Priyanka Writing

I had blogged earlier about the TED conference which was happening in India for the first time. The venue was the Infosys campus in Mysore. Quite a few people that I knew had gone for the conference. I also read tweets from participants, really exciting affair!

I got a few of the participants to give me a small idea about their TED India experience. These are also the first interviews I have taken for this blog!

So here is introducing Kiruba! I thought he was a blogger and a twitterer with an astonishing 45,000 + followers, but he is also the CEO of a social media consultancy, director of a web development firm and cofounder of a knowledge sharing non-profit! Read more...

Q: Your experience at TED India was...

TEDindia ranks amongst the best conferences I've attended. The reason why I liked it is not just because of the fabulous speakers but also the quality of the participants. The off-conference discussions were very stimulating and great connections made. Almost every person there were very passionate about what they were doing.

The speaker I liked best was Devdutt Patnaik, the chief Belief Officer. He beautifully made the connection between mythology and corporate excellence.

Tips: head to the venue atleast two days in advance. Its brilliant meeting people and getting to know them.

It was wonderful. I came back more humble and proud to be an Indian. The type of innovators we have in India is amazing. In spite of all odds we have brave and resilient people in our country. TED enabled me to experience and learn this fact about my own country and countrymen and women.

There were so many good speakers and it would be unfair to rate them in quality. However the one speaker who had a profound effect on me was Sunita Krishnan who is galvanizing India's battle against sexual slavery and end human traficking. She opened our eyes to the darker side of India and also how the society which includes all of us equally responsible for treating the abused as untouchables. This was a big eye opener for me.
Then there was this young Pranav Mistry a genius behind the sixth sense, a wearable device that enables new interactions between the real world and the world of data.A great invention which can make him a lot of money and any venture capitalist would be willing to fund his idea. However the Indian he is, wishes not to profit from it but has a vision to make the technology available to human kind through an open source system.

Yes. Go to TED with an open mind which is willing to learn and understand what is going on around the world. Be prepared for heavy sessions and hence be fit and healthy. I had met a few hardcore tedsters who have attended many TED sessions and they told me that everytime they came back with a different experience and much wiser and humble.

Unique. That is the only way to describe it as it was unlike any other conference / seminar / event that I have attended.