THE WORLD OF TEDx

Youngsters, students, and learners always need role models. Individuals, they can look up to and idolize. Be it the way someone talks and presents themselves, or for inspiration in terms of deeper life philosophies; it is people who become Mentors and Leaders that provide impetus to a young generation to aspire to a higher set of goals and morality. Having said that, where do young people seek and find these individuals? It isn’t as if there is a platform where scores of inspiring people gather and one can just access this platform, watch, listen, and draw motivation. Or is there such a stage? Students and youngsters are in luck because that is exactly what TEDx is! A space, a charged atmosphere, an idealistic idea manifested in a slew of impacting talks from people from different parts of the world, who, through their own life journeys, are influencing, defining, examining, questioning and foretelling solutions to the world’s problems. From the iconic Shahrukh Khan to Academics, Scholars and Revolutionaries have graced one TEDx stage or another. Reimagining a model world, in the process, beckoning millions of listeners to feel encouraged.

Ted Talks, over time, have come to be known for their immense contribution to a thinking society. People turn to Ted Talks to find direction & insights, to listen to people who have a deep and unique perspective on life. As someone who is himself an ardent admirer of the organization, when I was asked to deliver my own Ted Talk, the invitation solicited a surprising mix of feelings in me!

First, I felt hugely validated. Having shifted career paths dramatically in my mid30s, going from being in the Media Industry to Teaching, with absolutely no academic or professional background in the latter; that an organization such as Ted would reach out and ask me to deliver a talk, automatically meant that the past six years of relentless teaching, and extensive writing on Communication Skills, Education in general, and Parenting, had not only made an impact but was starting to be noticed, acknowledged. To me, the invite for a Ted Talk serves as one of my biggest rewards. However, after that initial gush and rush of adrenalin, disbelief, acceptance, and pride – what hit me almost instantly was – what do I talk about! If I were to draw an analogy, it’s like that one time you’re asked to make an award-acceptance speech and you don’t want to mess it up. The stakes here, however, were even higher, much much higher. See in an awards speech, no one is expecting you to provoke thought, inspire thought, or serve as an example to bring about change. At a Ted Talk that is specifically addressing children (since I was going to deliver the Ted Talk to kids at a school), it HAD to be inspirational, yet simple. Meaningful, yet not preachy. Have gravitas, yet not be boring. And really put out a strong message delivered through real, personal examples from my own life. Hence, my nervous anticipation!

Anyway, I calmed myself and thought things through. The great thing about Ted Events is that they assign a theme. The theme was simply, The Future You. And under that broad theme, there were more specific manifestations of that theme that one could adopt. Kudos to the wonderfully curated talks I was able to construct my speech around three distinct incidents from my own life, that, hopefully, inspired the student audience, and subsequently, the online audience (which is yet to view the video as it is not uploaded yet), to really evaluate their own strengths and passions in relation to their respective future-selves.

The event itself was meticulously organised and faultlessly executed. And though I had, despite having delivered countless lectures and speeches across India, butterflies when I got on to the stage, they dissipated as I got into the meat of my talk. It was an absolutely terrific experience and one that I will remember fondly, forever! Aside from my own experience, one that I will treasure and cherish forever, I can only strongly suggest to parents, educators, and students directly, to watch and listen to Ted Talks. In fact, there is a separate and dedicated TED channel on our OTT services where one can find an exhaustive library of past Ted Talks. All you need to do is browse and click play, to be inspired!