the bait

Our Sponsors

Sriram Naganathan

As Managing Trustee, Sriram runs Ignite Minds Foundation. Sriram has worked in senior editorial positions with leading business publications such as The Economic Times, Business World and Asian Venture Capital Journal (Hong Kong). Besides working as a consultant with a variety of organisations including ICICI Bank and Venture Intelligence, Sriram teaches at The School KFI, Chennai as a resource person in History. N. Sriram was initially trained in Business Journalism at the Times Research Foundation, New Delhi. He was also a Reuter Fellow at the University of Oxford.


Commodore Shekar

A graduate of the National Defense Academy and a qualified Electrical and Electronic Engineering. Commodore Shekar has a Masters degree in Defence and Strategic Studies from Allahabad University in New Delhi. After his voluntary retirement from the Navy in 1993, he has been the CEO of manufacturing divisions of two All India organizations. Now, he is also the Promoter and Managing Director of JMPS Sanjivini Consultants Limited which specializes in management consulting.


Venkatraman

A privileged first batch student of Bhavan's Rajaji Vidyashram way back in 1987, Venky, as he is popularly called, went on to graduate in English Literature. The last two decades has seen him as a businessman, sourcing leather and footwear for various European buyers and offering technical and commercial end-to-end solutions. In 2006, he entered the greenfield industry of digital media with Influx Interactive and currently caters to clients such as Reliance Infocom, Big Cinemas, PVR Cinemas, Apollo Hospitals, Kingfisher Airlines, Vodafone, etc for their online web and media requirements. Apart from his professional pursuits, Venky is ready at hand to support anyone whose cause he believes in.


Sooraj Viswanathan

The recipient of thirty first prizes during intercollegiate competitions, he was a finalist twice at LN Birla National Debate Competition. He was selected as the Cultural Ambassador to Japan and felicitated by the Indian community in Japan for this achievement. Apart from his globetrotting pursuits, he is a champion in tennis and chess while also being in the Student Council during his schooling. His hobbies include singing Carnatic Music, playing the violin and mridangam, swimming and meditation.


Sampath Kumar

Apart from being the President of Student Exnora, he is also a trainer and motivator on the environment. He is passionate about trees and has planted more than 32000 saplings.


NR Kumar

A BCom graduate and an associate member of Institute of Chartered Accountants in India, he is now managing partner of MWN Press. He has written three workbooks in Sanskrit. He authored a book in English to demystify Hindu weddings and contributed substantially to ‘Pride of India’, a coffee table book on science and technology. He has been a judge in several Gita and Sanskrit competitions.


Keshav M.

A science graduate in chemistry with a diploma in journalism, he has worked with Aside Magazine as sub-editor and business manager. He has also worked in the advertising and garment exports industry. Now, he runs an Attitude Consultancy firm, MANTRA. He specialises in capsules related to Communication, Inter Personal Skills, Organisational Behaviour Study, Speaking Skills and Effective Presentation. He has 1600 workshops to his credit. M. Keshav is well known as a presenter on Radio & Television, having worked from 1981 with Akashwani(AIR) and Doordarshan. He has also anchored the popular Wonder Quiz an inter-school quiz programme on the RAJ TV network.


Rajeshwar Balasundaram

With over 24 years experience in services management, Rajeshwar is currently an independent consultant, coaching and educating senior managerial audiences. Apart from being visiting faculty at a local management school for Services Management, he deals with cross-cultural sensitivity, personal leadership and effective business communication. As COO of Global Adjustments as well as Head of Corporate Affairs at Cognizant Technology Solutions, he was able to participate in numerous international conferences and seminars, allowing him to understand workplace behaviour and attitudes around the globe. A mentor for many, Rajeshwar believes in following his heart and encourages everyone else to do the same.


Priya Ramesh


Hari Pendyala

Hari Muralidhar Pendyala has 15+ years experience in IT Strategy and Operations specialized in Information Security. He is currently working as CEO, Chief Advisor for Zraddhaa Information Services Private Limited. He held various positions in Banking, Product and Consulting industries. Hari received his Master's in Computer Engineering from Florida Atlantic University, FL, USA and a Bachelors of Science in Electrical and Electronics engineering from S.V.University, Tirupati, India. He also holds several security industry certifications, including Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), Certified Information Security Manager (CISM), GIAC and ITIL. Hari is passionate about Entrepreneurship in Sunrise Industries and Socio-Economic issues.


Lakshmi Mukilan


Shekar Dattatri

Shekar Dattatri is a wildlife and conservation filmmaker. Over the last twenty years many of his films have aired on television channels such as National Geographic and Discovery, and have won numerous national and international awards. During the last ten years he has focused on making films on pressing conservation issues targeted at Indian audiences, and decision makers in particular. In 2004 he received a Rolex Award for Enterprise for his conservation filmmaking. From 2007 to 2010 he served on the National Board for Wildlife, a high level advisory body. He is the author of two wildlife books for children and also writes articles and opinions for leading newspapers and magazines on wildlife, conservation and filmmaking.


Dr Prakash

With educational qualifications of an MBBS followed by a specialization in Urology, Dr Prakash is a civil surgeon. His fields of interest include renal transplantation and urological malignancies. He has published academic papers in the British Journal of Urology and Indian Journal of Urology. He is a consultant urologist in various centres around the city.


Jayakrishnan

A Chartered and Cost Accountant by qualification, V. Jayakrishnan is the secretary of Padma Sarangapani Matriculation group of schools in Chennai. He is the founder director of V.V.Rajan & Co. Pvt. Ltd., a leading Publishing house in Chennai. In the last 5 years, the company has diversified into many fields like newspaper publishing, with its 13-edition neighbourhood newspaper, Apollo Times, real estate-Vaikund Estates and educational multi media- Digi Class. A dynamic entrepreneur, Jayakrishnan has been responsible for introducing effective teaching methodologies in the school like using mind mapping and using technology and multi media for effective learning. He is the brain behind the annual Science Expo- Synergy in which he ensures that every student participates, with the motto- Learning by Doing. His networking skills, good market sense and visionary approach have made him a leader in the field.

Anna George


Shriram Raghavan

Shriram Raghavan works for a Swiss headquartered multinational firm “Evolva Biotech” in the synthetic biology & genetic chemistry space. He has more than a decade of experience in various startups and has experienced the spectrum of investment cycle – greenfield projects to initial public offering. His previous companies include Jubilant Biosys, Reametrix & Cytogenomics. He also has exposure various life science businesses including pharma & biotech, diagnostics, agriculture, biofuels, bioinformatics, flavours & fragrances. He has a masters in biochemical engineering.


Gita Jaganathan

Gita started her career in HSBC followed by a stint in Ramaniyam Real Estates, and is now the MD of APL Global School which is a Ramaniyam Initiative. Gita is a Master/Teacher of Seichim in the Tera Mai Reiki system and a Grand Master of Reiki practising and teaching Reiki for the last 15 years. She is also a Master Hypnotist trained by the California Hypnosis Institute of India. She complements the healing, spiritual and philosophical learning from Reiki with training in Yoga instruction from Yoga Raksanam, an institute that follows the Krishnamacharya School of Yoga.


Manick Rajendran

Manick Rajendran has over 23 years experience in the development and implementation of Information Technology and communications solutions in a variety of industries ranging from Insurance, Financial and Healthcare. Manick served as Co-Chair for the EHR-Centric Tiger Team in the USA and has extensive experience in transformation and revenue cycle management services in physician and physician group settings. In the Financial industry, as Vice President at Deutsche Bank, Manick headed an IT team to support the Retirement Services Group. He now serves as the CEO of a Multispecialty Hospital group here in Chennai.


Akhila Rajeshwar

With a multi-faceted experience ranging many fields, Akhila Rajeshwar is currently working as the Chief Compliance Officer of LifeLine Group of Hospitals. Prior to this, she has been a counsellor for IAS and IPS aspirants, preparing them to face the vigours of the civil services exam. She has been a Human Resource consultant for leading multinational companies focusing on performance management. Above all this, she is a consultant in employability enhancement with government agencies and NGOs.


Niraj H Shah

After studying in Bhavan’s Rajaji Vidyashram, Crescent Engineering College and Drexel University in Philadelphia, Niraj Shah has worked for over 15 years in various companies in the Shah Group. He is presently the Managing Director of Keld Ellentoft India Private Limited. He has been elected Treasurer of Graduate Business Association of Drexel University and has travelled around Europe and North America.


Dr Pasupathy

He is a certified lead quality manager as well as a lead auditor in food safety and environment management systems. He has also walked from Chennai to Pune, throughout Tamil Nadu while also cycling across the state to understand the country better. He is the coordinator for 57 such centres in the country. He launched Vigyan Rath, a mobile lab which empowers rural children by enabling them to perform experiments. He is a consultant on food safety for more than 76 star hotels across the country. He is the founder of Mind Openers forum, a public speaking club for the last 25 years. He has also successfully completed a Guinness effort in public speaking by speaking extempore for 16hours and 40 minutes continuously.


Aruna Kalahastri

Aruna Kalahastri is an engineer by education. She lived in the US for 10 years embracing the alternative lifestyle and worked with small forums in urban spaces to seed holistic concepts in lifestyle, education, food and culture .She is currently the Director of Projects at Bhoomi network an NGO working on sustainable living in Bangalore. She is also a regular columnist in Eternal Bhoomi, a magazine for food, community and sustainable living. Has deep interest in Ecofriendly farming practices. She is a member of The Southern Action on Genetic Engineering (SAGE) a group working closely with the farming community to promote non GM food production. She also conducts workshops in several colleges in Bangalore on food, health and climate change. Working with small communities in Pugal , Rajasthan, to foster economic independence while preserving their cultural heritage. Deeply interested in Philosophy particularly Buddhist and reads books which encourages alternative thinking and questions the current growth paradigm.


Dr Manoj Beno


Janaki Pillai

Janaki Pillai has a doctorate in Sociology from Jawaharlal Nehru University(JNU), New Delhi and a Diploma in Law, Justice and Human Rights from the Institute of Social Studies , The Hague, Netherlands. After a teaching stint at Department of Sociology, Stella Maris College, she moved on to work in the development sector. First at Lutheran World Service, Kolkata, where she was responsible for 'gender in development' in the nine development projects spread across Bengal and Orissa. And for the last thirteen years, she has worked with disability as Director-Operations, Ability Foundation, a national cross disability NGO working towards an inclusive society for persons with disabilities.


Dr Rajkumar

Dr. J.S. Rajkumar is the Chairman of Lifeline Group of Hospitals and one of the outstanding laparoscopic surgeons in India. He graduated from Madras Medical College, India with 32 gold medals and has four FRCS to his credit. He is one of the International examiners for the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh. He has been trained in the United Kingdom under senior surgeons on advanced general surgery and was responsible for the hospital being the pioneer in stem cell therapy in India. He also founded Dr. Rajarathnam Medical and Educational Foundation Trust in 1997 and continues to provide free service to hundreds of HIV and cancer patients. Dr. Rajkumar is a visiting professor in many colleges while also being a guitarist, vocalist, orator, poet and voracious reader with a passion for art.


Dr Ram


Chithra Madhavan

Chithra Madhavan completed her M.A. and M.Phil. from the Department of Indian History, University of Madras and her Ph.D. from the Department of Ancient History and Archaeology, University of Mysore. She has received two Post-Doctoral Fellowships from the Department of Culture, Government of India and from the Indian Council of Historical Research, New Delhi. Chithra has published two books, History and Culture of Tamil Nadu (in two volumes) and Vishnu Temples of South India (in three volumes). She has also co-edited a book South India Heritage which contains 500 articles on various aspects of South India’s heritage and culture.


HG Jayaram

HR Jayaram is a social entrepreneur and the founder of the Greenpath Eco hotel, organic store and a restaurant which fosters holistic kitchen practices. He works on environmental causes. He is the founder–president of Arkavathy, Kumudvati river rejuvenation committee. He is the Founder-Secretary of Jaivik Krishik Society. He is also a successful lawyer with a lucrative practice. His love for organic farming has enabled him spread wings and establish an urban community at ‘Green Path’ which embraces sustainable living. He has created spaces for people around the world to come here and participate in such activities - as farming, urban gardening, water management and food manufacture. He is also an athlete and loves to participate in marathons.


Maruthi

With an MA from Madras School of Social Work, Maruthi is the president of Harijan Sevak Sangh. He is the Founder Convenor of the Youth Forum for Gandhian Studies. He is the Founder Managing Trustee of Gandhian Integrated Forum Trust (GIFT). He was the Convenor of New Life for India Movement and was the Secretary of Indian Red Cross Society, Chennai Dist. Br.


PC Shivan

P.C.Shivan is an acclaimed film composer. At the age of 4, Shivan showed early signs of his musical genius, when he began discovering the notations to some of maestro Ilayaraja's toughest of compositions. He completed his undergraduation in Aerospace Engineering from IITMadras. As he was determined to pursue music as a career, he turned down several admission offers from some of the world’s best grad schools. Apart from music theory, he also has an extensive knowledge in sound mixing, architectural acoustics, and is a sotware and gadget freak, thanks to all the books and resources available in his campus. Infact, he went on to design his own professional recording studio, with nothing more than a handful of books and a calculator for technical assistance! He has composed music for several ad jingles, short films, trailers, corporate themes and anthems for various social causes. Shivan is currently working with noted filmmakers in tamil and telugu, and doing what he knows best - composing music!


George Thomas

Dr. George Thomas, chief orthopaedic surgeon at the St. Isabel's Hospital in Mylapore, has been interested in serious debate from student days. He is the editor of The Indian Journal of Medical Ethics. He is a judge for the "Debating Matters" competition conducted in India by the Institute of Ideas and has been a judge for the final round held in the UK.


Brinda Jayaraman

Brinda Jayaraman is a BEd graduate who followed up her education with an MSc and MPhil in Psychology and Guidance. After starting her career as a teacher, she has over fifteen years of experience in counseling. She has various courses abroad to her credit on Child and Adolescent Behaviour Disorders and is a well known family therapist. Apart from her career, she enjoys listening to music, meeting people and reading books.


Sanjay Pinto

Always politically accurate, never politically correct, Sanjay Pinto is into his second innings at NDTV, as the Executive Editor of NDTV Hindu. At the NDTV crease for 14 years, Sanjay was the Bureau Chief of NDTV 24x7 before taking on the Editorial mantle of NDTV-Hindu. A news hound, he has interviewed almost every top politician & bureaucrat in the country, international sportspersons from cricketers to tennis players, film stars & business magnates. Over the last decade, Sanjay has covered every possible beat - Politics, Courts, Crime, Sports, Entertainment, Business & Environment. Sting operations are his forte. A seasoned news anchor as well, Sanjay has been the face of NDTV in South India, anchoring various news bulletins.


Shreekumar Varma

Shreekumar Varma is an author, playwright and poet with published works such as Lament of Mohini and Maria’s Room to his credit. Apart from these books, he has had columns published in The Times of India, The New Indian Express and The Hindu. He is also a literary reviewer for The Hindu and the Sunday Herald. He is currently an adjunct professor in Creative English at the Chennai Mathematical Institute. He had earlier taught English Literature and Journalism at the Madras Christian College. He was a charter member and president of the Rotary Club of Madras Southwest. Two unique Bharathanatyam dance recitals, Vamshi and Monsoon, by renowned artiste Indira Kadambi were performed incorporating his poetry. He has lectured and presented papers on Creative Writing at various Rotary Clubs and IIT (Madras) amongst other places.


Recent Announcements