Past EventsKolkata

Mrs. Zarin Daruwala, CEO of Standard Chartered India, was invited to the Ladies Study Group forum held on 16th July 2019 at the Kolkata Centre For Creativity.

Mrs Iti Dasgupta, LSG President, said: "Zarin proves sky is the ceiling."

Zarin truly believes 'Nothing is impossible!' "In order to succeed, it is very important to both learn and unlearn," she said.

Zarin credited her accomplishment to the people who helped her along the way, eminent Chartered Accountant Mr YH Malegam, her first boss, an ICICI stalwart, Mrs Lalita Gupte, and Padma Bhusan N Vaghul, former Chairman, ICICI.

In her interactive session with well-known media personality, Mrs Nilaanjana J Chakraborty, Zarin touched upon the recent developments in the economy.

She said the new RBI directive on stressed assets and corporate defaulting, "is a carrot and stick approach ..... Earlier, it (onus of resolving a default) was a bank responsibility; now it is also a client's responsibility," which has improved recent repayment records.

Zarin also spoke passionately about how female literacy changes the dynamics of a household and said she would like to work with a NGO dedicated towards eradicating blindness.

When you have two former India team cricket captains, Jhulan Goswami and Sourav Ganguly in an adda with cricket historian Boria Majumdar, the afternoon resounds alternately with applause and laughter.

At the 14th May event, Lead to Win, Sourav Ganguly lauded Jhulan Goswami as the ambassador of cricket and not just women's cricket. And Jhulan spoke how her fangirl loyalty shifted from Sachin to Sourav after the Prince of Calcutta joined the game.

Sourav believes in trying till one succeeds. He talked about his formula for success as a leader and his role in training the Delhi Capitals Team. Jhulan Goswami shared the story of her journey from Chakdah to Lords. She had no mentor, no money but she never gave up on her dream. She is an inspiration to young girls.

Boria with his usual flamboyance highlighted their achievements, struggles, failures and many insider anecdotes. The easy banter and jokes on each other also included some serious advice and motivation. Both former skippers agreed – hardwork and harder training is the only path to success; slipping in stories of how they personally dealt with failure and disappointment.

LSG President, Mrs Iti Dasgupta kicked off her theme for the year – Energize, Endeavour, Enrich—with a conversation between Mr Kishore Biyani, Founder and CEO, Future Group, Pantaloon Retail and Big Bazaar and Mr Senthil Chengalvarayan, Senior Journalist, former Founding Editor of CNBC TV18. Biyani, the man who changed retail in India, disarmed the audience at once by saying that he believed in Kolkata even though people of Kolkata didn’t, which is why he chose to launch Pantaloons in 1997 from here. With Senthil quizzing him right and left, Biyani was forthright and unruffled about his success and failures, while remaining buoyant and optimistic about the future. “Ignorance leads to success; luckily I was not so educated,” and “Making mistakes gets you wisdom,” were some of his unpretentious replies while “ We’re passionate about our business but not emotional about them” “The bigger challenge is to be young at this age,” would serve as good lessons to be learnt! Talking about future plans, he alluded to Food and Fashion, taking them to the next level- Making food an aspirational experience through the “Food Halls” and fashion leap into homes through the “Tathastu” Membership Club concept. With a mission to open 10000 stores to capitalize on the 80 billion dollar consumption capacity in India, Biyani remains customer focused. His only comment on Government was “We need to come together to celebrate and respect entrepreneurship!”

The 52nd AGM 2018 was held on Tuesday, 5th March 2019. President, Mrs Madhulika Kanoria, expressed her gratitude to the Governing Body for their support and guidance inher journey through the year. She thanked the committee members for their dedicated team work and the members for their wholehearted participation. She also thanked her family and friends for their constant encouragement and support. She welcomed Mrs Iti Dasgupta as the next President and Mrs Diya Jaiswal as the Vice President. Executive Secretary, Ms Mitalee Chatterjee, announced the names of the Committee members for 2019-20. Past President, Mrs Namrata Surekha who had served with distinction as President in 2017 and another year on the Executive Committee, stepped down. The Governing Body expressed their gratitude for her invaluable contribution. Mrs Iti Dasgupta delivered her acceptance speech and expressed her gratitude to the Governing Body for reposing faith in her. She looked forward to the continued support of her Committee members and the enthusiastic participation of the members. Energise, Endeavour, Enrich, is the motto for her year. With this the AGM 2018 was closed.