Conference Day 1

Opening Ceremony

Walking into the opening ceremony, it was easy to sense the energy among the eager participants, whose faces shone more brilliantly then the auditorium lights. The opening ceremony began and the much awaited moment had arrived !

The Flag-bearers from the attending schools represented the spirit of diversity that the conference promised, with delegates from across South-east Asia and the Gulf region.

Seeing each flag-bearer proudly represent their school and country, one could anticipate that this conference will host a rich variety of cultural perspectives.

Following this, conference president Nainika Pansari addressed the audience with a rousing speech that touched on the role of failure in motivating us to conquer challenges. Using her experience of trekking to mount Everest as an analogy, Nainika captured the theme of the conference, inspiring delegates to explore, experience, empower.

After the Conference was declared open, the stage became a whirlwind of light and sound. Elegant dance Performance hightlighted Mumbai's rich cultural heritage focusing on Ganesh Chaturthi - an annual religious festival in Mumbai. Apart from this,a comedy sketch portraying the life of a commuter on the Mumbai local Trains. which defines lives of many in the city.

Thus, the vibrant and dynamic opening ceremony set the stage for a memorable and enriching experience.

WE ARE HERE TO EXPERIENCE, EXPLORE AND EMPOWER.

Our Conference motto ' Explore, Experience, Empower, Discover Yourself, is not just a set of idealistic words. In action it is an essential approach to real life challanges and decision making. A perfect example is Dr. Sam Taraporwala, our keynote speaker. He never compromised on his ambitions inspite of all challenges that life threw his way. Positive and ambitions he chose his milestones and became an example to many.

The session started with what seemed to be a simple quiz- identifying world leaders. Howerver, is soon became apparent that each highly acclaimed leader was impaired in there own way. Physcial, psychological or learing disabilities, none of these stopped these people from making history.

This was followed by an interactive game in which seven participants had to identify words while one of their senses her impaired. This was a simple game, with an important lession. it proved that if one sense is impaired, another is heightened.

This was followed by a short brief about how while life may throw us a few limitations, it often offers us other possibilities to fulfill our dreams. and it is our own responsibilty to find them.