Theme: Pause to play

A "Pause" delivers two choices: continue along the same path or carve out a new one. Pause to reflect on your decisions. Pause to continue playing the game of Life. Pauses can be self-imposed or obstacles meant to teach us lessons along the way. In these Pauses, let's strengthen our skills to adapt and evolve.

"Pause to Play" promotes the idea of pausing to walk away stronger with a new outlook on Life. TEDxNITKSurathkal 2021 provides a platform for self-introspection, through narratives with the right combination of pause and play. We hope to motivate you to continue the hustle with experience and knowledge derived from our speakers' journeys.

YouTube Live Stream
TEDxNITKSurathkal Channel
Mangalore, Karnataka, 575025
India

Abhishek Banerjee

Actor | Casting Director

A man of many talents, Abhishek Banerjee has consistently proven that he is destined for the spotlight. A multi-facted thespian who built his way up in the entertainment industry through years of determined undertakings in the Kirori Mal College theatre to this memorable Bollywood debut cameo appearance in Rang De Basanti, he contines to grow big in the entertainment industry as a self-made star. Most recognizable as Hathoda Tyagi in the Indian Hindi-language crime thriller web televesion series 'Paatal Lok', for whic he was nominated as the Best Supporting Actor for the 2020 Filmfare OTT Awards. Abhishek has featured in many films and web series such as 'Mirzapur', 'TVF Pitchers', 'Stree', 'Bala', 'Ajji', 'No One Killed Jessica' and other splendid projects. Apart from acting, he casts, directs, writes scripts and even produces some of the projects he features in.

Meghana Chowdhury

Founders of WeUnlearn

Led by Pallavi Khare and Meghna Chaudhur, WeUnlearn impacts lives by building solutions across age groups to unlearn gender and mental health biases and discrimination. They are launching an AI chatbot Wulu, for adolescents to build their self-efficacy in dealing with gender and mental health issues. The chatbot uses a survey to categorize adolescents into low/medium/high risk (risk of being affected by gender bias and developing poor mental health). They recently launched Call-it, a card game for children that uses evidence and research based gaming principles to help them overcome gender stereotypes. WeUnlearn also has a strong online presence (community of ~27,000) where they empower youth to navigate the everyday world of bias and lead a gender-equitable life by breaking down complex social phenomena through research and facts into accessible bite sized chunks. Together, they plan to build a social enterprise in a more equitable world.

Minal Prabhu

Dancer | Mudrika Foundation

Smt. Minal Prabhu commenced her journey at Kalakshetra as a dancer, her training began for both Vocal Carnatic Music and Bharatanatyam; discovering her passion for the latter, she devoted hours while falling in love with the art form. Following her 10 years at Kalakshetra, she began stepping into the teacher's shoes, but never stopped her learning process. In 1976, she founded the Mudrika Foundation for Indian Performing Arts and is now one of the prominent dance gurus in India. She is an avid reader of mythological books and they form the base for all her productions. She strongly believes in sharing her art as she goes beyond the walls of her foundation to teach Aesthetics at the Natya Institute of Kathak and Choreography, conduct Bharathanatyam classes at the Attakalari Center, conducts overseas workshops and even create digital traning material for students. She has coveted numerous awards including the Karnataka Kalashree award, the title of Bharak Kala chudar and many more!

Padmini Rout

Chess Grandmaster

A young 26 year old who has already bagged the title of "International Master" and "Women Grandmaster", Padmini Rout has sealed her name as one of the most remarkable chess players in the world. Her father introduced her to the game when she was only 9 and it has been her passion since. A Potterhead and Star Wars fan, she is one of the most relatable speakers of this edition. Ms.Rout has won innumerable competitions and received the Biju Patnaik Sports Award and Eklavya Award. She is a 4-time National Women's Premier titleholder from 2014-17 and was Asian women's champion of 2018. She also played for the Indian national team at Women's Chess Olympiad, Women's World Team Chess Championship, and Women's Asian Team Chess Championship. She won individual gold medal while playing on the reserve board during the 2014 Women's Chess Olympiad in Tromsø, Norway and has been part of the Indian women's team in the subsequent Chess Olympiads in 2016 at Baku, Azerbaijan and 2018 at Batumi, Georgia.

Pallavi Khare

Founders of WeUnlearn

Led by Pallavi Khare and Meghna Chaudhur, WeUnlearn impacts lives by building solutions across age groups to unlearn gender and mental health biases and discrimination. They are launching an AI chatbot Wulu, for adolescents to build their self-efficacy in dealing with gender and mental health issues. The chatbot uses a survey to categorize adolescents into low/medium/high risk (risk of being affected by gender bias and developing poor mental health). They recently launched Call-it, a card game for children that uses evidence and research based gaming principles to help them overcome gender stereotypes. WeUnlearn also has a strong online presence (community of ~27,000) where they empower youth to navigate the everyday world of bias and lead a gender-equitable life by breaking down complex social phenomena through research and facts into accessible bite sized chunks. Together, they plan to build a social enterprise in a more equitable world.

Pragya Prasun

Acid Attack Survivor | Activist

Pragya Prasun, a acid attack survivor turned activist, social worker who has been fighting to provide relief and rehabilitation to fellow acid attack and burn survivors for the past eight years. Pragya had survived an acid attack by a jilted lover just 12 days after her marriage when she was 23. After her recovery, she started working to rehabilitate and empower acid attack survivors. She is the founder and secretary of 'Atijeevan Foundation', an NGO that apart from facilitating free-of-cost surgeries also provides avenues for income generation to several acid attacks and burn survivors by traning them to create handicraft products. Pragya is a post-graduate in Fashion Management, and for her various exemplary work in field of Social Welfare, She received the Nari Shakti Puraskar awarded by the Govt. of India. Pragya is also Ambassador and Mascot of Pinkathon, Ambassador of ASFI South India Chapter. She is also an Honorary Advisor to a few NGOs and social welfare communities.

Pranav Lal

Blind Photographer

Pranav Lal is a blind photographer. He suffered from Retinopathy of Prematurity at birth which resulted in him being completely blind ever since. However, this didn't stop the man from pursuing all that he was passionate about. Today, he is a cybersecurity professional who doubles up as a photographer. He is also an author of a blog 'Technesoterica' where he writes about technology related to sensory substitution. In 2001, he stumbled upon an augment reality device called vOICe. The software essentially converts images into sound which he heares through the headphones and determines what he is looking at. He once wrote a passage in his blog revealing, 'My tool of photography is the vOICe which allows me to both frame the subject and to experientially get a feel of how light is falling on a subject and how something will look.' Beyond being a master of one trade, Pranav is a self-taught programmer and traveller.

Raga D'Silva

LGBTQ Activist

She took the chance to shed her fears and live her truth. Finaly, Raga Olga D'Silva is a successful entrepreneur and Director of Speaking Minds. She has vast experience in the corporate sector and has worked in senior positions in advertising in India and New Zealand and has been recipient of several prestigious awards. Raga, chronicled aspects of this journey in her debut book, 'Untold Lies' and became one of India's most talked about authors in 2019. She chose to come out as a gay individual at a time when India had just decriminalized consensual homosexual conduct between adults. Raga is in a strong position to discuss from her own experience the everyday issues that minorities and the LGBT community faces. In a society that has feared and ostracized the LGBT community, she speaks to instil empathy in those who look down on it and to comfort those who are a part of it. Her natural and relatable style makes her an engaging and relatable speaker who is capable of moving the audience.

Viral Shah

Computer Scientist and CEO, Julia Computing

Viral Shah is an Indian computer scientist and is the co-founder and CEO of Julia Computing. Albeit a common belief that productivity and performance do not function in tandem in programming, he defied the odds through co-creation of the Julia Language, a high impact language that is now widely adopted all across the world. He was actively involved in the Aadhaar Project, which provided Indian residents a 12-digit unique identity number based on their biometric and demographic data. Based on his vast experience and exposure within this industry and with regard to the government of India, he co-authored the Book Rebooting India; a call to reshape the country. In 2019, he was awarded the J. H. Wilkinson Prize for Numerical Software for his work on the Julia Programming Language, and in 2013, he received The Spatial Ecology and Telemetry Working Group (SETWG) award for the co-creation of Circuitscape.