Dear all,
The 10th World Zoroastrian Congress will be held in Mumbai from 27thDecember to 30th December 2013. The last World Zoroastrian Congress was hosted by Dubai in December 2009, and India will be hosting this grand event after an interval of 23 years.
The Organising Committee of the 10th World Zoroastrian Congress is making all efforts to make this event a spectacular and most unforgettable experience for all our delegates. We are sure you must be eagerly awaiting updates, so here’s everything to bring you up to speed:
THEME
The theme of the 10th World Zoroastrian Congress is ‘Zoroastrianism in the 21st Century: Nurturing Growth and Affirming Identity’. The Zoroastrian community in the 21st century needs to grow not only in its numbers, but in its economic and social welfare index, in its entrepreneurship and its contribution to the communities in which it exists. With this growth, the community affirms its identity as a socially and economically progressive unit, recognised for its selfless altruism – in short, projecting the past into the future.
VENUE
The venue of the 10th World Zoroastrian Congress is the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), a sophisticated and centrally located at Nariman Point in South Mumbai with a beautiful view of the Arabian Sea. NCPA is India’s foremost cultural establishment and the venue is, therefore, representative of the rich patronage it enjoys from Parsi and Iranian Zoroastrians.
HOTEL ACCOMMODATION
The Organising Committee is finalising a selection of the most suitable and convenient places to stay at for our outstation and foreign delegates. The choice of the hotels will be determined by its proximity to the venue and will suit different budgets. The details will be put up shortly on the website:www.wzcmumbai.com.
ONLINE REGISTRATION
The registration for the Congress will be happening shortly, as we are awaiting finalisation of the payment gateway to enable payment of delegate fees online. The details will be put up shortly on the website: www.wzcmumbai.com. We look forward to receiving a tremendous response from all of you and hope to make the Congress a success with your participation.
EXHIBITION AT NATIONAL GALLERY OF MODERN ART (NGMA), MUMBAI
The 10th World Zoroastrian Congress is proud to announce an exhibition as part of its cultural objective. ‘From Canton to Mumbai – The Story of Parsi Textiles’ intends to showcase Parsi and Iranian textiles and costumes, such asGara saris, Tanchoi saris, Jablas (loose blouse) and Coatees, Ijars (loose pantaloons), embroidered shawls, and traditional Zoroastrian costumes from the province of Yazd, Iran. These costumes were worn by immigrant Zoroastrians from Iran (popularly referred to as the Iranis in India) when they came to Bombay in the 19th Century. This exhibition will also showcase Canton of the 19th Century from where Parsi merchants purchased Garas and brought them to Bombay.
PROPOSED PROGRAMME OF THE WORLD ZOROASTRIAN CONGRESS
The Congress will put forward an approximate number of 50 sessions and panel discussions that will be addressed by eminent speakers and scholars from India and all over the world. The morning segment of the Congress will comprise keynote speakers and panellists addressing topics in consonance with the Congress theme: ‘Zoroastrianism in the 21st Century: Nurturing Growth and Affirming Identity’. The afternoons will be dedicated to breakout sessions, with experts speaking on topics as diverse as socio-religious issues; lessons from history; youth affairs; arts, theatre and law – aspects of community living; the correlation between rituals and religion; and a dedicated Iranian section. A more detailed programme schedule will be put up shortly on the website:www.wzcmumbai.com.
ALPAIWALLA MUSEUM
As a legacy of the 10th World Zoroastrian Congress we have undertaken to restore and refurbish the Alpaiwalla Museum in Khareghat colony at Mumbai to its former glory. This will entail excessive refurbishment of the structure as well as interiors and creating display areas for more than 1,800 rare artifacts with the museum.
SPONSORSHIP
The Organising Committee is looking for well-meaning members of the community to come forward and support the 10th World Zoroastrian Congress. Dr. Cyrus S. Poonawalla, Chairman, Serum Institute of India Ltd. is our main sponsor. The House of Godrej is an event sponsor. If you are interested in supporting the Congress through sponsorship, or if you know anyone else who might be interested in doing so, please email us onsponsorship@wzcmumbai.com.
On behalf of the Organising Committee, I look forward to welcoming you all to the 10th World Zoroastrian Congress, and do log on to www.wzcmumbai.comfor further updates.
Warm Regards,
Dinshaw Mehta
Chairman,
Bombay Parsi Punchayet
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Chamber of Commerce – India whose Mission is to encourage Entrepreneurship recently conducted its first all-India Business Plan Contest. Applications were invited from Parsi / Irani who wished to start to start their own business. After an initial response of 40 entries, training and coaching in writing a business plan, and presenting it to group of investors was provided. Many went through it for the first time in their life and so had lot to gain from it. 18 finalists were shortlisted, who presented their Business Plans to a group of Investors. Nearly 25 investors, many of whom are experienced professionals 
and businessmen, evinced keen interest to invest in the several proposed ventures. Several Parsi professionals in areas of HR, Legal, Finance offered free services for web hosting, company registration and finding right people. Cyrus Bagwadia, ex-M.D. and CEO of Essel Propack who conceived and led the program said “The Contest intended to encourage those with business ideas to develop their Business Plans in a professional way and be able to interact directly with Investors for funding of their projects. There are angel group funds in India, but none offers the kind of coaching and mentoring that we did. Also, this is the first one in India which is promoted and run by a community. The whole program took 6 months but the results and outcome are terrific.” All youngsters were unanimous to say that it was a great learning experience and are much more confident now than ever before. Parsis are known to be entrepreneurial and have been worried about the recent trend in drop of new companies being registered by community members. So they came up with this very 
innovative method. Dr. J. J. Irani was the Chief Guest for the function and he gave away the prizes.
