Report of the Pune Chapter inaugurated on 15th Nov. 2003 held at Corinthian Club.

The Pune Parsis have their hands full. Their crowded calendar seems to be buzzing with events. Even as the entire community is looking forward to the Third World Zoroastrian Congress, happening in Pune, which will be the crowning event of the year 2003, the Pune Parsi Panchayat elections on November 30 has prospective committee members campaigning for votes.
Also, making sure that the community numbers don't dwindle to a microscopic minority was the recently held Mix 'n' Match meet, where the young and eligible of the ageing community got a chance to interact informally. Adding to the list of things to look forward to was the launch party of the World Zoroastrian Chamber of Commerce, Pune Chapter, recently held at the Corinthian Club.

Considering the community boasts names like the house of Tatas, Wadias, Petits, Jejeebhoys and Godrejs, who have always conducted business with integrity and honesty, the Parsis are known to be trailblazers in the arena of commerce, industry and finance.

In fact, by the early 1800s the Zoroastrians had become the foremost economic figures in Bombay and almost all the private trade entering Western India passed through Parsi hands, so that when in 1836 the Bombay Chamber Of Commerce was formed, all 10 of the Indian members were Parsis.

However, it is commonly believed that over the years the spirit of enterprise among Parsi youth has considerably dwindled. With a majority of them taking up nine to five jobs only a handful venture to make it on their own. That's how the seed of the idea behind the Zoroastrian Chamber Of Commerce initially germinated.

With Pune boasting of the second largest congregation of Zoroastrians in the world next to Mumbai, It's not surprising that the think-tanks of the community decided to zero in on Pune as the ideal destination. After being conceived and flagged off in Houston, USA, three years ago, it was launched in Mumbai at the turn of this year. Delhi was the next launch-pad after which, the two torch bearers, Adi Engineer, a technocrat of forty years and Kerman Kasad, who is into corporate communications, worked on bringing it to Pune.

Their efforts bore fruit as the who's who of the business and industrial world turned up to raise a toast to the WZCC, which is essentially set up to act as an engine for the community by supporting entrepreneurial spirit and in turn, increasing the economic pie, not only within the community, but also within the communities one lives in.

The moving spirit behind this project Minoo Shroff, who is also President of the Bombay Parsi Panchayat, emphasised how the success of Zoroastrian entrepreneurs in the city should serve as a beacon of light for the young aspirants.

Meher Pudumjee, Vice Chairperson, Thermax Group and Farhad Forbes, director, Forbes Marshall Group, represented the corporate czars in Pune on stage. While movers and shakers of the community like Dr.K.B.Grant, Arnawaz Damania, Pesi Ankleseria, Eruch Chindhy and Nawaz Kamdin graced the audience

Farhad Forbes who felt that the WZCC was the need of the hour, spoke about a mentor programme and what makes a good entrepreneur. He also stressed on ethics and professionalism in business. "It does not matter how big you are, but how you conduct your business", he stressed. Meher Pudumjee promised her full-hearted support, which was obvious from the manner in which she went out of her way to reach out to those who had gathered that evening.

Kersi Limathwalla, a leading chartered accountant, who is the president of the Bombay Chapter explained how the model worked. Whilst Merzy Chinoy, a hot shot lawyer and a member of the executive committee, who hosted the evening, fielded questions on how far the chambers would bend to help its members in terms of networking, gathering and disseminating information. The evening ended on a note of great zeal as everyone seemed charged to work towards economic resurgence and face the new age challenges.