HYDERABAD: TEDxHyderabad is back with its seventh edition — Rising. Ahead of the event, we catch up with Viiveck Verma, licensee and curator of TEDxHyderabad, who talks about the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and, ultimately, the world.
Viiveck says that volunteers at TED are devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks. “Our theme this year — Rising — has been chosen specifically because the last two years were the toughest years faced by humankind due to the pandemic. Now that we are living in a co-Covid world, we have to find ways to rise. We will bring on stage powerful stories of people who have risen for what is right, against ills and evils, to make the world better, to revive what’s lost, but is important, for inner strength and for standing together for the community,” he shares.
Simply put, ‘Rising’ is all about how, when we are confronted with the fire of adversity, striving to succeed despite the odds and overcoming sorrow, we define ourselves more than what has happened to us, Viiveck says. He quotes Albert Einstein and says, “In the midst of every battle comes opportunity”. “Let’s choose our perspectives with care, as they shape our attitudes, and the right mindset will move us forward for the good of our community, country, and humanity. Let’s keep reminding ourselves and others to rise to the occasion and, despite all difficulties, and succeed. Let’s work together to raise the bar for what humanity is capable of by rising forever,” an elated Viiveck says.
He reminisces the journey so far, and says, “We started eight years back, and today TEDxHyderabad is among the top events in India and the top few events, globally. Our team members are passionate and senior professionals from different walks of life. We have organised more than 27 events with 90 local and international speakers. Our talks have over 7.55 million views and at our events, we have had 13000+ attendees. By being an active part of the TED community, we have managed to make Hyderabad’s presence felt, internationally.”
He adds that for TEDxHyderabad, it is not about a single main event every year. “It’s all about continuous community engagement all through the year and most importantly steady community growth and activities to bring successful role models and doers. Our events are cherished experiences for many with the flavour of salon events that add to the learnings. We have driven community-supported social change, using ideas originating from our events, he says names some of the most notable among their social impact activities to be the work being done by Kalpana Ramesh (recently nominated for an award by GOI in the space of environment) for her work in rainwater harvesting, lake revival, and revival of heritage stepwells, spoken about by PM Modi in his Mann Ki Baat address, a 120-minute, fully crowd-funded, feature film on farmer suicides and the agrarian crisis called Mitti – Back to the roots, and a biographical film on Padmashri Chintakindi Mallesham, that recognises rural innovation and the weaver community.
He opens up about what’s in store for the one-day event on September 18 and says, “We will be welcoming over 13 speakers and performers to share their experiences to remind ourselves, and others, to be rising constantly to the challenge, against all odds.” Some of the speakers include Emmanuel Raju, Chinnababu Sunkavalli, Dr Vyshnavie Sainath, Nirali Bhatia, Ritesh Bhatia, Abhay Deshpande, Shirin Merchant, Sabu Cyril, Sqn Ldr Abhai Pratap Singh (Retd.), Jocelyn Craugh Zuckerman, Parvinder Singh, Tinkesh Kaushik and R Sridhar, among others.