Theme: Chasing Eutopia

For ages, the idea that there could be a perfect place exempted from the ills of the real world had always been there. However, it was only after the publication of Thomas More’s “Concerning the Best State of Commonwealth in the New Island of Utopia”, that this idea was caged, under a term that More himself coined- ‘Utopia’, meaning “Perfect Place” or a vision of a society that is so ideal that it is unlikely to exist.

An almost altered form of the word ‘Utopia’, is ‘Eutopia’ (‘Eu’- Good and ‘Topos’- Place), with its slightly altered definition: a place where human society, natural conditions, etc. are so ideally perfect that there is ‘Complete Contentment’. Therefore when compared, the idea of chasing Eutopia is more realistic than that of chasing Utopia.

And thus, our central theme, “Chasing Eutopia”, emphasizes how people from different backgrounds, their work, and ideas can help in making a nearly-perfect place.

South Point School, Guwahati
21, Barsapara Industrial Road, Barsapara
Guwahati, Assam, 781018
India

Amitabh Ray

Managing Director, Ericsson Global Services India

Amitabh Ray, the undisputed Chief Motivational/Inspirational Officer of the technology industry. He currently heads the India, Mexico, Romania and China global service centers of Ericsson. His responsibility is to ensure the continued growth of these centers to deliver the right competency to Ericsson’s customers worldwide. He lives by the maxim that a company’s achievement is defined by the success of its customers and focuses his entire energy in delivering customer delight. He skillfully balances stakeholder interests and his passion for caring for his people. The art of conflict management, and knowing how to coalesce diverse views, to achieve shared objectives for the larger good of the organization, is his native skill. Amitabh’s four-decade-long career has been an exciting journey of building teams, strategizing, leading and executing the transformation journeys of three centurion organizations, PwC, IBM and currently Ericsson.

Bhargsetu Sharma

Humanitarian and Animal Welfare Activist

A well-known humanitarian and animal welfare activist, Bhargsetu Sharma (@bhargsetusharma) was the sole recipient of the Raksha Mantri Padak in 2019. She was also awarded a Governors Medal for her heroic act which saved the life of a human being. In 2011, she laid the foundation to Humans with Humanity (@humanswithhumanity), a non-profit organisation to help the voiceless. The organisation has rescued more than four thousand animals that were in need. Adding to all her honours, she was a former NCC Captain (for which she was awarded "Best Cadate" in 2017) at the Gujarat Naval Unit NCC, Vadodara. She is also a Gold Medalist in skating. Bhargsetu claims ethics and values to be the basic pillars of her life. She seeks to explore, evolve and learn more as she goes on her journey.

Himadri Bhuyan

Photographer

Winner of the Night Sky Award at the prestigious ILPOTY 2020, Himadri Bhuyan (@himadri_bhuyan) has been in the field of photography since 1998. He did his double masters in Geography and Environmental Planning and held different jobs in INGO's, NGO's and the govt. sector. Though he started off with a regular job, photography and creative arts constantly occupied his heart and mind. What started off as a hobby, transformed into a profession in 2013 when he finally answered his calling. With a deep interest in travel and nature photography, he specialises in landscapes, portraits, abstracts and wildlife as a passion and weddings, concerts, cultural festivals, product shoots and time-lapse as a profession. Even though he doesn't keep a track of his achievements, he considers his publications in Nat Geo Your Shot and National Geographic Magazine, including the book "Getting Your Shot" published by National Geographic as the high point in his photographic journey.

Priyanka Das Rajkakati

Aerospace Scientist, Artist

Featured in the Forbes 2021 list of India’s 30 brightest young achievers, Priyanka Das Rajkakati has always lived a dual personality, with two, seemingly contradictory, sides fused into one – a dynamic and expressive artist, and a reserved, logic-oriented scientist. Having participated in several space projects, such as the Caltech Space Challenge, organized by the California Institute of Technology in collaboration with scientists from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Priyanka found a context for her work in mixing Art and Science. Her work currently involves experimentation with mixed-media art techniques and visual representation of data. There are multiple high points in Rajkakati’s career as a space scientist, one being selected to submit her art work to be part of an international Moon Gallery project that aims to send art to the Moon via a Lunar lander mission. She is all set to send her artwork to the Moon in a compact form by 2022.

Rahul Hazarika

Entrepreneur

Rahul Hazarika (@rahul.hazarika), is an entrepreneur from a small town of Tinsukia. He started a mere social media page that turned out to be OSK Food and Technology Pvt. Ltd, the million dollar valuation start up and North-east India’s first cloud kitchen company. Driven by his passion for food and beverages, Rahul began his company as a response to the frustration of getting stuck in traffic just to grab a burger or waiting long queues to get a table. In 2017, he was recognized as one of the Top 10 Under-30 entrepreneurs of North East India. Today, OSK Food and Technology clocks an average of 150–180 orders a day. This journey is no less than a Walter Mitty story.