Past Events

A Warm Note from our New President - Mrs. Abhilasha Sethia

I would like to begin by acknowledging how honored and privileged I feel to take on the responsibility of leading one of the most prestigious and renowned women’s organisation of Eastern India – the Ladies Study Group in this historic 50th year. Like all Presidents before me, I step into the shoes of the LSG President with a lot of excitement and of course and some anxiousness too. Each President of the past has very efficiently and successfully taken the Organisation further ahead and the Group has slowly evolved with changing times yet retained its own uniqueness too, (standing out among many mushrooming forums of the day). To all LSG members, old and new, my warm greetings! I hope to be able to live up to your expectations by organizing events and inviting speakers who inspire you and also provoke you to think differently. I will also look upon you for your feedback and guidance. Let me begin by introducing my theme for the year: Leading Change: Shaping the Future. Now, more than ever before, it is time for a change. The world has moved on. Technology and the internet have combined to create a world in which potential disruptors can come from anywhere; the internet generations are bringing a new ethos to life and people are becoming ever-more savvy. In order to keep up and thrive we must adapt. If we really want to make a difference we have to change our outlook and that means not simply talking about change but stepping up to shape the future. I’m not alone in this belief. Writing in Forbes recently Greg Satell headlined his article “To Prepare For The Future You Need To Shape It — Or Someone Else Will.” Leaders of today will have to take a broader view, to become future ready by changing towards what the future will bring.

The Ladies Study Group, under the newly elect President, Ms. Abhilasha Sethia, hosted an event titled, "Holistic & Conventional Healing in the Digital Age." The forum invited speakers such as Ms Sangita Reddy, Joint Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals Group and Mr Luke Coutinho, Health Coach and Nutritionist.

Ms Reddy stated that women are traditionally seen as primary care givers, and therefore need to be updated with data and trends in the healthcare system.

Hospitals and other healthcare systems are witnessing demanding and entitled patients, which in her opinion, is a changing trend. Doctors therefore have to empower themselves to adapt to the changing circumstances.

Technology in the medical field is advancing to be as minimally invasive as possible, with genomics expected to play a vital role in the future. Genetic make up is influencing the way the disease is presented today. If genetic predisposition is stratified, patients could be monitored from the beginning and be given preventive treatment. Reddy firmly believes in "integrative medicine" which she believes needs more research and validation by the government. She stated that while allopathy does not have all the answers, the Apollo group firmly believes that Holistic Healthcare has a strong future. She concluded by saying, "Acceptance is important and destiny plays a vital role in deciding one's future."

Like Ms Reddy, Coutinho is also a firm believer in integrated medicine. "Sickness is multi factorial," said Coutinho, who spoke about four pillars of health: physical activity, balanced nutrition, quality of sleep, and lack of stress.

"Prolong life with quality healing and not by quick fixes," said the health coach. Coutinho specified that we should not compromise immunity by consuming pill after pill. He said that for effective weight loss, life style changes work better than fad diets. His view is that there is a geographical connection to the body and therefore, one should consume local and staple food. He endorsed mustard, coconut, groundnut and ghee as mediums of cooking and condemned olive oil as it is toxic to the body. Coutinho recommended coconut oil as the potent drug for curing thyroid. A balanced diet of proteins, carbohydrates and good fat are essential for the body. Stress, inadequate sleep, toxins and shortage of vitamin D lead to fat deposits and should therefore be controlled.

Coutinho recommended 30 minutes of exercise daily. He added that one's mind effected 60-70 trillion cells in the body, which in turn builds immunity. Physical, mental, emotional, spiritual and intellectual characteristics are the five parameters we are born with and we are responsible for managing our own lifestyles.

Ladies Study Group proudly presented a spectacular evening at ITC sonar Bangla with the two dapper men Raj Mahtani and Manish Malhotra on Thursday 5th May 2016. Raj Mahtani of Satramdas jewellers is Kolkata's Pride while Manish Malhotra is amongst India's classiest fashion designers . The ITC Pala looked elegant and sophisticated and the audience of almost 300 guests were preview to a truly memorable evening.

The stage had a backdrop of a heritage Indian palace with models sashayed down the ramp wearing beautiful drapes by Manish and mesmerising jewels from Raj leaving the audience craving for more.

A host of issues were discussed with both the speakers being tongue in cheek through the evening and kept the guests enthralled with their banter amongst peals of laughter.

Raj revealed that his mantra for life was to wear jewellery for breakfast ,lunch and dinner !!! He described how he took over the family business in 1990s and evolved over the years into a couture jeweller . Manish also shared his story of his journey from a struggling model to one of the country's most influential fashion designers today . He was full of praise for the actress Sridevi who was his first client and is still his favorite. He spoke about the significance of family and revealed that he still lived with his parents at the age of 49.

While the mood for the evening was light hearted it was clear that Manish is a serious and extremely committed individual hungry for growth and keen to give back to society. He discussed the social causes he was attached with which included Shabani Azmi's Mijwan Welfare Society and the projects with the handicraft workers in Kashmir and Varanasi. He spoke of his plans to launch his own production company 'Luminous' with its wide scope to of being a platform to talent in various fields included films,art and fashion. Manish candidly admitted that his lack of education was a big regret hence is exploring options to promote an institute to teach the subject of fashion designing in the country to help young aspirants. The evening ended with Manish promising to bring his couture line to Kolkata soon.

The ITC had excelled themselves with a beautiful layout of high tea and hors d oeuvres which complimented the evening of true luxury and style at its best.

ICC LSG National Debate

Ladies Study Group is honored & privileged to have hosted Sadhguru, the Founder of Isha Foundation, on 27th May 2016.

Sadhguru, a yogi and profound mystic, spiritual leader and a visionary humanitarian, mesmerized the audience with his understanding of the intricacies & mechanisms of Life.

A Guru is one who dispels darkness. The work of any guru is not to predict your future. Life is to be experienced not by acquiring external wealth but by enriching our inner well being by properly handling our thoughts and emotions. He explains that if one is unhappy even when one is alone that shows one is in bad company i.e. the problem lies in you!

Syncing with Sadhguru incorporates ways of attaining well being through transformation of the self from within. In order to experience this life, one must learn to transform ourselves from within and learn ‘to live & face life as it is’.

Everything that we know through our sense organs is only by comparison, that is, distortion of reality and therefore useful only in a given situation. We have all the necessary resources in today’s world but the only element that's missing is Consciousness. The core of Sadhguru’s teaching is to promote individual growth through meditation. Action for rejuvenation is mainly in rejuvenating the human spirit. Unless you do what is right, right things will not happen to you in this life. Meditation is not an act, it is a consequence.

What you want for yourself must happen your way.

The meeting culminated with meditation and prayer.

The Ladies Study Group takes great pleasure in setting up their first collaborative effort with the members by launching the LSG Book Club. Due to the amazing response from our members , we have divided our interested members into 3 groups based on their geographical locations namely

1. BEYOND THE BOOK at Alipore
2. THE DANCING WORDS at Ballygunge
3. READ ON at Ballygunge

Our Book Club Meetings will be held on the 1st Thursday of every month and while the venues will differ,the books and the agendas will be common . The venue will be decided by the groups and at the convenience of all the members of each group. The primary objective of the Book Club is of course to share our love for books and use the meetings as an opportunity to initiate and promote interaction between members. However our larger goal is to help drive literacy programmes at orphanages and other schools for the underprivileged with the help of suggestions and initiatives from the members of the group. We also plan to create book banks to distribute books and magazines to orphanages, schools and old age homes. We will look for opportunities to work with ngos and other charity organisations to help take the Club's philanthropic objectives ahead.

Ladies Study Group hosted Shatrughan Sinha on a sultry, sunny afternoon at the beautiful setting of Hyatt Regency. Moderator Malavika Banerjee, described him as "a man wearing many hats... iconic film star, political leader, social crusader, Rajya Sabha member etc", and President Abhilasha Sethia remarked, "you can love him or hate him but you cannot ignore him...!"

Shatrughan Sinha said that in every profession you go through four phases, Upahas (people will make fun of you), Upeksha (people will ignore you), Tiraskar (people will abuse you), and Daman (people will try to stop you by force or power), and when you cross these four stages, you get Samman!

Asked how Shatrughan Sinha became a name in the era of Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar and Dev Anand, his tongue in cheek response was that there are two types of actors, the Perspiring, like Raj Kapoor and Dharmendra – who made you “perspire” at the very thought of seeing yourself on the silver screen and the Aspiring type, who made you think if they could be have made it there so could you.

He faced two problems after FTII graduation: one was with his name - he tried with SP Sinha etc, and finally settled with Shatrughan. He even shared hilarious jokes on how people mispronounced his name. His second challenge was how to make his mark? He chose to become different from the rest -- as better than the best was not an option! He finally attained 'stardom', “the majority (vote) being given to him by the public”!

Malavika pointed out how rural settings had become so rare in Hindi movies, and he said references to rural stories are still there but they are “sugar-coated”. He felt well made, balanced films with rural themes could also be commercially successful. One such good movie is Bajirao Mastani!

It was wonderful to listen to him narrate in great details the story of how he met his wife.

Bihar election and consequences on his political life brought serious retrospections from Mr Sinha, and he explained why he joined politics at the peak of his film career. He ended saying “some” people in his party BJP do not want him to succeed or work. He mentioned we are going through a “Leadership Crisis”, and that we need to find good leaders soon. He was clear that he does not want the State CM post but wanted to work at the Centre to be able to do good work all over the country!

He answered questions from the floor on his fitness funda, whether his daughter Sonakshi would ever shoot ‘item numbers’, his biography, anti-tobacco campaign, being a cabinet minister, all with great humour and honesty. On asked about his greatest regret in life, he mentioned that he terribly regretted standing against Rajesh Khanna in the Mumbai by-elections. Rajesh Khanna stopped all communications with him after that and Mr Sinha never got the chance to apologise and mend relations.

He ended by saying "good, bad and ugly; I am the 'Khamosh'- and this originality is important!"

The afternoon rolled into evening with lots of discussion, photography, book signing and generally a great feeling of a successfully conducted programme.

Ladies Study Group had the pleasure of the company of a Diva in the domain of gastronomy and a top restuaranter in India on 12 th of June at the Hyatt Regency: Ritu Dalmia in conversation with a top fashion designer Nil. It was a witty and an interesting journey of sensory appeal as the lights went out and the ladies were served the antipasti in near darkness!

A Marwari girl born in Calcutta Ritu had a streak of rebellion from the start. Eating non vegeterian, imbibing her business sense from her father, she started her first restaurant in her early 20s. Although it failed, she went on to see super success, opening many more fine dining restaurants and the most popular catering service in India. A school trip to Rome was her first connection to her love of Italian food and that is not all about cheese & pizza she stressed!

When asked how hard it is to be a woman in an industrial kitchen, Ritu said that women nurture at home and similarly a chef's life involves long hours and heavy work . Even though she started her business with no women chefs now her restuarants have 22 women working.

Delegation training and keeping a strict eye on expenditure are the secrets to a successful restaurant. She is also involved in the petition against Section 377 which deems the gay movement a criminal activity. On a lighter note, as Nil and Ritu made us laugh at their witty repartee, ladies asked questions on molecular cooking, Michelin stars and her new restaurant in Milan!

A demonstration of Gnocchi making followed with many helping hands and laughs.

Hyatt laid out a sumptuous lunch and it was a wonderful afternoon of culinary conversation with two very special personalities.

The Ladies Study Group proudly presented an enchanted, insightful and invigorating session with India’s two prominent women authors, Ms Aruna Chakravarti and Ms.Neelima Dalmia Adhar, who respectively wrote “Jorasanko” and “The Secret Diary Of Kasturba,” which were both read voraciously by the LSG Book Club members. The session commenced with Author, Ms Aruna Chakravarti, in conversation with Ms Sreela Mitra, Lsg member, teacher of Effective communication Skills and Public Speaking, set in an aesthetically beautiful garden of Lsg committee member, Ms Madhulika Kanoria, which created a perfect ambience. The Author described the book ‘Jorasanko’ as a fiction backed with historical facts, a sensitive portrayal of the hopes and fears, triumphs and defeats, experienced by the women in the illustrious Tagore household in Bengal. She unabashedly professed, ”I am gender conscious” which motivated me to write about Bengal’s great women. She reverberated how she collected the facts and put them in a chronological order, filling the gaps with fiction. Her findings depicted Rabindranath Tagore as an evolving character, dictated by his father, as an escapist and a meek personality. Subsequently, the dais was shared by Author Ms Neelima Dalmia Adhar, President Lsg, Ms Abhilasha Sethia and Vice President, Lsg, Ms Namrata Surekha. “The Secret Diary of Kasturba” is described by the author as a bio-fiction, gripping tale of kasturba, married to Mohandas Gandhi, who was sexually driven, self -righteous and overbearing husband. Gandhi was an intolerant father to his wayward son, driven to debauchery. In her opinion, Kasturba was equally responsible for a free India and set the path of ultimate liberation that every woman seeks. On being quizzed, the author candidly stated that she made Kasturba as her alter ego and is inspired to write about people who have lived their lives out of the ordinary. She stated, contrary to perception she believes in “his story, your story and the truth.” The session closed with an interaction with the audience, who threw a volley of questions at the authors, and they took them one by one with a sense of candidness and humour. Neelimaji remarked, “Marriage is an obsolete institution” although she herself is in a very successful marriage. Arunaji cryptically stated, “Ideology is like a sickness” for iconic driven individuals for who family is the victim. The magical soiree was wrapped up by a sumptuous layout of tea in the beautifully landscaped garden, relished by all, including the authors who intermingled with the members.