By the time the Rise Above programme began on 16th October 2026, the hall at Lucknow Public Schools & Colleges had filled completely. More than 450 members sat shoulder to shoulder, which made this one of the largest gatherings FLO Lucknow has held this year.
What struck many people was the mood in the room. A crowd that size usually hums with energy, and this one did, but there was a calm running underneath it. When Sister BK Shivani took the stage, the hum settled into attentive quiet. Her dialogue on inner strength moved at an unhurried pace, and the audience stayed with her throughout.
The session had a second layer that set it apart from a typical spiritual talk. Dr. Mayank Somani and Dr. Harit Chaturvedi brought the medical view of the mind-body connection to the same stage. For a room of entrepreneurs and professionals, hearing doctors speak about the link between mental state and physical health made the evening feel grounded as well as uplifting. Neither perspective crowded out the other. Spiritual wisdom explained why stillness matters, and clinical experience explained what is at stake when it is missing.
Members left with something quieter than a motivational high. Several spoke afterwards about feeling lighter, and about wanting to carry a little of the evening’s calm back into their working weeks. The event also said something about the chapter’s priorities. FLO Lucknow spends much of the year on business, policy, skilling and outreach.
Rise Above was a reminder that the women doing all that work need places to reflect and recover too. With 450+ members present, the response suggested that members felt the same way. The collaboration with Apollo’s doctors added credibility to a subject that is sometimes dismissed as soft. Resilience, as the evening made clear, has a spiritual side and a medical one, and members were offered both.