TEDxHyderabad concludes its first ever virtual event
Hyderabad: TEDxHyderabad on Sunday concluded its first ever virtual event in Hyderabad. The event featured nine speakers from different walks of life, spanning a wide range including Sports, Arts, Entrepreneurship, Governance, Education, Science, Philanthropy, and Motivation. The event was attended by over 1,000 members and was widely followed online and on social media.
The speakers included Andrew Fleming (British Deputy High Commissioner, Hyderabad), Dr. Soumya Swaminathan (Chief Scientist, WHO), Dr Ranjana Kumari (social activist), Dr. Venkatramana Vijay (cardiothoracic surgeon), Prof P. J. Narayanan (Director, IIIT), Dr Krishnamurthy Subramanian (Chief Economic Adviser, GoI), Purab Kohli (Actor), and Sindhoora Yalla (Interaction Designer). All these distinguished leaders shared stories of resilience from their personal journeys, stories of overcoming odds and forging ahead.
All speakers shared their own stories of resilience and each one was inspiring. While some spoke about the many hurdles they overcame, others focused on ways one can be resilient. Every session introduced the audience to new directions and hopes. Among many moments that stood out was Sowmya Swaminathan’s initiation of the participants to the concept of global citizens, and how we are all interdependent, especially in light of the pandemic. This is the time to stand together and fight back to make world a much better place, instead of going back to the old normal way of life, she said.
TEDxHyderabad was built with the sole aim to bring together the community of Thinkers, Enablers and Doers. It has completed five impactful editions and have now added to their credit the successful completion of their first virtual event. Over the years, the platform has made a broader social impact and has pushed its boundaries to make greater civic involvement and mindfulness possible.
TEDxHyderabad is an event organized by Society for Advancement of Human Endeavour (SAHE), a not-for-profit group that benefits civic engagement and empowerment. Last year, in collaboration with SAHE, TEDxHyderabad launched ‘Hyderabad Cares’ – an initiative for the support of groups in the city of Hyderabad. This year, keeping in mind the migrant labourer issues, TEDxHyderabad released a short film to increase awareness about the returning migrant labourers. The short film captures the hardships of the migrant labourers, and brings the viewer closer to an understanding of the harsh realities faces by India’s unsung and underprivileged workers.
“TEDxHyderabad has come a long way from where it began and definitely has a long way to go. The aim behind creating this platform is to bring to the fore some of the inspiring stories through the speakers. We are proud to have successfully organised our first ever virtual event. I must say, this has been a great experience. The reason behind releasing a 3-minute short film on migrant labourers is to show the hardships they are going through during this difficult phase. We wanted to do our bit by bringing it to the public,” said Viiveck Verma, Curator and Licensee of TEDxHyderabad, upon the conclusion of the event.
“At TEDxHyderabad, this year’s theme ‘Resilience’, has brought out some of the inspiring stories and we are happy about it. Like every year, we wanted TEDx to be an experience and not just an event. With our first-ever virtual event, I think we have provided our participants a different experience altogether. As part of this journey, we will continue to work with entrepreneurs and innovators from the rural parts of Hyderabad to let them showcase their innovation,” said Dr Anthony Vipin Das, co-organizer of TEDxHyderabad.