TEDx Bhilwara Salon- Of making connections and inspiring the community

On 7th November we held a small gathering of 30+, enthusiastic bunch of attendees. The idea was to meet like minded people, watch TED talks and discuss them further. End result? – A Saturday well spent with 30+ heads brimming with enthusiasm and ideas in-order to be the change they want to see.

We were lucky to have received a plethora of applications expressing their interest towards the meet-up and even luckier to have found our match! (our special 30 😀 ) Alright! Cutting short the drama. Our venue- Way2Coffee- a newly opened cosy cafe in the heart of Bhilwara turned out to be a perfect setting for the event with; just enough space, excellent seating and the smell of freshly brewed coffee. The clock struck 11 and we had a bunch of attendees coming right in, some shy others awkward, and there was barely any networking.

Everyone introduced themselves and we started off with the first talk – How to grow a forest in your backyard. The title is self explanatory and seems impossible at first, but it sure is achievable and the talk gives us interesting insights by the speaker on his journey of growing a forest in his backyard and taking it a step ahead. Some very amazing ideas were discussed on how something on the same lines can be taken up in our city with almost everyone ready to be a part of that initiative – you may get to read about it next 🙂


The second talk was by Bunker Roy, on his journey of establishing the Barefoot College. Barefoot college is a peculiar skill development and research center in Tilonia working towards the upliftment of the underprivileged. A rather engaging talk, where Mr Roy uses his wit along with startling achievements established throughout Barefoot’s journey. Having two people among us who volunteered at the college gave us insight on the living condition among the rural poor and why organisations like barefoot are needed for their good. A few attendees shared information about other such organisations in case anyone wants to be a part of them. By the end of the talk I overheard many wanting to volunteer at the college and utilizing their summers better- Isn’t that amazing?
   
The last talk we showed was something each one of you should watch. I guarantee you, it will inspire you to take up something new. The talk doesn’t require you to be searching for inspiration, nor does it work only if you are in a mid life crisis or stuck in rut. Matt Cutts ‘Try something new for 30 days’ is a lighthearted talk that sparks your imagination and makes you want to dwell deep into what you have always wanted to do, but you never did- for no apparent reason. We got some interesting things people would want to do after watching the same- Play Ukalele, Meditate, Sketch, Take a picture everyday.

 
Among all of that we did not realize when the time had passed, to end the meet-up at a lighter note we had Akash Deep playing some pepping songs and everyone swayed with the strings of his acoustic guitar. Remember the awkward shy crowd I mentioned in the beginning? Well, you couldn’t tell it is the same bunch.
 
Thank you everyone who registered for the event, we had a great time connecting with some bright minds in the community. Looking forward to meet more often.
Read about our past event here: TEDxBhilwara