“... brings out the best in me”

"For this very special lady, it’s a very special night. This is Dee’s last year with HPY (Holiday Programme for Youth). She moves on to another institution,” announced well-known actor and theater personality Boman Irani. With one arm protectively around chief coordinator Diana Marfatia’s shoulders, Irani told the stunned gathering at the valedictory function of the 22nd HPY on May 29, 2008 that Marfatia, who has steered the Programme as chief coordinator for 20 of its 22 years (she was facilitator for the first two) was soon to bid adieu also to the Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Parsee Charitable Institution (BJPCI) where she has been principal since 1999 to take up a similar position at the prestigious Dhirubhai Ambani International School at the Bandra-Kurla complex in Bombay.

"You may be going elsewhere but you’re not going anywhere. I honor and salute this wonderful, wonderful woman. We are so emotional right now. She is a super actress, pretending to be solid and stoic, holding back her tears,” Irani stated as Marfatia struggled to keep feelings in check as the audience gave her a standing ovation. "We love you, Dee, we love you, Dee,” a hall full of HPYites chanted in unison.

Diana Marfatia receiving farewell memento from Minoo Shroff

The valedictory function turned out to be an evening of emotion. Pretty girls in short dresses and flowing tresses, lads in ties or the occasional jacket running up to receive trophies and certificates, savoring their moment of triumph, followed by sadness as the 185 girls and boys who had come from all parts of India for the Programme said sayonara to their companions of a month and to the chief coordinator and group leaders, some barely a couple of years their senior, who had coaxed, cajoled and chastised them through a gamut of activities.

"I have been coming to HPY for the last 10 years (as resource person). Am I that old? Diana has been with HPY for 22 years. She started when she was three!” Irani, who was chief guest, stated straight facedly. "The first time she invited me, it was for a workshop on photography. ‘You need two other speakers as well,’ she said. The next time she called me for a workshop on theater. ‘You will need one more speaker,’ she asserted. Thereafter in her eyes I kind of graduated for the next time she allowed me to conduct the workshop all by myself! She has never invited me (so far) for a valedictory function... I was going to prepare a speech and mug it up, but decided against it as it would not come from the heart!”

The burly actor, a familiar face on stage and screen, urged youngsters not to confuse fame with success. "Fame is what you see in the Bombay Times, celebrities waving, blowing kisses. You can be very successful, but not famous. You don’t have to chase fame to be successful. The trick is to recognize and find the talent in you, chase it and excel in it,” stated Irani who made a name for himself first as a photographer, then as a theater personality and more recently as an actor in Bollywood. "I genuinely believe that you are the community who will lead us forward, you will sweeten the milk. Promise you will not let us down.”

Marfatia assuaged fears regarding the continuance of HPY following her departure. "My successor Azmin Mistry (assistant coordinator who is slated to take over as chief coordinator) has great intensity of emotion. She has done everything with commitment. You have a great young team in front of you who will carry HPY forward for the next 22 years at least!” Marfatia stated as each of the 14 young members of the organizing committee warmly hugged her, smiles and sobs mingling.

Top (from left): Mr HPY Jehan Avari with Boman Irani; Miss HPY Sanaya Tangri with Dr Jamshed Bunsha; Dr Indu Shahani (center) sharing a joke with Homai Modi and Dadi Engineer; Dr Gustad Daver (bottom)

With HPY popularly recognized as a star program of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) which subsidizes it, chairman Minoo Shroff presided over the closing function while BPP trustee Dadi Engineer chaired the inauguration on May 2 at the BJPCI where the program has been held continuously for 13 years. "My term as BPP trustee and Diana’s term as coordinator almost coincided. I have seen her excellent organizing capability. She has done a magnificent job in building up so many organizers. I would rate her among the best I have interacted with,” commended Shroff, the management man with long experience in the corporate world at the highest levels. Of the 3,500 HPYites who have gone through the program so far, a few hundred will emerge as good young Parsi leaders, Shroff opined. "We (BPP) will see that the show goes on with even greater vigor,” the chairman declared as he presented a personal memento to Marfatia, who was also honored with a plaque and certificate from the BPP and the organizing committee. BPP chief executive Mehli Colah, senior executive Cawas Panthaki and assistant executive Bakhtavar Dastur are part of the organizing team.

At the HPY navjotes (ext right) and (below) Marfatia and Azmin Mistry (fifth and sixth from right) with young organizers

The BPP is to be commended for being involved with this program, asserted renowned orthopedic surgeon Dr Jamshed Bunsha, introduced by Shroff as a "most caring and compassionate doctor,” who maintained the ethos of the medical profession. "You must like and enjoy what you do,” Bunsha prescribed. "People ask me ‘What do you enjoy?’ I enjoy my work because I love it. After a few days on holiday, I want to get back to work!”

The HPY website www.hpyindia. com was officially launched at the inaugural function. "The social scenario is changing. Young school graduates face greater challenges. They have to be put on the road to success. We believe we have played a part,” Marfatia had stated on May 2. HPY takes teenagers who have just completed their standard 10 exams out of the ‘home alone’ syndrome during their long summer vacation, ere they join college. HPY holds up a candid camera, with career counseling, talks on matters religious and cosmopolitan, a variety of indoor and outdoor sports like cricket, football, volleyball, etc, as well as intellectual competition by way of workshops and projects. In pursuit of happiness are the fashion show, personality contest, Antakshari and more. "This year we have a big module on various aspects of grooming. There is also an additional literacy program for the street children living outside our school. They will also be brought in to enjoy music and have lunch with us at the Antakshari,” Marfatia announced at the inauguration.

The cape of compassion, in an increasingly uncaring world, is draped through social service. "This year we performed the navjotes of twins, a boy and a girl, bringing the total of children initiated into the faith to 20. We cleaned two agiaries and visited four old people’s homes — the All Saints and Shepherds Home, the Parsi Ward at the J. J. Hospital and the Parukh Dharamshalla. For the first time, two organizations, the B. D. Petit Parsee General Hospital and the St George’s blood banks, conducted our blood drive together,” Marfatia declared. "We collected 222 bottles of blood, making it our most successful drive so far.”

"I am really delighted to be here,” said elegant and articulate Dr Indu Shahani, principal of Bombay’s renowned H. R. College of Commerce and Economics who was appointed sheriff of Bombay in January, the first serving teacher to be so appointed. "No, you won’t see the lady in cowboy hat, boots and spurs! The sheriff’s post is an ‘office of honor’ accorded to prominent citizens. Shahani is a doyen in the academic world, one of the finest combinations of beauty and brains I have ever come across,” stated Dadi Engineer, introducing the chief guest at the inauguration.

"I have had a close association with Parsis from my own student days, with friends from Alexandra and J. B. Petit schools and their hospitable mothers inviting me to partake of their delicious food: ‘Come, dear, sit on the dholia (bed) and have chutney pattice. Ai kha, té kha, (eat this, eat that),’” smiled Shahani. With H. R. College being on top of the charts for commerce students, Shahani noted that heads of the student council, cultural committee, etc had been Parsis for many years running. When a deluge had put trains and buses out of commission on the day the admission first list was out, senior students sent out hundreds of SMS, stating, ‘You are on list. Come tomorrow with the fees,’ Shahani narrated.

The sheriff also stated that soon after she assumed office, a Women’s Helpline, on 1298 (which runs emergency medical services), was started for girls and women facing sexual harassment or violence. "If in trouble, ring 1298 and you will be put in touch with an NGO (non-governmental organization) which will help you.” Shahani spoke about the partnership between academia and industry, technical education, the greening of the environment, saving water, the welfare of stray dogs, the fast disappearing sparrow, etc, which are at the top of her agenda. She noted that the sheriff can be contacted on e-mail — sheriffof mumbai @gmail.com

Follow the three Cs, Shahani recommended — competency, communication and compassion. The world is increasingly flat, Bangalore and Boston are in the same window. "American mothers no longer tell their children: ‘Finish your dinner. There are children starving in India.’ They say: ‘Finish that maths homework or the children in India will starve you!’”

Engineer advocated having a chief aim in life: "Look at Ratan Tata. It’s mind boggling the way he has put Tata’s name on the international map.” Engineer introduced the guest of honor at the inaugural, Dr Gustad Daver who is an eminent surgeon and medical director at the prestigious Hinduja Hospital, as a man "who has achieved high excellence in his chosen career. His is a medical family. His wife Rekha is head of obstetrics at the Grant Medical College and J. J. Hospital; their son and daughter have both become doctors.”

It takes five-and-a-half years to do your MBBS, three years for MD or MS, three more years for super specialization, then you have to develop your reputation and skills. "The ride is pretty rough, but as a doctor you will feel proud and happy. In the 40 years since I entered it, the spectrum of medicine has changed. From the problems of pediatrics, it’s now the problems of geriatrics. We are still fighting diseases we were fighting 50 years ago — lifestyle diseases like hypertension, diabetes which can knock off your kidneys, eyes... this is the age of super specialization — the anterior and posterior eye, right eye or left!” Daver was incisive.

Involved in the establishment of emergency medical services, Daver spoke about Ambulance Access for All which can be reached on 1298 (akin to 911 abroad), where ambulances are stationed at different places and the nearest ambulance uses GPS (global positioning system) to get to the patient quickly. With a long association with J. J. Hospital where he was dean, Daver told the students that when Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy set up the institution, it was only the third medical college in the country, after Madras and Calcutta. "Visit the college and hospital and see Jamsetjee’s statue there. See what earlier Parsis have done. I am really proud of it,” the surgeon said.

Switching channels from the usual staid speeches at the opening and closing functions were the songs — I gotta be cool sung with vim and vigor by Hormuz Ragina, the duet of dosti (friendship) by Ragina and strummer Peshotan Kapadia with Hayat Sadri at the keyboard. Paurush Irani’s lovely voice in Indian melody was followed by "we had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun...” at HPY.

Winning the title of Mr HPY and Ms HPY respectively were Jehan Avari and Sanaya Tangri. Zeean Dastur was adjudged best sportsperson. Kaizad Billi­moria was the best male model, Ruksheen Vajifdar and Avan Sethna the best female models. Nushad Irani and Meherzad Gazdar picked up the title of best male catwalkers, Sanaya Daruwalla the best female catwalker. The best literary all-rounder was Sanober Daruwalla. Shiamak Unwalla, Jehan Avari, Kaizeen Jehangir and Paurush Irani topped their respective groups, putting into practise the words of the HPY Song sung lustily by students past and present — "In the sunshine of our life... (HPY) brings out the best in me.”