Our Guests today are : Dr.Prakash &Chaitra Sontakke

Chaitra is a Vocalist, Performer, Teacher, Mentor, equally at ease with Hindustani Classical as well as Bhajan, Sufi, and Fusion music. She is presently with the Shankar Mahadevan Academy. Born in a music-loving family her interest in music was nurtured by her grandmother Smt Narayani Pai. She went on to formally begin Music education under Sri Subramanya.

She later started Hindustani Music lessons from Dr Smt Mani Sontakke and Dr. R. B. Sontakke. Under their guidance, she mastered the Gharanedar Gayaki of Pandit OmkarnathThakur's famous Bhavapoorna Gayaki style.

Presently pursuing her Ph.D. with Jain University Under Dr Arati N. Rao, she has done her Masters degree and MPhil in Vocal apart from B.E.

Dr. Prakash Sontakke is Vocalist, Multi-Instrumentalist, Composer, Director Filmmaker, Innovator, Motivational Speaker, and Traveller.

He is performing various Genres of music as well as performing Classical and Fusion on the Hawaiian Slide Guitar and various other instruments. His concerts are marked with a unique sense of creativity and exploration.

A Co-Composer, Vocalist, and Guitarist on the Grammy Winning Album “WINDS OF SAMSAARA” and the only Indian to have won the Independent World Music Awards, USA, and the Nashville Award for composers where his composition was chosen over that of the maestro Illayaraja.

An A grade artiste from Akashvani and Doordarshan with over 2000 Concerts experience Prakash has toured extensively with his troupes namely “Dr. Prakash Sontakke Group” (Progressive Hindustani Crossover ), and International Trio “Lehera” (World Fusion )

Recently his music for the Documentary on the Kashi Vishwanath corridor was shared by Shri Narendra Modi himself.

Our guest today is MAYA CHANDRA, a communications specialist & corporate filmmaker. She is one of the very few women in the country and is a leader in Karnataka who has established her name in the corporate filmmaking industry. Armed with a Master’s Degree in Mass Communication with a specialization in video film making from Boston, and work experience with Columbia Broadcasting Service (CBS), Boston, Maya returned to her roots in Bangalore. Starting off as an editor, one of the only woman editors in Bangalore, she then ventured into corporate film productions

Her Company MAYA, a film production house, based out of Bangalore, with over 18years in the business having worked in a variety of challenging domains, has successfully maintained the balance of working with both the corporate world & the State Government, with whom she still carries on her creative journey in government and political communications. She ventured into the health care sector too & pioneered in bringing in many initiatives in hospital and healthcare communications.

The multiple award-winning Maya Chandra also combines a successful academic career as she teaches film making to post-graduate students and has lectured at institutes in India & abroad.

Listen in as Maya shares her inspirational journey. Details on: https://www.mayafilms.in/

Our Guest today is the CEO of Masoom, Nikita Ketkar, who plays the role of a passionate guide and mentor for the fledgling NGO that has chosen to tread a different path by focusing on the night schools of Mumbai. Nikita’s is a story of a young and educated woman who finally found her calling in service. Having worked in different capacities as a Journalist, Lecturer and Social Worker she cleared the prestigious Union Public Services commission exams. After spending over 3 years in various administrative positions in DRDO, Airforce headquarters, and NCC directorate, Nikita felt the urge to do something beyond and left the service to work for various NGOs. It was while working on a social project she came across night schools accidentally, what she saw and heard compelled her to start Masoom in 2008 an organization focused on improving the night schools. Masoom is presently working in 85 Night Schools of Mumbai, Pune, Ahmednagar & Nagpur.

Nikita has been awarded the ‘Chakra for Excellence 2009 ‘The award was presented by ICONGO IN Delhi. She has also been awarded the Mahila Pratibha Sanmaan by Rajasthani Mahila Mandal and Gayatri Gyan Probodhini Mandal in 2010 on the eve of International women’s day. In 2011 she has been conferred with Moneylife Foundation awards, the Mumbai, Mayors award on the eve of international women’s day. In 2011 she was also awarded the Savitribai-Phule Fatima sheik award by Shikshak Bharti for her contribution to night schools. In the year 2014-15 Masoom won the prestigious Global Rising Star Award for its exemplary work in the field of education. This is an international award jointly awarded by The Global Fund for Children and Stars Foundation. Across the Asia Pacific 3 organizations bagged the award and Masoom is one of them. On 26th January 2020, Nikita was awarded ‘Varad’ Puraskar by Upnagar Shikshan Mandal for her contribution to the field of education. This year in January 2021 Nikita has been selected as Ashoka Fellow (Ashoka Fellowship) www.ashoka.org. It is an international fellowship. She will be called a 'Special Relations Officer’ for the time being.

Our guests today are Deepa & Sridhar Ranganathan. Sridhar is a silicon valley returned technologist who is the Founder and CEO of CloodOn Inc - a technology company to enhance the ability to teach and learn in the new world of online-based education. He is also the Founder and CEO of the Shankar Mahadevan Academy, which uses CloodOn/SeekLMS to teach Indian Classical Music and other forms of music worldwide.

Deepa is an engineer turned author who is a director at the Academy & develops the Music curriculum for children. She has a simple philosophy for life - live and let live, be kind and respectful to everyone around you. She loves to travel with her husband and daughter as it is the best way to learn and grow

Their purpose is best described by, Sridhar who says, "My quest is as simple as our ability to put food on people's table, learning, teaching, performing or just listening to music or admiring their own painting, their written word, something that makes them happy without a care of anybody judging them.... just get them to believe they are worth it and let them live it!”

Our guest today is Jithin C Nedumala, Co-founder of Make A Difference popularly called MAD, at the age of 19, with a vision to enable the most vulnerable children to break out of the vicious cycle of poverty. He was awarded the Ashoka fellowship for developing The Self Organizing Community Model that provides a lifelong support system for Children in Need of Care & Protection and enables them to achieve equitable outcomes.

Make a Difference (MAD) mobilizes young leaders to ensure equitable outcomes for children living in shelter homes. As of today, Make a Difference works with 5000 children living in 83 shelter homes in 23 cities across India. MAD's highly efficient delivery model annually mobilizes 400 Fellows and 3500 volunteers to deliver a range of interventions aimed at helping children overcome their challenges despite the circumstances they face.

As the CEO of MAD, Jithin’s mission is to solve the problem on its full scale by 2030.

Listen as Jithin shares the inspiring journey, the challenges, the highs, the lows, and his life lessons.

You can read all details & contact him on:

Website: www.makeadiff.in

Facebook: www.facebook.com/makeadiff

Instagram: instagram.com/makeadiffindia

Twitter: twitter.com/makeadiff

On the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, we have with us, Kavitha Krishnamoorthy, the Founder and Managing Trustee of Kilikili, a network of parents of children with disabilities, supported by professionals and volunteers. A social development professional (MSW) by training, her experience of working for more than two decades on child rights and development issues, coupled with her experience as a mother to a child with autism, led her to the question,” why are children with a disability not seen in public play spaces?

Kilikili emerged out of this enquiry, with a mission to create inclusive public play spaces where all children, irrespective of their abilities, could play together.

A certified Arts-Based therapist, Kavitha has, in recent years, been involved in exploring the relationship that children with autism have with the Arts, through initiatives she co-evolved that facilitate children’s natural artistic expression.

She currently co-directs The CanBridge Academy in Chennai - a college-like space for young adults with autism that seeks to impart life skills that would enable them to lead a life of dignity, in the community, doing what has meaning for them.

Our guest today is Aravindan Arumugam an Origami Transformation Coach and the founder of Unfold & Rewire 3691 System. He is on a mission to help 100,000 adults, who are stuck in an emotional cul-de-sac to embrace change and experience an epiphany to discover their life's purpose using the art of paper folding.

A childhood bond with the super 8 at home helmed him to the gold medal for Direction & Screenplay at the Film and Television Institute of Tamilnadu. Aravindan's work has been at the cutting edge, with a pressing need to innovate and embrace a uniquely naturalistic tone in all his work - a heightened realism, which seeks to reveal grace in the ordinary

Armed with the meticulous complexities of the west and the chaotic simplicity of the east - Aravindan has become a multidisciplinary artist creating powerful imagery with a blend of filmmaking, visual effects, motion control, projection mapping & origami. Aravindan has the credit for over 14 feature films & several commercials as Visual Effects Supervisor and is now in the midst of his feature film Direction. Aravindan extensively exchanges his ideas & techniques through workshops & masterclasses on Origami, Visual Effects & Philosophy.

Listen in as he shares his amazing life and influences that made him a filmmaker, origami artist & a palmist too!

Our guest today is Harish Bijoor a Brand-domain specialist operating out of Bengaluru, India. He runs a unique boutique consulting outfit branded “Harish Bijoor Consults Inc.”, a brand name that has a consulting presence across the markets of Hong Kong, Seattle, London, Istanbul, Dubai, and the Indian sub-continent.
Harish teaches at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad & Mohali, in addition to semesters at overseas Business schools in the US and Europe. He has published papers extensively on the subjects relating to Strategic Marketing, Branding, Consumer Behavior, Retail networks, Rural marketing, Marketing research, and Trend-analysis and contributes regularly to Business publications too. He loves quizzing and is an active Business and Marketing Quiz Master as well.

Harish has recently published a book titled, “Marketing Trends – Smart Insights into the world of Indian Business”, a serious book written in a style that is distinctly young and MTV-ish!

He is currently involved in his second book on core branding. The book is titled, ”Brand Irrationals: a fundamental journey into brand-think”

He loves Bangalore, but hates all the garbage being dumped around & believes it will be the biggest challenge of the new millennium!

Listen in as Harish Bijoor clarifies the changing branding scenario, online presence, personal branding & attitudinal Shifts in the new normal.

Email contact: harishbijoor@hotmail.com
You can follow him on Twitter.com @harishbijoor