Ted Talks India Nayi Soch episode 1 review: Inspiring but immoderate

The episode started with Shah Rukh introducing Ted Talks to his audience and giving a glimpse of the speakers of this season, from Chef Vikas Khanna, Karan Johar to Ekta Kapoor. Citing a beautiful example of how a piece of wood would not hold importance to a normal person, an artist can look at it as a cricket bat or a boat, it is ideas that challenge thoughts and make us build a better world. He then introduced the first guest of the night, Dr. Gautam Bhan, who spoke about human settlements in big cities. The researcher spoke about how India has a lack of 2 crore houses and gave an insight on schemes that could help slums turn into proper settlements helping ease out the problems of no shelter in our country. He concluded his speech stating that economic development can only happen if the focus is first towards the lower section.

Then entered Shubhendu Sharma, a car maker from Bangalore who has now pledged to get back greenery in our world. Inspired by a Japanese scientist, Shubhendu and his team have already started work in 33 cities and turned barren lands into forests. These jungles consist of various plantations and are quite beneficial for nature. Taking up the place of six car parking areas and cost of an iPhone, Shubhendu suggested that everyone should start taking a step towards the same and help protect the world. The third speaker Professor Manu Prakash spoke at helping students not just studying science but also doing science. He and his team have been building instruments at cheap costs to help everyone access science. He shared his innovations of a paper microscope and low-cost blood testing equipment on the stage.

Manju Kapur, the writer of Custody, the novel that TV show Yeh Hai Mohabbatein is based upon, took to the stage next. Having studied social norms at depth she spoke how women, from a young age, are trained to be sensitive and adjusting, while men are brought up differently. She said this is what causes the financial and social differences among the sexes. Apart from bigger crimes like rapes and acid attacks, Manju said it’s time that we focus on small, internal offenses too. Lastly, SRK introduced the real-life ‘Swades’ hero Anirudh Sharma, who quit his job in a foreign firm and is working on a project in India that makes ink from the pollution particles. Impressed by his idea, SRK even gave him an autograph from the pen, which contained the same ink.

Ted Talks is highly popular on the internet and watching it on television is a different experience, which might not fancy everyone. Overall, the show is worth a watch as it gets together people from various fields to share their ideas of reimagining India. But the makers packed up five speakers one-after-another, leaving very less time for the audience to sink in the information. Keeping true to its original format, the show has a live audience and a compact space, which adds to the overall feel. SRK is seen in his inimitable charm but has very little screen time, which is a negative point. Also, a known personality kicking off the first episode could have got the show more audience. Not much in terms of entertainment but the courage to bring alive this “Nayi Soch” is applaudable. Ted Talks India is definitely inspiring but will cater to only a certain section of the audience.