Theme: INSCRIPTIONS ON SAND

From time immemorial, humans have striven for great goals and even greater achievements. What have been the biggest hurdles on the way to greatness?
Inscriptions on Sand, which is our theme, tries to explore the challenges that have popped up time and again, the moments of brilliance that have defied them and the final push for the much desired success that people achieve by pushing away the boundaries. Like the ephemeral inscriptions that are erased with the blowing wind or flowing water, these anecdotes about the ever changing situations in life that we would like our speakers to talk about will be a source of motivation and enlightenment for the audience.

Indian Institute of Management Indore
IIM Indore
Prabandh Shikhar, Rau-Pithampur Road
Indore, Madhya Pradesh, 453331
India

Abhishant Pant

Cashless Endeavour | Fintech Enthusiast | Explorer

Abhishant Pant is a Transaction Banking professional with a deep understanding of payments landscape in India and writes regularly on India's Fintech Journey at several intellectually stimulating platforms. Apart from Payments, teaching is his other passion and he never misses an opportunity to share. He loves to explore self and the world more and he believes that the key to this is mutual sharing of “Gyan” and having conversations. A firm believer in the fact that every theory should be tested, he started on an expedition to explore the challenges in Bharat's Financial Inclusion. Hence, 100 days back he started a cashless journey, first and longest lasting of its kind in the world, which pushed him towards an unexplored path of discovery.

Anu Vaidyanathan

India's Female 'Ironman' | Athlete | CEO

Anu Vaidyanathan is the first Asian, male or female, to finish Ultraman Canada(10K swim, 430K bike, 84.4K run) event, placed 6th and was the youngest finisher. She backed this up with Ironman Canada becoming the only athlete to do so in the history of the race. Adding to it, she did all this while completing her PhD in Electrical Engineering, in a record setting time of 26 months. Anu is also the first Indian to qualify for the Half-Ironman World Championships. Over the years, she has undertaken several pursuits including being the CEO of an Intellectual Property Consulting firm(PatNMarks) and being guest faculty at IIM, Ahmedabad and IIT, Ropar. A sought-after speaker and an upcoming author, she has been endowed with TiE ASPIRE Young Achiever Award(2011) and Bajaj Allianz Most Inspirational Working Woman award(pan-India contest).

Dr. V Adimurthy

Padma Shri Awardee | The Brain behind Mangalyaan

Dr V Adimurthy, currently ISRO Honorary distinguished professor and Vice president of the Aeronautical society of India, was the Chairman of the Mars Mission study team that conceptualized India’s Mars Orbitter Mission.He has also served as Senior Advisor-ISRO, Assosciate director, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre and Dean,Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology.He is a Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineers, Academician of International Academy of Astronautics and Senior fellow of Alexander von Humbolt Foundation,Germany. He received Padmashri in 2012 for his contributions to Science and Engineering.He has received numerous other awards including National Aeronautical prize in 2007,IAA Laurels for Team Achievement Award for Chandrayaan-I in 2013 and ISRO Outstanding Achievement Award in 2014.He has published more than 150 research papers in the fields of Aerodynamics,trajectory optimization,flight dynamics ,lunar and interplanetary mission design etc.

Navin Gulia

Author | Adventurer | Social Worker

He is an Ex-Army Officer who got injured at the age of 22 but that did not stop him from pursuing his passion and setting a Guinness Book of World Record in Adventure Sports by driving non-stop from New Delhi to the world’s highest mountain pass Marsimik La at 18,632 feet height, in 55 hours. Besides he is an, Author, Thinker, Orator and Social Worker. His English book ‘In Quest of the Last Victory’ published by Pearson Longman is a best seller in its category. He also runs an organisation called ‘Apni Duniya Apna Ashiana’ for the welfare of underprivileged children.He has won various awards and recognitions. To mention a few: President's 'National Role Model' Award from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam 2007, Chief of Army Staff Commendation 2005, Times of India 'Global Indian' 2005, Limca Book 'People of the Year' 2005, Karmaveer Chakra from international confederation of NGO’s in 2009, Godfrey Phillips 'Mind of Steel' 2010, ‘Pearls of India’ by The WEEK’ Magazine.

Satyanshu Singh

National Film Awardee | Screenwriter & Director

Satyanshu Singh, a screenwriter and director in the film-industry, gave up his job in Army as Medical Officer after completing MBBS from AFMC, Pune. His directorial debut is a Kashmiri short film called 'Tamaash' that won awards across the globe, including the National Film Award in 2014. He wrote poems that featured in 'Udaan' (2010) - winner of Filmfare Award for Best Film, followed by lyrics in 'Ferrari Ki Sawaari' and 'Sulemani Keeda'. Moreover, he is also credited with designing and conducting screenwriting courses at Anupam Kher's institute 'Actor Prepares'. Apart from conducting screenwriting and film-appreciation workshops, he is also involved in teaching cinema at various colleges affiliated to Mumbai University. Currently, Satyanshu is conducting a six-month writers' residency program at AIB First Draft where ten writers selected out of thousands are undergoing training under his mentorship. Meanwhile, Satyanshu prepares to shoot his first feature film.

Swapna Sundar

Entrepreneur | Lawyer | Author

Swapna Sundar is the Managing Director and CEO of IP Dome, a company she founded in 2008 to offer services at ‘The Intersection of the Law, the Lab and the Market’, enabling companies and individual inventors to craft and implement strategies to protect and monetise their Intellectual Property. She has led seminars in British Constitutional Law and British Human Rights Law at the University of Kent at Canterbury, UK; served as visiting faculty in IP at the NALSAR University of Law; provided IP training at various educational institutions and; served as a resource person at IP Events conducted by the CII. She is the author of IP Smart Workbook which has been prescribed for courses at IIM Ranchi and IIM Kolkata. In April 2016 she published a Toolkit and Resources as part of a UKIPO project titled ‘The IP Smart approach to doing business in India’, to guide UK companies to set up businesses in India and safeguard their IP.

Vijay Padaki

Psychologist | Behavioral Scientist | Theatre Guru

Vijay Padaki wears two caps, of management and theatre, with equal facility. He headed the HR Division of India’s oldest co-operative R&D institution, ATIRA, which helped set up the first IIM in Ahmedabad. Later, he was a member of the founding faculty at IIM Bangalore, and a Visiting Professor at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. A psychologist and behavioural scientist by training, he is the founder-director of The P&P Group, a management resource centre. Adding another facet to his versatile personality, Vijay joined Bangalore Little Theatre in 1960, and served the company in many capacities – as actor, director, trainer, writer, designer and administrator, including three stints as President. He remarkably bridges the realms between management and theatre through his work. He was invited by the Ministry of Culture to organize an All-India conclave to visualize the future of Arts and Heritage Management in India.