TEDx Bangalore - Be prepared to be challenged

TEDx Bangalore poised to be India's largest TEDx event with over 1500 expected guests on August 3. It is being organized and curated by TEDx-ster Sartaj Anand, who is the Founder of Egomonk.

YourStory is happy to partner with the TEDx Bangalore team in hosting these inspiring speaker sessions and their stories.

With a belief that ‘challenge’ is the overwhelming ethos and narrative that is driving India today and most of us are challenging something on a daily basis (stereotypes, racism, innovation, etc.), it is something that really matters to us. Hence the TEDx Bangalore theme of ‘Challenge _____’ will welcome stories, insights and discussion on diverse topics and put the spotlight on everyone.

Speaking on the theme and what one can look forward to at TEDx Bangalore, Sartaj says, “The talks have been categorized into three topics to ensure that the conversations are grounded in the various realities of India.”

“The BLR to Bangalore session is squarely focused on Bangalore and will put the spotlight on alternative trends in the city, while Down South wants to catalyze a conversation between Bangalore and the rest of the nation because we have so much to learn and share from each other. The Outsourced session has a more global focus to it where we want to drive the conversation about the future identity of Bangalore because the truth is the IT & outsourcing identity the city has is something we've subscribed to. However, I believe we are at a tipping point where we can be intentional about the identity we want to cultivate as a people and a city in the future so we're inviting global thinkers, activists and thought leaders to share their work and inspire us so that we borrow from them to shape a better Bangalore,” he states.

Some of the inspiring change-makers who will be sharing their stories at TEDx Bangalore include –

• Jadav ‘Molai’ Payeng – Better known as the ‘Forest Man of India’, Payeng has single handedly planted nearly 1400 acres of forest to save his island, Majuli.
• Anamik Nagrik a volunteers with The Ugly Indian and will share rare insights from the inspirational story of the anonymous group of motivated volunteers who clean Indian streets.
• Abhishek - musician, lawyer, visual effects artist, entrepreneur and a skateboarder. He is the Founder of the Holystoked Collective, which is the first and largest skateboarding crew in India.
• Debarghya Das - an aspiring computer scientist who hacked and exposed stark anomalies in the grading policies of the Indian education system.
• Nitin Pai - Co-founder and Director of the Takshashila Institution, an independent networked public policy think tank and Editor of ‘Pragati’ – the Indian National Interest Review.
• Aditi Gupta and Tuhin Paul - the husband-wife designer duo from Menstrupedia spreading awareness about menstruation the fun way.
• Rupsa Mallik – Director of Programs and Innovation at CREA and responsible for developing and implementing CREA's strategic initiatives and programmes in India and the South Asia region.
• Shobha Murthy - Founder of the NGO, Aarambh, who at 54 years of age is leading a group of friends to bring hope and happiness into the lives of underprivileged children in Navi Mumbai.
• Ibrahim Nehme - the Editor-in-chief of ‘The Outpost’ magazine, a quarterly print publication that aims to ignite a socio-cultural renaissance in the Arab world by inspiring its readers to explore a world of possibilities.
• Carla Diana - a designer, writer and educator who explores design visions for near-future technologies and who recently completed a children's book about the future of 3D printing and design titled, ‘LEO the Maker Prince’.
• Jon Mark Walls - a social entrepreneur, lecturer and speechwriter who is driven by the idea that better communication can lead to better politics.
• Tamadher – Founder of Project Ulafa'a, a team of young artists, which is based on reconciliation through the arts, and is creating a new image for Islamic art and design based on philosophical references and by going back to the profound principles of faith.
• Zak Greene - an independent web designer, front-end developer, and member of Strike Debt New York.
• Adnane Addioui – a social commentator, aspiring social entrepreneur and disruptive-thinker, Adnane has committed his life to work in the MENA region, particularly in Morocco, to enable creative thinking, entrepreneurship and innovation for the common good.

Apart from the speaker sessions, TEDx Bangalore is organizing something special called, TEDx Bangalore Adventure on August 1st designed as a reward for the first 200 guests who want to be a part of an additional TEDxBangalore experience within the core program.

It's an attempt to showcase the very best of Bangalore to the guests and to highlight real people, initiatives and institutions that are actively involved in making our city better every day.

Sartaj states, “I am not from Bangalore. I am from Kolkata. But Bangalore has been exceptionally kind to me and it is the city of people from all over India. Surprisingly, it accommodates everyone and this is rare. I am grateful for this. It is as good as home for me. I live here, I eat here, I travel from here. So why not give something back to the city. We want to introduce Bangalore to the Bangloreans like The Ugly Indians. We want to tell them that Bangalore is changing. We want to build awareness.”

Conceived by architect and graphic designer Richard Saul Wurman and launched in 1984 as a one-off yearly conference, TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) has come a long way in inspiring and encouraging many people to dream, think, act and create impact.

Few of the famous personalities who have shared their ideas at TED include Jane Goodall, Malcolm Gladwell, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Gordon Brown, Richard Dawkins, Bill Gates, Bono, Mike Rowe, Google Founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Nobel Prize winners and many more.

It’s a huge list of highly influential people and their stories – about their idea, their passion, their struggle, their victories and most importantly their journey. Most of these stories are very inspiring and few of them are highly infectious to not move you to think differently.

In the spirit of spreading these ideas and inspiring more minds and to support independent organizers who want to create a TED-like event in their own community, TEDx program was started in 2009 and since then more than 10,000 TEDx events have been organized worldwide in 167 countries at an average rate of 8 per day. They have been held in locations as far flung as Mount Everest and the Sydney Opera House to the Great Wall of China and one even in the freezing cold of Antarctica, and they have transformed many individuals and the local communities.

To know more about TEDx Bangalore and book your tickets, please visit - http://www.tedxbangalore.com/