Navi Mumbai: An ideal platform for exchange of ideas

A storyteller narrating and taking you through stories about hope and failure, a behaviour architect delving into a complex subject that is human behaviour and a musician elaborating on the complexities of producing a music album.

The one thing that is common for the above mentioned is the festival of ideas — Mindscape that is all set to start today at Urban Haat, CBD Belapur, till December 8.

The festival is a forum for cross-disciplinary exchange of ideas and experiences that is sure to enlighten common people on various subjects. It was conceived and is being organised by X-PiCan, the alumni association of Pillai’s College of Architecture.

This is the second edition of Mindscape with speakers who are highly accomplished in their respective fields.

While explaining the nature of the event, Jinu Kurean one of the X-PiCan, said it is like the Indian cuisine that has a variety of dishes in one plate.

“We are a community of architecture designers, but when we conceived the idea of Mindscape our objective was to go beyond and give exposure to the residents of Navi Mumbai to new ideas, thoughts, views, experiences and all this from the experts themselves,” said Kurean, who is a member of the core committee.

He added that for events of this kind, Navi Mumbaikars have always had to look at Mumbai and thus another aim was to change that scenario.

“Apart from religious or community-centric events, there is not much that people here have in order to gain insights about the world of music and cinema or concepts unheard of in the fields of bio-engineering, agriculture and behaviour architecture. This is what Mindscape offers and it is free for anyone with a thirst for knowledge,” asserts Kurean.

The speakers who are from the city are known for their contributions in the respective fields. While filmmaker and teacher, Shilpa Ranade will talk about her animated film that is based on a classic story and about the process of reinterpreting a classic in the form of an animated film, photographer and visual-archivist Anusha Yadav will present the influence of personal images and narratives of the Indian subcontinent.

Prashant Godbole, a passionate photographer, will tell you how to look at things differently while delving into visual arts and street photography.

There’s more. Dr Myshkin Ingawale, a bio-engineer will introduce you to ‘ToucHb’, a non-invasive blood haemoglobin testing device and ‘uChek’, an accessory and app that converts the smartphone into a powerful medical tool for diabetes testing.

Further, there is noted journalist Naresh Fernandes who will speak about how Jazz, an African-American musical form came to influence Bollywood in the 1950s. His first book, TajMahal Foxtrot: The Story of Bombay’s Jazz Age was the winner of the Ashok Da Ranade Award and the Shakti Bhatt First Book Award.

Furthermore, there is Biju Dominic, a behaviour architect; Robin Chaurasiya, a social worker; Sanvar Oberoi, an agricultural entrepreneur and many more such brilliant minds to address the audience.

Speaking about how Mindscape has evolved, Kurean said unlike the first edition, this year the team has been able to reach out to more people.

“In 2012 we worked without a clear understanding of the potential of the event and could not reach out and inform as many people as we would have liked to. But this year, with the help of our management Mahatma education society and the social media, we have been able to reach out to many including schools and colleges.”