Theme: Ignite The Fire

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized (subject to certain rules and regulations).

Indian Institute of Management Trichy
Indian Institute of Management Trichy
Pudukottai main road, Chinna suriyoor
TIRUCHIRAPPALLI, Tamil Nadu, 620024
India

Aishwarya Sridhar

Wildlife storyteller

An explorer, writer, poet, storyteller, and presenter, Aishwarya dons many and was accepted as an Emerging Fellow at the International League of Conservation Photographers. An intuitive photographer rather than a technical one, she lives and breathes India and its wild untamed places teeming with big cats, racing blackbucks, and thundering waterfalls. She has penned more than 200 poems on Nature and her images, poems, and articles have been published in print and online editions of magazines and newspapers of repute including BBC Wildlife, Guardian, Mongabay, Sanctuary Asia, Saevus, and many more. As a photographer and artist, Aishwarya believes that visual communication has the power to change the world. To be able to tell a complete story in one frame- celebrating the beauty of wildlife. She shared her insights on her passion for photography and compared it to a road less traveled as in the poem ‘The Road not Taken’ by Robert Frost.

Mekha Thachankary

Social Entrepreneur

Defying the convention in India, Mekha decided to bet on her social entrepreneurial mindset and take on the challenge of helping underprivileged children in India. Her vision for creating a just society that provides equal opportunity for all its children led her to set up her first social venture to ensure that every child in orphanages receives the care, resources, and support to achieve positive adult outcomes. The model is focused on being a participatory model that mobilizes resources through community-based programs. With her passion for creating scalable and sustainable models of fundraising for the development sector and her past experiences in design and implementing charity fundraising events in several cities, Mekha is currently the Director of Partnerships and Product Design at Guardians. Her role includes launching and running various fundraisers with the help of volunteers as well as building corporate partnerships in cities where Guardians have a presence.

Nitasha Biswas

Transgender beauty pageant + Model + Actor

Proclaiming to the world that sheer determination, will power and faith can change ones’ life, Nitasha Biswas ventured on to find herself. She faced all obstacles head on, fought for her dreams and made them come true. She went on to become India’s first transgender beauty contest winner and is currently working as a model and campaigns for transgender rights. Her dream is to protect people with different sexual orientations from the humiliation and rejection which she had to face and help those who find it difficult to voice their sexual orientation, to do so without fear.

Pragnya Mohan

Indian triathlete

An Indian triathlete from Ahmedabad who in 2019, became the first triathlete to represent India in the Triathlon World Cup. She is the current South Asian triathlon champion, multiple times national champion and has won gold medals at the South Asian Games and the National Games.In 2015, she was decorated with the Eklavya Award (Senior), the highest state sports award. She is also a qualified Chartered Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. Pragya realized that her true calling was to be a sportsperson and immersed herself completely into the profession. She aims to bring more recognition to triathlon so that more people realize the beauty of the sport.

Sujith Kumar

Founder of Maatram Foundation

Infosys HR leader who is also founder of Maatram Foundation- an initiative through which higher education is provided free for students who are coming from deprived economic backgrounds. He is a motivational speaker who changed the perspectives of thousands of people. He has given 3 Tedx talks and is an inspirational speaker. Under the foundation, more than 1500 students were able to pursue higher education. Apart from the foundation works, he is also an HR leader in Infosys. He is known for touching the lives of several people and creating positive changes .