Bengaluru, 21th Jan 2024: For the first time ever, YourDOST announces its inaugural event, the launch of The Festival of Joy 2025. An annual event, it was envisioned a decade ago to cultivate a culture of well-being across communities, campuses and corporate spaces that develops into a groundbreaking movement. After shaping the emotional wellness landscape of India and understanding the critical gaps that hinder well-being in the country, YourDOST’s co-founders, Richa Singh and Puneet Manuja decided to bring this ambitious initiative to life.
Scheduled to take place on February 8, 2025 at SAP Labs, Bengaluru, the festival brings together a unique group of 25+ global visionaries, corporate trailblazers, academicians, change makers and policymakers under one roof to discuss, educate and inspire action on the fundamentals of well-being, the science behind it, building caring institutions and campuses and matters of the mind.
Richa Singh, co-founder and CEO of YourDOST, who has been at the helm of this initiative shares her evolved vision for the festival, highlighting the alarming reality with India continuing to rank at the bottom of the global happiness indices. “The Festival of Joy is not just a celebration, but a call to action for individuals, organisations, and educational institutions to recognise that wellbeing is not a luxury but a fundamental driver of progress,” Singh remarked.
With India losing ₹1.1 trillion annually in productivity due to mental health and well-being challenges, the festival aims to address the phenomena around the space and create a society where well-being is an everyday conversation. In the last decade, YourDOST platform’s journey encompasses 12,000 lives saved, leading the emotional wellness of employees within 500+ organisations and impacting the lives of 30 lakh individuals. And with The Festival of Joy, it’s a step towards creating a ripple effect that changes the nation, opening up new dimensions for how we perceive holistic wellness.
The invite-only, exclusive event is designed to get the crucial pioneers and innovators of the 21st century shaping well-being to create a snowball effect nationally and internationally. With learning tracks on scripting success, marathon mindset, fail forward, navigating your inner compass, mind, machine and wellness, immersive workshops, and unfiltered conversations, this is an opportunity to make well-being a core value in everyone’s life. Talking about change isn’t enough, it is all about leading it and the festival empowers individuals and organisations to foster a culture of health and joy infused within communities and society.
More information can be found on: https://thefestivalofjoy.org/
Curated Speaker Line-up at the Festival of Joy 2025:
- Amish Tripathi – Bestselling author and diplomat, opening doors to new passions and redefining the meaning of success.
- CR Chandrashekar – Padma Shri Awardee, psychiatrist, philanthropist, founder of Samadhana Counselling Centre and Chief Guest at the festival
- Dr Shyam Bhat – Pioneering psychiatrist and founder of Seraniti.com, bridging Western medical science with Eastern healing traditions for holistic mental wellness.
- Dr Deepak Saini – Convener of Longevity India, Professor, IISc, exploring the multifaceted concept of longevity.
- Vani Kola – Managing Director at Kalaari Capital, sharing insights on emotional equilibrium and mindful leadership that have shaped India’s startup ecosystem.
- Dr. Leanne Chukoskie – Neuroscientist and Co-Founder of BrainLeap Technologies, exploring the future of AI in mental health and workplace wellbeing.
- Varun Agarwal – Serial Entrepreneur, Author and Filmmaker, traversing the human side of entrepreneurship.
- Venk Krishnan – Founder of NuWare and NuVentures, on building entrepreneurial resilience and sustainable success.
- Vasundhara Das – DRUMJAM co-founder, leading an immersive session on collective rhythm for mindfulness and mental wellness.
- Prof. Sowmya Narayanan Sadagopan – Founding Director of IIIT Bangalore, on reimagining educational well-being and fostering creativity.
Raghu Ananthanarayanan – Behavioural Scientist, Yoga Practitioner, Author and Organisational Coach on applying Indic philosophies to transform modern leadership and organisational culture.