North American Awards

Seven outstanding Zarathushtis were inducted into the Hall of Fame by their Zoroastrian compatriots at the 12th North American Zoroastrian Congress hosted by the Zoroastrian Association of Metropolitan Chicago (ZAC), July 4-7, 2002. The North American Zarathushti Community Awards have been an intrinsic feature of each biennial congress since 1988.

Heading the distinguished group, professor emeritus of Boston University Dr Farhang Mehr became the third North American Zoroastrian to win the Lifetime Achievement Award since the awards were instituted in 1988. The award is presented to a highly respected North American Zarathushti whose personal achievements have been a source of recognition to the Zarathushti community worldwide. The former deputy prime minister of Iran and chancellor of the Pahlavi University at Shiraz, Mehr had broken the glass barrier that prevented non-Muslims from attaining positions of power and authority in Iran. "His preeminence enabled him to imprint reforms of lasting impact on Iran’s economic, education, financial, insurance and oil sectors... As his career progressed, his personal example and efforts persuaded Islamic officials to open doors of high public offices closed for centuries to other Zarathushtis, and initiate religious equality and social acceptance of Zarathushtis,” notes the press release forwarded by FEZANA (Federation of Zoroastrian Associations of North America) awards committee chair Dinshaw Joshi. Though Mehr and his family had to flee Iran after the Islamic Revolution, "his wisdom, leadership and service... has contributed immensely to raise public recognition of the Zara­thushti community in North America... His scholarly advice, urging rationality, prudence and moderation on contemporary religious and community issues, is heeded equally by adult and young Zarathushtis around the world. His dedicated community leadership has enabled Zarathushtis in Iran to face their future with greater confidence, encouraged Zarathushti youth to be active in shaping the community’s destiny and for Tehran’s Mobed Kankash to modernize its outlook on religious and community matters. Further, through his leadership, world Zarathushti congresses have become a norm and countless Iranian Zarathushti families have found safe asylum in western countries,” notes the citation read by Joshi before the award was presented by outgoing FEZANA president Framroze Patel.

Winners all (L to R); 1st row): Mehr, Sidhwa and K. Mehta (2nd row): Tata, Bhathena and Dubash (Alongside): S. Mehta

Kayomarsh Mehta’s "significant contributions in leadership, religious education and social and cultural aspects of the Zarathushti community both in Chicago and around the world,” won him the Rohinton Rivetna Outstanding Zarathushti Award - the seventh individual to do so (The Outstanding Zoroas­train Award was renamed the Rohinton Rivetna Outstanding Zarathushti Award in 1990). The award recognizes a Zarathushti who has made outstanding and well-recognized contributions to further the cause of Zarathushtis in North America and internationally through leadership and service, notes the press release. A former president of ZAC, Mehta has been the chairperson of its Religious Education Committee for over 30 years, notes the citation crediting him with the development, leadership and management of "a very active and informative program of religious education for the local Zarathushti community... He initiated and successfully formulated a Universal Zarathushti Religion Curriculum to serve as a guide for standardizing religious education among Zarathushtis in North America. This curriculum was printed and issued by FEZANA and distributed to FEZANA member associations in North America as well as to other Zarathushti organizations throughout the world. (Mehta) has initiated also an elaborate program for advancing the religious education of mobeds in North America,” notes the citation. Mehta is said to be on the lookout for philanthropists to finance a Zarathushti Learning Center in North America on the lines of the K. R. Cama Oriental Institute in Bombay.

A Zarathushti entrepreneur with four high tech start-ups to his name in less than 10 years, Firdaus Bhathena, president and CEO of Relicore, became the eighth Zarathushti to receive the Excellence in Business or Profession Award.

Bombay-born Bhathena joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) after securing an all-India first at the ICSE examination. There he won the Henry Ford II scholarship for "exceptional potential for leadership in engineering,” notes the citation. After a couple of stints as director of engineering and developing educational software, Bhathena won MIT’s Entrepreneurship Competition and with the prize money of $ 50,000 founded WebLine Communications which became a leader in customer interaction software with 150 employees and 100 large customers in three years’ time. In 1999 Cisco Systems acquired WebLine for $ 325 million and a year later Bhathena left it to found Relicore which "raised $ 11 million in its first round of venture capital funding, and has over 40 employees working on distributed application management solutions. Firdaus also advises a number of early stage companies and is a charter member of several software and entrepreneurial organizations,” notes the write-up.

The Jamshed Pavri Humanitarian Service Award went to Vancouver’s Bella Tata — the eighth person to be so honored in North America. The award has been so named for the "immeasurable services” provided by the late Jamshed and Roda Pavri to the Zoroastrian community as well as to the Canadian host community, notes the write-up. A former president of the Zoroastrian Society of British Columbia (1998-2000) Tata had served as the chair of FEZANA’s congress committee for four years. A professional secretary and manager, and a descendant of the formidable Keikhosrow Shahrokh who had become the first Zoroastrian representative in the Iranian majlis (parliament), Bombay- born Tata is currently executive assistance officer, Pacific region, of Industry Canada — an economic appointment of the Canadian federal government which she has served since 1983, notes the write-up. "For her extensive and notable contribution to the department, its clients and community work,” Tata was awarded the Canada 125 Commemorative Medal, notes the citation emphasizing "her efforts to bring the fruits of education and the message of equality, compassion, harmony and unity to all segments of the society in Vancouver.”

Well-known novelist Bapsi Sidhwa was the first recipient of the Excellence in Performing Arts, Painting or Literature Award. Author of An American Brat, Cracking India (aka The Icecandy Man, was filmed as Earth), The Bride and The Crow Eaters, Sidhwa has taught at Columbia, Houston and Brandeis Universities. In 1994 she was presented the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Writer’s Award. The Lahore-born writer was nationally acknowledged by the award of Sitara-I-Imtiaz, Pakistan’s highest national honor in the liberal arts, and the LiBeraturepreis in Germany. She has also been awarded the Bunting Fellowship at Radcliffe, Harvard, notes the citation.

Current president of the Zoroastrian Association of Greater Boston Area (ZAGBA) Sherazade Mehta was the sixth recipient of the Outstanding Young Zarathushti Award, meant for achievers under 30. A full-time Montessori teacher in Boston, Mehta’s entrepreneurial skills were evident when she started making jewelry and began reaching a wider audience by launching her own website <www.Sherazarts.com>. Mehta’s jewelry and website were featured in the Boston Globe and in a news segment of the New England Cable news television network highlighting local entrepreneurs, mentions the citation.

The Ontario-born daughter of Rashna and FEZANA president Firdosh Mehta earned her BA in history from the University of British Columbia and her Bachelor of Elementary Education degree from the University of Alberta, acquiring her Montessori Diploma in Washington DC. Her training as a professional teacher has enabled her to initiate and teach children’s religious classes at ZAGBA. As one of the three co-chairs of ZYNA (Zoroastrian Youth of North America), a sub-committee of FEZANA which aims to help Zarathushti youth come together in educational, cultural and social areas, Mehta’s aim has been "to ensure that Zarathushti youth have a representative voice in all areas affecting their future,” states the citation.

Tenaz Dubash was the first recipient of the Paradise Award which aims to recognize an individual or group who has contributed to spreading the message of Zarathushtra through the composition of an artistic and educational play, poetry or song capable of being transcribed on film, video and/or DVD for dissemination among the Zarathushti and other communities in North America and worldwide, states the press release. India-born Dubash, with a master’s degree in television/radio and film from Syracuse University and over eight years of TV production experience, traveled to Iran with 34 fellow Zarathushtis and produced her first documentary on Zoroastrianism, In the Footsteps of Our Forefathers. Acclaimed nationally and internationally, the New York based Dubash’s production received positive press coverage in The Indian Express, India Today and Rediff.com. "A seven-minute segment of the documentary was featured on CNN’s ‘Inside Asia,’” records the citation, adding that the film has been screened at Boston and Berkeley Universities and at MIT.

Twenty-four nominations for the six awards were received by the extended date of February 15, 2002, a "disappointing” response according to Joshi. The committee selected 36 Zarathushti men and women to serve as judges. They were divided into six equal panels, each including a youth member. The awards committee did not divulge the names of the judges even to other judges on the same panel. Instead each judge received copies of the nominations which he/she was enjoined to evaluate strictly on the criteria specified. Thereafter the awards committee collated the total scores of each nominee, Joshi described the meticulous process of evaluation. When the committee discovered that some of their selected judges had been nominated for awards by the community, it ensured that no nominee served on the judges’ panel for the award for which he/she had been nominated. In the event four of the awardees had also been judges, notes Joshi.

There was no call for nominations for the Lifetime Achievement Award. Mehr was selected by the awards committee in consultation with FEZANA executives and a few prominent North Americans, writes Joshi

The awards committee which comprised Joshi, Yasmin Pavri of Houston, Trity Pourbahrami of Vancouver, Framroze Patel and Hosi Mehta, president of ZAC, noted its appreciation of philanthropist Mehraban Zartoshty’s donation of $2,500 in continuation of the Zartoshty family’s continued support for the biennial awards; Montreal businessman Ness Lakdawala who had provided the plaques presented to the awardees; and Feroza Fitch of Maryland for the design of the brochures. Master of ceremonies Laila Contractor ensured the smooth flow of events till Pavri’s vote of thanks brought the awards ceremony to an end.