If you have attended concerts in the park in cities like New York, and wished Mumbai had something of the sort, well it does. SoundRise does that and much more. Five years ago, four Mumbaikars who wanted to bring people together — Shaan Khanna, Varun Narayan, Raoul Nanavati, and Mohit Chhatrapati — began the movement as an experimental project. The first open-air gig was held at Dharya Garden in Colaba, and there has been no looking back.

Khanna, who also runs Networking Now, says that the main challenge was getting people to show up so early in the morning and permissions.“In India, there are several locations but restrictions, and little space to fit the numbers. Initially, we didn’t even charge for entry! We learnt over time,” says Khanna.