BENGALURU: The 5th edition of the Under 25 Summit took place recently and saw some well-known and young faces in various fields such as entrepreneurship and music speak about their journeys and struggles to the top. The event attracted more than 10,000 people to a day filled with talks, sessions and workshops. CE asked these achievers what matters to them and what worries them.
What are you most anxious about?
Right now, mostly I am anxious about whats going to happen in Avengers: Infinity War.
In which area of your life do you face the biggest challenge?
Mostly only with work. The constant desire to outdo yourself and do something new
tends to stress you out a lot.
What is the one thing that gives you hope, and what causes despair?
The fact that there are hardly any TV and radio channels in India that plays English Independent music, leaves a lot of artists like myself with a huge disadvantage. If there was equal opportunity for all artists to be heard despite the language and genre of music, I think many of today’s Indie musicians would be as big as any Bollywood artist. But what gives me hope is that, despite all these barriers, there are a lot of youngstersm who use the internet to discover quality content and support independent artists.
Siddharth Bendi
A young singer/songwriter, Sidharth
Bendi is a regular in the live music circuit of his home city of Hyderabad. He just released his EP last year that is being well recieved.
1. What are you most anxious about?
This is the first time I’m performing in Bangalore and it a huge platform for a first timer. I’m not really anxious about anything but just to see how people react to my music outside my city.
In which area of your life do you face the biggest challenge?
The biggest challenge I face is to balance my student life with my passion. I go to college because I need to keep up with the attendance and I do shows and practice at nights.
3. What is the one thing that gives you hope, and what causes despair?
Hope and despair for me work together. Every time somebody makes an effort to tell me I’m doing a good job, or that there’s more I can do or any sort of constructive criticism, it makes me want to get back home and work my ass off. Whether I get all praise or all criticism, it’s always more room for getting better at what I do.
One thing you wish didn’t happen?
I wish I didn’t take up engineering. I didn’t know it was going to be this hard.
Vineeth Vincent
Considered one of India’s prominent beatboxers, this former Christ University student, has performed with many international artists besides colloborating on many interesting projects .
What are you most anxious about?
The direction in which the world is heading in. The fads that determine our lives. The kind of content that dominate the internet and our lives. How people chose questionable content over sensible content.
What is your biggest challenge?
Dealing with corruption at government offices.
What is the one thing that gives you hope, and what causes despair?
The few people who refuse to stay down. The ones that stand against injustice.
What would be the best thing to happen to the world?
A time of peace.
Could you tell us what drives you?
Hope of a better tomorrow and for a time when there would be balance.
Mohammed Muneem
A musican and singer from Kashmir, Muneem blends sounds and traditional music from his home with a modern music while talking about issues facing the troubled region.
What are you most anxious about?
A piece of poetry or a song waiting to happen!
The biggest challenge in life?
Biggest challenge is to express what you exactly feel.
What is one thing you wish had never happened in your lifetime?
Ah... everything that has happened to me has made me who and what I am.
Could you tell us what drives you?
Necessary compulsion to share love over hate.
Alicia Souza
The ace designer and illustrator has achieved a lot within a very short period of time. From co-founding the quirky lifestyle brand, Chumbak to starting her own line of products, Alicia shared her journey.
What are you most anxious about?
Making the right decision when it involves more than just me in the outcome. Because I work as a freelancer, that means alone and also with my company, that means with a team, I sometimes have to put on two hats when it comes to decision-making.
In which area of your life do you face the biggest challenge?
At this time probably hobbies and other interests because of my very limited time. I put family and relationships at the top of my priority list along with work so sometimes I have to make a few sacrifices with experimenting with hobbies or new interests.
One thing that gives you hope, and another that causes despair?
Hope is the numerous opportunities that come my way. Despair for me is probably the limited time in a day to execute all that I’d love to do.
What would be the best thing to happen to the world?
Peace, love and understanding.
What drives you?
Happiness. If something makes me happy doing it, I’m driven.
Anil Shetty
Author, entrepreneur, activist, Anil Shetty wears many hats. A profilic orator, he has given many Ted Talks and founded the company Fly with VIP, the community improvement initaitve, Peace Auto and also is involved in politics.
What are you most anxious about?
I am anxious about losing time
In which area of your life do you face the biggest challenge?
Biggest challenge is at the workplace. I believe I am a well-organised person. I want things to be very systematic but many times it does not happen in politics.
What is the one thing that gives you hope, and what causes despair?
History of my country gives me hope that we will be better despite a million challenges. The political class causes me to despair.
What would be the best thing to happen to the world?
A world without time zones and borders