Confederation of Indian Industry Connect

SPECIAL EDITION

DreamAspireAchieve

IgnitingIndia’s

GenNext

th5 October 2013 : VADODARA

THE YOUNG INDIANS WESTERN REGIONAL SUMMIT

DreamAspireAchieve

IgnitingIndia’s

GenNext

th5 October 2013 : VADODARA

THE YOUNG INDIANS WESTERN REGIONAL SUMMIT

REGIONAL SUMMIT REPORT

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NDreamAspireAchieve

IgnitingIndia’s

GenNext

th5 October 2013 : VADODARA

THE YOUNG INDIANS WESTERN REGIONAL SUMMIT

The Young Indians (Vadodara Chapter) hosted the Young Indians Western Regional Summit on the theme - 'Igniting the GenNext - Dream. Aspire. Achieve' on 4th and 5th of October 2013. The summit was attended by young and progressive Yi members comprising of entrepreneurs, professionals and young achievers from different walks of life, CII members and academicians from 15 cities of the country.

Anuj Kothari, Chairman, Yi Western Regional Summit and Director, KNC Intrade Pvt. Ltd., delivered the welcome address for the summit congratulating the Vadodara Chapter for putting up a good show. He said that the theme selected for the youth summit, “Igniting the GenNext: Dream, Aspire, Achieve”, underlined the need for the youth of India to come together as one generation and to ignite within a revolution that unleashed the immense potential of the youth. Such synergy will give rise to an aspiration and strength beyond the scope of thoughts, he said and also congratulated the team behind the summit for the great show put up.

Srikant Suryanarayan, National Chairman, Young Indians, started off by rendering his best wishes to all on the auspicious occasion of Navratri and the advent of festive season. He believed that the Yi Regional Summit was the best leadership platform to learn and Yi, as an organization, makes us dream, aspire and achieve. He mentioned that the regional summits had become great platforms, not only to learn from people that are role models but also an opportunity for the members of this organization to meet and look at effectively contributing to the India growth. Having been part of many such summits, he also mentioned that being in it refreshed him each time and that India was always on the move with so many positive factors that one gets to see at such summits.

Rajiv Thakkar, Co-Chair, Yi Western Regional Summit and the President of Cherian Chemicals, felt immense pleasure in extending heartfelt greetings to all the delegates. He congratulated members of Yi Vadodara Chapter for showing commitment, involvement and tireless contribution in bringing out a great show. He invited all the speakers from different fraternities and the academicians from different chapters of Yi for the ''Garba Night'' post the conclusion of the Summit. He also mentioned that this was the first national opportunity for them from Yi and that the team worked tirelessly to bring out a good show. He also highlighted the various themes of the summits and the reasoning behind having them and that of the stand alone sessions.

DreamAspireAchieve

IgnitingIndia’s

GenNext

th5 October 2013 : VADODARA

THE YOUNG INDIANS WESTERN REGIONAL SUMMIT

Yatindra Sharma, Chairman, Agri and Food Processing Sub Committee, CII (Western Region) and Past Chairman, CII Gujarat State Council and Managing Director, KHS Machinery Pvt. Ltd, quoted a study of about 100 entrepreneurs by Harvard University which concluded that the financial achievements were of the least priority for every successful business personality. He acknowledged the fact that generation Z accesses information and communication on the click of a button and quoted examples of “The Beatles”, “Bill Gates”&“Narendra Modi” as esteemed personalities or group of personalities who encountered failures in the initial stages of their professional lives. He firmly believed that the youth represented the most passionate set of people in a country.

Balakrishna Shukla, Hon'ble Member of Parliament, Vadodara, declared his constituency as a cultural capital of the state. He praised youth and its enthusiasm in support of Shri Anna Hazare and in the Nirbhaya case. He gave prime importance to conflict management, team building, self-analysis and the role of the better half in the professional life. He showed his concerns towards the emerging leadership crisis, confusion in role model selection, dormant and passive youth energy and felt these were basic challenges in front of young Indians. He applauded Gujarat and the western region including M.P. and Goa, for their good governance, growth rate and inputs towards the economic strengthening of the country. He also called upon the youth to be assertive in their approach to nation building and said that, while he admired this quality in this generation, he said that it needs to spread over.

Being the Chief Guest and the Keynote speaker for the occasion, he launched the special edition of “Vadodara VoYice” which contained a special message from the Hon'ble Chief Minister of Gujarat, Shri Narendra Modi, who addressed and congratulated CII and all its young Indian members for organizing Yi Western Regional Summit at Vadodara. The tabloid had speaker profiles and the places to visit in the city.

Aditi Tiwari, Co Chair, Yi (Vadodara Chapter) & Director, Goldy Projects Pvt. Ltd., expressed profound sense of happiness and gratitude for the commendable response that the Vadodara Summit got from across the country. As part of the conclusion, she briefed on the upcoming intellectual and interactive sessions.

The first panel discussion of the day on “Dream, Aspire, Achieve” was moderated by Bhairavi Jani, Past National Chairman, Young Indians & Director, SCA Group of Companies who set the context by stressing on the role of youth as building blocks of a nation and how they influenced progress. She was of the view that only youth had the potential to inspire and motivate all age groups alike and drive them towards a common goal. She initiated each panelists opening remarks and moderated the interaction.

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NDreamAspireAchieve

IgnitingIndia’s

GenNext

th5 October 2013 : VADODARA

THE YOUNG INDIANS WESTERN REGIONAL SUMMIT

DreamAspireAchieve

IgnitingIndia’s

GenNext

th5 October 2013 : VADODARA

THE YOUNG INDIANS WESTERN REGIONAL SUMMIT

Krushnaa Patil, one of the youngest Indian woman to conquer the Mount Everest proved she was a prolific speaker. During her awe-inspiring speech, she emphasized on garbage-free India and on the need for sustainable development to ensure inclusive growth. She strongly believed that height alone never contributed to the toughness of her climb and quoted some examples of how even shorter climbs have been more difficult. She deemed that if one had passion, he/she could go to great heights in life. Having climbed many a mountains as a young woman, she also said that it was difficult for her to balance the requirements of this sport, keeping her sights high on reaching new heights in her career.

Gauri Jayaraman, Founder, Active Holiday Company & Author, ''Wise enough to be Foolish'', was known for her exuberance and showed personal interest by giving her heart and soul in whatever she did. She strongly condemned the way our society functioned by saying a person should not be judged only on the basis of his/her achievements, but also on discovering the inner-self. Her vision was to enlighten the youth and children to achieve great heights in Olympics. She shared her personal experience of being at the forefront of sports and lamented about the education system and how it was so focused on marks and not on the holistic approach to the overall development of an youngster.

Nirav Shah, Real Estate Developer & Philanthropist, started off with his motivational skills, presented the chart of his life and mentioned that decisions in life should be on the basis of one's dreams. He thanked his father for not only helping him in discovering himself but also for encouraging his son to chase his own dreams. He believed that one should have a practical and flexible approach towards his/her life and wished for peace, harmony and prosperity for a better tomorrow. Belonging to one of the best known companies in India, Inductotherm, he moved away from it to follow his dreams and shared his story on how he almost became bankrupt in his new attempts in life, but bounced back in life to achieve growth and where he was today.

Nirmal Kumar, Managing Director, Nirmal Group and the Founder and Managing Trustee of Nirmal Foundation, well-known for its organization of auto-rickshaw drivers under the social umbrella called “G- AUTO”, said when G-Auto started off, he had no clue as to where he was heading; but was quick to grab the opportunity of the public transportation system later on. He believed his life in IIM taught him a great deal on managing auto drivers and sponsors, equally well. He opined that the youth should be so equipped that they act as job providers instead of job seekers, meaning they needed to start their own

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NDreamAspireAchieve

IgnitingIndia’s

GenNext

th5 October 2013 : VADODARA

THE YOUNG INDIANS WESTERN REGIONAL SUMMIT

DreamAspireAchieve

IgnitingIndia’s

GenNext

th5 October 2013 : VADODARA

THE YOUNG INDIANS WESTERN REGIONAL SUMMIT

enterprises. Being someone who was involved with Young Indians in Ahmedabad at its early stages, he said platforms like Yi gave one the opportunity to interact and meet with like minded people and set the horizon broad and global. This session was concluded on the note of consensus amongst every plenary member that “Creativity is at its best in down dump times”. This was followed by the final interaction with delegates and the concluding remarks by Bhairavi Jani.

The second panel discussion of the day was moderated by Govindraj Ethiraj (Govind), Founder, Ping Digital Networks. This panel started with a documentary film by Harsh Purohit on Vadodara showing where Vadodara stands and what needed to be done for global recognition of the city.

Randhir Chauhan, Managing Director, Netafim Irrigation India Pvt. Ltd., said that India was one country but was characterized by varying markets where entrepreneurs operated and carried out business. He addressed a question to the audience requesting them to do a self- analysis on their competitiveness and marketability. The high views on standards are required but they ought to be flexible. He believed that ethics was a long term issue and the initiative is to be taken at the grass-root level. He stressed on the role of education in achieving success in the field of ethical maturity amongst youth and strongly tabled the point of relativistic growth and denounced the argument of India's economic fall. He believed that when majority of world economies were falling, India was no exception to it.

Prashant C Amin, Vice Chairman, CII Central Gujarat Zonal Council & Executive Director, Elecon Engineering Company Ltd pointed out that a desperate shift was needed from the tertiary sector of economy to the secondary sector i.e. from office to factories. He said India was fortunate enough to have a neighbor like China which acts as a role model in whatever it does. He pointed out the political constraints of India were that political choices are more judgmental than logical and mentioned that the involvement of youth in politics and expectation management can be the key in channelizing youth energy. His prime focus throughout the session was on inculcating the law abiding tendency and discipline in juveniles from a very young age.

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NDreamAspireAchieve

IgnitingIndia’s

GenNext

th5 October 2013 : VADODARA

THE YOUNG INDIANS WESTERN REGIONAL SUMMIT

DreamAspireAchieve

IgnitingIndia’s

GenNext

th5 October 2013 : VADODARA

THE YOUNG INDIANS WESTERN REGIONAL SUMMIT

Harsh Purohit, Executive Director, Cognito India, defined the word “global” as ''dissolving all boundaries'' and claimed that Vadodara was the only city having opportunities of global interactions. A thought leader in branding and communication, Harsh is a regular speaker at various forums across India and other countries. He had a spectacular approach for every theme and believed that every coin had two faces but one should judge the consequences on the basis of circumstances. He also shared a booklet that had the quotes from people of different backgrounds in the city and how, therefore, the city in itself was in a unique position to make itself heard in the country.

There was a brief question answer session with the audience and the questions varied from the fall of the rupee, the timeline of India to bounce back on the economic front, the need for change in labour laws etc. It was a very engaging session with the moderator, speakers and the audience giving in their opinions on industry and commerce.

The next session of the summit was a stand-alone session moderated by Bhavana Banerjee, Chair, Yi (Bhopal Chapter) & Director, Training & Placement, VNS Group of Institutions who started by welcoming the speaker and renowned co-author of The Chicken Soup Series in India, Raksha Bharadia. The session began with a brief introduction of Raksha. Author of 'All and Nothing', 'Me; A Handbook for Life and Roots and Wings', Raksha was proud to say she acted as a mentor for the visually challenged, in Andh Kanya Gruh and that she currently teaches English in a street school run by an NGO named ''Madhav Sadhna in Ram-Rahim ka Tekra''. She recently rekindled her romance with the world of rhythm and is currently reinventing herself as a kathak danseuse.

Raksha was excited to speak on her ''Chicken Soup for the Indian Soul Series''. She read an excerpt from her latest book which she was currently compiling. She shared three of the chicken soup moments of her life and enthralled the audience by her great story-telling abilities. Chicken Soup moments are simply the defining moments of one's life which helps us to move forward towards our destiny and dream, she said. She also gave some pointers to the audience that would help them to move ahead in life. She also said that ''Where we need to be, we were born with it; everyone has their own personal sky, and everyone has it in them to make it to their own sky. We can lie to the whole world, but we can never lie to our self. Whatever the world says, in our hearts we know if we are progressing.'' She also regarded sharing as a form of healing.

Raksha encouraged the audience to share their own chicken soup moments. Many from the audience shared their life defining moments. A student from Ahmedabad Chapter shared a Go-Kart incident which made him a stronger person. A student from Chennai Chapter shared an incident from his close friend's life. The session concluded by Raksha encouraging the entrepreneurs to share their chicken soup moments via mail so that it could become the part of her latest 'Chicken Soup for the Entrepreneur Soul'. The concluding remarks were given by Bhavana Banerjee.

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NDreamAspireAchieve

IgnitingIndia’s

GenNext

th5 October 2013 : VADODARA

THE YOUNG INDIANS WESTERN REGIONAL SUMMIT

DreamAspireAchieve

IgnitingIndia’s

GenNext

th5 October 2013 : VADODARA

THE YOUNG INDIANS WESTERN REGIONAL SUMMIT

Geetesh Saraf, Chair, Yi (Indore Chapter) & Director, Urja Facility Mgt Services (P) Ltd delivered the welcome address of the session on 'Building brand I'. He introduced the session by speaking on how one's persona can be a brand in itself that will draw people to follow even the tiniest bits associated with it and emphasized that the most powerful, self-contained formula to ruling the business world is to rise as a figure that consumers or followers look up to.

Vimal Kumar, Author of “The Cricketer of the Century” & Journalist, went on with the session by explaining how public image is vitally responsible for making a powerful impact on the followers and the role of media. Giving examples from the Indian Cricket team, he elaborated how Yuvraj Singh changed his image of a 'Party Boy' by building the brand 'I' ,thanks to the media and how his 'makeover became his mantra'. Mahendra Singh Dhoni was mentioned for his mature and down to earth attitude towards media, for showing up for an interview every time in spite of winning or losing a match and for also being answerable to the same. As someone who worked with cricketers around the world, he also said that he felt Dhoni was really a 'cool' captain and how, as the captain of Team India, he would have under him a bowling and fielding captain who would take responsibilities. He concluded by emphasizing that the media played a vital role to reinforce the brand and that being open to media has worked wonders for some of the legends in the cricket world, including Sachin Tendulkar.

Chetan Malik, Communications Leader, Audit, Risk Advisory and CSR, Deloitte U.S. India, stated that adapting to new markets and avenues contributes to brand-building and in turn to success. He reminded that John Abraham gave a whole new direction to his career by adopting film-production also as a profession. “Even though John took a real risk as a producer with “Vicky Donor”, he succeeded in it, by letting someone else fit for that role to don the role of the movie's hero when he just made a guest appearance. “Akshay Kumar, popularly known as ''The Boss'' acted in a side role to Paresh Rawal, a comedian in the lead role in ''Oh My God'' because he knew that the movie would be a big hit at the cinemas which would result in enormous profits” he said and indeed that happened. Chetan also took examples of how Salman Khan introduced the “Being Human” brand when he was going through a tough time and how it was and continues to be his trademark even today. He also highlighted about Pradhu Deva, who though hailed from the south made a niche for himself in Bollywood and how he has made himself one of the sought after Directors in India today. The session concluded with the remark ''Creating your unique social space in turn results in transforming your personal brand- the brand I, into business.”

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NDreamAspireAchieve

IgnitingIndia’s

GenNext

th5 October 2013 : VADODARA

THE YOUNG INDIANS WESTERN REGIONAL SUMMIT

Major General Yashwant Singh, Commandant, EME School, Vadodara, in his influencing deep voice addressed the assembly with 'Jai Hind'. He spoke about how lucky we all were to be born as Indians and how it was our duty to serve our mother nation in whatever way possible. He informed that the Indian army was the third largest in the world and the only active army to be involved in removing terrorism from its roots. “All the Indian soldiers feel proud in wearing the uniform and possess values like integrity, unity, loyalty, duty, respect, courage, honour, selfless service, patriotism and sense of responsibility” he said. “Indian army never believes in perfection but in excellence and intelligence which is not in-born, instead achieved through practice and experience”. He said that the Indian army was a thorough believer of the fact that good leaders are always made by training and must possess the characteristic features as in 5CDR (Character, Competence, Commitment, Courage, Compassion, Decisiveness and Risk Taking Ability) and the OODA loop (Observe, Orient, Decide and Action). He also shared some of the best practices in the army and how they would be useful if adopted in the business environment. This stand alone session was moderated by Bhairavi Jani.

DNV Kumara Guru- National Vice Chairman, Young Indians & Director- External Relations, Indian School of Business gave the opening remarks for the valedictory session. Kumara Guru expressed his gratitude towards the Young Indians for organizing such a thought-provoking & a well-rounded summit. He felt that the Indian youth were a raw resource that needed to be groomed for optimum output and in reference to this, he put forward a nice quote by former U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, “We cannot build future for our youth but yes, we can build our youth for the future.”

Premraj Keshyep, Chairman, CII Central Gujarat Zone Council & Managing Director Conmat Systems Pvt Ltd addressed the summit with his anecdotes & fascinating messages. He enthusiastically looked forward in the direction of strengthening the bond with CII and Yi. He deeply felt that the opportunities were plenty and that the only requirement was to explore and work accordingly. He gave the distinctive definitions of aspiration and dreams; and said that the dreams are substance-less creation of mind whereas aspirations are the dreams with substance in it. According to him, political addressing to the youth aspirations is a must to realise the theme of “Dream, Aspire and Achieve” .

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NDreamAspireAchieve

IgnitingIndia’s

GenNext

th5 October 2013 : VADODARA

THE YOUNG INDIANS WESTERN REGIONAL SUMMIT

Followed by his address, HH Samarjit Singh Gaekwad, Maharaja of Vadodara spoke on encouraging the youth. He emphasised on the importance of preserving Indian heritage and the culture, tradition and custom of Incredible India. While he stated that our present was a glimpse of the past, he called for the youth to respect it and be proud of it. He mentioned his great-great grandfather, the founder of Vadodara as a person with immense foresightedness and the vision of incorporating youth as integral part of the region's development.

Vinod Rao IAS, District Collector, Vadodara city started his conversation mentioning that the population of India is and will be an asset in the near future. As a young and enthusiastic bureaucrat, he felt that in the age of information where manpower matters, India was going to be the country with maximum manpower by 2025. He also mentioned that in the year India wishes to become a superpower i.e 2020, the average age of an Indian will be 29 whereas one of the leading economies, i.e. China, will have its average age around 47 giving an edge to India in terms of human resource. He emphasised on contesting with the best in the world and in reference to this quoted the Former President of India, Dr A P J Abdul Kalam that aiming low was a crime in itself. He believed that each and every Indian must exercise his/her right to vote and the suspicion and negativity towards the vicious system should be left behind in order to achieve success. To conclude, he phrased “Perspire, Inspire, Aspire but don't Expire”. Rajiv Thakkar rendered a hearty farewell to all the enthusiasts and gave a formal vote of thanks marking the end of the day on a happy note. During his speech, he thanked the guests and delegates and conveyed a special appreciative message to the organizing team for their contribution towards making the summit, a grand success.

The prizes for the winners of the Yi response session was also given during the valedictory session by the CII Chairman, the Maharaja and the Collector of Vadodara District.

The summit was attended by members from 16 Yi chapters from around 8 states across the country.

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NDreamAspireAchieve

IgnitingIndia’s

GenNext

th5 October 2013 : VADODARA

THE YOUNG INDIANS WESTERN REGIONAL SUMMIT

SP

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ITIO

NDreamAspireAchieve

IgnitingIndia’s

GenNext

th5 October 2013 : VADODARA

THE YOUNG INDIANS WESTERN REGIONAL SUMMIT