TEDxManipalUniversity 2018: Transcendence

An afternoon filled with brilliant speakers, thought-provoking ideas and musings followed by an interactive session. TEDxManipalUniversity creates a unique gathering to unleash new ideas which inspire and inform. The theme for the second edition of TEDxManipalUniversity holds fast to the constant human endeavour and ambition, to break boundaries. It reflects the power of the mind to be unconquerable and scale unexplored territories while pushing our limits to strive, to seek, to find and to succeed. We take a look at the presenters for this year’s instalment.

 

 

Laxmi Narayan Tripathi

One of the most outspoken leaders of the LGBTQ movement in India, Laxmi Narayan Tripathi is a transgender rights activist, Hindi film actor, and Bharatanatyam dancer. Being the first transgender person to represent Asia Pacific in the UN in 2008, she is a vociferous speaker of the plight of sexual minorities. She has served on the boards of several NGOs which conduct LGBT activist work. She also became the president of the NGO DAI Welfare Society, the first registered and working organisation for eunuchs in South Asia. In 2007, she started her organisation, Astitiva to promote the welfare of sexual minorities, their support, and development. She has led the revolution for people like her from all over the world. She was one of the earliest activists to demand that the government’s anti-AIDS program include eunuchs as a distinct category. One of her crucial victories came in April 2014 when the Indian Supreme Court officially recognised transgender rights, giving relief to an estimated 3 million people in India. Laxmi frequently gives interviews and otherwise represents the LGBT community in popular media. She starred in an award-winning documentary in 2005, Between the Lines: India’s Third Gender. Tripathi is featured in Project Bolo, a documentary series about LGBT Indians that has been released on DVD. Laxmi co-wrote her biography, Red Lipstick, with Pooja Pande.

Her journey from early childhood to the present has been filled with great struggles and obstacles, yet she has emerged victorious in proving to the world that eunuchs can not only speak fluent English at various international conferences but also educate themselves and contribute to society in the same manner any other individual would. Manipal eagerly awaits to listen to her captivating story and draw inspiration from her life.

Anand Sudarshan

 

An eminent personality in the modern education sector, Anand Sudarshan’s work has had an astounding effect in the country. With a degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering from NIT Trichy, Anand Sudarshan has worked with various companies to provide education and create employment opportunities for the rural youth. He served as former CEO,  Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of India’s largest higher education related services firm, ‘MaGE’. By playing an integral part in helping MaGE expand its outreach from India to international territories like UAE, Malaysia, and Antigua, Sudarshan has garnered himself great respect in the education stratum. His exemplary efforts have facilitated ‘MaGE’ to lay the foundations for technology learning platforms like ‘EduNxt’ and a banking firm. Now, working as the director of Sylvant Advisors Private Limited and the non-executive director of NIIT, he provides advisory services to large corporations, investors, and start-ups. He aims at continuing to implement his agenda of improving and spreading education by being affiliated with several private company boards across the country.

Sandhya Chandrasekharayya

She is a woman who has done incredible things, not least being having scaled the heights of the Himalayas, Sandhya Chandrasekharayya has achieved at a very young age what most people would hope to accomplish in an entire lifetime. She is a co-founder of Indiahikes, a Bangalore based company which has proudly lead some of the most excellent and most affordable Himalayan treks.She has a bachelors degree in software engineering from National Institute of Engineering, Mysore and has served as a senior software engineer at AOL. By her work, she has put on the map few of the most famous Himalayan treks in India, including Kashmir Great Lakes and Kedarkantha. She believes in sustainable living just as she believes in sustainable trekking.
Many trekkers have an idea that trekking is all about capturing moments and nature on their cameras, but it is not as simple as it sounds. One can never underestimate a high altitude trek or compare it to a previous experience of a hill station trip. She is a winner of the Outlook Business Women of Worth 2017’ award, for her brave and driven work towards making the lives of others easy, through her work in the society. Sandhya believes that planning, preparation and staying true to her core values played a significant role in her success. With a treasure trove of transcendental experiences and the will to make a difference, she hopes to inspire and encourage people to pursue their dreams – one step at a time.

Siddharth Chakravarty

 

Captain Siddharth Chakravarty is a marine conservationist and a passionate one at that. In 2001, he joined the Merchant Navy, where he worked on commercial ships. In 2011, he quit after witnessing the extensive damage done to the ocean environment due to human maritime activities. He joined the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS), a non-profit marine conservation organisation based in the United States. He has been a part of eight campaigns with them, through which he has involved himself in chasing whale poachers in Antarctica, and patrolling fisheries in the Mediterranean Sea, aside from being a part of other ocean inspections in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. After leaving the SSCS in 2016, he is currently working on independent research. He is looking into the fishing industry, mainly the crew of local fishermen from the human rights and social justice perspective. He strongly believes that the problem lies in the fact that, local fishermen do not have a fair say in the globalized seafood trade even though it is their ancestral livelihood. He has made it his mission to resolve these pressing issues.

Hayat Amiree

The war-stricken, barren ominous plains of Afghanistan aren’t just bloodshed. First-hand experiences still make Hayat Amiree call this life-endangering zone home, a home where the flicker of ambition still illuminates the darkness. His naked talks about impactful topics genuinely make you introspective of the peace in today’s world. A member of the International Secretary for World Organization of Students and Youth (WOSY) from 2014-16 and an executive member of International Youth Committee (IYC) from 2016 till date, he demands leadership through survival. He has also hosted Bangalore’s biggest fest International Youth Summit for the Next Gen.World 2016 and Indian Youth Peace Parliament 2017.
Spending twenty-five years as a refugee, he inadvertently spreads the message of peace and non-violence wherever he goes. He is a book at the Human Library, Delhi, where he tells his story of ‘A Refugee From The Ruins’ and talks of the constant threat to existence most battlefield citizens deal with. Allow him to encapsulate you into his engaging oration of harmony and understanding, and it’s importance in our world today.

 

Sammilan Shetty

Sammilan Shetty is a young nature lover and a butterfly enthusiast. In 2011 he set up a butterfly park situated at Belvai, near Moodabidri at the foothills of the Western Ghats. The park is a magnificent sanctuary for the butterflies of this region, many of which are rare and exotic such as the Southern Birdwing  (Troides minos) which is the most extensive variety of Indian butterfly with a wingspan of 19cms. Other species include the rare Blue Nawab (Polyura Schreiber) and the Long-banded Silverline (Spindasis lohita). There are currently 118 species of butterflies living here, and more are added every year. The park covers an area of 7.35acres, which is the largest of its sort and is built on the natural habitat of the butterflies. There are no artificial enclosures such as domes. Only certain conditions which are necessary for the species to thrive are created here.  The objective of the park is to educate visitors, especially children about butterflies and the need to conserve them. Scientific research and study of butterflies also take place here. The park is run with the motive of service and is not a commercial undertaking.

 

Saisri Akondi

Passionate with a voice. Saisri Akondi, a Research Coordinator at MAHE’s Innovation Centre, Youth Advocate for UN Women and someone who advocates relentlessly for equal opportunity is TEDx ManipalUniversity’s seventh speaker. As she wraps up her final year of Biomedical Engineering at MIT Manipal, Saisri aims to resolve problems that plague the world in a sustainable manner. Her presentation called ‘Limitless Jugaad’ aims to acknowledge the importance of miniature innovations and how they have the potential to transform lives.

 

 

Reuben John


The human brain is the most complex of them all, simultaneously being the most powerful. Reuben John, an undergraduate student at MIT, goes beyond the boundaries set by conventional engineering and seeks to make sense of the convoluted mess of neutrons we call the human brain. Having ensconced himself in the field of artificial intelligence, he was the former technical head of Manipal’s most prominent AI venture, Project Manas. He stresses the need for the present generation, which is on the verge of a breakthrough to simulate the human mind, to realise just how much they can do with the workings of the human body.

 

 

Vinayak Jain

 

Vinayak Jain, a final year medical student, working with the Department of Medical Education at Kasturba Medical College Manipal, focuses on the peculiar demand for doctors to be politically correct with their patients. Political correctness has become banal in many conversations today – including the ones we have in the field of medicine. The need to make sure people do no get ‘not offended’ has taken precedence over the portrayal of truth. This threatens medical research, drug trials and medical education among other things. Vinayak tries to explore the much talked about possibility of convergence of Humanities and Medicine; focusing on how doctors today may not be adequate only with the knowledge of Human biology. He has the firm belief that the role of Humanities plays a key role in enhancing the relationship of a patient with his practitioner.
Walking the talk, he has led his humanities modules in his college through sessions in Theater, Classical Literature and Visual Arts. The novel idea he presents may just revolutionise the way medicine industry in the subcontinent operates.

 

K S Jaivittal

 

Mr Jaivittal has served as the sole ray of hope at the end of a dark tunnel for many of those who believed the sun may never shine brightly again. An allegory for joy, optimism and tranquillity, he has strong rooted values and vivid personal experiences. Mr Jaivttal has taken every setback of life in his stride adorning a smile on his face, propelling him to heights above the ordinary. His contribution towards the enrichment of lives began with the establishment of the Archana Trust which he named after his daughter, and ASARE, a home for specially-abled children. His story and efforts to uplift the society are stimulating, and his eagerness to lend a helping hand is eternal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We laud the efforts of the organising team for assembling and putting forward a stage with such enigmatic personalities. Don’t forget to be a part of this wonderful experience on the 18th of February 2018.

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