9th Zarathushti Games

When Neeku Amanat of Vancouver handed over a jar with a lit candle to Andia Dianat of Los Angeles on July 4, 2004, it sig­naled the end of the Ninth North American Zarathushti Games and four days of exuberance for over 130 participants from Canada, USA, Germany, Pakistan, India and Australia. Hosted by the Zo­roastrian Society of British Columbia (ZSBC) at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver, the biennial games are held with the support of the sports committee of the Federation of Zoroast­rian Associations of North America (FEZANA).

The opening ceremony on July 1, Canada Day, began with a prayer recital by Mobed Firdosh Balsara and the singing of the national anthem by Vista Pourbahrami, notes the description of the four-day event by ZSBC president Homi Italia. Italia intro­duced the gathering to his fellow members on the executive committee which includes Behramsha Mizan, Kourosh Edalati, Nooshin Kiani, Sharook Kapadia, Adi Desai, Ardeshir Behi, Farhad Mistry and Pouya Bastani for their tremendous contribution in organizing the event as also Bijan Khos­ravianai of the FEZANA sports commit­tee.

After the speeches, a dance performance, songs by the Gatha Group, a hapkido and martial arts demonstration and a colorful march past, Italia declared the games open. Volleyball, basket­ball, table tennis and badminton occupied the rest of the day.

The track and field events the next day, held at the Eric Hamber School track, found several Pakistani and Indian athletes among the winners. Over 500 attended the "Austin Powers” theme dinner dance in the ballroom of the Student Union Building that evening, with local Zoroastrian youths providing a live band.

Swimming events at the UBC Aquatic Centre marked day three, ending with a four-hour harbor cruise with dinner and dancing aboard the Britannia with the 300 young Zarathushtis appreciating a spectacular moon rise over the Pacific Ocean, writes Italia.

Banging drums and blowing horns marked the final volleyball and basketball games on the last day, presaging the closing ceremonies with compere Sharookh Daroowala, Pourbahrami singing Time of your life, a media presentation by Narious Dastur and Rokshar Panthaky and a chorus rounding off with We are the Cham­pions. Dates were set and promises made to relive the fun in Los Angeles in July 2006.