Business leaders and entrepreneurs from 11 Rotary Mean Business chapters from across the country congregated at RMB Connect Kolkata 2024 at the Fairfield by Marriott on December 14. The event, which had The Telegraph Online My Kolkata as digital partners, witnessed a day of discussions, insights and networking. Among several dignitaries were top representatives from various RMB chapters, including (from left) Sachin Gururaj, Arvind Batra, Mahaesh Saptarshi, Rajamohan; who was the chief guest on the occasion and (not in frame) Dr Krishnendu Gupta
Photographs by RMB Connect and Amit Pramanik
The event focused on networking and business related aspects that included a panel discussion on artificial intelligence: A double edged weapon? Moderated by Ruby Ray, the panelists were Biswajoy Chatterjee (vice-chancellor of University of Engineering & Management), Debashis Sen (ex-IAS), Sudipta Kundu (growth strategist), Ritesh Arora, and Satyajit Chakrabarti (pro-chancellor, UEM). The discussions surrounded the increase of AI in all forms of business, the good and the bad
Another panel discussion was conducted on financial wellness, a crucial element in the success of any business. The third panel discussion was on financing options for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and start-ups with (from left) Pragya Jhunjunwala, PC Khurana, Vibhor Tandon, Prateek Kohli and Ayushi Hansaria making up the panel that spoke on the various ways to get small and large businesses financed
All 11 participating RMB chapters were felicitated at the event including the Delhi chapter (in picture) who spoke to My Kolkata and said: ‘The event was very well organised. We were hoping for a little more networking time with individuals. The highlight of the event was Major Vikram Dev Dogra’s session and the stand-up by Ashish Vidyarthi’. Five individuals had turned up from RMB Delhi, one of the larger groups, at the RMB Connect
After all the serious business-related talks and discussions while networking, there was a brilliant performance from actor/stand-up comedian Ashish Vidyarthi. The performance changed the mood at the event, giving everyone an extra kick of energy to fill up the venue with fun and laughter. Vidyarthi took pictures with several of the attendees thereafter
The highlight of the event was the keynote speech by Major-General Vikram Dev Dogra, a three-time Ironman athlete, who spoke about his journey from being a retired army veteran to finishing the Ironman triathlon, which includes 3.8km of swimming in open water, 180km of cycling and a full 42.2-km marathon. Dogra’s speech included everything from his training to how his first experience went. His speech was received with a standing ovation by everyone present in the audience
My Kolkata spoke to the retired major-general after his speech and asked him if he had ever done a full triathlon before taking part in the actual event. He replied: ‘It’s a 17-hour-long race so it takes about 3-4 months to get back into shape, so I never tried doing a full rehearsal.” On being asked about his experience at RMB Connect, he said: ‘It was really inspiring to see the kind of professionalism here, the networking that was going on. I wished I had a business which I don’t have. But I surely will now work towards that and being back in RMB. I loved it’
