THE FIRST EVER TEDX YOUTH@CIRS.

It all started with an idea. An idea to change the world. As part of their Creativity, Acitivity and Service module of the IB curriculum, The IB Year One students of Chinmaya International Residential School hosted a TedxYouth event in their school premises on 31st March 2017.  

TED is an international organisation which hosts speakers with ideas on scientific, cultural and academic topics. TEDx events are independently hosted TED-like events, authorised by TED as an initiative to voice the ideas of innovative individuals all around the world. Thus intrigued by the idea of edifying the young minds of India, we, students decided to host our very own Tedx event.

The process started with the application letter to TED for the license to host the show. Once we received the license, we hurdled the first barrier. Now  the real work started. The team divided itself into six groups which included Speaker hunters, Logistics, Designers, Publicity, Sponsor seekers, technical team and overall headed by the core team members and the event organiser. The Logistics team worked on the itinerary of the whole event and also took care of the flight tickets, accommodations and other requirements of the speakers. The Designers were in charge of the aesthetic aspect of the event which included stage setting, posters etc. The Publicity team spread out the word through social media by constantly posting updates of the event. From designing the webpage to putting the event for live streaming,the technical team was behind it all. The sponsor seekers wrote to and negotiated with  countless  companies and organisations for sponsorship deals. Finally the speaker hunters narrowed down the search for innovative personalities to these 6 marvellous speakers.  Tushar Joag, an influential public intervention artist. Danish Kanagaraj, a brave disabled young entrepreneur. Rakesh Saha the head of the Educational Support team of MAD or Make A Difference, an Indian non profit organisation which works to ensure better outcomes for children in the country. Vishnu Sharma, an educator with a very rich experience. Dr Parul Pareeek, a children’s psychologist and the director of ROPE, an organisation which strives to empower the young girls in India and  Anirudh Belle, the founder and Editor in Chief of You Speak India, an NGO working towards social awareness among the urban youth. He is also a CIRS alumnus.

The aspect of the world and it’s richness in ‘unity in diversity’ brought us to the very theme of our TEDx Event, “Enisled Yet Connected”. We brought together the significance of being united not just within our community, but across the world through inspiring talks, through language.

The event was held on the 31st of March 2017. We started the event by invoking Mother Saraswati  which was followed by the introduction of the event by the core team members and also the presentation of the “TedxYouth@CIRS:Dont blink” video. Yadharth and Krishna handed over the mic to Chinmay,Vasika and Rohan who were the hosts of the event. The first speaker of the event was Mr.Vishnu Sharma. His talk titled “Journey of a Hyperactive student “ illustrated the inspiring story of his life as he crossed the barriers to success. He gave examples of incidents in his life which triggered various thought provoking ideas which led to the turning point in his life.

 This was followed by Dr Parul Pareek, who gave an enlightening talk on “emotions “ and the importance of the Emotional Quotient. She explained the ABC model which stood for Activating Event,Belief and Consequences .

Danish Kanagaraj, the last speaker of the first session, shared his experience as a survivor of Muscular dystrophy and how he channeled his mind above the physical disabilities .

The second session was preceded by a recess in which students and teachers interacted with the speakers of the event.

Tushar Joag commenced the second session with his talk about the interesting work he does with his NGO Public Work Cells, that creates works of art that seek to make interventions in the urban space, by designing and producing objects that while being functional and aesthetic bring into focus the various concerns of the immediate situation.

This was followed by Rakesh Saha ,who captivated the audience with his speech titled “Role of Youth in Driving Systemic Social Change”  which opened the eyes of the audience as to how to tackle social issues in the community and the vital role of the youth in doing so.

Anirudh Belle, the last speaker of the event marvelled the audience with his powerful speech on Empathy and Citizenship. He used the incident of AFSPA and the unrest in Manipur as a trigger into his salient topic which was empathy and the idea of citizenship.