Event Highlights: #TheHeroesSpeak, Nov 4th, Helm of Eight, Mumbai

You know, it’s very important to be internally alert. When you know what you want, you put all your energy into it and what you create is not a product, but, a vision. A vision that is not ‘just yours’ but, belongs to everyone who becomes a part of it! Real Life Heroes is my vision and I am extremely proud to be associated with such talented people.

Thumbs up to the fantastic evening that it was, to everyone present for being a part of my ‘FIRST’.

We began with Meenal Tenpe‘s story, a cancer conqueror, the power of beating the odds, how a resilient will can make you win anything impossible. Meenal is not only a winner in her own account, but also exemplifies an unbending spirit. She is a live example of ‘mind over matter’. Next up was Nancy Pirri, an artist from Chicago, we played the slideshow of her work after her talk and people were simply amazed by the beauty of her artwork, how wonderfully it talks about women emotions, the constant balancing a woman goes through in life. Then came, Tanvi Mallya, Tanvi is the founder of Tanvi Mallya’s Elder Care Services, she talked about Neurological Disorders and Elderly Care, the constant need to make your elderly loved ones special. She was followed by Scott Poynton, the founder of The Forest Trust (TFT). He joined us from New Zealand and spoke about his vision, the fact that how we can be more sensitive towards the environment in our daily routine, how we can be more alert towards ecosystem really matters.

A short break and soon Mayuri Bhattacharjee joined us from Kolkata, the Founder of Loo Watch and Sikun Relief Foundation, Curator@Global Shapers, World Economic Forum (Kolkata Hub) and an absolute force to reckon with. She spoke about her journey, how a road trip with friends led her to create Loo watch. She proudly calls herself a ‘sanitation enthusiast’. Up next came Isha Kazi, an engineer (yes, take a breath, we do have women engineers!), the Founder of Beyond Issues. She spoke about her battle with Depression and the growing need to have platforms, forums where people can share their psychological plight without being critically judged.

The next guest was a famous TEDx speaker, Rajasi Kulkarni-Diwakar, who made the evening more ‘human’ and ‘heroic’ by adding the most important pieces of her life to the show. She spoke about common menstrual taboos and reproductive hygiene. We ended the show with a power packed ‘Skype Live’ with Shekhar Vijayan, an author, stand-up comic, a motivational speaker, a social media influencer. His fat to fit story has been featured on The Better India and Your Story. He spoke about Body Positivity, Health is Wealth, Aspire to Inspire….

I want to thank Kiran Reddy, Sai Kiran and Sanjeev Padmanabhan for their tireless efforts to make this beautiful evening possible.

Lastly, a big thank you to the audience, to the people present for the evening, for their unflinching faith in me and the Heroes, for their love and support. Thumbs up to the collective strength and synergy!

-Manvi