Umeed Factory with Lakshya Datta

In episode 4, my guest is the chairman and Managing Director of Nestle India: Mr. Suresh Narayanan. Nestle is a multinational, multi-billion dollar company, and it has been a part of India for over a century. It is the name you see on some of the most popular consumer goods such as Maggi, Nescafe, Nespresso, Nestea, Cerelac, Kit Kat, and on and on. Mr. Narayanan took over as Chairman and Managing Director of Nestle India five years ago, right in the middle of the Maggi crisis. Since then, not only has the company grown multiple fold under his leadership, but it also managed to increase its profits in the middle of the covid pandemic this summer. So in this conversation, I asked Mr. Narayanan about how he managed to do all that, what his hopes are for the future, and how Nestle is keeping its employees, suppliers, and consumers like you and me safe and happy. As always, our partner in hope at Umeed Factory is the Salaam Baalak Trust Delhi. Learn more and contribute at bit.ly/UmeedSBT

In episode #3 of Umeed Factory, the guests are Rochak Kohli, Gurpreet Saini, and Gautam Sharma - the team behind the new song "Mausama". Lakshya talks to them about their collaborative and creative process, the story behind the song "Mausama", and how they were able to make music during the pandemic.  Rochak is a music composer and singer, known for hit songs like "Mitti Di Khushboo", "Paani Da Rang", Tera Yaar Hoon Main", and "Yeh Saari Baat". Gurpreet and Gautam are the lyricist duo behind many songs composed by Rochak, as well as other hits such as "Asal Mein" and "Tere Naal" by Darshan Raval. Gautam also wrote and directed the music video for "Mausama", which is out now on Youtube.  Stay till the end of the episode for a special preview of "Mausama", performed by Rochak live on the zoom call. Listen to the full song on JioSaavn, Gaana, Spotify, Wynk, or any streaming app you prefer.   As always, our partner in hope at Umeed Factory is the Salaam Baalak Trust Delhi. Learn more and contribute at bit.ly/UmeedSBT

The second guest on Umeed Factory is Amit Govind - Head of Social Media and Internal Communications at Tata Consultancy Services. TCS is the second largest Indian company by market capitalization, and employs over 450,000 people across 46 countries. Before joining TCS, Amit was Regional Head of Digital Practice at Perfect Relations, which is now a part of the Dentsu Aegis Network. He’s worked with clients such as Coca Cola India, Unilever, Air India, and Godrej - to name a few. At TCS, Amit is responsible for the company’s social media strategy, re-imagining workplace communications through new platforms, and TCS’s overall brand reputation in the social space. I had a chat with Amit over Zoom, to understand how TCS is disrupting workplace culture, and reimagining collaboration and communication. As always, our partner in hope at Umeed Factory is the Salaam Baalak Trust Delhi. Learn more and contribute at bit.ly/UmeedSBT

My name is Lakshya Datta. I’m a writer, podcaster, and entrepreneur who, like you, is living through these uncertain times. Uncertainty can lead to hopelessness. So I decided to make this show. A podcast about hope - how to find it, create it, rebuild it - in a post-pandemic India. In this show I’ll be talking to people from diverse industries - business, entertainment, education, tech, sciences, hospitality - as we explore answers to two key questions: "where do we go from here?" and "how do we find, create, and rebuild umeed within ourselves.. to get us there?” Welcome to Umeed Factory with Lakshya Datta. Follow or subscribe wherever you’re listening to this to be notified about new episodes.