Speakers at the 33rd Holiday Programme for
Youth spoke of the qualities required to succeed in life
Text: Roxan A. Driver Photos: A. F. T. Digital
Have you heard about the F words?” asked chief guest Kainaz Jussawalla at the valedictory function of the Holiday Programme for Youth (HPY) on May 26, 2019, throwing the audience into a tizzy. "It’s definitely not what you are thinking,” the author and airline employee smiled. Of the three F words she advocated for a problem free life forever, the first represented family. "They are like a box of chocolates coming in all shapes, sizes and flavors and will always sweeten your life. Family is the backbone that will support you forever. The second F is friends. Life without friends is like a balloon without gas. Ekdum (absolutely) deflated. Friends breathe life into you, they make your biggest troubles seem small when they hold your hand or are there for you when you need a listening ear. Faith is the third F. Faith, not only in yourself, but faith in Dadar Ahura Mazda. Prayers are very important and the power of prayers can do amazing things...
Above (l-r): Deanna Elavia, Azmeen Aga, Zayan Dholoo, Taronish Vandrewala; Diana Marfatia;
below: Team Performers with their Best Group trophy
1) Dr Keki Mistry; 2) Anjalee Tarapore; 3) Zubin Mehta; 4) Kainaz Jussawalla;
5) HPY 2019 organizing team; 6) Blood donation trophy winners; 7) best participants;
8) winners of the WZCC trophy; 9) Raiyomand Mistry;
10) Anaisha Lath; 11) Theeya Mistry; 12) Amavand Panthaky;
13) Vinney Godiwalla; 14) Ruby Kermani; 15) Jasmine Chaina
L-r, 1st row: BPP trustees Yazdi Desai, Armaity Tirandaz, Kersi Randeria,
Zarir Bhathena, Viraf Mehta and Xerxes Dastur;
2nd row: Udvada High Priest Dastur Khurshed Dastoor, Ervad Firdaus Pavri,
Jimmy Mistry, Cawas Panthaki and Bakhtawar Dastur
"We get away with a lot of things because of being a Parsi. Keep the fire burning in your heart. We are a small community but great things come in small packages,” Jussawalla mentioned, sharing her success story. "I started off as a nobody. I was a gawky, under confident 15-year-old. Then I topped my college, came third in Bombay University, became a celebrity journalist. I went on to become an air hostess, after which I wrote a book and won two awards. I have my own blog, write travel columns and now have my own YouTube channel. I am a social media influencer.” How did she accomplish all this? "By visiting the atash padshah as often as I could, never forgetting my Parsi roots, praying as much as I can and by hard work.”
For her "young friends who are going to step out into the world now,” HPY mentor and mainstay for 33 years Diana Marfatia advised: "Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.” Having successfully groomed over 6,500 of the community’s youth in its 33 years, the HPY is the stellar program run under the aegis of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP). The 2019 batch of 151 youth (79 girls and 72 boys) had just appeared for their 10th standard exams. One hundred and nineteen students were from Bombay and 32 came from Ahmedabad, Bhavnagar, Chival, Dahanu, Navsari, Nagpur, Poona, Surat, Shahpur, Thana, Valsad and Vyara. Accommodation was provided at the F. S. Parukh Dharamshalla for 16 children who were specially ferried to and fro by transport provided by the BPP. Of the 67 schools represented, 40 were situated in Bombay and 27 were out of town. This is the fifth year since HPY shifted base to Dadar’s The J. B. Vachha High School for Parsi Girls from Charni Road where earlier programs were held at The Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Parsee Charitable Institution, Marfatia provided the details.
With no prepared speech, the guest of honor that evening, Mr HPY 1991, Zubin Mehta, spoke very briefly "from the heart on the spur of the moment...
"There is no need for you guys to worry, everything is going to be okay. There is a little bit of confusion at this point of time. It’s going to go well for everybody if you put in your bit of hard work. Strive for excellence and success will follow.” For Mehta it was an honor to be invited to HPY because "a few years back I was sitting where you all are and when I used to hear the speakers, I would wonder what will I do in my life.” Mehta later went on to start his own company — Uniforms Unlimited — a firm that provides apparel to corporates and schools.
BPP chairman Yazdi Desai had three pieces of advice for the youngsters. "Make it a point to read at least one newspaper a day. Pray every day. Make time to go to an agiary. You will be amazed at the success that you will achieve. Lastly, respect your parents, because they are the only ones who really love you and will always do so.”
A maiden venture this year was the T-shirt and sari collection drive. A staggering 16,358 items of clothing were collected in 19 days which were then donated to four nongovernmental organizations. The blood banks of the Jaslok and St George Hospitals partnered with HPY for their blood donation drive. A stupendous record breaking 330 bottles of blood were collected in just five hours, said Marfatia. (To appreciate the hard work put in by all the four groups, Desai personally contributed Rs 20,000 as prize money.)
Top: Participants of HPY 2019 at the valedictory evening; above (l) young navjotee Kaizad Karanjia
with mobeds Ervads Percy Dadina (l) and Rohinton Pavri; (r) with family and friends
Every year HPY performs the initiation ceremony of an underprivileged child with the benevolence of an anonymous sponsor. On May 5 this year Kaizad Karanjia, a student of Poona’s J. N. Petit Technical School was inducted into the faith.
A well-knit organizing committee (OC) assisting Marfatia to ensure the smooth running of the month-long Programme included tech expert Huzan Forbes, performing arts (PA) expert Khushnuma Daruvalla, literary arts and social service overall Kaizeen Jehangir, PA overall Zaara Dastur, sports in charge Farad Daruwalla and group organizers Karl Malao, Genevive Irani, Delna Mehta, Merzad Patel, Pashang Dadyburjor, Danush Dumasia, Jeyhaan Carnac and Sanaya Mehta. BPP’s chief executive officer Cawas Panthaki and assistant executive Bakhtawar Dastur give their valuable inputs as OC members too.
The best of the rest
Bagging the Piroja Fali Forbes Award with a cash purse of Rs 10,000 for securing 97.83% in the ICSE (Indian Certificate of Secondary Education examination of March 2018 was Vinney Godiwalla of Manekji Cooper Education Trust School. She is currently pursuing an arts course at the Jamnabai Narsee School. Ruby Kermani from the Bai M. N. Gamadia Girls High School and Jasmine Chaina from the Alexandra Girls’ English Institution shared The Bombay Parsi Punchayet Award for securing 93.16% respectively in the SSC (Secondary School Certificate) exams. They both received a cheque of Rs 5,000 each.
The Literary Arts all rounder was Berjis Batliwalla; Delzeen Singpurwalla was the Best Debator. The duo also bagged the first place in the debates while Hormuz Hansotia and Delsuz Damkevala shared the second place. In the Just-a-Minute competition, Batliwalla, Rae Billimoria and Jenai Billimoria took the first, second and third slot. The Best Sportsperson trophy was lifted by Poona lad Shahdan Kudianiwalla.
In the performing arts segment, Rayomand Ichhaporia and Singpurwalla bagged the best actor and actress award. Damkevala was the best supporting actor and Jenai Billimoria tied with Perizya Zack to win the best supporting actress title. Group Performers excelled in the fashion show. Vahram Adajania and Rhea Dhanboora were best male and female models. Hansotia and Deanna Elavia walked away with the best catwalker male and female awards.
Hansotia, Shanaya Dastoor, Adajania and Anaisha Lath were declared the best participants from each of the four groups. Raiyomand Mistry and Lath were announced as HPY Bawa and Bawi. The HPY Bawa runner up was Amavand Panthaky with Theeya Mistry, the HPY Bawi runner up. Zayan Dholoo and Azmeen Aga were crowned Mr and Ms HPY with Taronish Vandrewala and Elavia being the runners up.
April 28, 2019 — The inaugural
The morning started out with Ervad Firdaus Pavri invoking the blessings of Dadar Ahura Mazda. "Ghanu sikhjo, aagal vadhjo (study a lot and go ahead in life),” he told the youngsters.
"Up to now you have been taught by teachers in your school. From now on you have to learn yourself,” said chief guest of the morning, eminent orthodontist Dr Keki Mistry. The medical man who started his address with a two line prayer, interspersed his speech with two stories.
"Everything that you do in life, do it with love. Be like a player, not a referee,” he advised and likened life to a violin that has four strings. The first string is your family, the second, your friends circle, your support system (eg computer, laptop, cell phone, etc) is the third string and the fourth is self confidence. "Atmavishvas (self confidence) will give you atmashakti (strength).”
"You are at an age when many adults will ask you what you want to be in life? It is absolutely alright to say ‘I don’t know,’” said HDFC (Housing Developement Finance Corporation) Limited’s joint general manager Anjalee Tarapore, assuaging the fears of the participants. "The jobs of the future don’t even exist today. Most of you here will be working till the year 2050. You’ve got plenty of time to figure out what you want to do in life. The only certainty is that you have to be a lifelong learner. We will all have to keep learning, unlearning and relearning… The best thing you can do for yourself is build your character by believing in yourself,” said the corporate lady who believes that the simple values of honesty, kindness and compassion will carry one far.
The guest of honor (who attended HPY in 1990) ended her address with: "Remember that religion without values is no religion at all. Our small community is our greatest safety net. It gives us a sense of belonging. Be proud of it and treasure it.”
"Learn to do everything that you don’t like at HPY. Learn to handle your fears. Do not allow yourself to be ridiculed by anybody. It does not matter what people think (of you). What matters is your thought, your belief in yourself,” emphasized Jimmy Mistry, entrepreneur and ex trustee of the BPP who chaired the inaugural function. Interacting with the participants, he said that "you have to make sure that you are not one more loser or a back bencher who is not interested in contributing to this great community and country of ours.”
With a bag full of memories and values to take back, participant Singpurwalla shared her HPY experience at the valedictory evening: "Waking up to no more HPY will be heartbreaking. Although the journey has ended, the flight of our lives has taken off from here. So hold tight to everything, the high josh (enthusiasm), your friends, but not your tears. We’ve packed and got our life lessons and memories on board. You can take all of us away from HPY, but you can’t take away HPY from our hearts.”