FEZANA for the future
The new logo symbolizes the North American community’s readiness for the next generation
Referring to "three monumental achievements in the last year in the community, the new Arbab Rustam Guiv Dar-e-Mehr in New York, the Atash Kadeh in Orange, California and a new Dar-e-Mehr in Sacramento, California, he stated, "This is nothing but evidence of resurgence of the Zoroastrian community. These are not just brick and mortar buildings. They bring the local community together. Let the message go out to all our Zoroastrian community in the world that the North American Zoroastrian diaspora is ready to continue fostering hamazori (harmony)… I have no doubt that the best of our community is yet to come.”
Gandhi reiterated in his vision for 2017 and beyond, "As a new diaspora, we are building our own institutions, we are defining our own identities, and we are creating our own programs to lead a group of Zarathushtis on the North American continent with the same values for which our Zarathushti faith has stood for over three millenniums…” (see "FEZANA in focus,” pg 25).
Invigorating the meeting with his youthful presence, FEZANA vice president Arzan Wadia encouraged those present to "harness the energy and enthusiasm in the room to put the Zarathushti community on the path to growth in North America.” Alluding to "the incredible work, reported in 160 pages of the AGM documentation,” Wadia said, "the tremendous work, passion and time given by so many is very inspiring. All of you have laid the foundation for generations of Zarathushtis to come.” According to him, "a strong showing of FEZANA at the Global Working Group meeting in Hong Kong (in December 2016) reinforced FEZANA’s standing as representative of the second largest geographical group of Zoroastrians in the world.”
The new FEZANA logo, chosen from 100 plus entries, was unveiled by Wadia at the AGM. The winning design by Vancouver resident graphic artist Zara Contractor, currently living and working in Karachi, Pakistan, was selected for accentuating the Zoroastrian elements of air, earth, fire and water. As conceived by the artist, the red area at the top represents the sky, while the resulting triangular shapes are an abstract representation of flames; the red designs below signify water and earth. The Farohar is presented in a modern streamlined look. The result is a stylization that reflects the past as it looks to the future. Red is for prosperity, gold provides a sense of opulence, together the visual contrast embodies the richness of our heritage. The logo boldly represents FEZANA’s readiness for the next generation and the path forward.
FEZANA’s role has not been apparent to the larger Zarathushti community and the call to action was to increase awareness of FEZANA. Everyone agreed that creating a "FEZANA Day” was necessary to tell the FEZANA story to all Zarathushtis in North America (NA). As per the second 10-year Strategic Plan 2012-2022 outlined by FEZANA for the community in NA: "The challenge is to come together in a manner that is objective, unbiased, unprejudiced, factual and tangible.” The vision is "to create an environment conducive for growth and progress where every individual feels part of the whole community and every association feels part of the larger organization.”
Cake bearing the new logo
Session at Zoroastrian Association
Houston Center
Lifetime Achievement Award
A glittering gala dinner, with great food and entertainment marked the anniversary, together with ZAH’s Congress Legacy 10th Anniversary awards function on April 29.
The FEZANA Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Ervad (Dr) Jehan Bagli, a highly accomplished scientist and a leading professional in his field. Now 90 years old, Bagli is considered the "human encyclopedia” in our community on religious issues that need clarification, explanation and analysis. It was a celebration of his six decades of commitment to the Zarathushtis in North America. Having lived in both New Jersey and Toronto, there is barely a person within the community who will not recognize Bagli for his knowledge of the religion, his ability to speak clearly and share his knowledge and wisdom.
In a moving acceptance speech he dedicated the award to his wife Freny, who was present, recognizing their son Darius who was also present and remembering his late daughter in their hearts. Bagli spoke eloquently about his humble beginnings, his journey to NA for education, his passion for our religion and how his professional research skills led him deeper into the traditions, history and customs of our religion.
The 30th anniversary issue of FEZANA Journal titled "Voices of the Future” was launched by Bagli, its first editor, and was presented to Gandhi and all seven former FEZANA presidents who had graced the occasion: Rohinton Rivetna, Dolly Dastoor who as the current editor has shaped the Journal’s high quality and content, Framroze Patel, Firdosh Mehta, Rustom Kevala, Bomi Patel and Katayun Kapadia. During 2016 tremendous contributions were made by Nawaz Merchant and Ratan Mistry to the marketing and publication aspects of the Journal with constant support from Arnavaz Sethna.
At the gala dinner, a compelling Rustam story, enacted from the Shahnameh, received much applause and the "Kusti Weaving” play will remain vividly in everyone’s minds for the messages they imparted and for the ZAH children’s amazing talents.
A detailed report on the Lifetime Achievement Award for Dr Jehan Bagli and the events organized by the World Zarathushti Chamber of Commerce on April 27 will appear in a forthcoming issue of Parsiana.
Behroze Clubwala is an active member of the Zoroastrian Association of Greater New York and its fund-raising team. She retired from the United Nations Development Programme in 2012 after a long career as human resources manager for their global Policy Group.