigue at all. For the first time ever, the organizers had to abandon the ever-popular housie for a lack of time, as the dinner was getting cold,” said the secretary.
Navroz with an Iranian flavor at Poona’s Asha Vahishta The Zoroastrian Center
Asha Vahishta The Zoroastrian Center in Poona was "packed to the gills and extra seating arrangements were made for the overflowing crowd,” on Navroz Day, March 21, 2019, noted founder Vispi Wadia in an email to Parsiana. A thanksgiving jashan and a contributory maachi were offered in the morning. Devotees partook of fruits, dry fruits, gaz and other Iranian sweets from the Haft-seen table laid out in the main prayer hall. Iranian musicians Sepideh Kazerani, Armaan Saghari, Poorya Mahabadi, Meherdad Kooshesh and Mahsa Koushanfar rendered soulful traditional Persian and Kurdish songs and music in the compound, noted Wadia. "To further the Iranian flavor,” he noted that the lunch that followed included Persian dishes.
Clockwise from above Calcutta’s dancers with Darius Tamboli in foreground; Prochy Mehta,
Behnaz Bulsara Dugar, Numazar Mehta; Nirvhan Mehta Vyas: rocking as "Freddie Mercury"
The Calcutta Parsee Club celebrated Navroz Day with a function themed around a "medley of songs, dances and a bit of acting on the life of Freddie Mercury (singer Farrokh Bulsara),” noted Club member Gulnar Mehta in an email to Parsiana.
The show began with Nirvhan Mehta Vyas decked up as young Freddie singing classics We Will Rock You and Tie Your Mother Down. As the songs progressed, the "young Freddie” was replaced with an older version played by Darius Tamboli, with Dolly Irani Banerji playing his mother. Ratan Postwalla and Cyrus Madan functioned as masters of ceremonies, along with providing voiceovers for some of the actors.
Samara Mehta Vyas sang, while her group of women aged 80 plus comprising Frenny Daroga, Olga Anklesaria, Deena Ardeshir, Arni Medhora, Sanober Meherji and Khush Medhora danced, swirling their hats and sticks. Cyrus Confectioner charmed the audiences with Have You Ever Seen the Rain. Father-son duo Jimbo and Raizan Vatcha sang a duet, Proud Mary. "Being who we are, a hint of Bollywood had to be thrown in with some of the younger girls shaking their legs to popular Hindi music,” noted Mehta. "The entire cast trooped onto the stage for the curtain call. The evening concluded with a medley of Mercury favorites including Crazy Little Thing Called Love, We Will Rock You, and Bohemian Rhapsody,” noted Mehta.
The event was put together by entertainment-in-charge Behnaz Bulsara Dugar.