A Day To Remember @MindRocks 2013, New Delhi

The memories of the time spent at MINDROCKS in New Delhi on Saturday 21st September 2013 are here to stay for long. I had an incredible experience at the fabulous youth summit organized by India Today group. I just cannot stop raving about it as not many Saturdays put together can make one of its kinds. The event which started at 8:30 a.m. in the morning and ended at 7:30 p.m. in the evening, hardly had any moments of boredom. On the contrary, the sequence of events, impressive youth icons and the power-packed stories of each of them kept me gleeful and enthralled at every tick tock.   🙂 😉

On 21st Sept, Sirifort auditorium buzzed with energetic and enthusiastic young minds. At the entrance, I collected the Mindrock badge which was required to be worn and flaunted all day. There was a queue to the entrance which landed me inside the building premises. Very soon, I was  given a cool trendy bag and later I discovered it had lot of goodies. The donut treat, a part of light breakfast flagged the day’s event on a sweet and steady note.

Tucked in with my smart Mindrocks yellow bag, I marched to my reserved seat. Yeah! the bloggers had a small corner to them close to the stage. Wow! I was thrilled at the idea of seeing my favorites at a distance of only a foot-length.  (However, the camera setup on that very side spoiled the fun at times as the photographers would obstruct our view of the celebrities.)

The “Antarishk” band at the outset gave a great start to the event and set us all in the right mood. It infused energy for the day long show. Kaveree Bamzai,, editor in chief India Today welcomed us in impressive words. I absolutely loved the idea behind this summit wherein it aims to capture the young minds, young guns who are the future of India and make them realize the power of ‘We’ more than just being an ‘I’.

The first guest was Leander Paes and it was inspiring to hear him speak. He looked absolutely fit and his body language conveyed much more than his words. He spoke of wins and losses and honestly accepted that the cold nights of the loss always haunt a person but that should not deter him to perform well but always inspires him to do well.

Quotes from LP ‘Indians can be world leaders’

 If you can handle triumph and disaster, the two imposter’s of life equally, lets play the game of life together.

Hard Kaur walked in next. The lady rapper took our hearts away with her jigs, dance grooves, straight and gutsy talk.  It was evident in her words that she had been focused and strong-headed all her life. Her attitude was impressive and you know what she is Tarandeep kaur Dhillon originally.

HK said ‘To be a rapper, it is important to understand the technicalities, be strong, work on the diction and looks should be the last thing on the mind. Hard Work is most important thing.

Dhruv Shringi, co-founder and CEO Yatra.com shared his story of failure in business to studying in INSEAD, working again with a repute company, getting fired and one day taking that bold step of forming his own company Yatra.com, thanks to the Dutch courage (Dutch courage or liquid courage, refers to courage gained from intoxication from alcohol) moment. And I loved his quote, ‘ Don’t be afraid to take risks, they don’t happen on their own’. He put an end to the talk with the best line, ‘Entrepreneurship is a state of mind’.

The next that happened was the best episode of the first half, Dr. Kiran Bedi, Gul Panag and Nishtha Gautam shared their views about the juvenile law, the status of women and the rape case that brought us all together. The Police officer, Ms Bedi was very impactful all along. She concisely helped us to know that what should be our arguments for the change in the law that is required for juvenile crimes by talking about US and UK. The entire discussion was more about the crime than the age. Gul Panang was at her best when she said that we always saw patriarchal businesses as Mehra and sons and no one had ever dared to carry their legacy like Malhotra and daughters. And why should we say that our daughter is like our son, do sons come from Gods and we from somewhere else? Nishtha recited a wonderful poem about the vulnerability of a women.

There were brave parents to inspire us too. Jyoti Singh Pandey’s mother and father had the courage to talk, to mention thanks for being with them and quoting it precisely, that their daughter has lit the flame and we had to spread the fire all across. The moment was absolutely touching and I could actually feel some ounce of pain as them. If you had a daughter and she was so brutally dealt with, how painful it could be, we could see in their eyes. Juvenile Justice act needs a reform and now I aim to write about it too. ‘Theory of deterrence’ was a term that I learnt too.

After the glum and thought provoking session, the famous author Amish Tripathi walked in and talked about his journey to Shiva Triology. All authors to be, like me must have felt inspired and the thought to make the book happen would have doubled too. He quoted, one should continue to do with the mundane job to earn money, because that is important too, but must cut on the other activities to make your dream happen. Be focused and just chase it.

What followed next was an debating session where politics and the future of India was discussed. Deepender Singh Huda (member, Congress), Mr. Sanjeev Kaul (member, BJP) and Arvind Kejriwal (member, AAP) put up their views and talked about their parties. The other two parties were met with cold response and Mr. Arvind Kejriwal was the rock star of the show. He was absolutely true and had all the guts to challenge the two parties openly. The representatives could not answer him back because they knew the truth. He urged the young minds to use their right of vote and also promised that he would get the Lokpal bill implemented within fifteen days of his win. I loved his audacity.

  🙂  THE LUNCH SESSION  🙂

I had a trio group of my blogger friends and I enjoyed the lunch with them. We had a great time together and it was definitely fun. The meal was sumptuous and I enjoyed the treat. Delhi had a good shower on that day while we had been indoors and very soon the rains were back again. However, we were done with our lunch. We checked out the fun at photo booth as well. The young crowd that comprised of school and college were enjoying the fun with friends and it actually reminded me of the carefree days that had gone by just five years back.

🙂  POST LUNCH  🙂

There was a small episode dedicated for the work of UNICEF and a young representative among them was chosen as winner who was merely a girl of thirteen.  She talked about herself and how she taught other young girls of her village. It was impressive and inspiring both.

Jhalak Dikhla Jaa fans had a treat waiting for them. The winning choreographer Salman  and first runner up Lawrene of this season walked in. The dancers entertained us completely with great steps, peppy talk, bowling-over moves and gyrating lifts. Lawrene was too cute, down to earth and utterly bubbly. It was so much fun to see them dance live. They two emphasized on the fact that focus and hard work are key to success.

The adrenaline rush was at its top when the vice captain of India walked in. Virat Kohli was welcomed with huge cheer up and hoots. The crowd refused to let the moment pass. Everyone just shouted and I am sure there were many who looked forward to him as their idol and  dreamt of playing like him in the Indian cricket team. Virat had tough questions to bat as he was asked about his brat behavior and his other mistakes of the past but he played it all quite well. I would say, his persona this evening came out to be sobered down and sensible which he did accept that earlier he was 22 and now he was about to be 25 so he was maturing with time. He did display his Gangnam style dance moves with the RJ’s Rocky and Apaarshakti Khurana from Radio partners Oye 104.8 FM. The two guys were at their best here and in the fillers as well.

Aditi Rao Hyadri , the heroine of the upcoming flick Boss walked in. She was pretty and sweet but not impressive. Her talk about love was uninteresting.

Ajay Bijli, Chairman and MD PVR Cinemas, the man behind our entertaining weekends had a good chat with Kaveri Bamzai. He talked about his dream and the journey of turning one cinema hall into multiple multiplexes. So now there was more to ask him for 4D and 7D. He said he was waiting for the new technology and equipments to arrive and very soon we would have all the fun.

The most awaited moment and the one that I had been waiting for arrived in time. The latest heartthrob who has directed the movie Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, walked in wearing that ever infectious smile, our dear Farhan Akhtar. The crowd was once again in awe of him. There was so much that we wanted to know about him. He talked about his films, his passion, his self belief and his love for his work. The session was lovely but did not have meaty questions. However, Mr. Akhtar kept us fully entertained with his wittiness and good sense of humor. It was a treat to watch him so closely. And he was blunt to put it this way that , I don’t work for 100 crores or above, I work for myself, treat it all honestly and let my work do the talking.

And back again we had the rebellious lady, Hard Kaur with us in her grooving avatar for the final concert. She rocked the show and put an end to the whole event in the most rollicking manner.

HITS  🙂  😉

I must say I had a great great time at the event. Its been one of its kinds. I have never seen so many celebrities in one single day. I felt inspired and the zeal in me to do something out of the rut became more powerful. I must say, it was put up quite well. This is a event that the youth should definitely not miss. I am glad India Today is doing it and it deserves to be called a hit. It was well timed and thoroughly entertaining.

Kaveree Bamzai, Editor, India Today was the best moderator.

MISSES  

On one note I would just say I felt bad when I did not get a chance to ask a question. There were the same people who got the chance to ask questions among the audience. And also there was not enough time spared for interactions. So my suggestion would be, good enough time should be dedicated for the Q and A where people from all sides of the auditorium can put forth their questions to the icons.

Check for all the sessions here

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/youthsummit/delhi/2013/index.jsp

For picture and videos, Visit WWW. INDIATODAYMINDROCKS.COM

Happy Blogging!!!

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