Theme: Let's Plunge into the World of Doers!

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).

H L College of Commerce
H L Campus, S V Desai Road
Navrangpura
Ahmedabad, Gujarat, 380009
India

Abhay Mangaldas

Founder, The House of MG

Having completed his MSc in Mass Communication from Boston University, Abhay Mangaldas is the Founder, Director of The House of MG, which is an Urban Heritage Hotel. He is the Convener for the Ahmedabad Chapter of INTACH and the Managing Trustee of Shreyas Foundation, an education institute for children. At the same time as being keenly interested in innovation, design and fitness, he believes in questioning paradigms.

Abhishek Jain

Founder, CineMan Productions; Film maker

A film maker and the founder of CineMan Productions Ltd., Abhishek Jain has been awarded ‘Trendsetter of the year 2012’ followed by ‘Innovative achievers award for contribution in Films & Advertisement’ by the Gujarat Innovation Society. He has played a part in the direction of a few critically acclaimed films including Guzaarish, Yuvraaj, Black & White and Chenab Gandhi. Having directed a few Gujarati films, he has also penned a biographical book ‘Aa To Just Vaat Che’.

Ankur Thakuria

Ankur is currently the Regional Manager, South East Asia for Tiqets.com; one of the fastest growing travel startups in the world. His prior stints include working with the WTO as well as leading expansion for Headout.com. The travel bug bit Ankur, when he was around the age of 12 and since then there has been no looking back. Today, Ankur has lived/visited over 450+ cities across 51 countries. He loves to share his experiences and has been in the TEDx circuit for sometime now, having spoken at 11 TEDx events in the past. Besides travel he has also worked as a youth diplomat for the foreign ministry, participating in several international diplomatic meet-ups including, G20 Summits, World Future Energy Summit, International Water Summit, Global Entrepreneurship Summit and World Economic Forum. He is a fellowship holder from the Kairos Society and Teach for India. Ankur was once the youngest Climate Leader in India and has worked as a mentor for StartUp Malaysia (under Malaysian Ministry of Finance) in the past years.

Ankur Thakuria

Youth Diplomat; Youngest Climate Leader

Ankur is currently the Regional Manager, South East Asia for Tiqets.com; one of the fastest growing travel startups in the world. His prior stints include working with the WTO as well as leading expansion for Headout.com. The travel bug bit Ankur, when he was around the age of 12 and since then there has been no looking back. Today, Ankur has lived/visited over 450+ cities across 51 countries. He loves to share his experiences and has been in the TEDx circuit for sometime now, having spoken at 11 TEDx events in the past. Besides travel he has also worked as a youth diplomat for the foreign ministry, participating in several international diplomatic meet-ups including, G20 Summits, World Future Energy Summit, International Water Summit, Global Entrepreneurship Summit and World Economic Forum. He is a fellowship holder from the Kairos Society and Teach for India. Ankur was once the youngest Climate Leader in India and has worked as a mentor for StartUp Malaysia in the past years.

Avni Sethi

Founder, Conflictorium Museum

Apart from being a Kathak dancer, Avni Sethi is the founder of Conflictorium. The museum which aims at becoming a world class resource on “peace and conflict” using Art, Law, Culture & the Behavioral Sciences in an integrated way shows how conflict is integral to life, but how a society manages conflicts reveals how mature it is. She is an interdisciplinary practitioner with her primary concern lying between culture, memory, space and the body.

Esha Manwani

Former Brand Strategist, Terribly Tiny Tales

A proactive, self-motivated woman who has worked as Senior Lead – Brand Collaborations, Terribly Tiny Tales; Partnerships and Strategic Alliances Manager, Housing.com; Content Associate, Zomato; Account Executive, Hanmer MSL and Junior Staff Writer, Haymarket Sac Publishing India, only to quit all of those and get into a business of hers. With a passion for literature, she has beautifully drawn a parallel between her personal relationships and her career in her talk at TEDxSayajigunj.

Esha Shah

Behavioral Trainer; Co-founder, Foodaholics

Esha is a corporate behavourial trainer and travels across India to train middle to top management for corporate giants such as Aditya Birla, Tata, Siemens and the likes. While her work is her devotion, food is her passion! Along with her friend and colleague (now husband) she started Foodaholics in Ahmedabad, a platform where diverse food lovers of the city could connect, talk, criticise and share views and reviews about food. Be it general dishes, showing off their domestic cooking skills or talking about the newest place in town - it was unlike anything Ahmedabad had ever been a part of before. Soon enough, they had a growing group of over 30k members. Which is when the duo decided to break the Guinness Record for the largest potluck in the world - they did it and how! With 1855 Amdavadis participating, the event was a massive success. A clear way forward and a heart full of good food and gratitude, Esha feels there isn't a single problem that a plate of hot food can't solve.

Harsh Chhaya

Actor

An Indian TV and Bollywood actor, Harsh Chhaya started his career in mid 1990s with a minor role in an Indian TV series. Gaining popularity with time, he has been a part of multiple big shot films that hit records at the Box Office, some of them being – Fashion, Bheja Fry and Jolly LLB. Apart from being an actor, he has also worked as a writer and director in a few films.

Indira Rangarajan

National Programming Head, Radio Mirchi

Having started in client solutions 10 years ago, Indira Rangarajan is now heading programming in radio nationally. She is the one who curates music for Radio Mirchi, Mirchi Love and the Top 20 chats. Managing Bollywood, Music and Label relationships for the network, she has set up a 2nd frequency station, hiring and training new teams, designing products, sound of the station, campaigns and marketing. She is also the Creative Lead for Music Mirchi Awards and Mirchi Top 20.

Joel Thottan

Chief Curator, Terribly Tiny Tales; Co-founder, Weaver Films

A writer and dog-lover, Joel has exhibited his creative skills through campaign strategies and execution, along with content creation and its supervision. A former digital strategist, he's also been the co-founder, director and head writer at his YouTube collective, Weaver Films. But a major part of his professional life has been associated with one of the most loved micro-fiction platforms of India – Terribly Tiny Tales. Having started as the Lead – Brand Collaborations at TTT, he has worked his way the post of an Assistant Curator to be the Chief Curator at present.

Kirat Damani

Cricketer, Ranji Trophy Skipper

Former Professional Cricketer and present lawyer, Kirat Damani, is the former Captain of Gujarat Ranji Trophy team and has represented English County In the Sussex premier Leagues. He is the founder of HL Reunited Cricket Club which supports young talented crickets who come from humble backgrounds. Apart from having represented West Zone in the Deodhar Trophy, he is also one of the selectors with Gujarat Cricket Association.

Mallika Jagad

Taj Attack Survivor; 26/11 Bravery Awardee

Having been with the Tata Group for over nine years, Mallika Jagad is one of the few Taj attack survivors. She has worked across different sectors and disciplines, starting her career with The Taj in 2006. Currently, she is a part of the core team involved in the Swachh Bharat Mission working with The Tata Trusts & The Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation. Given an opportunity, Mallika will work on disaster management as that comes naturally to her, in character with her nature and temperament. On a personal front, she loves competitive swimming, travelling and spiritual treks.

Manasvi Thapar

Founder, Candour Legal

Well known for his socio-political activities, Manasvi Thapar is the founder of Candour Legal - a first of its kind legal firm offering complete legal solution under one roof; Indus Mentors – India’s first and largest network of mentors, providing mentorship support to startups and SMEs. He is also the co-founder of Lothal Venture LLP, co-chairman of CII Gujarat and Executive Director & Mentor of Tapinnovations. Having mentored 150+ startups, he has also represented Punjab at national-level chess championship.

Pravinsinh Solanki

Head, International Center for India Crafts; Desginer

He is an Industrial Designer with specialization in Furniture and Interior Design from National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad with more than 15 years of experience working in India and Italy. He has worked on various high profile Interiors, Designing boutiques and Retails stores around the world. He is a Bamboo lover and creates Contemporary Luxuries products from Bamboo. Few of his bamboo products are well curated in World Bamboo Museum South Korea. His works are well published and has achieved many awards. At present he is a professor at NID, Ahmedabad heading Furniture and Interior Design, Center for Bamboo Initiatives and head of International Center for Indian Crafts.

Ruzan Khambatta

Social Entrepreneur; Zealous Techie

With a vision to lead development of revolutionary and innovative technologies, Ruzaan Khambatta has achieved success in her endeavors and led her team with a firm notion – “Do not meet the target, but beat the target”. Always wanting to innovate, experiment unconstrained by convention, she has been felicitated with the Global level Women Super Achiever and numerous other awards. Helping the mass movement for women empowerment, she is a regularly sought after speaker and panelist in the field of path breaking technology to Consumer Relationship Management and Management Issues.

Shilo Shiv Suleman

Shilo Shiv Suleman is an Indian contemporary artist, former TED speaker. Founder - The Fearless Collective, a collective of over 400 artists in India using community art to protest gender violence for which she was featured in a host of documentaries including Rebel Music by MTV. She was also felicitated with the Femina “Woman of Worth award” for her work with art and gender violence and the Futurebooks Digital Innovation award in London. She has created large scale installations that beat with your heart, apps that react to your brainwaves and sculptures that glow with your breath. She has also designed installations for some of the world's biggest festivals and conferences including Burning Man.

Tejas Bakre

Grand Master, World Chess Federation

Tejas Bakre, who has been officially awarded as the 11th grandmaster by FIDE, the World Chess Federation. He is also an esteemed alumni of H L College Of Commerce.