An Uncensored Life—an ode to Zerbanoo Gifford
Last week, I had the pleasure of meeting an amazing lady. Many of us would like to be forthright, brazen, brave and bold, but lack the confidence to do so. I attended four events, where I had the pleasure of hearing from author Farida Master and the fabulous Zerbanoo Gifford.
A senior journalist, Ms Farida Master has been an author and editor with several publications for the last 30 years. She started off as a rookie journalist in a star-studded world and soon went on to edit magazines such as Stardust, Citadel and Society Fashion—all from the Manga Group of Publications.
The author of The Making of a Legend, the life sketch of Dr K.B. Grant, Ms Master believes her incredible journey so far was to prepare her to take on the challenge of An Uncensored Life—the biography of Zerbanoo Gifford. The book talks about the incredible life of a fiery politician, a dedicated philanthropist, a champion of women, a devoted wife, indulgent mother, an acclaimed author of several books and founder of ASHA Centre in England.
A suburban housewife and a political virgin at that, Zerbanoo astutely masterminded campaigns from her kitchen table. She boldly challenged the self-serving politicians who didn’t quite know how to deal with the British Asian firebrand activist.
The book is targeted at young adults, women and the ‘all-about-me generation’, looking for an incorruptible, strong and glamorous role model in a modern world filled with a litany of mistrust, covert racism and prejudice.
After a whirlwind book tour in India, Ms Gifford was the keynote speaker at the World Zoroastrian Youth Congress held for the first time in New Zealand at King's College. She received a standing ovation from the inspired youth in the audience.
What would you like written in your obituary she asked them. She tapped into their sense of social responsibility and made them think about making a contribution to the world, thus leaving their footprints on the sands of time.
The first public reading was at the Swaminarayan Temple in Papatoetoe .The reading and Q&A session captivated the young and old. The programme was organised by Ashika Prasad and managed by the youth of the temple. Eleven-year-old Samiya Patel introduced the author, and Vrinda Soma introduced Zerbanoo.
Samiya shared her thoughts with me:“I found her very inspiring and a generous lady. The story of how a seven-yea-old girl in England could raise 10 pounds by making flags out of spare material and stopping people outside of her hotel, and exchanging them for 1 penny for the street children in Pune. She then sent the money to the [then] Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru, to help these children. The PM replied thanking her for her kind deed and said if every child in England had the generosity you showed, there would be no street children in Pune.”
Ashika shared her impressions with me.
“I found the quote ‘power of now’ very inspiring. As women, we always keep putting things off sometimes as a wife, as a mother, as a daughter, as a sister, etc., but the reality is that we never really get on with it due to our own excuse stemming from our own fears; fear of society and fear of failure. We are always waiting for someone else to take the first step for us. All we need to do is "focus and work hard" to achieve our goals.
I found Zerbanoo to be a highly intelligent, inspiring woman. She is beautiful on the inside as well as outside. A mentally strong, fearless woman who stands for what is right. I respect her high moral values especially the fact that "she does not lie" says a lot about her. She has everything in the world yet she still works on behalf of the less privileged. This makes her a spiritually elevated soul [and] an amazing human being.”
There were so many anecdotes from the book that had the audience mesmerised. We all took away pearls of wisdom and a renewed energy of ‘can do’. She will be back here, and I hope more people will take the opportunity to hear her speak and perhaps attend a workshop.
One paragraph quote should be the inspiration for women for 2016
I take great pride in the fact that women are complex, creative and centre of the community. We have an emotional GPS, an unspoken intelligence that we are attuned to. Women are intuitive, can multitask and are able to mix emotions with reason. We are more coccilitary, are lateral thinkers and make sure we get the end result. ‘The roster may crow but it is the hen that lays the eggs’. Women are the doers.
Talking about her trip to New Zealand, Zerbanoo said, “New Zealand has been magical for me. I felt so welcome from Maori warriors sticking their tongues out at me. A very old yoga practise to clear the whole system to the extraordinary welcome at all the talks I attended that was arranged by the brilliant and big hearted Ranjna Patel. New Zealand is now in my soul. I hope soon there will an international ASHA Centre near a Auckland where the young will experience the same warm welcome I have and where they will share their shared heritage knowing that they the young of the world are the true change makers.”
Last week, I had the pleasure of meeting an amazing lady. Many of us would like to be forthright, brazen, brave and bold, but lack the confidence to do so. I attended four events, where I had the pleasure of hearing from author Farida Master and the fabulous Zerbanoo Gifford.
A senior...
Last week, I had the pleasure of meeting an amazing lady. Many of us would like to be forthright, brazen, brave and bold, but lack the confidence to do so. I attended four events, where I had the pleasure of hearing from author Farida Master and the fabulous Zerbanoo Gifford.
A senior journalist, Ms Farida Master has been an author and editor with several publications for the last 30 years. She started off as a rookie journalist in a star-studded world and soon went on to edit magazines such as Stardust, Citadel and Society Fashion—all from the Manga Group of Publications.
The author of The Making of a Legend, the life sketch of Dr K.B. Grant, Ms Master believes her incredible journey so far was to prepare her to take on the challenge of An Uncensored Life—the biography of Zerbanoo Gifford. The book talks about the incredible life of a fiery politician, a dedicated philanthropist, a champion of women, a devoted wife, indulgent mother, an acclaimed author of several books and founder of ASHA Centre in England.
A suburban housewife and a political virgin at that, Zerbanoo astutely masterminded campaigns from her kitchen table. She boldly challenged the self-serving politicians who didn’t quite know how to deal with the British Asian firebrand activist.
The book is targeted at young adults, women and the ‘all-about-me generation’, looking for an incorruptible, strong and glamorous role model in a modern world filled with a litany of mistrust, covert racism and prejudice.
After a whirlwind book tour in India, Ms Gifford was the keynote speaker at the World Zoroastrian Youth Congress held for the first time in New Zealand at King's College. She received a standing ovation from the inspired youth in the audience.
What would you like written in your obituary she asked them. She tapped into their sense of social responsibility and made them think about making a contribution to the world, thus leaving their footprints on the sands of time.
The first public reading was at the Swaminarayan Temple in Papatoetoe .The reading and Q&A session captivated the young and old. The programme was organised by Ashika Prasad and managed by the youth of the temple. Eleven-year-old Samiya Patel introduced the author, and Vrinda Soma introduced Zerbanoo.
Samiya shared her thoughts with me:“I found her very inspiring and a generous lady. The story of how a seven-yea-old girl in England could raise 10 pounds by making flags out of spare material and stopping people outside of her hotel, and exchanging them for 1 penny for the street children in Pune. She then sent the money to the [then] Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru, to help these children. The PM replied thanking her for her kind deed and said if every child in England had the generosity you showed, there would be no street children in Pune.”
Ashika shared her impressions with me.
“I found the quote ‘power of now’ very inspiring. As women, we always keep putting things off sometimes as a wife, as a mother, as a daughter, as a sister, etc., but the reality is that we never really get on with it due to our own excuse stemming from our own fears; fear of society and fear of failure. We are always waiting for someone else to take the first step for us. All we need to do is "focus and work hard" to achieve our goals.
I found Zerbanoo to be a highly intelligent, inspiring woman. She is beautiful on the inside as well as outside. A mentally strong, fearless woman who stands for what is right. I respect her high moral values especially the fact that "she does not lie" says a lot about her. She has everything in the world yet she still works on behalf of the less privileged. This makes her a spiritually elevated soul [and] an amazing human being.”
There were so many anecdotes from the book that had the audience mesmerised. We all took away pearls of wisdom and a renewed energy of ‘can do’. She will be back here, and I hope more people will take the opportunity to hear her speak and perhaps attend a workshop.
One paragraph quote should be the inspiration for women for 2016
I take great pride in the fact that women are complex, creative and centre of the community. We have an emotional GPS, an unspoken intelligence that we are attuned to. Women are intuitive, can multitask and are able to mix emotions with reason. We are more coccilitary, are lateral thinkers and make sure we get the end result. ‘The roster may crow but it is the hen that lays the eggs’. Women are the doers.
Talking about her trip to New Zealand, Zerbanoo said, “New Zealand has been magical for me. I felt so welcome from Maori warriors sticking their tongues out at me. A very old yoga practise to clear the whole system to the extraordinary welcome at all the talks I attended that was arranged by the brilliant and big hearted Ranjna Patel. New Zealand is now in my soul. I hope soon there will an international ASHA Centre near a Auckland where the young will experience the same warm welcome I have and where they will share their shared heritage knowing that they the young of the world are the true change makers.”
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