Happiness and wellbeing are the two most causal factors of our existence. Today policymakers and corporate giants strongly acknowledge how crucial these are in comparison to financial growth, stability, profit and affluence. In all fields exploring social realities or bringing about social changes, happiness and wellbeing have become key areas of interest.
The Rekhi Centre for Science of Happiness at IIT Kharagpur will explore these domains in an international workshop from April 4-6, 2019, bringing in global experts to interrogate the current state of happiness and wellbeing studies, especially in the context of Communities, Cities and States, and the Networked Generations.
“These two diverse areas actually indicate the co-existence of the latest technologies with the most basic of problems facing communities, cities and states. While the two themes are important in their respective ways for India and the world, the relation between the two is also equally intriguing and relevant to explore,” said Prof. Priyadarshi Patnaik, Head of the Centre. “Since its inception, the Centre has made progress, especially in the directions of wellbeing of communities, cities, and the younger generation. Technology today has a key role to play in the context of happiness, and so we believe that all these aspects, as well as the way some of them are interlinked, are important to explore today,” he added.
The workshop will be graced by IIT KGP alumnus and entrepreneur Satinder Singh Rekhi, who pioneered academic discourse on Science of Happiness in India. “I believe that is important to focus on all aspects of human life – from basic needs, relationships, to higher needs and altruism. I personally believe that it is important for each of us to give back to the community. In this workshop, I am glad to note, many of these aspects are being addressed,” said Mr. Rekhi.
The workshop will showcase invited talks by more than 15 International and national speakers of Eminence including Clinical therapist and positive psychologist Prof. Lesley Lyle, Luis Gallardo,Global Chief Marketing Officer at Deloitte and co-founder of World Happiness Summit, Miami, Biological medicine consultant and an educator Kimchi Moyer, Joulan Abdul Khalek, World Bank Policy Specialist Consultant, Prof. Seema Mehrotra, NIMHANS, Debashis Sen, IAS, Additional Chief Secretary to the Govt. of West Bengal, Information Technology & Electronics Department and Chairman-Managing Director, WBHIDCO, Akhilesh Argal, CEO, Anand Sansthan, Govt. of MP, and many more. Distinguished happiness experts like Jeffery Sachs, John Helliwell, Raj Raghunath and others will also give Skype talks.
The Rekhi Centre for Science of Happiness at IIT Kharagpur envisions to promote the science and practice of positivity for fostering meaningful life, happiness, well-being and holistic self-development. The Centre is currently running MS and Ph.D Programs in the domains of Positive Psychology, Community well-being, Creative Arts, Pedagogy, and Technology development for happiness. Further various training and outreach programs for corporates, college and school students are conducted round the year. The Centre has forged several collaborations with the Madhya Pradesh Government, HIDCO, New Town Kolkata, Steel Authority of India Ltd. and CRPF for development of happiness and wellbeing index and applications, and institutional training. It has signed MoUs and extended collaborations with University of Waterloo, University of Western Florida, University of Zurich, Talent Enterprise, Dubai, Gopichand Academy, Bangalore, etc.
