“Catalyzing Change” at TEDxIIMRanchi

TEDxIIMRanchi

Posted: Feb 23 2012

TEDx (x=independently organised TED event) was created in the spirit of TED's mission, "Ideas worth Spreading." The program is designed to give communities, organizations and individuals the opportunity to stimulate dialogue through TED-like experiences at the local level. TEDx events are fully planned and coordinated independently, on a community-by-community basis.

In its quest to build a just and harmonious society and to enhance national and global intellectual capital, IIM Ranchi is consistently striving to create conducive environment, which would facilitate germination of creative and unique ideas, perspectives and insights. It is only through this spirit of collaboration and collective visualisations, will the world be able to succeed in establishing a salubrious business, social and economic environment. This event is a significant step towards attainment of that vision.

“Change” is the buzzword, doing the rounds in every nook and corner of the planet, and the world that we live in is becoming extremely unpredictable day by day. This development has thrown a challenge of unprecedented magnitude in terms of sustainability and efficacy. The evolution of mankind itself is a product of consistent change - ignited by ideas, thoughts and visions -inspired by rebels, innovators, entrepreneurs, and radical thinkers. These agents of change had the courage to challenge the status quo, experiment, change the protocol and bring in new ideas. Being equipped with the artifices - which would ensure calibrated response to the emerging challenges - is the guiding principle behind the theme “Catalysing Change”.

TEDxIIMRanchi brought speakers from various fields’ viz. social activism, entrepreneurship, sports, media, politics etc on a single platform. The event was attended by numerous distinguished dignitaries. Apart from the live audience and dignitaries present, event was brought live to global audience through live webcast.

With a repertoire of talented speakers, the event has added new feather in the crown of IIM Ranchi. Talks of such vibrant speakers are expected to yield constructive and feasible solutions to some of the confounding challenges of current times.

Speakers’ list comprised of Ajay Kumar, N.K.Chaudhary, Mark Inglis, Franz Gastler, Urvashi Butalia, Nalin Kohli, Aishwarya Natrajan, Parvathy Menon, Mahesh Naik , Sweta Mangal, Swami Smaranananda Giri and Premlata Agarwal.

MD of Innovation Alchemy, a niche collaboration-consulting firm, Parvathi Menon was the first speaker of the day. She laid strong emphasis on the need for constant innovation but recommended not to look for something extraordinary. Rather she elucidated and gave examples of how simple modifications and application of basic science can lead to the development of a unique solution to a challenging problem.

Famous organic architect Mahesh Naik brought a whole new perspective about the architectural nuances. He underscored the importance of balance between architectural design and personality traits of the residents.

Dr. Ajay kumar, Member of Parliament, Jamshedpur Constituency, delivered his talk on the topic “Strange Election, Strange MP and need for Strange CSR”. He elaborated about the transitions in his life from being a police person to a politician and the difficulties that he endured.

Mr. Nand Kishore Chaudhary, founder of ‘Jaipur Rugs’, an organization involved in manufacturing a range of handmade carpets spoke about his journey on a difficult path of social enterprise.

Otherwise known as ‘Man of the Masses’ and ‘Businessman with a Heart of Gold’, Mr. Chaudhary reiterated his organization’s commitment to uplift the society through the art of carpet weaving and large-scale social impact in which every artisan is an entrepreneur.

Winner of the World Press Photo award for his series on Morphine Addicts in India (1975) at the age of 19 and the World Press Photo of the Year for the Bhopal Gas Tragedy (1984), Pablo Bartholomew displayed some the outstanding pictures taken by him over the past few decades and the stories associated with him and his pictures.

In this world of cut-throat competition and restive global scenarios, importance of peace and contentment was exposited by Swami Smaranananda Giri, General Secretary of Yogoda Satsanga Society of India. In his topic titled “Being Calmy Active and Actively Calm” he tried to draw analogy between meditation and spiritualisation.

Aishwarya Natrajan, ‘British Council’s coveted Young Creative Entrepreneur Music Award’ winner and the first woman and first Indian classical music entrepreneur to achieve the feat, tried to divulge some of the hitherto unknown aspect of Classical music and elaborated its inherent strength. Aishwarya runs “Indianuance”, an artist management company and concert-programming outfit, dedicated to Indian classical music.

Nalin Satyakam Kohli, National Executive Member of the Bharatiya Janta Party and an educationist, shared his vision of balanced development and sustainable model of development that India needs to undertake in upcoming future.

Mark Joseph Inglis, a mountaineer, researcher, winemaker and motivational speaker, was certainly one of the most admired speakers of the day. A double amputee from New Zealand who lost his both his legs to frostbite after being trapped for two weeks near the summit of New Zealand's highest mountain, Mount Cook, in 1982, Mark embodies the spirit of hope and determination. He struck the chord with the audience with his message of commitment and perseverance.

Indian feminist and historian, Ms. Urvashi Butalia, narrated her experiences and difficulties that she faced while founding “Kali for Women” - India's first feminist publishing house. She contrasted the world without women and the world with women and pointed out the different sets of standards adopted by the society towards women under different conditions and talked about steps taken by her publishing house to expose and repeal them.

India’s oldest woman to climb Mount Everest, Ms. Premlata Agarwal, stressed upon the need of breaking the mental block and taking one extra step to realize one’s dream. The lady from Jamshedpur got huge round of applause for her exhilarating talk.

Franz Gastler, founder of “Yuwa” - a non-government organisation, showed some of the outstanding work that his organization is doing and how it is making a change in the life of rural girls. “Yuwa” is an NGO that promotes football for girls as a platform for their social development. He stated how the tremendous potential of sports can be utilized to counter some of the intractable problems in our society.

The event was successfully hosted by Miss. Bhavna Toor, a former Miss India New York, TV host, model, anchor and social activist. To end with, TEDxIIMRanchi and its organizing tem received a thunderous round of applause for organizing a picture effect event. The ideas, the talks and the meticulous planning and execution of the event has definitely raised the expectations for the next edition of TEDxIIMRanchi, especially for those who were fortunate enough to personally witness the event.