Celebratory cocktail in UK

The second official event of the Zoroastrian All Party Parliamentary Group (ZAPPG) marked the celebration of Navroz in the British Parliament on April 1, 2014. Hosted jointly with the Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe (ZTFE) in the Boothroyd Room, the largest meeting space in Portcullis House, members of the Zoroastrian and sister communities as also of both Houses of Parliament assembled there. "Almost half of the audience present were representatives from interfaith communities in the UK,” noted a press release issued from the office of ZAPPG founder Lord Karan Bilimoria.

Members of ZTFE with honored guests at the Navroz celebration in British Parliament

Lord Karan Bilimoria (left) with Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Delighted with the attendance, Bilimoria commented that it was "an honor” to see that interest had continued since the Group’s launch in October 2013. He further announced that the next ZAPPG event would focus on the contributions made by Zoroastrians during World War I, and referred to plans to commemorate the bicentenary of HMS Trincomalee (a Royal Naval vessel built by the Wadia shipyard in Bombay in 1817, and one of the oldest commissioned ships still afloat). "In accordance with Zoroastrian traditions, an engraved silver nail was hammered into the keel to ensure the vessel’s well-being,” he added.
Other well-wishers of the community who shared their experiences were ZAPPG co-founder Gareth Thomas who serves as the new body’s secretary cum treasurer, as also Lords Noon and Navin Dholakia, deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords. The guest of honor at the function was Ranjan Mathai, high commissioner of India to the United Kingdom, who was presented a medallion minted in 2011 to celebrate the sesquicentennial celebrations of the ZTFE.
Speaking on the significance of Navroz, ZTFE president Malcolm Deboo gave an overview of this ancient festival that was first celebrated in ancient Persia and continues to be an occasion for rejoicing in Iran. He further jested that our prophets loved a good drink so we should engage in a celebratory cocktail every now and then.
The ZTFE, as per their practice for the last 108 years, celebrated Navroz on March 21 with a jashan in the Zartoshty Brothers Hall followed by a maachi in the Setayash Geh, and a Haft Sheen table where eggs painted by the XYZs (Extra Young Zoroastrians) at their Navroz Party on March 9 were on display. A four-course sit-down dinner gave members the option of a vegetarian, non-vegetarian and for the first time, Iranian meal. As noted their circular, "BBC Religions and Ethics together with the well-known Iranian comedian Shappi Khorsand will be filming on Jamshedi Navroz for broadcast on BBC1… You may wish to dress in your traditional Parsi and Iranian Zoroastrian clothes.”
On Friday, April 4, 2014, ZTFE honorary treasurer Dorab Mistry OBE was ‘arrested’ by local police officers and locked up at Pinner Police Station, Harrow. The ‘bail’ money for his release set at a minimum of £ 1,000 was to be donated to St Luke’s Hospice, a local charity in the London Borough of Harrow that takes care of patients suffering from terminal illnesses. "St Luke’s asked me if I would volunteer to be ‘arrested’ and raise my bail money,” clarified Mistry, appreciating that "the response from our community was generous and we raised in excess of £ 1,300.
"As a Zoroastrian who has benefitted from the goodwill and cooperation of all communities in Harrow, I felt that we Zoroastrians should also help the Hospice. After all we Zoros take pride in putting back into our community and country much more than we derive from them. So I have been donating and helping St Luke’s Hospice for the last few years. ZTFE as an institution has also been doing this. We provide our beautiful Zartoshty Brothers Hall to the Hospice for their fundraising activities…Each year we give our Hall for a minimum of five evenings for such charity events… We know that late Mehraban Zartoshty would have appreciated and commended such use of his benevolence.”
Giving Deboo credit for publicizing this campaign that has "brought much appreciation to Harrow’s smallest faith,” Mistry added, "Several leading citizens of Harrow including Navin Shah (elected member of the Greater London Council for Brent and Harrow) and the chief magistrate of Brent and Harrow Courts had also volunteered… The total raised by all volunteers together was in excess of £ 20,000… The idea of jail or bail is quite unique. The initiative came from St Luke’s.”
Supplemented Deboo, "ZTFE as the oldest Asian faith based voluntary organization in the UK prides itself that it does not seek funding from local or national government but…is outward looking to assist deserving causes in…Harrow in which the national headquarters of the Zoroastrian community in the UK is based… We in the ZTFE were delighted when Dorab volunteered to be ‘arrested’… and succeeded in raising over and above the minimum bail amount to release him the next morning.”
On the Meher mah parav on March 1, 2014 the benevolent UK community established the "ZTFE Friends of B. D. Petit Parsee General Hospital, Mumbai” Fund. Last year they supported the Indus Hospital Pakistan, and in earlier years have raised funds for the earthquake in Pakistan, Tsunami victims in Sri Lanka, cyclone victims in Bangladesh and other causes.

Benafsha Bana Bozorgi (center, second row) with Vienna Summit participants

ZTFE continues to be active in interfaith activities too and encourages its youngsters to participate in international events. On March 3, Bilimoria represented the Zoroastrian community at Westminster Abbey for "A Service to Celebrate the Life of Nelson Mandela” when he had an opportunity to renew his ties with the Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town, Desmond Tutu. Their Young Zoroastrian Interfaith coordinator Benafsha Bana Bozorgi attended the European Inter Faith Youth Network (EIYN) Summit and Training Program in Vienna, Austria from November 22-24, 2013. Appreciating the support of ZTFE and her mentor Jehangir Sarosh she noted, "This interfaith interaction has made me more confident in what I want to do for the Zoroastrian religion and being a vital part in the NGO (nongovernmental organization), not forgetting my voluntary bit in the Young Zoroastrian committee and the Zoroastrian community.”