At Murray Hill Studios

"Gracious, eloquent and extremely charismatic” is how Jahaneen Byramjee John­sen describes the Democratic Party’s nominee for the US presidency: Barack Obama. She and her husband Shaun had the opportunity to meet and talk to the Senator when he visited their television production company Murray Hill Studios in the heart of New York City (NYC) .

"He was at the studio for a live broadcast to several national stations which took about an hour and a half of his time,” writes Johnsen in an e-mail to Parsiana. Throughout that time, Obama was "attentive, energetic and enthusiastic with each of the stations, despite the repetitiveness of the questions. After the interviews, it was apparent that he had further pressing engagements but he still took the time to shake everyone’s hand, thank them personally, sign books and autographs and oblige a few with some pictures,” Johnsen deftly depicts the encounter, adding, "Overall, it was an honor and a thrill for all to meet him and as he departed he left everyone at Murray Hill Studios hoping for a victorious outcome in the elections.”

Jahaneen and Shaun have been with Murray Hill Studios for approximately 12 years. They both started working there shortly after graduating from college, taking over as partners in the company in 2005. Shaun oversees all production, writing, directing, producing and editing various projects, while Jahaneen manages the client and financial aspects of the company. Their clients include Fortune 500 corporations and various entertainment studios, she writes. Guests at Murray Hill Studios have included talents such as Woody Allen, Al Pacino, Oprah Winfrey, Jennifer Lopez, Al Gore, Julie Andrews and India’s Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.

The daughter of Mahak­hurshid and the late Khushrooh Byramjee, Jahaneen graduated from Boston College with a degree in communications and marketing. Shaun graduated from The University of South Florida with two degrees, a degree in journalism and a degree in film. They met in 1997, married in 2001 and have a son — Darrien Khush Johnsen. The family loves to travel, go hiking, swimming and enjoying all that NYC has to offer.

Jahaneen who says they live fairly close to the Darbe Mehr in New York and hopes to get Darrien to join its religious classes when they begin, shared her thoughts on the community at the invitation of Parsiana:

"It is extremely unfortunate that for a community on the decline, Zoroastrians haven’t united to make changes that will benefit future generations. I can say from personal experience that as someone who wants to expose my family to the rituals and customs I grew up with, my options are extremely limited. My husband is very interested in the religion and has extensive knowledge on various subjects concerning it. However, his ability to share in a family experience has explicit boundaries. It saddens me to think that my children may have the same restrictions placed upon them. It is limiting and difficult enough to be so far away from India and still try to keep alive traditions I grew up with. I think Zoroastrians abroad face this challenge every day and have welcomed change more than the conservative community has in India.

"Abroad, we have realized that if we do not align our thought process with the way the world is moving, not only will we be left behind, but we will vanish in a few generations. I think it is crucial that we unite in this goal both abroad and in India to benefit the community as a whole. The aim should be more about passing on the rituals, customs, traditions and beliefs of our religion to the next generation and not focus so much on purity of blood. If we claim to be such a peace loving and charitable community, I think we should be capable of much more acceptance.

"If we cannot reach that common ground, there will be much lost. We will regretfully find that a religion that echoes sentiments of good thoughts, good words and good deeds — sentiments that can truly make this world a better place — will be allowed to fade away.”