In conversation with Bitopi Das

Together with Celebrating Life Festival Director and The Daily Star's Editor of Showbiz – Rafi Hossain, Bitopi Das – Head of Corporate Affairs at Standard Chartered Bank Bangladesh, has directed Celebrating Life contest and festival. It has provided a platform to young talents in three categories – photography, film, and lyric. Each time, the competition brings forth a theme for participants to express themselves within, and since its inception nine years ago, it has met great success and recognition for being the only national platform that offers a lucrative prize to winning contestants, as well as showcasing categories of art that do not receive much attention. Today, Bitopi Das, Head of Corporate Affairs, Standard Chartered Bank Ltd, shares her insight on Celebrating Life with The Daily Star.

How has the journey been so far for Standard Chartered-The Daily Star Celebrating Life?
Bitopi Das: This has been an inspiring journey for us. The ability of Celebrating Life to identify and nurture talents from the furthest corners of the country has given us great encouragement and joy. Going forward we hope these talents will go on to contribute to the enrichment of our cultural sphere.

What motivated Standard Chartered Bank to partner in this endeavour? 
Bitopi Das: We knew that Bangladesh is full of talents and that provided with proper exposure, can really match international standards. For almost a decade, we have been a platform that nurtures budding artistes, promotes their talents and helps them shine brightly on the national stage. It has been our mission to be a positive force for good in society, by fostering the potential of our youth in spreading the influence of the arts.

What are your upcoming plans?
Bitopi Das: Our goal has always been to take Celebrating Life to the farthest corners of this country. We will continue to expand the reach of this platform. We shall also continue to do all we can to support the growth of the talents discovered through Celebrating Life.