Past EventsKolkata

Every success story that we know of, is always so unique and there is so much that we can learn from them, was the apt ethos of the final session of the year, under the able and highly successful President, Diya Jaiswal. Three individually successful businesswomen, at the top of their game shared their individual journeys and learnings with us and provided us food for thought about what we could adapt into our lives and workspaces.

Priya Paul, is a Padma Shree recipient and the dynamic powerhouse behind India's leading contemporary and boutique hotels chain, the Apeejay Surendra Park.

Having started at the tender age of 24, Priya shared with us her inspiring story of how, from being incharge of just one hotel she has come so far in her career graph and how she changed the way the hospitality industry was perceived in those days.

Anita Dongre, a trailblazer in her field, has been on the forefront of Indian fashion for over 20 years, running her own fashion house, successfully, with a list of an impressive clientele, both in India and abroad. Being a rebel at heart, Anita started at the age of 22 and gave us insight into her success story of how she moved from a balcony to her current work place, with more than 2500 employees.

Nina Lekhi is the managing director and the chief design curator of the internationally acclaimed brand, Baggit and her love for colours and usage of cruelty free materials make her brand stand out. Naming her brand after a famous Micheal Jackson song, Nina described her inspiring journey, of how early failures helped her achieve a more than 100 crore empire today.

Describing the efforts made by them to deal with the pandemic, bought out their humane factor and empathy, along with their changing business strategies to adapt to the new normal. They also discussed how sustainability is the way forward to a healthier planet and the efforts being taken by them, in this field.

Stressing the fact the women need to be financially independent, they reiterated that failures are just stepping stones to success. Pursuing your dreams, never giving up and adapting to new changes are just some of the valuable takeaways from the session.

Summing up her last session, Diya rightfully said that we as women are going to be the game changers in our country and we need to soldier on to lead our businesses to a path of consolidation and growth, having the courage to have a strong vision and to dream big.

Someone who leaves a sparkle wherever she goes and a beautiful human being was how LSG President, Diya Jaiswal introduced the speaker of the day on a bright Sunday morning, Genelia Deshmukh. Chirpy, bubbly, cute, versatile, vibrant and vivacious are just some of the other happy words that come to mind when one thinks of Genelia, known for her versatile acting skills, multi award winner, mother of two and wife of a celebrity.

In a very candid chat, Genelia described her childhood and early days and how being a good sportsperson taught her so many important life lessons, which hold good even today. Accepting failures and competing with herself and not others was a result of her strong sports background.

She also described her early foray into the movie world, that started with a host of advertisements, eventually leading to multi language films, be it in tamil, telegu, kannada or in hindi. Being extremely professional and dedicated to her craft helped her pave a successful path in the Hindi film industry, and she went on to become a part of several blockbusters. She has also won several awards at the state and national levels, including the IIFA and the Filmfare awards.

She went on to talk about her initial encounters with her future husband, Ritesh Deshmukh and how their relationship ultimately culminated into a beautiful marriage and how they became the best of friends, growing and evolving together. Parents of two beautiful boys in quick succession, they both have been very hands on in their children's development and upbringing.

She also shared her journey of having COVID and how, as a family they underwent all the trials and tribulations when even her children tested positive. Her anxiousness as a mother was something with which each and every woman could resonate to.

Corona also prompted her to be very close to nature, without hurting it and she has been a vegan for the last several years. Realising that sustainability and a plant based lifestyle is the way ahead for a healthy planet, Genelia has plans to launch her own line of vegan and nutritious foods, Imagine Me.

She left us with the message that gratitude is the only attitude during these tough times and as Diya, rightly concluded, that Genelia has shown us what true beauty is and her pure spirit, her kindness, her goodness, her moral compass and her simplicity shone bright and vibrant through the screen.

The Happiness Forum at the Ladies Study Group is conscious of bringing varied and interactive sessions to its members to keep their happiness quotient high in these testing times. The Mandala evening organised by LSG President Diya Jaiswal gave us all a chance to channelise our focus and attention to create our own intuitive rhythmic patterns in the form of stunning Meditative Mandalas. Mandalas have a hugely symbolic and spiritual significance in most Asian cultures and have been found to provide a sense of calm and joy in creation.

The facilitator Smriti took us through some of the guidelines to keep in mind while drawing a basic mandala.

The process was simple, easy to follow , so peaceful and so therapeutic. She also shared some of the design patterns which could be used to create a visually stunning balance and showcased many variations to the process of Mandala Making.

A large part of our members participated, drew along with Smriti and created their own first mandala artwork. And in the words of Smriti.." you don't need to be an artist to make a mandala. You need to be in touch with yourself, your emotions and your feelings and this will make you a create your own masterpiece.

Members were so happy to be in this interactive session. So many of them have shared their beautiful Mandalas with us which are now on our social media handles. Sessions like this are rewarding as the happiness quotient is so high and the members are provided with the much needed succour in these troubled times.

The Ladies Study Group hosted a very powerful program with the female stalwarts of Indian politics Ms. Supriya Sule, Ms. Sushmita Dev and Ms. Priyanka Chaturvedi in conversation with the award winning journalist, Mr. Shekhar Gupta. The President, Diya Jaiswal very aptly used the word powerful as a synonym for all her speakers, as each one of them is a leader and an icon and at the top of their game.

Ms. Supriya Sule, member of the Indian National Congress party and a highly experienced parliamentarian, is known for her eloquence and ability to win political debates.

Ms. Sushmita Dev, President of the All Indian Mahila Congress is a former member of Parliament and is currently the national spokesperson of the AICC and is focused on development and progress of children.

Ms. Priyanka Chaturvedi, member of parliament, Rajya Sabha and deputy leader and spokesperson of the Shiv Sena, she has been working extensively for women's safety and empowerment and to make the Women's Reservation Bill come into force.

On being asked about their role as a woman in politics and democracy, they broke the gender stereotypes and said that they were not trapped in gender biases. They also spoke about the devastating effects of the second wave of COVID 19 and the massive efforts taken by them to deal with the demands of the situation as much as humanely possible. They emphasised the point that we should only be against the virus and not against each other and not indulge in blame games.

Mr. Shekhar Gupta, a Padma Bhushan recipient and the founder, chairman and editor in chief of the the digital news platform, The Print put forth a host of interesting and varied queries to the three young politicians, which they answered with utmost confidence and conviction. They praised the role of non political organisations, social workers, grass roots level officers etc in the current crisis scenario.

They shared several memorable and emotional anecdotes and stories about their lives, both on a personal and public front. Showing their sensitive and humane sides, they came across as strong independent women, out to work and strive hard for the development and upliftment of the society and the country, with utmost honesty and dedication, inspiring scores of women in the process, paving the way to a brighter and better future.

Our LSG President Diya Jaiswal concluded the session by highlighting how important it is for each of us as women to find out voice , have a view and make sure it is heard by those around us.

Rajat Sharma, an Indian journalist and the Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, India TV was in conversation with LSG President, Diya Jaiswal.

Diya Jaiswal announced on behalf of Ladies Study Group, a substantial donation of Rupees ten lakhs to the IHA Foundation, partnering with Gurudwara Behala, Kolkata for the purchase of oxygen concentrators, oxygen cylinders and langar in these unprecedented times.

India's most voiced TV anchor shared his story of his share of struggles to reach the epitome of power and success!

"Do something in life that you appear on television and other people watch you", was an advise by his father, on an incident, which has played a huge role in shaping his life.

The Padma Bhushan Awardee recalled his life's journey, joining prestigious SRCC College, being helped by senior, India's former Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley, who was influential in him joining politics. He joined the JP Movement, led Satyagraha movement in Delhi University and during emergency spent time in Tihar Jail.

Rajat Sharma said his journalism career started as a freelancer with Ananda Bazaar Patrika, later became Editor of Onlooker, Sunday Observer and The Daily. He collaborated with Pritish Nandy, Editor of Illustrated Weekly, leading to the famous expose' of 'Godman' Chandra Swamy.

'The public prosecutor of the people of India', as referred by Shri Pranab Mukherjee, ex President of India, said that a casual conversation with Zee TV's Subhash Chandra that the concept of "Aap Ki Adalat" took shape. He spoke candidly in regards to his interviews with Imran Khan, Yogi Adityanath, Uma Bharti, three Khans, Bala saheb Thackeray, and Atal Behari Vajpayee.

Rajat shared the inside story of INDIA TV, a new credo of responsible journalism's survival to success strategy. Rajat was candid in saying media bashing is unjust and they are not biased to any corporate or political party.

Rajat Sharma generously praised the in-depth research that our President had done to moderate the session and added that he had thoroughly enjoyed being with LSG because of the high interviewing content quality. Truly gems of praise from the master of this court.

As Diya Jaiswal rightly concluded, "You have shown us that endless possibilities can be achieved with hard work, determination and passion."

During these tough times, wherein almost everyone is battling the pandemic at some level or the other, LSG President, Diya Jaiswal wished all the members, strength, healing and prayers and gave us a glimpse of the rainbow ahead via the happiness forum event with the master of face yoga, Vibhuti Arora, who is the founder of the House of Beauty India, the country's first non invasive face care company.

A trendsetter for face fitness, followed by many celebrities, Vibhuti shared with us her simple and super effective techniques. Her face exercises, her face yoga, her tools and her products have always given fantastic results to many.

She emphasised on the importance of being healthy inside out and how they have shifted focus to the overall well being and improvement of lung health, through pranayama and deep breathing exercises, in the Covid times.

Face yoga, clubbed with the right foods, right vitamins and the right nutrients will make the facial glow a side effect of a person being healthy from inside, is her belief.

Just like we exercise our bodies, exercising the almost 57 muscles of the face is equally important, which gives us the anti ageing flawless glow, which is a healthier option to Botox and other surgical procedures.

Giving us tips on eating healthy, she suggested local and cheaper options as compared to the more exotic and expensive ones. She also gave us a demonstration of how to massage our faces and how to reduce the under eye puffiness resulting in a non invasive face lift. She also spoke about several face tools like the jade rollers, guashas and face cups and how to use them to our maximum benefit.

Taking in member questions she threw light on a lot of skin related issues, that we all face on a day to day basis and left us with the hope for a comprehensive book on her learnings and techniques of face yoga very soon.

The world as we know it, is rapidly changing, and each day brings fresh questions and new concerns. In order to answer some of these questions, the LSG President, Diya Jaiswal welcomed one of the strongest and most exceptional woman of the Indian film industry, Dia Mirza to LSG.

A beauty pageant winner, a class actress, a film producer and above all, a humanitarian who has tirelessly worked to make this universe a better place, Dia is the epitome of grace and beauty.

Dia described her early childhood and her schooling and how this influenced her to be fearless and think about nature and fall in love with it so deeply. Studying in a school where there was absolutely no competition and no ranking system, she grew up competing only with herself. She shared several anecdotes about her childhood which helped shape her into the person she is today and in turn have been valuable life lessons for us too.

Balancing her studies and work life, she won the Miss India title at the young age of 18, and then went on to become Miss Asia Pacific, the very same year. Living in Bombay, all by herself taught her how to navigate egos and find her own voice and proved to be a great learning experience. Her love for theatre, drama, history and literature led to her to a career in the films. The urge to create better opportunities for women, turned her into a producer at the age of 26.

Her current role as a board member of the Sanctuary Nature Foundation, a member of the Wildlife Trust of India, a United Nations goodwill ambassador and several other such roles give her unadulterated joy and make her an avid nature lover. Sustainable living has become her way of life and she is dedicated to making us all aware of the damage humans are inflicting on nature and ultimately themselves.

A totally devoted environmentalist, she has been working steadfastly for the betterment of our planet, seeking balance through meditation and her work, with love and positivity.

Amidst the steady rise of COVID cases in the country, president Diya Jaiswal got us in a celebratory mood for Baisakhi and the Bengali New Year. She welcomed the aristocratic, the ever graceful and ever charming Padma Bhusan awardee, Sharmila Tagore, to share her journey of life ..her safar with all of us.

Sharmilaji has successfully traversed the gulf between tradition and modernity in her personal life and between artistic excellence and commercial success in her professional life, having won several accolades, including two National awards. Throughout her long and versatile career, spanning more than six decades and many wonderful movies, she has straddled many roles like being the UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and the Chairperson of CBFC.

She spoke about how she began her career at the tender age of 13 with a Satyajit Ray film and her experiences of working with the great filmmaker.

She also described her shift from regional cinema to the national scene and the challenges that came with it, along with the great success she saw as one of the leading actresses of Indian cinema. She spoke about the changing roles of the Indian film heroine from those times to today and described her adventure filled journey, peppered with interesting and funny stories.

On the personal front, she elaborated on her relationship with "Tiger" Pataudi and how after a wonderful courtship they became man and wife and how her horizons broadened post her shift to Delhi.

The love in her eyes and voice was evident when she spoke about her family, specially her grandchildren. The grand finale was made extra special with delightful messages from her daughter, Saba and daughter in law Kareena... truly a safar worthy of being heard and cherished by one and all.

The festive month of April began with a bang, with the president of LSG, Diya Jaiswal promising us a very exciting time ahead and wishing everyone a Shubho Navovarsho. She welcomed the magnificent trio of Shankar,Ehsaan and Loy with her usual charm, congratulating them on completing 25 years of a fabulous body of work.

They have composed music for over 65 films, including Raazi, Taare zameen par, dil chahta hai, zindagi na milegi dobara, with the latest being the incredible Bandish Bandits.

They have won and continue to win critical and commercial acclaim, including several awards and fame at the national and global level.

In a candid conversation with singer and songwriter, Arunima Dasgupta, they spoke about how they came together as a group in 1996 for the first time. The anecdotes and fun filled stories shared by the trio ensured that the easy camaraderie and synchronisation between them came across to the audiences.

Describing their bond as similar to a marriage, they told us about the hard work being put in to make this relationship work, which includes communication, mutual respect and giving space to each other.

They also gave us a short demo as to how they work in the studios, by creating a totally new tune exclusively for LSG.

They described their journey of working with different directors, male and female, different stories, n genres and explained the research, the emotions and the hard work that goes in behind the screens. Answering the audience questions, they shared a lot of interesting trivia about their lives and careers, including their love for khana, bajana and gaana.

The highlight was a soulful rendition of “Ae Watan, Mere Watan” and was ended by the beautiful n heart tugging, Kal ho na ho.... a truly engaging n enjoyable session, by LSG yet again.

The 2020 LSG Annual Award Ceremony, was inaugurated by President Diya Jaiswal. On this very special occasion, LSG honoured and supported the outstanding initiative, and the selfless dedication of charitable institutions and non-government organizations, working towards uplifting the underprivileged sections of society. This year’s theme was recognition of exemplary work done towards the welfare of women and children in exceptionally challenging times.

The prestigious LSG Charitable Trust Award for the year was given to ‘Calcutta Rescue’, spearheaded by Mr Jaideep Chakravarti. He shared that their organization served the poorest communities in Kolkata and it’s surrounding districts. Their beneficiaries including pregnant and children needing medical aid, were acutely distressed due to the pandemic. They reached out to them through novel initiatives, including mobile school vans for young children who lacked the resources to go online.

Earmarked to support the education of underprivileged girls showing a keen interest and commitment towards their studies; the esteemed Shanti Devi Khaitan Award went towards supporting the training, of girl students at the Woodlands College of Nursing for three years.

LSG has a long tradition of strongly supporting society and reacting promptly during emergency situations through meaningful donations to the distressed. It was indeed a moment of honour, that an additional 25 lakhs went towards supporting various organizations, ranging from working with devastated cyclone victims in the Sunderbans, to others like the Saroj Gupta Cancer Center.

The President concluded this poignant session by saying that,‘the pandemic has made us all introspect and think, not from a position of panic, but of opportunity.’ She expressed gratitude to all the members and hoped that LSG continued to inspire through it’s efforts in being ‘the rainbow in someone else's cloud.’

The Trailblazers 2021- Arman Sood; Raghav Chandra; Masumeh Makhija; Nikita Gill and Parmita Sarma were in conversation with President LSG, Diya Jaiswal.

Diya Jaiswal, a trailblazer herself, who lends creativity and commitment to pandemic response, quizzed the celebrated Young High Achievers.

Arman Sood, Co-Founder at Sleepy Owl Coffee, listed Forbes 30 Under 30, said despite studying law, transitioned into entrepreneurship. In the Industry for Food and Beverage, identified a gap in the cold brew coffee segment, ever since has been caffeinating all of India.

Raghav Chandra, Co Founder Urban Company, grown internationally, listed Forbes 30 Under 30, proclaimed his passion for India, wanted to become a caretaker of households, making it hassle-free for the consumers and employing the workers as equal stakeholders.

Masumeh Makhija, actor and entrepreneur, founder of Creative Tribe and Eco Living said, “Its important to be a holistic person-being there more for others than yourself,” and “Its important to bring about a change from your inside to outside.”

Nikita Gill, British-Indian poet, playwright, writer and illustrator said, “Instead of seeing your work as rejected, see it as returned for further work,” and “The world is not fair but we need to work towards it.”

Parmita Sarma, humanitarian and social activist and co-founder of Akshar Foundation, believes in giving holistic quality education, and vocational training to the poor, where they accept plastic bags for school fees, which are recycled.

The path breaking leaders voiced perseverance, obsession to create value, empathy, honesty to oneself and unconditional parental support led them to make unconventional career choices, to follow their passion, and produce new knowledge that changes conceptualisations in an area that is valued by society, enabling the field to progress in leaps and bounds.

Embracing the New Normal is the only way forward and the Ladies Study Group Plus Happiness Forum has worked hard to optimise every opportunity to do this for our members. While masking up and social distancing remains the norm, physical outings in restricted numbers to heritage museums like Ghare Baire has proved to be the perfect blend of balancing health, learning, and camaraderie.

Nestled in the renovated Currency Building at BBD Bagh, Ghare Baire is Kolkata’s newest gem. It has been curated and produced by DAG (erstwhile Delhi Art Gallery) commissioned by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India and the Archaeological Survey of India. The building houses almost three hundred years of Bengal art from the arrival of the British to the years after Indian Independence, with over 700 art works across 12 galleries, featuring artists Rabindranath Tagore, Abanindranath Tagore, Nandalal Bose, Jamini Roy and many, many others.

Realising the huge interest and enthusiasm that this visit had generated, we organised an hour-long guided walk on three different dates through the beautiful corridors and the ebony wooden stairs of this heritage building. Effusive thankyous and lots of gushing and exclamations of wonder at the array of artworks on display marked the entire three sessions. Kolkata is truly blessed to have this gold mine in the very heart of the city and a visit to it should definitely be on every “to-do list “.