Meet the Presenters and Peace Award Recipients of the Ninth Annual World Sabbath of Religious Reconciliation

Binafza Kapadia: Presenter, Call to Prayer in the Zoroastrian Tradition

Binafza Kapadia is a senior at Troy Athens High School. She enjoys playing tennis and loves spending time with her friends. She has a younger sister in the 7 th grade for whom she hopes to be a role model. She is very active in her school and community. She is the president of the Medical Club and Project LEAD (a club dedicated to community service) at Athens. She is excited to start college in the fall, and with the goal of becoming a pediatric surgeon.

See Prayer below.

Karishma Kasad: Presenter, Call to Prayer in the Zoroastrian Tradition

She is 15 years old and a sophomore at West Bloomfield High School. She is a board member of International Club, a participant in Drama Club and a member of the school's Concert Choir. Karishma also participates in Project Trust, a volunteer group that spreads awareness about the dangers of peer pressure, eating disorders, alcohol and drugs through acting.

See Prayer below.

Binafza and Karishma will recite the following prayer:

Ashem Vohu -- Righteousness is good, it is the best. It brings happiness. Happiness to him, who is righteous, for the sake of the highest righteousness alone.

Yatha Ahu Vairyo -- As God rules over the world with his powerful will, so does a true religious leader with his pious teachings. The blessings of a true loving peaceful mind comes to those who toil, not for themselves, but for Ahura Mazda. He who helps the deserving, helps Ahura Mazda rule over the universe.

Kerfeh Mozd -- In order to win forgiveness for my sins, may I gain the reward of good deeds. May all the good people in this world be blessed with righteousness as wide as the world, as long as the rivers, and as shining as the sun. May it be so, even as I pray.

Nadopasana Group: Musical Presentation in the Carnatic (Hindu) Tradition

(Nada means sound, Upasana is worship ) is a group of local Hindus who deepen their faith and preserve their heritage by learning hymns in the Hindu tradition - where music can be a path to salvation. They are accompanied by Pavani and Shrikanth, a violin-vocal duo who have been teaching in the area and enchanting local Carnatic connoisseurs since 2000. Pavani continues the work of her mother, Malladi Jayashree of Bangalore, India (who started teaching almost 25 years ago to honor and help promote the compositions of an ancient Indian composer, Annamacharya), enabling people who are not necessarily classically trained musicians to learn and sing ancient hymns of devotion.