Dimaag ka dahi state to a state of dimaag ki baati jala de!

Listen. Learn. Think. Ideate. Innovate. Share. And in turn make the world a better place! - Mantra of the TEDx Gateway event. After all TED is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading and TEDx events are fully planned and coordinated independently, on a community-by-community basis to provide TED like experiences locally.
 
2nd December 2012 was unarguably one of the most enlightening Sundays of my life. Attending  the TEDx Gateway event held at NCPA Mumbai and listening to a great bunch of thinkers, social entrepreneurs, artists, child prodigies, inventors, tech geeks and many such interesting profiles from around the world was indeed enriching, thrilling and thought provoking all at the same time.


There were around 21 speakers from 15 countries speaking on 1 platform and sharing the most ground breaking ideas which they have now converted into fascinating real stories benefiting society at large.

Hearing all these stories ignited a tiny spark inside me....yes, there is still hope for goodness and good people in this world..

Just sitting in the audience and soaking in the stimulating speeches delivered by each of the diverse speakers confirmed my belief that to lead a 'meaningful' life means contributing to a cause selflessly...and mind you this does not mean just donations to charities or NGOs, but lending your hand in the true sense.

The immense satisfaction, passion and pride that each speaker displayed for their respective ideas/initiatives was very evident.
Listed below are 8 of the 22 speakers who left a lasting impression on me and who I thought were worth writing about.

The first speaker of the day was Vikram Patel who spoke about 'task shifting' where one creates a pool of health counselors to fill the huge gap in demand and supply of specialists/doctors, in rural areas specially. In towns and villages that have few clinics, doctors and nurses, one particular need often gets overlooked: mental health.When one cant wait for psychiatrist who are as rare as pandas in sahara to cater to the medical needs of these people, how do people get care when they need it? Vikram Patel studies how to treat conditions like depression and schizophrenia in low-resource communities, and he's come up with a powerful model: training the community to help.Vikram Patel helps bring better mental health care to low-resource communities -- by teaching ordinary people to deliver basic psychiatric services.



The next speaker was Rosemary Nalden founder of Buskaid a charitable organization which teaches classical music to young blacks in the Soweto region of South Africa. She elaborated how this music school initiative has sort of created a 'Mozart Effect' (popular hypothesis that early childhood exposure to classical music has a beneficial effect on mental development) in the region and also led to social upliftment of the black population and helped create a standard of excellence.



The following speaker was Karthik Naralasetty who is the founder of socialblood.org a social networking site which helps users in need of blood to locate other members who belong to the same blood group and are willing to donate it.The idea behind this was sowed when he witnessed a family in India struggling to find regular blood transfusions for their four-year-old daughter to treat her for a genetic blood disease called thalassemia.
Now this  social platform designed to serve a pool of emergency blood donors has spread across to 18 countries. All you have to do is become a member of the Socialblood.org on Facebook.


Before talking about the next speaker, I would like to ask if you have ever appreciated the importance of the clear potable water which flows freely from our taps. I guess when we have it in plenty we typically take things for granted and that is exactly what this speaker highlighted in her talk. In cities we really don't feel the pinch of water scarcity however, that's not the case with millions of women in villages in water deficient areas who have to walk many miles every day lugging 20 to 40 litres of water vessels on their head. Imagine if  we have to carry our 20 kg suitcase as we step out of the airport and head home. Not possible right! But these women do it every day and some times multiple times during the day. Such a waste of time, energy and also many a health issues for these women.

Here's a lady, Cynthia Koenig who through her organization WELLO created a a very simple water wheel which is hygienic, convenient and time saving tool in the hands of this women. This project has been launched in the villages of Rajasthan and now saves 35 hours per week for these women who in turn can do more productive work getting more income and little girls can now go to school. Such a simple yet fantastic initiative with a mind boggling social impact.





Take the case of Ruma Roka a young girl who started the Noida Deaf Society (NDS) in 2005. In a world where silence speaks and words flow through actions, its inhabitants draw their strength from a dream of being self reliant and independent. With this objective in mind the organization has been providing vocational training to those with hearing impairment in computers, conducts comprehensive Indian Sign language classes along with written English classes to facilitate communication. And to think about it Ruma who is not hearing impaired actually learnt sign language before she got inspired to launch this noble initiative. Today NDS has 5 centers in three states of India –Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi and Noida and .is impacting more than 1500 deaf youth every year who are coming from across the country and has facilitated employment in for over 500 deaf in top organizations in the country. 

The next speaker who impressed me was Angad Nadkarni a young sprightly lad who at the grand old age of 18 years is a veteran at programming, and the technical brains behind Examify. Yes, Examify which helps students to crack their exams based on the past trends of the exam paper patterns at various competitive level exams. If the aim of your child is to sail through the exams without studying for it...here is the way!  ('cracker' of an idea though I may not subscribe to it)

"The first man to wear a sanitary napkin" is what he is known as. Yes, that's correct. Arunachalam Muruganantham realized that his wife can't keep wearing a ragged cloth during her menstrual cycles. Not only was it unhygienic but also cause of great discomfort and inconvenience. He decided to find a cheaper alternative to the sanitary napkin which was available but beyond the budget of most of the women in small towns and villages. After much sweat, toil and even blood (he actually experimented using animal blood) he came up with a simple and cost effective pad creation machine. It could manufacture the sanitary pad at less than 1/3rd cost of the branded ones available in market.
He has now set up these machines across villages and towns in south which has not only benefited women from health perspective but also created employment opportunities as they operate these machines too.
Freedom from hygiene issues and economic freedom too!

Mittal Patel, was the only speaker who spoke in Hindi and also had the most impact on me during the evening. She spearheads the Vicharata Samuday Samarthan Manch(VSSM) which works for the rights and welfare of Nomadic (Vicharata) & De-notified(Vimukta) communities and aims to help mainstream these communities by enabling them to fight for their rights. Currently, it is working for 40 Nomadic and De-notified tribes in 8 districts of Gujarat.

The nomadic tribes of India are spread over multiple states, primarily Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Gujarat. In Gujarat, they number around 4 million, and this is the target group that Mittal has sworn to support.

Imagine fighting the slow bureaucratic system and also rigid caste mind set both at the same time. Hats off to her efforts for finding identity to those who don't have one because neither the country recognizes them nor the village they live in. 
May be her efforts will help Nandan Nilekani as far as Aadhar goes otherwise he has a tough task cut out for him as Nomadic and De-notified tribes are not part of any list recognized by the state or country. And to think about it, there are 4 million of them in the state of Gujarat itself...imagine the mind boggling numbers of the entire country.

These were just some of the TEDx speakers who struck a chord with me and impressed me with their  dedication, passion and commitment for their life's project.Besides these there were a dozen more speakers who were equally bright, had a unique story to narrate and had converted a problem or a disadvantage to a solution or a competitive advantage. And each speaker was compelling in their own way and an interetsing idea to share.

TEDx was one of those events in my life which left me invigorated, charged and hopeful about the future.

Considering the daily dose of  sad, disappointing, frustrating, vicious, negative news which we are subjected to every morning which make our stomachs churn and make our dimaag ka dahi; this event was indeed like a breath of fresh air and urged me to turn on my dimaag ki batti.

TED- Indeed ideas worth spreading and like wild fire!