We thank all of you who have sent us nominations for ELSA Batch Representatives. You can really help strengthen our ELSA alumni network.

We need more batches to be represented. Do keep sending us your nominations for becoming your batch representative, with your batch year, and subject by December 15.

A consolidated list of Batch reps will be shared soon on our website.

BA (Honours) in - Economic, class of 1991

Her first international feature film, Parched premiered at Toronto International Film Festival, 2015 and was released in the US in 2016. After her graduation Leena did Mass Communications from Sophia College, Mumbai. Without working as an assistant to anyone, she learnt about direction and script writing from film editing itself. While working as an editor for 'ad films'- corporate shows – and television serials, she got an offer to direct Television (TV) show This Week That Year for Star Movies.

As a TV shows director, she directed both fiction and non-fiction for almost 12 years; some of the TV shows, she directed were like singular episodes for Star Bestsellers, Say Na Something to Anupam Uncle, Sanjeevani, and many more. As a mainstream film director, Shabd was her directorial debut released in 2005. Teen Patti was her second film after a gap of five years.

Amongst the latest movies Leena has directed are Rajma Chawal, Parched, Shabd and Teen Patti. In Parched, Leena sensitively and realistically portrayed the story of four ordinary women in a rural Indian village in Rajasthan who bravely throw off the traditions that hold them in servitude.

She received international acclaim for this film and won several international awards. LeenaYadav is back with a film set in narrow alleys of Chandni Chowk- Rajma Chawal. Netflix has acquired the worldwide rights of her project "Rajma Chawal"

THE ELSA TABLE with celebrated chef Abhijit Saha

Delectable food, wine and Elsas are the heady combination we experienced at the very first Elsa Table in Bengaluru on Sunday, November 18th. Award winning chef Abhijit Saha, who introduced molecular gastronomy to India, curated a Cooking Masterclass followed by dinner, especially for us. Grover Zampa sponsored welcome drinks of bubbly rose` as well as the wines paired with the food. Fava restaurant at UB City was transformed into an elegant Elsa hangout, with three cooking stations operated by Chef Saha’s team. Chef himself introduced his philosophy of holistic, sustainable food, using local fresh organic ingredients to create memorable plates. Seventeen enthusiastic Elsas clutched recipe booklets, scribbled notes, sautéed and plated, tasted and circulated between all three stations so everyone got to learn these amazing dishes.


Thirty seven Elsas and guests sat down to dinner at seven beautifully arranged tables. Each guest’s place was marked by a personalized menu, signed by Chef Abhijit Saha, and a fridge magnet as mementos of the event.

We are looking forward to the next Elsa Table. Kudos to Vandana Sarin who set up and arranged this wonderful experience for us. A big shout out thanking Elsa Shafigeh Lal for ensuring the evening was impeccable !

Gurgaon ELSAs informal group had a meet on 17/11/2018 at The Delhi Heights in Cross Point Mall,Opposite Galleria Market.We have these meets every Second Saturday of the month. This time we were joined by many new ELSAs and had an attendance of 22 women.Everyone introduced themselves and what they do as a profession and also shared about their families and private lives. Many exciting new things were planned including a Dance Night , Gurgaon Elsa talks and we spoke about the upcoming Mehrauli Walk. It was decided to start a formal members of ELSA WhatsApp group to give some exclusive member benefits.All are encouraged to take ELSA membership and join this group and strengthen the hands of the current and future ELSA Executive Committees. The leftover food was distributed among the street children and they really enjoyed the Pizzas,potato wedges and cheese straws as well as Asian greens.

Travelsa was outbound for Nandi Hills on a cloudy Sunday morning. No last minute drop outs. The rain Gods listened to Sahana. Weather was glorious on most parts. The Bhoginandeshwara temple was breathtakingly beautiful. Siddharth Raja (in the Nandi Walks avataar) is a passionate historian. After marvelling the temple which was started in the 8th century and continued to be embellished by different ruling dynasties until the 16th century, we headed to the British Cemetary . A lesson in the dynamics of warfare and enmity between Tipu Sultan and the British was followed by a visit to the potters village, a stone's throw away. We could have gone on and on but for the fact that our stomachs were rumbling. Indian Paratha company to the rescue. Much laughter and bonding over pakodas, parathas, makke ki roti and lassi.

Our dedicated photographer at work, Sanjari, like always, shared perfect photographs. Thank you Linika Kumar for putting this together.

All in all, another glorious ELSA outing.

Elsa Talks 5 : Embracing Diversity
ELSA Talks 2018 is about to host its final session for the year.

Initiated by the Alumni Association of Lady Shri Ram College with The Oberoi Bengaluru as the venue partner, and Meghna Das as design consultant, these sessions have generated nuanced discussions and meaningful connections.

Our attempt was to create a forum to discuss issues that affect our lives and our community. Using the form of a panel discussion, the sessions saw invited guests as participants on both side of the dais. Each session was conducted and moderated by an ELSA and the panel included experienced speakers from multiple sphere of influence. Of primary importance was the theme chosen for each session. The fifth and final session for the year 2018 hopes to take forward issues raised in the previous session. On December 2, The Talk will host a panel discussion on ‘Embracing Diversity’. The conviction is that Citizenship needs to do just that, especially in a country as diverse as ours.

The purpose of these sessions was to acknowledge that nothing will change unless we change ourselves. The idea was to raise questions and set people thinking. We believe we have done that.

We now look forward to ELSA Talks 2019, at a new venue and perhaps in a new format.

We are grateful to Canadian International School and Ananda Dhwani Music Trust for their support for this event.

Wellness Workshop:Building Resilience
Building Resilience is a 3-hour-workshop planned by ELSAs for ELSAs on Dec 9. Participants will go through an interactive session that will give them a simple recipe to become more resilient in the face of life's challenges.

Mapping Mehrauli
The "Mapping Mehrauli" walk is scheduled for a Sunny Sunday on 16th December ,2018.All Elsas with family members and friends are cordially invited to participate in this.This walk is being organised under the aegis of TravELSA and Beyond Delhi.It will be curated by Shriti Tyagi a very experienced person who has been curating the Beyond Bombay walks and will take us on an unusal journey through the bylanes of Mehrauli History and how the people of that era lived.The walk will be followed by a brunch that we can have at any of the little Dhabas around Qutub Minar(this is optional and contributory).

The charges for the walk only are Rs.800 per person. Children below 14 years of age are free.

Do look up www.evermorestores.com/elsa for the latest merchandise- gift ELSA bags and other memorabilia

On behalf of the ELSA family we warmly welcome our new members