Wednesday 25 December 2013

MindRocks Shillong 2013


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After a rocking youth summit in Delhi, Mindrocks decided to play the Santa for the youth of North East! And so India Today organized a rocking Mindrocks youth summit in Shillong!

Mind Rocks is an event designed especially for the youth. The daylong conference is a forum that allows bright young minds to interact in an open two-way conversation with their icons. A space where inspirational leaders from different spheres of life share their success stories. A festival that celebrates through ideas, music and art by recognizing the best in the field and also giving youth a stage to create, perform and engage.

I have attended the Delhi summit in September and what an awesome experience it was! Got to see all my celeb youth icons LIVE! Here’s the link to my coverage post for the Delhi event!

Having seen the action live in Delhi, I was super excited for the Shillong event and the link for live streaming all set on my browser window! Here’s the link to mypre event coverage…

This year’s summit was sponsored by Meghalaya tourism. On the morning of 23rd, the State Convention Centre in Shillong was jam packed. Excitement was evident on the faces of youngsters waiting for the event to start!

The event began with a Keynote address by Dr. Mukul Sangma, Chief Minister, Meghalaya. A politican with multiple talent, he surprised the crowd with a superb song. I was like, “He sings so well!”. Having got into politics at a young age, he emphasized the need for the youth today to have the right orientation, so that India can get more leaders from the youth. A lot of good things happen too, and the politicians need to connect with ground reality and tell people what exactly happens, he said.

He was soon joined by Vivek Oberoi and Rabbi Shergill and the Jingle Bells made the crowd go musical!
After politics and celluloid, the next session was with 2 women of substance. The theme was “Outsider in my own country” Zerifa Wahid, Actor, Assamese films and Binalakshmi Nepram, Founder, Manipur Women Gun Survivors Network spoke about how the women from NorthEast are looked at differently in other parts of India. They cited their own examples when they faced indifferent behaviour elsewhere due to their different looks. Zerifa Wahid said the women of NorthEast need to project themselves to the rest of the country, and for that they need the patronage of the government. A shocking fact was revealed by Binalakshmi Nepram – 67% of the crime incidents against women in Delhi are against women from the North East! She also said its time for the country to recognize the women of North East.


Vivek Oberoi took on the stage and spoke to the crowd about making it big in Bollywood. Hardwork and hardwork gets one to the top and one has to go beyond the materialistic things in life..

It seems politics ruled the summit for a good deal of time. The next session was about New Politics for new India. Pradyot Bikram Manikya Debbarma, Head of the Royal House of Tripura and Editor, The Northeast Today spoke about the recent wave of the Aam Aadmi Party and the trials and tribulations of successful governance.
After a heavy political session, it was treat time for sports lovers. Akhil Kumar, Boxing Gold medalist, Commonwealth Games, 2006 came on stage and spoke about the motivating factors that helped him reach where he is. Cinema has a great influence on the youth and right motivation, the right decision at the right time does the trick.

Soon, the strings of guitar got the people rocking for singers Papon, Rabbi Shergill and Monica Dogra were on stage! It was funny when RJ Aparshakti got Papon and Rabbi shergill to talk about how they were named.

Monica Dogra spoke about the musical connection and how music influences everything. Parvathy Omanakuttan, Miss India 2008 spoke about her journey from the Backwater to beauty contest. She came across as a very practical person with a mind of her own. Doing what one believes in is the right thing. She even said she wouldn’t endorse something she doesn’t believe in.The beauty queen also demonstrated how to do a catwalk.



The next session was with former cricketer Ajay Jadeja. Teams are run on ideology and you can't have different thoughts in the team, he said. He shared his views on BCCI, the good and bad side of the game and even said, "Cricket has nothing to do with individuals, it is a team sport and the best example is Sachin Tendulkar"...right!

 Finally, it was Abhay Deol who stole maximum limelight on stage! The crowd went wild as he spoke with his signature sweet shy smile. He spoke about his simple roots, innovation in cinema and the stereotypes in Bollywood. Proving his sweet self, he sang “Emotional atyachaar” with the audience and was also seen grooving to “Senorita” with the youngsters.


The event ended with a rocking musical performance, a signature feature of all Mind Rocks events.

My blog is once again proud to be associated with Mind Rocks and India Today for this amazing event that brings youth and celebs together! Already waiting for the next summit!

3 comments:

  1. Awesome experience. I haven't attended even one. :(

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  2. Nice to know about Mind Rocks..it's amazing :-)

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  3. Great coverage Shaivi! What an opportunity for you!

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Its great to share. Would love to have your valuable comments on my blog...:)