Bringing together over 600 people, including students, academics and professionals, the 9th annual Harvard India Conference generated a buzz in the academic and professional community in Boston this weekend.  The two-day conference, at the Harvard Business School and Harvard Kennedy School is one of the largest student-run conferences of its kind in the United States.  The theme for this year’s conference, India – The next frontier, allowed leaders from the field of policy and business to debate on what is required for India to continue on its growth trajectory and fuel the global economy.

The Conference saw an exciting and influential set of names – from corporate honcho Bharat Desai, Dean of Harvard Business School Nitin Nohria, to Permanent Representative of India to the UN and Chair of Security Council Counter Terrorism Committee Hardeep Puri. The Conference also showcased a preview of the 3D version of Sholay for the first time in the United States.

Eminent leaders from the government, business, non-profit, media and entertainment sectors engaged in vibrant discussions about the opportunities and challenges that India is faces. The first day witnessed intense debates on policy questions on essential services such as education, health and political accountability, that affect the growth of the Indian economy.  Prashant Bhushan, a core committee member of India Against Corruption shared his views on the tension between political accountability and autonomy in India. Questioned on the efficacy of the proposed Jan Lokpal bill, Prashant said, “The Jan Lokpal is not a silver bullet for solving corruption but it is a good start.  However, the current proposed bill has no teeth and covers only a fraction of bureaucrats.” In his conversation with Prof. Lant Pritchett, Nachiket Mor, Chairman of the ICICI foundation, brought about an interesting dimension to public service in his address to students. He stated, “We need to redefine public service – “it’s not only non-profits and government anymore…The Private Sector creates opportunities for learning, then solutions can be brought to scale.” When questioned on how India should learn to avoid crisis, he stated, “ Crisis can be good – “it’s the point at which change happens.”  

The education panel, organized by student organizer Vishnu Kartik, brought in perspectives on the new challenges facing Indian education. Chittaranjan Kaul, emphasized the importance of contextualization of education through community participation. A startling insight into the strong correlation between tertiary education and GDP outcomes was presented by Karan Khemka, the head of Parthenon’s Mumbai office.

The second day at HBS started with a discussion on the role global Indian’s with Dean Nitin Nohria and Syntel chairman Bharat Desai. Sharing their inspiring personal success stories, both individuals highlighted the role that global Indian’s have played in strengthening brand India globally. Rejecting the common wisdom that you need to build strong skill sets before becoming an entrepreneur Bharat Desai said, “The more you wait, the more you become risk averse. Take the plunge now.”  

The entrepreneurship panel at HBS, moderated by Prof. Shikhar Ghosh, drew a large number of young, budding entrepreneurs who were looking to India to start their journey. A few words of wisdom from the first generation entrepreneur panelists were much appreciated. "Fail fast, fail early and be agile" was what Prashant Choksey , the Co founder, Mumbai Angels, had to say when questioned on the principles of successful entrepreneurship.

The media panel comprised of first generation media entrepreneurs who talked about the challenges of establishing business in creative industries. One of the challenges around financing in this space as articulated by Yashwant Deshmukh, the CEO of CV Voter, was, “The problem with venture capital in India, is that venture capitalists don’t venture”, highlighting the risk aversion to invest in creative fields.  

Another draw in the conference was the social enterprise panel on skill development in India that was supported by the America India Foundation.  The panel examined new opportunities that were opening up in India that youth could be trained for and find employment in . Rick Desai, a young social entrepreneur, talked about McDonalds in India requiring Gujarati speaking call centre operators. Venkat Srinivasan, CEO of Rage Frameworks and Sanjay Sinho , CEO AIF talked about innovative solutions for the marginalized youth. Poonam Ahluwalia, President and Founder of YES, stated ensuring job satisfaction and happiness was key to the success of skill building programs.

Bollywood also made its presence strongly felt at the conference, thanks to the efforts of student organizer Rohin Aggarwal. Ritesh Sidhwani, Abhinay Deo and Samir Patel led a lively discussion on the new age of entertainment in India. The entertainment panel focused on the role of technology in Indian Film industry and growth in visual effects and 3D. Sasha Sippy also held a special screening of the 3D version of Sholay for the students. International R&B singer Jay Sean shared his success story and how he has used the “Indian Singer” brand to his advantage.

The conference was supported by the Tata group and Monsanto. TV Asia and the South Asian times were the media partners to the conference. You can catch the highlights of the conference on twitter (#hic 2012) and on its facebook page (www.facebook.com/ HarvardIndiaconference).

Members of the Organizing Team included:

Conference Co-Chairs:

Amit Ghorawat
Deepak Dogra
Erendro Singh
Kulin Lalbhai
Naiyya Saggi
Pavan Sirpa
Simar Singh

Conference VPs:

Aashish Barwale
Abby Bellows
Aditya Shukla
Akshay Navaladi
Anand Dureja
Andrea Quadros
Ankit Samdariya
Anushree Tainwala
Catherine Leland
Divya Jain
Gazal Kalra
Hetal Jani
Kalpana Beesabathuni
Kanupriya Misra
Kash Pate
Kavikrut
Mahindra Bapna
Prathima Manohar
Rajarshi Banerjee
Rajesh Vijayaraghavan
Raviraj Jain
Reena Gautham
Ritu Shah
Rohin Aggarwal
Rohit Singhal
Rupakshi Goel
Sahil Gupta
Shruti Dube
Sid Misra
Subodh Kumar
Sujoyini Mandal
Tonusree Basu
Vishnu Karthik
Yasmin Mandviwala

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