Presenting Partner

Federal Bank

Federal Bank, one of India’s leading private sector banks, began its journey from a humble background to reach the stature of an institution with national prominence and character. The bank aspires to be the most admired in the country. Fuelling its dreams is the 8 million-plus loyal customer base. With a rich legacy of seven decades, Federal Bank today commands the respect of the nation. Headquartered in Aluva, Kerala, the bank’s scrips are widely held and listed in the Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange in India. The global depository receipts are listed at the London Stock Exchange.

Federal Bank has built its empire on the twin values of ethics and excellence, and this has propelled the bank throughout its journey. With 1,252 branches, 1,684 ATMs and a committed, experienced & energetic work force, Federal Bank has a presence across the nation. To service the NRIs, who are a pillar of strength, the bank operates Representative Offices at Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Federal Bank handles 15% of the total NR remittance to the country and this is testimony to its relationship with the NR diaspora. The Bank also has an IFSC Banking Unit (IBU) in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City). Transformation is inevitable and, for Federal Bank, it has been no different. The organization believes in transforming itself, while keeping its principles intact, to match the beat of the industry and the expectations of stakeholders. Technology is the new buzzword and it has left an indelible mark on the banking industry. For Federal Bank, technology is yet another opportunity to cater to the needs of customers/stakeholders, and it has become a partner to the ‘Technology bandwagon’ by launching a bouquet of technology products (and, in some case, ‘Pioneers’) that have made the retail customer’s banking experience, easy and convenient.

Associate Partner

Apollo Hospitals

The seeds of Apollo Hospitals were sown by the visionary Dr Prathap C Reddy, after he saw a patient dying because he couldn’t afford to go the US for treatment—and India didn’t have the facilities to help him. Today, thousands of patients from across the world come to be treated at Apollo, the largest healthcare provider in Asia. The group today has 71 hospitals with 10,000 beds. With the values of ‘Tender Loving and Care’ being followed from top to bottom, Apollo has touched the lives of over 55 million people. Beyond hospitals, the group also owns 2,500 pharmacies (highest in India), 90 diagnostic centres and 110 telemedicine centres. As a prime mover of the healthcare revolution in India, Apollo Hospitals has been the recipient of numerous awards. Though richly deserved, Apollo treats these accolades as motivation to increase its footprint on the national map of healthcare and reach new heights in patient care.

Aishwarya Rajesh

After graduating from Ethiraj College, Aishwarya Rajesh went on to win a dance reality show. “I considered working in serials, but learnt that it paid only around `1,500 a month. Asking around, I found that film actors got paid much better.” Not that it was easy to get a look in, especially since she wasn’t fair-skinned. After struggling for two years, just when she was about to quit, she got a chance to play the second lead in Pa Ranjith’s Attakathi. Her work was appreciated and Aishwarya realized that even a small role in a hit film could give her good exposure. She went on to star in films like Rummy, Pannaiyaarum Padminiyum and Thirudan Police. But it was Kaaka Muttai that was a turning point in her career. Her performance won rave reviews and her turn as the mother of two children in a slum proved to be a career-defining role. This led to her stepping into other film industries, starting with Malayalam, where she did Jomonte Suvisheshangal with Dulquer Salmaan and Sakhavu with Nivin Pauly. For Bollywood, she worked in the Arjun Rampal-starrer Daddy. Aishwarya is currently working on Mani Ratnam’s Chekka Chivantha Vaanam, Kanaa, which features her as a cricketer, and Lakshmi, where she once again plays a mother. “I have played a 75-year-old as well as a 16-year-old. Through my roles, I want to break the myth that heroines can only play certain kinds of characters. I believe performance adds more to beauty than make-up or skin colour. And I want to be a performer who will be admired for years to come.”

Rajalakshmi YG Parthasarathy

A legend in education, an art connoisseur, a visionary in progressive practices of schooling, Rajalakshmi YG Parthasarathy is a nonagenarian educationist par excellence. A double graduate in Mathematics and History and a Doctorate in Vaishnavism at the age of 75, Mrs YGP, as she is lovingly known, is a role model for all in the field of education. She established PSBB in 1958 to provide education that had a global dimension but Indian roots. The small school on the terrace with 13 students is now an educational empire with over 7,000 students. Having incorporated global best practices into the PSBB system, Mrs YGP believes that marks are not the only indicators of a child’s talent and encourages extra-curricular activities with the same zeal as she does academics. To cater to students passionate about science, she has set up the Research Science Initiative, Chennai, in collaboration with IIT-Madras, in line with the Research Science Institute programme of MIT’s Centre of Excellence. Business Battle, an inter-school contest where commerce students apply business principles, is another of her creations. To ensure that the high standard and quality set by the pioneers is maintained, Mrs YGP has got the school and two key events, Reverberations and Abhinaya, ISO certified. For her outstanding contribution in the field of art and education, the Government awarded her the Padma Shri in 2010.

Rohini Bhajibhakare

From Solapur to Salem, Rohini Bhajibhakare has come a long way–literally and figuratively. The daughter of a marginal farmer in Solapur, she credits her rural roots with her success as the first woman collector in Salem district’s 227-year history. “I grew up in Solapur, where I saw the rural side closely. But I was also lucky enough to get the finest urban exposure which led me to think about creating urban solutions to the problems of rural India,” she says. When she consistently topped her class in Uplai and Solapur in Maharashtra, Rohini’s father may have dreamed of his daughter shining in whatever job she did. However, he may not have foreseen the light reaching as far as Salem. Rohini’s achievements as the collector of Salem and, before that, as additional collector in Madurai, are many. But she’s proudest of her work to make Madurai the first open defecation-free district in Tamil Nadu. Rohini achieved that by constructing toilets and, more importantly, by getting people to change their behaviour and making women see access to sanitation as their right. In Salem, it is the integrated tribal development scheme that seeks to improve the living conditions of the tribal population that occupies Rohini’s mind. “I always wanted to be a civil servant. My father used to tell me if you’re here on earth, you must find a way to give something back. And the best way to do it, for me, was through the civil services,” she says.

Sheela Balaji

Sheela Balaji wears many hats. As chairperson and managing trustee of AIM for Seva and the Swami Dayananda Educational Trust, she works to bring about grassroot-level societal transformation through education. She is also committed to creating opportunities for rural communities to learn, find employment and adopt sustainable living practices. Over the past two decades, Sheela has been instrumental in setting up 127 projects across 16 states—in education, healthcare and community development. Her work has impacted over 20 million lives and 1,500 villages across India. Her revival and cultivation of over 130 heritage rice varieties, through the project, ‘Spirit of the Earth, is fascinating. Sheela started the initiative five years ago when she discovered that India, which was once home to almost 200,000 varieties of rice, now could claim only some 30,000, owing to the Green Revolution and genetically-modified seeds. In order to once more popularize the grains consumed by our forefathers, she embarked on a seed bank drive, meticulously collecting grains from across the country through farmers and NGOs involved in similar work. Sheela’s determination led her to search for the many indigenous varieties of each state. Contacting people on the field, farmers, and anyone involved even remotely with agriculture, she was able to gather 130 varieties of paddy seeds. These seeds were then cultivated in a 40-acre organic farm in Manjakkudi in the Kaveri belt of Tamil Nadu. There has been no looking back since.

Uma Devi

Born in Athipakkam village in Thiruvannamalai district, Uma Devi belongs to a family of creative professionals. Her parents are Koothu artists, her brother, Meghanathan, a poet. She cites the latter’s writings as inspiration for her own early attempts at poetry. Uma wrote her first poem when she was in class 9 and participated in poetry competitions through school and college. She then moved to Chennai to pursue her Master’s degree, and in 2006, published her first collection of poems, Thisaigalai Parugiyaval. With a PhD from the International Institute of Tamil Studies, she entered the film industry with Naan Nee in Madras, directed by Pa Ranjith. “Ranjith read my first poetry collection and liked both the words and the politics behind them. He especially liked the brand of feminism I talk about in that particular book. At a time when the Western brand of feminism was the staple of discussions, I brought in Avvaiyar, Manimegalai, Kannagi. Our culture and feminist ideals struck a chord with readers as well as Ranjith.” Uma Devi has since written for multiple films, such as Inime Ippadithaan, Maaya, Kabali, Adhe Kangal, Thappu Thanda, Kattapaava Kaanom, Magalir Mattum, Theeran Adhigaram Ondru, and Aramm. Most recently, she wrote the lyrics for the song Kannama in Rajinikanth’s Kaala. The song is a chartbuster and a testament to her growing prowess and the magic of her writing. Working as an assistant professor at Ethiraj College for Women in Chennai, she says, “I have received a lot of awards, but the everyday recognition that I receive from people is something else.”

Vandana Gopikumar

The Banyan’s seed was sown when Vandana Gopikumar, then a 22-year-old student of social work, wandered the streets with her friend Vaishnavi Jayakumar, trying—in vain—to find shelter for a mentally-ill, half-naked woman whom she had spotted on the road. The friends realized that there was no place for the woman. So they took her home, as they did the many others whom they rescued from the streets. But they only ended up alienating the neighbours. In 1993, determined to provide shelter to homeless, mentally ill women, Vandana set up The Banyan. Today, the organization not only shelters thousands of such individuals, its various divisions look into every aspect of social care, from rehabilitation to influencing perception about mental health. With Banyan, Vandana has grown too, her identity shaped by the organization that she has built. “I think the Banyan shaped me as much as my parents and friends did. Contact with women in distress taught me empathy. It gave me a sense of purpose and taught me the need to build a better, kinder and safer place,” she says. With the Banyan on one side, Vandana works to integrate the needs of homeless people into the policy framework. She was a member of the first Mental Health Policy Group constituted by the Union Government in 2012 and helped bring out an inclusive policy that stressed on integrated care with a rights-based approach. She is also a professor at TISS, Mumbai which, in collaboration with The Banyan Academy of Leadership in Mental Health, is trying to address gaps in the understanding of social work practice in mental health from a human rights perspective.

Vijayalakshmi Navaneetha Krishnan

Vijayalakshmi Navaneetha Krishnan is synonymous with all forms of folk art-be it music, dance, theatre, craft. At a time when folk and tribal arts are fading, the renowned artiste-researcher-professor has been working to revive and promote them since 1979. The former head of the Department of Art History, Aesthetics & Fine Arts of Madurai Kamaraj University, Vijayalakshmi was born at Chinna Suraikai Patti, Rajapalayam, in Virudhunagar district, into a farming family. She proved naturally talented in folk music and dance and nifty in the drawing of kolam. Vijayalakshmi started her teaching career in 1967. In her 39 years in academics, she participated in over 60 national and international seminars and workshops, presented umpteen research papers and authored 16 books. Along with husband M Navaneetha Krishnan, she is said to have a rare repertoire of folk arts—10,000 songs in 5,000 audio cassettes, visual arts in 200 video cassettes, 100 scripts of folklore, besides scores of photographs and documents. Vijayalakshmi has performed in over 3,000 folk dance, theatre and tribal music shows, and also got youngsters involved, in a bid to inspire them to remember their traditions. She has also released 13 audio albums of her folk songs. For her work, Vijayalakshmi has won several prestigious awards, including the Padma Shri and the Tamil Nadu Government’s Kalaimamani Award.