Archive

"This is truly a special day in HPY (Holiday Programme for Youth) history. We have come full circle. Capt Riyaz Buhariwala, chief pilot and head of operations, Government of Maharashtra, is our guest of honor today at the inaugural function. He was part of HPY’s first batch in 1987. Riyaz married Khushnum, also an HPY-ite, and their daughter Sanaea is a participant at HPY this year!” announced mentor Diana Marfatia joyously on May 4, 2014. "It is the beginning of the second generation doing HPY!”
The 28-day Programme in its 28th year has remained "as relevant and refreshing” and as popular today as it was in 1987, she added. HPY’s class of 2014 had 190 curious and creative 16-year-olds, heading full tilt into a gamut of indoor and outdoor activities intended to help them turn teenage confusion into clarity! A new module this year was the tie-up with an NGO (non-governmental organization) called Children’s Movement for Civic Awareness (CMCA) in which HPY-ites did a civic audit in the vicinity of the Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Parsee Charitable Institution (BJPCI, where HPY was being held for the 19th year in succession), reporting to the authorities on civic problems like broken footpaths, piling up of garbage, hawking (and honking!) zones and striving to resolve civic problems/issues. Also new this year was the "Route to Root” segment which included a "Know your bawa quotient” personality contest, cookery demonstration of how to make old favorites like khajur and khaman ni ghari and a master chef cooking competition where participants made dhan dar (rice and dal) and eeda chutney na pattice (egg and chutney patties). A digital media presentation by each group was also new this year.

 

 

 

 

 

HPY seeks to provide students just out of school threads of continuity and contrast! Sessions on classic and current career options, parent-child relationships, personality development, semaphore (programing), entrepreneurship, etc continue in tandem with fun on the field with cricket, football, volleyball, etc. Judo, B-boying, rhythm and dance, outdoor visits to the J. J. Parsi Ward, Mani Bhavan and Braille Press and a day-long trip to Della Adventure at Lonavla cement bonding between youngsters coming from 75 different schools in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, etc. Youth brings with it fresh blood! In the blood donation drives for the blood banks of St George’s Hospital and the B. D. Petit Parsee General Hospital, 251 bottles of blood were collected this year in a span of six hours. HPY is a star program of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) which subsidizes costs. Participants pay only a token registration fee of Rs 750 each. BPP trustee Jimmy Mistry chaired the inauguration and a two-minute silence was observed as a mark of respect for former BPP chief executive officer Mehli Colah who had been closely associated with HPY. BPP chairman Dinshaw Mehta presided over the valedictory event on June 1. A short film on HPY’s founder Dr Mehroo Bengalee, who passed away during this year’s program, was screened as a tribute. It was made by HPY alumnus Burzin Mehta who is creative director at OgilvyOne.
In a program of youth, by youth, for youth, appropriately enough the guest of honor at the valedictory function was also a young man — Dr Mazda Turel, assistant professor of neurosurgery at the renowned Christian Medical College (CMC) at Vellore in south India from where he completed his neurosurgical residency with a MCh (Master of Surgery) degree in August 2012. For having scrubbed in on over 800 cranial and spinal cases in his five-year residency period at the CMC, for having managed a laboratory research project on a brain injury model in mice as his thesis and for having been involved in over 20 indexed publications and 10 national presentations, Turel was awarded at his graduation the Jacob Chandy Gold Medal, an honor previously accorded to only four other recipients since its institution 35 years ago. Among other speakers, seasoned words of wisdom were provided by senior solicitor Homa Petit who was the chief guest at the inaugural and Mehernosh Kapadia, senior executive director, GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Limited who was chief guest at the closing function.   

 

 

 

 

     

 

"I never ever imagined 28 years back that one day I would be standing here in front of so many bright students! HPY for me started off more as an accident for very pleasant reasons. When we, a group of four-five boys walked into the Khareghat Colony hall (where the first Programme was held at that time) we were stunned to see so many good-looking Parsi girls! I soon realized there is so much more to it,” said Capt Buhariwala, who looks after VIP flights and advises on aviation and who has had a 20-year career in the Indian Air Force before taking premature retirement with the rank of Wing Commander. Keeping up the conversational tone of his speech, Buhariwala narrated his personal experience at HPY as participant and volunteer the following year: "We were divided into four teams for the first time. When she (Marfatia) invited team leaders to speak on a theme, my turn came first! I didn’t know where to look, what to say. But I said something, everyone clapped and I walked back to my seat, heart pounding and sweat pouring! I reminded myself I actually went up and spoke. I got that little bit of confidence which helped me in leaps and bounds in my career in the armed forces!”
Parsis especially in Bombay live in a protected environment in baugs and tend to base their life and take decisions within this comfortable "protected box,” he continued. "Think outside this box and give yourself a chance. I tried, and what an experience it was!” Problems which now look like huge boulders will appear as small pebbles when you are much older. "In my years in the armed forces I did a lot of travelling in India and outside. People had not heard of Parsis or Zoroastrians and I realized I could explain only up to a point! It is essential to know your own beliefs. Respect all, but remember your roots.” Living in the US for a couple of years provided a perspective that was far from picture postcard! "Yes, they have beautiful roads, good infrastructure, etc but they also have loads of problems just like us! But they have a feeling of pride in themselves which we lack. We should be proud to be Indians, proud to be Parsis. We are equally good in what we do.”
"You cannot reach the shrine if you do not make the pilgrimage. There is no right way to do a wrong thing. Cynics amongst us constantly deride our youth. I would however disagree,” stated Petit, who is a founding partner at leading law firm Vigil Juris and who had earlier been a partner for several years at Gagrat and Company. Petit is also president of the B. D. Petit Parsee General Hospital. "I feel dismayed when I see that in the past five years or more we have hardly had one or two Parsi nurses. Nursing is a noble profession, it gives one so much satisfaction to care for someone who is sick… and lessen their pain and suffering. It is also a paying profession because there are tremendous opportunities, not only in India but also abroad. If any Parsi girl wants to take up nursing, please do not hesitate to contact my wife or me and we can see what we can do to encourage you.” Kindness is the language the deaf can hear and the blind can see. To be born a gentleman is an accident; to die one, an achievement. Earn the goodwill and respect of others to go forward, the legal luminary exhorted.
"Any field you want to venture into HPY will open the door for you. All you have to do is ask, or knock or ring the bell. I did HPY 17 years ago. You are 16 and I am 33. (But) time has a funny way of collapsing when you go back to a place you loved,” Turel told the teenagers. Don’t ever confuse your work with your life; the first is only a part of the second, he advised. "So get a life. A real life, not a manic pursuit of the next promotion, the bigger paycheck, the larger house. Do you think you’d care so very much about those things if you developed a brain hemorrhage one afternoon, or found a lump in your breast?… Get a life in which you can turn off your cell phone. Over connectivity is the snake in our digital Garden of Eden.” Pick your friends with caution and flaunt them with pride. "Love is life’s glue. Life is glorious and you have no business taking it for granted. Wear a helmet when you ride a bike. Your sudreh and kusti won’t protect you if you’re stupid.” Practice mindfulness, not mediocrity, he prescribed. "Neurosurgery is a profession in which if you are not more aware today than what you were yesterday, your patient will die. You have to be very tuned in to every breath, every feeling of uneasiness and every little look and gesture that will signal to you if everything is on track or is it being derailed. The choices a doctor makes are necessarily imperfect but they alter people’s lives,” said the neurosurgeon who is looking at pursuing a fellowship abroad in the near future. "And when I return to Bombay for good, I will use my skill and expertise to help the community in whatever way I can. All of us want to do well, but if we don’t do good, then doing well will never be enough.”

 

 

 

\

 

 

 

 

You need dreams with deadlines; clear definitive goals will lead you to success, observed Kapadia, a chartered accountant and finance expert who has been with Glaxo for over two decades. "There is no point in winning without values. At 60 if you are not liked or loved, it will be a disaster. Good health is like a bank balance, with severe penalties if not maintained. Religion is your anchor for hope and happiness. Never compromise your ethnic identity,” he stated. Revive entrepreneurship and the spirit of adventure the Parsis were famous for, enjoy life and remember the principles HPY has taught you. "Trust cannot be purchased, mandated, dictated. It can only be earned. Be firm and strong and tall in whatever you do.” 
The prize distribution was held amidst din and, no kidding, the girls dared to dazzle! Bare shoulders, tantalizingly tight skirts and snazzy shoes with higher-than-ever heels had many a parent staring open-mouthed! "The girls are genuinely mind blowing. The boys need a bit of oomph and maturing!” quipped Mehta, informing them all that now they were over 15 they could join ZYNG (Zoroastrian Youth for the Next Generation). "Just as one feels at peace when one is praying, I feel peaceful when I’m in the midst of all the uproar and madness I proudly call HPY!” said coordinator Azmin Mistry Vania. Wearing wide grins, the organizing team of Urvakshi Mehta (mother of three!), Rayomand Mistry, Jehaan Sabavala, Huzan Forbes, Jennifer Tavadia, Rushaad Dastur, Frahim Adajania, Zehan Irani, Ayesha Mehta, Delraaz Bunshah, Franaita Jijina and Zervaan Bunshah received felicitations for grooming and guiding a live wire bunch of youngsters. The contributions of Cawas Panthaki, senior executive officer of the BPP and Bakhtavar Dastur, assistant executive, were also acknowledged.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Arzan Mehta and Anaheez Patel won the coveted title of Mr and Ms HPY respectively while Hanoz Bhathena and Jeresten Sethna were the respective runners-up. Patel was also best debater and literary arts all rounder. Shayaan Zaq was the best sportsperson. Arzan Mehta, Kaizin Mehta, Jehan Daboo and Tianna Khambatta were the best participants in each of the four groups. Yohan Bhumgara was HPY Bawa, Kaizeen Daruwalla HPY Bawi. A plethora of prizes were awarded for individual events.
"All events in HPY are fun and exciting but the one I personally liked was the civic awareness through CMCA as it inspired all of us to do something meaningful for society. The change we made was extremely gratifying. If at the age of 16 we managed to do this, imagine what a difference we can make to society when we grow older,” wrote Arzan Mehta in an email response to Parsiana. "The religious talks by (BPP trustee) Khojeste Mistree and (Centre for Advancement of Philanthropy CEO) Noshir Dadrawala were of particular interest to me. The outdoor visits to the Bombay Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, as I love animals especially dogs, and to the old age home, as I have lived with my aged grandparents, were spiritually uplifting,” declared Dilnaz Driver. Coming to HPY early in the morning for practice and staying back to practice some more, interacting with friends, group organizers encouraging, guiding and continuing to smile even after the group had lost because they knew that enjoyment lay in the effort — these would remain evergreen memories, believed Daboo. For Sanaea Buhariwala the dramatics, talent round and fashion show were particularly interesting. "I enjoyed table tennis the most because I won the girls’ event and was the trump for my group getting 10 points on the scoreboard. I enjoyed the fashion show not just because I won the title of best female cat walker (jointly with Ayesha Shroff) but also because our efforts and team work paid off in the end,” asserted Maia Shroff. "The fact that I made so many new Parsi friends was the biggest benefit.”
"This year the highlights were the CMCA project and the Route to Root program that we had undertaken to revive awareness and sensitivity. Our youth is motivated and enthused but lack direction. More such initiatives will not only widen their horizons but also bring in a spirit of competitiveness and drive which is the true spirit of bawaism,” summarized Mistry Vania. Added Marfatia: "The participants were also very loving and respectful and expressed their gratitude time and again. This is when you realize all is not lost; our youth is on the right track. They will grow up to be responsible adults and the future is bright.”
HPY 2014 ended with spring in the step — one, two, three, four, the bawa express moved to the dance floor!