ZANT NEWSZANT NEWS · 2013. 11. 10. · ZANT October 2013 Newsletter 1 A Publication of the Zoroastrian Association of North Texas ZANT NEWSZANT NEWS We welcome and encourage feedback

ZANT October 2013 Newsletter 1

www.zant.org

A Publication of the Zoroastrian Association of North Texas

ZANT NEWSZANT NEWS

We welcome and encourage feedback from our community. For comments or suggestions please call the Board members, fill in the “Contact Us” sec-tion on our website (www.zant.org) or mail them to ZANT, 1605 Lopo Road,

Flower Mound,TX 75028.

October2013

INSIDE THIS ISSUE Upcoming Events 2

Upcoming Events 3

Upcoming Events 4

Past Events 5

Past Events, Angels in the Back-ground 6

Kids’ Corner 7

ZANT News, FEZANA News, Donation Form 8

AN ADVERTISEMENT 9

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

President Keshvar Buhariwalla

Vice President Farshad Bidanjiri

Treasurer Neenaaz Dilucci

Secretary

Social Director Farzeen Sukheswalla

Director Dilnawaz Rustomji

Director Naazneen Johnson

ZANT EVENTS & CALENDAR

10/05: Mehregan function

10/13: Children’s Religious Class

10/13: Children’s Arts & Craft

Class

10/13: Vohu Manah meeting

10/26: Costume Party & ZLC

Event

11/02: Diwali Mela

11/03: Sports Day

11/08 and 11/09: ZANT Garage

Sale



Class


11/16: Dandia Night



Class


12/21 &12/22: Jashan-e-Yalda

12/28: Zarthost-no-Diso

12/29: ZLC Meeting

12/31: New Year’s Eve Party

MESSAGE FROM THE ZANT BOARD

October heralds the ancient Zoroastrian festival of Mehregan. Sev-eral versions on the beginnings of Mehregan are known. These in-clude: a) the day of victory when angels helped Fereydoon and Ka-veh become victorious over the evil Zohak, b) the day when Ahura Mazda gave Light to the world and c) the day when the sun was cre-ated.

Mehregan celebrates the Yazata Mehr, dedicated to friendship, af-fection and love. It falls during the autumn harvest when farmers, reaping their crops before the onset of winter, thanked Ahura Maz-da for sustaining them through the cold, harsh, winter months.

With so much significance attached to this wonderful festival, we encourage our ZANT community to retain its spirit of friendship, amity and charity, helping out whenever needed. We appreciate our volunteers who have been working so hard at all times in their own special ways and also thank our donors, who through their love and dedication for ZANT, have contributed towards keeping it ac-tive and running for many years.

-JASHAN جشنشمشششان ن ش ن شمش E-MEHREGAN


UPCOMING EVENTS

CHILDREN’S ARTS & CRAFT CLASS

Date: Sunday, October 13 2013

Time: After the Children’s Religious Class

Place: ZANT Center

We will be continuing and completing the toran projects that were started in Sep-

tember. If you would like to start yours during the next class, please RSVP to

Dilnawaz Rustomji.

VOHU MANAH GROUP

Date: Sunday, October 13, 2013

Time: 1:30 p.m.

Place: ZANT Center

Topic: The Women of the Shah Nameh

Our own esteemed President, Keshvar Buhariwalla, will share her recent readings

about the women in the Shah Nameh. Keshvar’s book review on this subject will be

appearing in the Fezana Journal, but the ZANT community has the first opportunity

to hear about her findings. Please join us. For more information on this event

please contact Anahita Sidhwa.

MEHREGAN CELEBRATION

Time seems to move faster and faster! We just finished planning our Shahenshahi New Year and

the next festival, Mehregan, - celebrating the coming of fall - is already upon us. This year Shahin

Samia has graciously volunteered to be our Event Director. She is busy working on the details of all

the fun activities for the night of Saturday, October 5, 2013. at 6:00 p.m. at the ZANT Center. One

detail that has been finalized is the menu. Thanks to Shahin, this year we will have a completely

catered Iranian meal from Alounak Restaurant. The menu is:

Jujeh Kabab – Grilled Chicken Kabob

Ghormeh Sabzi Khoresht – Beef with parsley, other green vegetables, kidney beans

Ghaymeh Khoresht – dal with beef, fried potatoes and special lemon

Baghali Polau – rice with lima beans and dill

Plain Rice Salad, Barbari Nan, Yogurt

Homemade cake for dessert

Dancer and singer, Mahnosh, will perform for our Mehregan celebration by singing and playing the

daff/arabooneh (traditional Iranian musical instrument). Don’t miss this special performance. We

will also have a special children’s dance.

Those who have RSVP’d can pay $10 per adult and $7 per child, 4 – 9 years old at the event.


UPCOMING EVENTS (CONTINUED)

Z L C - “The ZANT Ladies Club” Caring, Sharing, Daring – Living Life to the fullest!

Date: Saturday, October 26, 2013

Time: 7:00 p.m.

Place: ZANT Center

The October 2013 ZLC event will be held in conjunction with the Costume Party that is scheduled for

October 26 and includes a Trick or Treat event for our kids along with a catered Chinese dinner.

Please see the article on this event in the newsletter. ZLC Coordinator: Rakhshi Dhalla

COSTUME PARTY

Fall winds begin to blow

Colored leaves fall to and fro

Costume fever’s in the air

Start planning what you dare to wear.

Sign up for a fun costume party, games, music and dancing at the ZANT Center:

DATE: Saturday, October 26, 2013.

PLACE: ZANT Center

TIME: 7:00 p.m. (please arrive on time to allow your children to trick or treat

from car trunk to car trunk from 7:15-7:45 p.m. Bring candy and tricks to share

from the trunk of your car in the ZANT Center parking lot).

COSTUMES: Mandatory, wear something simple from a moustache to a witch

hat to something more “mind blowing.” There will be prizes for different cate-

gories.

MENU (Chinese food): Kung Pao Chicken, Garlic Beef, Eggplant in Garlic Sauce,

Fried Rice and Chicken Lo Mein. Vegetarian menu: Vegetarian Fried Rice, Veg-

etable Lo Mein, Eggplant in Garlic Sauce. Dessert for adults and

kids is “Dirt.”

PRICE: $15 for adults, $10 for children ages 4-10. A late fee of $5

will be charged after October 18, 2013.

R.S.V.P: To Sherazade Mehta by October 18, 2013.


UPCOMING EVENTS (CONTINUED)

ZANT GARAGE SALE

The annual ZANT Garage sale is being re-scheduled for two days, Fri-

day, November 8 and Saturday, November 9, 2013 at the ZANT Cen-

ter. We encourage our members to donate items to be sold off at this

sale with all profits going to ZANT. Please keep bringing your items

to the ZANT Center for our upcoming garage sale. We will store

them in the shed, so please bring your items to the Mehregan event or

the Religious class. Pick-up for large items can be arranged if needed.

For the Plano area, please contact Darys Reyes or Keshvar Buhariwala.

PLEASE BRING US YOUR DISCARDS, THEY ARE LIKE GOLD TO

US!

ZANT SPORTS

Date: Sunday, November 3, 2013

Time: 9:00 a.m.

Place: Hedrick Elementary School

The Annual Sports Day will be on Sunday, November 3 at Hedrick Elementary

School, 1526 Bellaire Blvd., Lewisville, TX 75067 . PLEASE PARK IN THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL’S

PARKING LOT NOT IN THE MIDDLE SCHOOL’S PARKING LOT. After the sports are over there will

be a potluck breakfast at the ZANT Center. For information on the Sports Day, please contact Neenaaz

DiLucci. To RSVP for the potluck breakfast, please contact Dilnawaz Rustomji. We hope you will be able

to attend this event, participate in the sports and join us for breakfast.

DIWALI MELA

Date: Saturday, November 02, 2013

Time: 4:00 p.m. to midnight

Place: Cotton Bowl Stadium, Dallas

The Diwali Mela is a fundraiser for ZANT. It is hosted by the DFW Indian Cultural Society which is

involved in charitable endeavors, like running two free primary- care clinics for uninsured patients. The

Association also supports various Indian charities.

Please contribute to defray ZANT’s cost for supplies and the booth. When you contribute to ZANT's Di-

wali Mela fundraiser, you are helping raise funds for our association. Our involvement also helps vari-

ous DFW charities. Please donate generously!

If you would like to help at the booth please contact Khurshid Jamadar. We work hard but have a lot

of fun!


PAST EVENTS

SHAHENSHAHI NAVROZE FUNCTION

On Saturday, August 24, about 100 adults and kids met at the Hilton Garden Inn in Dallas to celebrate the

ZANT Shahenshahi New Year. We would like to thank Pearl Balsara, the Event Director, for this function.

The event started with a short community prayer led by our priests. This was followed by a series of games

for our kids and adults.

Our kids put on quite a performance for the Spin a Yarn competition! We were thrilled to have 13 partici-

pants, Anaiza Irani, Aryana Jamshidi, Autusa Behroozi, Aysha Elavia, Burzin Balsara, Cyrus, Hormuz

and Zaal Buhariwalla, Cyrus and Serena Sarkari, Ferona Bustani, Sascha Shroff and Yazad Kekobad. Kudos to all of you for stepping up to the microphone and entertaining us! The competition was divided into

three sections by age and the following kids won the competition in their age group:

2 years – 7 years Aysha Elavia (1st Place) and Yazad Kekobad (1st Place)

8 years – 12 years Serena and Cyrus Sarkari (1st Place)

13 years and older Burzin Balsara (1st Place)

ZANT extends its thanks to Sherazade Mehta and Charlotte Kharas for judging the competition and to Ar-

bez and Hoshang Patel for the fun prizes!

Our DJ, Sayani Kaizer, and his dancing partner, Chayya, enthralled us with a very energetic, Bollywood-style

dance number performed with pep and vigor. They then helped us judge the round of adult games. These

games, courtesy of Pearl Balsara, were very entertaining. Participants had a lot of fun due to the good-

natured bantering among the tables vying for the prizes.

A sumptuous and delicious buffet dinner followed the games. During dinner we were entertained by the DJ.

After dinner, the DJ turned on his music magic and Chayya led us in various dances…hip hop, Bollywood,

different line dances, etc. The dancing continued until it was time to leave. It was a very enjoyable evening

and we thank all our members who came to the function and made it a success.

The event could not have taken place without Delnaaz Irani who worked with the hotel and got the menu set

for a reasonable price. Thanks to Vispy and Ruth-Dinaz Sarkari for underwriting the cost of the dancer,

Chayya, who accompanied the DJ and our gratitude to Hoshang and Arbez Patel for donating and wrapping

all prizes. We also would like to acknowledge Keshvar Buhariwlla for contributing the delectable chocolate

cake.

Photos courtesy of Neenaaz DiLucci and Aspi Irani


PAST EVENTS (CONTINUED)

Angels in the BackgroundAngels in the Background

October is the last month of our fiscal year. Between November 1, 2012 and October 31, 2013, ZANT

had 187 members, including seven honorary ones. We are thankful to all of you who chose to become

members and supported ZANT with your dues and extra contributions during the year. It is because

of committed persons like our members that we can support our Center and have religious and social

events there. This month we would like to nominate our ZANT Members as our Angels in the Back-

ground!

Without your financial help and spirit of volunteering, ZANT could not have met the expectations of our

community. We sincerely hope that all of you and other North Texas Zarthushtis and their families, who

were not members in this year, will take the opportunity to become ZANT members in the next year. Our

dues are $50 per person and children under 18 are free. The November 2013 newsletter will have a mem-

bership form for the next year. Let’s make 2013-2014 our best membership year!

ARTS & CRAFT CLASS

In our September class, the kids started working on their toran sections. They

had to learn how to tie a knot, secure the first bead, follow the pattern and

change over to a new line. The process requires some concentration and pa-

tience, a single mistake and the entire line would need to be undone. We look

forward to completing the project at the next session.

VOHU MANAH GROUP

On September 8 we watched a most interesting and enlightening video,

“Keepers of the Flame” – the story about the famous industrialists of In-

dia, Jamshetji Tata and his family. Jamshetji was born in Navsari in 1839,

and his first business ventures were trading with China. Later when the

American Civil War caused a shortage of raw cotton for the mills in Britain,

Jamshetji set sail for Europe to try and convince the British to use Indian cot-

ton. Unfortunately by the time he got to England, American cotton was again

available, but Jamshetji was deter- mined to reap some benefit from his

journey. He saw the possibility of set- ting up textile mills in India, but he

was horrified at the inhumane condi- tions in Manchester and vowed that his

factories would have superb employee benefits. He also recognized a guiding

principle – “the country that has the steel has the gold.” Toiling with his

sons, he established many successful businesses like the Empress Mills and

the Taj Hotel. But it was only after his death that his three most visionary en-

terprises - the Tata Iron and Steel Company, the Tata Hydroelectric Power Supply Company and the Insti-

tute of Science at Bangalore - finally became reality. His legacies of social conscience and business acumen

have continued to influence the future generations of his family.

It was heart-warming to note that many of our own ZANT members have been recipients of Tata-

sponsored scholarships.


Your Beautiful Life….

If you must look back,

Do so forgivingly.

If you must look forward,

Do so prayerfully.

However,

The wisest thing you can do

Is be present in the present...Gratefully!

Source : Internet (Author—Maya Angelou)

Religious Class:

It was wonderful to begin our religious classes for

the new year after a three-month summer break!

At our September Religious Class, our little

ones prepared a booklet titled, 'I am a Zarthush-

ti'. They learned our name for God, a little about

our prophet Zarathushtra, our three

main principles, humata, hukhta, and

huvareshta and our three basic pray-

ers. The little ones got to outline a

Farohar and understand the symbol-

ism of each part. Don't forget to bring

back your fun homework assignment -

your very own family tree!

We would love to see even more

young ones in October!

Starting the new term with our new Religious

Class Theme of “Navjote—1st Step to Zoroas-

trianism”, our middle-age group had a Power

Point presentation about the Symbolism in a

Jashan. The auspicious occasion of Navjote, be-

gins with a Jashan at the Navjote kid’s residence,

a day or two before the Navjote day. They learnt

that…..

Jashan is a religious thanksgiving ceremony

or one that commemorates/celebrates an im-

portant event.

The Jashan Layout.

Representation of Ahura Mazda’s seven

creations in the Jashan ceremony.

The “Flower Ceremony” - the symbolism

and ritual performed three times.

We ended our class with the story of “Sadda

Mama” (chameleon)

Charlotte Kharas has joined our Religious Class

Team. This month our teen group was taught

by her. They talked about various topics which

will be addressed in future classes. The main

focus was on the Zoroastrian perspective of

Creation as written in the Bundahishn. The

teens asked some very insightful

questions and a lively discussion

followed. It was decided that for

homework each participant will

think of a follow-up question

which will be answered in the sub-

sequent class.

Children’s Religious Class:

Our next religious class will be held on Sun-

day, October 13, 2013 at 11:30 a.m.

Please be at the ZANT Center by 10:45 a.m,

so we can have prayers and Tandarosti for

the kids in the Prayer Room at 11 a.m. before

the Religious Class.

For further details about the Religious Classes,

please contact Pearl P. Balsara.

KIDS’ CORNER

(Kid’s Corner logo courtesy of Zoroastrian Studies, India) Photo courtesy of Pearl Balsara


Keep this stub Please detach and return this side Accept my contribution of: for your records. with your contribution payable to: “ZANT" and mail to: ( ) $10 ( ) $20 ( ) $30 ( ) $40 ( ) $50 ( ) $_____ To: ZANT ZANT Treasurer 1605 Lopo Road For: Check # Flower Mound, Texas 75028

Date ( ) General Fund ( ) Building Fund

Amount $ ( ) ZOMF ( ) Other_______

FROM:____________________________________

“Without a sense of caring, there can be no sense of community.” Help us pass on the Good Religion to future generations.

EXCITING NEW EVENTS AT THE CENTER

There are some interesting new events at our ZANT

Center which we encourage you to add to your per-

sonal calendars for 2013! Events scheduled for the

last three months of 2013 are:

Saturday, October 26 – Costume Party

Saturday, November 16 – Dandia Night

Tuesday, December 31 – New Year’s Eve Party

ZANT NEWS

INTERESTING ARTI-CLE

Here’s an interesting website on Zoroastrians in Uzbekistan with photographs. It is: http://www.oshihan.org/Pages/

A RESIGNATION

FROM THE BOARD

ZANT Secretary, Ar-deshir Mistry, has sub-

mitted his resignation effective October 1, 2013 due to personal reasons. He thanks the community for allowing him to represent them on the Board and appre-ciates the wonderful experience of working

with other Board mem-

bers since June 2012.

FEZANA NEWS

AN OBITUARY

The FEZANA Board has informed us that, FEZANA President

Katayun Kapadia's husband, Kersi Dara Kapadia passed away

on September 26, 2013. He was born on October 30, 1942.

Kersi is survived by his wife, Katayun, his children: daughter

Zarin, son Lt. Farrokh Kapadia (USN) and daughter-in-law

Tralene. He was the brother of Dogdoe Tehmtan Arjani,

Bakhtavar Noshir Lam and Diana Darius Dadachanji and

brother-in-law of Bakhtawar and Rustom Dinshaw. He was a

loving husband and father, a trusted friend and a beloved un-

cle to all who knew him.

Kersi was a quiet man of great strength whose words held vast

wisdom. A man whose smile was elusive and rare, but brought

joy to all those around him. He would always place the needs

of others before those of himself, especially to help the youth of

our community. An accomplished cook, his chai was legendary

and his garden bursting with flowers and vegetables which he

would share with everyone including the animals in the back-

yard.

Kersi Dara Kapadia was a husband, a father, a teacher, men-

tor and dear friend. While his passing is a great loss to the

community, we can all take solace in the fact that he is finally

able to get the sleep and rest that he deserved. Kersi’s life may

have ended on September 26, but his love and his memory will

continue on in the lives of those he touched and those lucky

enough to know him. May Kersi's noble soul rest in peace and

may Ahura-Mazda give strength to Katayun and her family to

bear this loss.

ZAH Z-CAMP 2013

The Zoroastrian Associa-tion of Houston is hosting its Z-Camp 2013 for kids and youth, ages 5 to 18. It will be a two-day event lasting all day. The dates are Saturday, October 19 and Sunday, October 20, 2013.

The program includes games, sports, dancing, cooking, fashion, first aid and more. It is $15 per child. To get more infor-mation on this event, please visit their website,

http://zah.org/events/z-camp-2013/


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ZANT NEWSZANT NEWS · 2013. 11. 10. · ZANT October 2013 Newsletter 1 A Publication of the Zoroastrian Association of North Texas ZANT NEWSZANT NEWS We welcome and encourage feedback