Meet the Doers

Earlier this year,Mumbai had its first TEDx conference — a franchise of the hugely popular Technology Entertainment Design (TED) — a symposium of ideas that was started in the US in 1984. The idea back then was to kick-start change by bringing together hugely intelligent and creative minds from the fields of technology,entertainment,science and design. This idea has remained intact even after nearly two decades. The first TEDx Mumbai had speakers like Anupam Kher and transgender activist Lakshminarayan Tripathi.

While Ted Talk is popular around the world,it is still a novel concept in India. The line-up for the second edition sounds very interesting and can help draw a bigger crowd this time. It has Julia Silverman talking about how playing with the Soccket Ball for 15 minutes can generate three hours of electricity,while Michael Pritchard gives an idea about making Lifesaver water-purification bottle revolutionise water-delivery systems in disaster-stricken areas. Kranthi Vistakula’s talk will be about providing heating and cooling effects to products on demand of humans and inventions and Ramesh Raskar’s will be about a device developed by him to detect cataract and other eye-sight related problems using only a smart phone. “My aim is to inspire youth to think of innovative ways to generate positive social change in their own communities. To this end,one of the best parts of my work is getting the opportunity to share my story with young people and encourage them to think creatively about solving a problem,” says Silverman.

Motivating the audience need not be only through presenting or talking about innovative devices. A case in point is Prem Joshua. He plans to present a musical performance that blends the roots of Indian raga music with elements of contemporary lounge and jazz. “The power of music in general and the important role of fusion music in particular — demonstrated by speech and live music — is what I have set out to present,” says Joshua,adding,“I am not planning to motivate anybody. Basically,my approach is to let the younger generation decide what motivates them.”