ZANT June 2013 Newsletter 1

www.zant.org

A Publication of Zoroastrian Association of North Texas

ZANT NEWSZANT NEWS

We welcome and encourage feedback from our community. For comments or suggestions please call the Board mem-bers, fill in the “Contact Us” section on our website (www.zant.org) or mail them to ZANT, 1605 Lopo Road, Flower Mound,TX 75028.

June 2013

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

ZANT News 2

ZANT News, Upcoming Events 3

Past Events 4

Past Events, 5

Angels in the Background, FEZA-NA Corner 6

Treasurer’s Corner, Miscellane-ous, ZANT Pledge Form 7

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

President Jamshed Rivetna

Vice President Farshad Bidanjiri

Treasurer Neenaaz Dilucci

Secretary Ardeshir Mistry

Social Director

Director Dilnawaz Rustomji

Director Naazneen Johnson

ZANT EVENTS & CALENDAR

06/22: ZLC Event

07/07: Jashan-e-Tirgan

7/14: Vohu Manah Group

meeting

07/18: Kadmi New Year

07/28: ZLC Event

08/04: Children’s Arts & Craft

Class

08/07 through 08/16: Muktad Pray-

ers followed by pot luck dinner

08/10: Anand Bazaar

08/11: Vohu Manah Group

meeting

08/11: Children’s Religious Class

08/11/2013: Muktad prayer jashan

followed by pot luck meal

08/17 or 08/24: Shahenshahi New

Year

08/25: ZLC Event

MESSAGE FROM THE ZANT BOARD

In May many of our students graduated from

universities with their coveted, hard-earned de-

grees or graduated from high school with the

wide world open to them to pursue their inter-

ests further.

ZANT SALUTES THEIR ACCOM-

PLISHEMNTS AND WISHES THEM ALL THE

VERY BEST IN THEIR FUTURE ENDEAV-

ORS. We also acknowledge the sacrifices and

dedication of their parents and family in helping

our graduates achieve this very important goal.

Have a wonderful summer and a well-deserved

break from classes.

ZANT June 2013 Newsletter 2

CONGRATULATINONS TO OUR OUTSTANDING GRADUATES

This year our ZANT community has several students who have graduated

from high school or with degrees in many different fields of study. The

ZANT community would like to congratulate all of them for their great

achievements and wish them the best in their careers. WAY TO GO,

GRADUATES! A brief description of our graduates’ achievements are de-

scribed below in alphabetical order by last name.

Kurush Dehungara graduated from the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University with a Master of Business Administration degree in Business Analytics (1st Major) and Strategy & Entrepreneurship (2nd Major) and a minor in Operations. He was also invited, and joined, two international Honor Societies (Beta Gamma Sigma and Alpha Iota Delta) due to his high overall GPA (top 20% of his class) and high GPA in Business Analytics (top 10% of his class). He has also received an Out-standing Student of the Year (2013) Award for coming on top in in Business Analytics.

Anahita Z. Kalianiwala, daughter of Nina and Zarir Kalianivala, defended her thesis on parental monitoring to earn her Master of Arts degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in progress towards her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology.

After a long journey, Rashna Mullick graduated from the University of North Texas with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Film. She extended her time in school for the opportunity to write and direct a film on the RED camera. She plans spending this summer putting the final touches on it before making the festival circuit. Her ultimate goal is to write, produce and direct in medium of television.

Anahita Pardiwalla is graduating 6th in her class from Paris High School with honors. She has participated in Band, Future Problem Solving, Theater, and the National Honor and Span-ish National Honor Societies. She plans to attend the University of Texas at Austin to obtain a degree in Journalism. She will then continue a career in Broadcast Journalism. She sends her best wishes and congratulations to her fellow graduates and best of luck to future ones.

Kershaw Patel, son of Viraf and Anita Patel, will be graduating from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, School of Medicine in June 2013. He will be moving to Chicago, Illinois for his residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Chicago.

Paimonn Yadegary graduated from the University of Texas at Dallas with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration and a minor in Criminology with Cum Laude Honors. In July 2013, he begins full-time employment at State Farm Insurance Company as a sales representative. He then plans to return to UTD in the spring of 2014 to pursue his MBA degree. In his spare time, Paimonn will continue to play sports, spend quality time with his family and friends, and proudly be a part of the ZANT community.

ZANT NEWS

ZANT June 2013 Newsletter 3

KUDOS FOR OUR BUDDING PIANIST

Heartiest congratulations to Zahira Raghani for her outstanding performance at the Music Teachers

Association's Piano Examination. Zahira performed an original solo composition, and based on the

evaluation of her performance she was awarded recognition for being in the Superior Plus category. We

are all proud of her success!!

HERBS FROM OUR GARDEN

At various times during the year there are several different

herbs that grow in the flower bed outside the kitchen at the

ZANT Center. They include lemongrass, mint, etc. If

members would like to take some of these herbs for their

own use, please feel free to snip a few sprigs now and then.

ZANT NEWS (CONTINUED)

UPCOMING EVENTS

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

It’s summer time and the kids are out of school, so let’s have a picnic! ZLC is sponsor-

ing a picnic on Saturday, June 22, 2013 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Burgers Lake, 1200 Meandering

Road, Fort Worth, TX 76114. You and your family and friends are all invited. Please bring food and

drinks to share and eat together. No alcohol is allowed. The fee to enter the park and lake is $12.00 per

person, ages 7 and up and $5.00 per child ages 1 through 6. Please respond to your Evite (if you are a

ZLC member) or contact Rakhshi Dhalla by June 15, 2013.

ZLC Coordinator: Rakhshi Dhalla

CHILDREN & YOUTH SEW-

ING & ART/CRAFT CLASS

No Arts & Crafts Classes will be

held in June 2013. An announce-

ment on the resumption of this

Class will be made in a future

newsletter. For information re-

garding this class, please contact

Dilnawaz Rustomji.

CHILDREN RELIGIOUS

CLASS

There will be no Children’s Reli-

gious Classes in the months of

June and July 2013. Classes will

resume in September 2013. For

information regarding this class,

please contact Pearl Balsara

VOHU MANAH GROUP

The Vohu Manah Group will

not be meeting in the month of

June 2013. Resumption of this

activity will be announced in a

future newsletter. If you have

questions or need information

about this group, please con-

tact Anahita Sidhwa.

TIRGAN EVENT

Please join us for an afternoon of fun to celebrate Tirgan!! On Sunday, July 7, 2013, we will

meet at the ZANT Center from 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. There will be games at 5:30 and a pot-

luck thereafter. Please bring a main dish to share!! Drinks and ice cream will be provided.

For more information, please contact Afsaneh Samiya.

ZANT June 2013 Newsletter 4

PAST EVENTS

ZANT CENTER SECOND ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

IT TAKES A COMMUNITY…To celebrate!

ZANT's Second Anniversary fair was a big success thanks to our many super chefs, helpful hands, and cheerful participants.

The highlight of this year was a Bounce House which the kids enjoyed. With almost 20 food stalls and many delicacies to

take home, everyone had a good time while also contributing to ZANT. Our FEZANA guests enjoyed the informal evening

which started with tandarosti prayers for which we thank our Ervads Poras Balsara & Yezdi Dastur. There were plenty of

dishes for all palates and time to visit with friends. While we are awaiting the final count of the amount we raised, we will

take this opportunity to thank ALL our volunteers.

Our super chefs were: Anahita Abadan, Norangiz Atashband, Perinaz Avari, Pearl Balsara, Farshad Bidanjiri, Rashne

Bulsara, Niloufer Bustani, Pouran Contractor, Ava & Mehroo Damri, Niloofer Desai, Rakhshandeh Dhalla, Rostam &

Arzoo Dinyari, Farzeen Elavia, Soonu Godiwalla, Mahnaz Irani, Darys Reyes Irani, Rubina Jamshidi, Naazneen John-

son, Nina Kalianivala, Monaz Karakia, Binaifer Kekobad, Kashmira Mistry, Shernaz Mohanty, Mani Mullick, Arbez Pa-

tel, Sherry Raghani, Roshan Rivetna, Bakhtawar Roshanravan, Dilnawaz Rustomji, Shahin Samiya, and Anahita

Sidhwa.

Helping us serve were Kashmira Contractor, Pouroo Dastur, Delna Godiwalla, Charlotte Kharas, Hoshang Patel, and

Ruth-Dinaz Sarkari. Our teenagers, Burzin Balsara, Autusa Behroozi, Daryus Dorabshaw, Danesh Irani, Zayne Patel

and Manijeh Rustomji capably served drinks and pizza with Farieda Irani's assistance. Mary Tengra and the ZANT La-

dies Club managed the "take away booth", Saghar Behroozi coordinated the raffle and Jamshed & Khurshid Jamadar

helped with the games. Back by popular demand was Anaiza Irani's "nail art." The Bounce House was donated and man-

aged by Zal, Cyrus & Hormuz Buhariwalla, and a very special hand-made “patla” with inlay design was donated by Kavas

Mistry, which fetched a healthy sum through a silent auction. Kavas also made the sign posts which we hope will be used

for many more events. Managing the tickets was the ZANT Board and the event directors were Keshvar Buhariwalla,

Delnaaz Irani, Nina Kalianivala, Kashmira Mistry and Anahita Sidhwa.

So to all we say thank you, shukriya, tashakkur, dhanyabad, meherbani, merci beaucoup, danke schon, and muchas gra-

cias! We hope you

enjoyed the event

and will give us ide-

as for the future!

Photos courtesy of Farook Raghani

ZANT June 2013 Newsletter 5

PAST EVENTS (CONTINUED)

CHILDREN’S CLASSES

For May's Children's Religious Class, Firdosh Uncle (Mehta) from Calgary presented a lesson on "The Cyl-

inder of Cyrus." All children from the three classes were invited to attend. Firdosh Uncle gave a brief histo-

ry of the Cylinder, which included the language of the cuneiform text and the concept of writing a mirror im-

age. After the lesson, the children were invited to participate in a craft activity to make there own cylin-

ders. Once again, we thank Firdosh Uncle for taking time to plan and present an informative lesson to the

children of ZANT.

FEZANA ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

The FEZANA Annual General Meeting was held in Grapevine from Friday, May 3 to Sunday,

May 5, 2013. Approximately 50 out-of-town guests came from all over North America and

even a guest from overseas.

Throughout the weekend ZANT volunteers made sure our guests were taken care of: from

good eats, gifts and transportation to-and-from the center. Listening to their comments, our

guests felt welcomed and truly enjoyed their time in the DFW area. Wonderful expressions

and exclamations about our center could be heard as well.

Sherazade Mehta, the Event Director for this meeting, would like to take this opportunity to

thank all the volunteers who helped make the weekend a success. Thank you to our fabulous

chefs and bakers (who made sure our guests' tummies were full with their delicious foods),

our chaiwalli (because we always need tea, especially Pearl Balsara's), and to our drivers

(who made sure no guest was left behind at the hotel).

Sherazade would also like to extend a very special, heart-

felt thanks and great big hugs to Arbez Patel, Keshvar

Buhariwalla and

Dilnawaz Rustomji

for going above and

beyond to help plan

and execute a fantastic

weekend. Sherazade

states that “I could

not have done this without you ladies.”

On behalf of the whole ZANT community, we would like

to sincerely thank all these volunteers for their time and effort. We are particularly grateful to

Sherazade Mehta who led this massive effort and kept the

whole process smoothly running for

three days. Our hats are off to all of

you!! Thank you, Thank you, Thank

you!

Photo courtesy of Kali Buhariwala

Photo courtesy of Kali Buhariwala Photo courtesy of Kali Buhariwala

Photo courtesy of Ardeshir Mistry

ZANT June 2013 Newsletter 6

Angels in the BackgroundAngels in the Background

Since this past year we have not had a Social Director for ZANT. However, a lot of our members vol-

unteered to host the various events during the year. You became our Event Directors and helped ZANT

by making sure that those events, which we all expect every year, came to pass. We are indeed very

grateful to all of you who took over the challenging task of being Event Directors for the different func-

tions. We would like to thank ALL OUR EVENT DIRECTORS for the year for their dedication and

service to ZANT. You are indeed our Angels in the Background!

FEZANA CORNER

RETURN TO ZOROASTRIAN ROOTS

We are very excited to announce the launch of Zoroastrian Return to Roots, a program

designed to connect youth from all over the world through short (10-14 day) trips of Zo-

roastrian India, and eventually through Zoroastrian Iran. The inaugural trip takes

place in Mumbai and Gujarat, India, from Dec. 27, 2013-Jan. 8, 2014, and will include

participation at the World Zoroastrian Congress.

We are currently accepting applications for youth who would like to participate in the

inaugural trip. We have 20 slots available. We are looking for mature, young Zoroastri-

ans from all over the world who are poised to become leaders in their local and national

associations. The trip is heavily subsidized for participants: financial considerations

should not discourage anyone from applying. Furthermore, we are positioned to ar-

range visas for participants regardless of nationality, offering otherwise non-existent op-

portunities to our Pakistani and Iranian brothers and sisters.

To apply, please go to: www.zororoots/apply/

Please like us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ZoroastrianReturnToRootsProgram. If

you have any questions, please ask on Facebook or email us at zororoots@gmail.com.

Thank you,

The Roots Team

Return to Roots is supervised and maintained under the umbrella of UNESCO-

PARZOR. We are affiliated with the Bombay Parsi Panchayat and FEZANA. We also

enjoy the support of many private individuals and local associations. If you would like

to make a donation, please contact us or follow the directions on our website (http://

zororoots.org/partners/). We have title sponsorships available.

Dinsha Mistree

Politics, Princeton University

http://www.princeton.edu/~dmistree/

ZANT June 2013 Newsletter 7

We welcome our new annual members (checks received through 05/15/2013):

Anahita Atashband

Farhad Abadan

Gool Castleberry

Woodie Castleberry

Jamshid Contractor

Kashmira Contractor

Charlotte Kharas

Yazdi Kharas

Rustam Kharas

Current membership for 2012-2013:

Life Membership 42

Annual Membership 131

Honorary Members 7

180

TREASURER’S CORNER

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.

MISCELLANEOUS

PRAYER CD AVAILABLE

A small number of CD’s with the recent Gahanbar Panjeh

prayers is now available for sale from ZANT. Mobed Sirous

Hormozdi, who came down from Kansas City for these pray-

ers, has kindly consented to the recording and its sale. The CD,

entitled “The Complete Jashan Avesta Prayers by Mobed Sirous

Hormozdi”, can be purchased for $10 each. All proceeds from

the sale of the CD’s will go to- wards ZANT. If you would like

to purchase this wonderful CD, please contact one of the ZANT Board members.