BY’s GOT TALENT – The Bhavishya-Yaan Talent Show

One can forget about traveling to Las Vegas or Paris for entertainment, when we have our very own BY’s Got Talent (BYGT) right here in Aamchi Mumbai! A talent show consisting of only the children from Bhavishya-Yaan with a competitive and a sporting spirit.

BYGT was initially a mere idea thought of by Chairman Satyan Israni which was supported by President Ramesh Narayan and with the assistance of a team of warriors in Avaan Vakharia, Jaya Prasad, Ekta Shah, Rinku Suchanti, Rashmi Bapna, Beena Yargop, Priyanka Jatia and Asha Shah, the idea was given wings and allowed to fly as the inaugural edition of BY’s Got Talent got off to a fabulous start.

The day was Friday, 8th December, 2017, the time was 12pm and the venue was The Indian School of Management & Entrepreneurship (ISME) which at the request of Rtn. Indu Shahani, provided its wonderful 300 seater auditorium free of cost to play host to this unique event.

Rotarians Dolly Thakore, a doyen of theatre and Tara Deshpande, former actress and now a Michelin starred chef in the making, graced the event as judges.

There were more than 300 people in attendance which included 250 BY children. There was also a healthy attendance of Rotarians and Rotary Annes such as Rtns Kalpana Munshi, Dr. Mukesh Batra, Madhusudhan Daga, Anand Dalal, Rajesh Shah, Dr.Sorab Jhaveri, Dr.Mehernosh Dotivala, Hiranmay Biswas, Jagdish Malkani, S.K. Mitra, Freyaz Shroff, Jamshed Vakharia, R/Anne Rashna Cooper and R/ anne.Malti Jain. We also had the Australian volunteers from the Western Sydney University in attendance.

The event was kicked off by Rtn. Satyan Israni who explained to the audience what BYGT was all about and then introduced the judges. The judges were felicitated at the hands of the Dean of the Indian School of Design and Innovation (ISDI).

Next came a mesmerizing performance of the Ganesh Vandana followed by a rendition of the National Anthem by a Bhavishya-Yaan Alumni who is now serving with the National Cadet Corps (NCC). Ms. Arwa from ISME then spoke for a few minutes about ISME.

It was now time for the competitive performances. Each school put up three different and entertaining acts and the judges had the arduous task of selecting the best performance by each of the schools. Simultaneously, each school also had its own comperes, so the judges also had to select the best compere out of all. And there was another interesting twist in the program, where there was one artist from each school who created an artistic work on the spot within 45 minutes. There were children making clay sculptures, portraits, rangoli, paper quilling and painting landscapes and the judges had to select the best artistic work created.

To round off the performances, there was a breathtaking Bollywood dance performed by the tiny tots of Bhavishya-Yaan.

The winners were given trophies which had been designed by Moy Biswas and his team.

All the participating children i.e. 170 of them, were given chocolate hampers.

We had also arranged snack boxes for the attendees.

This event would not have been possible without the support of our program partners Vidya and Infotroopers and their battery of teachers. Thanks are also due to our program donors Bharat Serums and Vaccines Ltd, H T Parekh Foundation, R/ anne. Indiraben Kotak and PhillipCapital (India) Private Limited. We are also grateful to our Rotaractors from Jai Hind College and ISME for the support that they provided as well as the volunteers from the Western Sydney University. A big thank you also to Rashmi Dhuri and Eruch Irani who have been big pillars of support. Last but not the least, Hansika Shahani and Imran Kapadia of ISME deserve huge appreciation for helping us to make the event a great success.

BY’s Got Talent is another feather in Bhavishya-Yaan’s Cap and is definitely here to stay and will return in a grander avatar next year!