Youthspeak India

One of the original band of all-India youths who got together to form the Federation of Zoroastrian Youth Associations (FOZYA) 18 years ago, Nauzer Kasad of Surat has just taken over as president of the youth body. Now a father of two who provides complete aqua­rium related services, Kasad made a plea to the gathered anjumans to revitalize the youth body by re-registering their youth bodies with it. The youths were providing a synopsis of their activities in various community settlements at the Federation of Parsi Zoroastrian Anjumans of India meet in Bombay on September 4, 2004. "We have not collected membership fees for six years,” Kasad noted, even though an annual seminar/gathering to enable the youths of the country to interact has been a regular feature. Kasad hopes to make FOZYA a platform for boosting community talent, but needs to build up the wherewithal to do so. By way of social service the group has been helping the inmates of the Nariman Home for the Aged in Surat, distributes sudrehs, and other necessities to them.

"Not much is happening in Dahanu. Our youths are going abroad,” noted Shovir Irani. Nonetheless the 16 to 20 age group in Dahanu gets together for week-end camps, swimming, etc, he added.

From left: Nauzer Kasad, Pareeche­her Daviervala and Adil Nargolwala

Youths in Thana successfully organize a variety of events including table tennis tournaments and cold drink stalls at functions of the Thana anjuman. They also participate in athletic activities organized for the community, noted Zaver Sidhwa.

The Zoroastrian Youth Club of Surat has launched a journal, Zubin Balaporia informed the gathering. The J. J. Irani cricket tournament, an annual feature pitting the Zoroastrian cricketers of Nagpur, Poona, Surat and Secunderabad, is being hosted by Surat this year November 1-5. "We are here to invite and wel­come Mr Jamshed Irani,” said Bala­poria describing Irani and his family, who are normally present to encourage the young cricketers participating in the tournament they have sponsored as "so friendly and down-to-earth.” Irani immediately checked his diary and replied, "I’ll be there.”

Thanking Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) trustee Burjor Antia for his unstinting aid with the education of Parsi youths in Surat and the Surat Parsi Panchayat trustees led by Darayes Master, "a tremendous sportsman in his youth,” for cordially accepting the opinions of the young, Balaporia remarked, "We are blessed.” He contrasted the urban community with its rural counterpart where many men and women, old and single, are woefully short of medicine, even mandatory requirements like insulin and urged the gathering to think of alleviating their plight.

Speaking of three to four youth meets a year with the objective of getting young boys and girls together, a matrimonial page in the UNESCO-Parzor website, the 20 odd kids between the ages of four and 14 attending Farohar classes with bimonthly sessions of Shah Nameh stories, the organizing of a fete to generate funds for earmarked charities was Adil Nargolwala, secretary of the Delhi Parsi Anjuman (DPA) Trust.

Left: Pearl Mistry and Hoshaang Gotlaa

Son of Federation architect and long serving DPA president the late Shiavax Nargolwala, Adil had not taken kindly to those who had challenged Delhi’s membership of the Federation. Bristling to put the record straight, he noted, "Delhi started the Federation. It never walked out of the Federation. It does not intend to walk out of the Federation… I have put in 16 years of work for my community. I started when I was 16. People who come for a year or two want to steamroll. All of us have to do what needs to be done in our own anjumans. There are people here who represent anjumans with very small numbers (of residents). They present a letter of accreditation from an individual. I am a living member of Delhi. How many of you come with responsibility and work for your anjuman?...”

A spate of protests interrupted Nargolwala who apologized for speaking out of turn.

In the absence of a youth delegate from Baroda the anjuman president Jal Patel spoke of some of the youth activities there like the organizing of the Avan roz jashan, sports participation with other anjumans, regular cleaning of the adarian where the smoke is attacking the marble, etc. In response to a query from Shroff regarding promising cyclist Firdaus Patwa who has been gifted a racer by the BPP, Patel noted that Patwa had been given the cycle and the anjuman sought and received regular reports on his participation in various races.

In the context of tennis player Kyra Shroff winning a Federation award – Kyra has received sponsorship from the BPP and Tatas – Minoo Shroff said, "Let’s pick up winners …and back them all the way. (The BPP ) is ready to jointly sponsor them with the anjumans. Pick them up and train them. We want success stories. Why are they all being sent to the BPP?”

Hoshaang Gotla and Pearl Mistry gave a resume of the 19th Holiday Programme for Youth (HPY) — the athletic training camp and grooming workshops, speech, drama, photography and quiz competitions, creative writing and social service which included the cleaning of agiaries, a blood collection drive, antakshari program with the inmates of the Parukh Dharam­shalla, et al. The month-long event is promoted by the BPP when youths from all over India on the eve of their college careers are given an insight into a variety of professions, old and new, and vocational guidance to make the right choice. An all-India competitive fashion show is slated to be held at the St Andrew’s Auditorium in 2006 to showcase Parsi talent from across the country, Gotla informed the delegates. To be funded by the BPP, on offer is prize money to the tune of Rs 1.5 lakh.

Pareecheher Daviervala who has been counseling school children – and their parents — over more than a decade, spoke of her experience at the two schools currently under the BPP program. At the Cowasjee Jehangir High School, with a strength of 1,500 largely from the labor class, she counsels 95 students, five Parsis among them. At the upper middle class Girton High School she deals with 56 of whom 16 are Parsis. Behavior, scholastic and personality problems come to the fore, acerbated by the parents’ marital problems and inter-sibling rivalry. Daviervala’s approach is overall grooming and counseling to enable the affected individuals from the age of seven or eight upward to work as members of a group.

In response to questions Daviervala noted that parents have to be persuaded to come for counseling. "They don’t want someone else to tell them what to do…They ask me, ‘Are you married? Do you have children to know what it is like?’” Problem cases make up about 10 percent of the Parsi population in each school, according to Daviervala’s report.

Khojeste Mistree, whose Zoroastrian Studies conducts religion classes in Parsi schools, offered his experience. "Parsi children are very ill-groomed in terms of dress and speech,” he noted, adding that they do not know how to behave, when to say ‘please’ and ‘thank you.’ "They lack security. Therefore they don’t present themselves well.”

To which Federation vice president Jamshed Irani commented that some adults could also do with such training.

From left: Shovir Irani, Zaver Sidhwa and Zubin Balaporia

BPP CEO Behram Dastur endorsed their findings. He was apt to lay the blame on the economic requirement of families so that mothers need to work and "have no time to care for or groom their children.” He also noted that the community had grown "soft…Not all cases pertain to disadvantaged families.” He urged Parsi families to enroll their children in the National Cadet Corps (NCC), scouts and guides.

Gotla noted that grooming, time management, parent-child relationship, public speaking and writing of CVs is heavily emphasized in the HPY curriculum.

Social scientist Katy Gandevia referred to the BPP’s family counseling service which had existed about 10 years ago but has since fizzled out and urged the Punchayet to revive the center, offering her services.

Jamsheed Kanga, an old boy and now trustee of Boys’ Town in Nasik, noted that Parsi boys can avail of free stay and education there "but nobody comes.” Kety Daruwala of Ahmedabad spoke of the Zoroastrian Awareness Group of Ahmedabad which inculcates Parsi culture in children, making them proud to be Zoroastrian. Speaking of the need to ensure that children respect their parents, she pointed out that parents also need to be disciplined, not distract their children by watching TV serials during study time.

Porus Debara of Agra touched upon the oft repeated criticism of Parsi boys as "mama’s boys” and suggested that social scientists create a booklet or contribute articles in the BPP Review or Fed Newsletter to provide guidelines to parents to bring up their children more effectively but Daviervala maintained that it was a skill that needed to be demonstrated at group meetings.

Himself a trustee of the M. F. Cama Athornan Madressa in Andheri, Antia bewailed the fact that no one is coming forward to avail of the free education beyond navar and maratab that the institution offers. It is even committed to send brilliant youths for PhD abroad but there are "only five students. In my time we were 75,” he added.

Tehmasp Bharucha of Poona spoke of their summer camps which cater to children from five to 16. Additionally there were sports and games, both local and inter-city, cleaning of agiaries, regular meet and match camps with a view to matrimony. The youth club of Poona aims to sponsor a few delegates to the Fourth World Zoroastrian Youth Congress in Australia in 2007.

The Jamsetji Jejeebhoy Trust schools offer free education and lunch to all Parsi students from the nursery to the higher secondary, noted the Trust’s CEO Farokh Rustomji. It also offers scholarships for engineering and medical colleges in India and abroad. Also, those who have an engineering diploma from a technical institution are helped to establish themselves in their career, said Rustomji.

Kanga referred to the Patuck Institute in Bombay which offers technical training in modern crafts such as TV and computer repair. The Institute’s production wing helps the young technicians establish themselves on their own, he added.

Describing himself as "the youngest youth in Nagpur,” octogenarian Dinshaw Mistry gave a synopsis of the activities of the Nagpur Parsi Gymkhana. Annual sports, cricket, throw ball and volley ball matches, table tennis and badminton, carom, draughts and chess are actively pursued. Since the past year even an arm wrestling competition with the Late Bai Gaimai and Rustomji Mistry trophies are presented to winners and runners up. The annual Banu Bapuna Memorial Bridge Tournament organized by the Gymkhana under the auspices of the Vidarbha Bridge Association is now in its 15th year and is the most prestigious bridge tournament of Central India, noted Mistry. Organizing blood donation, bone density and G6PD detection camps as well as fetes and festivities, Nagpur is currently updating its Parsi directory.

Discus and javelin gold medalist Dhanush Doongaji, swimmers Ayesha and Rohan Master, tennis player Yash Patel, arm wrestler Pesho­tan Mehta, adventure drivers Kash-mira and Pinaz Mavelwala were some of the sports enthusiasts Mistry mentioned.

Other achievers from Nagpur listed by Mistry include Fermin and Khush­roo Poacha who have started India’s first online blood donors website and Raymond Daruwalla who has cleared the all India exam of boxing ring umpires with flying colors.

Those attending the Federation meeting were: Keki Contractor from Abu; Porus Debara from Agra; Areez Khambatta, Farokh Kavina, Porus Karanjawalla and Kety Daruwala from Ahmedabad; Col Khusro and Yasmine Jalnawala from Ahmed­nagar; Hoshang Mohta and Y. Sanjana from Akola; Capt Homi and Shireen Dandiwalla and Shehernaz and Rustom Gandhi from Allahabad; Noshir Zaroliwala and Aspi Sanjana from Bulsar; Jamshed Mohta, Kersi and Yasmine Sanjana, Homi Pithawalla, Pervez Mehta, Dhunjisha Dumasia, and Viraf Munshi from Bardoli; Jal Patel, Dara Hakim and Baman Cama from Baroda; Khojeste Mistree from Bel-gaum; Sarosh and Piloo Ginwalla from Bharuch; Dr Peshotan Sinor from Bhavnagar; Bhicaji Davierwalla and Ervad Yazad Engineer from Bhopal; Marazban Baria from Billimora; Jamshed Guzder, Minoo Shroff, Silloo Kavarana, Dinshaw Mehta, Dadi Engineer, Dinshaw Tamboly, Maneck Engineer, Burjor Antia, Behram Dastur, Sheroo Master, Godrej Dotivala, Homi Mehta, Mehli Colah, C. S. Panthaki, Gool Kias, H. R. Mullan, Pheroze Patel, Pareecheher Daviervala, Pearl Mistry, Hoshaang Gotla and Khursheed Mistry from Bombay; Noshir Paghdiwalla, Marazban Mehta, Yazdi Motiwala, and K. Y. Motiwalla from Borivli; Russi Jeejeebhoy and Bahadur Postwalla from Calcutta; Firoza Punthakey-Mistree from Calicut; Parvez Itaria from Chikhli; Firoz Jamshedji, Hoshang Vakil and Shovir Irani from Dahanu; Percy Davier-wala from Davier; Lt Gen Adi Sethna, Keki Gandhi, Adil Nargolwala and Marazban Wadia from Delhi; Minoo Patel and Zubin Bhatporia from Du­mas; Nauzer Ka­sad from FOZYA; Omin Debara and Aspi Debara from Hydera­bad and Secunde­rabad; Bomi and Shireen Heerjee from Indore; Kerman Bat­liwalla and Yazdi Desai from Jabalpur; Jamshed Irani from Jamshedpur; Mehr­wan Irani, Pervez Irani and Sohrab Dahmu­bed from the Iranian Zoroastrian Anjuman; Sherna and Ronny Dick from Jhansi; Tannaz Pa­rakh from Khergaum; Homi Sepai from Lucknow; Nari­man Mogrelia from Madras; Zarvan Patvi from Mahuva; Pervez Mand­vi­­wala from Mandvi; Kersasp Nalladaru from Mavi; Behram and Dolly Masani from Mhow; N. B. Daver and Dinshaw Mistry from Nagpur; Hoshang Wania and Farroakh Govadia from Nargol; Sherena Khan from Nasik; Noshir Jal from Neemuch; Noshir Dordi from Olpad; K. M. Tamboli from Panchgani; Firdous Kayani, Dara Irani, Hoshang Dorabjee, Adil Saronde­wala, Tehmasp Bharucha and Poru­sasp Mehta from Poona; Tehmton Anklesaria from Ratlam; Dinshaw Patel, Sarosh Poonawalla and Jehangir Mandviwalla from Saronda; Jamsheed Kanga from Satara; Anahita Desai from Sholapur; Farrokh Kharas and Yezdi Engineer from Siganpore; Noshir Dordee, Parvez Variava and Aspi Makhania from (Nanpura) Surat; Darayes Master and Yazdi Karanjia from Surat (SPP); Rustom Cursetji, Zarsis Udhnawala, Pervez Bhesania. Dara Wadia, Rusi Mohta from Thana; Zarin Munshi from Vapi; Keki Lakdavala and Sherzad Rabadi from Vesu; Dinyar Nakra from Visha­khapatnam; Dr Bahadur Jokhi, Persi Buhariwala and Sarosh Buhariwala from Vyara. Rohinton Rivena from Chi­­ca­go and Homi Ranina from WAPIZ were special invitees. The guest speakers were Dr Anahita Pandole, Boman Irani and Jimmy Master. The Press was represented by The Bombay Samachar, Jam-e-Jamshed, The Parsi Voice and Parsiana.