By Luvena Rangel (The Curvy Yogi)
Kanara Entrepreneurs (KE) marked the momentous 75 years of India’s Independence with a special Gratitude themed Members Meet on Friday, 19th August 2022 at the Grand Magrath, Bangalore. KE GenNow hosted the evening with aplomb and the attending members added a touch of grace and flair by donning their Indian Ethnic best.
The evening took off with an interesting icebreaker of Charades hosted by Neil Rodrigues with volunteers enacting business names. Amidst raucous laughter and good humour over misinterpreted charades, the audience received prizes for guessing the correct business names. Naveen Fernandes walked away with the prize of the Best Actor.
The evening was kept charged by the energetic Emcee, Carol Pereira, who also presented us with the 12 chakras of KE analogous to the 24 spokes of the chakra in the Indian Flag. The 12 chakras of KE were derived from the word, INDEPENDENCE: Inspiration, Nurturing, Diversity of profession, Economic independence, Passion, Expression, Networking, Dream catchers, Endurance, Novel, Charity, and Euphoria.
After Dr. Maria Pramila Dsouza led the KE prayer, KE President, Clarence Pereira addressed the members by drawing the essence from key global events of August – the Commonwealth Games, the election of a woman President of India hailing from a tribal community, the passing of business magnate Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and the Independence Day of India – and making them relevant for KE.
Highlighting the resplendence of the ethnic wear of the gathering, Clarence further noted the following points with some elaboration:
- To embrace values not just symbols
- Harmonious coexistence of all faiths
- Learning the art of disagreement
- Commitment to diversity
- Rededication to public morality and not take shortcuts
- Building trust and relationships
- Gratitud
Clarence closed his address with the thoughtful words, “Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”
Leena Lobo, proceeded to give an update on the KE Women Entrepreneurs’ latest activities, their success stories at collaboration as well as the adding of more members after the last meeting. Interestingly, collaborative ventures that were showcased were not only between women KE Members but also with members across the group and even internationally truly making the tag, ‘Bold & Beautiful KE Women’ worth its coinage.
James Coelho, Director Memberships, led the solemn oath taking ceremony of 8 new members to KE, while the members in the audience extended their warm support with much applause and cheer to welcome them into the fold.
Nishan Pereira, brilliantly hosted and moderated the fireside chat with Guest of Honour, Olympian, swimmer and Entrepreneur, Nisha Millet of Nisha Millet’s Swimming Academy. Nisha’s candid and humorous sharing of her journey – from childhood swimming lessons to training, school and college, and business management, along with challenges along the way, made for some deep inspiration. The experiences she shared were pertinent to entrepreneurs of all genres where she extolled the virtues and values picked up from sport. Leadership, hard work, teamwork and above all, to never give up. Her words of advice to budding business owners were, “Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do something!”. She also stressed on the importance of mentorship and to remember, with gratitude, those who stayed with you at your lowest.
Our next segment – Business Pitches – with Janice Pearl D’souza (Elemental Life Solutions LLP) and Allwyn Roshan D’souza (Brandwrks Foundry). Both members presented their businesses with style and professionalism. They journeyed through the vision and mission of their products and services and also presented clear asks prior to taking questions and comments from the audience.
Two very special prizes of the evening were adjudged by Lovina Dias (Gene Brides) – the Best Dressed Female member, Carol D’souza (The Mangalorean) who as impeccably dressed in a Coorgi drape and Best Dressed Male member, Nishan Pereira looking elegant and charming in an off-white sherwani. Key criterion of the qualifying process was the display of the KE member’s pin.
Notable achievements of KE Members were highlighted before Eugene Mathias presented Gratitude Expression with member, Noel Fernandes (My Home Painting Solutions) delivering his heartfelt thanks to the various KE members who had supported his business throughout the year. Eugene supplemented the Gratitude theme by inviting members to utilize the special Collaborative Reference cards (conceptualized and created by Allwyn D’Souza). Members were invited to express thanks to members for Ace Alliance.
The evening ended with a specially co-created video of 22 contributions from 15 members saying, ‘Thank you’ for services, business referrals and even extending a hand of friendship during tough times.
KE GenNow orchestrated this meeting with adept finesse – a culmination of organizational skill, optimal task distribution across the core committee and a collaborative effort of volunteers and sponsors to showcase an impeccable event. The leadership, creativity and management skills of the team has been commendable and worth taking note of! Once again, they have exceeded all expectations and set the bar even higher in terms of the quality of the KE Member meets!
Many thanks to our sponsors for the prizes:
Janice Pearl d’Souza – Elemental Life Solutions – Charades
Roshan D’silva – Tripvilas – Best Dressed Male
George Monis – Eagle Eye Resorts – Best Dressed Female
Gift Hamper supported by:
Charmaine Saldanha – Cake
Coreen D’Souza Fareed – Mangalorean chilli paste
Keroline Martis – Cakecicles, chocolate, cookies, and strawberry jam
Leena Lobo – Wine
Nishan Pereira – Passport Sleeves
Rochelle Lobo D’Gama – Prawn pickle
Uma Maheswari – Healthy bars
Wilson D’Souza – Chikkis
Eugene Mathias – Hamper basket
Ranjeeta Greta Chatterjee – Packaging & Wrapping
Video testimonials from:
Clarence Pereira, Anoop Sequeira, Carol D’Souza, Charmaine Saldanha, Deon Gomes, Dr. Bryan Menezes, Freeman Almeida, Luvena Rangel, Manish Michael, Mario D’Rozario, Ranjeeta Chatterjee, Rochelle D’Gama, Vivek Cornelio, Vilina Sequeira, Nishan Pereira
Volunteers:
Anjali Lobo (overall event coordination & design work), Carol Pereira (Master of Ceremony), Deon Gomes (creatives, design and videos), Elizabeth Yorke, Lennold D’Almeida, Ranjeeta Chatterjee & Vivek Cornelio for attending to the registration desk and Vincent Anthony D’Souza for Time Keeping.
Organizing Committee:
Anoop Sequeira – Director Mentoring; (Eugene Mathias (Firefly Spaces), Neil Rodrigues (The Konkan), Nishan Pereira (Deccan Group of Companies), Vilina Sequeira (Docens Training & HR Consulting Pvt. Ltd.)