Speakers 2013
NUSRAT DURRANI
THE MUSIC MAKER Nusrat Durrani is the creator and executive producer of the Rebel Music series. Nusrat joined MTV Networks in 1996 and has served in key business and creative roles in the company including the launch of MTV.COM, VHI.COM and the creation of MTV World, Viacom’s global engine for content and innovation of which Read More…
RAMY ESSAM
THE REVOLUTIONARY ARTISTE Ramy Essam is best known as the Singer of the Revolution in Egypt. During the first revolution, the Arab Spring, his song, “Irhal (Leave),” calling for then-president Hosni Mubarak to step down, became an anthem, sung by thousands in Tahrir Square and spread virally on the Internet. During a crackdown on protesters Read More…
RICHARD EATON
THE STALWART OF ISLAMIC HISTORY He has been called liberal India’s favourite western scholar but the breezy descriptor doesn’t begin to describe the vast, intimidating, extraordinary body of scholarly work of Richard Eaton. A historian at Arizona University, Eaton’s interests focus on the social and cultural history of pre-modern India (1000-1800), and especially on the Read More…
ROBERT DE NIRO
THE REAL GODFATHER “This kid doesn’t just act, he takes off into the vapours,” said iconic film critic Pauline Kael in her 1973 review of Mean Streets. Fast forward 40 years and the kid – who goes by the name of Robert De Niro – comes in second on a Channel 4 poll of the Read More…
ROBERT GRENIER
THE UNFLAPPABLE SUPERSPY A quick glance at Robert Grenier’s bio and you start believing a little bit in James Bond. This is a legit superspy, with a knack for being in the thick of some of the most epic events of our time. In 2001, Grenier was the CIA station chief in Islamabad – perhaps Read More…
ROHINI NILEKANI
THE MISTRESS OF PHILANTHROPY They say about her that she has mastered the art of giving. Rohini Nilekani made news a few months back when she raised nearly 163 crores by selling of f her shares in Infosys for philanthropic work. She explained it away by saying it is her moral obligation to give the Read More…
SAM GOSLING
THE PSYCHOLOGIST WHO SNOOPS FOR A LIVING Sam Gosling didn’t write the book ‘Everything is Obvious Once You Know the Answer’, but he probably agrees wholeheartedly with the sentiment. That’s because many who hear of his work for the first time have an ‘isn’t that obvious?’ reaction. Gosling – author of Snoop: What Your Spaces Read More…
SHAI SCHILLER
THE CYBER THREAT TRACKER The existence of Shai Schiller, and the company he runs, WebintPro, is both reassuring and intimidating. His career and background don’t sound intimidating: as one of Israel’s leading technology executives, he has extensive experience as CEO and Chairman of key organisations in various fields such as Mobile and Medical Technology, Investment Read More…
SHANTA BAI
THE KEEPER OF HERITAGE In 2001, at the age of 25, Shanta bai won the National Master Craftsperson Award for her creation, a 5ft x 3ft embroidered wall hanging. Shanta bai is a Lambani tribal woman from Sandur, in Karnataka’s Bellary district, and at the time of her win was the youngest recipient of the Read More…
