Theme: Walking the Wire

You see beyond the fog;
See beyond the stubbed toes,
Life is but a stealthy jog
Towards a few foes.

Trapeze your way through the fetch;
Calm those shaking knees, good sire.
It might not be worth the stretch
But you’d atleast have walked the wire.

VIT College
666, Upper Indiranagar
Bibwewadi
Pune, Maharashtra, 411037
India

Anusree Raha

Economist and Bureaucrat

An economist by education and a bureaucrat by profession, Anusree is an Indian Economic Service Officer, currently working in the capacity of Deputy Director to the Government of India. She has played an instrumental role in the execution of India's flagship public welfare program to provide housing for the rural poor under 'Housing For All by 2022' mission- which is potentially emerging as the world's largest rural housing program. Anusree is an alumna of Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi School of Economics and Civil Services College, Singapore. She has also represented India at global platforms, such as IUTC Asia-Pacific Leaders Convention in South Korea. In her spare time, Anusree loves to travel and read. When she's not busy being an exemplary bureaucrat, you'll find her scuba diving or playing the piano.

Girish Narayandass

Writer and Comedian

An alumnus of Vishwakarma Institute of Technology, Girish Narayandass is an acclaimed comedy/satire writer currently associated with the comedy troupe AIB. His witty and humorous take on important commonplace issues have given rise to multiple viral sketches, such as Honest Engineering Campus Placements, Demonetisation Circus and Harassment Through the Ages. With the perfect blend of comedy and wholesome reporting, Girish draws from personal experiences that resonates with his audience.

R Raj Rao

Novelist and Activist

The author of over a dozen books of poetry, short stories, novels, plays, nonfiction and translations, R. Raj Rao is a staunch practitioner of activism through art. Homosexual love is the theme of most of his writing in the face of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code that, till recently, criminalized homosexuality. Rao was the former Head of the Department of English at the University of Pune. He has been a recipient of the Nehru Centenary British Fellowship for postdoctoral research at the University of Warwick, UK; the International Writing Program Fellowship at the University of Iowa, USA; the Quebec-India Fellowship at Conordia University, Montreal, Canada; and the Rotating India Chair Fellowship of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations at Tubingen University, Germany. Rao's novel ‘The Boyfriend’ was long-listed for the Crossword Book Award, while his recent book ‘Criminal Love? Queer Theory, Culture and Politics in India’ has been listed for the Valley of Words Award.

Rohit Pandharkar

Head of AI, Mahindra Group

Rohit Pandharkar is the Head of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence at the Group Strategy Office of the $20BN Mahindra Group that spans across several industries and has presence in more than 100 countries. He is a former researcher from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, (MIT) Media Lab at Cambridge, Massachusetts, and also holds a Master’s degree in Media, Arts and Sciences from MIT. Rohit holds several US patents and international publications in the areas of Artificial Intelligence, Computational Imaging, Signal processing and Cryptography. He also represents India on the International Standards Organization (ISO) committee for standards setting in Artificial Intelligence through the Bureau of Indian Standards. In his present role, he leads group wide strategic projects in Data Science and AI in the areas of Financial Lending, Insurance, Logistics, Travel-Leisure and Hospitality, Automotive Manufacturing and Digital Marketing.

Sameer Agashe

Entrepreneur and Game Changer

Sameer Agashe is the CEO of JobMosis.com, a venture to identify the most compatible candidates in an extremely rapid, accurate and objective manner. This IP protected revolutionary solution is poised to accelerate the way for screening candidates in a disruptive manner that should have always been there but never was. His journey has enabled him to help more than 100 companies across a wide range of sectors like Manufacturing, IT, Agriculture, Retail and the Service sector. A strong believer in simple solutions to complex problems, a combination of strong spiritual base clubbed with a highly analytical approach is his secret to solve any given problem. When not donning the CEO hat, he shares his knowledge and experience with a wider audience from corporate and public organisations and student communities to trigger realisations and empowerment in our ecosystem.

Sanjeeta Bhattacharya

Singer Composer

A graduate of the celebrated Berklee College of Music, Sanjeeta has surrounded herself with music from a tender age of 3. She has sung renditions of classic jazz and soul numbers. Sanjeeta has a colossal appetite for good food, music, traveling and her art has been heavily influenced by her family that is a motley of mixed artists. Her music is defined as pop/experimental/indie. Her serenades will take you to a promised land of melody where you could wander within.

Shomiron Das Gupta

Data Analyst and Techie

Shomiron is a highly experienced Intrusion Analyst, and has been building threat detection systems for more than a decade. He founded NETMONASTERY (NM) at the end of 2002, and set out to deliver quality attack detection products and services to its customers. Shomiron has the experience of building detection strategies for the most advanced security systems with its geographical reach and presence spanning the globe. Today NM works with happy customers and partners in more than 14 countries. From his early years, he has always focused on the core values and continues to be hands on with his technology. Outside work, you'd find him scaling up the high Himalayas as he is a trained mountaineer.

Stefano Pelle

Market Strategist and Candy Proprietor

Stefano Pelle has been working in various Multinational Companies across industries and geographies. He started his career in marketing, in Johnson & Johnson, in 1987. In 1998 he moved to India as Managing Director of Perfetti Van Melle and, after other postings in Asia, he returned to India in 2014. He is currently the Managing Director of Ferrero for the Indian Sub-Continent. Since 2006 he has been lecturing in various Universities and Management Institutes, among which California Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks (California, USA) and LUISS, Rome (Italy). He published several articles and three books: “Understanding Emerging Markets: Building Business BRIC by Brick” (SAGE, New Delhi, 2007, “When not in Rome don’t do as Romans do (SAGE, New Delhi, 2013), and “Things Happen” (Albatross, Rome, 2017). He received in 2006 the high award of Knight Commander from The President of Italy.