“The WZCC Global Meet 2017 is now just a few weeks away, and the WZCC Bangalore Chapter is all set to make the event a grand success! We want to keep all WZCC Chapters & participating Delegates updated about the many events planned, the Speakers, other net working activities & entertainment planned from 14 to 16 December 2017. This is the first such update, and we shall keep you posted about further developments on a fortnightly basis as a run-up to the final event. Dr. Ferzaan Engineer, a prominent and well-loved member of the Parsee community in Bangalore, is a pharmaceutical cientist and healthcare entrepreneur. A pharmacist by training, he received a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of South Carolina. He started the international clinical research industry in India and was the Chairman & CEO of Quintiles India from 1997 to 2011. Ferzaan become an independent entrepreneur four years ago and cofounded two companies which are described below.     Medwell Ventures (medwellventures.com) offers home healthcare services under the Nightingales brand (nightingales.in) Cytecare Hospitals (cytecare.com) is one of India’s only organ-based cancer hospitals and is super-specialized in various surgeries, radiation techniques and chemotherapies. The flagship project was a 150-bed hospital launched six months ago in Bangalore. Ferzaan is a great supporter of the WZCC and we eagerly look forward to having him as our speaker on the evening of December 15th 2017.   Our Guest co-ordinater for the Leadership Games is Zerbanoo Gifford, an author, a human rights campaigner and founder of the ASHA Centre, which pioneers youth empowerment in the fields of sustainable development, interfaith dialogue and the arts. She holds the International Woman of the Year Award 2006 for her humanitarian work, which spans fifty years of grassroots and global activism. In 1989, Zerbanoo was presented with the Nehru Centenary Award for her work championing the rights of women, children and minorities. A pioneer for Asian Women in British politics, she made history by being elected as a councillor in Harrow in 1982 and standing for parliament in 1983. Zerbanoo’s biography ‘An Uncensored Life’ by Farida Master is published by Harper Collins.   We are privileged to have Zerbanoo conduct the session on Leadership Games along with her assistant, Adrian Locher who is an actor, voice coach and director of many years’ experience. As the Artistic Director of the ASHA Centre, he has run numerous drama-based programmes with young people from all over the world including one play that was created with young South Africans and presented to Nelson Mandela at his home. And to give you all a heads up, here’s something on the Bangalore Parsees The need to establish an Anjuman in Bangalore was felt by the Parsee Zoroastrians in the first quarter of this Century, when in the year 1922, after two or three preliminary meetings, they inaugurated the Bangalore Parsee Zoroastrian Anjuman. Even though the first recorded settlement of the Parsees in Bangalore was in 1880, it took nearly 42 years for the Parsee Zoroastrian population to increase sufficiently to fill this long felt need. The newly established Anjuman then took over the management of the then existing “Ararmgah” which had been in existence since 1892, when on the death of Seth Muncherji Dosabhoy Cama, the Parsee residents of Bangalore obtained a plot of land from the Mysore State Government to bury their dead community members. Ever since then, as more and more assets were added, the responsibilities of the Anjuman also increased. Gradually the local community also felt the need for a Fire Temple and a Tower of Silence. Thus in the year 1924-25, Late Seth Dinshaw Cawasji came forward with a donation to the Anjuman to build a “Daremeher” for Bangalore Zoroastrians. Well-known personalities who took a leading part in this project were Late Seth Meherwanji Maneckji, Late Seth Nusserwanii Mirza, Late Seth Kaikhushroo Belgaumvala and Late Seth Rustomji and Nusserwanji Boyce. A year later the Anjuman built a community Hall for religious ceremonies at the “Aramgah” at a cost of Rs.5,000/- and which amount was donated to the Anjuman by the Late Bai Pirojbai Fakirji Chaina, for this specific purpose. Subsequently as the Zoroastrian population of Bangalore increased, structures like the Lady Jehangir Kothari Memorial Hall, the Tower of Silence, the B.J. Entee Dharmashala   and the Kothari Hall Annexe were added to the assets of the Anjuman.and the Kothari Hall Annexe were added to the assets of the Anjuman. Today we number a mere 450-500 in number but constantly strive at keeping this community alive with events, gatherings and preservation of our assets.   “Entrepreneurship is the pursuit of opportunity beyond the resources currently controlled.”

Cuemath Launch event was conducted by Mrs Perin Yazad Patel and Mr Yazad Navalshah Patel on 3rd September 2017 at the Lady Jehangir Kothari Memorial Hall from 10:30 am- 2.30 pm. It was a fun filled day where parents and their children attended the event. Cuemath is a revolutionary way of learning mathematics (the basics) in easy and simple ways. There are close to 2000 Cuemath teachers all over India and the numbers keep growing. The event was a great success.Mathematics was explained through worksheets, puzzle cards, math box, tablet activities etc. All students who join this program show dramatic improvements in all areas of life.They become achievers and can do multiple things in a limited budget. So they will always remain financially independent and achieve success in their lives.  

On Sunday 24th June, members of the WZCC Bangalore Chapter met at Nossa Goa for the first of the series of sessions titled “Speed Brunchin’ – Breakfast of Champions.”  Thirty two participants interacted and networked over Kheema Poi, Akuri and Puri Bhaji.  We had also invited a few “Youth” non-members, who had shown interest in becoming members and wanted to know what WZCC was all about.  This session was an outcome of our previous meet wherein we had asked members as to what kind of interactive sessions they would like the Chapter to organise.   The session opened with a few words from our Chapter Chair, Air Chief Marshal Fali H. Major (Retd), urging all members, especially the youth, to make the most of the opportunities that WZCC offered; specifically a worldwide network of members, mentors in almost every field of life to assist with start ups and small businesses and the most recent Finance opportunities that the WZCC has initiated with the assistance of the WZO.   Committee Member Anahita Jassawala then took over to outline the program for the morning.  Participants were asked to sit opposite someone they did not know, professionally.  A series of six questions would be asked of the participants and the answers needed to be discussed with the person opposite in an attempt to learn more about each other.  Each question was allotted ten minutes for discussion.  The participants changed seats after every question so that by the end of the session, each participant had got acquainted and knew a little more about six of their fellow members.   The questions were :   Q1.      What do you do professionally ? Q2.      What are some of your favorite things to read/watch/do for inspiration? Q3.      What inspired you to get into your current line of work?  Q4.      Do you have a morning/evening ritual that you follow and recommend to others?  Q5.      If you would have dinner with anyone dead/alive/real/imaginary, who would it be and why?  Q6.      What’s something you wish to accomplish before this year is over?   The participants were very actively involved in this networking and almost sorry that the session ended after two hours.  Shernaz Siganporia, the Secretary of the Bangalore Chapter, then informed the members that we would continue to have such sessions and increase the membership of the Chapter.  She also reminded everyone that our Chapter is holding the Charity Night Bazar on the 4th of August and that we need maximum participation and support for it, to encourage the children who are spearheading this event.   There was great positive feedback from all the participants and we managed to get five new members to the Chapter.  Further sessions will be built around the five pillars of WZCC namely; Networking, mentorship, Industry Experience, Motivational Talks and Incubation.

Parsi thy name is charity. It was at one of our meetings, that an idea of a garage sale was proposed as part of our events calendar. The main objective was to enable the youngsters to experience Creating, Planning and Running a charity event and later, present their learning’s at a subsequent meeting. The collections from the bazaar would be donated to a Charity of the children’s choice. As the meetings evolved, with the youngsters accompanied by their parents and the WZCC Committee Members, the event grew in size to include game stalls and food as well. The Media team of Anahita Jassawala, Zarin Writer and Navaz Lalkaka, kept the event alive through the weeks preceding the big day. What made it even better was that we were able to host it at the newly renovated The Lady Jehangir Kothari Memorial Hall. Zaver Divecha, who headed the organisation of the Charity Bazar, has this to say : “Great enthusiasm proceeded amongst the garage sale team before the opening of the night bazaar. Many volunteers spent hours sorting through a large number of items such as household goods, bags, crockery, children’s toys as well as many odds and ends generously donated by the community. Close to 300 books were received for the garage sale. A very big thank you to Farzeen Daroga , Shanaz Vakil, Kashmira Tarapore and Shernaz and Ronny Siganporia, for tirelessly cleaning, gift packing, pricing and cataloguing all these items.” The garage sale turned out to be a big success with most of the items selling out within the first two hours itself. The book section was handled by 12 year youngster , Umyra Divecha who did a great job of the sales. The real crowning came when the collections were calculated in the garage sale section and the figures brought a big smile on everyone’s faces and made all feel that much was accomplished along with lot of fun laughter and good times. It was not surprising that the food zone would be a hit. Zarine Kharas, who headed the zone, reported the following : “One would assume that a Parsi would be quite satiated with his home cooked food but apparently not.The array of home-cooked delicacies of Pork Vindaloo, Sali Murghi, Wafer-per-Eeda and Dhansak, were ardently devoured by the crowd of community members that thronged the lower hall of the newly renovated Lady Jehangir Kothari Memorial Hall. The food bazaar zone was a huge hit and most items were sold out in the first hour of opening. All our stalls, with the exception of two, sold home-cooked items made by the ladies of our own community. The dessert section sported Choco Chunk Brownies, Lagan Nu Custard, Falooda and Ice cream. We also added on a stall by Nossa Goa serving some delicious Goan favourites and fortunately they were able to take on the onslaught of hungry folks once our Pork Vindaloo and Sali Murghi vanished ! It was a wonderful feeling to see the kind of footfalls we received and we learned many lessons for our future food bazaars. But the highlight of the evening was the excellent bonhomie between the young and the old members of the Parsi Community and the kind of team spirit that shone through. Here’s to many more successes.” Tushna Siganporia, with her budding entrepreneurs, set up the DIY (Do-It-Yourself) zone consisting of two stalls showcasing 3-D printing and Quilling. Tushnna says , “The DIY zone gave our young aspiring entrepreneurs a platform to showcase their skill and the experience to sell. The evening was action packed with hard work and fun. Anwita and Trista managed the 3d printed articles stall and sold all the items at their stall. Michelle managed her quilling stall and sold beautiful quilling art envelopes. “The young buds kept their focus, made their products and sold . .true entrepreneurs in the making. “ Roomi Daruwalla, along with his band of youngsters, planned and conducted the Games Zone….a mixed bag of activities involving motor skills (yes, pun intended), speed and of course some plain simple luck! The all time favorite game of Skittles titled “KNOCK ‘EM DOWN” saw some healthy participation from both toddlers as well as the teens! The Great Bawa Race also saw a large number of folks queuing up to try their hand at winning the champions trophy (in this case a bar of Gone Wild!)We also had a 1-Minute game involving grams to be transferred from one bowl to the other, using only a straw, within a minute! But the surprise package was the “NOSY BAWA” corner where young and old tried to pin the nose onto the Bawa, beautifully drawn by Tia. Hearty thanks to the entire Malegamvala family for manning the games stall between themselves and some of their young friends! Mrs. Piroja Mehta donated a painting she had done herself. The same was auctioned brilliantly by Shereyar Vakil for a princely sum of Rs. 10,000/- that was donated to the Kinder Trust, run by our very own Diana Bharucha. What did we achieve? * We created an environment that brought the Bangalore Parsi Community together for a noble cause. * It was an opportunity for mutual learning between the young and the adult, coupled with lots of fun and excitement. Of course there were things we could have done better and we are hopeful that we can do this again in a few months, keeping in mind all the lessons learnt. * Most of all it left everyone with a warm feeling of creating new friendships and the joy of working together to get a job well done.