TEDxXIMB 2017 was organized at Xavier Institute of Management, Xavier University Bhubaneswar on January 15, 2017. TED is a non-profit organization devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks by the leading thinkers and doers of the day. Independently run TEDx events help share powerful ideas and thoughts in communities around the world. This fourth edition of TEDxXIMB had speakers from diverse walks of life such as Mr. Anwesh Kumar Sahoo, Mr. Gay World India 2016 and prominent LGBT rights activist, Mr. Anand Ranganathan, researcher at the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Delhi and a contributing Editor at Newslaundry, Mr. Raul Villamarin Rodriguez, Criminal Intelligence Officer at Interpol and counter-terrorism specialist, Ms. Jagi Mangat Panda, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Ortel Communications Limited, Mr. Qaushiq Mukherjee AKA Q, film-maker and rapper, Mr. Sarath Davala, sociologist and founder of the India Network for Basic Income and Mr. Suvankar Mishra,CEO of eKutir Global. The theme for this year’s event was ‘Scripting the Change’ and the speakers brought it forth excellently.
Mr. Anwesh Kumar Sahoo was the first speaker. His talk, titled ‘Tapping Into your Alice’ was intensely personal. He shared the trials and tribulations he had to endure, growing up in a society that did not know how to deal with individuals who did not conform to established gender stereotypes. He left the audience with an inspirational message: “One individual willing to make a difference can change the world.”
Mr. Anand Ranganathan was next. His topic was, ‘To Kill a Mocking bug: Darwin to the rescue.’ He threw light on his research on the subject of Directed Evolution and Pathogenesis with a special emphasis on combating Multi-Drug Resistant Tuberculosis and Malaria.
Raul V. Rodriguez followed with the topic, ‘Deception in Management Education.’ He had an interactive and freewheeling session with the audience, speaking about how deception was an inescapable part of the modern, transaction-driven society that we are live in. He averred, “Business people want to have it both ways: they want to lie to a customer and then act as if they haven’t done it.”
The next speaker was Ms. Jagi Mangat Panda, whose topic was: ‘Breaking the glass ceiling: Women entrepreneurs in India.’ Drawing from her own experience as a media entrepreneur in a male-dominated sphere, she spoke of the deeply ingrained gender stereotypes in society that are extremely difficult to overcome.