Theme: Illogically Logical

In a time when our nation is facing some of the most pressing issues like poor education, limited opportunity for the youth in the youngest democracy in the world, religious violence and safety issues coupled with a new change in government after more than a decade, there is immense need of inspiration and further ideation. At this time of difficult decisions we have pushed back and stopped daring. How many times do we regret saying no due to the fear of failure and then realize it could have been the next best thing? How often do we imagine, what we could have done? The most innovative, naïve and risky ideas seem rather illogical to us at the start. The greatest movements, technologies and innovations of our nation started out with the smallest thoughts that ran through the mind of the one person who invested in it and saw it to realization.
What may seem farfetched and illogical at the beginning can turn out to be the root of the most cardinal actions we can carry on in our life, if only we take that first step to bring it to realization. Our theme “Illogically Logical” encourages our community to take the leap and invest in the ideas they believe in and see it through no matter how difficult or impossible they may seem at the beginning. Whether it is technological innovations, social activities, business, government or the environment, it is we who have to choose to act upon it. We need to push to take the first step beyond the barrier of what may first seem “illogical” to implement the “logical” explanation. This way we show them through the conversations at our event how even the smallest ideas when nurtured can change and leave an impact in our community, if only we say yes.

Fr.Conceicao Rodrigues College of Engineering
Mount Mary,Bandra Bandstand,Bandra (West)
Mumbai, Maharashtra, 400050
India

Dr. Chowdula Satyanarayana

Scientist

A Scientist and a Coral Taxonomist at the Zoology Survey of India (ZSI), is well known for his research in the coral reef areas of study. He has achieved the degrees: M.Sc., M.Phil., Ph.D and is also a master in scuba diving. He is at present the Principal Investigator (Nodal Officer) concentrating on Reef Restoration at Gulf of Kachchh Marine National Park (with Forest Department, Gujarat). He is the first person to revive the 10,000 year old coral reef in India. Dr.Satyanarayana has published 12 books, 42 research papers and 2 training modules as well as Co-authored the first book on hard corals in India entitled “Handbook on Hard Corals of India”.

Dr. Prashant Warier

CEO - Quire.ai

Dr Prashant Warier is CEO, Qure.ai & Chief Data Scientist, Fractal Analytics with 16 years of experience in architecting and developing data science solutions. Prashant founded AI-powered personalized digital marketing firm Imagna Analytics which was acquired by Fractal in 2015. Earlier, he worked with SAP and was instrumental in building their Data Science practice. Currently, he heads Qure.ai - a healthcare business which uses deep learning to automatically interpret X-rays, CT Scans and MRIs. He has a PhD and MS in Operations Research from Georgia Institute of Technology and a BTech from IIT Delhi. He is passionate about using artificial intelligence for global good, and through Qure.ai, is working towards making healthcare accessible and affordable using the power of machine learning and artificial intelligence.

Gaurav kotian

Musician- Glass Harp

This 21 year young fitness freak Gaurav Kotian has developed "GLASS HARP" a unique musical instrument out of a set of wine glasses which produces fascinating music with his fingers.He is the only one in India who has the distinction of playing this rare instrument and his passion for music has got him performing at corporate events, weddings and special occasions. Interestingly he has also featured on 'India's Got Talent' last year on Colours Television where he had stunned the judges,the very intelligent Karan Johar,the gorgeous Mallaika Arora Khan and the very gracious Kiran Kher.To his credit he has news channels following him avidly. Very recently Zee News has aired a special bulletin on his achievement under their Shubh Samachar series. Gaurav is an expert in strumming the guitar...with his collection of accoustic and electric guitars he enthralls the audience with high voltage performances.

Gopal Hegde

President, Versova welfare association

Schooling from versova welfare association high school and have graduated from bhavans college, Andheri. I am a lawyer by profession, having studied in govt law college. I was the general secretary of the student’s council in bhavans college during last year of graduation. I had represented Bombay university in athletics meet and was a member of the 4×100 relay team which won the gold medal in the all India university athletics championship. I was adjudged the best student of the college. I appear as a counsel for interalia various corporate and semi government organisations like cidco, msrtc ,midc, Bajaj electricals etc. I am an independent director in thyrocare, a listed diagnostic company. The Community fridge was one of the main ideas implemented at the VWA currently under his regime.

Kavita Seth

Singer

Soulful renditions and a beautiful interplay of melodious voice and heart stirring compositions is what explains Kavita Seth - a voice that has enthused, captivated and enthralled audiences across age groups, genres and geographies. A Post Graduate in Hindustani and Classical music, Kavita's refreshing voice is an embodiment of godly love, something that's synonymous with Sufi style of singing. Specializing in Sufi form of singing, Kavita's voice and heart touching compositions have paved her way into crème-de-la-crème of playback singing with smashing hits like Iktara (from the movie Wake Up Sid), Tum Hi Ho Bandhu (from the movie Cocktail) amongst many other successful playback numbers. As an empanelled artist at ICCR for Sufi Music, Kavita travels across the world, uniting a global community through the international language of Sufi music and has so far performed at over 500 + concerts.

Mandar Jamsandekar

Market Expert

Mandar Jamsandekar is a Technical analyst, Entrepreneur and also a Columnist at Sakal, penning down ideas on how to make the most of the money you have and is also the Director of Precision Technical Analysis Pvt Ltd, Author of the Amazon Best seller “How to make money in day trading - Trade on an Invitation!”, Trainer, Proprietor and a SEBI registered Research Analyst. He has also received distinguished awards in the areas of his work

Mark Manuel

Journalism, India's senior most journalist.

Mark Manuel is a respected Mumbai editor, writer and columnist with over three decades of journalism in leading publications including the Free Press Journal, Times, Dainik Bhaskar, Mid-Day, and Afternoon. He is widely known for his brilliantly penned interviews. They get carried by several leading media houses including the Hindustan Times, Huffington Post, BBC and Network 18. He has interviewed almost every famous person in the country or passing through, from Mother Teresa to Muhammad Ali, His first book is just out. It’s titled Moryaa Re! and is a crime thriller that is perhaps the country’s first police procedural. He began his career covering crime and in a tribute to his experience and knowledge of this beat, several distinguished officers of the Mumbai Police and its Crime Branch collaborated with him to make this book possible. In a statement of friendship for Mark Manuel and admiration for his work, Amitabh Bachchan wrote the foreward.

Prabir Jha

President, HR

Prabir Jha, an alumnus of St. Stephen's College, Delhi and XLRI Jamshedpur is the Global Chief People Officer at Cipla. Prabir brings with him an impeccable academic and professional record. After doing his Masters, Prabir was selected for the prestigious Civil Services and as a bureaucrat handled the entire gamut of HR & IR issues of the Indian Ordnance Factories. On his switch to the corporate world after almost 10 years in the government, he has worked in senior management positions for organizations like Thermax & TechMahindra and has been the CHRO at two NYSE-listed Indian majors Dr.Reddy’s and Tata Motors as also being the Group CHRO at Reliance Industries Ltd. He has handled all areas in HR, with special interest in Change Management, OD interventions, Global HR Strategy, Employer Branding and Leadership Capability Development. Prabir has consistently been featured in the "List of Most Powerful HR Professionals in India" and has a number of awards to his credit.

Rajat Mitra

Psychologist

Dr Rajat Mitra is a Clinical Psycologist, Consulting Psycologist for the Tihar jail prisoners who has been constantly working on putting gender justice in India on the world map. Having completed his PhD in Clinical Psyscology from Louisiana University, USA, he has also completed a programe on Refugee Trauma from the prestigious Harvard University. On various pieces of his work in the past and the present he has been awarded with distinguished honours, a few being the United Public Service Award in 2011, Nasscom Social Innovation award 2010, EdelGive Social innovation award 2010 and the Ashoka Social Entrepreneur Fellowship in 2003.

Raveena Tandon

Actor

Actor, producer, columnist and a former model. Raveena Tandon, is a mother of two adorable children Rasha and Ranbirvardhan. Ahead of her times she was the 1st one to do away with the stigma of a single mother. She started the trend of single mothers at the age of 21 by adopting 2 girls Pooja aged 11 and Chhaya 8 respectively. Raveena is a Multi-talented and Multi-faceted individual who lives every moment with full zest. Actively involved with Unicef for the girl child and DAIRRC anti-drug organization with Dr Yusuf Merchant . Brand ambassador of PETA, IDA, The Spina Bifida Association as well as the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood. Nrand ambassador for "She's ambassador" programme by PVR for the hygiene of young girls. Goodwill ambassador for Smile foundation. She has housed 31 girls in her own bungalow for one year when a landlord evicted the Caretaker and the girls from the property and then single handedly built an orphanage in Vasai for them.

Siddharth Randeria

Actor

Born in Mumbai on 17 December 1955, son of Professor Madhukar Randeria (Jai hind college) a renowned writer, poet and pioneer of modern Gujarati theatre. In a career spanning over 35 years Siddharth Randeria has become the most successful actor, director,writer, producer in Gujrati Theater. With over 20,000 live performances and being associated with over 80 theater productions, Siddharth Randeria is the most prolific and versatile thespian in the Gujrati circuit and well recognized artist among the Gujrati community worldwide. He started acting with Indian National Theatre’s Children plays during his schooling years. Took part in plays for All India Radio from the age of 9 years. Participated in inter-college drama competitions held by Mumbai University, INT, IPTA, etc. and won several best actor awards. His career on the professional stage started in 1974 and is still currently one of the longest lasting carrier in the industry.