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Festival of Spring

DADAR’S MANCHERJI EDALJI JOSHI TRUST’S 40th FESTIVAL OF SPRING – THE RUBY ANNIVERSARY JAMSHEDI NAVROZE GHAMBHAR OUR COMMUNITY’S ICONIC GET-TO-GETHER

The largest gathering of Zoroastrians in Mumbai resounded with “Navroze Mubarak” greetings all around. The Rain Gods were indeed kind and merciful . The Jashan performed by the boys from the Dadar Athornan Institute held at the commencement of the mandap construction and the true grit and determination of the organisers , helped in having the 40th Ruby Anniversary Festival of Spring - 2023 extravaganza at the Dadar Parsee Colony Gymkhana with great fanfare on Tuesday, 21st March 2023.

ACTIVITIES:

The diverse activities of the Trust include Educational Aid, Medical Aid, Poverty Relief, Dharmagnan Classes, Cultural Events, Sports, Summer Camps for Children, Houses in Interior Villages of Gujarat & the famous Food Scheme for the poor and the deserving Parsi families, Doongarwadi staff, students, etc.

The efforts of Trustee Daraius Zaiwala in planning and over-seeing the meticulous ground and Mandap set-up by Dream Designs needs to be truly appreciated. The aroma of Caterer Tanaz Godiwala’s traditional Parsi dishes was all around the grounds while Subash Talwar’s Vegetarian fare excited the taste buds.

The 40th FESTIVAL OF SPRING, was surely an event to look forward to. The Sponsors were The House of Tatas, The World Zoroastrian Organisation Trust, The Sterling and Wilson Group, The Zoroastrian Co-Operative Bank Ltd, Packwell Industries, Bombay Parsee Punchayet, Rustomjee’s – Keystone Realty, IIFL Securities, Triveni Engineering & Industries, Reliance Securities, Vizag Sea – Port Pvt Ltd, Associated Alcohol & Breweries Ltd. The Associate Sponsors were Della Adventure & Resorts, Raj Shipping Agencies Ltd, The Master Group, Universal Specialty Chemicals Pvt. Ltd.

The Godrej Tyson Foods Limited was thanked for their generous supplies of chicken for the past several years. The excitement started a month earlier with some interesting competitions being conducted over the weekends from the last week of February. The pre- event Contests were held at the J. B. Vachha High School grounds with Contest Co-Ordinator , Mr. Navroze Siganporia ( Sigi Sir ) overseeing the entire set-up . “Creative Child Genius”, the arts and crafts contest was sponsored by Packwell Industries, “Funky Fusion Fashion Show” was sponsored by Yasmin Mistry’s ‘The Durand Forms India Pvt Ltd’ “Cavemen’s Sport” Telegames were sponsored by Mr. Eric Anklesaria, The “Housie” was sponsored by a Well Wisher and conducted by the Well known Housie Master Adi Pardiwala, “Rangoli and Flower Arrangement” was sponsored by World Zoroastrian Organisation Trust. Mr. Navroz Siganporia created and conceptualised “ Creative Child Genius”

FELICITATIONS:

The function began with the “Welcome” song numbers by the children of the Dharmagnan class conducted by Dr. Er.Ramiyar Karanjia, sponsored by Roshan, Piyoo and Sanober Nanavati. Mrs. Shernaz Talati, Mrs.Hufrish Bamji and Mrs. Havovi Karanjia co-ordinated the songs

Ms. Mithoo Jimi Jesia, Trustee & Hon. Secretary of the Trust, welcomed the Chief Guest Former Supreme Court Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman and Guest of Honour Sr. Counsel Fredun DeVitre along with other senior awardees on the dais. The felicitation function started with invoking the blessings of the Almighty by the noted Zoroastrian Scholar and Principal of the Dadar Athornan Institute , Er. Dr. Ramiyar Karanjia . Chairman Mr. Dinyar Panthaki introduced the Chief Guest who spoke thereafter. The Chief Guest Justice Rohinton Nariman was presented with an Award for “Outstanding Contribution to the Judiciary of India”. The Hon. Secretary Ms. Mithoo Jimi Jesia introduced the Guest of Honour, Sr. Counsel Fredun DeVitre who was presented with an Award for “Outstanding Contribution in the Field of Law”. The Chief Guest & the Guest of Honour addressed the audience Sr. Counsel Nadir Ardeshir Modi was presented with an Award for being “ An Outstanding Legal Luminary” by Trustee Mr Jimi F. Jesia

Mr. Zubin Khapoliwala was presented with an award for Excellence in the “Field of Transportation”. Dr. Er. Ramiyar P. Karanjia was presented with an Award for “Zoroastarian Studies Scholar Extraordinaire”, Capt. Percy Master was presented with an Award for “Social Work and Philanthropy”, Ms. Yasmin Jal Mistry was presented with an Award for Entrepreneurship and Social Work, Mr. Jehangir Randeria and Mr. Kaiwan Randeria were presented an Award for “Excellence in the Field of Fitness”.

This year’s “Jal Mistry Memorial Award for the Outstanding Colonyite” was awarded to Dr. Mazda Turel for ”Excellence in the Field of Neurosurgery” The Award was presented by Ms. Arnavaz Mistry, wife of Late Jal Mistry and Ex-Trustee of BPP . Ms. Hufriya Dudhmal was presented the Kavina Karkaria Award for “Excellence in the Corporate World”

The Dinaz & Rohinton Chinoy Awards, instituted by Union Press for Excellence in Academics and Sports were presented to outstanding colonyites and announced by Trustee Mr. Behram Rabadi who thereafter proposed the Vote of Thanks.

The Rustom Faramna Agiary Mobed Awards 2023 were also presented. Er. Zahan Meherzad Turel was presented with the “Young Achiever’s Award”, Er. Pourush Homi Behramkamdin was presented with “Over-All Excellence in Mobedi” Award, Er. Cyrus Rusi Panthaki was presented with the “Lifetime Achievement Award”. Managing Trustee Ms. Furzeen Nasha Jassawala of the Rustom Faramna Agiary presented these awards.

The very popular “Gara” raffle took place. The Grand Prize - a stunningly beautiful Parsi Gara in memory of late Mrs. Naju Davar presented by her daughter, Ferzeen Cyrus Boomla. Other prizes were given away by the House of Godrej. Proceeds from the same are used for building houses for poor Parsi farmers every year in the interior of Gujarat through Bachi & Dinshaw Tamboly of the World Zoroastrian Organization Trust. The Gara raffle was successfully coordinated by the volunteers, Diana and Firdosh Tolat

The Trust offered their heartfelt thanks to the Dadar Parsee Colony Gymkhana, J. B. Vachha High School for Parsi Girls and The Dadar Parsee Youths Assembly High School for supporting the Trust in all its activities by giving their premises entirely free of cost. Our Trustee, Ms. Homai Daruwalla’s continued great support was highly appreciated

“40 & Fabulous" – The Entertainment Show.

The show kicked off with Trustee and Master of Ceremonies, Mahiyar Dastoor, presenting “40 & Fabulous” – the Entertainment Show The singers Zyra Nargolwala, Delraaz Bunshah, Dr. Jamshed Bunshah and Zervaan Bunshah enthralled the audience along with the dance performances by the colony artists. The pulsating music and super dancing skills were the highlight of the show. The dance numbers “Iko Iko”, “Jhoome jo Pathaan”, “Apna Dil toh Avara”, a Girls Medley and the Oscar Award winning musical number “Naatu Naatu” were a part of the dance performances.

The show hosts Franaita Jijina, Rehan Daruwalla, Tarana Nargolwala, Jeshad Dumasia, Nataliya Batliwalla and Joel Bhathena did a splendid job. The choreographers Rhea Vesuwalla and Rian Mistry had done a wonderful job along with Sr. Choreographer, Sunil Rao. The Dance Coordinators were Jahan Nargolwala, Jasmine Siganporia, Colleen Chinoy and Meher Mirza who enthusiastically conducted all the rehearsals. The gorgeous costumes for the show were coordinated by Ms. Zenobia Unwalla and sponsored by Ms. Gaiatri Pantpratinidhi. “The 40 & Fabulous” show was creatively conceptualised and directed by Ms. Arnaaz Rustom Irani

The Grand Finale was indeed a heartwarming sight with all the performers coming together and singing “Chaiye Hame Zarthosti” followed by the Indian National Anthem amidst a flurry of pyro sparklers. The LED Screens and Photography were by Sarosh Daruwalla of Mazda Studios, Sound and Lights were by Aarish Daruwalla of Mazda Events and the Sound Edits for the show were done by Zal Shroff. Shernaz Dadachanji of Xanadu - The Wellness Boutique executed the hairstyles and make-up. The entire décor was by Roxana Buhariwala of Dream Designs. The décor for the pre event contests was done by Jatin Rajpura of Chitaranjan Decorators and security support by the Della Group and the Fort Colaba Welfare Society.

The Designs and Graphics of Festival of Spring were done by Neeta P. Kocharekar of Artfarm Designing Services. The General Lighting was managed by Rafique of Modern Electricals. The printers of the souvenir were Meher Jesia & Kainaz Unwala of Union Press. Trustee and Treasurer Ms. Tina Patel co-ordinated the souvenir ,advertisements , gifts and the distribution and sale of passes.

This endeavour of organising the “Festival of Spring” for the past 40 years would not have been possible without the unstinted and determined efforts of the community’s noted social worker and MEJMT’s Honorary Secretary Ms. Mithoo Jimi Jesia who has led the trust in its glorious journey through the four decades, ably supported by her husband and Trustee Mr. Jimi F. Jesia. The Trust staff of veteran Pervez Chinoy alongwith Maharukh Engineer and Sarosh Dumasia need to be appreciated for their back-end support . The Trust all sincerely thanked the Parsi Press for their unwavered support.

The Trustees,Dinyar Panthaki, Jimi Jesia, Mithoo Jesia, Zareen Engineer, Tina Patel, Daraius Zaiwala, Mahiyar Dastoor, Homai Daruwalla, Behram Rabadi and Homi Daruwala need to be congratulated for conceptualizing this mammoth event year in and year out, which has become a landmark on the Mumbai’s Parsi calendar. We appreciate their great efforts.

The back office support came from Dinmeher Bunshah, Shazneen Mehta, Rashna Amroliwala, Puraan Bunshah, Natasha Dubash, Ashish Billimoria, Katy Bhakka, Diana & Firdosh Tolat, Arnavaz Siganporia, Rashna Bharucha, Sejal Sukhia, Veera & Malcolm Engineer. Indeed an Annual Parsi Irani Zoroastrian get together to be extremely proud of !!!