Theme: Alchemy of Choice

Over the years, TEDxIIMShillong has come to symbolize the dissemination of unconventional, path breaking ideas; stirring intellection and imaginative thinking have always been central to the underlying philosophy.

Based on the theme ‘Alchemy of Choice’, this year’s edition seeks to underscore the transformative power of choice.

Throughout our lives, we are faced with an alphabet soup of choices, and the dynamics of the process of decision making that ensues affects not just our own self, but also the people around us, and perhaps even the society at large.

The choice to be optimistic.

The choice to intentionally bring out the best in other people.

The choice to find hope instead of fear in the face of uncertainty.

The choice to give people the benefit of the doubt.

We make the choice to inquire, to be curious, and to challenge the status quo.

There are myriad instances when we’re overwhelmed by the sheer number of choices at our disposal, and ever so often, we are distracted from the bigger picture; more often than not, it is the individual choices that drive us away from the transformative, creative power of choices that we make collectively.

It is this paradigm shifting power of choice that we aim to underscore with this edition’s theme, ‘The Alchemy of Choice’. TEDxIIMShillong 2017 looks to transform, combine and create ideas to create a platform that invigorates new thought and inspires change. The tentative date for this year’s event is 18th February, 2017.

The format of TEDxIIMShillong will allow speakers and attendees to digest and debate the talks and encourage the exchange of ideas and information amongst all participants.

Hotel Polo Towers
Oak land Road, Near Polo Grounds
Shillong, Meghalaya, 793001
India

Asha Bhat

Asha Bhat is an Indian model, engineer, and beauty pageant titleholder from Karnataka. She represented India at Miss Supranational 2014 held in Poland and was crowned the eventual winner for the Grand Finale. In 2015, she was declared ‘Asian Beauty of the Year’. Later in 2015, she secured the third place in the Grand Slam Queen of the Year by the pageant website Global Beauties.

Deepika Narayan Bhardwaj

Deepika is a journalist, a documentary filmmaker, and a men’s rights activist. Her first documentary ‘Gramin Dak Sevak’ was Jeevika All Asia Livelihood Film Festival 2009, student film winner. Her second documentary ‘Youth Count’ was broadcast on India’s leading News channel NDTV 24×7. Her third project ‘Garima’ was a commissioned, short documentary film by USAID and Counterpart International. A software engineer turned Journalist, she was one of the ten media professionals selected from around the world for ‘Future Media Leaders Course’ conducted by Thomson Foundation, UK. She is currently working on a documentary titled “Martyrs of Marriage”, which is a commentary on the issue of men’s rights and abuse of one-sided gender centric laws in the Indian Penal Code.

Gaurav Gupta

Gaurav Jai Gupta, hand-loom purist at heart, was selected to be a part of the ‘Shared Talent India’ project in 2009 by the Centre of Sustainable Fashion. The Wills Lifestyle Fashion Week 2010 witnessed the debut of Gaurav’s collection in India. He was also one of the finalists at British Council and ELLE’s Young Creative Fashion Entrepreneurship Awards, 2010, India. Under his studio Akaaro, he has designed hand-woven accessories, clothing, and artifacts for interior spaces. He continues to work with world-renowned brands like Jimmy Choo and Swarovski.

Pankaj Bhadouria

Pankaj bid adieu to her 16-year long career as a school teacher to participate in the first season of MasterChef India. As the winner of this prestigious show, Pankaj is idolized as a professional with an endearing passion for her hobby. She has also hosted a number of TV shows, including ‘Chef Pankaj ka Zayka’ (Star Plus), Kifayati Kitchen (Zee Khana Khazana), and 3 course with Pankaj (Zee Khana Khazana) among many others. She is the first MasterChef Winner worldwide to have an official MasterChef Cookbook in her name, and has authored several other books on cookery. Her passion for cooking has led her to a number of other accolades as well; in the past, she has been recognized for her work by both Cambridge University and the BBC.

Sheila Sri Prakash

An architect and urban designer, Sheila holds the distinction of being the first woman in India to have started and operated her own architectural firm. She founded Shilpa Architects in Chennai in 1979, and has designed over 1000 completed architectural projects in her career spanning close to four decades. Acknowledged as one of the leading design thinkers across the globe, she served on the World Economic Forum’s 2011 Global Agenda Council on Design Innovation, a team of international experts in Design and Innovation, to formulate the Reciprocal Design Index – a sustainability matrix linking the parameters and metrics of sustainable design in terms of environmental, sociologic, and economic impact. She currently serves on the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on the Role of Arts in Society, in recognition of her signature works that feature art, culture and heritage. She is credited with being the founding practitioner-researcher who defined and identified the field of ‘Spaciology’, a discipline that recognizes the impact of space design and planning on society, and for leading the Infrastructure Sustainability efforts for the 2012 London Olympics.

Suhani Shah

At the age of 23 with a career spanning over seventeen years, Suhani Shah has achieved well beyond her years. She has established herself as a life coach, psychosomatic counsellor, hypnotherapist and illusionist as well as an author. Suhani’s enrapturing performances often include mentalism acts, visual effects, levitation and grand illusions. Her unique style of conveying messages through magic leaves the audience captivated and inspired at the same time. Over the years, she has touched the lives of thousands through her humorous yet powerful talks and has helped empower and enlighten many at her holistic retreat centre in Goa. Suhani has also penned some best-sellers like “Unleash Your Hidden Powers”. Having already published five books on self-help, Suhani has more planned for the future. Apart from maintaining a blog, she also has regular columns in numerous magazines where she shares her knowledge on mind psychology as well as her experiences gained through performing in more than 5,000 shows.

Tillotama Verma

Tilottama Verma made history in 2002 as the first female Indian Police Service Officer from the state of Uttar Pradesh to be awarded the president’s police medal for bravery. She was honoured with this award after a chilling encounter in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh saw her lead a team which chased down two armed robbers who had killed the cashier at a bank and run away with the money. Currently posted as Inspector General (Intelligence) in Uttar Pradesh, she has also been appointed as the Additional Director, WildLife Crime Control Bureau (WLCCB) under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. She now works towards saving lives of endangered animals and those often targeted for their ivory and hide. She does so by travelling extensively throughout the country strategizing and heading teams – from saving over 6,000 turtles belonging to a rare species in UP to holding sessions in the first national workshop on Capacity Building for Effective Wildlife Law Enforcement.