ZANT NEWS A Publication of Zoroastrian Association of North Texas www.zant.org October 2018 ZANT UPCOMING EVENTS INSIDE THIS ISSUE Oct. 13: Jashn-e Mehrgan, ZANT Board Elections Halloween Costume Contest Oct. 14: Religion Classes Nov. 1: New ZANT Board starts their 2 year term March 23: ZANT NouRuz Celebration Board s message 2 Religion Classes 2 Jashn-e Mehrgan Celebration 2, 3 ZANT Board Elections 2 Treasurer s Corner 5 Return to Roots 5, 9 Kids Corner 6 Membership Form 7 WeekendWonders4Kidz 8 Past Events Photos 10-12 FEZANA & Other News 13-15 BOARD OF DIRECTORS President Vice President Treasurer Secretary Social Director Director Director Jamshed Jamadar Kashmira Contractor Mehroo Madeka Anahita Kyani Pearl P. Balsara Persis Shroff Bahrassa Vacant ZANT Address: Zoroastrian Center of North Texas 1605 Lopo Road Flower Mound, TX 75028-1306 We welcome and encourage feedback from our community. Please send comments or suggestions to president.zant@gmail.com or mail to ZANT, 1605 Lopo Road, Flower Mound, TX 75028-1306 ZANT News - October 2018 1
MESSAGE FROM THE BOARD The current Board s term is ending Oct 31, 2018. We all thank you for the opportunity to serve the ZANT community! ZANT will have election for the new Board starting its term on Nov 1, 2018. The Board Election will be on the same evening as Mehrgan, Saturday, October 13, 2018. We begin Mehrgan celebration at 6pm & will have Board Election at 7:30pm to be followed by announcement of best Halloween Costume Contest winner and Mehrgan potluck dinner. If you are an annual or new member, please renew or sign-up for your 2018-2019 ZANT Membership (see Membership Form on page 7 of this newsletter). We encourage members to step-forward & serve on the New ZANT Board! CHILDRENS RELIGION CLASS AND VOHU MANAH GROUP Our next Childrens Religion Class will be held on Sunday, October 14, 2018. Please be at the ZANT Center by 10:45 a.m. so we can have the Prayers & Tandarosti for kids in the Prayer Room at 11 a.m. At 1:15pm, after October s religious class, all kids will be assembling food packs for the children served by weekendwonders4kidz so come help us bag the canned items & earn volunteer hours too! For further details about the class please contact Pearl P. Balsara. The Vohu Manah Group will meet on Sunday, October 14, 2018 at 1:30pm at the ZANT Center Library. For further details about the Vohu Manah Group, please contact Anahita Sidhwa. JASHN-E MEHRGAN & ZANT BOARD ELECTIONS It is time again to celebrate Jashn-e Mehrgan, the Autumn Festival of Harvest! Come and join us in the celebration: Where: ZANT Center When: Saturday, October 13, 2018 Time: 6:00pm Meet and Greet 6:15pm Mehrgan Entertainment Program 7:00pm Parade & treats for kids and youth in their Halloween Costumes audience starts to cast their vote 7:30pm New ZANT Board will be elected 8:00pm Announcement of winners of the Best Halloween Costume Contest * Tots 5 years and under * Kids 10 years and under * Youth 11 years and above 8:15pm Potluck dinner Please bring your favorite main dish to share. Drinks will be provided by ZANT. ZANT News - October 2018 2
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HONORING THE FRAVASHIS For the past two decades the ZANT community has remembered with reverence the Fravashis of our dear ones by holding Muktad prayers during the last few days of the Shehenshahi calendar. We started the tradition in Dallas in August 1997 or 1998 at the home of Niloofer and Firdausi Desai and over the years various community members have hosted the prayers in their homes, until we inaugurated the ZANT Center in 2011. Living as we do in the melting pot of America, traditions evolve, and we learn from each other. A table with fresh flowers representing the fravashis has been a time-honored tradition, with a Jashan for the departed. The Parsis of Karachi had another tradition that of Humbandgi prayers, early in the morning on the Muktad days. Blending these, the ZANT tradition is to have a Jashan and hold Humbandgi prayers on all days in the evening. This year, our priests, Ervad Poras T. Balsara, Ervad Yazdi Dastoor, Ervad Homuzd Karkaria and Ervad Burzin P. Balsara performed the Jashan where about 200 departed family members were remembered by taking their names. One feels a special sense of gratitude to be part of a community where the priests keep our traditions alive and give us a connection to our ancestors. We thank our priests and Mehroo, Rajesh and Taronish Madeka for sponsoring the Jashan. During the Humbandgi, we read and recite short Avesta passages and their meaning, since collective prayer has its own special powers. We welcome the Fravashis of ALL good men and women and ask them to keep a vigil in our hall of prayer and then return to their heavenly abode satisfied with our offerings. In turn they bless us with an agile and active mind, good health, decent living, and children with inner light and innate intelligence. May we be worthy of our gifts! CYRUS BUHARIWALLA S EAGLE SCOUT PROJECT UPDATE & THANKS Hi everyone this is Cyrus Buhariwalla, I just wanted to share an update on the eagle scout project I did back in May setting up the drip irrigation at ZANT. The project went very well and everything is installed and working to water the plants and flower beds. I wanted to thank everyone for the support and the very generous donations that led to the project being completed. Without all the donations and support it couldn t have been done. The overwhelming amount of donations exceeded the budget, and I am donating the extra funds back to ZANT, which is $1380. Once again thank you for all the donations and support. Sincerely, Cyrus Buhariwalla ZANT News - October 2018 4
TREASURER S CORNER The donations and balances listed below are accurate as of August 31, 2018. Fundraisers Donations The cost of maintaining the center is approximately $2,500 to $3,000 per month. If anyone would like to help with that, please contact the board RETURN TO ROOTS PROGRAM ZANT highly encourages youth ages 22-35 to consider participating in Zoroastrian Return to Roots Program. The aim of Zoroastrian Return to Roots is to bring together young Zoroastrians from across the world to return to their roots, reconnect with their culture, and revive the community. Participants explore various significant Zoroastrian historical, religious, cultural, and archaeological sites in India over short trips of about 10 days in length. The next trip is in December 2018 and the application deadline is November 15, 2018. Arzan Wadia, FEZANA Vice President, is the coordinator of this program and will be present during the trip. Please refer to the below links for more detail. The first link includes application for the program. The second link includes a short clip make by two of the alumni from the last trip in December 2017. http://zororoots.org/apply/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyflueld66m Below is a link to this year s Annual Trip Report, which we would like to share this with prospective applicants, their parents and others who might be interested in the program. https://zororoots.org/wp-content/uploads/rtr-iv-annual-report.pdf MAMA PARSI GIRL S SCHOOL CELEBRATION The Mama Parsi Girls' School is celebrating their centennial on October 6, 2018. Banquet Dinner : Venue : Four Points by Sheraton, in Coppell, Texas (near the airport) Time : 6:30 pm Tickets for Non-Alumni will be sold at $ 65.00/head. We will have a set program, followed by DJ Music and dancing. Only 150 total tickets will be sold. For more details or to make reservation, please contact Nancy Yazdani by phone 214-384-1662 or by e- mail at mpgs.reunion4dallas@gmail.com. ZANT News - October 2018 5
KIDS CORNER Prayer for Prosperity of our City Nērang pērozgar bād nām cheshti hātar andar kām bād; Hast sheherestān andar sheherestān (to mention the name of the particular city in which the prayer is recited) Pori firozi shādi ō rāmashni. (Dibācheh-i-Āfringān) May this prayers and rituals be efficacious May the desires of all individuals be fulfilled. May prosperity, success, joy and cheerfulness prevail in this city (Source : Treasury of Quotations from Zoroastrian Texts) Religious Class: At our September Religious class, our little ones graduated to the middle-age group. They started their 2018-2019 Religious Class learning in depth about Jashn-e- Mehrgan. They had a Powerpoint presentation & learnt Mehrgan is one of the 2 most popular & oldest celebrations Mehr represents kindness, knowledge, love, light, friendship Celebrated on the 16th day of the 7th Zoroastrian month Mehr Roz & Mehr Mah Its 4 different origins Harvesting, Victory for Fareydoon & Kaveh over Zohak Creation of Sun Mashia & Mashyaneh Sofreh Mehrgan Celebrations done in old times & recent times We watched the video about Jashn-e-Mehrgan to conclude the class! The teen religious class is going to read the book Discovering Ashavan by Farishta Murzban Dinshaw. It is a story about two young boys growing up in Zarathushtra's time. Zarathushtra, one of the boys, is portrayed as a curious, thoughtful, and kind youth. Each chapter showcases principles and behaviors that our religion would have us follow. We plan on reading two chapters at each class. Here are the principles from chapters 1 and 2: Chapter 1 Principles: Never ignore a pregnant animal Never defile the earth or water source with dead body Show kindness, courtesy, and hospitality to all - strangers/guests regardless of social hierarchy and appearances Chapter 2 Principles: Keeping earth clean show good stewardship Cleanse yourself after touching a dead body because it can be contaminated Rules should be followed with wisdom and compassion be true to yourself. Thank You! We are very grateful to our Parent Volunteers for catering lunch for our kids & adults, at each Religious Class. We d like to thank the Bustani & Kekobad families for the lunch! Children s Religious Class: Our next religious class will be held on Sunday, October 14, 2018. At 1:15pm, after October s religious class, all kids will be assembling food packs for the children served by weekendwonders4kidz so come help us bag the canned items & earn volunteer hours too! Please be at the ZANT Center by 10:45 a.m. so we can have the Prayers & Tandarosti for 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 at (972) 519-0373 or ppbalsara@gmail.com. ZANT News - October 2018 6
ZANT News - October 2018 7
weekendwonders4kidz Making weekends wonderful one kid at a time, one bag at a time, one week at a time As the new school year begins, we have re-commenced our efforts serving the hungry children in our community every week. We are now slowly expanding and adding new schools to our growing network. Back-to-School Bring n Bag Event Due to the great success of our last event, we are introducing a semiannual bring n bag event. Our next session is after October s religious class. We will be assembling food packs for the children we serve. 2X the hours kids needing hours can earn them by helping us bag and earn more if they bring food to donate. Please take a look at the link below and sign-up! Everyone is welcome! https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c084ba8af23a0fe3-weekend1 Take a little time out to help make these kids weekends wonderful! As always, thank you so much for your continued support of Weekend Wonders 4 Kidz and helping the children we serve. Helping a person will not change the world, but it will change the world for that one person... thatonerule.com. Thank You! ZANT News - October 2018 8
ZOROASTRIAN RETURN TO ROOTS 2018 TOUR TO INDIA The Zoroastrian Return to Roots Program is pleased to announce the opening of applications for Return to Roots 5 Trip scheduled to take place from 19th December, 2018 to 2nd January 2019. This will be the fifth tour after the first three very successful tours in 2013-14, 2015, 2016, and 2017. The aim of Zoroastrian Return to Roots is to bring together young Zoroastrians from across the world between the ages of 22-35; to return to their roots, reconnect with their culture, and revive the community. Participants ( Fellows ) will explore various significant Zoroastrian historical, religious, cultural, and archaeological sites in India over a trip of 13-15 days. The itinerary will take participants to Mumbai, Gujarat and Pune. One of the key aims of this program is to foster a sense of community amongst Fellows and for individuals to contribute to the institutions they visit as well as the program even after they have participated. Another aim of the trip is for participants to understand and realize the influence Parsis have had on modernday India. Fellows also understand and experience first-hand the meaning behind our long-standing religious customs and traditions. Fellows from previous trips returned from India with a deep understanding and appreciation for our small but powerful community. They are becoming more involved with their local Zoroastrian associations, giving back to the community, and encouraging other youth to participate in Return to Roots. Applications close on November 15, 2018. All prospective applicants having current or past Pakistan citizenship, or have parents who have/had Pakistan citizenship need to apply no later than end of August to allow time for the visa process. We encourage applicants to apply using the following link: http://zororoots.org/apply/ before the deadline and approach one s local community members and associations for funding and sponsorship. Applications are accepted on a rolling-basis. For more info: Return To Roots website: www.zororoots.org Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zororoots To Apply: http://zororoots.org/apply/ Image Gallery: http://zororoots.org/gallery/ ZANT News - October 2018 9
PAST EVENTS: SHEHENSHAHI NEW YEAR AUG. 2018 ZANT News - October 2018 10
PAST EVENTS: SHEHENSHAHI NEW YEAR AUG. 2018 ZANT News - October 2018 11
PAST EVENTS: RELIGION SEMINAR AUG. 2018 ZANT News - October 2018 12
Who: What: Register for the 2019 Zoroastrian Youth Congress 18-35 year old Zoroastrian Youth from around the world Sign up for the World Zoroastrian Youth Congress today! When: July 1-6, 2019 Where: Why: How: Los Angeles, CA USA Learn about the Zoroastrian religion, network with peers and other professionals, and make new friends from around the world! Click on this link: https://wzycongress.org/register/details/ Use the code FIRST100 to get the early bird price of $399.99! Theme: A Global Zarathushti As the first youth congress took place in California in over twenty-five years ago, this congress is a milestone event where we can recognize the progress and shortcomings that our community have faced over the last twenty-five years as the original youth groups have now transitioned into adulthood. Now, it is time that we reenergize our youth and engage them again to build a better Zoroastrian community in an increasingly globalized world. We plan on encouraging the youth to attend and take place in the ABC s of the congress: Academic: What updates have taken place in our understanding of the religious and historical literature regarding Zoroastrianism over the last twenty-five years? Business: What professional opportunities are Zoroastrians thriving in across the world and how can we continue to thrive professionally and entrepreneurially going forward? Community: What can we do to reignite the flame as our community continues to expand across the world? ZANT News - October 2018 13
FEZANA BULLETIN An Appeal to Help the Flood Affected People of the Southern State of Kerala, India We are a religious organization. The word religion means the secondary legion. Our primary legion is to humanity and that is the reason for this appeal. Thousands of lives have been disrupted and hundreds of lives have been lost by the devastation caused by floods in Kerala, India. The local fishermen and youth have done an extraordinary job in saving lives and helping rebuild. As we all know there is no insurance for that, and lots of poor folks who were making barely enough to live on have become destitute. We are working with WZO Trust India who are working with Mrs. Diana Barucha of Kinder Trust, Bangalore. They have already embarked on this humanitarian mission by tying up with the Indian Air Force to distribute relief packages to those affected. Kinder Trust, Bangalore is well known for looking after special needs children in South India. Please visit the website below to donate now, marking your donation "Kerala Relief": https://fezana.org/donate/ You may also send a paper check via mail to: Rooky Fitter, FEZANA Treasurer; PO BOX 266, Sunset Beach, CA 90742. Please list "Kerala Relief" in the memo section of the check. Thank you. FEZANA Welfare Committee Houtoxi Contractor, Freyaz Shroff, Hosi Mehta ZANT News - October 2018 14
ZANT News - October 2018 15