SIBM-B organized TEDx-2014

Bangalore, Karnataka, February 8, 2014City based premier management institute, SIBM Bangalore, hosted TEDxSIBMBangalore, for the third time in a row. Technology. Entertainment. Design. Red and Black. This in itself defined the essence of this most coveted event an independently organised TED event. Complementing the theme of the event, “The Road Less Travelled”, the mission was to inspire minds and seek deep discussions among people at large. The speakers were drawn from varied fields and backgrounds to give the audience a 360 degree view on life.

Soumik Sen, debutant director, directing the film Gulaab Gang, said that we need to get out the Security Zone and Life is about searching for happiness. Through his experience he learnt that questioning things and ability to stay dissatisfied is what drives us. He also highlighted the fact that when someone is happy, he spreads the happiness all around him. On the other hand someone sad will keep the sadness inside him. His inspirational message was “Start working towards your goal. Challenge every convention. Unshackle your minds and follow your heart.”

The stage was enlightened with the presence of Mahalakshmi Iyer, the Indian playback singer who gave successful soundtracks like Mission Kashmir and Sathiya to name a few. She told the audience to “believe in ourselves”, keep practicing as practice gives confidence to perform better. She said “Practice makes a man perfect. Hours and hours of practice is the key. Talent needs to be polished. A Successful performer needs to connect to the audience to make the experience phenomenal.” She also talked about her debut break which was a jingle in her college days!! She started her career by singing a jingle - the turning point that helped her overcome doubts and chose singing as her career. She added “One lesson from A.R. Rehman is - Music is vast. The more you give, the more you get in return.”

The third speaker for the day was Akash Gautam. He elaborated on his success mantra of staying fit and having excellent relationships. He also warned the audience of being a victim of ‘Herd’ mentality, where he emphasized on following one’s belief rather than succumbing to social pressure.

Pushpa Basnet, the only foreigner to receive the South Korea ELGA youth award, choose a different career path against all odds. When it would have been easy to continue with her family business, her madness to help the society lead her to laying the foundations of Non Profit Organizations like Early Childhood Development Center and Butterfly Home. Talking about the topic on adopting children, she raised a very sensitive and important concern as to why a child be punished for the parent’s mistake.

Armstrong Pame the first IAS officer from the Zeme tribe of the state of Nagalandlso famous as the Miracle Man,  said "If I can be a solution to a smallest of the problem, I want to be. Give the best, do what you want and dream big.”

Danish Aslam, director of the movie Break Ke Baad, motivated the audience  “create your path rather than following everyone”. He told that do not fall in to  social pressure and be open to deviate from the norms. He said Dont be afraid of the fact that you don't know what you want to do in life ”

Kate Hallam, the former Miss England started with the inspiring story of her brother who overcame cancer, and is now living a healthy life. She also talked about her career path and her aspirations to work in movies r. Her speech concluded by "The more you travel the more you get richer in terms of knowledge."

Lucky Ali, the famous singer who won the Filmfare award for his track ‘Na Tum Jaano Na Hum’ got the crowd agape by his performance. He talked about his life journey, how he entered the music industry and his overall experiences. He concluded by singing “Anjaani Raho main” and left the audience mesmerized.

The event was also marked with presence of Lisa Sthalekar, the Indian born former Australian cricketer, the only woman cricketer to hold the unique double of 1000 runs and 100 ODI wickets, and Nikhil D’Souza, the singer who has sung for many Bollywood and Tollywood films, who began with a spectacular performance. There were also Alyssa Mendonsa- Singer, Alicia Souza- Founder of Chumbak and Satish Acharya- Cartoonist.

Akshata Malhotra and Lekshmy R, final year MBA students and the event organizers said “It was a great opportunity to be organizing a TEDx event in the institute and with the help of the management and the volunteers; we did justice to the event. Our seniors had set up a high benchmark last year of this event and it was a challenge to overcome it. Overall, it was a great learning experience and the memories of this event will be cherished for lifetime. We shall come back next year to this event as spectators and hope to see our juniors putting up a more amazing show.”