Theme: Being Uncommon

Sub-theme 1
Small giant ideas
We want the community to listen to individuals who pursued their ideas, often swimming against the tide and through determination and unwavering faith, made a difference
Sub – theme 2
Different is beautiful:
The audience will get to hear from different people who chose the path not taken, not normal and did things not common and stood out and made a mark in the community.
Sub – theme 3
Embracing change:
The community will hear from speakers on how the changes that seem uncommon today become normal tomorrow. Also, on how to never settle but be prepared to experience and adapt to things that will be beyond our imagination.

Vandana Madhavkumar
Peelamedu
Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, 641004
India

Akshay R

Student

Akshay is a grade 11 student at Chandrakanthi Public School, Coimbatore. Besides having a good academic track record, he has learned Karate and holds the Dan 1 Probationary Certificate black belt. He has participated and won prizes in intra and inter-school debates, declamation, and extempore competitions. He has been an active participant and has also presented position papers at the Harvard Model United Nations, India (HMUN India) organized in Hyderabad during the years 2019 and 2022. Akshay has also been elected as a member of the Student Council of Chandrakanthi Public School for two consecutive years i.e. 2021-22 and 2022-23

Farhad Contractor

Water Warior

Mr Farhad Contractor, with an experience of over 3 decades in revival and rejuvenation of ecological systems, has worked extensively in the Thar desert, North, and Central and Southern India. He has worked on revival and restoration of over 9,500 water structures in the country and 3 river ecosystems in Rajasthan. His diverse portfolio covers reviving and conserving forests, strengthening communities with sustainable agricultural practices and contributing to successful national and international architectural projects, with a bend toward long term sustainable design and action. His work has benefitted over a million people and more than a thousand leaders have been nurtured in the process. He has been invited by the international community to work in various nations abroad, Morocco and France being those. Conservation works in seven ecological regions of Morocco have been done since the past 5 years.

Gowri Sethuram

Applied Indian Arts Advocate

A practising Bharatanatyam artiste since the last 22 years, Ms Gowri Sethuram is adept at various Indian paintings, music and theatre. Gowri’s vision is to help bring better success to organisations by sharing best practices from India’s heritage through its art and cultural wisdom. Her company, Indian shades, channelizes this knowledge into readily-consumable intelligence to marketing, sales, communication and leadership teams through unique immersive experiences.

Indu Venu

Bharatanayam Artiste

Ms Indu Santhosh is a Bharatanatyam artiste and founder of Vibhavana Foundation based in Bangalore. Indu is a graded artiste of Doordarsan (national television) and an empanelled artist of Spic Macay for workshop demonstrations. She holds a Master’s degree in Bharatanatyam as well as MBA. She is a serious practitioner and teacher of Hata Yoga. Indu seeks to explore the immense creative possibility of Bharatanatyam and create authentic works by research and inquiry. She has performed extensively as a soloist and as part of various ensemble works in several prestigious festivals. She has also won several awards and accolades for excellence in performing arts. Vibhavana Foundation, the brainchild of Indu, aims to preserve, promote and propagate the rich cultural heritage and classical art forms of our nation and has been actively engaged in various undertakings in this direction.

Megha Harish

Writer

Our next speaker of the day is Ms Megha Harish. Megha is a writer of poetry, policy and prose from Bangalore, India. She works in the NGO sector and enjoys walking, cooking, scuba diving, and word games. She is currently a member of the UK x India Poetry Exchange supported by the British Council. Megha performed along with the group at the BBC Contains Strong Language Festival in Birmingham in September 2022 and at TATA Lit Live in Mumbai in November 2022.

Nivedhita R

Faculty

Nivedhita Radhakrishnan is an Assistant Professor in English literature and has qualified NET. I’m also a national and international classical dance performer. I was awarded ‘KalaiValarMani’ by the government of Tamil Nadu. I have been entitled to ‘Natiaperoli’ and ‘Natiamangai’. I have received the award, of the best outgoing student, in school and the best all-rounder at PSG college of Arts and Science. I enjoy debating, I’ve won several awards in elocutions and an avid reader of English classics.

Parvathy Pillai

Student

Parvathy R Pillai is an economics undergraduate student from Krishammal College for women. She has completed most of her schooling at Global Indian International School (GIIS), Abu Dhabi. She has gained academic success in her higher secondary exams. Also, obtained the privilege to interview Smt. Asha Bhosle. Parvathy has also written various English articles for a regional newspaper ‘Kerala daily’.

Sangeetha Sridhar

Former Pilot, Mountaineer and Paratrooper, Coimbatore

A Gandhian Guinness Record holder who works for a Cleaner and Safer World. She has undertaken the world's longest journey for sanitation and women safety. She was part of the team that drove an electric car to the Everest Base Camp. After working as E-Government Advisor for a foreign country for 2 decades, she now undertakes documentary travels across the world, creating awareness of true living

Shrihari Udupa

Independent Director, Triton Valves Ltd, Former Director & Human Capital Leader PricewaterCoopers (PwC) Bengaluru

Mr Shrihari Udupa, is an accomplished HR professional who has worked in manufacturing, project, IT and professional services industries. He carries strong conceptual knowledge & has done substantial original work in the areas of employee engagement, talent management, succession planning, leadership development, culture building, mergers and acquisition, etc. Mr Udupa has leadership positions in HR in the companies like Tube Investments of India, the Murugappa Group, Wartsila India, Oracle India, Adani Group & as Human Capital Leader at PwC India. He is currently an Independent Director on the Board of Triton Valves Limited, a listed company in Bengaluru.

Sumanto Chattopadhyay

The English Nut

Besides being an adman, Sumanto Chattopadhyay also has a social media avatar, The English Nut, who is ‘nuts about English because English is nuts’. Sumanto loves to explore creativity in all its different forms. Over the years he has won many advertising awards at Cannes, the One Show, Clio, Spikes and the Effies. He’s a columnist and commentator on communication and branding; a wannabe photographer; and an actor too.