TEDxSIBMBengaluru 2017 - Beyond Imagination
What happens when you put a social
entrepreneur, a humanitarian, a musician, a retired army officer, a Jal Tarang
player, a television personality, a professional Squash player, a techie and
the world’s most followed Quora writer together? - It is simply Beyond Imagination.
This is what happened at the 6th edition
of TEDxSIBMBengaluru that was hosted
on 18th February, 2017 at Symbiosis Institute of Business Management
(SIBM), Bengaluru Campus. With the theme this year being Beyond Imagination, TEDxSIBMBengaluru’s raison d’etre was to enkindle a sentiment that there is no limit to
the creative ideas that can be generated.
11 stalwart speakers with illustrious careers
gathered this year at SIBM Bengaluru to inspire the audience and students alike
with their musings and cognitions.
What better way to start a TEDx talk than
with an individual with a vision for the future - Mr. Samit Choksi, Cofounder of Thinkphi, a clean technology
company. Mr. Choksi’s discourse was centred on his innovation - The Ulta
Chaata, and the way discovery and continuous innovation can lead us to create a
better society.
The second speaker of the day was Major General Gagandeep Bakshi who
instilled patriotism in each person through fascinating stories during his
stint in the Indian Army. As a leader of several life challenging missions,
Major General G.D. Bakshi spoke about the importance of ‘Management by Objectives’.
‘Believe, Fight and Enjoy’ was the message
that Mr. Saurav Ghosal emphasized on
and spoke at élan about his journey to success. A professional Squash player,
Mr. Ghosal iterated on the importance of perseverance, dreams and hard work to
seize the moment and make each day count.
Mr. Sameer Dhanrajani, Business Leader at Cognizant focussed on ‘Analytics’, the technology
of the day. He quoted, “Data is the new oil and ‘Digital’ is the new currency”.
TEDxSIBMBengaluru 2017 not only focussed on
talks, but also provided a platform where the audience heard spellbinding music
of the rare Indian instrument, the Jal Tarang. Pandit Milind Tulankar mesmerized the audience with his mellifluous
music which drove his statement, ‘Music is the best therapy for the soul.’
"I want to fulfil the dream of Mahatma
Gandhi to remove untouchability in India", said Dr.
Bindeshwar Pathak during his discourse at TEDxSIBMBengaluru 2017. His beautiful message
for the audience, among many others was, ‘If one person helps the other, the
world will be a happier place.’
A touching quote can change mindsets in a matter
of seconds or put you deep in thought. This is exactly how Mr. Deepak Solanki started off, “We began our journey not knowing
where to stay, but with confidence we began”. He aims to improve connectivity
of the internet and data transfer and revolutionize the entire way of how we
see the ‘Internet of Things’.
Mr. Balaji Viswanathan, with more than 2,70,000 followers
& a million credits is the most followed author/profile on Quora, worldwide.
His articles have been published in Forbes,
The Huffington Post, Fortune and many more. He questioned “As time
progressed, AI has made its presence felt even more. Who is going to be
responsible for laws impacting robots and automatic beings?”
Ms. Sunaina Pamudurthy,
a Social Activist, was a part of the Team
NanoMADs, the first Indian Team to complete 18,200 Km Mongol Rally,
spanning across 13 countries from London to Mongolia and 48 days on the road,
in an all Indian car Tata Nano Twist. Her inspiring quote, “Fear is not the
first emotion that hits me, it’s surely confidence” seemed to have raised the
audience’s spirit of self-confidence.
Mr. Prakash Belawadi,
a theatre, film, television and media personality enlightened the audience
about the emergence of Interactive Cinema.
He added that ‘Interactive Cinema’ will become the defining art of the 21st
century where viewers would even get to choose the ending they like! He ended
on an intriguing note - “What if the
movie is watching you?”
Mr. Ehsaan Noorani,
part of the iconic music trio of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy,
went on to brief the enchanted audience about the making of the ‘Dil Chahta
Hai’ soundtrack over a three day trip with Farhan Akhtar. He added that he
really connected with the theme ‘Beyond Imagination’ and described his
childhood experiences and his love for music.
The organizing team left no stone unturned to
create the most magical artistry of sorts. The TEDx Signature board did not
come by easy as it took 2700 paper cups, 50 bottles of paint, and 20 days of
hard work, which poured in with just one idea, and the result - A masterpiece was made.