About Us
At Big Devi Energy, you will immerse yourself in South Asian art, hear from incredible South Asian writers, participate in an engaging panel discussion about menstrual health, and create an inner space with a womb-healing meditation and labyrinth walk.This event is all about defining and discovering divine feminine energy within and in your environment.
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Official Conference Hotel
Panelist & Artist Bios
Fireside Chat
Rachna Nivas
Rachna Nivas is a performing artist, choreographer, educator, community organizer, and activist of Indian classical art. Her work is rooted in elevating feminine consciousness and Eastern philosophies that challenge dominant Eurocentric cultural paradigms. She is a passionate protector and champion of an important lineage of classical Indian dance while advancing its modernity through thoughtful evolution. Called by critics “revelatory”, “charismatic”, a dancer who “radiates power and grace”, she is an innovative and powerful artist. After rising to principal dancer in legendary icon Pandit Chitresh Das’ acclaimed company for 15 years, she is now co-founder of Leela Dance Collective and is building and leading its New York City chapter while also growing her solo body of work in a generative time of her artistic journey.
Fireside Chat
Ekta Popat
Ekta Popat is the Founder and Artistic Director of Storytellers School of Dance. Known for her grace and expressions, Ekta is an avid performer and a versatile choreographer. She enjoys sharing her passion and love for Kathak with students of all age groups. She trains over 200 students at Storytellers, in the most disciplined manner with a structured curriculum. Storytellers School of Dance is affiliated with Bharati Vidya Peeth University and offers a certification program in Kathak.
Ekta holds a Masters degree in Business Administration from University of Michigan, and a Bachelors in Computer Science from Michigan Technological University. After enjoying a successful corporate career, Ekta is now completely dedicated to pursuing her passion and serving the dance form : Kathak.
Panelist
Shilpa Agarwal
Shilpa Agarwal facilitates healing through engagement with the Divine Feminine and frameworks of consciousness based in Yoga, Tantra, and Ayurveda. Shilpa has received diksha into the Sri Vidya tradition and is certified in Reiki and other modalities of lightwork. Through intensive work in healing her own auto-immune condition, she has a developed a deep understanding of trauma, epigenetics, and vibrational medicine. Shilpa’s vision is for her students to become their own self-healers and, in turn, become hubs of healing for their families and communities. She is excited to connect with people interested in self-discovery, inner transformation, and healing their lives and relationships.
Sharing Our Voices Panel Moderator
Dr. Anita Wadhwa
A native Houstonian, Anita Wadhwa is Executive Director of Restorative Houston and author of Restorative Justice in Urban Schools: Disrupting the School to Prison Pipeline, as well as a contributor to the recently released anthology, Colorizing Restorative Justice. She received her doctorate from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She hires former students to train organizations in Houston in restorative practices. She owes everything to her parents, husband, and two lovely girls.
Panelist
Dr. Sejal Desai
Dr. Sejal Desai is a leading obesity medicine physician with a passion for empowering patients to take control of their health. With a focus on peri and postmenopausal women's health, she provides personalized, evidence-based care to help women manage their weight and live with vitality through this transition. As a recognized expert in obesity management, Dr. Desai has become a trusted voice in the medical community, frequently sharing her insights on the latest treatments and approaches to weight management and has been featured in many podcasts, webinars and conferences. She has also been selected as the 2024 Houstonia Magazine Top Doc for Obesity Medicine.
Panelist
Shetal Vohra-Gupta, Ph.D., MSW
Shetal earned her Master of Social Work at the University of Michigan and her doctoral degree in social work from the University of Houston. She is working collaboratively to analyze social and health policies around neighborhood poverty and its influence on birth outcomes in black and white women. Currently, Dr. Vohra-Gupta’s projects include examining the cultural determinants of health and their impact on health equity, particularly within the Asian and Asian American Community and working to validate a community-based social determinants of health (SDH)/social needs survey for the People’s Community Clinic.
Divine Ink Panel Moderator
Krupa Parikh
Krupa Parikh is the Associate Director of Inprint, Houston’s leading literary arts nonprofit organization with the mission of inspiring readers and writers. She holds a BA in English from The Honors College at the University of Houston, with minors in Spanish and Women’s Studies, and a master’s degree in Social Work from UH as well. She held a variety of jobs before coming to Inprint, including completing an AmeriCorps Vista position with Literacy Advance of Houston.
In a volunteer capacity she served as former president of the Houston chapter of Amnesty International - Group 23, one of the founding board members of Voices Breaking Boundaries, former chair of the Community Advisory Board of KPFT 90.1 FM. She has also served on the Houston Commission on Disabilities appointed by Mayor Annise Parker and on the advisory boards of the Houston Flood Museum and Glass Mountain. She is currently an advisory board member of JLF Houston. A lover of literature and music, Krupa sporadically dabbles in writing.
Spoken Word
Gunjen Mittal
Gunjen Mittal (preferred pronouns: she/they) is a healing justice advocate and a performing artist who serves her community as a Trauma-Sensitive Yoga Therapist, Ayurvedic Practitioner, Self-Taught Herbalist and a Permaculture organic gardener. She is an intuitive mixed-media artist, a poet and a classically trained Indian dancer (specializing in Odissi) and a Freestyle dancer since childhood.She is initiated in and continues to study the Himalayan Kriya meditation system and tantric sciences by Himalayan monks all based in Sanskrit heritage. She performs and offers workshops intertwining yoga and dance elements as a way to explore the body, to allow for somatic release and to enjoy one's authenticity.
Gunjen currently works for Austin Public Health to address intersectional racial/health inequities centering the lives of BIPOC and refugee communities from a holistic perspective. She also worked with victims and survivors of gender-based violence and trauma for over 15 years both in Houston and Austin. Gunjen believes that communing together in such spaces can lead to collective innerstanding and liberation for all.
Author
Dr. Shreerekha Pillai
Dr. Shreerekha Pillai is Professor of Humanities and Associate Dean of her College of Human Sciences and Humanities at University of Houston-Clear Lake. In addition to teaching on campus, she has been teaching incarcerated students for ‘Transforming Lives by Degrees’ Program since 2007.
She is the author of a monograph,Women Writing Violence: The Novel and Radical Feminist Imaginaries, an edited volume,Carceral Liberalism: Feminist Voices Against State Violence, and many articles and chapters such as “Whom Did you Lose First, Yourself or Me? The Feminine and the Mythic in Indian Cinema.” At present, she’s working on a novel. Her first and primary love, after her two children, is poetry.
Author
Saborna Roychowdhury
A lifelong writer, Saborna has published short stories, articles, and essays in various publications. She's also published two award-winning novels with traditional publishers. Writing from a global perspective, Saborna’s themes are universal yet intensely personal and authentic, touching on multicultural relationships, social justice, immigration, and the humanitarian world. Saborna’s second novel, “Everything Here Belongs to You,” was released in June by Texas based publisher, Black Rose Writing and received a starred review from Indie Reader. Recently her book won the Reader's Favorite Book Awards and 2024 International Book Awards.
Saborna was born and raised in Kolkata, India, and moved to the U.S. for undergraduate work in chemistry. She lives in Houston, Texas, with her husband and twin daughters. When she is not writing and chasing fictional characters, she is a very earnest Chemistry Instructor at various Community Colleges.
Artist & Dir. of Artistic programming
Sneha Bhavsar
The process of making art allows Sneha to explore the ways in which we are all connected across time and space. Through an in-depth exploration of folk art practices from various cultures, Sneha utilizes traditional techniques to create contemporary paintings, installations, and crafts. Her artwork is deeply influenced by cultural symbols and motifs commonly found in folk art patterns from ancient India, Southeast Asia, and South America. Sneha’s South Asian background profoundly inspires and guides both her professional artwork and personal endeavors in fostering an appreciation for inclusivity and cultural diversity.
Over the past four years, Sneha’s focus has evolved towards a more socially engaged artistic practice. Naturally inclined towards creative collaboration, she invites individuals to interact socially with her art, whether through donated materials or interactive components. This evolution consistently drives Sneha to create engaging, interactive art experiences that showcase diverse cultural heritages.
Artist
Sheetal Dalwadi-Otia
Sheetal Otia is a talented moss artist with over 25 years of experience. Her artistic journey began as a henna artist, where she first explored her creativity through intricate designs inspired by her cultural heritage. Over time, her passion evolved, leading her to explore Hindu mythological characters in her artwork, further deepening her connection to her roots.
In 2019, Sheetal's artistic path took a transformative turn when she was commissioned to create a calming piece for a functional medical clinic. It was during this project that she discovered her love for nature and moss art. The experience was so profound that it inspired her to dedicate herself entirely to this unique medium. Since then, Sheetal's moss art has gained recognition, winning first place in art competitions and captivating audiences as live art during events.
Artist
Rakhee Jain Desai
Rakhee Jain Desai (b. Mississauga, Canada) is a multidisciplinary artist employing textile/fiber, painting, installation, public art, and moving images to narrate personal stories within her community. Her work interweaves themes of integration, empowerment, and resilience, reflecting the shared experiences for many women of color and immigrant communities.
Her artistic approach revolves around storytelling to shed light on overlookednarratives, fostering intergenerational connections crucial for a more pluralisticsociety.
Artist
Janavi Mahimtura Folmsbee
Indian born and raised contemporary artist, Janavi Mahimtura Folmsbee, is known around the globe for her artwork dedicated to marine conservation. As an interdisciplinary artist, she
works in various media, to create a sustainable studio practice featuring Neo Rococo artwork and interactive public art installations that are both educational and up-lifting.
She firmly believes art can be used to heal our oceans and to help scientists communicate their important work. She has been named a 2023 Creative Revolutionary by CODAworx, one of the top art and design leaders changing the world and was also honored with the organization’s 2023 “People’s Choice” award. She wants to live in a world where everyone can experience the
beauty of our oceans.
Artist
Amy Malkan
Amy Malkan is a Houston native, public artist, professional speaker and entrepreneur. Through her unwavering passion of self development and ability to deliver powerful messages through a creative perspective, she created interactive, experiential, creative team building workshops, The Malkan Group, LLC. These programs use various creative activities to make leadership concepts tangible, sustainable and applicable to everyday life, professionally and personally.
Through her art, she works with but not limited to acrylic, aerosol and mixed media to create fine art, commissions and public art for the community. When she creates every piece, it is done with purpose and intention to transfer positive energy through the artwork. Her main objective is to empower the viewer to see a different perspective and to recognize the potential within oneself. This is the philosophy of the The Art of Leadership movement.
Artist
Ami Mehta
Ami Mehta is a multidisciplinary visual artist working primarily in inks, charcoal, textiles, and enamel. She creates in both abstract expressionist and figurative veins and draws from her eclectic experiences growing up in a drastically disparate array of cultures, as well as from her twelve years studying and working in architecture.
Ami’s works are included in the permanent art collections of the City of Houston, Houston Endowment, the Alamo Community College system, University Health Women and Children’s Hospital, North Shore University Hospital, Fort Bend County and the University of Houston. Ami also has permanent pieces in locations around Houston such as, The Magnolia Hotel, JW Marriott and Four Seasons, as well as in other cities such as The Gwen in Chicago, Westin Mammoth Lakes, Washington Court Hotel in DC, Hard Rock Hotel Fort Lauderdale, Four Seasons Dallas, and ICON’s House Zero in Austin.
Artist
Manju Unnikrishnan
Art has always been my passion for life. From the age I could recognize colors, I remember loving art in any form. My topic always centered around the concept of strong women. That is because I grew up among strong bold women who were not afraid to follow their dreams. I want to project that energy through my paintings. I believe in body positivity, women empowerment and mutual respect. I believe that art can speak volumes and I believe that true art can change the world. I believe that every single woman is a Devi with special powers!