TEDx – Before I came to XIMB, it was something that I had just heard of and never experienced. My friends used to say that it is a great event with great speakers and speeches that leave the audience enthralled and in awe. I questioned this, and wondered, what is so different about this event? Whenever I thought about it or imagined the event, all I could picturise was drab, monotonous speeches that went on for hours – something that was a regular affair at my school assemblies. Little did I know that this was something way different!
The concept of TEDx basically is the brainchild of TED, a non-profit organisation devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks by the leading thinkers, innovators and doers of the day. Independently run TEDx events help share powerful ideas and thoughts in communities around the world. What’s unique about TEDx is that every speaker has a stipulated time and we have speakers from diverse backgrounds – sharing their stories and communicating their ideas. The diversity of speakers and their thoughts is what keeps the audience encapsulated, wanting for more.
With IlluminatiX, the media and PR cell of XIMB, I got the opportunity to not just attend the event, but also to be involved in it in a much bigger way. Organising the event was laborious and onerous, to say the least – It took months of meticulous planning, pitching to prospective speakers and coordinating to plan and successfully host an event of such stature. The efforts really shone through on 15th January 2017, the day of the event, as the stage looked stunning and everything worked like a well-oiled machine.
This fourth edition of TEDxXIMB had speakers from diverse walks of life such as Mr. Anwesh Kumar Sahoo - Mr. Gay World India 2016 and prominent LGBT rights activist, Mr. Anand Ranganathan - researcher at the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Delhi and a contributing Editor at Newslaundry, Mr. Raul Villamarin Rodriguez - Criminal Intelligence Officer at Interpol and counter-terrorism specialist, Ms. Jagi Mangat Panda - Co-Founder and Managing Director of Ortel Communications Limited, Mr. Qaushiq Mukherjee, AKA Q - film-maker and rapper, Mr. Sarath Davala - sociologist and founder of the India Network for Basic Income and Mr. Suvankar Mishra - CEO of eKutir Global. The theme for this year’s event was ‘Scripting the Change’ and the speakers brought it forth excellently.
Mr. Anwesh Kumar Sahoo was the first speaker. His talk, titled ‘Tapping Into your Alice’ was intensely personal. He shared the trials and tribulations he had to endure, growing up in a society that did not know how to deal with individuals who did not conform to established gender stereotypes. It made me empathise the plight of people who are different and think about the stereotypes existing in our society.
Mr. Anand Ranganathan was next. His topic was, ‘To Kill a Mocking bug: Darwin to the rescue.’ He threw light on his research on the subject of Directed Evolution and Pathogenesis with a special emphasis on combating Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis and Malaria.
Raul V. Rodriguez followed with the topic, ‘Deception in Management Education.’ He had an interactive and freewheeling session with the audience, speaking about how deception was an inescapable part of the modern, transaction-driven society that we are living in. He talked about how Business people want to have it both ways: they want to lie to a customer and then act as if they haven’t done it. This talk left me perplexed as I went on thinking about how the whole idea behind a business is deception.
The next speaker was Ms. Jagi Mangat Panda, whose topic was: ‘Breaking the glass ceiling: Women entrepreneurs in India.’ Drawing from her own experience as a media entrepreneur in a male-dominated sphere, she spoke of the deeply ingrained gender stereotypes in society that are extremely difficult to overcome.
The next speaker was the film-maker and rapper, Qaushiq Mukhejee. Better known as ‘Q’, he spoke on ‘Digital Disruption in Underground Cinema.’ He gave us a sense of how technological disruptions like the advent of the Worldwide Web, Digital Photography and more recently, Digital Distribution have brought about far-reaching changes in the ways in which films are conceptualised, made and distributed.
Mr. Sarath Davala followed Q with his speech revolving around the theme, ‘Universal Basic Income.’ He said, “We bring in huge bureaucracies because of the conditionalities: this leads to corruption.” About which I couldn’t agree more. The concept of basic income was something I had never heard of and it left me intrigued.
Mr. Suvankar Mishra was the last speaker and he talked about: ‘Human digital platform to aid sustainable development of smallholder communities’. He concluded by saying, “A data revolution can bring about sustainable, equitable development of small landholding farmers who grow most of our food.”
Two TED videos were played in the event. The first one was a TED Talk by Tim Urban on what it is like to be inside the mind of a master procrastinator, something which I could relate to with all my heart.
The event ended with a bang! A breathtaking Paika War Dance performance by the Khorda Paika Akhada. Paika Dance left the audience in awe. An act full of energy and stunts, my heart was in my mouth as I watched the act unblinkingly.
As the event came to an end, my whole perception of a ‘speech’ was shattered. It was no longer a mundane act, rather an interesting communication of ideas and knowledge sharing. A sneak peek into the greatest minds of our times the thinkers, the artists, the makers, the doers and the people who have ‘Scripted the change’.