On 13^th May, 2023, which marked a very auspicious day in the Parsi calendar (Mah – Deh, Roj – Hormazd), the World Zoroastrian Organisation (WZO) – India,  organized the annual evening Jashan ceremony at the Ripon Club in Mumbai. Post the Jashan, which was performed by Er. Jamshed Bhesadia and Er. Farokh Kerawala (of M J Wadia Fire Temple, Lalbag), a unique Talent Contest was held, which had about a hundred members displaying their skills in singing and dancing. What made the contest unique was that all the participants were over the age of seventy, with the oldest participant being 89 years old – proved that age is just a number, should you choose to stay young at heart! All participants were awarded a certificate of appreciation and a gift, courtesy committee member, Nancy Dalal.

President Kersi Limathwalla addressed the gathering, greatly appreciating the spirit of all the young-at-heart participants and went on to introduce the Chief Guest – Sanober Pardiwalla, the Stunt-Queen of Bollywood, who started out at just 12 years of age and has performed death defying stunts for almost every actress in Bollywood, and has received two Lifetime Achievement awards and five Taurus World Stunt nominations. Her skills include MMA, precision high speed riding for cars and bikes, high cable falls, underwater stunts, deep sea diving and glass breaking stunts.

In her short address, she emphasized that any form of exercise is vital for every individual and one must devote at least ten minutes a day to exercise. She answered questions from members. A couple of rounds of the Parsi-favourite game of Housie were played. The enjoyable evening ended with a sumptuous dinner.

[Courtesy: Veera Mundroina]