Art is as important as Maths or English,” said well-known Bharatnatyam dancer and Padma Shri awardee Geeta Chandran, speaking to the young audience of Tycoons 2009. Chandran, also called as a dancer activist, believes in blending tradition with issues of contemporary relevance in her dance. She shared her ideas on the topic “Pursuing an art and its impact on personal growth.” Chandran, who is associated with Spic Macay, is an ex-LSR student of statistics (honours) and chose dance over media research. She did her post-graduation from IIMC, Delhi. She is into dance performance, teaching, conducting and organising shows.

She said that entertainment today is largely Bollywood and not essentially classical dance and that the classical dancers face more competition today than ever before. While you get to see a whole spectrum at the click of a button on TV channels, there is not even one channel dedicated to classical dance. “Disparity between dance and other professions is more glaring today than ever before,” she added.

Born in Cochin and brought up in Delhi, education was the main priority in her family but learning an art form was a must. She started learning dance at the age of five. “There is never a dull moment in dance,” she said.
Everything today is with stakes. People look for instant gratification these days but the art gene is not learnt that way. “Youngsters need to be exposed to classical dance as an art form. There is a huge mental block to classical music. If you are rejecting something, it has to be informed rejection… You need to be able to keep an open mind,” she said.

She emphasised on how art pursued for the love of it can give immense creative freedom. The participants were receptive of the experience and thoughts shared by Chandran and posed several questions to her.

It was an interactive session where the contestants delved into the idea of how to take forth the classical dance forms and music to a higher level.

 The summit had the who’s who of the respective sector to share their experiences and guide the young leaders. The topic for the session on media was ‘How to use the media’ which is an ever-relevant issue and has attracted more attention since the electronic media came under fire due to live coverage of 26/11. The panelists were Suhasini Haider of CNN-IBN and Mahesh Puri of Outlook India. The representation from both the print and the electronic media made the discussion more fascinating and enlightening. It captured the nuances of both kinds of media, that too coming from the experts of the trade.

Puri said that he shifted from investment banking to media as he feels there is more contentment in a creative field. His realisation of being useful to the society came when following the publication of travel guides of Outlook, many unexplored scenic places of India came into light and became hub of travellers and tourists. This has generated employment at a large scale. “I could reach out to one million people and change lives of many. I think I am happier than Mukesh Ambani,” said an exhilarated Puri. He pointed out to the fact that at one level media creates debates, eg nuke deal, which is carried in the major news bulletins. At the other level are smaller ventures like travel magazines which have the potential to bring about immediate changes in people’s lives. He also mentioned that the work of media is not only to praise the rich. It is also about bringing out truth. He gave examples where his publication was asked to cover a particular company by the same company and it carried a negative report on the same.

Haider threw light on new media, ie internet. She started off by saying that initially she envied her friends in print media as they had more free time compared to her. But now things have changed as internet has become more taxing than even electronic media. After drawing this process of evolution of media she pointed out that the potential of new media has to be used to its fullest. If 84,000 people were present on the spot when Barack Obama took oath as President of the US, 80 million watched him on television and 200 million clicked on internet for the same. This is the power of emerging media. The experts pointed out the difference and importance of all forms of media. They said that while electronic media provides instant news with audio-visual effects, the print provides analysis. Puri said that a weekly magazine like Outlook was crucial in generating healthy debate. This was possible because the contributors to a weekly had the leisure to sit back and analyse issues and provide a perspective on the same.

Haider dealt with aggressively when a question was asked about censorship of media in the light of Mumbai attacks coverage. She said “Whenever people talk of that coverage, they forget that the journalists were risking their lives by standing so close to the site under fire and actually facing live bullets. Many of my colleagues were standing right there. I know how dangerous it was to be there.” She further added that it was not the media but the government that let crucial details out. In any case media did not cross boundaries; commandos getting down on the Taj was visible from miles. Puri agreed and said, “If our response to every problem is censorship then in a matter of few years we’ll have no democracy and freedom left.”

At a session which focused on India and the role of today’s youth, TK Mathew, founder member, Deepalaya, said that the developed nations need to fight against social challenges like illiteracy, child labour, gender discrimination and poverty. “Do not become activity-oriented but result-oriented,” he told the participants while addressing them. The session highlighted that India required scaling up in the social sector. There is a need to not only continue feeding the hungry but also teach them how to fish. The speakers said that the funding of the social sector is not just a responsibility of the West but also us, Indians. As Indians we need to fund people who are small.

The session also highlighted that we need to look beyond education, child and health and women to donate. Legal aid, environment etc are equally important issues which need funds and donations.


Commenting on the need to be a part of the social sector, 41-year-old Osama Manzar, founder and director, Digital Empowerment Foundation, said that a large fraction of our life is a part of the social sector, it’s just that most of us are not conscious about it. “There is nothing like social sector or commercial sector. I would rather say don’t leave social sector. From morning to evening, 80 per cent of the life is social sector. Roads not working, government not working, lights not working is all social sector. You need to be conscious of that social sector because you are already a part of the social security,” he said.

Manzar who runs his own company works in the social sector and has also written a book. From being an air-man to a journalist to developing websites, Manzar has come a long way. He believes that our society needs to be a little more aware and conscious of the sector of which they are a part. 

 At a session on ‘Threats and challenges to national security’ Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd) and Nitin Gokhale, who has been a defence reporter for over quarter of a century now, shared their ideas on the challenges to our national security. Brig Kanwal cited instances from various military challenges and how things that were militarily impossible were made possible through leadership.

Gokhale on the other hand, gave a whole new perspective to national security, stating that apart from the threats to our borders, there are several other problems of those of non-traditional threats, internal combustion like caste, creed and naxalism, which is a major concern. “Many of us equate national security with the three armed forces. But national security is more than that. There are important questions like is the nation progressive enough, is the nation on a path that will give equality to all… When we talk of national security, it just doesn’t mean that a nation has to be secured on its borders, it has to be secured in terms of its gender equality, environment, non-traditional threats to national security in terms of caste discrimination, discrimination on the basis of religion. These have to be eliminated and only then the nation will be secured,” he said. Gokhale, who has been kidnapped twice by the militants, has covered the north-east largely and said the experiences on conflict in the region have been immense. He said that the north-east needs special attention. He also emphasised that the times are troubled and we need to do more to secure our nation. “We live in times which are insecure and we are a nation which is surrounded by insecure regions,” he said. Gokhale stumbled into journalism, he got selected in air force and then IIM-Ahmedabad. But before the results could come out he was already into journalism and since then has been into the profession about which he is very passionate. “Journalism keeps me alive every minute of the life I live,” he added. Addressing the participants, he said that as future leaders, the youth of the nation can do their bit towards national security. He pointed out that one can either join the forces or paramilitary troops, can either go for research by joining RAW, could become scholars in international relations or join the media and report what’s happening. The session also brought to light the significance of territorial armed forces, how the infantries can be deployed to play a larger role to combat urban terrorism.

The session on education was addressed by Prof KR Srivathsan, pro vice-chancellor, IGNOU. He holds a long teaching experience as he was professor and head of the Electrical Engineering Department at the Indian Institute of Technology- Kanpur. He obtained his PhD from Queen’s University, Canada. This vivid experience was quite visible in his whole address. In his speech, he mentioned how in front of his eyes technology has grown so much. He recalled those years when there was dependence on type-writers and computers used to be huge machines, not sophisticated instruments like today. He said that “I feel young with young people like you and am very happy to share my experiences with you all.