Do you have dreams? Surely you do.
Do you have questions? Yes, yes many!
Then this article is a one-stop solution for your confusion.

Futurefocusindia.com is an educational insurance policy! 25 years of finding the right career opportunity — “People to Better Organizations”. Now, we present a career quiz followed by counselling, blogs, info, food for thought and goodies that will make you happy even though you are stressed out.

We had launched an online Mumbai Inter School English Elocution Competition which had over 200 entries. Then we had 10 finalists who competed for the coveted awards, trophies and the like. This was for a comeback and to reach you.

Now what? Read The Teenager Today which will have appetizers for you. Send queries of your career dilemma. Write your thoughts in poems, songs, and blogs. Your career queries will be sorted after doing the free online quiz with a counselling session on appointment basis. The launch, which took place on 19 January 2024, had a great attraction. The hearing impaired presented the national anthem in sign language! That is inclusion as per the NEP. We are starting 100 hours of skill training to help you with your graduation or to help those who cannot reach the graduation platform, and to enable the hearing impaired to earn a livelihood. So that’s from us — be with us through our website Futurefocusindia.com and The Teenager Today and live a happy life. You are the future of our country and of the world. 

Future Focus India is backed by their parent company, RMG Plus (P) Ltd, a 25-year-old Executive Search Firm, an HR consulting company.

The elocution competition was partnered by The Teenager Today — a 60+ year-old magazine published by BETTER YOURSELF BOOKS, Mumbai. The finalists enthralled the judges who had an extremely difficult task to select the best of the best. The topics, My Happy Family and My Dream School, were in complete alignment with G20 initiatives. For My Happy Family, the finalists enthused ideas of not just the immediate family, but a larger concept of everyone being one big family, and how to appreciate and make things better for people living within the same four walls of a house. The idea of difference between a home and a house, woven by a tapestry of love, came out loud and clear. For My Dream School, many innovative ideas emerged, some of which both the NEP and the G20 initiatives could think about for implementation, and if they wait a little longer, probably the students who presented the ideas will themselves implement them!

The online process was no less tough since the numbers of participating students were high. The judges who helped in the online elimination process were Mrs Nirmala Goklani, Mrs Duru Kalro and Mr John Neelankavi. Through their untiring efforts, we had the best 10 for the finals.

What did the eminent judges at elocution finals have to say? Dr Omkar Bhatkar, Media Sociologist, said, “Many common thoughts and ideas that were similar, but provided from different perspectives were expressed, indeed notably taken note of.” Mumtaz Syed, an Astronomer, Space Learner and Teacher, was amazed at the levels of expressions and variety of perspectives for the same very topic. Swati Kapadia, CEO of Forum of Free Enterprise, expressed anguish at the difficulty in selecting the best from among the best. All the judges faced a tough challenge to select the best three.

The competition was interspersed with addresses by Future Focus India’s Chief Career Counsellor, Shailaja Mulay, and Wellness Counsellor, Dr Manjari Mathew Melmane, and an introduction to music with an engaging demonstration by Furtados School of Music, clapping in tune and rhythms. Two hearing-impaired students, who also participated in the competition, delivered their elocution pieces so that the audience understood their difficulties and learned to empathize with them.

The highlight of the morning was the performance of the National Anthem by the hearing impaired students of VSS Pragati Vidyalaya, Dadar (W), Mumbai, which gave everyone goose bumps. Their performance was exemplary and received a thunderous applause. We also learnt in sign language how to clap, cheer and rejoice with a few movements of our hands.

The programme ended with a vote of thanks by Merwyn Sequeira, Director, RMG Plus (P) Ltd., who thanked all the eminent personalities present, the judges, the teachers, coordinators, principals, parents, children and all the sponsors (RMG Plus (P) Ltd, The Teenager Today, Furtados School of Music, Harakh, Kafi Cosmetics and Treatfully Yours), without whom success would be limited.

The winners, Aaron Lamonde (Class 9, Ashok Academy), Amreen Shaikh (Class 9, St Charles High School), and Raina Pendurkar (Class 8, Apostolic Carmel High School), walked away with the first, second and third prizes respectively. Besides a certificate and trophies, the winners also received a one-year subscription to The Teenager Today. The other seven finalists received a three-month subscription to the magazine.

All the 10 finalists walked away with their heads held high and better prepared to participate in many more competitions in future. To us at Future Focus India and The Teenager Today, we saw bright students who will light the lamp of the future and become great leaders!

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Prabhat Koli is now the world’s youngest Oceans Seven swimmer in an exclusive club of just 22 members.

He’s been there and done it again. But this time, with a giant leap which many have dreamed of achieving but at which very few have succeeded. For over a decade-and-a half, becoming the youngest athlete in the world to complete the Oceans Seven Challenge.

On 1 March, India’s leading open-water, long distance swimmer, Prabhat Koli (23), etched yet another milestone in his illustrious swimming career spanning 15 years. He swam across Cook Strait from the South Island to the North Island in New Zealand on 1 March and became the youngest athlete in the world to complete the Oceans Seven Challenge.

This article makes it sound easy, but it was anything but that. Prabhat clocked 8 hours and 41 minutes to cross the 28 km distance amid rough weather in 15 degree temperature. It was not the furthest distance he has covered in his swims, but this one carried the burden of an earlier failure. He had attempted it in 2020 during the pandemic. High winds and turbulent water caused his coach Minty-Gravett to abort the swim just short of his goal, after struggling for 8 hours 24 minutes. This time, Prabhat did not fail.

When he climbed the rocks at the end, Prabhat became the 22nd swimmer in the world to accomplish the rare distinction.

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This young girl, despite all odds, took charge of her destiny and proved through her hard work and dedication that even a street vendor can aspire to pursue a Ph.D. in the USA.

After a long, hot sunny day, Sarita would return home exhausted after urging commuters to purchase tiny bouquets and flower garlands. This 12-year-old girl had no choice and alongside school had to pitch in and help in the family business to enhance the family income, especially during festivals. This was her daily routine for most of her educational life. Nevertheless, her circumstances did not dampen her spirit to learn and progress academically. She developed a love for Hindi literature and did not give in to external factors but continued with a will of iron to fulfil her dream of obtaining a good education. Little did she know that the vigour and fortitude she possessed would not only lead her to the completion of her education but also influence her to excel, and finally place her in a prestigious institution in the United States to work towards her doctorate.

Since it was impossible for her to afford an education, she pursued her M.A. and M.Phil. through Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), a public-funded university, and will submit her Ph.D. in Hindi literature this July to the Indian Language Centre at JNU itself. There was a stroke of luck that played a part here, as Sarita managed to secure the last OBC seat at her entrance test at JNU. She attributes her acceptance at the University of California (UCLA), Santa Barbara, to JNU, and firmly believes that her future brightened up as soon as she was accepted at JNU.

Not only has Sarita been an inspiration to children and youth but also her family, as her siblings have understood the value of good education. Her elder sister has earned an M.A. degree and both her brothers are attempting competitive exams. In order to fund themselves, they are engaged in providing tuitions to meet their financial requirements just like Sarita. Despite the odds, Sarita’s father has always strongly supported her and encouraged her to study further.

Sarita’s vision is to raise awareness about the difficulties faced by street children in their attempt to obtain a decent education, especially the financial aspect. She rightly believes that education for street children should be free. Thus, those who have the desire to build up their skills and knowledge will have a system in place to develop themselves at no cost, thereby providing a fair opportunity to all. Education is a need of all and should be provided to benefit every citizen. This in turn will pave the way for the process of broadening everyone’s perspective, skills, and opportunities, leading our nation towards a radiant future.

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If you like your music dark and heavy, you’d be hard-pressed to find any band that does it better than Zygnema. If you’ve heard their incredibly high-energy live performances at one of the many music festivals or listened to their albums, Born Of Unity (2010) and What Makes Us Human Is Obsolete (2015), you can be sure that they are hard-core heavy/thrash/power metal gurus. They’re India’s only metal act that flawlessly packs venues on any given day.

Zygnema started out playing in college competitions to find a way to make their name. The band that presently consists of vocalist Jimmy Bhore, Sidharth Kadadi on guitars, Asxeem Dlean on bass and Mayank Sharma on drums, won accolades at the Rolling Stone Metal Awards in 2011 for Best Metal Band and Best Metal Song in the popular choice category, and also represented India at the Wacken Metal Battle at the Wacken Open Air in 2012. They were also winners of the Yamaha Asian Beat 2010 West Zone and All India Finals. The same year, they also won Best Drummer and Best Guitarist at Yamaha Asian Beat 2010 Global Finals (Thailand). Five years later they were once again adjudged by Rolling Stone Metal Awards 2016 for Best Album (Critics Choice) for their album What Makes Us Human Is Obsolete and Best Band (Critics Choice).

VERUS FERREIRA spoke to the band members to get a feel of how Mumbai’s metal veterans rock.

When and how was Zygnema formed? 
Sidharth: Jimmy and I had been struggling to get a sorted line since December 2005. We did not do too many shows as we always had an inclination towards writing original music. We struggled with a few drummers and bass players for a year and then somewhere in December 2006, we found Mayank and Ravi Sapute and this line was rock steady until February 2013 when Ravi moved to Prague. Leon took his place. The band was on a hiatus from August 2007 to October 2008 as Sidharth was pursuing education in LA. So technically the band started gigging seriously and writing more stuff from November 2008 onwards.

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Mumbai, India’s financial capital, is also home to the world’s largest slums. Here, the world’s richest and poorest live alongside each other! Experts feared that Mumbai’s slums would explode with the Covid-19 pandemic. However, on the contrary, during both the first and second wave of the pandemic, Mumbai’s slums exploded with compassion, resilience, and a strong community spirit.

In March 2020, Covid-19, combined with the sudden and complete lockdown, struck a deadly blow to the residents of these slums — lower middle class and unorganized workers, migrant daily wage labourers, and small entrepreneurs. As the people here are used to facing crises, information about pandemic control spread like wildfire and people co-operated with the efforts of medical and security workers.

There was an equally deadly enemy: poverty! With all establishments closed down and no means of travel outside the city, the working class, especially the daily wage earners and migrant labourers faced an unprecedented crisis, leading to starvation and daily deaths.

It was then that the undying spirit of community-based organizations all over Mumbai, swung into action. It was not only NGOs from outside, but also NGOs born and nurtured in the slums that decided that no one should go hungry. Even as you read this article, they are waging their battles against poverty and hunger during the second wave of the pandemic too. Three such organizations are: the Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA), Hum Sab Ek Hain Foundation and the Mohalla Committee Movement Trust (MCMT).

Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan

The Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA) office, a small two-storey structure sits in the heart of the slums of Kherwadi and Bandra East. Founded in 2007 by academicians turned social activists Noorjehan Safia Niaz and Zakia Soman, this women’s organization has been leading struggles for Muslim women’s personal and professional rights, domestic and political freedom, for equal access to education, employment and healthcare. The ban on triple talaq and the movement for opening places of worship to women are among some of their achievements.

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The sound of the bullets forced Nurse Anjali Kulthe to look down out of the first floor window. Gunning down the two guards at the entrance of Mumbai’s Cama and Albless Hospital, two terrorists were rushing up to its first floor.

The staff nurse at the antenatal care ward was caring for 20 pregnant women the night of 26 November 2008. Strongly bolting the two heavy doors of her ward, Anjali rushed all the pregnant women and their family members into the small pantry space at the far end of the ward. She dialed the doctor on duty to alert the police about the entry of the terrorists into their hospital.

One of the terrorists then fired two bullets in her direction, wounding the ayah’s hand. Hurrying her to the casualty, Anjali bandaged her profusely bleeding wound.

Becoming human shields for all their patients, the staff in the hospital bravely switched off all the lights, locked ward doors, hid patients in washrooms, risking their own lives during the 50 minutes of firing between the two terrorists and the police.

While the terrorists were throwing hand grenades at the police, one woman went into labour. Holding her hand, Anjali bravely led her down the stairs to the second floor. With the light of just one torch she successfully conducted the delivery. Risking her life, Anjali saved both the baby and the mother.

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St Andrew’s College, Bandra, in collaboration with the Diocesan Youth Centre (DYC) and SPICE, Bandra, organised Awesummer 2019 for the youth at St Andrew’s College premises. Conceptualised by Fr Magi Murzello, Principal, St Andrew’s School, Bandra, this unique programme offered the Mumbai suburban youth an opportunity to discover the hidden facets of their personalities and enhance their skill sets. Held across multiple Bandra venues, the courses ranged from fun-filled Social Ballroom Dancing and Baking to creative Graphic Design and World of Poetry to the off-beat Mystery Writing and Handwriting Analysis to Personality Development and Better Communication. Kept to a duration of either 10 or 20 hours, each course’s content was designed to give the youth a fair idea of the subject without boring them with an excess of information.

The core team encountered an ally in Bishop Barthol Barretto, who galvanised his army of Small Christian Communities’ Co-ordinators to take this programme to the youth in their respective areas. Deacon Ivan Fernandes reached out to yet more youth via Careers Hangout and the Quo Vadis retreats. The team definitely did not anticipate the enthusiasm and go-getter attitude that the youngsters would display. An incessantly ringing phone, a queue at the registration desk as parents and youth patiently awaited their turn, pleas to the faculty to “organise just one more batch, please!” or “take this last student only”, the regret of the Awesummer co-ordinator as she turned yet another student away from a “house full” course — all became hallmarks in the lives of the team members.

This contagion even infected the faculty members who thought nothing of walking the extra mile for their enthusiastic and grateful students. Two-hour long classes ran to 2.5 hours as parents worried over their wards’ whereabouts. Feedback forms were filled with comments of “Sir Eric/Sir Abhishek/Cordelia is just the best!”, “Chef Allan/Christine ma’am taught us little tricks to remember our stuff” and “They made us realise just how simple dance/graphic design/baking is.”

The 17 Awesummer 2019 courses touched the minds and hearts of over 300 youth across the city. This was evident at the graduation ceremony held on 30 May 2019 at St Andrew’s High School grounds. The gratitude, respect and admiration of the youth for their teachers was too evident to notice as they huddled around them to talk and click photographs. Ably assisted by the Women’s Cell of St Andrew’s Parish, the successful Awesummer 2019 came to a close on 30 May, well on time for the students to begin yet another academic year, refreshed with the beautiful memories of all that they experienced at the youth event par excellence.

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Catholic Education Society’s Michael High School, Kurla West, Mumbai, has entered its 40th year. Known for its creative and humane education, the school is run by an enthusiastic couple, Moses M. Gomes, the founder, and his wife Jean Gomes, the principal. The school caters to students of all castes and creed with more than 8500 students. Mr Gomes had a humble beginning in the Holy Cross Parish of Kurla where he was a gravedigger and then a peon of the parish school. Today he stands firm as the CEO and founder of Michael High School & Marceline Junior College, named after his parents. Mrs. Gomes has a passion and zest for education. Amongst many awards, she has also received the National Award for Best Teacher 2011 from Shri Pranab Mukherjee, the then President of India.

The school has a very different approach to education as it focuses on the all-round development of the students as well as making them socially and environmentally aware. It is an oasis in this concrete city of Mumbai, as it has more than 3500 different plants of fruits, flowers, vegetables and plants of healing nature. It encourages its students to participate in many co-curricular and social activities. From vermiculture to planting, saving electricity to fitness, the school is a budding house of activities for its students.

The school, on its 40th anniversary of its foundation, has organized a number of programmes involving the students, parents and teachers. From the first marathon in Kurla with more than 500 participants, cooking competitions for parents, rallies for students, to a number of workshops for teachers, the school has left no stone unturned to enhance the personalities of all those associated with it. The school also makes it point to visit many orphanages and old age homes so that students can spend time with them.

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A local boy from the slums of Mumbai, Vivian Fernandes, who goes by the stage name Divine, is today regarded as one of the top rappers, songwriters and composers in the city. His award-winning 2013 release Yeh Mera Bombay went viral, while his 2015 summer smash Mere Gully Mein was not only honoured as the Best Video of 2015 by Rolling Stone Magazine (India), but further established him as one of the premier hip-hop acts in the county and the face of hip-hop in India. In 2014, this Andheri resident won the Radio City Freedom Award for Best Hip-Hop/Rap Artiste and was also awarded Best New Artiste 2015 by iTunes and Apple Music in India, and one of the Top 6 Artists To Watch Out For In 2016 by BBC Asia Network.

What’s more, there’s even a Bollywood movie (Gully Boy) based on his story and that of his hip-hop friend Naezy. Directed by Zoya Akhtar, the film stars Ranveer Singh, Alia Bhatt, Kalki Koechlin, and if you have seen the flick, Singh does justice to the role with his apt rapping and acting skills.

At his recent performance at the Sula Fest in Nashik, fans grabbed every available space at the amphitheatre to watch him. After the performance VERUS FERREIRA met Divine to know more about his journey as a singer, his narratively powerful as well as technically brilliant videos and his plans for the future.

How did you get into rapping?
I started rapping in the second year of college, but started listening to rap in the eighth grade. When I first heard rap I found it very interesting to find so many words in one song; when rappers used to say words very fast it would really shock me. I used to go home and check the lyrics to see how they write. I was surprised about how they wrote; it struck me that they would say a lot of things in such a short time frame of three minutes and maybe 200 lines. That’s what made me write.

Not many know your life story, tell us about it.
I wanted to study sound engineering, but the fees which were around 4 lakhs was just too much and my mom couldn’t afford it, so she bought me something worth Rs 10,000 and a microphone and I started writing every day. The mic really helped me write and record, I started understanding how I could change the pitch… if you utilize the mic properly, it’s a very beautiful tool. Though I never ever trained in music. I learned the techniques of audio software and then went on to record and master my own songs. I realized that I could not record at home, so I found a studio that was very cheap. I would collect money, and then go to the studio and make the song and just listen to it by myself. That helped me understand my song and lyrics. No one was there to guide me. I know rappers who would count their syllables and write, I never did that.

And you wrote in Hindi?
I didn’t understand I could do this in Hindi, but no one helped me when I started out. Rap was very nascent; no rappers around, no rap jams. Soon people connected to my songs and that is when I started writing in Hindi and the first word I wrote was gully. I wrote a verse, I showed it to my friends and they couldn’t believe that I had written it; this first verse I wrote was for the song Yeh Mera Bombay. I got 1 lakh views in one month of releasing it by myself. I shot the video with my friends on a basic camera. The second video came a year later, Mere Gully Mein, about my gully and now about me.

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“Every third women in India suffers sexual and physical violence at home.”
“There is one death every four minutes due to a road accident in India.”
“Everyday India sees ten suicides related to drug abuse.”

These statements aren’t mere statistics but loopholes that continue to be a part of India’s independence even after seven decades, and shows how desperately we need to stop them. Entourage is a BAF, BBI & BFM initiative by the students of Jai Hind College, Mumbai, which encourages independence as an unconventional emotion, an emotion of respect, an emotion of strength. Team Entourage organized its 2nd pre-event on 15 August 2018 — Walk of Freedom.

The main purpose of this event was to enlighten the people of Mumbai about specific social causes. Students of Jai Hind College and members of YUVA, the NGO partner of Entourage, gathered on Marine Drive for an awareness drive. It stretched from Nariman Point to Jai Hind College with a footfall of 200 people divided in four groups of 50 each, supporting four specific causes mainly, violence against women, drug abuse, road safety and gender inequality towards the LGBT community.”

An interesting part of this event which grabbed the attention of the public was Nukkad Natak performed by YUVA members at various places. A special MAWA group accompanied the team to support the LGBT community, which is always criticized in most parts of our country.

The event wrapped up after a heart-touching Natak performed by members of YUVA, followed by flag hoisting and singing of the national anthem at Jai Hind College.

Financial Literacy Seminar
Entourage believes financial literacy is just as important as other basics in our life. On 29 July 2018, Entourage organized its first CSR-Marketing pre-event in collaboration with its NGO partner YUVA which works towards Inclusive Cities with capacity building and empowerment of marginalized people, and Protiviti, a global consulting firm that delivers deep expertise on critical business problems in technology, analytics, risk and internal audit. The event started off with a college tour for the young members of YUVA, followed by an interactive seminar on FINANCIAL LITERACY from the mentors from Protiviti. It dealt with basic understanding of topics like, types of taxes, types of bank accounts, beneficial government schemes like Jan Dhan Yojna. Financial management is a non-avoidable aspect for every person’s life today, complete knowledge of what, where and why we pay is a must.

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