Change of Guard 2016-2017

The ‘Change of Guard’ ceremony of FLO-Kolkata was attended by several dignitaries including Mr Harsh Neotia (Chairman, FICCI), Mr Damiano Francovigh (Consulate General of Italy), Mr Jonathan Ward (Principal Commercial Officer – US Consulate General), Ms Ushoshie Sengupta (Miss Universe 2010) and its members. Mr Neotia addressed the audience in his usual composed and motivating self and emphasised on the need of being and enjoying the present. Mr Francovigh also delivered a brief speech on Indo-Italian relationship.

Ms Manjula Jain, the outgoing Chairperson bade a beatiful good bye to the members while thanking them and her Committee for their generous support to her during her tenure. Through a wonderful audio-visual presentation, she summarised the events organised, projects and several charitable activities undertaken during her term. Ms Jain with much pride and happiness handed over the Guard to our new Chairperson, Ms Anupama Sureka. Ms Sureka delivered an inspiring introductory speech stating that she and her Committee shall put unstinted efforts towards further propagating FLO’s motto ‘Power to Empower’ through events, programmes and projects focussed on several sectors including Media, Corporate, Banking & Finance and Sports. The new Committee comprising of Executive Committee members and Special Invitees was introduced.

Ms Sureka and the dignitaries unveiled the FLO-Kolkata Application (‘App’) the for mobile phones of its members. This App has a message from Ms Sureka, details of all the members of the Chapter, upcoming events, gallery and feedback. The App is user friendly and answers the modern need of instant communication and information with a simple touch.

The glory of event was further enhanced by the talk of Shri Sreedharan on “Become the CEO of your Life” based on Vedanta philosophy, a philosphy which enunciates the eternal principles of life and living. Sreedharan is the disciple of Shri A. Parthasarathy, popularly known as Swamiji, who is a philosopher and exponent of Vedanta and founder of Vedanta Academy. Like Swamiji, Sreedharan also has emerged as a leading corporate guru for international institutions such as the Young Entrepreneurs’ Organisation, Young Presidents’ Organisation, World Presidents’ Organisation, World Economic Forum, distinguished business schools and several large MNCs. He translates the subtle philosophical themes into a practical technique of living and its application in professional and personal lives of individuals. In his talk, Sreedharan asserted on the following 4 aspects towards harmonious living:

1. Always choose intellect over mind or an ideal combination of both as acting on mind alone can be devastating.
2. Believing and espousing love, trust and faith.
3. Abandon ego (exaggerated glorified oneself, as elaborated by Sreedharan).
4. Adopt and nurture an attitude of gratitude.

Sreedharan explained the above lucidly through illustrations from everyday life. His talk was followed by an interactive session with the members where questions such as how does one choose intellect to overcome fear, how to be in the present and what is the difference between self respect and ego were asked by the audience and deliberated upon.

The event concluded with a Vote of Thanks from Ms Sunita Kanoria, Senior Vice Chairperson, FLO Kolkata.
Delectable refreshments, over networking and bonding, were served to the guests and members after the event.
The event saw an overwhelming attendance of more than 200 members. The feedback of the members was solicited on a feedback form and few of the reactions are as follows:
Ms Parvati Shaw – “I liked the approach, conceptualized by Mr. Shreedharan”.
Ms Priyanka Sonthalia – “Last year attended Switch on/off. But this one is superb.”
Ms Deepa Banka – “Very well coordinated, and organized.”
Ms Jaswant Jain – “Mobile app is too good.”

The event was widely covered by media and published till now in newsprint in Statesman, Asian Age (Kolkata Age), Sanmarg, Dainik Jagran, Prabhat Khabar, Akhbar-e-Mashriq, Khabar 365 Din and online at:
http://www.enigmatixmedia.com/ms-anupama-sureka-becomes-the-new-chairperson-of-ficci-flo/and http://zeenews.india.com/bengali/kolkata/ficci-flo_140103.html