XIC Alumni Forum – Meet the Professionals

Every year XIC holds an Orientation program for students at the beginning of the academic year. This year as part of the orientation program, a group of Alumni were invited to address the students at an “XIC Alumni Forum – Meet the Professionals”.

On the Alumni panel:
Sheela Jaywant - Public Relations`78, Nitin Mukadam – Advertising & Marketing `81 , Anil Wanvari - Journalism `88, Sanskar Desai, Film & Television `91, Svetlana Pinto – Public Relations `89, Tarun Chopra - Advertising & Marketing `86, Troy Ribeiro - Journalism `89

Mrs. Jane Swamy - Dean, Anil Wanvari, Nitin Mukadam, Sanskar Desai & Sheela Jaywant.

The forum was a worthwhile experience. The panelists had spent a lot of time putting down their thoughts --and they did such a fine job. Their address covered a broad spectrum of topics from writing for publications to writing on the net; hosting game shows to marketing and contextual advertising; animated films, screen-plays and theatre;
Mergers and de-mergers; marketing communications - to being a visiting faculty – and most importantly how XIC had impacted their lives. There was something of interest for every student who thoroughly enjoyed listening and asking questions. Close to 200 students were present at the St. Xavier’s College Hall.

The Forum was moderated by Fr. Lawrie Ferrao SJ., Associate Director of XIC, who addressed the students at the opening and close of the panel discussion.

Jeanne DeSa, Alumni Relations, introduced the program and the alumni.

A brief background:

Sheela Jaywant - Public Relations 1978

She is Asst. Manager Customer Relations at Hinduja Hospital, and otherwise a freelance writer & author. She writes for several publications - a 10 yr old weekly column for Gomantak Times, and also on the Net. Her book, “Quilted “, Stories of Middle Class India, has been reviewed by several publications. Her most recent publication is an “e-book: Mumbai, a survival guide for expats”. She is also one of the Indian authors listed on “womenswriting.com”, a site, which is jointly ‘run’ by the British Council and Zubaan (a well-known publishing house in Delhi).

Sheela’s interest lies in the performing arts, Marathi theatre in particular. Reading, writing (of course), traveling and cooking.

Nitin Mukadam - Advertising & Marketing 1981

Nitin, is an e-commerce and new media strategy consultant, marketing and communications strategy consultant, a business writer and an accomplished corporate trainer, having done training for various Indian and multinational companies.

Presently, Nitin is working on setting up India’s first post-graduate school for Digital Marketing and Contextual advertising, which he will be heading as CEO.

Nitin has also been an advertising professional for over 16 years and handled over 200 brands. He has been closely associated with the technology industry, and has co-authored a book and several articles with Vijay Mukhi.

Nitin, is a respected and highly regarded management teacher. He is a visiting faculty at NMIMS for over 7 years, and has lectured at S. P. Jain Institute of Management,
Goa University’s Dept. of Management, and several other management schools.

Anil Wanvari -Journalism 1988

Owner of Indian Television Dot Com, has many pioneering initiatives. On the internet front he has set up Indiantelevision.com, tellychakkar.com, animationxpress.com and radioandmusic.com. All successful properties.

Anil started India's most credible television awards The Indian Telly Awards which are now in their seventh year.

He also instituted The NT Awards and the Indian News Television Summit in July 2007 - both seeking to serve the news television industry.

He is a Board member of The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, New York and has been hosting the judging of the International Emmy awards semifinals in India for the past three years. He has also been at the forefront at trying to push the Indian television industry globally.

Anil is the Indian representative of Reed Midem in India for three of the world's biggest audiovisual markets in the world.

He has been a consultant and researcher for several international companies wanting to enter the Indian media space. He has also been a speaker and moderator at many Indian and international forums.

Sanskar Desai, Film & Television 1991

Sanskar Desai is a Filmmaker and Theatre person, who has over 20 years experience in making Documentaries, Ad-Films & Corporate Films.

His film “The Mahatma”, the first animated film on Gandhi, was selected for many International Film Festivals. He also wrote the screenplay for “Manpasand”, a short animation film which won many awards, and was selected by a number of film festivals all over the world.

Sanskrit has held more than 25 workshops on Filmmaking and Appreciation in Mumbai and in other states.

He is the General Secretary of the Indian Documentary Producers’ Association – a premičre National body of Documentary Makers. He has been on the panel of various Film Associations, on the selection committee of the Mumbai International Film Festivals (MIFF), and is a Permanent Invitee to the Film Federation of India. He has also been nominated on the Child Labour Advisory Board by the Govt of Maharashtra.

On the Theatre side - in 1992, Sanskar initiated “Sutradhar” a voluntary organization which focused on theatre and street plays. He has trained and held workshops for more than 4000 youth and street-children on techniques of acting, stage craft and street-plays.

Svetlana Pinto – Public Relation 1989

Svetlana, Head of Corporate Affairs and Corporate Communications, is responsible for internal and external communications for the Novartis Group of Companies in India

A post-graduate in Commerce from Bombay University, Svetlana started her career with the World Wildlife Fund India as an Accountant, and while there, she completed her Diploma in Public Relations at XIC. She then left WWF-India to pursue a career in Public Relations at Bayer India Limited and after four years at Bayer she joined Sandoz where she quickly rose to head the Corporate Communications department. Within a short while, Sandoz and Ciba merged globally to form Novartis.

Svetlana has been Co-Chairperson of the Marketing and Communications Committee of the Bombay Chamber of Commerce & Industry for the past two years. She has also been on the Communications Committee of the Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India for several years now. She used to be on the faculty at XIC, for the Journalism and PR program and at Lala Lajpatrai College for the Communications program for BMS students. Svetlana is well versed in internal and external communications related to mergers and de-mergers, as well as in communications of the product patent law for the pharmaceutical industry.

Tarun Chopra - Advertising & Marketing 1986

Tarun’s talent extends from directing TV Game Shows to producing Ad-films and Audio visuals, to directing some of the most famous live shows and Award nights.

With 15 years of experience in Television and Advertising, Tarun has Directed over a 1000 Television Episodes, more than 50 of the biggest live shows in India and Abroad. To name a few the: Femina Miss India Award, the Filmfare Awards, Stardust, Bollywood Film Award, the Bollywood Music Awards, Abby Award, and the Hero Honda Sports Award.

Tarun has also directed over a 100 Ad Films for MNCs’ in India and abroad.

Troy Ribeiro - Journalism 1989

Troy - Director of Litmus, a PR Agency, is a qualified Public Relations & Communications specialist with several years of experience in different areas of Mass Communication. He is conversant with all aspects of marketing communications including media relations, client servicing, event management, strategy planning, budgeting and corporate image building.

A visiting faculty at leading colleges affiliated to Mumbai University, he teaches Introduction to Journalism & Public Relations, Creative Writing, Niche Magazine, New Media Management and Indian Regional Journalism to the second and third year BMM students. He is also a Freelance writer specializing in Bollywood Currently, Troy freelances for leading UK publications.