TED is short for technology,
entertainment and design. It is a platform for creative people to share their
ideas with the world, in the above three fields.
Most of the talks are
eighteen minutes long, though there are shorter talks of ten and five minutes.
I started watching these talks after a friend had send me a link to one of the
popular video’s on the website. I became a fan of the platform after watching
that first video. Here is a post about how TED helped me learn:-
TED Talks on the Internet
So the evenings I was home
after college, would be spent watching these talks on the internet. I got an
audio version of one hundred and twenty five top ted talks, that I put on my
phone. Now whenever I traveled around the city and had some time to spare, I
would put on my earphones and listen to these talks.
TED Talks while traveling
I would also listen to them
while traveling on the trains (Mumbai locals)to and from a place. It is indeed
a great learning resource when you are crushed between more than a hundred
people in rush hour time on a Mumbai time. You cannot possibly read a book in
this chaos, because people will run over you and the book. With the TED Talk on
my mobile, I could just act like I was speaking to someone on the phone and
nobody would bother me.
TED Events in Mumbai
TEDxTalks are similar to the
TED Talks. These are independently organized TED style event at cities around
the world that get people together to discuss life changing ideas.
I started looking for similar
TED events in Mumbai as these environments where a great place to learn and
network with creative minds. I attended my first TEDx
event at the H.R College in Churchgate. I got an invite as my sister was a
close friend of one of the organizers. It was a three hour event with five to
six speakers.
TEDXGateway, Mumbai - First Big TED Event
In December however I got to
attend one of India’s most popular TED gatherings. It was the TEDx Gateway
event at the National Center for Performing Arts, Mumbai. Eight hundred people
came together for a full day of sharing ideas. It started at 10 am and went on
till 6 pm.
Speakers from all over the
world were invited for this event. The cost of ticket for the general public
was Rs 3000. This was expensive for a student living on a budget, but I needed
to have this experience at least once. I knew the event would be completely
worth it. So I paid for it with my savings and got my ticket a week in advance.
On event day I walked out of
my paying guest apartment in Grant Road two hours before the start of the
event. I reach the Chowpatty area in South Mumbai which is also the starting
point of the Marine Drive walkway. The venue of the event was at the end of the
Marine Drive walk way which was three kilometers away from the start.
TED on my Phone
I decide to walk the distance
and listen to the TED Talks on my phone along the way. It took me forty-five minutes
to get there during which I listened to over four TED Talks. I then reached the
event and was welcomed with a scrumptious breakfast buffet.
The event started and I knew
this was a day I would never forget. I got to listen to some really amazing
ideas from around the planet at the event that day. The speakers had such
amazing stories to share. I also got to meet a few of them personally. It was
worth every rupee I spent on this event.
There were two young speakers
whose stories really inspired me.
- The first was Shree Bose, a young Indian American who had recently won the Google Science Prize. She had started doing her cancer research from her early teens.
- Usman Riaz, was a Pakistani musician. He learnt how to play the Guitar by watching videos online. He recently spoke at the TED Conference with his hero and the person whose videos he would always watch Preston Reed. His performance was very good for his age.
I walked back home that night
the same way I had come in the morning. I continued listening to TED talks
walking down the Marine drive Highway watching families, joggers and young
couples go by.
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