Event On : 20 Mar 2019

On March 20th 2019, International Day of Happiness was celebrated at the iLEAD campus. The event was organized by the West Bengal Federation of United Nations Association (WEBFUNA) in association with iLEAD. The theme of the seminar had been 'Happiness is the key'.

About 194 students from eminent schools of Kolkata attended the event with 28 teachers.

Mr. Rajeev Maheshwari, Secretary General of WEBFUNA, started the opening speech with a congratulatory message from the Hon'ble Governor of West Bengal, Shri Keshari Nath Tripathi.

Kusum Mussadi, Secretary General of WEBFUNA, addressed the audience by recognizing the event as the first if its kind in Kolkata. She also read out a message from the Ambassador of Finland, Her Excellency, Nina Vaskunlahti.

Chairman of WEBFUNA and Moderator of the seminar, Mr. Sitaram Sharma talked about selecting the panel of the day by choosing pioneers from the fields of music, entertainment, philanthropy, business and education.

Mr. Raghunandan Mody, Chairman of Rasoi Ltd and J. L. Morison (India) Limited, talked about the importance of 'creation of wealth' to attain satisfaction and happiness.

Mr. Ravindra Chamaria, Chairman and MD of the Infinity Group and also Vice Chairman on the advisory board of Akshaya Patra and Chairman of the Board of Trustees in Akshaya Patra UK, the world's largest NGO-run school meal program, talked about the earning happiness through the 'art of giving'.

Mr. Pradip Chopra, Chairman of iLEAD and PS Group, spoke about 'struggle' being an integral part of life and how one should accept it with happiness instead of complaining about it. He narrated example of Steve Jobs (Founder of Apple Inc, Pixar and NeXT) to address the importance of struggle in life for becoming a stronger version of self.

Eminent singer, Mrs. Usha Uthup, spoke about her journey as a singer from a night club to main stream Bollywood. A Padma Shri awardee, she talked about how happiness is about changing your limitation to strength.

Actor Bobby Chakraborty took over the stage by singing a song and instantly channeling his energy to create happiness among the audience. He also talked about the importance of reading and how it makes a human being think deep.

Certificates of Participation were also handed over to the students from Sushila Birla Girls' School, South City International School, Silverpoint School, St. Xavier's Collegiate School, La Martinere for Girls School, National High School, Mahadevi Birla World Academy along with Calcutta University and Jadavpur University.

The event ended with a question answer session among the panelists and the students present from the various schools and universities.