Zoroastrians Abroad
11th WZC program
"Now we are adding value to the program and items as surprise add-ons for delegates,” stated Firoz Pestonji, chair of the 11th World Zoroastrian Congress (WZC) in Perth from June 1 to 4, 2018. According to the program details for the three-day deliberations posted on the Congress website, 11wzcperth.com.au, the main guests on June 1, the first day of the Congress will be Dr A. M. Gondane, the high commissioner of India in Australia, and Amit Mishra, the consul general of India in Perth. The 
proceedings will start with a jashan at 3 p.m., an informal get-together, a traditional Aussie and a global welcome for the delegates. This will be followed by the ribbon cutting ceremony by the key sponsors, inauguration and trophy presentation to 11WZC Australia by 10WZC India. The formal part of the evening will end with a short film on Life and Times of Zarathustra and the launch of a new coffee table book readied for the Congress by Meher Bhesania, chair of the Ninth WZC in Dubai.
On the second day, June 2, the morning session will commence with a 15-minute video followed by talks by Yaz Mubarakai, Member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia and Dr Esfandiyar Ekhtiyari, Zoroastrian representative on the Iranian Majlis. The welcome will continue on the second day by community leaders from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth who constitute the Australian Federation. Zarine Commissariat of Bombay will serve as master of ceremonies for these sessions.
After a tea break, Neville Shroff, president of the Zoroastrian Charity Funds of Hongkong, Canton and Macao will introduce the religious discussion on Zoroastrian religion, covering rituals, teachings, tenets and interpretation of the faith. The speakers scheduled for this session are Dastur Khurshed Dastoor of Udvada, Dr Kourosh Niknam of Iran and Fariborz Rahnamoon of Vancouver. The Women Empowerment Panel discussion will be chaired by Behroze Daruwalla, chair of the Women Entrepreneurs wing of the World Zarathushti Chamber of Commerce (WZCC) with the panelists being Dr Dolly Dastoor and Katayun Kapadia, past presidents of the Federation of Zoroastrian Associations of North America (FEZANA), Tanya Balsara, founder of Tanya Computer Centre for the Blind, Farzana Khambatta, director Aussie Perth Tours and Dr Delara Javat, physician trainee at the Royal Perth Hospital. Concurrently, a youth panel moderated by Arzan Wadia, vice president of FEZANA, will have Bahrom Firozgary from the US, Farhad Malegam from Australia, Viraf Mehta, Maher Dhamodiwala and Jehaan Kotwal from India discussing challenges and issues before the youth in the global diaspora.
Post lunch, there will again be religious discourses, by Dastoor and Zoroastrian Studies founder Khojeste Mistree as also a keynote speech that has to be finalized. Concurrently there will be a WZCC session moderated by Rustom Engineer of Houston with the panelists being Edul Daver, global president of WZCC, Phil Madan, former president of WZCC Australia, Mehran Sepehri of the Sharif University of Technology in Tehran, and Alayar Dabestani, president of the Dabestani Group, USA. After tea there will be talks by Radman Khorshidian, a graduate in Atomic Physics from Tehran who will speak on "Purpose of life, future studies and global social foresight.” Legal counsel Berjis Desai will address the delegates on "Conservative approach to our survival is necessary.” One of the 15-minute slots has been reserved for Rati Wadia, former principal of Queen Mary School, who will show a short film on eminent Parsis.
The third day’s sessions too will start with a short video after which Alison Betts, an archeologist from the Sydney University studying Zoroastrian sites, David Adams, photojournalist from Australia, and Yazdi Tantra, director On-Lyne Comtech (India) will speak on their subjects of expertise. Afreed Mistry of Canada will serve as master of ceremonies. Another morning session will include a talk by Dr Farhad Contractor, breast cancer specialist from Los Angeles. The other pre-lunch topics will include charity and philanthropy by Dinshaw Tamboly, chairman, WZO Trust Funds (WZOTF), marketing and media by Sam Balsara, chairman of Madison World, Zoroastrians living in war torn areas of Middle East by Awat Darya, representative of Kurdish Zoroastrians and the Zoroastrian community in Sri Lanka by Aban Pestonjee, chairperson of Abans group of companies.
A youth workshop on "Two models, Two Paths, One community,” will be moderated by Prof Farrokh Mistree from the University of Oklahoma, USA with the panelists including hospitality professional Arashasp Shroff from Toronto, senior consultant at SAP, Merzi Modi from Australia, student assistant at Texas A&M University — Veterinary Integrative Biosciences Histology Lab, Zenia Sunavala, and Javat. "Global organizations for a better tomorrow” will be a session moderated by Dr Behram Pastakia of Washington with representatives of Global Working Group, FEZANA, WZCC, Bombay Parsi Punchayet and WZOTF sharing information on these organizations.
Post lunch sessions will be devoted to business and entrepreneurship with participation from Sam Balsara, Neville Shroff, Daver, Firoz Pestonji, Kotwal and Xerxes Dastur. Entrepreneur and Salsa world champion from Australia, Louisa Wood will speak on "Choreographing the dance routine of your life” and later in the evening she will conduct a learning session on salsa dancing. An ice breaker on the penultimate day will test delegates’ knowledge of Australia. The evening session will include the awards presentation to prominent Zoroastrians, closing speeches and handing over of the WZCC torch to New York, the host of the 12th WZC.
There is varied entertainment lined up for the first three days: the first day will showcase local talent and post dinner music will be provided by a Zoroastrian band from the US; the second day includes an evening cruise with dinner and entertainment; the finale will comprise a gala dinner, live music and entertainment. The fourth day of the Congress has been reserved for optional tours.
Beginning February 22, 2018 the registration rates for the 11th WZC that were AUD 499 (Rs 25,526) have been revised to AUD 575 (Rs 29,414) for adults; they remain the same for children and youth. When Parsiana enquired regarding the registration numbers, Pestonji responded, "Our minimum number requirements were met long back.”
proceedings will start with a jashan at 3 p.m., an informal get-together, a traditional Aussie and a global welcome for the delegates. This will be followed by the ribbon cutting ceremony by the key sponsors, inauguration and trophy presentation to 11WZC Australia by 10WZC India. The formal part of the evening will end with a short film on Life and Times of Zarathustra and the launch of a new coffee table book readied for the Congress by Meher Bhesania, chair of the Ninth WZC in Dubai.On the second day, June 2, the morning session will commence with a 15-minute video followed by talks by Yaz Mubarakai, Member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia and Dr Esfandiyar Ekhtiyari, Zoroastrian representative on the Iranian Majlis. The welcome will continue on the second day by community leaders from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth who constitute the Australian Federation. Zarine Commissariat of Bombay will serve as master of ceremonies for these sessions.
After a tea break, Neville Shroff, president of the Zoroastrian Charity Funds of Hongkong, Canton and Macao will introduce the religious discussion on Zoroastrian religion, covering rituals, teachings, tenets and interpretation of the faith. The speakers scheduled for this session are Dastur Khurshed Dastoor of Udvada, Dr Kourosh Niknam of Iran and Fariborz Rahnamoon of Vancouver. The Women Empowerment Panel discussion will be chaired by Behroze Daruwalla, chair of the Women Entrepreneurs wing of the World Zarathushti Chamber of Commerce (WZCC) with the panelists being Dr Dolly Dastoor and Katayun Kapadia, past presidents of the Federation of Zoroastrian Associations of North America (FEZANA), Tanya Balsara, founder of Tanya Computer Centre for the Blind, Farzana Khambatta, director Aussie Perth Tours and Dr Delara Javat, physician trainee at the Royal Perth Hospital. Concurrently, a youth panel moderated by Arzan Wadia, vice president of FEZANA, will have Bahrom Firozgary from the US, Farhad Malegam from Australia, Viraf Mehta, Maher Dhamodiwala and Jehaan Kotwal from India discussing challenges and issues before the youth in the global diaspora.
Post lunch, there will again be religious discourses, by Dastoor and Zoroastrian Studies founder Khojeste Mistree as also a keynote speech that has to be finalized. Concurrently there will be a WZCC session moderated by Rustom Engineer of Houston with the panelists being Edul Daver, global president of WZCC, Phil Madan, former president of WZCC Australia, Mehran Sepehri of the Sharif University of Technology in Tehran, and Alayar Dabestani, president of the Dabestani Group, USA. After tea there will be talks by Radman Khorshidian, a graduate in Atomic Physics from Tehran who will speak on "Purpose of life, future studies and global social foresight.” Legal counsel Berjis Desai will address the delegates on "Conservative approach to our survival is necessary.” One of the 15-minute slots has been reserved for Rati Wadia, former principal of Queen Mary School, who will show a short film on eminent Parsis.
The third day’s sessions too will start with a short video after which Alison Betts, an archeologist from the Sydney University studying Zoroastrian sites, David Adams, photojournalist from Australia, and Yazdi Tantra, director On-Lyne Comtech (India) will speak on their subjects of expertise. Afreed Mistry of Canada will serve as master of ceremonies. Another morning session will include a talk by Dr Farhad Contractor, breast cancer specialist from Los Angeles. The other pre-lunch topics will include charity and philanthropy by Dinshaw Tamboly, chairman, WZO Trust Funds (WZOTF), marketing and media by Sam Balsara, chairman of Madison World, Zoroastrians living in war torn areas of Middle East by Awat Darya, representative of Kurdish Zoroastrians and the Zoroastrian community in Sri Lanka by Aban Pestonjee, chairperson of Abans group of companies.
A youth workshop on "Two models, Two Paths, One community,” will be moderated by Prof Farrokh Mistree from the University of Oklahoma, USA with the panelists including hospitality professional Arashasp Shroff from Toronto, senior consultant at SAP, Merzi Modi from Australia, student assistant at Texas A&M University — Veterinary Integrative Biosciences Histology Lab, Zenia Sunavala, and Javat. "Global organizations for a better tomorrow” will be a session moderated by Dr Behram Pastakia of Washington with representatives of Global Working Group, FEZANA, WZCC, Bombay Parsi Punchayet and WZOTF sharing information on these organizations.
Post lunch sessions will be devoted to business and entrepreneurship with participation from Sam Balsara, Neville Shroff, Daver, Firoz Pestonji, Kotwal and Xerxes Dastur. Entrepreneur and Salsa world champion from Australia, Louisa Wood will speak on "Choreographing the dance routine of your life” and later in the evening she will conduct a learning session on salsa dancing. An ice breaker on the penultimate day will test delegates’ knowledge of Australia. The evening session will include the awards presentation to prominent Zoroastrians, closing speeches and handing over of the WZCC torch to New York, the host of the 12th WZC.
There is varied entertainment lined up for the first three days: the first day will showcase local talent and post dinner music will be provided by a Zoroastrian band from the US; the second day includes an evening cruise with dinner and entertainment; the finale will comprise a gala dinner, live music and entertainment. The fourth day of the Congress has been reserved for optional tours.
Beginning February 22, 2018 the registration rates for the 11th WZC that were AUD 499 (Rs 25,526) have been revised to AUD 575 (Rs 29,414) for adults; they remain the same for children and youth. When Parsiana enquired regarding the registration numbers, Pestonji responded, "Our minimum number requirements were met long back.”
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