JIS Group Education Symposium 2026 | Presented by Anandabazar Patrika & The Telegraph | Hyatt Regency, Kolkata
Speaking to students is not new for me. In all my HR professional life as Head Recruitment for Campuses it was a regular affair .The JIS Group Education Symposium 2026 is one of Eastern India’s most significant annual platforms for student engagement — a gathering that brings together the brightest young minds from Kolkata’s top schools and colleges under one roof, presented by two of the city’s most trusted media institutions, Anandabazar Patrika and The Telegraph. This year’s edition, held at Hyatt Regency Kolkata on July 8, 2026, brought together educators, industry leaders, and creative professionals for a series of masterclasses designed to open students’ minds to careers and possibilities beyond the conventional. It was in this setting — in front of an audience of Class X, XI, XII and college students representing some of Kolkata’s most reputed institutions, That was the setting where we delivered their masterclass: 0 to 200K: Art. Stories. Craft.
There is a question I ask every room I walk into. Before the introductions, before the credentials, before anything else.
“Hands up — how many of you think you need an expensive camera, a big following, or formal training to become a content creator?”
Most hands go up. Every time. And every time, I want to say the same thing — that belief, right there, is the first thing standing between you and something you could genuinely build.
On July 8, 2026, Madhushree and I walked into a room at Hyatt Regency Kolkata for the JIS Group Education Symposium — presented by Anandabazar Patrika and The Telegraph — to deliver a masterclass to Class X, XI, XII and college students on exactly that. The session was called 0 to 200K: Art. Stories. Craft. But the real title — the one in our heads — was simpler.
Create Before You Are Ready.
We Never Planned This — The Career Timeline Nobody Talks About
The first slide we put up was called “We Never Planned This.” It showed a timeline — MBA, Hardcore HR, Marketing and Sales, Restaurant Business, Construction Business, Photography, Blogging — and then Pikturenama.
That timeline is the most honest thing we own. I studied Science. I was going to be a doctor. Then I did an MBA and spent years working in Human Resources — understanding people, workplace dynamics, what makes teams function and what makes them fall apart. Madhushree did her MBA in Marketing and Sales, and spent years in that world before she found her way to food — to styling it, writing about it, cooking it, and eventually co-editing a book about it.
Neither of us planned Pikturenama. It started in 2014, with a trip to Nepal, a camera, and the need to write about what I had seen. That first post became a blog. That blog became one of India’s most awarded food and travel platforms. And now, over a decade later, here we are — running a creative studio, speaking at symposiums, co-editing books, and being asked to mentor the next generation of content creators.
The message to the room was simple: your career path will not be straight. That is not a problem. That is the plan.
Nothing Was Wasted — The Skills Map
The second slide was called “Nothing Was Wasted.” It mapped every career stop — HR, Marketing, Restaurants, Construction, Photography, Writing — to a creative skill that Pikturenama uses today.
The MBA in HR taught us how people think — the foundation of every story we tell.
The Marketing training taught us audience behaviour — we use it in every piece of content strategy we build for clients.
The Restaurant business gave us the sensory vocabulary for food — the understanding of culinary arts that makes our food photography different from someone who just points a camera at a plate.
The Construction business taught us finances and multitasking — essential for running a creative agency with multiple concurrent projects.
Photography and Writing — the skills that synthesised everything else into a body of work.
This is what we call the Compounding Journey. Looking back, every career shift prepared us for the next one. We didn’t realise it then — but every skill we picked up helped us become better storytellers, better creators, and better brand builders. Nothing was a detour. Everything was preparation.
We Built a Brand — Not Just an Instagram Page
One of the most important things we told the students was the distinction between building a feed and building a brand. Most people start with the former — posting what they feel, when they feel it, without a consistent voice or point of view. That is fine for a personal page. It is not enough for a career.
When we started Pikturenama, we made a deliberate choice: we named it something other than our own names. We gave it a voice. We gave it a lane — food, travel, culture, Kolkata — and we stayed in that lane even when trends pulled in other directions. The result was slow to build but durable. Today, @pikturenama has over 207,000 followers on Instagram. @pikturename studios, our creative agency handle, is at 8,467 and growing.
A brand is a promise you make to your audience and keep, every single time. What we built was not a following — it was trust. And trust is the only thing on the internet that does not depreciate.
Content Is the Beginning — Not the Destination
We showed the students a table that always makes people sit up straighter:
Kamiya Jani started with travel videos. Today she is the founder of CurlyTales, a media company.
Kusha Kapila started with comedy sketches. Today she is an actor with her own fashion brand.
Shivesh Bhatia started with a baking blog. Today he is an author, educator, and entrepreneur.
Pikturenama started as a travel and food blog. Today we are a creative agency focusing on food content, photography, films, and brand storytelling.
Content is the first chapter — not the full story. What you create today is the door. What walks through it depends on the consistency, the craft, and the clarity of vision you bring to what you make.
Resourcefulness Over Resources — The 2015 vs 2025 Lesson
We showed the room two photographs. One from 2015 — our earliest food photography, shot on a dining table with a white bedsheet as background and a window as the only light source. One from 2025 — a professionally lit, beautifully composed overhead shot that has since been used in brand campaigns.
We asked: which one would people like more? Almost everyone picked 2025. Of course they did. But then we asked the more important question:
“Would the second photograph exist without the first?”
The 2015 photograph was imperfect. But it existed. And because it existed, we kept going. The lesson for every aspiring content creator — especially one waiting for the right camera, the right moment, or the right number of followers — is this:
You don’t need expensive equipment to begin. You need a phone and the intent to create. Natural light is free. Your eye is trainable. The skill of knowing what to include and what to leave out — that is available to you right now, regardless of budget, equipment, or following.
About Anindya Sundar Basu & Madhushree Basu Roy — Public Speakers and Content Creation Mentors
Anindya Sundar Basu is a travel writer, food storyteller, photographer, and the co-founder of Pikturenama. He is a Nikon NPS member, winner of the Nikon Photography and Film Contest 2025, co-author and editor of Calcutta by Heirloom Cities (named one of Condé Nast Traveller India’s Top 6 Books of 2026), and a member of the NDTV Food Awards 2026 jury. He has written for Condé Nast Traveller India, Lonely Planet, Zee Zest, Times of India, and Cathay Pacific’s Discovery magazine.
Madhushree Basu Roy is a food stylist, home chef, recipe curator, and food writer. She co-edited and contributed to Calcutta by Heirloom Cities, and is widely recognised as one of Kolkata’s leading voices in food styling and content creation. Her work spans food photography, recipe development, and brand collaborations with some of India’s most prominent FMCG and hospitality brands.
Together, they have spoken at educational institutions, brand events, photography workshops, and content creation forums. The JIS Group Education Symposium 2026, presented by Anandabazar Patrika and The Telegraph, marks their most significant student-facing event to date — a masterclass attended by Class X, XI, XII, and college students at Hyatt Regency Kolkata.
To invite Anindya and Madhushree to speak at your institution, event, or brand workshop, write to us at pikturenama.com or reach out via @pikturenama on Instagram.
Do It Now — The Closing Message
We closed the session with three things, a challenge, and a quote.
Don’t fear the pivot. Every skill you learn is preparation for what comes next.
Every experience is content waiting to happen — if you learn to see it.
Build your work before you build your image. The image follows the work. Always.
The challenge we left them with: before you sleep tonight, make one piece of content with whatever you already have. A photograph. A caption. A sixty-second video. Anything. Just make it and put it out. Don’t wait for perfect. Don’t wait for ready.
Because here is the thing about readiness — it is a feeling, not a state. Nobody ever feels ready. The ones who build something are the ones who create anyway.
“You don’t become a creator when someone gives you permission. You become one the day you decide to observe the world a little differently.”
Thank you to the JIS Group for the platform, to Anandabazar Patrika and The Telegraph for presenting the Education Symposium, and to every student in that room who asked a question, shared an idea, or simply sat with the thought that maybe — just maybe — the plan is allowed to change.
If you’d like to follow our journey — find us at pikturenama.com and @pikturenama on Instagram.
Pikturenama is a blog about our travel and food escapades along with stories to share through photography. 
