Remarkable People

Illustration: Nisheel Shetty This episode of Torchbearer Thursday is dedicated to those individuals who thrive a little differently amongst us; in conversation with Dr. Tatyana Dias, neurobiologist and co-founder of Veruschka Foundation where she lets us into the dreams and lives of individuals afflicted with developmental disabilities.  Sister Act - Tatyana and Versuscha Tatyana's younger sister, Veruschka was born in Mumbai, 1988; a time and place where there wasn't enough

If I were asked to pick a goddess to symbolize Pratima Penumarthy, the 10-headed Goddess Durga would be my pick. Multi-faceted, gracefully juggling many roles, I'd wonder what I might invite her to talk about. A few months ago, when we spoke, we struggled about the timing. Our Lumiere Learning Monday and the Torchbearer Thursday are live events and we go on air at 10:45 am IST. We found a work around when we decided we had to do a recorded event. Another issue was, what might

Introduction “They may forget your name, but they will never forget how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou American poet, Maya Angelou's words epitomise the will to serve. We celebrate the efforts to save a life and the mutual feeling of giving and receiving in this Torchbearer Thursday episode with Dr. Maria Nigam. Dr, Maria Nigam and her Prana Pan-India team make an appeal to come forward and serve in the cause of humanity by donating blood. Dr. Maria Nigam, Principal found

Introduction Three words, Satyam Shivam Sundaram are a link to the value system for Indian Arts. In India, any classical and traditional art form is a medium to connect oneself to the divine. The first known piece of art, found in Bhimbetka rock shelters, in Madhya Pradesh is 30,000 years old. The Indus Valley Age and the Vedic Age put a very strong foundation for the development of Arts in various other forms such as Literature and Architecture. Our guest, Pratibha Iyer, Fou

By Shreya Basu and Deepa Soman Singing connects an individual directly to another’s soul.  Radhika Sood Nayak with her Tanpura The Lumière Learning Monday on 24th of May, had Sufi Singer & Composer - Radhika Sood Nayak as guest. Radhika talks about her journey as a child "with a voice" and her journey as Hindustani classical singer, to a Sufi music composer and singer. “Sufi poetry is woven around themes of love for the divine, renouncing empty rituals and man-made hierarchie

Anatarang Holistic Wellness

Authors : Shreya Basu and Deepa Soman "The best way to predict the future is to create it." - Peter Drucker Prem Kumar Vislawath (Founder of Hepicopter) is a creator. He believes that technology and ingenuity can help us fight and defeat the COVID-19 pandemic. His company, Marut Dronetech, is building use cases to show the potential of their remotely piloted devices, in these times of social distancing and mass lockdowns. "We are trying the build the healthcare gap in India’a

A year ago this day Zoom Stage (Image source : Zoom Blog) On 5th May 2020 we invited Meenakshi Shedde as our Lumière Learning Monday guest speaker. I interviewed Meenakshi using the Zoom Webinar format. Journalist, film critic, social worker, Meenakshi is a multi-faceted woman with a sunshine personality. And how we wish she could have done the session at our Nav Durga office in Nerul! We miss the camaraderie, hysterical laughter, hugs, back-slapping. No more sitting around m

~ Vedashree Patankar and Deepa Soman Radhika Bawa is performing on the piano at a Christmas Day concert at Sharan, an elder care facility in Vashi, Navi Mumbai. This is an annual show put up by the music teacher, Bela Peshattiwar. Radhika and her son play a piece, flawlessly and Radhika is all grace. She laughs as Deepa brings this up as a memory of her first time of meeting this woman. Bela ma'am has spoken of Radhika's kindness and generosity when she first started her musi

" Rohan, which is our top-performing Learning Monday video? '. " Jhankar Gadkari" , says Rohan, without missing a beat. " Everyone is tired of being indoors and they love the idea of travel ". P. R. Sakthivel, our Torchbearer Thursday guest speaker says, "Deepa, I don't know how I missed introducing Jhankar. He is a fantastic speaker. He is knowledgeable on so many subjects". A study of Jhankar Gadkri's Linkedin Profile and his interesting TEDx talk at Amity University tell m

What is Palliative care?  Mayo clinic defines it as  specialized medical care that focuses on providing patients relief from pain and other symptoms of a serious illness, no matter the diagnosis or stage of disease. Palliative care teams aim to improve the quality of life for both patients and their families. This form of care is offered alongside curative or other treatments you may be receiving. Palliative care is provided by a team of doctors, nurses and other specially tr

Author: Shreya Basu A young boy is living in a culturally-vibrant Calcutta, within a joint family. He never knew that decades later, he would be known as a force to be reckoned with, and a dependable mentor in the Indian journalism and entrepreneurial industry. Lumiere’s Learning Monday on the 12th of April 2021, featured Mr. Indrajit Gupta, co-founder and Director, Founding Fuel - a hub for entrepreneurs. Indrajit has been a business journalist and has worked with giants lik

Parthip Thyagarajan , Founder, WeddingSutra.com was our Lumiere Learning Monday guest speaker on 6th April 2020. It was our first ever Zoom Learning Monday. We first met Parthip in 2011 when he came unannounced to our Lumiere - Punit Park office one sunny late afternoon. I saw his silhouette through the frosted glass of my office. “ I saw the board that read Lumière Business Solutions. What kind of services do you offer ?”. WeddingSutra.com is a wedding media company Parthip

Grains to Greens, a venture to make urban garden accessible.

- Mira Venkat What is Torchbearer Thursday? Lumiere Torchbearer Thursday is a weekly initiative that aims to showcase the outstanding contributions made by organisations during the pandemic. Diving deep into technology On May 28, 2020, Lumiere welcomed the “first family of deep technology” from Chennai. The family runs Zuppa Geo Navigation Technologies, which aims to structure a Post-COVID society by enabling efficient use of resources through data driven operations and techn

Visual note: Janhavi Kulkarni - Ayushi Limbachiya This Lumière Learning Monday, we took a dive into “A Whole New World” with the global creative powerhouse, actor, singer, voice actor, and trainer, Chetan Sashital. Every element of our being is connected to the other. Similarly, our voice is not merely a sound but defines our entire existence. With his spontaneous voice-overs, captivating stories, and fun exercises with the Lumière audience, Chetan took our imagination to a r

Meenakshi Shedde, our Lumière Learning Monday guest evaluated her career choices from a utilitarian perspective. She chose to study Economics at St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, India and learned actively from the extra-curricular activities. Her career path was never planned to land on becoming a film critic; “I was never hired to be a film critic ever in my life.” So how did her life circle back to being one of the most esteemed film critics nationally and globally? Deepa Soma