Past EventsKolkata

Congressman and Member of Parliament, Mr Naveen Jindal is an icon, who the youth of today look up to. This young parliamentarian is also a successful businessman, managing the steel and power businesses of the Jindal Group, one of the largest private sector companies in India. Mr Jindal also excels in sports like polo and skeet shooting. However, he is perhaps best known for winning the right from the Supreme Court to allow private citizens to fly the National Flag with pride. “India is on the threshold of a great future….” said Mr Jindal while sharing the dynamics of politics and the role of the youth in the changing face of India. “I feel more youngsters should join politics and if those who specialize in a particular field are given a chance to manage that department, it will be a right move.

To identify the reason behind communication problems in relationships and to find solutions on how to overcome them, LSG invited Dr Zirak Marker, Consultant Child/Adult Psychiatrist & Psychotherapist, to talk about Understanding Relationships. Currently a Consultant with Breach Candy Hospital, Mumbai, Dr Marker after specializing in Psychiatry, did an advanced training in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

He is a Consultant at Lighthouse, a parent and child guidance centre and on the Advisory Board for the Children’s Nook Group of Schools for slow learners and autistic and mentally challenged children. His experience in child and adult relationships is extensive. Most of our relationship problems stem from our inability to ‘listen’. We merely hear, switching off our mind.” He stressed on transparency in a couple’s relationship.

To parents, he said: Be a friend, so that your child can confide in you….Please don’t try to fulfill your own goals through your kids. ”He emphasized developing emotional quotient than intelligence quotient in a child.

His undying love affair with excesses remains his signature… “I do what I like. I like classicism. I like luxury.” This is how Tarun Tahiliani described his work. Today, Tarun is one of the most sought after and successful fashion designers in the country whose clients cover the domestic and international arena. His elegant designing sense truly brings out the beauty of an Indian woman. At the Ladies Study Group programme, he had his audience mesmerized by his clothes on display and listening in rapt attention to his discourse on Indian fashion and its history. Grandeur and opulence has been an intrinsic part of Indian clothing for ages. Post Independence, in the Gandhian era of socialist living, We had shut off our own culture,”says Tarun, but that is fast changing.”And his own collection showcases Indian Couture at its brilliant best.

While Jaya Jaitly, greatly involved in traditional art and craft, traveled with her children to the interiors of India, Sushma Seth had both her son and daughters attend her theatre workshops for children. Thus they both in their own ways contributed in their children’s growing up process by inter-linking home and work. Today Sushma ji feels: “It is a rewarding feeling to see yourself in your daughter when she becomes your protector with age.”

Inevitably the contentious topic of relationship with daughter-in-law came up, and Sushma ji’s daughter-in-law Geetika Seth joined the group on the dais and said: “She is more a mother than a mother-in-law”. Jaya Jaitly urged: “Stop playing roles (obviously referring to the tv serial examples) and go with what you feel. You will be able to give and receive much more.”

He is the head of one of India’s oldest companies. His core business lies in manufacturing and selling of utility vehicles and agricultural tractors, a field in which his company is a market leader. He has been judged 2007’s Businessman of the Year by Business India and The Most Inspiring Corporate Leader by NDTV Profit. Anand G Mahindra, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Mahindra and Mahindra Limited was the perfect personality to lead a discussion with LSG members on “The Art of the Juggler: Defining our priorities”. He had the audience delve into their personal experiences and take a new look at their values and perception. The interaction was thought provoking and stimulating. Members were left discussing points raised by him long after the session ended.

Eminent Manipuri dancer of the new generation and choreographer Priti Patel spoke, at our event, about a wide range of dances, their history and how and why they have evolved within their social and historical context.

Recipient of many a national and international awards Priti Patel was initiated into the world of dance at the age of five. Priti took rigorous training and guidance under Guru Bipin Singh and received guidance in different aspects of Manipuri dance, music and martial-art traditions from such experts as Khetritombi Devi, Khelchandra Singh, Kumar Maibi and Surchand Sharma. She has also taken training in movement therapy at Lesley College, Boston.

She is also the Founder Director of Anjika Centre of Manipuri Dance & Movement Therapy in Kolkata, which teaches Manipuri Dance and also works as a school for Movement Therapy for children suffering from cerebral palsy. Priti has performed and lectured at festivals throughout Asia (???) for nearly 20 years. Her company includes dancers that she has trained, as well as master drummers and martial arts experts.

The Wonder of Mumbai, Inspiration of Management, India's Best-known and Most Efficient Networking …… a few of the many terms used to describe the functions of the dabbawallas of Mumbai.

LSG had the wonderful opportunity to have Shri Gangaram Talekar, Secretary, of the Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Charity Association visit Kolkata and share with LSG members the operations of their organisation. The dabbawalla originated when India was under British rule in 1880: a service was set up to bring home lunch to Indian workers in British firms.

Their mission still remains simple: to serve their customers -- who are mainly office goers -- by delivering their lunch boxes at their work stations at lunch time. Their mission still remains simple: to serve their customers -- who are mainly office goers -- by delivering their lunch boxes at their work stations at lunch time.

The Organisation has 5,000 people on their payroll; these 'delivery boys' travel by local trains and use bicycles or walk to reach every nook and corner of Mumbai. And they have never ever gone on strike. Most of the men working here haven’t even completed their school education. Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers have a Forbes magazine endorsed Six Sigma Quality Certification. Prince Charles made a point of visiting them when he was in India in 2003 and Richard Branson used the Dabbawallas as his mascot for the promotional film to launch Virgin Airlines in India. In the modern corporate success and precision is achieved through the implementing of technology and IT. Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers can surely give us lessons on how genuine discipline and hardwork wins at the end of the day.

Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals, Kolkata, is a 325-bed multi-speciality hospital, which serves as a healthcare hub for East and North East India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal and Bhutan. It promises superior healthcare and facilities in adherence to the most stringent world standards.

The physicians here are internationally renowned and have received specialised training at the world's most prestigious universities. LSG members visited the Hospital to explore and know more about the medical services provided by this group in the city and also attend a talk on “Ensuring Quality and Patient Safety in Integrated Hospital Care” by Mrs Preetha Reddy, Managing Director, Apollo Group of Hospitals, who has 22 years of experience in healthcare industry.

In the aftermath of the Mumbai terrorist attack, LSG invited three very eminent and significant speakers to share their thoughts and observations with its members: former Director General of Punjab Police, Mr. K P S Gill; Chairman of ABP Limited, Mr. Ashok Ganguly, who was present in the Taj during the seizure, and veteran journalist Mr. M J Akbar. Mr. Akbar steered the discussion through the first hand experiences of Mr. Ganguly and Mr. Gill’s reaction to the handling of the events by our country’s defence system. While Mr. Gill expressed his disappointment with the role of the NSG, Mr. Ganguly felt there was a ray of hope in the way the young generation has reacted to the violence around them.

Dr Rashmi Poddar, Director, Jnanapravaha, Mumbai, a reknowed scholar of Indian thought, a passionate researcher in Indian Philosophy and Aesthetic concepts, was the speaker for LSG’s programme celebrating Shakti and Womanhood. Dr Poddar spoke about the depiction of Shakti in Indian art and architecture through the ages in a very illuminating talk.

Oindrilla Dutt, led a presentation titled Shakti – the Female Creative Power, through, dance, music and shloka recital in which our members participated with great enthusiasm and delight.

LSG Charitable Trust Annual Award for 2008 was conferred on 7 April 2009 on CHIP House Montessori in well merited recognition of very commendable progress. CHIP (Children In Pain) is a charity for underprivileged children, founded in March 1997 by a core group of doctors and educationists, who wanted to help create a better life for underprivileged children. Nature Environment and Wildlife Society (NEWS), World Wide Funds or WWF, and People United for Better Living and Calcutta (PUBLIC) helped with information on their work and how ordinary citizens can contribute towards better and safer life in and around Kolkata.

CHIP (Children In Pain) is a charity for underprivileged children, founded in March 1997 by a core group of doctors and educationists, who wanted to help create a better life for underprivileged children. CHIP House has relentlessly been striving to improve the lives of economically disadvantaged children by providing a high level of pre-primary education in English and Bengali, health check-ups and family support programmes. Our Hon’ble Governor Shri Gopal Krishna Gandhi, presented the Award. On the occasion Mrs BK Birla and eminent dancer Smt Amala Shankar were also felicitated by our Hon’ble Governor. Shri Gopal Krishna Gandhi spoke in his usual eloquent manner on Our Times” and had the audience listening in rapt attention.