“Be involved”

Keen to participate in the milestone 35th anniversary event marked by community fervor and gaiety, nearly one-third of the Zarthoshti Anjuman of Northern California (ZANC) members converged at the India Community Center in Milpitas (a town in Silicon Valley/ the San Francisco Bay area). Earlier their quarterly newsletter had advised them to save the date for ZANC’s 35th birthday on November 2, 2019 in addition to their regular events like muktad, Navroz and gahanbar celebrations, monthly Sunday school class followed by potluck lunch, the car treasure hunt and costume party.
Expressing his admiration for the group of founders with a vision that succeeded in kindling "community unity that still lasts today,” editor of the ZANC newsletter and committee member Kersi Daruwalla expressed in the newsletter of July-September, 2019, "Now that we are on our way we should focus on our next 35 years, to see that we unite, care for one another, our country and our planet.” His recommendation to the parents, youth and all community was "Be involved.”

ZANC children after their performance

At ZANC’s 35^th celebration

For the assembly of 220, the 35th anniversary event started with the singing of Chhaiyyé Hamé Zarthoshti, followed by the children performing a skit based on the story of the woodcutter and the king, as well as dances choreographed by youth member Azita Patel and a solo dance by Dina Marawala Lalkaka. A gara parade gave an opportunity to the ladies to show off their beautiful saris. The men too had been encouraged to come traditionally attired in daglis, noted a detailed report from trustee and former ZANC president Nazneen Spliedt. The gathering took to the floor to DJ music after appetizers and the gala dinner.
As a non-profit public charity, ZANC is currently focusing on their capital campaign that has been launched to raise funds for the proposed Northern California Zoroastrian Center. At traditional community celebrations like Navroz and gahanbars when their numbers rise to 300, ZANC has to select other venues as their dar-e-meher premises are too small. ZANC’s membership is estimated to be 650 with a total of 530 voting members over 18 years plus 120 children under 18. Whilst 220 family units (comprising singles, couples, multiple generations), residing in the San Francisco Bay Area, including San Jose, Oakland, the East Bay and the Silicon Valley (the home of Apple, Google, Facebook, Tesla and more) are affiliated to ZANC, "We know of about another 200 family units who have chosen not to join ZANC,” added Spliedt.
The first recorded Parsi arrival in San Francisco was Pestonji Daver who came in 1908. Kaikhushroo Hormuz who arrived in 1910/11 served in the US Army in World War I. He is buried in the Military Cemetery in San Bruno, California. Col Ghadially arrived in 1912. Ervad Rustom Bana (September 17, 1903 to June 5,1989) who came to San Francisco in 1942 from Vancouver, Canada claimed to have been the first Indian-born person to have received an official visa from the Canadian authorities.
Initially, a core group of six families used to meet informally in various homes, restaurants and other centers around town. They also started religion classes for children and meetings for adults. On the urging of Dastur (Dr) Framroze Bode who lived in Southern California they formed an association for the Zoroastrians of Northern California. ZANC was officially registered as a non-profit on November 5, 1984. The following year, through the generosity of the Arbab Rustom Guiv Trust and the members of the community, a property was located in the hills above San Jose to be used as a meeting place for the community.
Soon thereafter, funds were raised to build a small atash kadeh on the premises. The atash kadeh was inaugurated with much religious fervor on March 28, 1992 with the lighting of the flame by 10 priests, followed by a celebratory meal for 800 attendees, many of whom had come especially for the occasion from all over California.
ZANC was one of the founder members of the Federation of Zoroastrian Associations of North America (FEZANA) and active from the early days. The only association within the Federation to use the word ‘Anjuman’ as part of its name, when they learnt from the registration authorities that ‘Zoroastrian Association’ was already in use by the Zoroastrian Association of California in the Los Angeles area, the then governing board, on the recommendation of Ervad Jimmy Makujina decided to use the term ‘Anjuman’ instead of ‘Association’ for ZANC. In fact, about 1,000 Zoroastrians from Iran in the Bay Area who constitute the sister body, the Persian Zoroastrian Organization (PZO), frequently refer to the community as "the anjoman,” clarified Spliedt (née Thanawalla). She relocated with her husband Ehler from Hong Kong to the USA in 1998 to "retire” after 30 years of living and working in many places around the world. They are both active in the Zarathushti community and served on the ZANC board for over 15 years, with Nazneen being president from 2005 to 2017.
When requested to send a brief introduction to the current ZANC board, Nazneen promptly provided the details with a clarification, "Even though I have known all these people for a long time, I find that I really didn’t know about their background. When we get together, we are too busy organizing our events for the community and trying to entice people to serve on the board! We don’t really think it’s important what they did, only in what they can do.”
Presently on the seven-member committee are president Bomi Patel, vice president Adi Engineer, secretary Kerman Deboo, treasurer Ratan Mistry, Kathleen Chothia who will be the new vice president in 2020, Meher Mistri and Daruwalla.
Patel who was reelected president in 2017 had earlier served in the same position from 1998 to 2005 and was also a trustee of ZANC. Erstwhile president of FEZANA, Patel’s expertise lies in information technology and he had worked in that field for the University of California in Santa Cruz. He now runs his own travel agency. Serving as vice president since 2014, Engineer first joined the board as a youth member in 2004 and continued serving until 2012. He works in the information technology field for a multinational company.
Secretary since 2019, Deboo’s previous stint on the board was from 2008 to 2012. He too works in the information technology sector as a professional for the city government of Pleasanton (a town in the Bay area). Past treasurer of FEZANA, Mistry, with his background in accounts, joined the ZANC board as treasurer last year.
On the board for the last 10 years, Mistri has been in charge of organizing many Navroz and other events and also serves as coordinator for the Sunday school religion classes. With a background in business management, she is a homemaker and tutor. Chothia who re-joined the board in 2017 had earlier served from 2003-2005 when she was in charge of the youth program for the North American Zoroastrian Congress which ZANC hosted in 2004. She works as a mortgage lender. Daruwalla, an information technology professional having worked for well-known multinational technology companies, has returned to the board since 2019, having enjoyed an earlier stint from 2004-2006.
The ZANC executive is currently engaged, along with PZO, in raising funds to purchase a new center that will be used as a religious, cultural and educational space for the growing community. Reiterated Spliedt, "All the Zarathushtis in our area favor this major project as we grow as a community and to support the next generation of Zarathushtis to be proud of their heritage and carry the spirit of Asha forward to the next millennium.”