The 3rd edition of TEDx Hyderabad is all set to be held in September

Hyderabad: With all the communication options, today – email, SMS, social media, mass media advertising – many people assume that a simple postcard is not as effective, but in reality, it is still the most cost-effective way. Pradeep Lokhande made use of it as a powerful tool to connect rural India, which no one has tried before. He did that to carry out activities of his NGO, Rural Relations. It is incredible indeed. You can meet this everyday hero of Rural Relations, Pradeep Lokhande and listen to him speaking live in our city. He is a Pune based social entrepreneur who has contacted 58 lakh people in rural India and will be one among several other speakers to speak at the most awaited TEDxHyderabad to be held in the city in September

One of India’s fastest growing and flagship TEDx events, TEDxHyderabad is all set to go live on September 24. The theme of the third edition of the event is “DO”

TEDxHyderabad, this year will showcase 13 speakers and 2500 attendees. Five of these twelve speakers will be local Hyderabadi’s.

Some of the speakers include transgender champion Gauri Sawant, social entrepreneurs Anshu Gupta and Pradeep Lokhande, activist and co-founder of anti-trafficking organization `Prajwala’ Sunitha Krishnan, photojournalist GMB Akash, hope creator ElcaGrobler; former Indian Army officer Lt Gen Zameer Uddin Shah; Mukesh Aghi, Global Strategizer; Kalpana Saroj, Disruptive Millionaire; Anu Acharya, Genome Guru;

Pradeep Lokhande, made use of the cheapest communication mode, “Post Card” available in India. Over the many years, he proved it as a powerful tool to connect the rural India.

This Pune based social entrepreneur communicates with 58 lakh people. He proudly claims that he received 9 lakh post cards from school children.

He has a database of 49,000 villages in 10 states across India. Known as the postcard man of India, Pradeep has one line address–Pradeep Lokhande, Pune-411013. Mail to his address is so heavy that the postman does not need specific details anymore. Pradeep, CEO of Rural Relations, an organization, he founded with the aim of developing rural India. He is a rural resource partner for corporates like Telco, P&G, Tata Tea and more; Rural Relations helps generate job opportunities in the villages.

Like NRI (Non-Resident Indian), Pradeep christened a new name NRV–Non-Resident Villager. Every Indian living in the city or abroad is a Non-Resident Villager (NRV), he says.

He started the Gyan Key Library Scheme, to establish libraries in the villages to inculcate reading habits among children. Everybody is an NRV because we all have come from communities. Therefore, an NRV can support, contribute in whatever the way meaningfully to the development of his/her village. Till date, they were successful in installing 3,055 Gyan-Key libraries in 3,055 rural secondary schools in 1,075 working days benefiting 8,50,000 students,”.

37 years old transgender social activist, Gauri Sawant’s journey from being an outcast to motherhood is truly inspirational. Against all the odds, Gauri is raising orphaned Gayatri as her own. She formed an NGO, ‘Sakhi Char Chowghi.’ Her motto was to provide a space of freedom to all transgenders, hijras. Hearts across the country weremoved seeing her story ‘Touch of Care’, in an advertisement for a consumer brand recently. She is a speaker at the TEDxHyderabad event this year.

Anshu Gupta, a social entrepreneur who founded Goonj, a Delhi-based non-governmental organization that positions the under-utilized urban material as a development resource for the rural parts of India is another speaker lined up for the event.

A recipient of Ramon Magsaysay Award for his creative vision in transforming the culture of giving in India. His enterprising leadership in treating cloth as a sustainable development resource for the poor is well received and appreciated. Goonj, the NGO he founded, ships over 70,000 kgs of material a month and has also converted 1,000 tonnes of used clothes, household goods, and other urban discards into usable resources for the poor. Goonj was chosen by NASA and the US state department as a “Game Changing Innovation.” Forbes magazine listed Gupta as one of India’s most influential rural entrepreneurs. Goonj has been given the Japanese Award for Most Innovative Development Project by the Global Development Fund.

A P Hota, Managing Director of National Payments Corporation of India (NCBI), has been identified as one of the 12 speakers. A Digital revolutionist, Hota played a key role in the implementation of MICR technology in Cheque Clearing, Electronic Funds Transfer, Automated Clearing House and Cheque Truncation System in India. His research document titled “RTGS System in the USA – Lessons for India” as a part of IIB Diamond Jubilee Overseas Fellowship in 1997 was the starting point of RTGS design and implementation in India.

Hota had headed the Department of Payment and Settlement Systems in Reserve Bank from March 2005 to July 2008 during which the ‘Payment and Settlement Systems Act’ was legislated, NEFT introduced and there was a rapid expansion in the access and usage of electronic payment systems. He also played a key role in widening the use of electronic payments in India.

One of the Hyderabadi speakers, Sunitha Krishnan, co-founder of Prajwala, a non-governmental body that rescues, rehabilitates and reintegrates sex-trafficked victims into society is chosen to address. Raped at age 8, Sunitha Krishnan’s journey as a rape survivor to savior is incredible. Her journey, fight against sex slavery, this Padma Shri awardee will share all the struggle she had gone through and the road ahead for Prajwala.

Every human face has a story, and I capture it says GMB Akash, an award-winning Photo Journalist from Dhaka, Bangladesh. Akash, who considered as the Bangladesh’s best-known photojournalist will tell his story, photo journalism, street photography, the art of seeing the unseen and will touch on many interesting aspects of it.

Have some quiet moments in a life full of emotions. Whatever you DO, DO for soul feeding. You do not take a photograph just with a camera. You bring to the act of photography in all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved. Instinct and the ability to anticipate are skills that a street photographer acquires with experience and a lot of practice. The more you walk through streets with your camera, the more you will be able to tune into the world around you. As a street photographer, you are constantly scanning your surroundings. No expression or gesture can escape from you, the challenge is to record that story in your frame, says Akash.

ElcaGrobler, Founder of My Choices Foundation, is another local speaker who will share her unique story. An Australian, who made Hyderabad her city and when you ask Elca how long she is here, “indefinitely,” comes the reply. CFA and MBA turned hope creator; her NGO works in the domain of stopping domestic violence and sex trafficking. Every day, we’re trying to give women and girls the choice of freedom, says Elca. They say a dream is something you want to DO but a calling is something you have to DO. My Choices Foundation is a women’s protection organization that aims to help women and girls live free from violence and sexual exploitation, she adds.

What people who Do things, can inspire the rest of us to go and Do things. The theme of this year’s edition is DO. “DO’ is a fascinating theme. It means many things to many. It is a very open-ended theme and inspiring one. Some of the thoughts on the theme DO are

People who DO great things inspire us in turn to accomplish our goals. The theme of this year’s edition is DO. Interestingly, its meaning is unique to every individual. It is a very open-ended theme and inspiring one. Some of the thoughts on the theme DO are: 

“One important thing to remember is you can DO anything you want to. And remember to DO one thing every day that makes you happy. Successful people DO what unsuccessful people are not willing to DO. DO everything with passion and with great love. DO what you can and what you love. DO your duty, and a little more and the future will take care of itself. If you DO good, you get same thing in return. It may be forgotten tomorrow but do it anyway. DO your best with what you have, where you are. DO something worth writing or write something worth reading.”

DO what you have to DO until you can DO what you want to DO. Alone we can DO so little; together we can DO so much more. Don’t listen to what people say, watch what they DO. DO the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, DO better. Be good, more importantly DO good. And DO it now. 

There is no try. The most efficient way to accomplish something is to DO it. DO your best to learn from the wrong ones. DO less complaining, blaming, arguing, bragging, resenting, yelling, interrupting, taking, judging and lying. DO what is right and not what is easy. Forgive people who do you wrong. They unknowingly make you strong. What you don’t to be done to yourself, don’t DO it to others.

Sometimes, later becomes never. We never fail when we try to DO our duty, we always fail when we neglect to DO it. Doing is more important than praying. Doing is acting upon it. Actions speak louder than words. When we DO what we can, God will DO what we can’t. Nobody can DO everything, but everyone can DO something. DO is all about action. The theme is unique and very inspirational.

TEDx themes are well researched. They are fun. The theme is a title or tagline for the event. The theme guides the talks and inspires the audience to think abstractly about the bigger cause. There’s no right answer for the theme – it’s just an abstract idea that can be interpreted in any number of ways. The theme sets the tone of the event. It essentially lets attendees know what they should expect. The themes are usually an abstract, open to interpretation, broad enough to leave room for a broad range of topics and speakers from diverse backgrounds.

The themes should be realistic and must maintain arguments that can be defended by well-founded evidence. No commercial, political or religious agendas, or polarizing” topics are allowed.

This year’s theme “DO” arouse a lot of interest within the community and outside the community. The attendees are super excited about the event and speakers delving into the theme.

The TEDx stages are different; they are unique. Each event has a different stage. High production values of the stage are the hallmarks of the TEDx events. They designed so well that they go well with the theme of the event. Special care is taken in designing the stage, curating it. Even the speakers, attendees are curated. The stage and production play a significant role in enhancing not just the retentive value of a TEDx Talk, but also the thematic value of the event itself. In providing excellent ambient experiences to their patrons, TEDx events usually stand out.

TEDx is a program which is run under the TED brand to bring a TED-like experience to as many people as possible. TED events are organized by the TED organization themselves while TEDx events can be arranged by anyone for their community after gaining a license from TED, hence “independently organized”.

TEDx is a one-day conference where socially conscious and curious individuals go to hear from real life stories and world changing ideas to be inspired. It is a platform being curated and created to uplift the intellectual capital for the city of Hyderabad.

TEDxHyderabad is not about organizing yet another TEDx event. We have been trying to build a community of Thinkers, Enablers, and Doers within Hyderabad informed Dr. Anthony Vipin Das, Organizer and Viiveck Verma, Co-organizer of the event.

According to Viiveck, TEDxHyderabad always looks for stories and ideas worth spreading.

“We are trying to build the intellectual stimulation that the city requires and with this momentum. The response from the audience here has been phenomenal. From just 500 attendees in 2015, the number jumped to 1,500 in 2016 and is expected to grow at the same pace this year as well. We also see a lot of corporate interest and participation, this year. Pharmaceutical, IT and manufacturing companies are not just keen about sponsoring the event but are also sending their employees to participants. We expect 50% of our attendees to be corporate employees, “informs Viiveck Verma, co-organizer, TEDxHyderabad.

Many folks are familiar with TED talks. TED stands for “Technology, Entertainment, Design” and is a conference series that was the brainchild of Richard Saul Wurman, who began TED in 1984. In 2001, TED was acquired by Chris Anderson, who oversees all of the TED conferences today and acts as the curator for the thousands of TED talks that can be viewed at TED.com.

TEDx event matters the most to many. Through TED or TEDx talks, the audience is exposed to speakers who are doing cutting edge work across numerous causes.

TED or TEDx events have a significant impact on millions of lives–especially over the past several years ever since it’s talks posted online for free viewing. TED organizers said they have received thousands of letters and emails from people telling them how one or more TED talks have impacted their lives for the better.

For many speakers, TED matters a lot. Salman Khan — founder of Khan Academy, whose goal was to bring free, world-class online education to everyone in the world — told that before his TED speech, his site had drawn only 6.9 million students. After TED, interest, and demand in the courses grew like wildfire: More than 140 million students take these courses online, and the site was growing by 10 million new students each month.

Many past TED speakers keep talking how their lives and causes were impacted dramatically for the better after their TED speeches.

Alaska to Antarctica, TEDx meetings are held across the globe. Since the year 2009, a whopping 17000 TEDx conferences were held across the globe, and nearly 50 lakh people attended them.

In the year 2015, TEDx event was held in Alaska, northwest of Canada, the largest and most sparsely populated U.S. state. Last year a TEDx meet will be held in Antarctica, the southernmost continent the virtually uninhabited, ice-covered landmass.

IshitaKatyal, a class 5 student from Pune, impressed the world with her ideas at the TED conference held in New York. She is the youngest Indian TED Speaker.

Since it was founded in 2009, nearly 20000 events held across the globe and 51 lakh people have participated in the TEDx Conferences across the world so far. Every year approximately 3000 TEDx events are organized all over the world and 10 lakh people participate in those conferences. India has about 160 organizers, who organize around 250 events per annum and nearly 75,000 people have to attend TEDx Conference in India every year.

TEDx Videos are most popular and have over 2500 videos on its website. The combined viewing of these videos has already crossed one billion.