Theme: Because Grey Matters

Referring to the region between the absolutes of black and white, our theme ‘Because Grey Matters’ represents the complexity of human lives, minds and situations. Grey represents a multitude of hues within itself, each succinctly unique in its identity yet inherently similar to its accompanying shades. Similarly, all of us are our own shade and hue but are, nonetheless, deeply connected to each other by the thread of humanity.

However, our inhibitions and inflexibility to accept those in the 'grey region' leads numerous people to be ostracised and harassed. Most oppressed people, with issues that many don't lend an ear to, often find themselves battling a lone war and are oft left in the grey. A glimpse into the ongoing humanitarian conflicts prevailing the planet currently only attest to this harsh truth.

Grey Matter also alludes to the importance of broad minded thinking in a world dominated by dogmatic and propagandist views. Pushing the boundaries of innovation, creativity, art, music and innumerable other fields, 'Because Grey Matters' encourages everyone to express themselves articulately and realise that humanity fundamentally lies in this overlap of colours and regions and not just in polarizing extremes.

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Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Auditorium, Delhi Technological University
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Auditorium, Delhi Technological University, Shahbad Daulatpur, Rohini
Delhi, Delhi, 110042
India

The Rural India Project

Initiative to highlight rural plight

The Rural India Project (TRIP) is a rural storytelling initiative by a group of students from the School of Communication, Manipal University. Storytellers of The Rural India Project research and take up stories originating in the countryside. Lamenting the lack of mainstream attention to issues pervading the local sphere, TRIP highlights local issues, fading practices and stories of human interest. By travelling to the farthest corners of the country, TRIP tries to explore and discover the facets of rural India that make it diverse and unique. With a significant amount of population residing in villages, TRIP advocates for the opportunities to bring their voices to the forefront of National News.

Aranyani Bhargav

Dance scholar and choreographer

Aranyani Bhargav is a dancer, choreographer and Artistic Director of Vyuti Dance company, which does exploratory work in Bharatanatyam by incorporating modernity into tradition. She is the only classical dancer of her generation to experiment with Bharatanatyam through contact-based group work. Her work has been reviewed as "an astonishing product" and an "organic conversation between tradition and modernity". Aranyani has also been a proficient soloist for over 15 years and has performed throughout India and all over the world. Her distinctive approach to Bharatanatyam as being simultaneously ancient and modern, traditional and contemporary, spiritual and secular has made her popular amidst a wide range of Indian and international audiences. She is also deeply committed to an academic engagement with dance. In addition, Aranyani is a dance scholar, researcher and teacher. She has studied at Oxford University where she wrote a thesis on the multiple modernities of Bharatanatyam.

Monica Dogra

Singer, Actress and Model

Ms. Monica Dogra is a singer and one half of the Mumbai based electronic duo Shaa'ir and Func. She made her Bollywood acting debut with the film Dhobhi Ghat (2011). She has made a guest appearance in the movie Rock On! In December 2011, she served as a judge for Rolling Stone's "Never Hide Sounds" musical talent contest. She is the host of The Dewarists. Ms. Dogra has also featured on the covers of Maxim and FHM magazine. Currently, she is one of the judges for the show The Stage.She was nominated by VH1 at the 2015 Europe Music Awards under the Best India Act category, which falls under the Worldwide Act category. Her international docu-series, Woman With Gloria Steinem (based on gender-related violence), was nominated in the Outstanding Documentary or Non-Fiction Series category at 68th Emmy Awards.

Nandini Sundar

Social Anthropologist

Dr. Nandini Sundar is a social anthropologist of South Asia, who has contributed to the understanding of environmental struggles, of the impact of central and state policies on tribal politics, and of the moral ambiguities associated with subaltern political movements in contemporary India. These contributions are anchored in her deep grasp of the legacies of colonial rule for cultural politics in contemporary India, and in theoretically innovative understanding of the relationship of major historical events to persistent structural tensions in Indian society. Professor Sundar has placed her detailed studies of tribal politics in Central India in the broader frame of studies of the law, bureaucracy and morality in modern India. She is currently a Professor in and the Chairperson of the Department of Sociology at the Delhi School of Economics. She has held visiting positions at Punjab, Yale, Michigan, Cambridge and Chandigarh universities.

Onkar Khullar

Author and Entrepreneur

Mr. Onkar is currently the Managing Partner of Impact India Partners and Presentation Ink. He has won various awards during School, College and after his college for his Business Plan/Presentations. He is on the board of advisors for various non-profits in India and is the Consulting Director of the UK Based Innovation Firm Chakraviyuh. After researching on 500 Nonprofits and Businesses, he developed a process called Impact Thinking to help non-profits around the world for which he received Pride of India Award 2015. He is well renowned for introducing a new way of life called 5 year Old Philosophy through his book 5-year-old Billionaire.

Premlata Agrawal

Mountaineer

Mrs. Premlata Agarwal is the first Indian woman mountaineer to scale the Seven Summits. She is a Padma Shri awardee for her achievements in the field of Mountaineering. She is the oldest Indian woman to have scaled the world's tallest peak, Mount Everest (29,029 ft.), at the age of 48 years. Mrs. Agarwal discovered her passion when she was 37. She subsequently trained under Mrs. Bachendri Pal. Her feats have earned her a listing in the Limca Book of Records.

Rajee Agrawal

Mathematician, Entrepreneur

Rajee dropped out of high school to try and understand the world. She prioritises future people and learning. Talk to her about probabilistic systems, AI, global catastrophic risk, incentive structures, bio-hacking, entrepreneurship, and problem solving.

Rishabh Seen

Metal Sitarist

Mr. Seen is touted as the youngest classical music player in the country and the world's first Metal Sitar player. The novelty of his music lies in the perfect amalgamation of classical Indian music and metal. He is an alumnus of Hindu College, Delhi University. He has performed worldwide and received appreciation and opportunity to play with Legends like Ustad Shahid Parvez, Niladri Kumar, Talvin Singh, Pt.Rajan-Sajan Mishra(s), Pt. Birju Maharaj. He has played in major Indian classical music festivals over the years. He formed the world’s first ever instrumental Indian Classical music – Progressive Metal band named ‘Mute the Saint’ with 4 other well-known musicians in 2016. He is working to evolve the relatively unknown and fairly recent music genre "djent" with his fairly appreciated cover of "Tempting Times" by progressive metal band Animals as Leaders. Mr. Seen has a vision to make classical music a part of mainstream music culture and revive its relevance in modern world.

Sanjay Aggarwal

MD of Fortum India

He serves as the Managing Director of Finnish-based energy company Fortum, overseeing their Indian endeavours. Together, they are working to reinvent the landscape of renewable energy in India. He also worked for Tata Power, Wartsila, ABB and Thermax. He served as a Director of Industrial Energy Limited until February 2014. He is an alumnus of Delhi College of Engineering (DCE).

Sukant Khurana

Neuroscientist and Data Scientist

Dr. Sukant Khurana is a neuroscientist and data scientist who enjoys studying complexity and nuances, whether of brain functioning, drug discovery, development of new statistical tools, or analysing large data sets. He works on drug discovery for various neurological disorders, including alcohol addiction, using plant extracts, peptides, and epigenetic agents. He is both experimentally, theoretically and computationally exploring mechanisms of Parkinson's disease, activity dependent brain development, sub-millisecond timing computation in the brain, and mechanisms of neuronal plasticity. His data-science work is on two streams: developing novel statistical tools and utilizing data science for biomedical research. Through data science, he works on causes of sustainable development, where he is exploring issues of mental health, addiction, and AIDS epidemic.

Tanmoy Chakrabarty

VP of Government Industry Solutions Unit, TCS

Tanmoy Chakrabarty - Vice President & Global Head - Government Industry Solutions Unit (ISU) at Tata Consultancy Services Limited (TCS), based in New Delhi, India. He has over 33 years of experience related with Business Development, Sales and Delivery of Integrated IT Solutions and Services to the Government sector and has led many enterprise wide, mission mode and holistic transformational projects in the area of e-Governance in India and other parts of the World. Tanmoy currently manages 165 Clients in the Government Sector for TCS and has a team of over 7500 Associates in TCS in 12 Countries. Recent projects include MCA 21, Income Tax, Central Excise & Customs, Passport and e-Migrate and several transformational projects in State Governments and tax automations programs in East Africa.