Reminiscing the bygone days, Nurturing timeless bonds
“Not a word passes between us, not because we have nothing to say, but because we don’t have to say anything” ― Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner
Back2Roots 2023, held from April 28-30, turned out to be an incredible success! The three-day event offered a fabulous opportunity for our Old Shepherdians to visit their alma mater; catch up with their long-lost friends and teachers; rekindle the good old memories; and to interact with the current students of GSIS as well. This year’s alumni meet was especially dedicated to the batches of 1995, 96, 97 and 98. More than 200 Old Shepherdians attended the event.
The auditorium at GSIS was filled with enthusiasm and excitement, as our dear alumni recounted their personal experiences of GSIS with our students. They spoke in length about how the school played an important role in their formative years, the friendships they made, and the positive impact of the school in shaping their life’s journey. Our heartfelt thanks to Tirthi Patnaik, Jaideep Sippy, Manmath Kumar Routray, Sidharth Agarwal, and Karthik Krishna for their morale-boosting, emotionally uplifting, and heart-warming speeches at the assembly. Our Shepherdians had a whole lot of crazy fun and frolic too – Horse riding, Playing table tennis, taking a walk down the memory lane in Fernhill campus, and a rocking party as well! They enthusiastically took part in the Quiz competitions at the Special Assembly and even took to the field with great passion and vigour.
Mentoring sessions: Inspiring the next generation of GSIS, Shaping the minds of tomorrow
A key highlight of Back2Roots 2023 was the incredibly impactful, information-packed interactive sessions between the Old Shepherdians and our students of grades 9-12. The mentoring sessions gave our students a vital insight into our alumni’s real-world knowledge of various professions and industries such as Business & Entrepreneurship, Medicine, Science, Art, Architecture, Fashion Design, Leadership, Social Values,Engineering, Computer Science, and Artificial Intelligence. Our special thanks to the following Shepherdians who led the mentor sessions — Dr. Kunduru Nava Kishore, Dr. Shihas Hameed, Dr. Praveen Kumar, Dr. Prasanna Lakshmi Ravuri, Nitish Sahoo, Debashish Kundu, Ishwarhnath Awatramani, Muaaz Mohammed Ziauddin,, B.Pramod, Rashiq Muhamadali, G.Sriram, Omer Basith, Moriya Phillip, Kavita Vinodbhai Adani, Gariasi Dutta, and Tejpal Gupta.
Here’s an overview of the mentoring sessions taken by some of our distinguished alumni:
Medicine and Science
Speakers:
Dr. K. Nava Kishore – Surgical Gastroenterologist and Associate professor in Department of Surgical Gastroenterology in the prestigious Nizam’s institute of Medical Sciences , Hyderabad.
Dr. Shihas Hameed: Family physician and Diabetologist. Currently, the Medical Director of a prestigious medical group with more than 10 medical facilities across the emirates.
Topic of Discussion: GI surgery, Minimal Access Surgery ( laparoscopy), Diabetology, and improving the quality of patient care through empathy, compassion and building positive relationships with patients.
Business and Entrepreneurship
Speakers:
Debashish Kundu, Founder and CEO of Asterid Group Inc.
Topic of Discussion: An overview of the critical aspects of business and entrepreneurship, how to create a clear and compelling business plan, and how to start your entrepreneurial journey successfully.
Ishwar Awatramani, Head of Business Verticals, Mardi Gras Liquor. An experienced professional who is responsible for looking after a third-generation distribution business for two of the world’s largest beverage companies, AB InBev and Pernod Ricard.
Topic of Discussion: The importance of family businesses in the global economy and in preserving family legacies.
Engineering, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence
Speaker: Spondon Saha
An experienced software engineer, with 15+ years of industry experience in various applications of computing
Topic of Discussion: Next wave of computing, a peek into Rocket Engineering and the importance of understanding the basic tenets of building correct and accurate software using sufficient tests.
Speaker: Muaaz Ziauddin
Principal Consultant, Artificial Intelligence and Automation at Infosys Consulting
Topic of Discussion: Artificial intelligence and automation
Architecture, Art, Fashion and Design
Speaker: Rashiq Mohammed Ali
Principal Architect, Design Director with 19 years of high level design experience
Topic of Discussion: Emergent design technologies and parametric design practices and adopting a systematic and creative approach to problem solving, analyzing results, and implementing bespoke design solutions
Role of technology for Sustainable food production
Speaker: Sriram Gopal, Founder & CEO, FutureFarms.
Topic of Discussion: The use of sustainable technologies to combat future challenges with respect to water , climate change, and the state of food production. Other topics that were covered were Space travel, modern technologies such as Hydroponics, vertical farming, aquaponics, insect farming etc
Leadership, Social Values
Speaker: Moriya Phillip, Former President – Round Table India Foundation, Managing family business of Natural Rubber trade since 2004
Topic of Discussion: How to build leadership skills and social values
Life Skills & Experiences
Speakers: Kavita Shah, Tejpal Gupta, Gariasi Dutta
Kavita Shah: Worked as part of the Dubai Government Marketing team. Currently, a proud homemaker and pursuing the long-awaited dream of being a Bharatnatyam dancer
Tejpal Gupta: Owner of Bijapur Based Kanhaiya Sweets
Gariasi Dutta: Psychological Counsellor & Director, Down town Hospital, Guwahati, Assam for 20 years
Topic of Discussion: The key life skills that will help you deal effectively with the challenges of career and everyday life
If you couldn’t make it to Back2Roots this year, you definitely missed it. But, as they say, there’s always a next time! We keenly look forward to meeting you at Back2Roots 2024. Let’s have a fantastic reunion next year too!
