Jodhpur One World Retreat
Recently the second edition of Jodhpur One World Retreat, a three day fund raising gala in aid of the Indian Head Injury Foundation was held at Jodhpur, wherein eminent personalities like Spiritual Guru Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, the legend of Bollywood- AmitabhBachchan, the Duchess of York- Ms. Sarah Ferguson, corporate stalwarts – K P Singh of DLF, Pawan Munjal of Hero Motocorp, Sangita and Sajan Jindal of JSW, Philipp Von Sahr of BMW India, Pramit Jhaveri of Citibank, Aditi and Shivinder Singh of Fortis, Erika & Peter Born of Commerzbank AG, Nadia & Mohammed Amersi of Emergent Telecom, Sanjay Nayar of KKR, Rahul Munjal of Hero Future Energies, Amin Jaffer and Sanjay Sharma of Christies, Deepa Harris and Renu Basu of the Taj Group and image guru- Suhel Seth amongst several others who joined the Maharaja of Jodhpur, Maharaja Gaj Singh II made a presence at the event.
Amitabh Bachchan with the members of Shillong Chamber Choir at Jodhpur One World Retreat (NXPowerLite)
Paresh Maity and fashionistas, Raghavendra Rathore and JJ Valaya added a glamorous touch to the event. Apart from all these personality from corporate and MNCs and Bollywood, the event also hosted a session wherein Dr. Raj Narayan from the US, Dr Rajendra Prasad of Apollo Hospitals, Piyush Tewari of Save Life Foundation and Cdre Ranbir Talwarof IHIF helped in giving a new thought process.
Added a different flavour to the retreat was Jodhpur Art Summit and it’s inauguration just added little more pace to the opening night which also witnessed some riveting fashion theatre on the walkways of the Mehrangarh Fort by the two sons of Jodhpur, Raghu and JJ who incidentally were born on the same day in the same hospital in Jodhpur.
HH Maharaja Gajsingh II of Jodhpur welcomes guests at the glorious Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur (NXPowerLite)
An expert on contemporary dance form, Astad Deboo filled the evening with magic in his own way and the Eton Choir who had flown in all the way from the UK did a touching tribute performance to the Maharaja and his son, Yuvraj Shivraj who were both Old Etonians.
The first half of the next day held sessions on head injury and brain trauma by an eminent panel of speakers and ended with a deep and thought-provoking spiritual session by Sadhguru. The evening began with a delightful auction conducted by Nick Martineau of Christies who along with Suhel Seth helped raise around Rs 80 lacs for the Foundation.
HH Maharaja Gajsingh II of Jodhpur, HH Maharani Hemlata and Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson at Mehrangarh Fort on Day 1 of Jowdhpur One World Retreat (NXPowerLite)
It was the finale which took away everyone’s breath when Amitabh Bachchan, the Bollywood legend added his voice to the Vienna Chamber Orchestra and the Shillong Choir led by its founder, Neil Nonkyrnih by reciting some truly memorable lines on the themes of Celebration and Giving and then joining in a special rendition of the Vande Mataram. The Shillong Choir then added its own bit by creating a magical finale for the night.
The following morning saw the Eton Choir doing a special tribute to Yuvraj Shivraj who was seen joining in the Etonianboat song as the Maharaja and his lovely wife, Hemlata Rajyehosted all the guests for a Farewell Brunch at their Private Gardens.
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev at Jodhpur One World Retreat in Jodhpur (NXPowerLite)
In the words of Maharaja Gaj Singh II, “This was a truly magical and meaningful 3 days for people who had gathered at Jodhpur to show their solidarity and support for the cause and I could only hope that the Foundation will continue to receive their support to help save lives of millions of people across the country. I would like to specially thank BMW and Taj for their continued support and Mr Bachchan and Sadhguru for coming all the way to Jodhpur to help take the Retreat to a new level. ”
