Marathon message

Grabbing eyeballs at the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon in Bombay on the nippy morning of January 20, 2008 was a group of Zoroastrians led by the enthusiastic and athletic Zyros Zend, partner of Yazdani Bakery. Smiling happily for the cameras, sporting chest number over their traditional best and carrying aloft a banner with a message for world peace, the group comprising Zend’s friends and family members seemed to be in their element. "In the sea of marathoners, it was a pleasant surprise to see community representation. About 15 Parsis — the men dressed in traditional white daglis and the women in maroon and red garas — walked with a banner saying: ‘Good thoughts, good words, good deeds,’” reported The Times of India of January 21, 2008.

The following day, the Afternoon Despatch and Courier (ADC) referred to this "motley group from… (the) community walking to promote awareness about Zoroastrians and world peace. Commenting on the decline in numbers, the ADC continued: "There has been a hue and cry about the dwindling Parsi community that believes in allowing their younger generations to marry only within the community itself. Its members have since long contributed greatly to not only the architecture and charity causes in India but also to the making of a rather colorful social fabric of the country. Everybody loves the Parsi with his inescapable bluntness, robust humor and indefatigable energy. We’ll always want them around.”

Zyros Zend (second from left) and the Zoroastrian delegation at the Mumbai Marathon

In its issue of January 27, 2008, Jam-e-Jamshed Weekly reported that Zend had informed them that not a single person "laughed or poked fun at us. This is such a welcome departure from what is caricatured in our films.” The Jamé also revealed that film star John Abraham whose mother is a Zoroastrian came up to compliment the group. Zend himself was particularly thrilled when he overheard someone in the crowd comment "this family belongs to the same community that has brought out the Nano, the one lakh rupee car.”