This Sunday at The Goa Project Sessions, in the ​Intersections track, we’ll ​learn about the still very nascent field of adapted sport in India — the country’s Paralympic Games medal count may paint a different picture, but there is much to do in reality — and chat with an author who, for many years, tracked a disparate group of independent Indian women united mainly by their adoration of Shah Rukh Khan, and through these conversations learnt about their world views and aspirations.

Born and raised in Hyderabad,​ Padmini​ h​as a PhD in Adapted Physical Activity/Education from Texas Woman’s University​ at Denton, Texas, USA. She ​previously completed an M​asters’ in Kinesiology​ from TWU​,​ and a Bachelor’​s degree in Physiotherapy from Dr. NTR University of Health Sciences in India. In 2016, she met Sunil Jain​,​ founder ​trustee of Astha, a non-profit ​in Bengaluru, and ​began supporting​ the Indian Wheelchair Tennis Tour. In January 2021, she started Adapted Sports India Foundation​,​ through which she is developing education and awareness programs to improve public knowledge about equitable access to sporting opportunities for persons with disabilities in India.

Shrayana is trained in development economics at Delhi University and Harvard University. Since 2014, she has worked as an economist at the World Bank, where she focusses on social protection and jobs. Prior to the Bank, she worked at CPR, SEWA Union and ISST. Her book, Desperately Seeking Shah Rukh : India’s Lonely Young Women and the Search for Intimacy and Independence, is being published by HarperCollins and is out in November 2021

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Register here: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMrfuisqTMpHdfsrdBIR_X3KhIAVbny8GoJ

Our apologies for deleting and resending that last message twice. We typoed on one name, noticed it too late, deleted, corrected, re-sent, then noticed another.

Peter, who clearly has not been following his own editing check-list, has made to go stand in the corner.

We start in 5 minutes or thereabouts. Come join us?

We have some questions.

One, we have been talking about doing some in-person TGP events in the near future, and we want to know what you think about it.
Could you please take a few minutes to answer some questions? https://forms.gle/bKhMgEpg7XYY4QqU9

Two, in our Sessions, the online TGP we’ve been doing since last May, we have a Showcase, which is meant to be a platform for our creative members to show us their work. Unlike the other components of the Sessions, these have no Q&A or discussion; they are just meant for the audience to sit back and enjoy. Art of any kind, music, theatre, poetry (or any other genre of writing), anything that can be done via Zoom, and which would take from five to ten minutes.
Interested? Please go to our form and pick ‘Performance / Exhibition’ in the question about format. (Know someone who might fit? Point them to the same form, please. And yes, you can use that form to pitch any other kind of session too.)

https://forms.gle/RU4zfKP3qsGr8x5t5

And third, we’re looking for a few more people to join our curating team, the track manager’s group.

https://forms.gle/yD4ELEP6YEUrdohb8

(What are the various tracks, and who would you be volunteering with? https://thegoaproject.wordpress.com/tgp-tracks/ has it all.)

Tomorrow, Sunday 7th November, we will not have a regular TGP Sessions.
Instead we’re doing an Open House, a TGP informal meet, partly to mark the festive season and hang out together, and partly to discuss plans ahead for TGP, and hear what you — old TGP hands, new members — would like to suggest.
Please join us? Register here: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMrfuisqTMpHdfsrdBIR_X3KhIAVbny8GoJ
Bring yourself and whatever you’re eating and/or drinking.

We’re open. Join in!

Puja Mitra is a conservation / social entrepreneur with an MSc in biodiversity, conservation & management from the University of Oxford and a Commonwealth Scholar. She is the recipient of Sanctuary Nature Foundation’s Wildlife Service Award and currently lives and works in Goa, where, in 2017, she co-founded Terra Conscious, a conservation-oriented social enterprise focusing on responsible travel and marine conservation outreach. Terra Conscious has been awarded a runners up prize in the Best Wildlife & Tourism Initiative category by the prestigious TOFTigers Awards, and listed among 50 Champions for Sustainable Travel in India by Conde Nast Traveller.

Gilbert Soyus (representing Save Mollem) is a wildlife and environmental conservationist with experience in research and environmentalist communities focussed on wildlife and habitat studies, mapping and conservation, and community outreach initiatives to educate people about human-wildlife relationships, implement a conservation mindset, and build low-cost green technologies . He is one of the group of people at the core of the #SaveMollem movement.

Register: Register: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMrfuisqTMpHdfsrdBIR_X3KhIAVbny8GoJ

We’re starting. Join in!

Aside from our regular interactive events, The Goa Project has also endeavoured to be a platform for creative people to share their work, and for our community to sit back — or lean forward — and enjoy art for its own sake. With the online TGP Sessions, we haven’t done enough of that.
And so, to correct that balance a little, this Sunday we have a dedicated Showcase event. Four creators — five actually, because one of the presenters is a duo — bringing you a taste of their work. As ever, our aim is that these sessions be a starting point for more interaction within the community.
Do join us. Bring friends (TGP Sessions are free and open to all.)

[bios in next message]