TEDx Talk July 2022
Youth symbolize vigour, ideas, and capacity that can change the world.
When the eager and ambitious young men and women congregated at NPS Koramangala for its first edition of TEDxYouth@NPSKRM on the 30th of July, 2022, it was a sparkling of brilliant ‘Ideas Worth Sharing’. Inspired by the school’s motto “Reach out, Reach High, and Reach Beyond”, the theme for the event was Reach Beyond where seven dynamic speakers from eclectic backgrounds shared their success stories of how they ‘Reached Beyond’ making an impact.
Kicking off the event, Ms. Bindu Subramaniam, the CEO and Co-founder of Subramaniam Academy of Performing Arts (SaPa), and the daughter of acclaimed violinist Dr. L. Subramaniam, hooked the audience with her oration. An aficionado of books, Ms Subramaniam elucidated ‘the tricky issue of identity’ and how one has to build one’s own framework of identity and success even after reading scholars and philosophers. And yet after discovering yourself painstakingly, your identity is not set in stone, it can keep changing.
The second speaker was Mr. Mahantesh GK, the founder and Managing Trustee of Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled, the former president of World Blind Cricket Ltd, and President of the Cricket Association for the Blind in India. Mr. Mahantesh’s grit and tenacity in positively impacting the lives of thousands of people with disabilities, as he overcame challenges presented by his own visual impairment, was a shining example for all. While motivating his audience to ‘Stop Not till Your Goal is Reached’ but to keep walking even after that, he presented his own ambitious goals for the disabled of India i.e., to see them become taxpayers and live a life of dignity.
Subsequently, Chirag Chinnapppa, co-founder of Pint-AI, a social intelligence platform that pre-empts risks and opportunities for brands, enlightened all on the powerful role of technology in acquiring authentic information and its impact. NPS K alumnus, Dr. Melvin Matthews’ narrative of his ordeal with depression, seizure, and surgery at a time when his crucial medical exam was staring at him and the way he emerged a winner, drew thunderous applause. His mantra: to let go of your desire to control and to believe in the power of gratitude, were valuable takeaways for the listeners.
Kushagra Sisodia and Renee George, students of NPS K Grade 12 and 11 respectively were the next speakers. Kushagra, a featured author in two anthologies published by Scholastic Publishing House and a passionate quizzer with the motto “Be Big, Think Big, Do Big” floored the audience with his wit and humour while emphasizing the importance of expanding one’s comfort zones to let the magic happen. Renee George, who is actively following her interest in linguistics presented an intriguing history of the English language as a borrower of its own brilliance. Her study revealed how we all are borrowers of ideas, however, there is nothing wrong with it. What matter is not from where we took the idea but where we take it.
Last but not the least speaker for the day was Ms. Rida Tharana, an Instagram influencer with 600K followers, model, and content creator. Ms. Rida’s vociferous talk urged everyone to defy the injustice and prejudices that society imposes and believe in themselves.
It is imperative to mention here, on a lighter note, that this TEDx was not all talk -- there were a couple of outstanding performances as well by NPS K students that sent the gathering into a frenzy. Sankarshanan Srikanth on the mridangam and Vishnu Venkatram on the violin played the popular song Srivalli, from the movie Pushpa. The students of grades 7-12 sang Champion by Carrie Underwood.
The curtains closed on this high battery event as the Principal, Ms. Jyotsna Nair presented the Vote of Thanks to all who made the event a resounding success.
