The second
edition of TEDx Panaji was held last Sunday in the capital city. The thought-provoking event, akin to last
year, had an impressive line-up of speakers that included a student, a sailor,
a naturopath and an architect, among many other inspiring individuals who have
dared to do things their own way. Working with its theme of #AgainstTheTide,
this year’s edition of TEDx Panaji celebrated ideas that challenge popular
beliefs and notions.
The event kicked off
with a group of Goan folk artistes that performs under the banner of Sai
Damodar Group. These youngsters, who took the audience by storm at the recently
held world music festival, Sur Jahan, are passionate and dedicated musicians
who are reviving the traditional, devotional and folk music of Goa. The group
did a repeat of their scintillating performance at TEDx Panaji, thereby setting
the mood for the remainder of the event. Another speaker, IITian Manish Jain,
who heads Creative Learning Initiative (CLI) at IIT Gandhinagar, spoke about
making our school classrooms more interactive. Jain reaffirmed his faith in
Make in India and opined that the initiative will become a success when
children start making things in their classrooms and beyond, with the help of
dedicated teachers. He also showed some interesting toys made by his team and
school students that immediately drew the attention of the audience. The
session was followed by the one by Raunak Hede – a 10th grade student who has
mastered coding skills and has emerged as a young wonder. Hede highlighted how
coding is a game of logic, and that logic helps to have a rational outlook and
govern our decision making.
Next, India’s first
circumnavigator of globe, captain Dilip Donde, spoke about his experience of
sailing solo around the globe in 157 days. Donde revealed that this project,
which was commissioned by the Indian Navy, remains to be one of the rare
government projects completed within stipulated time and budget. Another
speaker, architect Abhijit Sadhale, spoke about reviving traditional built
practices and his passion with which he has helped restore ancient Goan
temples. Sadhale spoke about the need to protect India’s rich living tradition
that is under threat due to urbanisation and migration.
Dattaprasad Shetkar,
one of the organisers, believes that the platform is celebrating ideas that are
worth spreading. Shetkar says, “We have noticed that the community is growing. This
year, we added another element – the Experience Zone, where people presented
their new ideas. The response from the people has been amazing. In fact, one of
our own team members was inspired to the extent of quitting his mundane banking
job to now pursue his passion for designing.”
Hyacinth
Pinto, a young Goan architect who is known for working towards finding the
right balance between beauty and sustainability, was one of the speakers at the
debut edition of TEDx Panaji held last year. Speaking about thought provoking
events like TEDx, Pinto says, “I think events like these are great for Goa. It
is a great forum for exposure to a lot of people whom we do not know about.
People who dare to do things differently with their inventions, discoveries and
taking charge of initiatives regardless of how small or big, are changing the
scenario. The talks by these speakers make the public interested and inspire
kids and their parents, who get a cue on how to encourage their children in the
right direction.”
