The Bhandara Atash Kadeh Inauguration
Article by Behroze Astad Clubwala
The Zoroastrian Association Of Houston (ZAH) celebrated the grand opening of the Bhandara Atash Kadeh from March 20-24, 2019. Several hundred well wishers gathered in Houston for four days of prayers and celebrations. The evening of Friday, March 22, organized by the ZAH Library, provided a uniquely different type of event for the attendees.
Before the start of the organized presentations in the Main Hall, attendees were given the opportunity to view the exhibit: “Down Memory Lane”. An impressive collection of all kinds of items that were used in Indian and Pakistani Zoroastrian households was set up in the library. Items varying from kitchen utensils and dining sets to easy chairs and home-style snack items, from rare manuscripts to a kasti-weaving loom were attractively displayed all around the room. Among other notable items, there was a rare hand-written copy of the Vendidad, two different easy chairs on which one could picture a grandparent sitting and reading the newspaper, an actual kasti-weaving loom with live demonstration, a solar hat, pagdhis, fetas and topis of all kinds, several mouth-watering snack items found in a typical Parsi household at tea-time. As the visitors strolled around the room examining the items, one could hear squeals of surprise and delight that brought back fond memories of the lifestyle and living paraphernalia of life back home.
Recent additions to the FIRES collection on display included items from the late Professor Kaikhosrov and Piroja Irani’s home in New York, a rare red pheta made in England for Prof. Irani’s father Dinshaw J. Irani, a silver bowl, and Dinshawji’s briefcase with its contents. (Please see a video of the entire exhibit here on our website)
Following the wine-and-cheese reception, the evening program commenced. After the benediction by two young priests, Aban Rustomji, Chairperson of the Library Committee, welcomed the more than 300 guests. She touched upon the mission and work of the ZAH Library and FIRES, the North American research and education effort housed in Houston. FEZANA President Homi Gandhi was invited to the podium. Homi said, “Houston, we have landed. In this new diaspora, the gift from the Bhandara family is priceless. Two centuries ahead, the next generations will stand before your Atash Kadeh and thank you for your vision.”
Next, Bapsi Sidhwa, the internationally recognized author, shared her memories of growing up with her much younger brother Feroze Bhandara, the sole benefactor of the Atash Kadeh. At 80, frail but feisty, she started with: “Today I am going to tell you about my little brother Feroze Bhandara.” She spoke eloquently of his mischievous childhood, his difficult years at boarding school, and his MBA from the University of Wisconsin, after which he returned to Lahore to look for a Parsi wife. She ended with “We bless and thank you Shernaz and Feroze for this beautiful Atash Kadeh.” The audience gave her a standing ovation.
A delightful musical presentation by children was followed by a talk by the Vada Dasturji Khurshed Dastoor, who shared his wisdom on “The Zarathushti Way of Life in Today’s World.” He said: “Our religion is summed up neatly in three concepts of good thoughts, good words and good deeds. Can you ask yourself each day what is my good thought, word and deed for the day? Ahura Mazda has given you Vohu Manah, the good mind. A simple way of living a Zarathushti life therefore would be to demonstrate humanity, show brotherhood and practice tolerance and acceptance. It is important for us today to agree to disagree. We cannot and should not pull each other down. The time is right now to be united, have a vision like our forefathers and leave legacies.”
He told us that our prayers guide us on how to live a Zarathushti life: Being true to yourself is the easiest way to live a Zarathushti life. On the issue of organ donation – a controversial issue among the community – he said that each individual person had a choice. “For me, I think it is our duty to donate. If we can receive organ donations, why can we not donate?”
The challenge now is for current and future generations to use this precious gift to learn about our religion and live by its principles.
This article was originally published in Hamazor (issue 1-2019) and is reprinted here courtesy of, and with permission to reproduce from Behroze Clubwala, the author and Toxy Cowasjee, the editor of Hamazor.