Young Indians with the energetic youth celebrate their Annual Day at Hyatt Regency Kolkata

Young leaders, professionals, and entrepreneurs from various fields who contribute towards nation-building activities gathered to celebrate the day

Debarati Pal (t2 Intern) | Published 13.01.24, 11:43 AM

The past chairs of Yi Kolkata. (L-R, back row) Rajat Sarawgi, Vaibhav Soni, Rohit Patni, Alifiya Calcuttawala, Arpit Dhandhania, Rabindra Tantia, Saurabh Sureka; (r-l, seated) Chair of 2024 Baibhav Agarwal and co-chair of 2024 Shubham Karnani. “I joined Yi in 2016. The whole experience was surreal and I learned how to lead a peer-based organisation. I feel fulfilled with the kind of work our organisation has done this year, the mangrove plantation drive or the dialysis drive are things which add value and meaning to our work. The evening was very exciting with the unique way to showcase our executive committee members with their Fashion Walk. The amazing part of the evening was the session with Gaur Gopal Das. It was a houseful session and everyone listened with a lot of interest. The most interesting part of his session was the way he connected 'I' of Illness and 'We' of Wellness and I to We was the transition, which is what the theme of the year was and how he summarised my entire year’s ethos by this one session was just unbelievable,” said Rohit Patni, chair of Yi in 2023.

Young Indians (Yi), the youth organisation under the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), that focuses on youth leadership, celebrated its Annual Day last month at Hyatt Regency Kolkata, in association with t2. Young leaders, professionals, and entrepreneurs from various fields who contribute towards nation-building activities gathered to celebrate the day. Yi nurtures the spirit of ‘We Can, We Will’ and all their activities are geared towards the collaborative effort of many for the benefit of society.

The evening started with a fashion show by members of Yi, followed by an award ceremony that recognised some of the most valuable members and important projects of the past year. The Sanitary Pads Initiative under the Health Vertical was chosen as the Most Impactful Project of the Year.

The award ceremony was followed by a chat with the present, past and future chairs of Yi. Rohit Patni who was the chair of Yi for the year 2023, shared his experiences of leading the enthusiastic team while working in the service of the nation. He passed the baton of chairing Yi to Baibhav Agarwal who shared his goals of taking Yi forward.

The evening’s most awaited segment was a session with Gaur Gopal Das that had everyone glued to his enigmatic and humorous discourse on balancing life and work, and his journey from an electrical engineer to an urban online monk. In a world of increasing individualism, he talked about the importance of striking a balance between selfishness and selflessness. The inspiring session which enlivened everyone was followed by DJ Chetas taking the console for a groovy DJ night as the members let their hair down and danced. Snapshots.