ZANZ Celebrates Parsi New Year, Independence Day In Kiwiland

On 15th August, 2021, the dynamic Zarathustrian Association of New Zealand (ZANZ) celebrated the Parsi New Year and India’s Independence Day with great pomp and fanfare, at the Tarka Indian Eatery Botany. Zoroastrian Kiwis across generations were all present and dressed to impress at the ‘ZANZ Parsi New Year Dhamaal’, just as the venue was decorated resplendently with bright lights, where respect was paid to the Indian flag and a delicious three-course meal was enjoyed thoroughly by all!

Photography by Rustom Kambata, Flashmob choreography by Viraf Todywalla, music by smashing DJ BEHZ (Behzad Mistry) and support from the enthusiastic Zoroastrian community of New Zealand set the perfect tone for the party.

The occasion was marked by great cheer and dancing, with members of ZANZ Senior Citizens Coffee Club being grateful for thoughtfully being included in this happy occasion, praising the ZANZ committee. And everyone was thrilled with the scrumptious cuisine too.

Roshni Daruwalla, President – ZANZ thanked all the participants for making the event a grand success, as everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves and left with a smile. She complimented Vice President – Viraf Todywalla for managing the event excellently and applauded him for his enthusiastic initiatives. Youth members Zane Karai and Rishad Maneksha were thanked for transport arrangement for ZANZ Senior Coffee Club members. She further said she looked forward to Auckland’s Zoroastrian community to patronise future ZANZ events.

Godrej Engineer, one of the senior most ZANZ Committee members, was delighted to note that the Zoroastrian community in Kiwiland was responding well to the new ZANZ Managing Committee by attending their events in large numbers. The new committee, in fact, witnessed a record number of new ZANZ memberships within a short period of its establishment.

ZANZ has an interesting line-up of events this year, with knowledgeable invited to speak on topics of interest to the Zoroastrian community, play performances, talent contests, Antaksahri, Christmas party and finally ending the year with a big 31st December party to ring in the New Year. ZANZ offers memberships to all who would like to partake of such fun events and get more acquainted with fellow community members. Earlier in July, ZANZ celebrated its Silver Anniversary with a fundraising event for Covid Relief India, raising over 4,000 NZ dollars.