NORTH AMERIC AN MOBEDS COUNCIL Becoming A Mobedyar Khushroo Mirza My interest in our religious ritual was aroused only after immigrating to Montreal, Canada in 1969. Growing up in Dadar Parsi Colony I took a lot of our religion for granted and never really gave it any serious thought. Yes, like many others I memorized our prayers and went to the Agiary daily, but that was the extent of it. The daily observance ritual was simply woven into the fabric of my existence. Once I was separated from my familiar Zarathushti milieu, I realized that my children would not be able to absorb our religious tenets through a surrounding cultural osmosis as I had. This is when I started taking serious interest in learning more about our religion and our rituals. I familiarized myself with works by Mary Boyce, Stanley Insler, Taraporewalla and other scholars. I also had a marvelous opportunity to run religious classes for the children of our community in Montreal. Children from 7 to 15 years not only brought me their enthusiasm but also their own unique perspectives on our religion and scriptures. As I observed our purely voluntary mobeds performing Jashan ceremonies I began to wish I had undergone the Navar initiation in my younger days so that I too could do my part. Around this time I was informed that the North American Mobeds Council (NAMC) had initiated a program for training Mobedyars. I was very happy to enroll and under the able guidance and encouragement of our Montreal mobeds Ervad Gev Karkaria and Ervad Jal M. Panthaki I completed my training and obtained my Mobedyar certificate in 2003. Since then, I have been given the opportunity to perform regularly in all our jashans, variously as a Raspi as well as Zaotar on a number of occasions. I have even had the good fortune of being invited to assist in performing a few navjots and a wedding. Judging from the enthusiastic support I have received from our community, I feel convinced that there is a very real place for Mobedyars in North America, especially within the smaller communities, where, often there are no ervads available to serve the spiritual needs of the Zarathushtis. The Mobedyar program is one of the most important innovations set in place by the NAMC. I sincerely hope more people come forward to enroll in it and help in serving the spiritual needs of our community all over North America. Khushroo Mirza born in Dadar Parsi Colony, Mumbai, graduated from the Training Ship Dufferin and served in the merchant navy til 1969 when he immigrated to Canada with his wife and their two children. He holds a Master Mariner’s certificate, both from India and Canada. After working in various aspects of the shipping business till 1979 he started his own firm, and in 2009 he retired after having worked as a marine consultant on a contract lasting eight years with Fednav Limited of Montreal. Khushroo has served as president of the Zoroastrian Association of Quebec for 4 years, and has been actively involved with the Zarathushti community of Montreal for the last forty years.
FEZANA JOURNAL Spring 2010
95