Chothia scholars

The Fali Chothia Charitable Trust was established in 1988 by the Zoroastrian Association of Metropolitan Washington, Inc to commemorate the Bombay-born Chothia who had studied at the Universities of London, Harvard and Queensland, Australia. The international civil servant who had established the first vocational guidance bureau in Maharashtra, India and later worked with UNESCO in Nigeria and ILO in Malaysia had taken keen interest in the Zoroastrian community and education of its youth.

Originally the Trust was entirely supported by donations from North American Zarathushtis. In 2002, to emphasize solidarity between bodies serving community causes, the US chapter of the World Zoroastrian Organisation (WZO) joined the scholarship program adding 50 percent bonus to every scholarship awarded by the Trust.

For the scholarships and no-interest loans, usually at the graduate level, annually provided to Zoroastrian students in the US and Canada, the applicants are judged on the basis of financial need, educational level, achievements and participation in Zarathushti/community service, notes the FEZANA Journal. Five young women, all Chothia scholars, have been featured in the magazine.

With an undergraduate degree in business administration and finance from Boston University Tara Master has chosen to study medicine at the University of Illinois in Rockford because she prefers to work with people rather than numbers. In her first year of studying medicine Master received the Andrew and Hortense Call Barr Award for Women in Medicine.

An academic scholarship from the town of Guilford under her belt, Amy Suntoke is an undergraduate studying ethics, history and public policy at the Carnegie Mellon University. In school she had been heavily involved in volunteer work such as food drives, fixing houses for the less fortunate and organizing senior citizen events.

Aiming for a master’s degree in international studies, economic development and policy, Arnaz Siganporia is attending the De Paul University in Chicago. She intends a career with international organizations working on human rights issues and on projects focusing on social and economic transformation. An LLB from Bombay’s Government Law College, Siganporia earned her bachelor’s degree from Beloit College in Wisconsin with honors in international relations and a scholarship for academic excellence and was judged best speaker in the National Moot Court Competition. In Bombay she had conducted workshops on effective communication, theater and elocution for the Dadar Parsi Youth organization. At Beloit she participated in the panel on dia-sporas, speaking about the Zarathushti faith.

Studying at the University of Toronto for her master’s in epidemiology, Natasha Driver hopes to assess the community health status and the appropriate delivery of services in international refugee camps. After graduating in life and social sciences Driver had volunteered in Vietnam for various health and social service agencies. Her experience there led to an interest in research dealing with the marginalized and the impact of public policies on their health. She has also volunteered in hospitals, senior citizen homes and has co-founded an international social justice group while an undergraduate in Toronto.

Bombay born Sherzade Khambatta acquired her bachelor’s degree in Alternative Medicine in Bombay and master’s in healthcare administration from the University of North Carolina. After getting her medical degree in osteopathic medicine from Des Moins University in Iowa she aims to complete her residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in cardiology. This year she received a scholarship award from the university for outstanding student achievement. She has also received scholarships from the WZO and the Bombay Parsi Punchayet.

Khambatta’s words — "The dynamics of the Zarathushti community are changing, and our numbers are now dispersed all over the world. I believe that if our children are taught how privileged we are to be born Zarathushtis and learn the true meaning of actually practising the religion, we will maintain our identity and enrich the land we have chosen to live in” — sum up what most of the students have stated to Dastoor.