FEZANA as facilitator

"An umbrella body… a facilitating body… a decision making body… a social and religious body…” The anatomy of the Federation of Zoroastrian Associations of North America (FEZANA) was dissected at different sessions — but most minutely on the first and last day — during the XVI North American Zarathushti Congress at Hilton Westchester Rye Brook hotel in New York from August 2 to 5, 2012.

From left (1st row) Banner adorns the banister; Rohinton Rivetna, Dolly Dastoor, Framroze Patel, Firdosh Mehta, Rustom Kevala, Bomi Patel; (2nd row) Nomad Dance Troupe; Bomi Patel, Katayun Kapadia, Nirupama Roy; (3rd row) Generation 1 band; (4th row) dancing and dining at the FEZANA banquet

At the opening ceremony then FEZANA president Bomi Patel reiterated that "2012 is a milestone year in FEZANA history, celebrating 25 years of service to the Zarathushti community in North America.” In the summer 2012 silver jubilee issue of FEZANA Journal, Patel commented, "On the international level, FEZANA’s active participation in the Global Working Group has resulted in an alliance and understanding of what FEZANA stands for. FEZANA’s identity as a major federation has been recognized, making FEZANA a major role-player in the Zarathushti community worldwide.”

The FEZANA tradition of passing on a trophy to the host association of successive Congresses was outlined by FEZANA Congress Committee chair Daraius Bharucha who commented that "sometimes the trophy is put so safely that it cannot be found” in time for the next Congress. In its silver jubilee year, FEZANA created a new trophy, in the form of a cup, with tiny electric bulbs at the rim to represent "collective Zara­thushti enterprise.” The first recipient of the new trophy was the Zoroastrian Association of Greater New York (ZAGNY) whose president Gev Nentin received the memento on the first day and passed it on on the last day to the Los Angeles team that will host the next Congress in December 2014.

After the assembly was treated to a delicious dhansak on the first afternoon, specially created by the executive chefs of Hilton under guidance from Dilshad Todiwala, a part-time caterer residing in New Jersey, the FEZANA awards function commenced. Orchestrating the event was Shehernaz Joshi Verahrami, chair of the FEZANA Awards Committee, and Navroz Gandhi, an investor and business consultant. Chief guest Nirupama Roy, Ambassador of India to the USA, presented the mementoes to the recipients. Commending the award winners she lauded the "people who have achieved so much and brought honor to your community and to India.” (A detailed report on the session will be carried in a forthcoming issue of Parsiana.)

From left (top row): Hosi Mehta, Houtoxi Contractor, Behram Pastakia, Rustom Kevala, Jerry Kheradi, Homi Gandhi; (2nd row) Afreed Mistry, Aban Rustomji, Shanaya Deboo, Shehernaz Verahrami, Navroz Gandhi and Dilshad Todiwala

The FEZANA banquet on the night of August 2 commenced with a screening of the landmark events in the history of this institution and the role played by its first six presidents. Founder president Rohinton Rivetna drafted FEZANA’s first constitution, Dolly Dastoor initiated a 10-year strategic plan to give structure to the vision of FEZANA, Framroze Patel introduced professional accounting standards and practices, Firdosh Mehta led the Time Capsule Legacy Project, Rustom Kevala’s emphasis on infrastructure building led to the establishment of the FEZANA office in Chicago and Bomi Patel’s technical expertise improved the association’s website with an electronic directory and enhanced communications with a monthly FEZANA Bulletin. Katayun Kapadia who was elected the seventh president at the FEZANA annual general meeting the next evening got an opportunity to address the Congress delegates at the concluding session when she stressed on the need to project "a robust image of FEZANA...foster hamazori between various Zarathushti entities and groups.”

Among the many tables gaily decorated with balloons and festoons for the banquet, the ones standing out were those bearing the name of a FEZANA president. To these illustrious individuals fell the pleasant task of presenting mementoes at intervals during the course of the function to the many sponsors, donors and benefactors of FEZANA who have contributed to the success of this governing body.

The privilege of cutting the 25th anniversary cake that bore an image of the FEZANA logo was shared by all six presidents. Earlier every member attending the banquet was presented a lapel pin depicting the FEZANA emblem. Between different meal courses, the diners were treated to colorful stage items from the Nomad Dance Troupe. Each table was also expected to put in a written suggestion on "What do you want FEZANA to focus on in the next two years?” and a tag line to accompany the FEZANA logo. The unenviable chore of separating the mundane from the maudlin was left to the six honored presidents. The post dinner treat was the playing of the live band Generation 1 that enthused the audience to groove on the dance floor until late at night, so much so that there were not even 100 present at the scheduled hour in the Westchester Ballroom the next morning at the start of Roshan Rivetna’s demography session on "Historical Review and Demographics of Zarathushtis in North America.”

Similar was the audience turnout at the FEZANA presentation on the final morning of the Congress following the mega banquet and dance hosted by ZAGNY. As joked the morning’s charming mistress of ceremonies Shanaya Deboo, she was selected for the task as the organizers knew she would be among the few "who would be sober by 9 a.m.”

Tour de force

An overview of the FEZANA working was provided on the last day. Bomi Patel insisted that this session should be made mandatory at all future North American Congresses for although individuals often comment that "‘FEZANA should do this’ or ‘FEZANA should do that,’ very few seem to know what is FEZANA. There are some who don’t even know the difference between FEZANA and its quarterly publication FEZANA Journal, remarking ‘We didn’t get FEZANA this month,’” he regretted. As explained by him there are 26 member associations of FEZANA each having minimum 50 members and granted votes commensurate to their strength. In addition are the 12 associations or groups that number less than 50 and are deemed corresponding members but have no voting rights. The five elected office bearers constitute the executive who along with the 10 standing committees and 11 ad hoc committees constitute the backbone of the organization.

FEZANA’s five-fold mission aims to: preserve religion; put the Zarathushti community on the North American map; facilitate efforts of member associations; work closely in cooperation with Zarathushti communities abroad; and provide effective leadership. The chairs and co-chairs of some of the committees being present in New York, they give the audience a quick tour of the work they undertake, their spoken words summarizing the visuals flashed on screen.

Hilton Westchester Rye Brook hotel

The Coordination and Planning Committee being traditionally in the hands of the FEZANA vice president, the post occupied by Kapadia before she was elected president, she referred to structuring its second plan in 2011 such that FEZANA remained "unbiased, unprejudiced, factual and tangible.” With social networking and "proactive communication” she hoped the "stakeholders — the member associations — would assume greater responsibility and accountability” to pursue short-term goals in the next two-three years and long-term goals in the next decade. There is also the Strategic Planning Committee chaired by Mahrukh Motafram and the Small Groups Committee by Ervad Soli Dastur.

The Zoroastrian Unity and Welfare Committee provides financial assistance to Zarathushti individuals and families globally. Its Critical Assistance Program helps those in temporary difficulties like medical emergencies, natural disasters or domestic violence, and its International Disaster and Poverty Relief Program distributes food and clothing. Giving the brief were Hosi Mehta and Houtoxi Contractor who reported that "their biggest support and partner in India is the World Zoroastrian Organisation (WZO).”

The chair of the Information Receiving and Dissemination Committee Behram Pastakia referred to FEZANA Journal that seeks "to educate, inspire and build the community by being balanced and offering all points of view... (and) trying to focus on the younger generation.” Even though their annual subscription is only $ 25, "our main concern is that most are not subscribing,” he declared. The archives of the FEZANA Journal are now available online. "Loading takes time. Don’t give up,” he advised the gathering.

An e-cookbook as a gift from Ferishta Dinshaw on the occasion of FEZANA’s silver jubilee, a collaboration with Parzor Foundation that will result in a publication on kusti weaving, the monthly FEZANA Bulletin that is edited by Zenobia Damania are amongst their recent accomplishments. They hope to find volunteers who could translate from Farsi into English.

"We are looking for committee members to help us facilitate dona­tions…in our continuous effort to make FEZANA financially secure,” announced Dr Jehangir (Jerry) Khera­di and Dr Rustom Kevala, co-chairs of the Funds and Finance Committee. In addition to 10 funds they manage 11 endowment funds dedicated to education, infrastructure and development, welfare and critical assistance. As of July 20, 2012, FEZANA investments stood at US $ 1,110,048. FEZANA is even registered as a ‘cause’ with www.iGive.com

Nomad Dance Troupe

"The United Nations (UN) has thousands of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) registered with them but few have the privilege of being part of its Economic and Social Council” and engaging with them in their amelioration work, conveyed Homi Gandhi, Pastakia and Afreed Mistry who are spearheading the UN-NGO Committee. They need volunteers to participate in UN events and the Commission on the Status of Women. They have six replicas of the famous cylinder of Cyrus the Great that they are willing to share with associations interested in exhibiting this piece of historical significance. Additionally there is the External Affairs Committee chaired by Firdosh Mehta, Interfaith Activities Committee chaired by Gandhi and Rohinton Rivetna, and Public Relations chaired by Mistry.

Within a short span of barely four years, FEZANA Information Research and Education System (FIRES) has been able to establish a centralized library in Houston with a collection of 700 titles and 900 books with facilities for search online, reported chair Aban Rustomji announcing that the Dhalla Memorabilia Trust built with contributions from members of the Dhalla family in Florida, Canada, UK and Karachi is in the safekeeping of the Zoroastrian Association of Houston. FIRES’ goal is to digitize out of print books as also preserve research manuscripts, she mentioned. There is additionally the Research and Preservation Committee chaired by Dr Jehan Bagli.

"We need more youth… We are looking for a chair for the Zoroastrian Youth of North America Committee… All associations should promote their youth, plan events for interactions among the young generation,” stressed Bomi Patel pointing out that they seem to be very involved in their respective careers and participate in community affairs mainly at the time of the North American Youth Congress once every two and a half years. The Zoroastrian Youth Without Borders Committee too is in need of a chair.

Carrying contributions on and from those who have been instrumental in giving impetus and inspiration to the premier body, in its silver jubilee issue FEZANA Journal editor Dolly Dastoor commented, "The first 25 years have sowed the seed of transformation for an emerging North American identity — the catalyst being the merging of the Zarathushtis of Iran and the Parsis from the rest of the world. Does this mean we have stopped being Parsis? Does this mean we will stop working or talking with our fellow Parsis in India? No, not at all. It means we are now starting to take our place as Zarathushtis. And if this evolution of the identity is not palatable or acceptable to the grandparents in India and Iran we would have to part our ways, with heavy heart, and take the long journey into the future alone.”

Interviews with the new FEZANA president Katayun Kapadia and erstwhile president Bomi Patel will appear in a forthcoming issue of Parsiana.