GIM Brings TEDx Talks For The First Time In Goa

An idea can change your life. We all believe in this aphorism, don’t we? So, if AN idea can change your life, imagine what 6 of them would do. That’s what happened at TED^x GIM on the 5th of this July. 4 TED^x Talks, 2 TED talks and an audience of 100. It was a sight to behold in the Institute Meneza Perenez, Panaji. Here, for the first time in the history of Goa, a TED^x event was organized. The students of Goa Institute of Management left no stone unturned in kicking off this legacy. The speakers invited to the event were:

Shri Pandurang Taware, also known as the father of Agri Tourism of India. He talked about the concept of agri-tourism which helped save thousands of farmers’ lives. His talk explained the nuances concerned with his idea and we could see how a simple idea can result in a fantastic reality, all we need is people to believe in the idea.  

Shri Pandurang Taware receiving memento from volunteer  

Mr. Rohit Pradhan, a renowned sound engineer, musician and a writer. Mr. Pradhan talked about the quality of music and how the compressed audio files change the music that we hear. He came in with a question in his head (and his presentation): “Can we hear something better?” And, boy, did he make us believe that we can.

Dr. R. Vasudevan, also known as the Plastic Man of India, came in as the third speaker of the evening and highlighted the issues that plastic waste has been creating for so many years and how, with just a little bit of awareness, we can convert this curse of plastic into a boon. With already more than 30,000 km of such roads having been built in Tamil Nadu, a lot of taxpayers’ money has been saved by mixing waste plastic with bitumen, to create roads.  

The 'Plastic Man of India' captivating the audience  

Mr. Shantanu Sheorey, the last speaker of the evening, changed the entire scenario when he came in with his presentation which was based on the importance of visual communication. He put forth a notion that “Photography is the next Democracy” and said that we are moving steadily, but not slowly, towards a world where visual communication would be the primary form of communication.

An activity of captioning pictures was a part of the event wherein some internationally renowned pictures were shown and the audience had to caption it. The answers gave a hint that the ideas which were shared by our speakers were not falling on deaf ears.

The entire evening was an enthralling experience with a flow of ideas which left some of the audience smiling, some thinking, but all of them reflecting upon all that was said and done. The event started off with Eden Jacques - the host for the evening - reciting a quote of Goethe: “Daring ideas are like chessmen moved forward. They may be beaten, but they may start a winning game.” And that is precisely what was done at the event: the chessmen WERE moved forward and from what could be felt in the atmosphere of that conference hall, a winning game had just begun.

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