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  • Prayas – Expressing Ourselves Through Art

    Prayas – Expressing Ourselves Through Art

    Prayas – an amazing expression of creativity and beauty by students of Vranda Arts. Loved the energy and excitement of young kids as they explained their work and thought process. 

    Thanks to Vranda Rathi for inspiring the kids and giving the same platform as senior artists at Hutheesing Visual Art Centre. Thanks to Vranda’s mentoring and the awesome talent of young minds, I am confident we will see independent art exhibition of her proteges very soon! The future is bright, beautiful and spectacularly bewitching!

  • Jalsa: A Gripping Layered Moral Drama

    Jalsa: A Gripping Layered Moral Drama

    Jalsa: A Gripping Layered Moral Drama 

    What happens when an apostle of truth tries to hide something?

    What happens when momentary lapse threatens to derail an entire career and image?

    What happens to ethics and values when life stress tests it?

    Jalsa is a story of two unequal yet equal women whose life changes due to a twist of fate. Maya Menon is the face of truth of a digital channel. An accident threatens to derail her career and life. She is a mother of specially abled son who shares a great rapport with house-maid Rukshana and grandmother. Rukshana is a maid from the margins who makes an attempt to hold on to a life of dignity. She takes pride in her work and honesty like her boss Maya. 

    Maya is imperfect, sassy, bossy, vulnerable, confused, rebellious, smart. 

    Rukshana is real, raw, righteous, proud, hopeful, humane. 

    The outburst of Maya on her defenceless son is one of the highlights.

    A great potential lay in other characters. Young journalist who is obstinate and wanting to break a story. An honest cop who is fearing a blemish on verge of his retirement. A youngster crazy about social media likes. Divorced husband. But the director ensures that the focus is on the core story and two strong fiery women. 

    The movie is not judgemental. The conflict is hidden. No over attention-seeking melodrama. Beyond gender and religion. It has one of the best beginnings that keeps you hooked. Great production values. 

    The ending will determine the way you relate to the movie. Weird like Maya and life? Improbable? Or a hurried climax – which not everyone appreciates! 

    Watch Jalsa for this…but watch Jalsa for the phenomenal brilliance of Vidya Balan and Shefali Shah. The way they have unleashed the storm of their talent – just amazing! The eyes, the expressions, the emotions, the body language, the voice modulation – sheer acting masterclass! And Rohini Hattangadi and Vidhatri Bandi make it a perfect women team. Shefali has an edge over Vidya for sure!

    One more strong reason to watch Jalsa is the highly commendable and appreciative decision to cast Surya Kasibhatla as a specially abled Ayush. Surya has cerebral palsy and his character makes a great impact. 

    Watch it!  

    #jalsa #amazonprime #indiancinema #indianfilm #newrelease #bollywood  #jalsareview #hindimovies #movies #moviereview 

    #life #choices #morality #dilemma

  • Sri Sathya Sai Heart Hospital : Dil Without Bill  – What a concept! What a living reality!

    Sri Sathya Sai Heart Hospital : Dil Without Bill  – What a concept! What a living reality!

    One of the blessings of Ignite forum is the opportunity to meet and interact with amazing people. One such wonderful experience was visit to Sri Sathya Sai Heart Hospital – India’s largest paediatric cardiac hospital.  

    The heart hospital is designed for free treatment for the low-income families – the ones who cannot afford cardiac treatment. 

    Free? There must be catch – there is our monkey mind speaking! The hospital does not have a cash counter / payments counter! Indeed, it is totally free of cost! 

    Charitable hospital? Is it any good? The hospital is world-class and can beat any institute hands-down. It again beats the myth of charitable being equated to ordinary or sub-standard.  

    Is it a religious hospital? No – It serves all people irrespective of race, religion or nationality! 

    Now that we have broken some myths, let us look at some of its impressive features:

    1. The hospital treats patients at zero cost. Whether it is a simple procedure or complex surgery, all patients are treated free. 

    2. The patients can stay as long as they want. 

    3. The hospital is in lush-green campus with world-class facilities. Almost 70K Square Yards. 310 beds. 

    4. The doctors and para-medical staff stay on the campus. In case of emergency, this is critical in saving a life!

    5. The hospital is self-contained with all other medical departments and units. 

    6. The relatives of the patients can stay in the dormitory. 

    7. The kitchen is spic and span – the food is amazingly hygienic and good

    8. The hospital runs on complete charity and donations. Not a single paise from the patients. 

    9. All donations are through cheque and legal. 

    10. The magnificent campus is designed by renowned architect Bimal Patel. A great reference project by itself! 

    See it to believe it! 

    And the most important are the human stories! The biggest impact area is saving lives of people! 20 lakh patients have benefited and more than 20K surgeries have been operated. Often, poor people do not have money to support costly cardiac treatments. In some cases, parents do not take any special effort for saving the life of a child. Neither they can afford spending a fortune on the medical treatment nor they have the means! Often they give up or resign themselves to the fate – consoling themselves or resorting to the fact that they can always have another child – thus not valuing the sick child’s life! So disturbing!  In some cases, family does not provide financial or non-financial support. In all such cases, this hospital is indeed a God-sent answer! 

    During our visit, we met several young children – hearing their life stories was a moving experience. One of the girls we met, P, wants to be Cardiologist and help the fellow kids in future. She wants to give back to the world – what she got – many times over! 

    The hospital is winning hearts and blessings by saving their lives and giving them a future! What they cannot pay in money, they pay in their blessings! 

    The hospital is a perfect example of vision and action in sync! The great idea and vision is implemented with corporate efficiency on one hand and compassionate service on another hand. Hats off to Shri Manoj Bhimani and Prashanti Trust for serving thousands of people with dignity, grace and world-class care. 

    Satya Sai Heart Hospital’s Managing Trustee Manoj Bhimani & Infostretch Ignite’s Geetanjali Sahni

    Isn’t it great?

    Want to help in the great noble cause (Yagna)?

    1. Spread the word – So that everyone who needs the help for cardiac treatment – can get it!

    2. Donate – You can help with donations – every penny counts!

    3. Volunteer – Whether you are a doctor or IT professional or business, volunteer your time and skills! 

    Sri Sathya Sai Heart Hospital – It is not a hospital, it an indeed a temple of healing! The true religion is serving humanity and this temple is the best example of selfless service!

    Contact:

    SRI SATHYA SAI HEART HOSPITAL

    Plot No:23/B Village Kasindra, Opp to Vishvakarma Temple,
    Sarkhej – Dholka Highway, Ahmedabad.

    Tel: +91-7878310637

  • Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story Review

    Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story Review

    Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story – Great Watch!

    Risk Hai To Ishq Hai….Harshad Mehta’s Equivalent of Gorden Gekko’s ‘Greed Is Good’

    The versatile and classy director of Aligarh and Citylights, Hansal Mehta, presents the riveting tale of Harshad Mehta – once celebrated aas the ‘Big Bull’ of Indian stock markets. The 10 episode series is presented from former Times Of India journalist Sucheta Dala’s perspective and is based on her book Scam.

    Harshad Mehta’s rise from an outsider to ‘BSE Ka Bachchan’& ‘Big Bull’ is shown amazingly well. It showcases how Harshad Mehta found loopholes in the Indian stock market and exploited them for his benefit. It also depicts the unholy nexus between banks, financial institutions, government officials and Godmen. Many names are clearly targeted – Chandraswami, Prime Minister Rao, Citibank etc. One can also see the early days of Ketan Parekh and Rakesh Jhunjhunwala in the series.

    Sucheta Dalal and Debashis Basu get a tip on the wrong-doings of Mehta and gang and they pursue it to relentlessly.

    Pratik Gandhi shines as Harshad Mehta and does full justice to the character – smart, shrewd, arrogant, showman. Shrey Dhanwanthary shines as the passionate and fiery journalist. The support cast is excellent and they add great texture to the layered drama – Satish Kaushik, Anant Mahadevan, Nikhil Dwivedi, Rajat Kapoor, K K Raina etc.

    Loved the old warm charm of Bombay – 80s and 90s! Writer and Director do a good balancing act – Scam 1992 does not end as adulatory Hagiography nor it is a witch-hunt. The series could have done with better editing. The songs in the credits are wonderful. Mat Kar Maya Ka Ahankar is the beautiful end song to wrap the series…….Awesome!

    scam1992

  • Rediscover Gandhi

    Rediscover Gandhi

    Mahatma Gandhi: A man synonymous with India. Nobody deserved Nobel Peace Prize more than Mahatma Gandhi. Nobody deserved more respect and love than Gandhi. But, nobody gets more criticism than Gandhi( especially by Indians). So isn’t it quite surprising for many of you to see Gandhi topping the list of people I admire.

    Gandhi was no emperor, not a military general, not a president nor a prime minister. He was neither pacifist nor a cult guru. Who was Gandhi ? If anything, Mohandas K. Gandhi was a constant experimenter. Mahatma gave us the freedom by revolutionary concept of non-violence, non-cooperation and satyagraha. He was the best communicator known to us. He won the hearts of people even in a new nation like South Africa.

    During my Gandhi sessions, I reiterate that he was the best example of servant leadership. He was equally terrific example of authentic and situational leadership. Beyond his politics and philosophy, he was a linguist and health expert. I am glad that Gujaratilexicon has played a small part in digitising his dictionary. His ideas on women empowerment, village economy, self-reliance,  untouchability and health are timeless. 

    Majority of Indians have not understood Gandhi and we label him as a bygone phenomenon. But I feel he is more relevant today than ever before. 

    Gandhi is in us. Let’s rediscover him. 

    Will we? 

    I get hope from T S Eliot’s lines:

    We shall not cease from exploration

    And the end of all our exploring

    Will be to arrive where we started 

    And know the place for the first time.

    Image: My favourite anecdote of Gandhi’s visit to Lancashire mills….

  • Social Media – Frankenstein Resurrected?

    Social Media – Frankenstein Resurrected?

    Is Social Media A Boon Or Bane? The Eternal Debate Continues In The New Netflix Documentary-

    Jeff Orlowski’s Docu-Drama ‘The Social Dilemma’ Does Not Tell Us Anything New….We Have Known Both Sides Of Story For Long….What It Does Is To Reinforce The Arguments – Primarily Against Social Media Giants. 

    The Documentary Has Two Distinct Tracks. The First Track Features Interviews With The Most Smartest And Conscientious Employees Of The Big Tech Giants. The Second Track Showcase A Fictional Story – How Social Media Manipulates & Ruins Kids Of A Perfectly Normal American Family.  

    The Great Minds Of Silicon Valley Include:

    1. Tristan Harris – Former Google Design Ethicist
    2. Justin Rosenstein – Co-Inventor of Facebook ‘Like’ Button
    3. Tim Kendall – Former Director of Monetization At Facebook, Former President Of Pinterest
    4. Renee DiResta
    5.  Jeff Seibert 

    These Interviews Highlight Risk Of Social Media Addiction. Social Media Giants Engineer Platforms To Create Addiction, Manipulate Behaviour & Reap Profits For Their Shareholders. The Dangerous Impact On Mental Health Of Children & Teenagers, Personal Privacy & Data Confidentiality Issues, The Rise Of Hate Crimes & Genocide, The Fuelling Of Fake News, Death Of Democracies Are Some Of The Negatives That Can No Longer Be Ignored. 

    The Documentary Considers Founders Of Social Media Giants To Be Trapped. Too Naive! Shareholders & Governments Are Human Beings – And Human Beings Have A Choice – But Are We Willing To Call Spade A Spade? 

    Social Media Is A Drug. Agree. It Is Challenging The Organised Religion – An Equally Dangerous Drug 🙂

    Why Our Best Brains Work For Biggest Social Media Companies? Agriculture Crisis Hits Headlines Every Year And We Have No Solution….Why We Applaud New Feature Upgrades Of Big Tech Giants While Many Genuine Research Organizations Die Every Year…

    Technology Is Neutral. A Gun In The Hands Of Police Protects, While In The Hands Of Terrorist Kills. 

    Social Media Has Reunited Families, Help Raise Awareness Of Evils, Found Blood Donors, Brought Joy To Our Life. But It Has Also  Led To Recruitment Of Extremists In Terrorist Organizations, Body-Shaming, Incited Crimes Etc. As Well. 

    Social Media Is Not 100% Evil Or The Only Evil. It Is Too Simplistic To Blame It For All Evils In The Society. Yes – It Is A Platform That Amplifies The Evil In The Society. Social Media Giants Are Taking Corrective Actions But We Need Neutral Champions To Review These Actions. 

    Practical Takeways:

    1. Regulate Screen Time For Self & Kids

    2. Do Not Take Devices To Bedroom

    3. No Devices For Kids Till High School

    4. Research & Question Sources Of Information

    5. Explore Alternatives To Big Social Media Products

    6. AI Is Already Running The World

    I Believe Our Ethics, Values & Choices Drive The Usage Of Any Technology. Social Media Can Be An Agent Of Good. Let’s Switch Off The Screens, Watch The Real World, Smell The Flowers & Drive A Positive Change. The Answers Lie With Us….

    Watch It – A Important Documentary To Watch. One’s Outlook Toward Mindless Scrolling & Notifications Will Change!

  • Infostretch – Picture Abhi Baaki Hai!

    Infostretch – Picture Abhi Baaki Hai!

    Time for the next orbit of growth and success!

    Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division and Everstone Group (Everstone) have signed a definitive agreement to acquire a significant stake in Infostretch. The investment will help accelerate the company’s business growth and expand its digital engineering service offerings for both enterprise and digital native companies. 

    Congratulations Rutesh, Manish, Manish, Shalin & Team Infostretch!

    The is a vindication of the great vision, commitment to customer’s success, unrelenting pursuit of excellence, inspiring Infostretch family and living our core values! 

    Great companies are not built on business plan document or excel sheets – they are built in the trenches – Selling the vision, traveling 20 hours for encouraging team for a new pitch, delivering the promise at all costs, writing the automation scripts, proof-reading the documents, cleaning the coffee mugs, dead serious preparation for dance shows and prioritising the ‘giving back’ cause! Rutesh & Manish have done this all and more – I and other core members have had the privilege of working alongside them!

    Rutesh, Manish and Manish have created the strong foundation with their hard work and values. The customer first mantra is seen in their in-built quest for better value proposition and exceeding expectations. The bias for innovation and passion for leveraging technology for customer problems has been a way of life. Respect, growth opportunities, attention and care for every Infoneer is something that drives all Infostretch actions and conversations. Infoneers are indeed inspired to stretched – to explore and grow their potential. 

    Rutesh, Manish and Manish have taken everyone together! And walked the talk in letter and spirit. The best part of the Infostretch journey is the opportunity to work with such a talented and inspiring extended family – Shalin, Siva, Pinakin, Kanhai, Vipul, Pal, Leila, Avery, Yaten, Mike, Herpreet, Sachin. And the wonderful connect and warm interaction with the family members including Mona, Ketki and Nisha is special – Truly it has been an amazing joyride with awesome friends and family. 

    I am really delighted that all these wonderful things will be grown exponentially. The platform is getting bigger and the opportunities even bigger!

    Time to cheer! 

    Time to celebrate! 

    Time to recommit to our goals and values!

    Time to get ready for the next milestones!

    Milestones like these indeed ignite nostalgia! I fondly recollect the journey of 11 years at Infostretch – an interesting, a defining and definitely a delightful decade of learning, growing and having fun. I still remember the day I first entered Infostretch and was delighted to see the picture of Mahatma Gandhi and the quote. Being a Gandhi fan, I immediately felt that I was at the right place and then interactions with Manish Mistry, Shalin Shah, Vipul Jani etc cemented the feeling of being at home. I won the first project on Day 3 and we bagged more projects in next few weeks and the caravan rolled on. And within first few months, I realised that the entrepreneur in me can live and thrive in Infostretch environment – I just got a bigger platform. 

    The acquisition of new clients, maturing of business model, scouting and opening of UK office, shifts to different office at Regency, Sigma and finally Infostretch house are all entrenched strongly in the memory. Equally entrenched are those Thanksgiving visits to US and wonderful time with families of Rutesh, Manish and Manish. The pre-sales, demand generation, marketing support, Government projects and other activities grew the repertoire of activities. Sales Super Saturday, Filmy Friday, Thirsty Thursday, Mobile Monday, Hot Seat, Koffee Sessions, Infostretch Cricket League, Infostretch Ignite (Pahel) etc. added to the beauty of life at Infostretch. My thoughts are flowing and I cannot stop myself – but stop I must as we celebrate this special moment!

    The Infostretch Journey has been an amazing journey. Infostretch brought sunshine, learning, growth, memories and friends for life! The wisdom, living my entrepreneurial passion, freedom to share thoughts without fear, working on special initiatives and opportunity to make a difference are things that I cherish. Looking forward to the fantastic future times where we continue to scale our visions and dreams together. Looking forward to even more exciting times ahead! 

    As they say in Bollywood, ‘Picture abhi baaki hai mere dost!’ 

  • All Managers Are HR Managers

    All Managers Are HR Managers

  • Raat Akeli Hai Review: Gripping Watch!

    Raat Akeli Hai Review: Gripping Watch!

    Raat Akeli Hai Review: Gripping Watch!

    A dark murder mystery of a family with lots of skeletons in the cupboard. Everyone is a complicit in the well-layered locked room crime.

    Nawazuddin shines as a small town cop who unravels the truth – Reminds of his Kahaani avatar! Radhika Apte and all other characters are well sketched.

    Rusty UP feel, nice direction, memorable simple dialogues and engrossing suspense! Reminds us of Knives Out, ChinaTown and Manorama Six Feet Under! Nordic Noir in Desi UP Avatar!

    Raat Akeli Hai Is Worth A Watch!

  • Shakuntala Devi: The Vidya Balan Show! Vidya-Kasam!

    Shakuntala Devi: The Vidya Balan Show! Vidya-Kasam!

    Shakuntala Devi: The Vidya Balan Show! Vidya-Kasam!

    The unraveling of personal life of India’s most famous mathemagician Shakuntal Devi – Who tries to get the mathematical equation of life right – Celebrated career vs motherhood. Why woman cannot have it all?

    Shakuntala is a genius whose aim was clear from day one -become a ‘Bada Aadmi’, not a ‘Badi Aurat’! The prodigy’s difficult childhood gives way to the fame and riches of Shakuntala Devi’s ‘human computer’ cult. The movie takes an emotional turn as Shakuntala tries to focus on family and daughter.

    Its all about loving your parents – famous words from Karan Johar. But Shakuntala Devi has challenges with her parents as well as with her only child Anupama. The movie spends more time on this, leaving other strands ignored.

    It is good that Shakuntala was not presented as photoshopped and Instagram perfect figure. No one likes hagiography !!!

    Yet one must not forget that this is one perspective and all heavily fictionalised. True life may remain a Paheli – as the song said!


    There has been a discussion on her husband’s homosexuality. Pros and cons of her approach for not sending the girl to school. Yet she should have done a better job – but she was no ordinary lady! Maybe the sheer ambition and storm that she was – helped her to go from an obscure village to a global phenomenon!

    Movies help us to discover these characters and ignite discussions to help us discover our true north. Learn both small things like snowflakes and big things like importance of following your passion! And try to avoid their mistakes! And make our own unique path!

    The movie is a complete Vidya Balan show. Her powerhouse performance is the life of the movie – Showing all shades of Shakuntala – Genius. Ambitious. Confident. Strong. Independent. Vibrant. Charming. Brave. Powerful. Flawed. Imperfect. Human!

    Vidya is ably supported by Sanya Malhotra and others. Strong editing and overall well presented. A good watch!!