The Parsi are fire worshipers and the holy flame eternally burns in the Parsi Fire Temple. The Parsi Temple is out of reach of Non Parsis . But the during the first week of December 2010 the temple was repaired and holy fire removed from the alter. Non Parsis were allowed in the Fire Temple and I was lucky enough to shoot inside the temple.

Click here for the full story with some interesting photos.

Padma Awards, the country’s highest civilian awards, are conferred in three categories, namely, Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri. The Awards are given in all disciplines/ fields of activities, viz. art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service, etc. ‘Padma Vibhushan’ is awarded for exceptional and distinguished service; ‘Padma Bhushan’ for distinguished service of high order and ‘Padma Shri’ for distinguished service in any field. The awards are announced on the occasion of Republic Day every year.

The Parsis included are :

Padma Bhushan

Padma Shree

Shri Yezdi Hirji Malegam

Public Affairs

Maharashtra

Click Here for the full Press Release

Courtesy : Jehangir Bisney

Dear Friends,

The Zoroastrian Society of Ontario (ZSO) and the Zoroastrian Sports Committee (ZSC) proudly announce that registration for this year’s games are now open! We invite you to take advantage of our early bird deadline of March 22, 2012 and register to attend and participate in the 13th Zoroastrian Games in Toronto, ON Canada. We encourage you to register early as all spots for athletes, housing, and social events will be on a first-come-first-serve basis – and we tend to reach capacity very fast.

For more information and to register please visit any of the following webistes:

www.zso.org

www.zathletics.com

www.zgames-2012.com

If you have any questions, please email us at: ZGames2012@yahoo.ca

What: The 13th Zoroastrian Games

When: June 29 – July 3, 2012
Where: The Magnificent York University

We look forward to seeing you in Toronto on June 29- July 3rd 2012!

Sincerely,

Zoroastrian Society of Ontario (2012 Host Committee)

Zoroastrian Sports Committee

I am forwarding  this message on behalf of Feridoon Demehri, of Vancouver,  one of the organizers for the celebrations to commemorate 3750 years of  Zarathushtra’s teachings . A Conference is being held in June 2012,  at Vancouver,  as part of the celebrations .

3750 years is a milestone of historic proportions, Asho Zarathushtra propounded his teachings which delivered a universal message of peace, social justice, and righteousness.
Aptly, in a world currently riddled with so much turmoil, we would like to increase the awareness of Zarathushtra’s teachings by means of a global celebration”    SEE ATTACHMENT

Please support these celebrations by informing your friends and publishing in your electronic newsletters and bulletins.

Check out their website at http://3750z.com/

3750 celebrations

Here’s an excerpt:

The Louvre Museum has 8.5 million visitors per year. This blog was viewed about 160,000 times in 2011. If it were an exhibit at the Louvre Museum, it would take about 7 days for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

VIEW ON

http://www.zaiqa.com/recipe/13200/parsi-prawns-by-chef-zakir

Courtesy : Jehangir Bisney

The INDICORPS fellowship is a profound personal experience and an opportunity to understand participatory development through intense voluntary service. The structured program encourages participants to leave their comfort zones, place others’ interests before their own, test their own potential to affect change, explore their relationship with India, and understand what it means to lead by committing themselves to innovative grassroots projects. INDICORPS believes that giving one’s time and energy, without any attachment to the outcome, regardless of the circumstances, is an unparalleled personal experience in service. At the same time, the fellowship is a chance for fellows to address their own identity, recognize their personal boundaries, and understand how to produce change in their environment(s). The fellowship is deeply rewarding, a transformational and challenging personal journey, and part of INDICORPS collective experiment for change.

For the Indicorps 2012 Fellowship, we have 26 projects are based in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand. Fellows will become involved in development themes such as agriculture, community based rehabilitation, education, entrepreneurship, environmental conservation, health, livelihoods, women’s empowerment, youth empowerment, etc.

You can find the Indicorps 2012 Fellowship application here apply.indicorps.org

Final Application Deadline: 10pm IST on March 1, 2012

Keep in touch with Indicorps – To learn more, visit our website, or friend us on Facebook: Indicorps Seva. Check out our Youtube Channel and follow us on Twitter.

If you have any further queries please write to apply@indicorps.org

Also, feel free to contact Indicorps 2003 alum Roshni Kasad at roshnikasad@gmail.com.

KHURSHID MISTRY WINS THE MUMBAI MARATHON 2012- Half Marathon

Ms Khurshid completed 21 kms in 1hour 53 minutes and  secured  3rd position under the Veteran Category (2nd Indian women in the category). This year 9,876 runners had participated for the Half Marathon.   This is the second time she has run a Marathon. Her first Marathon was in the year 2008 where she completed 21 kms in 2 hours 4 minutes and secured 5^th position amongst Veteran women . However due to injury she could not participate in the Marathon for nearly 4 years. Despite all odds this year she again decided to run the Half Marathon. Ms Khurshid Mistry is a Sprinter for which she daily trains  under her coach Mr Dinanath Maurya at Priya Darshini Park. She has won a number of accolades in 100 mts, 200mts and 400mts in various competitions in State, National and International level during the last three years. Recently in the month of August 2011 she had won 4 Gold Medals in 100mts, 200mts, 400mts and 4*400 mts Relay at the National Veteran Athletic Meet at  Pondichery. She is now preparing for her upcoming State and National level  Meets. She is working as an Associate Vice President at UTI Mutual Fund.

She threw the shot put to a distance of 9.76 meteres to win the gold medal.