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Events - 2007

Date 24th February 2007
Event ZANZ Annual Picnic
Venue Long Bay
Description About 50 members got together to enjoy a lovely summers day amidst the surf and sand at Long Bay.
Date 21st March 2007
Event Navroze Celebrations
Venue Te-Tuhi The Mark
Description Evening jashan at Te-Tuhi The Mark followed by a Dinner & Dance function at the Howick Bowling Club. A lovely menu catered by our popular parsi chefs Hoshi & Maharukh Katki.
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Date 5th and 6th May 2007
Event ZANZ two day seminar and lecture series held in Auckland in collaboration with WZO
Venue Pakuranga Community Hall
Description The Zarathushtrian Association of New Zealand, (ZANZ) in collaboration with WZO, organized a two day Seminar and Lecture series on the 5th and 6th of May, 2007 in Auckland.

Dina McIntyre and Farrokh Vajifdar , both extremely knowledgeable Zoroastrian scholars and famous speakers, were invited to conduct the lectures on the Zoroastrian Religion , History and Culture.

An extremely diverse range of topics were covered over 8 sessions encompassing various aspects of the religion.

Topics of great general interest such as, “ The Significance and meaning of the Yatha Ahu Vairyo Prayer”, “Harmony in Paradox” , “The Application of the Gathas in Today’s World” & “Zarathustra’s Puzzles” were well balanced with issues of great controversy such as “Conversion and Acceptance”, “Death and Disposal of the Dead” & “The Future of Zoroastrianism”.

The most fruitful part of this entire lecture tour, was the Special Youth Session that was organized for the youth of Auckland at the house of ZANZ President Rashna Tata's house.  Again no efforts had been spared by the traditional lot, to ensure that the youth stayed away.  However not only did the youth turn up in large numbers, they stayed talking with Farrokh and Dina till late at night, totally immersed in a most thought provoking and captivating debate, on various topics of interest to them. The energy and interaction that night was simply amazing.

Both Farrokh and Dina had nothing but praise for the high level of awareness and interest and thirst for knowledge, exhibited by our youth in New Zealand. They went so far as to mention, “The future of Zoroastrianism is in safe hands in New Zealand”.

Read Rashna D. Tata's Article in Hamazor

Read Sharukh K. Khambatta's Article in Hamazor
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Date May 2007
Event Fundraising for Khushru Mehta
Description
Little Khushru Mehta of Auckland was born profoundly deaf in both ears and also diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder and had global developmental delay. In addition he also has a rare genetic disorder called DOOR syndrome, because of which he has under developed fingertips and nails, developmental delay and a recent history of seizures and the possibility of vision retardation in later life.
His only chance of hearing and having some normalcy in his life , was with a cochlear implant in both ears. The Public Health system in New Zealand initially dismissed his application, for the implants. After much perseverance, they finally approved funding for one implant and his parents would have to pay for the second one at a large financial cost.
Khushru's surgery was scheduled for May 2007. The implants were not the end of the road. He would require extensive follow up with audiology and habitation sessions after surgery. The only center offering a program for children like khushru in this part of the world was in Sydney, Australia. The family would also have to bear the cost of taking him to Sydney for this part of the treatment.
Khushru's mother Frian is unable to work ,as she is his main caregiver and he needs constant attention and his father Burzin is the only earning member. We were talking large sums of money and we needed to initiate massive fund raising in NZ and internationally.
A huge number of email appeals for help, were sent by ZANZ President Rashna Tata to every known Zoroastrian Association .
Press releases were also sent to all Zoroastrian Media. In a matter of days we were flooded with responses and both ZANZ and little Khushru was known to every Zarathustee Association of any significance.
Money and pledges started rolling in. Some Zarathustees of Sydney , who we would prefer to call "our angels of mercy", went so far as to make all arrangements for Khushru's stay in Sydney when he went there with his mother or his rehabilitation treatment , after his implant surgery in New Zealand.
WZO UK, individual Zarathustees of UK, FEZANA, Dastur Kutar Funds-UK, The Zoroastrian Association of Greater New York, The Hong Kong Anjuman and private donors in Hong kong, The Zoroastrian Association of Western Australia (ZAWA), The Zoroastrian Association of Sydney (AZA) & The Zoroastrian Association of Victoria (ZAV) and the Zoroastrian Association of Dubai and Singapore responded immediately. Many individuals from all over the world also sent in generous donations. ZANZ and the Zarathustees of New Zealand contributed generously. A special fundraising Nite was also organized in Auckland.
Today this little boy with the blessings of all his well wishers, is making slow but steady progress towards some semblance of a normal life. In fact with the constant progress requests from his well-wishers both here and abroad , a recent update has been provided by his mother Frian ,which was circulated by ZANZ to all our members and other international Zoroastrian Associations world wide. A number of Zarathustees all over the world have expressed a very keen desire to follow his progress. We can proudly state our efforts with little Khuru's put our little Association in far away New Zealand, on the international Zoroastrian map.
We at ZANZ are truly humbled by the response to our appeal. The generosity and goodness of our community knew no bounds and today we are indeed extremely happy to state that a very significant amount of approximately NZD $ 59,000 /- was raised by us. This money is being put to good use, as is evident from the progress being made by little Khusru's. Khusru has had his Cochlear implants in both ears and had been for his first rehabilitation session to Sydney last year. He is constantly undergoing treatment.
It is still a very long journey for this little boy, but there appears to be a bright light at the end of a long tunnel. He has even started going to a special school, a thought that seemed impossible just a year ago. The ZANZ Managing Committee cannot thank you all enough.
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Date 16th June 2007
Event Fund Raising Nite
Venue Riverina School Hall
Description "Charity indeed begins at home"

Special Fund Raising Nite to raise money for little Khushru Mehta, was organised by his well wishers on the 16th of June at the Riverina School Hall & was attended by over 185 kind hearted and charitable people.

Bilkish Vazifdar and Simonil Karai organised the evening and some more large hearted individuals joined hands, to put up an evening of Great Entertainment and Fantastic Food. All proceeds from the ticket sales were given to the Mehta Family and all organizational & food costs were met completely by the generous well wishers. Three hilarious Parsi Nataks were performed and set the mood for the evening followed by some more dance items and vocal music.

The dinner was also cooked and catered for in-house to save costs, a fantastic effort. Additional funds were raised with a great auction session. The people present there that evening, were all there to help little Khushru and the auction fetched some great money.

It was an evening for a deserving cause and the lovely folk of Auckland rose to the occasion. A total amount of $6000/- was raised in that one evening and it was donated for Khushru's medical needs.

Frian & Burzin Mehta, Khushru's parents were also present and thanked the crowd and the people of Auckland profusely.
Date 30th June 2007
Event Annual General Meeting
Venue Te-Tuhi The Mark
Description Please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to email you a copy of the AGM minutes. Kindly note, AGM minutes will be emailed to current ZANZ members only. 
Date 8th December 2007
Event Christmas Party
Venue Te-Tuhi The Mark
Description
49 young Zarthusti children with parents and grand-parents in tow enthusiastically attended the evening and waited for Santa’s arrival.
The evening’s activities started with face painting, games, music, dancing and lots of delicious treats. Our female Santa, Anahita Gonda provided great entertainment and enjoyment to the kids.
A hoard of smiling kids went home after a thoroughly enjoyable evening already anticipating the next Christmas Party.
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Date 31st December 2007
Event ZANZ New Year's Eve - "Angels & Devils"
Venue Te-Tuhi The Mark
Description The ZANZ New Years Eve Party - "Angles & Demons", was a great hit !! Take a look at the pictures. They tell many tales.

With a huge turnout of 195 people, the evening was a roaring success and was enjoyed by all who were there. The Managing Committee received some very positive feedback and we greatly appreciate your support.

Our regret to those who could not be accommodated, please do book early next time. A big hand to all the members who went to great lengths to abide by the Theme of the party.Some really amazing costumes !! Their enthusiasm was fantastic. There were some great prizes to be won and lots of games were played.

The Limbo Rock session produced some really cool moves .... boy our ZANZ crowd sure can ROCK !! Our sincere thanks to "DJ - M" .....none other than our very own Homai and Zubin Mistry for the great DJing . Their music set the right tone for the party.

The food from Rangoli was a real success and enjoyed by all. Our thanks to the Rangoli team of Boman and Rustom Najmi, for all their co-operation.

ZANZ most certainly brought in 2008 with a Big Bang !!
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Events - 2006

Date 13th February 2006
Event The Valentines Day Ball
Venue Pakuranga Country Club
Description The ZANZ managing committee was extremely keen to bring together the Zarathushtrian youth of Auckland and Valentines Day seemed a perfect opportunity to have a function for the age group of 13 to 30.

A group of kids got together to organize the entire event and put in considerable effort in making it a very successful evening.

"Saints N Sinners", provided a platform for 60 Zoroastrian Youth to come together socially and bond as fellow community members. It was an absolutely enjoyable evening and “the evening rocked !!“ so the kids claimed. Some very enterprising kids dressed for the occasion.
Date 21st March 2006
Event Navroze Jashan
Venue Te-Tuhi The Mark
Description The ZANZ Navroze Jashan, always a very well attended event, was performed by 9 Dasturs this year, some as young as 11 years and attended by over 130 people in-spite of it being a working day.

After the jashan there was a feast of Malida, Rawa, Sev and fruits which were contributed by the ladies of the community.
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Date 22nd April 2006
Event ZANZ Special Fundraising Night (Parsi Natak and Dinner)
Venue The Bucklands Beach Hall
Description The Association organized a Special Fund Raising Night on the 22nd of April at the Bucklands Beach Hall. On the agenda that evening was the eagerly anticipated Gujarati Natak - "Chalo Jeher Paiyee ".

It was followed by a full four course Lagan nu Bhoonu, comprising of Sas ni Maachi, Saali Murghi, Mutton Palav dal, Lagan nu Stew accompanied by Kolah nu acchar, rotli and ice cream. It was a "House Full" crowd, anxious to get their annual dose of "natak nostalgia" cheering for the show to start.

The cast comprised of local ZANZ members, a very talented lot, who had spent many evenings, over the previous two months rehearsing in their garages, emoting dramatic gujarati dialogues loudly, till late at night, much to the consternation of their Kiwi neighbours.The natak was performed with great professionalism and showmanship.

Heavy doses of Bawaji humor, coupled with characters like "Kali kasari", "Tehmul Tight", "Pesi Papao" and " Shakey Sethna", the entire three act performance had the audience in absolute splits.

ZANZ also brought out a Special Souvenir for the evening and obtained a special sponsorship deal from Vision Asia, the providers of Zee, Star Plus and Sony TV in New Zealand.

The association made a handsome profit, which will be put to good use for their future community programmes.
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Date 24th June 2006
Event ZANZ Annual General Body Meeting
Venue Te-Tuhi The Mark
Description Please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to email you a copy of the AGM minutes. Kindly note, AGM minutes will be emailed to current ZANZ members only.
Date 20th August 2006
Event Parsi New Year Celebration (Jashan & Dinner-n-Dance)
Venue Jashan at The Bucklands Beach Hall, Dinner - n - Dance at Howick Bowling Club.
Description The morning started with a celebratory jashan at the Bucklands Beach hall. A very well attended affair with over 200 people. The jashan was performed by ten dasturs from the community and the morning ended with a feast of sev, malido, rava and fruits. It was wonderful to see the community come together to celebrate this auspicious day.

This was followed by a Dinner-n-Dance function at the Howick Bowling Club. A very joyful and enjoyable evening with over a 180 people in attendance. Various prizes were won by some very deserving participants for “Best dressed traditional male and female”, “Best dancing couple”, and “Best dressed child”. The prizes were sponsored by Shenaaz & Homi Mistry of Bharat Roofing.

The food was catered by Garam Masala and the koliwada fish was a great hit.
Date 30th September 2006
Event ZANZ Bowling Evening
Venue Panmure Super Bowl
Description A very competitive and fun event for both young and old. Eight teams gave each other a tough time with some fabulous individual performances.

Winners in the Junior category were Daisy Powvalla and Farshid Daruwalla.

Female senior category winners were Tanaz Siganporia & Monaz Bharucha.

Male senior category winners were Minoo Arsiwalla & Shahrukh Khambatta.

At the end of the evening, members were already clamouring for more similar events.
Date 9th December 2006
Event ZANZ Annual Christmas Party
Venue Te-Tuhi The Mark
Description 49 young Zarthusti children with parents and grand-parents in tow, enthusiastically attended the evening and waited for Santa’s arrival.

The evening’s activities started with face painting, games, music, dancing and lots of delicious treats.

Our female Santa, Anahita Gonda provided great entertainment and enjoyment for the kids.

A hoard of smiling kids went home after a thoroughly enjoyable evening already anticipating the next Christmas Party.

Events - 2005

Date 6th February 2005
Event ZANZ Annual Picnic
Venue Shakespeare Regional Park
Description Two Stage Coach bus loads carrying over 100 joyous Parsis left from Highland Park. The Pora-Pav packets were ripped open on the bus itself amidst much banter, singing and joyous laughter. It was a fun filled day with a lot more members joining the bus load at the park. Games like “Two’s and Three’s”, Cricket, ‘Kho-Kho’ kept everyone in high spirits. The amount of food consumed by the Parsis would have kept a small village for a whole month!!!!......

Special thanks to Yezdi Dastur and Hormaz Mogrelia for arranging the buses and providing their services free of charge.
Date 21st March 2005
Event Navroze Jashan
Venue Pakuranga Rugby Club
Description A very unusual “open air” Jashan was held in the gardens of the Club. The air resonated with the fervour of the Jashan prayers, performed by the nine Dastur’s, both young and old.

ZANZ makes every effort to give an opportunity to the young “Navaryas”, who have recently completed their Navar ceremony to take part in our community Jashan and we are indeed proud that we have so many of them.

The jashan was well attended in-spite of it being a working day. It was followed by an evening of Dinner & Dance catered by the club. The “Saree Competition” had many enthusiastic young and pretty lasses parading before the cheering crowd. The Sali-Boti and the Lasagne kept the crowd well fed and in great spirits.
Date 21st May 2005
Event Housie Evening
Venue Riverina School
Description Lots of bumper prizes won by some lucky folks.

Date 19th June 2005
Event ZANZ Annual General Body Meeting
Venue Te-Tuhi The Mark
Description Please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to email you a copy of the AGM minutes. Kindly note, AGM minutes will be emailed to current ZANZ members only.
Date 23rd July 2005
Event ZANZ Annual Quiz Evening
Venue Riverina School
Description 63 participants tested their grey cells, amidst much humour and some serious competition.

Question-answer rounds were put open to the eight teams based on World Knowledge, New Zealand, Sports, Music and many other general knowledge topics. It was amazing to note how many intelligent ‘Bawajis’ exists in Auckland - A whole lot!!

At times the audience proved superior to all the teams put together.
Date 20th August 2005
Event Parsi New Year Celebration (Jashan and Dinner-n-Dance)
Venue Jashan at The Bucklands Beach Hall, Dinner - n - Dance at Howick Country Lodge
Description The auspicious day began with the celebratory Jashan ceremony in the morning at the Bucklands Beach Hall. The loud chanting of the prayers, and the fragrance of the sandalwood along with the tables laden with the “Rawa, Sev, and Malida” brought a smile on the faces of all present.

The community was there in great numbers dressed in their Gara’s and Kor’s.

165 people thronged the function hall of the Howick Country Lodge for the evening celebrations.

Dinner and Dance combined with an authentic Indian menu, coupled with hilarious party games,exciting prizes and a lot of fun turned the evening into a memorable one.

DJ Jazeel Mistry as usual proved to be a big hit with all ages.
Date 27th November 2005
Event ZANZ housie Evening
Venue Wakaaranga School
Description Margi Na Farcha, Mutton Frankie, Batasa and Pista Burfi proved to be a big attraction and brought in a lot of people to the Housie Evening.

Some very happy faces with the jackpot dollars in their pockets!
Date 17th December 2005
Event ZANZ Christmas Party
Venue Wakaaranga School
Description 68 excited children with anxious parents and grand-parents in tow arrived early to meet Santa in person.

Tony Wilson and his amazing magic coupled with a few rabbits and doves kept the children in raptures until it was time for Santa’s arrival.

Screams of delight filled the air when Jal Mehta, our annual volunteer Santa, made a much awaited appearance. Matters went a bit out of hand with the flurry of activity, to get the wrapping paper off the presents.

A hoard of happy children and parents went back home after partaking of a feast of cake, chicken nuggets, sandwiches, lollies, ice cream and a lot of happy memories.
Date 31st December 2005
Event ZANZ New Year's Eve - "Fantazia-Fun-O-Rama"
Venue Pakuranga Country Club
Description Members participated in the Red & Black theme evening in full spirits and went the extra mile to come dressed as per instructions.

Kids and Adults were being judged by secret judges and there were a lot of well deserved prizes. Wasn’t hard to guess who would win the Bedroom Beauty title?

“Cinderella’s shoes”, “Couple Hunt”, Spot-prizes and Dance prizes, made it an evening of much laughter and bonhomie. The fantastic spread of salads and main meals kept the crowd around the dinner tables and well satiated.

The countdown for the New Year brought the entire excited crowd, young and old, onto the dance floor. The foot tapping music provided by our enthusiastic and talented DJ. Farzan Bilimoria, started 2006 on a high note for all present.
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