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Busting rhymes and prejudices: Pasha Bhai

On a neon blue background, a faint wave pattern runs down the right side. On top, in a yellow rectangle: Intersections Below, the headline: Busting rhymes and prejudices Below, a subhead: Navigating marginalisation in Indian hip-hop Next, the session date: 2 June, 2024 Next, in a circular window, a black-and-white portrait of the presenter with their name: Pasha Bhai And below that, a descriptor: Entrepreneur, rapper, lyricist, recording artist Below, at centre, the logotype for The Goa Project Sessions, which has the words ‘The Goa Project’ in white text next to a stylised sunset-and-water image, and next to that, the word ‘Sessions’ within a stylised video camera image. In a black strip at the bottom: Once every four weeks on Sundays, 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. IST, on Zoom.

Pasha Bhai is a multilingual rapper, singer, lyricist, and recording artist from Bengaluru’s Neelasandra. He is co-founder of Bangalore’s homegrown hip-hop community, Wanandaf, and commander-in-chief of Neelasandra’s very own hip-hop collective, Clan Bokka Phod. Pasha Bhai has performed opening sets at concerts headlined by Indian hip-hop pioneers like Raftaar, Divine, MC Stan. He also performed at the Ziro Festival of Music in 2022.

Watering the grassroots: Biplabketan Paul

On a neon pink background, a faint wave pattern runs down the right side. On top, in a yellow rectangle: Society Below, the headline: Watering the grassroots Below, a subhead: The outlook for rural irrigation Next, the session date: 5 May, 2024 Next, in a circular window, a black-and-white portrait of the presenter with their name: Biplabketan Paul And below that, a descriptor: Development innovator Below, at centre, the logotype for The Goa Project Sessions, which has the words ‘The Goa Project’ in white text next to a stylised sunset-and-water image, and next to that, the word ‘Sessions’ within a stylised video camera image. In a black strip at the bottom: Once every four weeks on Sundays, 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. IST, on Zoom.

Biplab has been a development innovator for 32 years, and has pioneered Bhungroo, a technology repurposing floodwater to combat drought, which has aided over 250,000 ultra-poor farming families across India, southeast Asia, east Asia, and Africa, aligning with the UN SDGs 1, 2, 5, and 13. Through Naireeta Services, he empowers women farmers to become climate leaders, promoting crop income doubling and disaster risk-reduction. Rooted in Gandhi’s antyodaya principle, this model has gained global recognition. He has received 32 global awards, serves as a mentor at IIT Kanpur’s incubation centre and is a director of Gujarat’s Ecology Commission.

How you design cities: Surjyatapa Ray

On a neon orange background, a faint wave pattern runs down the right side. On top, in a yellow rectangle: Design Below, the headline: How you design cities Below, a subhead: And what happens when you don’t Next, the session date: 7th April, 2024 Next, in a circular window, a black-and-white portrait of the presenter with their name: Surjyatapa Ray And below that, a descriptor: Urbanist Below, at centre, the logotype for The Goa Project Sessions, which has the words ‘The Goa Project’ in white text next to a stylised sunset-and-water image, and next to that, the word ‘Sessions’ within a stylised video camera image. In a black strip at the bottom: Once every four weeks on Sundays, 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. IST, on Zoom.

Surjyatapa is an urbanist and researcher whose work spans system dynamics, sustainable design and construction, and socially inclusive architecture. She currently works with Jana Urban Space Foundation, Bengaluru, on sustainable urban design policy and advocacy for streets and public spaces. Her research aims to enable methodical changes to the way Indian cities are designed and built, with emphasis on climate sensitivity, gender equity, and social inclusivity in public spaces.

Life and science: Aditya Kapil and Gautham Nadig

The image is a poster. On a neon pink background, a faint wave pattern runs down the right side. On top, in a yellow rectangle, the words Science and Technology Below, the headline: Life and Science. Next, a subhead: A conversation about labs and markets. And the session date: 10 March 2024. And the speakers’ portraits, head-and-shoulders, in black-and-white. Next to the portrait, the speakers’ names: Aditya Kapil and Gautham Nadig. And description: the first is a Researcher/Investor and the second is an Entrepreneur. Below, at centre, the logotype for The Goa Project Sessions, which has the words ‘The Goa Project’ in white text next to a stylised sunset-and-water image, and next to that, the word ‘Sessions’ within a stylised video camera image. In a black strip at the bottom: Once every four weeks, on Sundays, 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. IST on Zoom.

Gautham is co-founder of Mynvax, a clinical stage biotech company incubated at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. Mynvax is making innovative vaccine products for respiratory infectious diseases. Prior to founding Mynvax, he was co-founder of a successful agribiotechnology company, Metahelix which developed many innovative biotech products including hybrid seeds in a number of crops. Metahelix was acquired by Rallis, a subsidiary of Tata Chemicals in 2016. He graduated with a Ph.D in computational structural biology from the Indian Insitute of Science in 1997.

Aditya’s experience combines a decade each in academia, venture capital and consulting. During his VC stint Adit invested in 8 companies in the US, EU and India, of which 2 were listed on the NYSE and Swiss stock exchanges. During his career he has mentored 19 companies in areas as diverse as innovation BD, sales strategies, product licensing, fundraising and M&A.
Currently he is the MD of Lineweaver Consulting, a boutique firm that provides services in the pharma, biotech and life sciences sectors.

From the ground up: Neha Kudchadkar

On a neon green background, a faint wave pattern runs down the right side. On top, in a yellow rectangle: The Arts Below, the headline: From the ground up Below, a subhead: How we made a triennale Next, the session date: 11th February, 2024 Next, in a circular window, a black-and-white portrait of the presenter with their name: Neha Kudchadkar And below that, a descriptor: Artist, curator Below, at centre, the logotype for The Goa Project Sessions, which has the words ‘The Goa Project’ in white text next to a stylised sunset-and-water image, and next to that, the word ‘Sessions’ within a stylised video camera image. In a black strip at the bottom: Once every four weeks on Sundays, 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. IST, on Zoom.

Neha is visual and performing artist currently living in rural Maharashtra. She has exhibited in several exhibitions and artist residencies across India and abroad. She has chosen to negotiate various roles — dancer, ceramicist, researcher, choreographer, curator, administrator, collaborator — that inform one another and broaden her approach as an artist and maker. Neha is co-curator and working committee member of the Indian Ceramics Triennale.

Home-made: Sitara Chowfla

On a neon blue background, a faint wave pattern runs down the right side. On top, in a yellow rectangle: The Arts Below, the headline: Home-made Below, a subhead: The ingredients for a proudly local festival Next, the session date: 11th February, 2024 Next, in a circular window, a black-and-white portrait of the presenter with their name: Sitara Chowfla And below that, a descriptor: Arts curator, manager, and consultant Below, at centre, the logotype for The Goa Project Sessions, which has the words ‘The Goa Project’ in white text next to a stylised sunset-and-water image, and next to that, the word ‘Sessions’ within a stylised video camera image. In a black strip at the bottom: Once every four weeks on Sundays, 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. IST, on Zoom.

Sitara is an art curator and creative consultant with 10 years of experience working in the Indian Art and Culture sector. In her diverse portfolio she has worked as an exhibition and programme curator, a communications manager, a grants manager, and other varied roles related to developing and managing creative organisations. Since 2020, she has been actively involved in Goa Open Arts, a platform to support the creative community in Goa.

End notes: Dhvani Mehta

On a neon pink background, a faint wave pattern runs down the right side. On top, in a yellow rectangle: Intersections Below, the headline: End notes Below, a subhead: A legal introduction to ‘living wills’ Next, the session date: 12st January, 2024 Next, in a circular window, a black-and-white portrait of the presenter with their name: Dhvani Mehta And below that, a descriptor: Legal and policy researcher Below, at centre, the logotype for The Goa Project Sessions, which has the words ‘The Goa Project’ in white text next to a stylised sunset-and-water image, and next to that, the word ‘Sessions’ within a stylised video camera image. In a black strip at the bottom: Once every four weeks on Sundays, 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. IST, on Zoom.

Dhvani Mehta is a co-founder of the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, where she leads the organisation’s work on health. Vidhi has been involved closely with creating an enabling legal framework for end-of-life care in India. She has worked with doctors, hospitals and caregiver groups to understand and address the barriers to ethical, responsible end-of-life decision-making. She has also appeared in the Supreme Court of India, arguing for legal recognition of advance medical directives and to simplify the procedure related to withholding and withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment.