DECEMBER

CURRENT EVENTS

4 Tue 10.15 AM

E. Hotel

Gate No.1, Express Avenue Mall

Patullos Road

Chennai 600 002 

‘Can we transform a million Indian government schools in our lifetime?’

Aditya Natraj, CEO, Piramal School of Leadership, and the founder and director of Kaivalya Education Foundation (KEF), is the son of our IWA member, Sushila Natraj.

Aditya says,”In the last twenty years India has expanded quantitatively and built the largest education system in the world with 1.5 million schools and 8 million teachers. But quality is a huge problem. Fifty percent of fifth graders cannot read a paragraph in their mother tongue. OECD ranked us 83 out of 84 countries that took the test. Can anything be done?”

KEF is a change management organisation that focuses on transforming the

quality of education in public schools.Kaivalya Education Foundation aims to create a generation of school leaders who are empowered with the skills to create a large-scale,systemic impact.Join us as Aditya takes the discussion forward and tells us how he found meaning in life in India’s villages.

Please note: This is a programme presented by our IWA Next Gen.

ARTS & HANDICRAFTS

6 Thu 10.15 AM

The Folly, Amethyst

Whites Road

Next to Corporation Bank

Royapettah, Chennai 600 014

Saris: Nationhood, and Consumption in Urban India

Our speaker, Dr Kaamya Sharma is a Post doctoral Fellow at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology-Madras. She received her Ph.D. from the Department of Global Studies at the School of Culture and Society, Aarhus University.Her doctoral work was an ethnographic investigation of revival movements and identity projects centered on the sari in urban south India.

Saris are a part of the fabric of everyday life in India, with a ubiquitous and naturalized presence. Yet, we know little about the history and evolution of this garment. Dr Kaamya will take us through a selective history of the sari, highlighting moments of sartorial conflict and change from colonization to independence and after. She will focus on the handloom sari, discuss policy and private efforts to frame craft as a nation-building activity in order to save artisanal livelihoods.

Dr Kaamya will also throw light on how saris figure in craft-based,cinematic, kitsch and fashionable imaginations.

BOOK DISCUSSION & CURRENT EVENTS

7 Fri 10.15 AM

The Folly, Amethyst

Whites Road

Next to Corporation Bank Royapettah,

Chennai 600 014

What’s in your Attic?

“In a small town by the river Nila, a thirty-five-year-old writer kills  herself.

No one knows why.Fifty-two years later, an antique cupboard in a private resort opens to reveal a frightened child. And the mystery begins to unravel.”

That, dear members, is an exclusive excerpt from the novel, Eating Wasps.

Would you like to read on and/or meet the author of these intriguing lines?

She has received many awards and her books have been translated into over thirty-one languages around the world. She is also the founder of the creative writing and mentorship program Anita’s Attic.

Best selling and critically acclaimed author and poet, essayist and screenplay writer, Anita Nair interacts with the IWA ladies this December. The lady’s writings embrace female protagonists and the parallel journey in books and the current world scenario make for an interesting comparison.

Come, armed with questions (one each) and go back with an autographed book or two!

MUSIC & PERFORMING ARTS

11 Tue 10.15 AM

The Folly, Amethyst

Whites Road

Next to Corporation Bank

Royapettah, Chennai 600 014

What no one tells you about starting up!!

Standup Comedian Karthik Kumar has written 3 standup solo specials (#Poke Me, Second Decoction & Blood Chutney) and performed over 500 shows across India and international markets such as USA, UK,Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong. He is also one of the founders of South India’s largest standup movement – ‘Evam Standup Tamasha’ that produces shows regularly and manages a repertory of comedians and theatre artists’ pan-India.

In September, Karthik Kumar launched his debut book on entrepreneurship “Don’t Startup” using his journey with Evam as a reference. The book was written from a perspective of ‘I wish I had known these things when I started my own Entrepreneurship!’. In thishu mor-laced talk he will be detailing his journey as an entrepreneur and discussing his book. Come and whet your appetite for starting up and enjoy life’s lessons comedy-style.

COOKING SWAPSHOP

13 Thu 10.15 AM

Sansara Hall, The Park Hotel

601, Anna Salai

Nungambakkam

Chennai 600 016

Experience Thai Food

Lotus is the speciality Thai restaurant at The Park. The restaurant boasts of a menu, crafted meticulously by Master Chef Satit Chaimano, native to Thailand. Join us to experience this demo of Thai cuisine.

A big thank you to Mr Rajesh Radhakrishnan for facilitating this IWA event.

This will be a warn-in meeting. We kindly request you to Whatsapp Nandi (988407070014) or Nalini (9884958629) between December 5-10th.

Hope you will join us for this wonderful morning.

Please note that the demonstration will begin at 10:30 AM and snacks and refreshments will be served at the end.

CHRISTMAS CELEBRATIONS

19 Wed 10.30 AM

The Raintree

636, Anna Salai,

Teynampet

Chennai 600035Christmas Celebration

“Christmas is a season not only of rejoicing but of reflection.”

                                                                                                                      - Winston Churchill

Please join us for a morning of Christmas festivities, when we come together in fellowship to celebrate this special time of year.            

Come dressed in colors of green, red and gold for fun, laughter and joyous carol singing followed by a scrumptious lunch generously provided by The Rain Tree Hotel, Anna Salai.

Please note this is a members only meeting.