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India wants to read: Purnima Rao

The image is a poster. On a neon green background, a faint wave pattern runs down the right side. On top, in a yellow rectangle: Society Below, the headline: India wants to read Below, a subhead: Free public libraries are proof Next, the session date: 30th July, 2023 Next, in a circular window, a black-and-white portrait of the presenter with their name: Purnima Rao And below that, a descriptor: Activist in the free-library movement, Director, Free Libraries Network 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.

Purnima was a documentary filmmaker for over 15 years, until in 2015, she stepped into The Community Library Project and found a collective of readers, thinkers and activists who were challenging the status quo in both literary and education circles. She currently works with her comrades in the Free Library Network to organise over 200 library professionals around India to demand free and inclusive public libraries for all.

By the book: Leonard Fernandes

The image is a poster. On a neon orange background, a faint wave pattern runs down the right side. On top, in a yellow rectangle: Society Below, the headline: By the book Below, a subhead: What it takes to run an indie bookshop Next, the session date: 30th July, 2023 Next, in a circular window, a black-and-white portrait of the presenter with their name: Leonard Fernandes And below that, a descriptor: Bookshop co-founder, founding member, Independent Bookshops Association of India 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.

Leonard is co-founder of The Dogears Bookshop, a curated space where books, new and preloved, are sold. He is also co-founder of a self-publishing service, an industry-oriented publishing conference, and the Independent Bookshops Association of India. In 2010, he was awarded the Young Creative Entrepreneur (Publisher) Award by the British Council.

Living with climate change: Ajay Raghavan

The image is a poster. On a neon green background, a faint wave pattern runs down the right side. On top, in a yellow rectangle: Society Below, the headline: Living with climate change Below, a subhead: How we can become climate-resilient Next, the session date: 2nd July, 2023 Next, in a circular window, a black-and-white portrait of the presenter with their name: Ajay Raghavan And below that, a descriptor: Lawyer, dreamer, designer 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.

Ajay was a senior partner at Trilegal, a leading Indian law firm, where he built one of the most successful legal practices in the country. After being deeply influenced by what was happening with the planet, he decided to focus his attention on sustainability and climate change and co-founded Bangalore Creative Circus and the Initiative for Climate Action; both working towards building ecosystems for climate action. He is incredibly passionate about art, science, sustainability, and wellbeing and has also co-founded Studio Madhatter, an art and design studio based in Bangalore.

The value of a life: Shannon Olsson

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: Society Below, the headline: The value of a life Below, a subhead: Lessons to learn for humanity’s future Next, the session date: 2nd July, 2023 Next, in a circular window, a black-and-white portrait of the presenter with their name: Shannon Olsson And below that, a descriptor: Scientist, sustainability advocate 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.

Shannon has dedicated the last 22 years of her life to listening to nature, and the last eight years to laying the foundation for a sustainable India. As a Ph.D. graduate from Cornell University, a project leader at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, and then a faculty member of the National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in India, she is an international leader who brings her unique approach of merging her science background with non-science communities. Shannon is the founder and Global Director of the echo network, an over 2000-member science with society network crossing 45 countries. She also serves as Special Scientific Envoy to India with the Danish Academy of Technical Sciences (ATV).

Five minutes: three (right) answers: Sumit Roy

The image is a poster. On a neon orange background, a faint wave pattern runs down the right side. On top, in a yellow rectangle: Workshop Below, the headline: Five minutes: three (right) answers Below, a subhead: A technique for generating ideas to meet any challenge Next, the session date: 4th June, 2023 Next, in a circular window, a black-and-white portrait of the presenter with their name: Sumit Roy And below that, a descriptor: Grows people who grow brands 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.

Sumit has made a career of encouraging people to grow their businesses into brands. He runs “the world’s smallest learn-by-earning university” which has no classrooms, no lectures, no employees: Univbrands. ‘Students’ learn by earning, on their own businesses. Univbrands students range from home-based entrepreneurs to managers in multi-national corporations spread all over the world: the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. He operates from Kolkata. Sumit learned how to grow brands in the 14 years he spent with Ogilvy & Mather. Then he learned how to grow people who grow brands in the four years he spent at Lintas. He is a founder member of The Red Curtain International, a group that does good theatre for good causes.

About this workshop.

Who is this workshop for?
Sumit may have spent most of his time mentoring folks in the brand world, but this one is not focussed on advertising and marketing folks, even if one were to argue that in this hyperconnected social-media-led world, every individual is a brand. The short answer is, if you have a work / business / professional / entrepreneurship problem you have been wrestling with, bring it with you.

What do you have to bring to the workshop?
One, your problem. You will be sharing these problems in the session, so it can’t be a deeply personal and/or confidential thing. A work-related quandary would probably be best.
And two, a writing implement and paper. Your implement must write thick enough to be easily viewed over a Zoom connection. (Please note that this also means that you will need to have your camera on.)

How will it go?
You will each share the problem you brought with you. Then you will be guided on how to word that problem for this exercise to work. Then, attendees will choose the problems they want to work on and small groups will work with each other in Zoom breakout rooms. After everyone is done, the groups will present their ideas.
This will be followed by an open discussion on idea generation techniques. Bonus: this includes why humans have no reason to be scared of AI.

How do you sign up?
To make sure this session does not get unwieldy, we are capping attendance at 30 people. And you will need to register in advance to get the joining link. Please use this form to do that. Do so quickly so that you can be sure of a seat.
Please add thetgpsessions@gmail.com to the address book of the email ID you use in the form; you will get your log-in details from that address.

Important: this Sessions will be at 5:00 p.m. IST, not our usual 5:30. We will open the Zoom a little before that so we can chat informally, and will close the doors at 5:05, so it’s important that you be on time. And, though we are usually happy to go well beyond the appointed one hour, as regulars know, we will go a maximum of 90 minutes, that is, until 6:30, since Sumit has another commitment directly after this one.

Native notes: Kshitij Banker

The image is a poster. 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: Native notes Below, a subhead: Revitalising Gujarat’s musicla heritage Next, the session date: 14th May, 2023 Next, in a circular window, a black-and-white portrait of the presenter with their name: Kshitij Banker And below that, a descriptor: RJ, musician 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.

Kshitij, popularly known as RJ Kshitij, is a media and entertainment personality who has held the record of being the number one RJ and of the number one radio show in Vadodara for 10 consecutive years. He is also a TEDx speaker, a growth hacker, and a curious learner. He started working for Radio Mirchi in 2007, hosting the morning show for Vadodara, and became a significant opinion maker and influencer in the city. He also helped launch a Hindi radio station for Radio Mirchi in Hyderabad. Currently, he hosts the morning shows for New Jersey and New York for Radio Mirchi USA. He is the founder of Vatt Thi Gujarati.

Heartland music: Kavish Seth & Friends

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 Arts” Below, the headline: Heartland music Below, a subhead: The voices from within Next, the session date: 14th May, 2023 Next, in a circular window, a black-and-white portrait of the presenter with their name: Kavish Seth & Friends And below that, a descriptor: Musician, poet 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.

Kavish is an independent singer-songwriter and poet who writes primarily in Hindustani. He has invented Noori, a microtonal polyphonic stringed instrument that belongs to the family of rabab, sarod, guitar, and oud. He runs a musical project, Zubaan, where  independent artists from different musical linguistic scenes come together, collaborate and perform across the mainlands.  He has performed in 72  towns, cities and villages of India so far and is now recording his works. (Kavish’s project was featured in TGP in Goa in 2018.)

The habit hole: Dayal Mirchandani

The image is a poster. On a neon blue background, a faint wave pattern runs down the right side. On top, in a yellow rectangle “Science and Technology” Below, the headline: The habit hole Below, a subhead: Processes as addictive as drugs Next, the session date: 9th April, 2023 Next, in a circular window, a black-and-white portrait of the presenter with their name: Dayal Mirchandani, Psychiatrist 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.

Dayal practiced psychiatry and behavioural medicine in Mumbai from 1981 till 2020. He now practices in Pune. He has been a Member of the Board of Studies, Psychology, of three universities TISS, S.N.D.T. and Bombay University, and has lectured extensively there. Founder of the Behavioural Science Foundation, he has been actively involved in training and therapy in the field of psychotherapy and hypnotherapy. He is a visiting faculty of the hypnotherapy course at the Charusat University, Baroda. He was Director of the psychotherapy course at the department of continuing education, SNDT University. He is the author of Healing Heart Disease Naturally (1997) and Super Performance Learning (1999), and is the co-author of Group Therapy of Addiction and a manual for the prevention of addiction sponsored by IFLD PARIS. The USIS invited him to America, under its International Visitors Program in 1990, to present his research on addiction treatment. He is a co-founder and ex-board member of the National Addiction Research Centre .He wrote a regular column for Reader’s Digest and other magazines for many years.

Living on the edge: Aditi Raghuram

The image is a poster. On a neon orange background, a faint wave pattern runs down the right side. On top, in a yellow rectangle “Science and Technology” Below, the headline: Living on the edge Below, a subhead: The invisible struggles of early-career professionals Next, the session date: 9th April, 2023 Next, in a circular window, a black-and-white portrait of the presenter with their name: Aditi Raghuram, Organisational psychologist and coach 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.

Aditi is an industrial and organisational psychologist, and a certified leadership coach who runs Thrive Leadership Solutions, for talent strategy, leadership development, learning and development, diversity equity and inclusion, and workplace wellbeing. Applying scientific principles and models, she creates effective leadership programmes and interventions that maximise individual potential and team success. She has extensive experience as a culture strategist and advisor to startups and large organisations, helping them develop and maximise leadership and team potential, and create a culture of growth and wellbeing. She is a former professor, having taught in various universities across the globe. She has extensive research and teaching experience and has published research in high-impact peer-reviewed journals and international conferences such as Academy of Management. She is also certified in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) training, and is a Certified Executive Coach with ICF.