HPY's fashionable folk

It was the big fat Parsi fashion show. The prize money was big – Rs 50,000 for the winners, Rs 40,000 and Rs 30,000 respectively for the first and second runners-up. The judges were big names in star world — top ex-model Mehr (Jesia) Rampal, health and fitness guru Mickey Mehta, leading make-up man Mickey Contractor, upcoming and sought-after model Scherezade Shroff, actor Bakhtyar Irani, theater personalities Sharookh and Pervin Irani. Actors Boman Irani and Perizaad Zorabian, famous faces on stage and screen and TV anchor Parizad Kolah Marshall were slated to come, but could not attend for various reasons.

At the St Andrews Auditorium at Bandra in Bombay, flashing strobe lights color plussed the onion pink, tangerine, aquamarine and deep purple of silk and satin as bodies buffed, sequined and shimmering strode the ramp at "Strands and Strides,” the all India fashion show organized by the Holiday Programme for Youth (HPY) under the auspices of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) on January 21, ’06. Teenagers and 20-somethings, at times tentative and amateurish, for the most part self-assured, told a wardrobe story in an ensemble of poses and postures. "We had wanted all age groups to participate, including grannies and the 50 plus. Unfortunately that didn’t happen,” Diana Marfatia, HPY’s chief coordinator and driving force, told Parsiana.

Seven teams competed for the big prize at the final, mixing denim with diamantes, skirts tiered and tapering, shoulders bare or spaghetti-strapped. The oiled and glistening naked torsos of men in silken dhotis, the exposed midriffs of svelte maidens in hipster saris, navels ornamented with shimmering designs, captured often vociferous attention from the audience. Walking away with the first prize were the youngsters from Rustom Baug who stole the show with their well-rehearsed sequence "Mumbai to Milan.” Cusrow Baug stood second with "Vogue” while the spice of "Indian Tadka” by an independent group of collegians found flavor with the judges for the third prize.

(Top row) Wearing style and attitude; (2nd row) Best Female and Male Models Hufriya Bhiwandiwalla and Farhad Mehta, winners Rustom Baug with Mehr Rampal (fourth from right)

Wearing their attitude with stand-out confidence were Hufriya Bhiwandiwalla and Farhad Mehta who won Rs 5,000 apiece as the Best Female and Male Models respectively. With several fashion shows and shoots under her belt, Bhiwandiwalla had been a finalist at the Femina Miss India Contest 2005 (and a winner last year at Rustom Baug’s May Queen Ball). "The grueling 25 days’ training I received as a finalist was really good. There are around a lakh of girls vying for the Miss India contest. I had been under Mickey Mehta’s training at that time. The competition makes you strong. I was very happy and satisfied that I made it to the Miss India finals, even though I didn’t win a crown,” Bhiwandiwalla said to Parsiana. "HPY is very close to my heart. It was my participation in HPY after school that really changed me. I was a very quiet, shy girl and I came from an all-girls school. I did my BCom at the BJPCI (Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Parsee Charitable Institution). I just love doing fashion shows,” she adds. Bhiwandiwalla was part of the Panthaki Baug Welfare Centre team who presented "Color me a Rainbow.” She commends Delaviz Gazder who handled the concept, choreography, costumes, music, etc for the sequence. "She is too good in her work. I could not help her much as I fly with Air India and am away for days at a time. Because of my modeling experience, I had an edge, no doubt. But the other girls walked pretty well too. Attitude, body language was well presented. When you are on four-inch stilettos for hours at a stretch, it’s hard!” she smiles.

Having "walked” for top Indian designer Hemant Trivedi at a fashion show at Bhaidas Hall just a few days earlier, Mehta’s confidence was at a high. "I was among the around 10 guys and 15 girls from different colleges who were selected for the show,” he narrates. Modeling for his college for the last two years, 19-year-old Mehta who is a First Year BCom student at Andheri’s Mithibai College, says he traveled from Andheri to Grant Road every day to practice as part of the Indian Tadka team. While graduation is a must, getting into modeling and then acting is what the young man has set his sights on. "I guess it’s the fame and the fans,” he chuckles.

Egged on by a vocal crowd of supporters, the Rustom Baug lads and lasses were on a heady trip from Mumbai to Milan. "Our sequence was quick and crisp. It had variety in costume and choreography. The first couple, Kerzina Doodhwala and Arzan Mistry, had three totally different styles of costume displayed in a matter of 10 minutes, the other pairs displayed two different styles of dress. We didn’t compromise on any details – jewelry, shoes, make-up, music…,” elaborates Hutoxi Doodhwala, the behind-the-scenes pivot who coordinated the concept, design and execution of the sequence. "The costume change was so quick that it was only at the finals that I made it to the stage on time!” giggles Hutoxi’s daughter Kerzina. Executing salsa steps and a neat but difficult overhead lift with Mistry, Kerzina says the white smoke released on a darkened stage for special effects during the item was so thick that she could barely see her partner, the man in black! "I guessed that would be his hand and went ahead with the music,” chuckles the petite girl who says that initially almost everyone had been reluctant to participate because of exams, parental pressure and the fact that several of their Rustom Baug friends were getting married around the time of the finals. "We practiced hard for barely two-three days at the end because the kids said they couldn’t miss the engagement, madarsoro or wedding ceremonies!” laughs Hutoxi.

From left: Sharookh Irani, Scherezade Shroff, BPP trustees Maneck Engineer and Dadi Engineer, Mickey Mehta, Mickey Contractor, Mehr Rampal and Diana Marfatia; happy organizers

Portraying the potholes, pan-spitting and Bunty and Babli Bollywood of Bombay in the first part, the act moved to Milan, the mecca of high fashion, in the second. Costume craftsmanship was by Shermeen Jal, a Rustom Baug resident and designer who markets her creations under the label Chantile. "The kids were very professional. We have been working together for a long time (for Rustom Baug’s annual May Queen Ball). They understand, know and back each other,” remarks Jal. With the handsome prize money being shared by the 16-strong team, 21-year-old Scherezade Mistry laughs: "No, I did not spend it off. I put it into the bank!”

Hutoxi Doodhwala commends 17-year-old Danesh Taraporewala, one of the models, for designing the background set as well. Editing and compilation of music was by DJ (disc jockey) Yazad Karai. "We harassed him endlessly! After spending half the night recording the music, we made him change part of it the next morning. The kind of work he’s given me, he’s surely talented!” remarks Hutoxi. Well-known choreographer Hormazd Khambatta "did not charge us a penny and went out of his way to help,” she adds.

All Parsi rock band SCAR

HPY began the evening with the all-Parsi band SCAR, formed in 2004. SCAR focuses on "developing its own brand of rock and currently has six original compositions under its belt,” state the program notes. Performers Sarfaraz Irani, Parvana Patel, Mehryar Tata, Danesh Khambatta, Nariman Khambatta, Hormuz Ragina and Peshotan Kapadia aim to become "the first ever all-Parsi rock band to release an album,” the notes added.

Singer Shazneen Arethna’s husky and powerful voice, accompanied by Ragina’s felicity on the guitar, took the audience on interludes of song. Having lent her voice for jingles in advertisements for Hutch, Samsung, Sunsilk, etc, Arethna has toured India with bands like Ménage a trios, Zero, Mantra and Caliché, states the program. An HPYite herself, Arethna "feels most at home when she’s on stage,” said master of ceremonies Sharookh Irani, standing in at the last moment for well-known theater and screen personality Boman Irani who was unable to attend.

Nine-year-old dancer Alysha Khodaiji wiggled her way, Bollywood style, into audience hearts, wearing a Parsi-style sari in a number with Gujarati lyrics: Parsi hamé chaiyé, Hindustan ma rahiyé… Khodaiji, adds the write-up in the program, makes a brief appearance in the new film Being Cyrus directed by Homi Adajania and starring Saif Ali Khan, Dimple Kapadia, Naseeruddin Shah and Boman Irani. With expressive eyes and hands and neat, rhythmic footwork, 11-year-old Feruzan Billimoria displayed her talent in Bharat Natyam, her chosen art form. Zenia Bhumgara, nine years of age and the third magician in her family (after father Mehelly and older sister Pearl) wove her soft-spoken web of magic on stage in the moments between the fashion show sequences.

Young talent Alysha Khodaiji

"In our landmark 20th year, the HPY organizing committee thought that a fashion show was a very good way of getting people together on a fun platform. In the year 2000 we had had a fashion show just for HPYites, so there was a little more confidence on our side about organizing it!” Marfatia explains the background. "But this time we wanted to give a chance to all Parsis. Age was to be no bar.” A three-page color pamphlet publicizing the event was sent to all 50 plus anjumans on BPP record. "We received a lot of phone calls from places like Nagpur, Hyderabad, Poona, Panchgani, etc. Several even started the process of putting together a team,” continues Marfatia. "We had informed them that we would take care of the boarding and lodging for outstation teams in the finals, but the costs of traveling and participating in the eliminations on November 25 at St Andrews Auditorium would be on the teams themselves. Unfortunately, all the out-of-Bombay groups dropped out, fearing their funds would not allow them to cover expenses.”

The organizing committee headed by Marfatia and consisting of Priya Aga (pregnant at the time of the show), Hormuzd Mehta, Shirzad Khory, Raika Gazder, Pearl Mistry, Khursheed Mistry, Delzin Tantra, Hoshaang Gotla, Peshotan Kapadia, Diana Bhathena, Delaviz Gazder, Azmin Mistry and Rayomand Mistry worked "selflessly, for no reward,” says Marfatia. "They are all collegians or working people and do things for HPY for the love of it. I can’t thank them enough.”

With BPP trustees present at the show, HPY owes its phenomenal success through 20 years to the support and encouragement it has received from past and present trustees, chief executives and senior executives of the Punchayet, Marfatia notes. HPY promotes leadership qualities, self awareness, career guidance, sporting spirit, etc among students fresh out from school and beyond.

Every HPY activity is to be encouraged,” opines Hutoxi Doodhwala. "It is the first platform for our children to meet people from outside.” Extremely impressed by the movement to melody at the fashion show, the judges are pushing hard for HPY to make it an annual feature, remarks Marfatia. "But that will be too difficult, too time consuming. At the moment we are satisfied with a task well completed. With HPY’s 20th summer program barely a-month-and-a-half away, you will see lots of changes,” Marfatia promises.