taj | Lofty Spectrums

Taj vivanta- dimsum festival

May 26, 2017

This summers have been very juicy and deliciously invigorating our senses with the various new menu launches and festivals going on in the city of Bengaluru. Recently I was invited by team Taj Vivanta to be a traveler in their culinary journey of the Dimsums. And this turned out to be an experience, not only did I go but we chose to have a dimsum delight inside the kitchen too and be a part of rolling out the dough to making the fillings and stuffing these yummilicious dimsums before they were finally served on our table.

Chef Selvaraju took us through this journey and we got to learn some trade secrets n recipes which we might let out once he gives us a green signal, till then i will try few of them in my kitchen.

When it’s the Memories of China, Taj Vivanta then the food is brilliant and the Times Food Award and the Vir Sanghavi Food Awards for the best Chinese food stand testament to it. And we had this amazing table in the very Chinese ambience of this lovely restaurant, the interiors of which have been done in a way they spell Moody n mysterious Chinese folktales I read in my childhood. Although I loved the fusion of indian god done in oriental fashion in the restaurant.

We began our food tasting or culinary journey with some hot piping soups, I had the spicy lemon coriander soup for summers are intense this year in bangalore. Then we were served the light on palette steamed chicken dimsum, and steamed chicken and prawn suimai, and the interesting part was that these we had cooked ourselves so what better than knowing exactly the ingredients of what you eat. Also to let the vegetarians know when we were touring the spic n span clean kitchen of Taj we realized that vegetarian section of chopping, cooking and even the chop boards n utensils are separate.

In the vegetarian section we gotto taste the exotic Shangai spring onion cake and coriander and spring onions ChungFang. The vegetable spring rolls and pan fried chicken gouti and crispy prawns roll CHUNG FUNG made it totally a delightful sensorial experience. We were finally again served some lovely jasmine rice and chicken recipes to go with the food along with noodles although we were so full and they are not in this menu but chef made sure that bloggers have an amazing experience. It could not have been a better soothing and satiating summer culinary soiree and the lazy afternoon coupled with laughter and fun, unsuccessful trials of making the dimsum with the kids giggling made it an afternoon to cherish. The dimsum food festival is going on till the end of this month and it might get extended so have a day out with your preferred company and till then EAT, DRINK AND BE MERRY FOR TOMORROW WE MAY DIET.

Written and experienced by – Anuja Pandey
Photographed by – Vedansh Pandey

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Mix print with print- for style never goes out of fashion

December 4, 2016

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Last weekend when I was enjoying the staycation with my family at the Taj, bangalore, wherein I was invited as a special guest to blog about the beautiful, five star luxury hotel at the airport, I was a little confused about what to pack. For a girl who wants to wear good clothes and clothes which make you feel comfortable and classy is really necessary. The holiday fun, playing the mommy could also not be compromised so I chose this beautiful yellow dress for the first day. This colour is one of my favs and it brings so much of sunshine and happiness at the same time, and of course, it definitely enhances the style quotient as this colour is ruling this season totally.

I love the soft, flowing fabric and the black prints in leaves and flowers running all over it. I combined it with a printed scarf which my mom wears all the time ( I love to pick up her things, it makes me so cozy).

I chose the strappy block heels in beige colour. The Universally Flattering silhouette with the dark prints, midi length dress, makes it a complete day wear which doesn’t come in high price tag too. Style need not be expensive always. The defined waistline makes one look neat and not shabby. I chose to wear sparkly danglers from Swarovski and I think I can say, I love this comfortable and peppy combination. So mix prints with prints and give a twist to your look for style is your own though fashion might change.

[Outfit Details]
Location- Taj, bangalore
Suzy shier
Blocks- all about Spring
Earrings- Swarovski
Photography- Vasanthan Kumaraswamy
Styled & Written by – Anuja Pandey

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Soi and Sake- the aromas of delectable Chinese and Japanese kitchen

December 1, 2016

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Soi and Sake, which is the Chinese and Japanese restaurant by Taj, Bangalore serves the most sumptuous, authentic, fresh and delicious food I have had in a long time. So recently, when I was at Taj bangalore for my luxurious staycation (I surely would have easily gained 2 kgs of weight with the delightful treat I had, I’m scared to stand and check on my weighing scale now ), I had some deliciously tossed noodles, the tepenyaki and some lovely food. The name Soi and Sake is a mix of Japanese and Chinese, thereby denoting the kind of cuisine you can expect as you dine there. Sake means the alcoholic drink made from fermented rice.

Japanese, unlike westerns, serve the food in small plate or bowls so that the flavours don’t mix and the original taste of each dish is significantly noticed and enjoyed. So the food is not served on the table but is served in typical Japanese etiquette in a full course Japanese meal in seperate bowls one after the other. Either the plates have the division or even the leaves and such are used at the base of each dish to retain the flavour of every dish singularly. Rice is the staple food and it usually is served with many side dishes and main dishes in Japan and China. The experience at taj was an excellent one and I can swear by the food we had here at Soi and Sake and the hot green teas we guzzled.

The first course was the chilled choi sum wrap This was so refreshing that it made my taste buds alive.

Pakchoy and water chestnut dimsum

Pan fried chicken kothe

Then the second and the third course were the Sushis and dim-sums (best of both the world).

The definite condiment for the Sushis, we all know, are the pickled Gari which acts like a palette cleanser and wasabi which has the piquant taste peculiar to it and has anti-microbial properties to save from food poisoning, in case be it. Also soya sauce and shoyu are other condiments which were served. We were served the spicy tuna sushi which includes raw tuna mixed with hot sauce infused mayonnaise. The other one was the Hawaiian roll that contains fresh Japanese Maguro Tuna, tamago, kanpyo, Kamaboko, and the distinctive red and green hana ebi (shrimp powder).

Seasoning is very important part of any cooking and specially Japanese. Japan is an island and most of the meals comprise of seafood. A modest number of herbs and spices may be used during cooking as a hint or accent, or as a means of neutralizing fishy or gamy odors present. Examples of such spices include ginger, soy sauce, vinegar and miso soups flavour the food and make it a magnificent treat to have. Japanese food is either grilled or braised and also served raw like in Sushis or as sashimi, or, the tempura which are deep fried and batter coated.

Chef preparing sushi

Hawaiian roll sushi

Spicy tuna sushi

The next course were the exotic dimsums which were unparalleled and served in minimalistic style.

Exotic vegetable dumplings- dimsums

This was followed by the fourth course, that was, the chilli chicken which my kids thoroughly enjoyed while my hubby gorged on the delicious, succulent prawns seasoned with pepper and salt. Everything retained the fresh and original taste typical to it. I also particularly savoured the stir fried bak choi, which is a type of Chinese cabbage with a garnish of sesame seeds. This course’s most delectable dish was fresh water chestnut and lotus stem stir fry. Since the Japanese food is a lot about seasonal and fresh vegetables and seaweeds, we were served Fresh, crunchy, greens which smelt so crispy and great and made the best of the accompaniments with a green onion dip in oil, the chilli soy and the miso soup . I loved the water chestnut and lotus stems stir fried in honey chilli and it is a Chinese dish (I remember eating this as apart of daily ritual in the evenings in a desi stir fry at home when we were kids, time to adopt our food habits which we are leaving behind).

Crispy seaweed and spinach with toasted almonds

Prawn pepper salt

Dry red chilli chicken

Water chestnut and lotus stem stir fry

The fifth course was from the teppenyaki grill and we had some grilled vegetables braised in garlic butter and my kids tried their hands on the teriyaki chicken ( the chef was definitely patient man and also very witty trying to keep all of us in happy spirits). He not only threw in the sauces in the chicken but also his jokes in between and we had a hearty, happy meal, full of laughter and fun. The sticky Japanese rice (I love it so much), and the flat noodles were served according to the preferences ponzu napped prawn was served it was an ecstacy.

Teriyaki Chicken

Ponzu napped Prawn

Teriyaki Chicken

Flat noodles

The sixth course of mains was the edamame beans flavoured chicken which was a stir fry which my hubby loved. Edamame beans were imported from Japan and were fresh, usually they are eaten blanched with some salt and they lose their freshness and flavour within a day, and these beans are a nutritional punch. I had the haricot beans in Shanghai style. (I was oh so full by now).

Stir fried chicken with edamame beans

Prawns in hot garlic sauce

The last course was dessert which was amazing and we had it after some half an hour in our luxury suite. It was sesame Ferrero rocher, ginger nutty dumplings and fresh lychee ice cream. The food at SOI AND SAKE was perfectly balanced and each dish was flavoured and seasoned in the authentic Chinese and Japanese way. I realise my love for food and food tasting was catered wonderfully by the warm service, perfect flavours which were rightly balanced and great ambience, lovely people, and awesome chefs of Taj , bangalore. Thanks to the team Taj for the wonderful staycation.

Dessert

=Location- Taj, bangalore=

Restaurant- Soi and Sake

Written and experienced by – Anuja Pandey

in LifeStyle

Tête-à-tête with Gopal Pillai, the director, seller services, Amazon

November 29, 2016

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Amazon India is the country’s largest online store, with more than 80 million products and 120,000 sellers. Amazon is also come up with a programme promoting female entrepreneurs by starting women owned delivery service wherein they promote weavers of India and artisans in textiles. People or cooperatives are trained to sell and promote their products online so that their reach becomes big and the sellers have a bigger audience for the make in India products and weaves, thereby reaching to global consumer.

Amazon has left behind its competitors including Snapdeal and Flipcart and fuelled e-commerce in India. According to the reports by Morgan Stanley, the online transactions are expected to reach $137 billions within 5 years. This has been achieved by Amazon despite the stringent rules imposed by the Govt. of India. Govt imposed strict FDI policy to protect the interest of domestic suppliers and industries, thus restricting foreign retailers from selling directly to Indian consumers. And then Amazon created a new business model and established its e-commerce in India and directly reached to local sellers. Then it recruited local suppliers and initiated into local market by establishing, for example, the award winning Amazon chai market. Here they started a fleet of three wheeler chai carts across 31 cities and navigated many miles serving over 37,000 cups of tea and signing up more than 10k sellers along the way. This unique way of establishing ubiquitous e-commerce all over the country and subsequently promoting the local sellers has brought Amazon a very long way. As Govindarajan wrote in the Harvard Business Review, “From product to delivery, Amazon has reinvented its ecosystem to address the challenges it has faced conducting an e-commerce enterprise in India.”

In conversation with Gopal Pillai, the Director and GM, Seller services, Amazon India. Gopal Pillai was here at ThinkBig 2016, organised by WeConnect international which was Asia’s biggest women entrepreneurs gathering. ThinkBig saw the women rise up and come like roaring waves for the summit. Women entrepreneurs came from all parts of the world and even from the tier 2 and tier three cities of India to be a part of this summit which served as an excellent platform for promoting women owned businesses.

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Neelam Chhibber- the co founder of Mother Earth

November 26, 2016

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Every time you shop at Mother Earth, you spend towards artisans. You participate in preserving our heritage of centuries old art and craft; sustaining it for the future and nurturing the livelihood of the artisans. The artistic, philanthropist and dynamic Neelam Chibber is the co- founder of Mother Earth and has been awarded the WomenChangeMaker, a fellowship by Womanity Foundation, which is a Geneva based non-profit organization.

She was the winner of the 2011 India Social Entrepreneur of the Year award. Neelam Chhiber is the co-founder of Industree, a social enterprise that connects rural producers to urban markets. She is an Industrial Designer from National Institute of Design and alumunus of Social impact International, as well as Global Social Benefit Incubator , Santa Clara University, USA. Here’s a tête-à-tête with her when she was at the ThinkBig summit 2016, organised by Weconnect.

So when You go to Mother Earth and buy a Kalamkari or a Dabu collection, you are also helping an artisan when at the same time upping your style quotient.This unique concept by Neelam Chibber of mixing design which is universally appealing with the rural age old traditional art and craft, makes it all the more a huge success.

You can find Neelam Chhibber on Facebook | Twitter | linkedin | industree | Mother Earth

Anuja Pandey

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Elizabeth Vazquez – a tête-à-tête with the CEO of Weconnect international in ThinkBig 2016 summit- bangalore

November 25, 2016

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WEConnect International’s fourth annual ThinkBig Summit is Asia’s largest women entrepreneurship and economic empowerment platform. The main goal of ThinkBig 2016 was to connect women-owned businesses with public and private sector opportunities that could dramatically impact the growth of their businesses. The Summit enabled almost 4,000 dynamic participants to engage in two days of inspiring and interactive sessions. Bangalore saw the women entrepreneurs come together like the roaring waves of the ocean at the thinkbig summit 2016. This path breaking initiative was organised by WeConnect International.

Here is a quick conversation with the President and CEO of WEConnect International Elizabeth Vazquez who took time during ThinkBig 2016, in bangalore recently.

As Elizabeth says that Weconnect international is a valuable resource to women owned companies who want to grow their businesses, who want to connect, who want to create jobs, who want access to market, who want to sell their products. Weconnect international’s women owned businesses represent over a 100 countries and hence is a very powerful platform for connecting with new market and building new business. Elizabeth said that women suppliers are needed since they are half of the population and they are the decision makers when it comes to making consumer purchasing decisions. Hence supplier diversity and inclusion is important for corporations too for the fact that if they want to give profit to their shareholders then they need to engage all their end users and women constitute half of the population.

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A weekend sojourn with the Taj – staycation

November 24, 2016

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This weekend I had the opportunity to go for a staycation at the recently launched Taj, bangalore and what a thoroughly pampering stay it was, I must say! I reached there on Saturday afternoon and was greeted in Indian parampara with the Tilak and Aarti and some flowers. Soon after this we were escorted to our lavish Suite, the decor of which was elegant, soothing and luxurious. The room comes along with the dining space and living room and here we were greeted by a welcome message from the general manager of the hotel and some delicious chocolates and macaroons and parfait, which made it an affair to remember, not only for the kids but also equally for us. The rooms are again very well lit naturally due to the French doors which allow ample of light through the sheers. The living room had a copper vessel for soaking the feet in, and it came with the bath salts and the rose petals. It almost makes you feel like a royalty, owing to the great and warm ambience and extremely courteous hospitality by the staff.

The Taj Bangalore property is very well situated at the airport, making it ideal for anyone travelling to stay overnight, if need be. The lush greenery and the architecture of the hotel make it very well lit, thus not really needing chandeliers or too much of artificial lightning. The rooms are surrounded by pools of water and as the curtain rolls up, you see through the windows the unending stretch of sky and greens. The serene water induces a calm and rejuvenating effect. It definitely imparts a relaxed feeling since it is away from the hustle bustle of the city life.

As soon as we freshened up, my children were treated to some Bianco pizza which they helped the chef to prepare. Trying their hands at cooking was a happy and almost adventurous moment for them. The chef kept them happily and constructively busy as I was served the Paniyaram or guliyappa with cilantro n edamame beans chutney and tomato chutney n coconut chutney. The paniyaram is a Tamil preparation which was stuffed with few veggies and is light accompaniment for tea.

Soon after this I headed for a very soothing massage, the Vishram massage which suited the time of the day (it was almost 7’o clock) and it induces great sleep due to the lovely aromas and herbs which the oil is infused with. Jiva, the spa, is a place where good energy and positive vibes are in abundance. The aroma envelopes your senses as you enter into the luxury space which specialises in a range of treatments, including wraps, body polish, scrubs and massage along with the inexhaustible range of face and hair treatments too. The hotel has a salon exclusive for the various salon treatments. The adjoining health club and fitness centre equipped with the steam, sauna and other facilities makes it an elegantly designed space. There are exclusive couple rooms with jacuzzi and shower cubicles. The swimming pool on the same floor makes for a great recluse when you probably could spend maximum time of your day. Once you step out of this space you surely feel as though you are the lotus feet and almond eyed beauty ready to conquer the world.

You are spoilt for choice when it comes to food at The Taj. The cafe77East Offers all sort of cuisines, from Italian to South Indian, North Indian to chats to bhelpuri, the list goes on. Another restaurant is The Tamarind, which is a fine dining restaurant which specialises in authentic Awadhi, Nawabi cuisine along with authentic punjabi cuisine too. The lassis are flavoured with saffron and pistachio nuts and the menu is endless and a gastronomical extravaganza. The authentic curries, exotic spices, the customary Awadhi kebabs which melt in the mouth make it an exclusive culinary journey for food lovers. We had our dinner here and I would separately blog on the food soon. Another fine dining restaurant which serves Japanese and Chinese cuisine is one of the best Japanese I have had. I enjoyed this sumptuous meal for lunch, the next day.

The Sunday was all about pool as this provides a perfect spot for the family to get together and play and have fun. We had a perfectly relaxed weekend, lazying around, a day full of joy, revelry and fun. The taj gave me an opportunity to spend some beautiful moments with my kids and spouse which many a times go amiss amidst the everyday monotony and chaos of home and work. It’s a perfect weekend getaway for a family and thoroughly sumptuous treat with luxury in abundance. We spent a perfect weekend cooking, playing, swimming, soaking in oil and immersing in reading. Thanks to the team Taj for this lovely staycation!

=Venue- Taj Bangalore =

Photoshoot- Vedansh Pandey

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Ms. Lalitha Kumaramangalam at – ThinkBig summit 2016 Chairperson of NCW

November 22, 2016

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Ms. Lalitha Kumaramangalam took over as the Chairperson of the National Commission for Women w.e.f. 29th September, 2014. She is a graduate in economics honours from St.Stephens College, Delhi University and Masters in Business Administration from Madras university. She speaks many languages fluently owing to her great family background. She belongs to powerful, illustrious political family, comprising Governor, Cabinet Ministers, Army General and Members of Parliament.

Ms. Kumaramangalam is a prominent political leader in her own right, who has been working relentlessly for decades for the empowerment and advancement of women belonging to the vulnerable and under-privileged sections of society.

She runs an NGO named Prakriti (in Indian Samkhya philosophy, Prakriti, or the nature, signifies woman). She has worked on issues dealing with healthcare, HIV/AIDS prevention and worked with dis- empowered communities like truckers, sex-workers, the LGBT community, migrant and construction workers, SHGs and urban slum women.

Recently she was at the ThinkBig 2016 Summit Inaugural ceremony in Bengaluru and addressed the gathering of women entrepreneurs and commanded all the attention, owing to her frank and impressive speech. Her speech stirred the audience and her words on condition of women in rural and sub-urban India made us realise the mammoth task of empowering them. They need to be heard and listened to and this is a moral obligation of us, the privileged sections of society, the educated lot, to reach out to them. In her speech she told how men in her life, have been the pillars of support and usually it’s a man who stands behind a woman who does well and breaks from the chain of ever present prejudices and suppression.

ThingBig summit was radiant with the presence of such truly inspiring lady who is so honest and transparent in her ideas and actions. The message that we gathered was that we must, as a society, be steady in our actions towards the upliftment of underprivileged women and be a guiding light, be their voice, and not just be a flicker of hope for a while which gets exhausted as soon as there is rough weather. Here is a short conversation with the stalwart who commands attention and respect as she speaks, Ms Lalitha kumarmangalam.

Place- BIEC Bengaluru,

Date- 14 Nov 2016

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ThinkBig 2016 Summit- Asia’s largest summit for women entrepreneurs

November 18, 2016

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If you can dream it, you can achieve it.- Zig Ziglar

Investing in women’s economic empowerment is an investment worth millions as it sets a direct path towards gender equality, poverty eradication and inclusive economic growth. Women make enormous contributions to economies, whether in businesses, on farms, as entrepreneurs, or working as employees from home or in industries.

WEConnect International’s fourth annual ThinkBig Summit is Asia’s largest women entrepreneurship and economic empowerment platform. The main goal of ThinkBig 2016 was to connect women-owned businesses with public and private sector opportunities that could dramatically impact the growth of their businesses. The Summit enabled almost 4,000 dynamic participants to engage in two days of inspiring and interactive sessions.

This is Asia’s largest platform for women entrepreneurs connecting women owned businesses with public and private sector opportunities.

This is an age of innovation, ideas, initiatives and knowledge exchange. #Thinkbig #weconnect gave an apt platform to network, share knowledge, and get to understand the know-hows of business.

Bangalore saw the women entrepreneurs come together like the roaring waves of the ocean at the thinkbig summit 2016. This path breaking initiative was organised by WeConnect International and supported by government of Karnataka. This thingbig summit is surely one which would be remembered by all and appreciated for providing an apt platform to women entrepreneurs where they got a chance to connect, learn, network, Exchange information and ideas, about the latest schemes that have been taken out for the economic upliftment of women. The various panel discussions which were held over a Period of two days were extremely informative and useful. Women joined this summit which almost seemed like a movement for economic development globally. We could see that women from all over the world and our own country, including tier two and three towns, also joined the summit, thereby making it a complete success. This platform served as a source to very many useful informations. ThinkBig saw the launch of the website of ‘Karnataka ladies Association and manufacturers Park’ ( K -lamp) to boost the business prospects of women from Bidar, Yadgir, Bellary, Raichur, Koppal and Gulbarga.

Another programme for women with no previous entrepreneurial background, for start ups was also unveiled, where the IIM-B will give a capsule course to the chosen bright ideas for start ups and this is backed and sponsored by Goldman Sachs, as announced by the CEO of Goldman Sachs, Bunty Bohra.

There were seminars and various panel discussions on such programmes which are there to support women entrepreneurs . The idea of the discussions was to enlighten about what measures are being taken for the upliftment and how they could use it if they have knowledge of the same.

In fact UNDP also threw light on its project Disha which is the new and innovative idea. It is an effort to tackle lack of information, direction regarding entrepreneurship in the segments of our society where Internet and access to knowledge is restricted and less. So the aim of the project is to give right information to the right people by guiding them to right direction, at right time, thereby enabling them to become successful in their endeavours which they otherwise don’t for the lack of information.

To empower women entrepreneurs government of Karnataka is coming up with four exclusive women’s parks at Ramnagar, Bellary, Gulbarga and Dharwad. These are planned keeping in mind the requirement of women entrepreneurs. These will be equipped with the state of the art civil, financial and social infrastructure as announced by CM of Karnataka Sri Siddaramaiah. State government also offers 50 % grant for Sc/ST for setting up industries.

Weconnect International certifies and gives the “women owned businesses” a recognition and also connects them globally. Hence WeConnect , ThinkBig summit provided a right approach and also a platform for the public-sector, government sector, private companies and industries and entrepreneurs to come together and look for sustainable way to bring social and economic empowerment of women for complete transformation. The panel discussions on building partnership, on economy and technology, on human rights and business ethics, were absolutely mind-stirring as so much of knowledge exchange and Idea sharing happened in these dialogues among the Panelists and the global audience. Everybody, from grassroots level to the creamiest layer., had something to ask, inquire, suggest and talk about.

There were discussions where personalities like Lalita Kumaramangalam, who is the chairperson of National commission of women, Elizabeth, the CEO of Weconnect international, Bunty Vohra, the CEO of Goldman Sachs, Jenny Grieser who is the senior director for women’s economy empowerment for Walmart, Dr. Priti G.Adani, chairperson for Adani foundation, Ratna Prabha, addl. chief secretary of government of Karnataka, were actively pronouncing and delivering messages and supporting the cause of the coming together for this summit. The representation from IKEA, AWAKE and also many other NGOs was also there in strong number.

The presence of big names like the Amazon, Shop clues, Walmart, the various consulates from world over, the specialists in their fields and a lot many from every walk of life made it a very successful and fruitful event.

The beautiful cultural shows by artists from various states and parts of our state too made it a very colourful event. Women from smallest of towns and villages, from the self help groups, to the biggest of industries, everyone enthusiastically participated in putting up exhibition and stalls of their products

Hence WeConnect ThinkBig made it an apt ground to solve, resolve, suggest, network, connect and evolve for women in business and otherwise. The smiles on so many faces make me more modest, the success stories of women from Rural backgrounds inspires us and stories of women who go on struggling without any support and despite failures, is something that commands respect from every woman who is Cocooned, loved and respected and inspires us to take a path breaking initiative to extend the similar support to such people who don’t get any. For with rights also come duties, if you have right over something then you also are obliged towards someone.

I am proud to be associated with the WeConnect international and ThinkBig 2016 as the blogger for the event. It makes the belief of a she in herself stronger for the ones who are unsheltered, unprotected and yet the Shakt, the inspiration. At this Summit, women took back knowledge, networks, ideas with them along with the belief of dreaming big, thinking big, and acting big with the ThinkBig 2016.

I will be posting the video chats with a lot many of women entrepreneurs and influential personalities hereafter.