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Bhawanipur Education Society College
5 Lala Lajpat Rai Sarani
Bhawanipur
Kolkata, West Bengal, 700020
India

Anurag Singal

Chartered Accountant

How often do you hear someone quitting a well settled job of more than Rs.10 lakhs and earn only about half of it, JUST to stay with his parents? Our next speaker believes in looking at a glass being half full and not half empty. Mr. Anurag Singal's resume had all the requisite bullets that a recruiter looked for - All India Ranks 22 and 25 in CA Final and Inter, 3 year internship from Deloitte and ITC, Best Overall Student Award from St Xaviers just to name a few. But being a believer in the Joy of Losing Out rather than the Fear of Missing Out, he set himself apart from the "rat race" and happily optimised the decade of his stay in the city of Joy, without letting the economic stagnation affect him and his decisions.

Asiya Zahoor

Teacher, Poet

An alumnus of St. Hilda's College of the Oxford University, University of Kashmir and St. Joseph's School Baramullah, Asiya Zahoor is a young literary voice as a poet and also an Assistant Professor and the Head of the Department of English in the Baramullah Government College in Kashmir. As a child, Asiya Zahoor observed the gap between the kinds of education the rich and the poor received and had resolved to fill in this gap in her own ways by imparting the knowledge that she would gain. Her answer to people questioning her for not going for something “bigger” has always been her childhood dreams of improving lives of people in Kashmir through good quality education. Asiya Zahoor was the founder of Kashmir Centre for Art, Culture and Language, a platform for youngsters to share their works of art and literature and exchange ideas with each other. She now wants to use her research to aid government and private institutions to formulate effective educational policies.

Gauri Sawant

Social Worker

As an impeccable idol of human nature, Gauri Sawant makes for an informidable woman. From not having a stable roof to live under to becoming a proud mother herself, an insight into her life story tells us about the superhero that she is. She grew up knowing she was different from what the society told her to be. Today, she runs an NGO of her own called 'Sakhi Char Chowghi' with the motto of providing a space of freedom to all transgender individuals. She is also the petitioner, herself being the first, of the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) judgement that was passed in 2013. Vicks identified this iconic woman and beautifully documented her journey to portray that care, love and a sense of family is beyond the barriers of class and gender. The campaign went viral and has clocked 13 million views and counting.

Gladson Peter

One Man Band

Mr. Gladson is said to be India’s first and Mumbai’s only ‘one-man band’ who can play over 45 musical instruments, using both his hands, his mouth and his feet. He started his musical journey at the age of three when he would make music using spoons, forks or anything else he could lay his hands on. When he’s on stage, it’s hard to fathom how this lean 24-year-old artfully balances 13 instruments weighing around 20 kg on his back, and plays them all in a synchronised manner. Today, he sets his eyes on the world record as he tries to play 22 simultaneously. More than accolades, Peter Gladson’s venture has given him a ‘purpose to life’. His story is weaved with strings of passion and that of relentless perseverance. His music is a source of inspiration for youngsters to do something different in life. This one man band has magic and music in every finger.

Madiha Ahmed

Educationist, Social Worker

A dreamer and doer, a life long learner and a global citizen,presently residing in Kolkata, Madiha started the journey of becoming the woman of her dreams 2 years ago. Currently she is heading an Indo-US collaboration-Women in STEM Roadshow 2018 as a Local Expert for Kolkata,as the Chief Strategist at REDUX,a that offers teacher trainings and educational consultancy,as the CEO at YouEd-Empowering YOU to LEAD that offers leadership programs and motivational workshops, as a Talent Team Member at Lifebushido (USA),as a Founder at MERI PEHCHAAN, to bridge the gap across generations (theme 2018),as a Volunteer Catalyst at +Acumen (USA) and a +Acumen Corps Member. She is also a Volunteer at Sri Aurobindo Bhavan for Children's events and at iVolunteer-Your skills can change lives.

Neha Jain

Entrepreneur

Currently running 6 health and wellness centres, Neha Jain, born and brought up in Maharashtra, is someone who not only strongly believes in financial independence but has practiced it since the age of 18. Having completed her graduation from Nirmala Niketan College, Mumbai, she worked as a stock broker in her family business after her marriage in Kolkata, and later on in another business along with her friend. Even though she was successful in all her endeavours, she never felt passionate about any of what she did until she started off with her health and wellness centres. Neha recognises the contrasting impacts superstition and faith have on people's lives and wants to contribute to the society by transforming the way people deal with their issues. She understood the purpose of her life when she realised that passion should be the only factor driving us towards what we see as success.

Paresh Rawal

Researcher

Paresh Rawal was born and educated in Kolkata and completed his B.Com (Hons) in 2002. After spending 12 long years in his search for higher truths in spiritual domain he became an HR- Recruitment specialist in Randstad, Kolkata. He moved to Mumbai and started a new venture called LYPDonline which provides a virtual platform to interact with celebrities. He has facilitated discussions on social issues e.g. ‘Anarth – UnEarth’. After the success of this initiative he focused on looking at urban issues pertaining to Mumbai, one of them being the challenges faced by commuters in suburban train travel. Under the idea of ‘Safar – Suffer’, he organised focussed group discussions to come up with solutions for these challenges. This led him to become a part of ORF Mumbai in the study of preparing a new timetable for the Western Railway Suburban System.

Parnab Mukherjee

Media analyst, Knowledge Resource Curator, Performance Consultant

An independent media analyst, a knowledge resource curator and a performance consultant by profession, Mr. Parnab Mukherjee is one of the leading alternative theatre nomads, alternative visual art curator and campus public speaking experts of the sub-continent. Not only is he an avid reader with a diverse collection of books in his own library, he's also written 5 books on theatre and, as a journalist, he has extensively written on human rights, internal displacement and the idea and notions of haves and have nots and yet to be. His contributions have been published by the Spectator London, Penguin Poetry Anthology in North East India and Montreal Serai. Mr. Mukherjee has conducted over 1200 immersive analog knowledge experiences and public speaking events in South Asia including debates, extempores, elocutions, declamations, MUNs and simulations of local and international forum.

Samaria Kedia

Child Prodigy

She is a 6 year old girl studying in Jumeirah English speaking school in Dubai. Samaira is a pusher and a player. At a short age she can boast of some serious drama skills. She is quite imaginative and loves creating stories she can use to play with her dolls. One of her imaginative stories has won her young writers award, and was also published in all the libraries in england, Northern Ireland and Scotland. Her hobbies include: Changing her skillset and using her charms to get whatever she wants, and in the event that doesn’t work she utilises the crying tool. After miraculously shooting one goal in the basket, she has developed an interest for basketball. Another one of her hobbies are drawing, something which she does almost everyday. Currently, she has a growing obsession for global warming and is stopping at nothing to try and do her bit to prevent it. Here she is eager enough to talk about her pet hobby of global warming.