The TEDIndia Experience – Ideas That Provoke – Part – 2
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We wrote about day 1 and TED and how it was a mixture of Hans Rosling’s brilliance with numbers and Pranav Mistry’s brilliance with technology. Day 2 was a different day though. I dont think anyone in the audience expected the day to be so intense but it surely was.
Day 2 was kicked of by a session called Reinventing Development and there are three talks that I would like to point out.
First one being that of Anil Gupta who runs the honey bee network which brings innovators from all parts of India together. He showcased 2 very interesting innovations among many. First one being a palm tree climbers created by a coconut seller and the second one was a bicycle with floaters which could be used both the road and on water. This was again created by a simple man who wanted to go across sea to meet a loved one. His talk was centered around how innovations aren’t limited to the west or to great scientists and how each and every simple person can also be innovative. My favorite one was the one in which a young bloke from rural India created a mobile washing machine on the back of a scooter which he would ride from village to village and provide clothes washing services for a fraction of a cost.
The second talk which made an impact was that by Shaffi Mather – A lawyer and social entrepreneur by profession who threw open discussions among the audience with a unheard idea. He stated that he wanted to curb corruption by creating an anti bribe BPO that takes a small fee from customers to file their complaints against government officials and bureaucrats that take bribe and inturn exploit and frustrate people. The audience loved the idea and he received a standing ovation.
The second session on Day 2 was by far the most intense and moving session of the entire event. It was powered by two women with two different stories but both centered around women exploitation and abuse. These moving stories made the audience stand up and support the cause instantly.
Sunitha Krishnan a human trafficking activist told heart wrenching stories about how women and young girls as young as 4 and 5 years are raped and abused in India. Her moving talk led to the audience donating over 100,000 $ in support of her cause to setup a place and school for these girls and rehabilitate them. This is one talk that I strongly recommend you should watch when it is live on TED.
Kavita Ramdas – a philanthropist too spoke about women issues and the abuse they face in the Indian and muslim countries. She spoke on an inspiring story of a muslim woman in Afghanistan who helps other women by abiding to islam and wining the confidence of clergies and holy men who would otherwise stop her from helping other women.
The 3rd and 4th sessions were on Green and Blue and the Power of Stories. From these sessions my favorite talks were that of Anupam Mishra who spoke about rain water collection techniques and also on how rajasthan collected water through age old technologies and had enough water inspite of receiving only 6cm rainfall.
The other talk that I would like to point out was in the last session by Ramchandra Budhihal who showed how virtual reality could be used to reconstruct history. His technology was demoed the first time ever and check the screenshots below to know more:
He showed how this technology could be used to make historical structures come alive. Through this they had digitally recreated the city of Hampi and its historical monuments like the Vittala Temple. As one wore the gear seen in the above image one could move around in the temple and click on various parts of the temple to know its significance and its history. You can know more about digital hampi project here.
There was also a taste of bollywood on Day 2 with Abhay Deol talking about the stories he looks for in movies and Shekhar Kapoor talking about the significance of story telling (Frankly no one quite understood shekhar kapoor’s talk and he was pretty disappointing)
Day 2 ended with an amazing classical dance performance by Ananda shankar (check pic 1 below) and also the night was one of bollywood music and hip gyrating dance moves (check pic 2 & 3).
Pic 1
Pic 2
Pic 3
Day 2 in TED was one with extreme contrasts as on one end we all were moved deeply by the horrific crimes done on young girls and Kavita and Sunitha’s efforts to support these girls and on the other end the night ended with laughter, fun, frolic, music and some awesome dance moves. This day was one with LIFE written all over it as it showed happiness, sadness and joy all in a matter of hours on peoples faces. It was a day when ideas provoked action.
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Nice reading your blogposts.. I guess not writing, tweeting abt it until the event is over let you emerse yourself in it completely!
Awesome!