Showing posts with label Comedy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Comedy. Show all posts

Monday, 22 August 2016

Of Work-Life Balance With SHEROES...

What?
SHEROES Summit 2016

When?
Wednesday, August 10

Where?
Eros Hotel, Nehru Place

It was that time of the year, when I was led to the insightful and inspiring SHEROES Summit for the second time, after my association with them in 2014.


Delhi traffic made sure I did not arrive before the Summit began, all roads led to the SHEROES Summit that day! :) Sairee took to the stage to speak about the conception of SHEROES and how it all began.

The good thing was that I arrived some time after the Keynote Session with Nithya Shanti had begun. His session made for a perfect start to the day and I was exclaiming 'How Wonderful!' by the time it ended. He spoke to a hall full of people early morning 10 'o' clock.

Some pearls of Wisdom (that resides in the gap between Stimulus and Response) from his interaction included:



  • 3-point agenda: Show Up, Share Your Gifts, Synergize 
  • Luck = Preparation + Opportunity 
  • Develop the art of being present 
  • Vocalize, Visualize, Emotionalize, Actualize, Express Gratitude 
  • SW SW SW SW - Some Will, Some Won't, So What? Someone's Waiting! :) 
  • Don't be afraid to ASK 
  • Job is a Chore (Hands), Career is a Climb (Hands + Head), Calling is the vision (Hands + Head + Heart)
  • MIND is essentially Mostly Inaccurate Neural Drama  




The second session was a CXO Panel moderated by Syna Dehnugara, comprising the following panelists:


  • Nipun Singhal - Director, Lloyd Electric and Engineering 
  • Pankaj Bansal - Co-founder and CEO, PeopleStrong 
  • Shilpa Sharma - Co-founder, Jaypore 
  • Radhika Ghai Agarwal - Co-founder and Chief Business Officer, Shopclues 


A simple thought highlighted how what one thinks, knows, or believes is of little consequence as what one does, matters.

Naina Kidwai was quoted on the dais as thus:

"Other than the crystal balls of family and home, there is a third ball though that we, as perennial jugglers, forget - that third ball is 'me time'. I treat this as a rubber ball - allow it to drop and bounce back when I can afford to attend it."

The three things not to do in an e-comm business or any business for that matter were discussed:

  1. Create a deliverable that caters to some need. 
  2. Make sure that the service being promised is differentiated. 
  3. Passion is overrated and dynamic in nature. 

The third session focused on Future Of Work, moderated by Rituparna Chatterjee and had the following panelists:




  • Prukalpa Sankar - Co-founder, SocialCops 
  • Kashyap Deorah - Entrepreneur and Investor 
  • Bee Rowlatt - Writer and Journalist 
  • Varun Khaitan - Co-founder, UrbanClap 


Flexible working is a lifeline, a progressive concept. Bee admitted that she would've gone crazy without it. It is also true however that the present day generation has seen flexible working, not past rigidness in routine that inculcated discipline.

Also highlighted was the fact that technology is catalyst to changing work environment while also applauding the fact that we had gradually accustomed ourselves to celebrating working parenthood.

Post-lunch it was about sparkling milestones and spiraling meltdowns, with Dare To Be by Rinku Paul, which familiarized readers with the stories of success and failure of fourteen women, one of whom was SHEROES founder, Sairee Chahal.



Other ladies featuring in the series included Zumba instructor Sucheta Pal and stand-up comedian Neeti Palta.

According to Rinku, being an entrepreneur is tough, woman entrepreneur tougher, young entrepreneur tougher still.

Two budding women entrepreneurs took to the stage, after Rinku to 'lightning-pitch' their ideas within a strict time frame of five minutes, with proper time keeping.


  • Smita Mishra of PoolWallet, with the concept of a P2P Group Payment Social Network 
  • Neha Upadhyay of Gunaa Organics, reaching out to organic farmers of difficult terrains 


One of the women who had dared to be in real-life set the room reverberating with cheers of SHEROES! at the time she arrived on stage. Ex-Indian Woman Cricketer Anjum Chopra was in our midst!



Delivering a power-packed oration, tracing her roots and training period, she was quick to comment on gender bias - कुछ तो लोग कहेंगे, लोगों का काम है कहना!

Ruchi Phool's Laughter Yoga refreshed the sleepy heads post-lunch, setting the ambiance on a lighter note. 

Shaili Chopra and Anu S Choudhary spoke about their ventures - SheThePeople TV and Good Girls Show. 

The Summit was drawn to a fitting conclusion with awesome comedy by stand-up artiste, Sanjay Rajoura. I had tears of joy in my eyes reacting to his hilarious punches! 

Until next time, when SHEROES take charge! :)

Thursday, 1 October 2015

#StandUpComedyInStyle If You Live In Style!



Being an amiable stand-up comedian is no easy task. It takes a lot of inborn wit, humor and guts to face the masses to pursue Stand-Up Comedy as a full-fledged profession. You must possess an enviable degree of articulation and expression of thoughts so as to prove your mettle in the world of comedy. 

As easy as it is to laugh off the shortcomings of others, as difficult it is to bear the brunt on one's own self. The person who masters the art of laughing off his own follies, however harsh they may sound or seem to be, is the person who can think of pursuing stand-up comedy as an art. 

It is not that a budding comedian can become a stand-up comedian in the span of a single night. It takes persistence and determination to achieve any goal that one may set his eyes upon. Stand-Up Comedy is about rekindling the flame of bravery, within oneself to step up and face those first few jokes with nobody laughing and convincing yourself that you are good enough to get on stage again and prove that you have what it takes to sustain your survival as the one with the funny bone. 

Recently, I came across the LiveInStyle website. These people are doing an outstanding job at encouraging budding talent in the field of Stand-Up Comedy - youngsters and elders alike - who search for a suitable platform to showcase their unrecognized talent, by teaming up with Comedy Hunt on Youtube - and prompting people to exhibit their bold moves - verbally and wittily. 



The website also showcases some very interesting listicles - for instance, '5 Life Lessons You Can Learn From A Stand-Up Comedian', 'How to tell a story like a stand-up comedian', '5 Questions Stand Up Comics are Asked Every Day' and such which give the common audience an insight of what it is like to live as a Stand-Up comedian. 

Other than that, there are also some 'About' sections which focus the limelight on the stand-up comedians of today's times whose approach appeals to the youth, namely Kannan Gill, Gursimran Khamba, Vir Das and Vipul Goyal. 

It is also becoming a trend nowadays that stand-up comedians appear for paid stints at events and parties in the city, so as to lend a cheerful note to such social gatherings and enlivening the Party while showcasing their talent.