Theme: Unframed

From time immemorial, despite being diverse in every sense of the term, we have come to be defined by frames that have governed our lives and identities. While frames created by fixed mindsets, ideologies and narrow perspectives attempted to confine us, we have yet cried many a tear, echoed a thousand laughs, screamed with joyous rapture, glowered in seething anger in our varied unique ways. These emotions are rooted in the paradox that we know is true in life - that although we are defined by a ‘frame’, each of us, unique individuals, are essentially free to be ourselves.

It is with the intent of celebrating that free spirit within us that can never be bound by fencing in of any kind, that we came up with the concept of ‘UNFRAMED’.

Unframed means boundless. Unframed means free. It refers to that bird which flies in the open skies and it refers to the smoke gushing out of a broken vessel. It also refers to us, to our lives.

Our event, UNFRAMED, intends to encourage the youth to break boundaries in every sphere of their lives. It hopes to teach them to look beyond the confines of man-made walls and to be able to tear those walls down on their journey to self-discovery. It will perhaps urge them to embrace what is different and love what is diverse.

UNFRAMED presents a series of talks by speakers who have boldly stepped into uncharted territories of their choice, refusing to be limited by frames of any sort. Our event brings to the audience, a new perspective to life and the understanding that a plethora of opportunities wait for us only once we are courageous enough to break free of every shackle that holds us down. It attempts to offer a glimpse of what may be in store for us if we can challenge ourselves to rise above barriers and allow our thoughts to be UNFRAMED.

The Shriram Millennium School, Noida
S-1, Sector-135
Auditorium
Noida, Uttar Pradesh, 201301
India

Avalok Langer

CONFLICT JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR

Born into a military family, Avalok Langer grew up playing hide and seek in tank garages. He was exposed to war and conflict at a young age and after being banned from joining the army by his father, he found himself in awe of the conflict journalists on TV and hoped to join their ranks one day. A BA in political science from Delhi University led him to a job in NDTV. He realised he needed to jump the long queue that led to his initial interest, conflict journalism, and spent a year travelling along the western border from Gujarat to Jammu and then on to Northeast, where he met various underground groups, revolutionary leaders, military and political personnel, who gave him a perspective highlighting the ground realities of conflict. He joined Tehelka Magazine where he reported primarily on the Northeast. His travels, experiences and conversations as a reporter led to his first book 'In Pursuit of Conflict’. He is currently based in Delhi making documentaries on various subjects

Manak Matiyani

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, THE YP FOUNDATION

Manak Matiyani is the Executive Director of The YP Foundation, an organisation that builds youth leadership to advance the rights of young women and girls, and other marginalised young people. A feminist and a queer activist, he has been working in the development sector for over a decade. His work aims to facilitate youth leadership with a focus on issues of gender equity, sexuality rights, sexual and reproductive health and rights and social justice. He has worked with diverse organisations, community based groups and youth groups as a trainer and mentor to improve on ground impact and enhance understanding on issues of gender, sexuality, masculinities, youth development and leadership.

Manav Gupta

EMINENT ARTIST, FOUNDER & CREATIVE DIRECTOR 'ARTH'

One of India’s top ten eminent contemporary artists, he is a visionary and a thinker who has taken art beyond art and has created a movement over his two decades of career by deploying art to raise conscious environment. A Former Expert Committee Member of the Republic Day celebrations and the first artist-in-residence at the Rashtrapati Bhawan, he is the only artist to be invited by Environment Ministry to create films on climate change and has been acknowledged as a pioneer for reinventing pottery as global Public Art for Sustainable Development, taking local to global and craft to Avant grade art. With three global travelling trilogies, his work has been sold by Christie’s, Bonham’s, and in several private and public collections. His biggest solo commissioned artworks include a ten thousand sq. ft. five-floor mega mural at Airtel and the Indo-Bhutan friendship mural in Bhutan. His work has gained recognition in the books of records and amongst the international media.

Renu Bali

FOUNDER & DIRECTOR, TENDER HEART

Renu Bali, a qualified educationist, served as a lecturer in one of the best universities of the country. She realized that she is fortunate enough to get quality education herself, so she should serve the underprivileged. Hence, she started Tender Heart by following the simple human principle of “sharing is caring”, 25 years ago with just two children. She left the world of comfort and walked into village Bhatola, which had the lowest literacy rate. The male-dominated environment here also was not welcoming to this change, but Tender Heart stood strong against all the adversities. With the dedication and perseverance of Renu Bali and her staff, the school started to grow steadily and now has over 450 students of different abilities, belonging to the underprivileged communities. Tender Heart along with the school started helping the other sections of the society of the villages as well, that needed its help to serve them and hence the following programs started.

Ritu Khoda

FOUNDER, ARTIST

An educationist, award-winning author, producer of critically acclaimed films and founder of Art1st, Ritu Khoda has developed and implemented innovative pedagogical models, across schools in India, to stimulate imaginative learning and encourage independent thinking in both students and educators through Art and to make art a core subject in our education system. Her award-winning books Eye Spy Indian Art and Raza’s Bindu that she co-authored as well as the curriculum books Magical World of the Wild, People and Places, Visual Exploration series and Visual Experience series for children from pre-school to middle bring the best of Indian art and artists to children in a fun way! Ritu holds a master’s degree in business administration from IIM Kolkata and a B.A. (Hons.) in Psychology from Lady Sri Ram College, New Delhi.

Riya Yadav

ADVENTURE BIKER

At the age of 19 by conquering the world’s highest motorable road, Riya Yadav, a Political Science student, has become an inspiration to many young aspiring riders. She holds the World Record for being the ‘Youngest Female Bike Rider’ to ride to Khardungla Top, situated at an altitude of 18,380ft. She conquers the trails with courage and sends across a message to be fearless in the pursuit of your desires. She inspires others not merely to survive but to thrive and to do so with some passion. A participant at the reality show- Sabse Smart Kaun, she was part of the ASICS global campaign –“#I_Move_Me.” She has been awarded the Principal’s Honour Role at the Indraprastha College for Women and the Young Achiever’s Award by the Mayor of Gurugram. A celebrity in the making, she has been featured in various online journals and national daily newspapers. Riya is committed to inspiring people to move beyond their fear and achieve their goals

Shashank Arora

TELEVISION AND FILM ACTOR

A Shriram alumni, Shashank Sunny Arora was interested in music and theatre from a very young age. After finishing his education at the Shriram School in early 2006, he left for Montreal, Canada to study cinema and music. While there, he briefly joined a street theatre group formed by human rights activists. In 2008, he moved to Mumbai where he studied acting for two years, to pursue a career in films. Since then he has been part of many short films, TV shows, advertisements and feature films such as Titli, Rock On II, Brahman Naman, etc. His feature films have competed at more than two hundred film festivals around the world including Cannes, Berlin, Toronto, Locarno, London, New York and the Sundance Film Festival. He was also nominated as best newcomer at the five major Indian film awards for his first feature film Titli.

Varun Chopra

CEO, THE SPORTS COMPANY ASIA

Varun Chopra is the Founder and CEO of TSC Asia, one of India’s leading Sports Management Company. Having represented the Indian National Football Team at various youth levels, he has always harboured the dream of promoting and representing the best Indian talent that there is to offer at the international stage. An Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM) graduate, Varun completed his UEFA Coaching Badges from the County of Manchester. A visionary, Varun strongly believes in the power that sports holds to deeply impact, inspire and empower the world. His vision is to build communities of like minded individuals who support and encourage each other across the world.