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32
magis
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may 2014
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campus capers
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TEDx explores infinite
possibilities at XLRI
X
LRI Jamshedpur
hosted
its first edition of TEDx talks in
March. The conclave was organ-
ised by the students of XLRI on the theme
– Infinite Possibilities. Six speakers in the
span of three hours shared with the gather-
ing the challenges and achievements of
their extraordinary ventures.
The session started with a talk by Krisp-
ian Lawrence. A postgraduate from the
University of Michigan, Lawrence left a
cushy job in the USA to start off his own
venture called Ducere Technologies. He has
been instrumental in creating haptic foot-
wear which can be used in a multitude of
areas, like being an assisting aid for the vi-
sually challenged. His message was simple,
“Don’t follow your passion, because pas-
sions change. Instead, be passionate about
everything that you work on.”
This was followed by Dipta Bhog’s
narrative of creating a rural newspaper,
Khabar Lahariya
. The paper, read by over
800 families in eight different dialects, is
completely managed by an enterprising
team of only eight women hailing from
Dalit, tribal and Muslim communities
of the hinterlands of Uttar Pradesh. This
was followed by a session with Akshar
Pathak who ensured that the crowd was in
splits over his humorous interpretations of
everyday happenings. The first part of the
conclave ended with Pathak’s one liner:
“Infinite stupidities lead to infinite possi-
bilities.”
The post-brunch session started with a
talk by well-known and well-loved profes-
sor of XLRI, Prof. Tamonas Gangopadhyay
who took the attendees through the world
of fractals — the mathematical expression
of infinite possibilities. The session was
taken over by another stimulating story of
Kunj Sanghvi. Sanghvi, a business gradu-
ate, broke away from the stereotype and
travelled across 23 states in India to write
a book of 23 short stories. With witty com-
ments on how the average middle-class
mindset is both limited and limiting,
Sanghvi kept the crowd riveted as he
advised them to be travelers in the journey
of life.
The last speaker Ruby Hembrom’s
passionate discourse of how personal
experiences shaped her life gave an insight
into a world that did not include the tribal
community. She spoke about breaking set
notions and rebuilding norms so that the
society becomes more inclusive. Hembrom
has been instrumental in setting up Adi-
vaani, a publishing house that aims to bring
out the local stories of the tribal community
in a global language.
TED is a non-profit organisation devoted
to the cause of Ideas Worth Spreading.
It has become a global community wel-
coming people from every discipline and
culture who seek a deeper understanding of
the world. TEDxXLRI is an independently
organised licensed TED event and would
showcase ideas that will provide inspiration
to every member of the audience.
Please write to us at
TED is a non-profit
organisation
devoted to the
cause of Ideas
Worth Spreading
The six speakers with the organising team of students
| personal history |
