TEDx

DO

‘DO’ is the theme for TEDx Chennai.  I  liked it when Kiruba suggested this in one of the planning meetings.  Two letters. Catchy and different and simple and packs it all.  The other two letter word I would probably rate above DO is BE.  DO is nevertheless a fantastic topic for a meet.  I have probably mastered the art of ‘OD’  – incidentally that’s the opposite of DO.

Why does  DO, the little fella, demand attention and probably become a theme for a conference?

Only because its not easy to DO, it probably easy to talk about doing a trifle difficult to articulate systematically. If only I can DO what ever I think or want to DO, I would have been successful, I have heard many lament. Suddenly the golden image of  Midas comes popping to my mind.  This miserable dude who had the capacity to DO Gold.  Why then is  Not Doing something so terribly derided?  If Napoleon or Hitler had were to NOT DO the invasion of Russia by deciding to rest on their attic filled laurels glugging scotch from their storehouses, history would have a far too different, it would have been terrible.

Few months ago I had a little talk with  this lady who was a trainer ( I forget her name)  she claimed that she had the capacity  to  install a DO widget on to her participants.  In a high pitched feminine tone she went about her session with full gusto.  Initially I was skeptical but as she progressed  I realized that what she meant was true indeed. So here goes the conversation I had with her after her session.

Your talk took me by surprise lady.  You sure can DO what you claim and you can also share it with others

Oh Thank you so much, she said and beamed.

But you know what the people want?  Well let me summarize it for you. They want pleasure, and they may even want you for that.  Now that you have trained to get what they want do you feel safe about it?  I bantered along in a friendly way.

I didn’t have a camera to capture her expression.

How can anyone be not DOing?  Its impossible to DO nothing.  For even when you are DO nothing u still DO, don’t you?  You DO stagnate probably if not you fall back, but there is momentum alright for to be stationary is impossible.

Of all the speakers there will be surely someone who will talk about it.. its sure is worth paying 3 grand to listen to that.

TEDx Conversations III

Jehan Noujaim: is an Egyptian American documentary film director best-known for her films Control Room, Startup.com and Pangea Day.Link


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The 3rd TEDx conversations held at Simon’s place at KK Nagar, quite fell in place driving home the simple message on taking the effort to understand and appreciate various facets of life. And we decided that it has to start with us understanding our neighbours. The beauty of these sessions are when we engage ourselves with some great minds in a video and trying to learn how to take what we learn in our own lives.

Its started with Jehan Noujaim, who spoke the power of image and spoke of the impact of her first assignment of the garbage collecting village in Egypt and then went on to discuss the Iraq War. The American propaganda of being the ‘savior of Iraq’ and the demonization of Al Jazeera TV actually drove her to the hotspot to find the truth. Two contrasting videos one a journalist, Sameera Khadar, of Al Jazeera who actually wanted to send his children to America for higher education and the other was Josh Rushing, an American paratrooper, who started hating war and eventually left the military to join Al Jazeera TV. Both these videos had cross culture undertones, rather powerful at that, and the reaction from America and the Arab world was incredible.

Film may not change the world but it can start. (We discussed the power of the word and its sustaining effect contrasted to the video that can be powerful but ephemeral)
Films have the power to change things.

Jehan Noujaim’s wish was to get the world to come together (afterall it was one landmass) rather in minds by watching film together and become part of the Communal experience… she calls it the Pangaea Cinema Day… A Day that can echo into the future.

Sara Jones a gifted impersonator who goes beyond comedy

The second video was fun.. with a great message. It was Sarah Jones, who showcased the speech and mannerisms of different cultures…. French, Arab,Indian, Chinese etc.. It was amazing… The take away was the importance of appreciation of various cultures and its uniqueness… went very well with what Jehan had to say earlier..

The topping was a video that will stay in minds for long – The Keynians singing the Indian national anthem.

These sessions are too costly to miss…

Face Time with Friends

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I nearly dozed off, as I often do on afternoons. The ride to IIT was quite a non motivating thought, particularly with my back to the bed. Then some how the thought of actually meeting those whom I have been messaging, mailing and chatting up in Face Book and Twitter a propped me on to sitting mode. In five minutes the rubber on road, pistons pumping, I was into it. Long ride, the ride from IIT to CCD seemed longer.

There they were, just two of them Kiruba and Nambirajan were there it was easy to locate, probably the vibes or the lostness of my look…then walked in Sriram then Shyam and finally came Kaushik.

We discussed the TEDx event for Chennai, good start, worked on most of the large issues with a little bit of discussion we agreed.

Whatever said and done the face to face sessions are the best they get more meaningful and potent when we already warm up with mails and messages on Gmail, FB etc…
Looking forward to the next meeting on Aug
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