Bengaluru: Kids learn the ropes at Parsi community’s e-event
BENGALURU: Michele Daroowala, 16, took her first steps as an entrepreneur recently. From hosting a workshop on artificial intelligence to teaching quilling, the student of Delhi Public School Bangalore East created an impact among her virtual audience.
Michele was one of the youngsters from the Parsi community who learnt entrepreneurial and management skills during ‘The Marketplace: A Virtual Symposia for Charity’ organised by the World Zarathushti Chamber of Commerce till Sunday.
“We were part of the event planning, attended meetings and expressed our opinions without hesitation. The best thing was that we were not treated as just kids, but equal members throughout the event,” said Michele.
The teenager saw this as an excellent opportunity for youngsters to learn. “For instance, we learnt coordination. As a host, I learnt how to manage an event and ask people to wrap up their task without sounding curt. A month-long preparation helped.”
Fostering and highlighting talents of budding entrepreneurs was one of the goals of the event organised by the close-knit Parsi community in the city. The other aim was charity.
The event saw over 600 participants from across the globe. It started with a curtain-raiser featuring choreographer Shiamak Davar and actor Boman Irani and had over 30 events in the last week.
Dilshad Jalnawalla, a committee member of the WZCC Bengaluru chapter and joint principle coordinator for The Marketplace told TOI that children from the community were guided by adults on how to organise the event and execute it. For instance, there was a drone workshop conducted by a 12 year old, while a seven year old participated in a cookery event and a six year old spoke about Parsi community traditions. “We had 31 members in the organising committee, of which 13 were children. As a chapter, our vision is to foster and showcase the strengths and talents of our members and the youth of our community. We also believe that creating a successive line of leadership will ensure that our chapter is never short of good, sound leaders, who have learnt the ropes,” said Dilshad.
She added that a ‘teenpreneurs’ group was formed, with people aged between seven and 70 years learning, unlearning, mentoring and experiencing a live case study, The Marketplace. Proceeds from the event will go to Kinder Trust, which works to enable the physically and mentally challenged to lead a confident and fulfilling life.
