Theme: Sonder

A brave venture into the world of tomorrow for members of the ever-evolving youth community in Mumbai, TEDxEMWS, which will be held on the 13th of March 2016, strives to bring together the TED philosophy & the IB mission statement. TEDxEMWS aims to amalgamate the ideas of speakers from across the globe to inspire the new generation of leaders into reforming society & ushering in new changes.

Ecole Mondiale World School
Gulmohar Cross Road Number 9
J.V.P.D. Scheme
Mumbai, Maharashtra, 400049
India

The Wooden Stage

A Performing Arts Institute primarily based in Mumbai, The Wooden Stage is a one of a kind dance institute and the only in the city to offer the complete infrastructure and quality teaching as well as training in the art of Aerial Acrobatics. Headed by the driving talents of Shruti Jasani, our Proprietor and professional Aerialist and Paras Sharma, the artistic director and choreographer, joining forces in teaching and nurturing its students both in Aerial Silk as well as Urban Hip-Hop, Contemporary and Jazz right under the same roof.

Deepak Shah

The Classic Grand Piano has predominantly been associated with Western Classical Music, Deepak took upon the challenge of Mastering the Piano by playing Indian Classical Raagas on it. Innovation and Experimentation have always been Deepak's forte and his dream is to leave behind a legacy through the amalgamation of Western and Indian music. By blending the playing styles of String Instruments like the santoor, sitar,and mandolin, Deepak has created his own unique identity when it comes to playing the Grand Piano. Deepak has already applied for Guinness Books of World Records as the Fastest Pianist in Indian Classical Music, as the existing record is in Western Classical music at 360 notes per minute and Deepak already plays 390 notes per minute in Indian Classical Music. With this achievement well under way he has also had many concerts where through the use of videos and music he has been able to spread important social messages about protecting this Earth and the Environment.

Devina Kothari

Industrial Designer

Devina Kothari is the founder of Zuan Design labs, a company which believes in generating innovative design solutions to improve everyday life. After graduating from IIT-Bombay, she realized the need to bring current technological advancements to the doorstep of Indians living in rural areas. She believes in empowering the bottom of the pyramid to be able to draw solutions to their own problems rather than waiting for somebody else to come and do so for them.

John Koenig

Writer/Creator, The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

John has spent the last decade building a home in every creative field he can find, working as a graphic designer, video editor, voice actor, illustrator, photographer, director, and writer. He has spent the last six years writing an original dictionary of made-up words, The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, which fills gaps in the language with hundreds of new terms for emotions, one of which (Sonder) has now entered the language outright.

Malishka Mendonsa

Radio Jockey, 93.5 RED FM

Whenever we talk about RJ’s, one name cannot be missed and that is Malishka! In addition to being one of India's renowned she is an actor, stand–up comedian, celebrity anchor and a travel & talk show host. Over the last 10 years, Malishka has become one with Mumbai by revolutionizing its Mornings. If she gets you laughing with her carefree conversations, she also influences your perspective to act on issues concerning your city. She is committed to her listeners and will go as far as possible to create an impact through her words.

Pawankumar Patil

Public Health Scientist

Dr. Pawankumar Patil is an artist, a physician and a public health scientist. He launched the ‘Nirmal hand-washing program’ that revolutionized the practice of hand-washing in a local community. Dr. Patil is now working on many more projects and being recognised by the World Health Organisation for his work in his field. He believes that every individual is a unique combination of dreams, potential, fears and drives and while facilitating positive transformation, it is imperative to understand the individuals and communities from all these dimensions.

Pratik Doshi

Entrepreneur- Founder, Cheeky Chunk

Pratik Doshi is a 24-year-old entrepreneur from Mumbai who runs Cheeky Chunk, India’s leading umbrella manufacturing company. In complete contrast to those around him, Pratik firmly believed that it is unique ideas and lateral thinking that make people successful, and not just good grades. He then embarked on a journey to be the purple cow in our field full of white ones and today his vision of transforming a utility into a fashion statement has succeeded.

Renuka Tahiliani

Chairperson, KBS Foundation

Renuka Tahiliani is a certified financial advisor who is not only the Chairperson of the KBS Foundation, but also the secretary of the ‘Equal Streets Movement’. Her motivation and excellent communication skills have enabled her to persuade the people around her to believe in her idea. Over the years, Renuka has reached out to multiple personalities who believe in her ventures to reduce pollution along the coastline and help the people to reclaim their streets. Her hard work and success in these ventures is visible through the events organized in Mumbai, including ‘Car Free Day,’ which eventually became ‘Equal Streets’. Renuka has a flexible ability to adapt to her environment and is confident about herself and need to accomplish her goals.

Roshni Mukherjee

Educationist

Roshni Mukherjee is an educationist working towards providing quality education free of cost for everyone through the medium of a YouTube channel by the name of ‘Examfear’. Recognized as one of the “100 women achievers” by the Ministry of Women and Child Development Government of India this year, Roshni is responsible for supporting the education over 1 lakh students around the world.

Sanket Avlani

Curator, Taxi Fabric

Sanket Avlani is an Art Director and Designer who has worked in the advertising and design industry for the last 7 years in Mumbai and London. Sanket has represented India at Cannes Young Lions Design and has designed identities for the likes of All India Bakchod, Neeta Lulla, independent music acts Aqua Dominatrix and Pangea, amongst others. Sanket is currently working on building his start-up, Taxi Fabric, a Kickstarter funded project that showcases Indian designers on taxi seat-covers in India.

Siddhartha Joshi

Travel Blogger

An industrial designer by profession, Siddhartha is a passionate travel blogger, photographer and most importantly a collector of stories - stories of people he comes across during his travels. Siddhartha has been to as many as 16 countries in the past 2 years and has come to realise that travel has the power to open up our minds, and make us more accepting to the differences between different cultures and eventually even has the power to make us all into one. “If I had one wish to fulfill - it would be to see a borderless world in my lifetime.” he says. “It might look like a utopian dream right now, but I think that the future will be more positive, and ideas like this will be discussed more.”

Vijay Thakur

Taxi Driver + Social Worker

Once a mechanical engineer with Larson and Toubro, 73-year-old Vijay Thakur is now a taxi driver. For the last 31 years, he has been driving a black-and-yellow taxi free of cost for anyone who needs to get to the hospital. Thakur now gets calls for delivery cases, from patients suffering from kidney stones, road accident cases and other physical injuries day and night. The back of his car has a white sticker: "Hospitalised patients are free in this taxi". His monthly income, close to ₹ 10,000 a drastic fall from ₹ 65,000 per month at L&T. Not only this, even after being urged by his family to stop the taxi business, he continues to follow his heart and save the lives if hundreds of people. Having faced a tragedy due to the unavailability of a taxi when his wife was having an abortion, he has promised himself that he will never turn down any passengers who are in an emergency. Strongly believing that money is not everything, this local hero continues to save lives of many Mumbaikars.