The formation of the Badasht Study Circle arose from a rare but happy occurrence in the Bahá’í Faith. Volunteers were asked to attend the formation of a study circle in Belfast last Autumn. Too many turned up! The twenty or so people decided to split into two groups. One based themselves at 399 Lisburn Road, and the other at Hushang’s and Pat’s home in Dundonald. That circle was to become the Badasht Study Circle. Of the ten who started the course on Book 1 of Ruhi materials, eight finished. Along the way we laughed a lot as well as discovering hidden talents in all of us. Hushang kept our noses to the grindstone coaxing us along, remaining placid and calm at all times, a credit to his tutoring skills. The service project we chose was to invite 10 guests [who do not normally get out to social events] to Hackney house for an afternoon of entertainment and a meal. The organisation of this was a labour of love, with everyone pulling his or her weight. On the day it all magically came together. We had two social events the first being a fish and chip supper followed by a trip to the theatre. We saw young Gemma Halligan in her end-of-term production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The second was an afternoon trip to Castle Espie for lunch and a walk round the grounds to see the ducks and wildfowl. Cold it was, but enjoyable.
On a personal level the whole experience was very enlightening and enjoyable. Everyone gained and took away something different from this Study Circle experience.