Theme: Why Not?

The statement “Why Not?” contains an abyss of meaning and possibility, far too much for a simple pair of monosyllabic words. “Why Not?” isn’t merely a rhetorical question; no matter what you say, one can always ask why, the only way you can end this is by saying “Why Not?”. “Why Not?” encapsulates the essence of human innovation. “Why Not?” breaks the chains and loops of linear thinking that we tend to settle into. “Why Not?” is creativity, “Why Not?” is the realization of the fact that there exists a vast sea of knowledge that you haven’t dived into yet.

Mahindra École Centrale
Survey No. 62/1A , Bahadurpalli , Jeedimetla
Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, 500043
India

Airplane Poetry Movement

Shantanu Anand and Nandini Varma founded Airplane Poetry Movement (APM) in December 2013, with around a bunch of turning up at their initial events. A year and a half later, they already have a national presence, with events across Pune, Mumbai, New Delhi and Bengaluru.

Dr. A. V. Gurava Reddy

Dr. A. V. Gurava Reddy is an Internationally recognised, Indian Orthopaedic Surgeon and Joint replacement expert. One of the leading surgeons in India, he is the Managing Director and Chief Joint Replacement Surgeon at Sunshine Bone and Joint Institute - Sunshine Hospitals, Hyderabad.

Dr. H L Prasad Bhat

Dr Prasad Bhat obtained his Master’s and PhD degree from Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department, IISc. He was a technology consultant for Texas Instruments and in the past co-founded Streamoid Technologies Inc, Bangalore. He has co-authored a book on stochastic optimization techniques in Springer Link, 2013. He has expertise in several domains of engineering such as (a) control and automation engineering, (b) electrical and electronics engineering, (c) computer science, (d) multi-agent systems, (e) stochastic systems, (f) image and video processing. Along with Dr Neha Satak, he has co-founded Astrome technologies which is a space technology company with plans to provide Internet service from space by 2020. Astrome is currently developing a very high-capacity communication device suitable for making Internet delivery from space cheaper by more than 100 times compared to ground technologies and about 10 times better than other upcoming internet from space solutions.

Hariharan Krishnan

Hariharan Krishnan, born in Mumbai, is an Indian film director who has directed films in Tamil, Marathi and Hindi. He formed the "Yukt Film Co-operative" in 1976. He has been the former director at L. V. Prasad Film and TV Academy, Chennai. He has to his name, 8 feature length films and over 350 short films and documentaries. An alumnus of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), he has won a National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil for "Ezhavathu Manithan" in 1983. He believes that the mainstream cinema has played in the creation of a unique national identity for the people of India.

Kaartikeya Bajpai

Kaartikeya Bajpai, 22 a JN Tata and Sir Dorabji Tata Scholar and journalism graduate, is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief The Bombay Review. He currently lives in New York, and is completing his Master’s in Creative Writing. This is his fourth TEDx talk. In 2016, he was one of the awardees of the ‘25 under 25 Change Makers in India’ award in writing, represented India at a 10 day Global Leaders conference in Macedonia, won the Starr Research Grant for research on literature in China for a month and has been a panelist at numerous literary festivals across India. He has also given guest lectures at Lady Sri Ram College, Ashoka University, St Xaviers Mumbai, TISS, Symbiosis, Kc College among others.

Ragamuffins

The Ragamuffins are an Indie Rock band from Hyderabad, India. Started in 2015, the band is made up of Pradyun (leads), Pranati (rhythm guitar + vocals), Ricky, Rex (bass) and Dev (percussion). They were one of the bands from all over the country that played on the Red Bull Tour Bus. With an experience of a year, they aim to reach the heights of success and become a renowned name in the indie music industry. The band members came together with the idea of Ragamuffins to spread music and love around the world.

Shaivya Singh Rathore

An educator and a climate activist, she is working towards solutions to what arguably is one of the biggest challenges we will ever face as a species. Shaivya currently works with 2041 to gather leaders from all around the planet to brainstorm and generate solutions to combat climate change. She will also be a part of the International Antarctic Expedition 2017 as a leadership coach.

V.R.Kaundinya

Mr.V.R.Kaundinya is an expert in the field of agriculture and specifically with reference to the business of agricultural inputs. He has a total experience of about 35 years which includes 22 years in the agrochemical industry and 13 years in the seed and biotech industry. He was the Director General of the Agricultural Group, ABLE and is currently a frequent guest lecturer at various management institutes including IIMA. He has also co-authored a book titled 'Agri Input Marketing in India' with Prof Venugopal of XLRI.

Manish Advani

A gold medalist in management from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, he is an expert in the science of marketing and advertising. He also was awarded the Brand Excellence award from IIM and currently is working as the Head of Marketing and Public Relations at the Mahindra Special Services Group.