<span style="font-weight: 400;">Completing 33 years, the Holiday Programme for Youth is nothing less than an Institution. This year too, HPY has come back better and more dynamic with standards being raised each passing year. On a bright sunny Sunday morning, the Inauguration function was held at the </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">J B Vachha Girls’ School, welcoming 160 eager participants and their parents. The function was chaired by former Trustee, Mr. Jimmy Mistry who introduced our Chief Guest, Dr. Keki Mistry and Guest of Honour, Ms. Anjalee Tarapore. Mr. Mistry engaged the audience with insightful interventions about confidence in one’s abilities and Ms. Tarapore being a former HPY participant herself, reminisced on her own days here at HPY and encouraged our participants to believe in themselves and go out and achieve their passion. Dr. Mistry in his usual eloquent style motivated the audience to seize the moments and make the most of situations, a fitting beginning to an action-packed month.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">In our various sessions, ranging from a panel of young achievers, career options after Arts, Science and Commerce, to careers as wedding planners or in the civil services, just to name a few, our participants’ minds were stimulated. Engaging in fruitful discussions with the speakers our participants are already beginning to make the most of these sessions. Workshops in Speech and Drama, Theory of Knowledge, Graphic designing and Dance and Rhythm appealed to their playful side and gave them the opportunity to let their hair down. Aptitude testing and Career Counselling being necessary to provide early guidance was also conducted, completely free of cost!</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">With the weekend rolling in, the first competitions have already begun in the domain of the Literary Arts. Sparring with words, the debates created a charged intellectual environment with the debaters engaging in meaningful rebuttals. Today, is a special day. In the true HPY tradition, another young Zoroastrian is being initiated into our faith followed by a scrumptious lunch and the Master Quiz competition, challenging the grey cells of our finalists to the peak. </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">It has been a constant endeavour of HPY to see our participants grow in mind and spirit, become confident and mindful individuals and we are already on our journey there for this month. Phew! It has already been week one but this is only the beginning! Tune into next week for more updates about our exciting sessions and competitions. </span>