Divyanshu Ganatra Speaker

A clinical psychologist, researcher, behavioral facilitator, self-made serial entrepreneur;

Divyanshu Ganatra’s, name is also synonymous with an IT geek, adventure sports enthusiast and a musician.

The founder of two organisations that he now heads, he is known amongst friends for always having something exciting up his sleeve and a quick sense of humor to boot.

He is trained in Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy and Adlerian therapy from Malta, Europe. He is a certified Extended DISC Assessor.

At Yellow Brick Road, a Learning and Development organization, Divyanshu dons the hat of a facilitator and educationist. He facilitates programs on Leading with Emotional Intelligence, Achievement Motivation: Drive For Results and Psychometric Assessments. Over the years, Divyanshu has worked with Leaders of Fortune 500 companies like Larsen & Tourbo, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hindustan Coca Cola, Citibank, Volkswagen, KPIT, Cognizant, Deloitte Tax Services, Adani Power, TATA Trent, ACI Worldwide Solutions Private Limited, to name a few.

Divyanshu is also a guest speaker at the University of Iowa, USA and Montclair University, USA.

After losing his eyesight to glaucoma at the age of nineteen, Divyanshu got an earful of free advice. You should make cane furniture, he was told. Or make chalk. In the years that followed, he made sure to pay no heed to any of it, and went on to pave his own path.

Fast forward many years later, and DIvyanshu has emerged and how. Raking up an impressive list of firsts: India’s first blind solo pilot; first blind tandem cyclist to complete the 500+ kilometre ride from Manali to Khardung La, to being the first blind student to pursue college-level Psychology at the University of Pune. Over the years, the list has only grown. After being close to death and told that he will never climb again, he has scaled some of the highest peaks in the Himalayas.

Key to Divyanshu’s ethos is imagination. “I may have lost my sight but I still have my vision,” he says often, reminding everyone around him of the endless possibilities that exists. A regular at various stages and speaking commitments around the world, Divyanshu challenges his audience to push their boundaries, challenge themselves, and think beyond. Prodding them to engage with a host of difficult questions, he makes sure he walks the talk and shares anecdotes, experiences, and stories from his own multifaceted life. How can you mould your beliefs to bring out the best in you? What can you do to partake of a happier, healthier world? How do you set goals to always keep yourself challenged and never stagnate? What if the key to a fulfilling life lay in asking the right questions? Every conversation with this firecracker is sure to set you thinking.

Apart from changing lives through interactions and public speaking commitments, Divyanshu has founded and runs two organizations full time. At Yellow Brick Road, he dons the hat of a behavioural facilitator, enabling programs on Emotional Intelligence and Achievement Motivation. Along with this corporate avatar, he also finds time to pursue his thirst for adventure, from scaling mountains and flying to scuba diving and tandem cycling. It was this love for adrenaline that led to Adventures Beyond Barriers Foundation, a non-profit that promotes inclusivity through adventure sports for people with and without disability. Whether in the boardroom or on a mountain, Divyanshu strives relentlessly to make the world a more sensitive, empathetic, empowered space, filled with individuals who are willing to do more and be more.

Needless to say, such a power-packed individual has attracted quite some attention. After being featured in the Hindi show ‘Aaj Ki Raat Hai Zindagi,’ host Amitabh Bachhan himself tweeted about how Divyanshu’s “faith is what drives him forward.” And the Big B is far from alone. Divyanshu has gotten media attention across both print and online portals as well as a clientele spanning leading corporates including TATA, KPIT, HCL, Reliance, Citibank, Mahindra & Mahindra, Volkswagen, Adani Group.

The core of it is simple. Divyanshu Ganatra is talented, driven, and multi-faceted. His varied life experiences and the way he has chosen to react to them have moulded a personality defined by its vivaciousness and positivity. Whether as a speaker, facilitator, or co-adventurer, conversation with Divyanshu definitely promises to be a riotous exercise of self-discovery and growth.

Growing from one strength to the next, celebrating one success after the other, Divyanshu and the team at ABBF have bigger dreams. They hope to build the country’s first completely accessible outdoor adventure sports centre, help train a team to represent India at the Paralympic Games for tandem cycling, and catalyse a world where disability is only read as another identity marker. Falling back on Mandela’s famous words that “sport has the power to inspire…(it) can create hope where once there was only despair,” Divyanshu hopes to create a more equal, accessible and inclusive world, one marathon, one climb, and one ride at a time.

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