The opening ceremony of the 32^nd Holiday Programme for Youth (HPY) was held on 29^th April, 2018 at J.B. Vachha Girls’ High School, Dadar, with over 170 participants all set for the most memorable time of their lives. This year’s total attendance consisted of 141 participants from Bombay and the rest from various parts of the country, with one frying in from UAE.

The ceremony commenced with a short prayer by Er. Firdaus Pavri, followed by the welcome address by Mentor, Diana Marfatia who emphasized that HPY has come a long way with numerous programs that offer career guidance, leadership training, personality development, social service, music, dance, sports and fashion designing. The participants will also be visiting four senior citizen homes and will be working with three different NGOs. In over three decades that have gone by, some of the communities most celebrated and respected individuals in their field of expertise have shared their knowledge and experience with our youth. The dignitaries gracing the occasion included Chief Guest and CEO of Standard Chartered Bank, Zarine Daruwala; Guest of Honour and noted Architect, Shahen Mistry; HPY Mentor, Diana Marfatia; Former HPY Co-ordinator, Azmin Mistry Vania; Er. Firdaus Pavri; BPP Chairman, Yazdi Desai; BPP Trustees, Armaity Tirandaz; Kersi Randeria and Zarir Bhathena along with BPP CEO, Cawas Panthaki and Deputy CEO BPP, Shehnaz Khambatta.

Azmin Mistry Vania, recited a wonderful poem on HPY, followed by previous batch participants, Rohina Gandhi and Ferangiz Hozdar reminiscing their good old days. They shared how being a part of HPY is a unique experience and how every day is determined by curiosity and excitement. With the Organising Committee singing the ‘HPY Song’, Diana further introduced Guest of Honour, Shahen Mistry, a noted and popular architect who has his own professional organization and has worked on various high-end projects.

Next, Ayesha Mehta introduced Chief Guest, Zarine Daruwalla. Currently, the CEO of Standard Chartered Bank since 2016, Zarine’s career spans over 28 years and is named the eleventh most powerful woman in business by ‘Fortune’ in 2017. Parsi Times covered her profile celebrating her achievements in the Seventh Anniversary issue dated 28th April, 2018. In her inspiring address, Zarine requested the children to make the most of their 28 days in HPY and urged the youth to give equal importance to higher education as this was the need of the hour. Ayesha Mehta and Pashang Dadyburjor successfully hosted the entire event, followed by Karl Malao delivering the vote of thanks. The event concluded with everyone singing Chhaiye Hame Zarthosthi and the National Anthem.