All India fashion show

To usher in the third decade of the Holiday Programme for Youth (HPY), the organizing committee hopes to widen the scope of their Programme’s activities through an all India fashion show competition — Strands and Strides.

The event will provide a platform for participants to demonstrate their creativity and talent. We hope to discover many bright stars who will make the community proud. Furthermore, this event will, for the first time, give an opportunity to members of all ages of the community to interact, foster the feeling of brotherhood, and to compete on a common platform.

Ever since its inception in 1987, under the auspices of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP), HPY has been at the forefront of youth activities of the community. The brainchild of Dr Mehroo Bengalee, ex-vice chancellor of the Bombay University and past BPP trustee, HPY has come a long way from its modest beginning. From only 60 initial participants, our family now comprises of an alumni of over 3,500 who continue to help us evolve.

HPY is a four-week-long annual program that is held in the month of May, and is meant for Parsi/Irani students who have appeared for the 10th standard exams that year. Through this period, they receive talks from professionals on a wide range of careers, take part in a number of self-improvement workshops and participate in an array of competitions. What’s more is that we encourage participants to inculcate a sense of social service by taking them to old age homes to visit elderly people, clean agiaries and organize a blood donation drive. HPY’s motto ‘Striving for Excellence’ continues to be the driving spirit of the Programme.

HPY has always attempted to go beyond our regular feature – by organizing continuous events and competitions for ex-participants. In the past, HPY organized the 10th All-India Zoroastrian Youth Seminar (TAIZYS) in 1996, a fashion show competition in 2000, and put up four public shows of a professional play titled Black Comedy in 2003. This year marks the completion of 20 years of guiding the youth of the community to achieve and prosper. Strands and Strides, the all India Parsi/Irani fashion show competition, will continue to uphold this tradition of HPY.

This competition is open to Parsis/Iranis of any age, representing a colony, city, anjuman, school, college or be a member of an independent team. Each team can put up more than one sequence. Individuals can be part of more than one team, which cannot exceed 24 participants. A non-refundable, non-transferable registration fee of Rs 1,000 will be charged for each sequence.

The final event is on Saturday January 21, 2006 from 6.30 –10.30 p.m. at St Andrews Auditorium, Bandra, Bombay. All teams must fill in their registration forms prior to October 31, 2005 and submit them to the BPP office.

To maintain a high standard, participating teams will have to go through a round of elimination. Teams need not be in costumes for the elimination, however they will be expected to answer questions from the judges regarding costumes and theme. This elimination round will take place on Friday, November 25, 2005 at the same venue. Big names from the fashion/glamor world will anchor and judge both the eliminations and the finals.

The most exciting part of the event is the prizes with coveted amounts in cash and hampers for the taking: 1st place — Rs 50,000, 2nd place — Rs 40,000, 3rd place — Rs 30,000; best female model — Rs 5,000; best male model — Rs 5,000.

Modest accommodation will be provided on request for the teams who participate from outside Bombay at the Cama Home, Bandra at no extra cost. This facility will be available only for the finalists.

We reiterate that this is a mega platform for aspiring Parsis/Iranis from all over the country to come together, perform and compete on a common platform and display their talent to one and all, and most importantly, have a super time during the course of preparing for the event.

For queries regarding registration, song, team, etc please feel free to contact: Hoshaang Gotla 9820683398/hoshaang@gmail.com or Peshotan Kapadia 9820309485/peshok@ gmail.com

DIANA MARFATIA

Co-ordinator, Holiday Programme for Youth