Theme: Crossroads Of Change

We're at the intersection of it all, the T-junction of faith and scepticism, the convergence of local ideas and substantial realities, and the seams of dreams untold and unheard, all to watch the metamorphosis of a town, a community and it's people.

At TEDxYouth@Payyambalam, we hope to unearth the stories behind this shift of paradigm, to educate, encourage, inspire, to spark conversations, and perpetuate this movement of creation, wonder and ethics.

E K Nayanar Academy
Payyambalam Beach Road
Burnacherry Kannur, Kerala, 670013
India

Aminah Neemah

Writer, Student, Speaker

Neemah, unlike most college students, dedicates her spare time in bringing change to society. From being KSA’s best speaker at the age of 17 to working for children’s rights and managing a campaign for menstrual hygiene, she has made her mark. For Neemah, her language is her weapon, and she wields it wisely, setting the rhythm to your thoughts. Her compositions, reflect her inclusive mind and capture the conflicting subtleties of Gen Z - every line hitting home. She is all about transcending boundaries and tolerating ambiguity to weave together sections of society and celebrate its diverse colours like never before. Her perseverance is truly inspiring. How does she do it? With her secret weapons, of course - books and coffee, tons of them.

Anjana Mohan

Writer, Media-marketing professional, Engineer, Anchor

Anjana is a biotechnology engineer turned media-marketing professional and writer. Chosen as the best outgoing student in her college, Anjala is someone is unfailingly follows her heart and instinct. She's a published author and occasional anchor and host. As a writer, she romanticises the written language and plays with words to create prose and poetry that portray the poignancy and mundane experiences of human life and the mystical joys of nature. She is a regular blogger who is always in awe of the surreal process of writing. A dreamer herself, she believes that the universe is her friend, along with the trees, the shrubs, the moon, the wind and the seas. Her muses span from the witty, wise and affable Nepali watchman of her apartment, her furry love Oshin and all the way up to the sporting legend Roger Federer.

Aysha Mahmood

Activist, Psychologist, Founder of Soochi Embroidery

Ayesha Mahmood is a psychologist who worked at the Unity Hospital during the initial years of her career. She took up the job of a counsellor at the Kerala Prison's psychology wing after her training in criminal psychology. In an attempt to engage in activism, she joined Greenpeace as Actions Coordinator. She curated protests on genetically modified crops, climate change, e-waste, deforestation and the works. Later on, she worked with Sahiyo and helped unmask the truth behind Female Genital Mutilation in Kerala. For this work, she received the Laadli Awards in 2017. She is the co-founder of Ofir Food and Culture Festival, Calicut. Her business venture, 'Soochi Embroidery', was born out of her urge to learn feminism and unlearn patriarchy with the very befitting tagline - 'Soochi is a very sharp needle I use to punch holes in patriarchy and misogyny'.

Dr. Sabeer T.K.

Doctor, Founder of Diacare Centre For Diabetes & Endocrinology

Dr Sabeer T.K. has eighteen years of experience in helping patients. He specialises in the treatment of lifestyle diseases and has presented papers to various organisations like the World Diabetes Foundation (WDF), European Association of Study of Diabetes (EASD), Malabar Endocrine Society (MENDOS) to name a few. As an avid exercise buff himself, the logo of his clinic 'Diacare' - set up in 2003 - aptly illustrates that regular exercise, a healthy diet and medication is key in battling diseases. As a doctor, he always finds creative ways to promote a healthy lifestyle to his patients and engages himself in marathons, swimming and cardio workouts. As a cycling enthusiast, he bikes to his workplace. Sabeer has participated in various events to raise health-centric awareness and is a regular speaker for the Dialogue Centre, Kannur.

Jabir Karat

Founder and CEO, Green Worms Waste Management Pvt Ltd

Jabir Karat is an Indian social entrepreneur who founded Green Worms, a waste-management enterprise based in the state of Kerala. Jabir, and the Green Worms team work on multiple projects to fulfil the Green Worms mission. This includes projects like dry-waste collection, waste-auditing, waste-literacy training, zero-waste events and sustainable product destruction. Jabir's novel initiative of ‘Zero Waste Events' has been widely recognized throughout the country, with more Indian event managers adopting it. Apart from this, he and his team have been instrumental in conducting several workshops and waste literacy programmes in educational institutions, disseminating their knowledge to students on the different types of waste, segregation, recycling and composting

Mir Mohammed Ali

IAS Officer

Mir is an officer of the 2011 batch of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), serving in the state of Kerala. In August 2016, Mir got posted as the District Collector of Kannur. As the District Collector, he was the prime mover behind the transformation of Kannur into India's first plastic/disposable-free district. His most recent initiative was a timely project titled 'Satyameva Jayate' (Truth Alone Triumphs) that trains teachers and students to identify, vet and respond to misinformation and fake news online and covered over 200 schools in Kannur. Under his leadership, Kannur received 5 Kerala e-Governance Awards from the Chief Minister of Kerala in January 2019. The core driving force of Mir's work focuses on bringing together stakeholders from the government, private sector and members of society, in the interest of achieving important social goals.

Nived Nath

Businessman, Musician

Nived Nath, a Master degree holder in Strategic Marketing from the University of Wollongong, forayed into the family business of running multi-branched bakery and restaurants, that has been operating for three generations - Sheen Bakery, a sister concern to the Venus group - has a success story in its stride. Nonetheless, Nived, a tech-savvy millennial, wanted to leave no stone unturned to take the business to greater levels. His exposure to the Middle Eastern market made him recognise the importance of extensive digital marketing in building a virtual market space. After realising that a powerful online presence could catapult his establishment to unforeseen heights, he successfully coalesced both postmodern baking and culinary techniques with the traditional ones, without compromising on the quality. A happy customer is a lifelong asset and Nived goes a step further to bring a smile on his customer's face.

Ronit Ranjan

Ex-Indian Army Cadet, Writer, Activist, Peer Educator

Ronit Ranjan first ventured into the National Defence Academy, Pune to serve his nation in 2015. Two years into his time at the academy, a career-ending back injury made him permanently unfit for the Armed Forces. Thereafter, he took up Social Sciences at Christ University, Bangalore. At the age of 21, he published his first book, 'The Mighty Mustang', for which he was declared as one of the 'Top 100 Debutant Authors of India' by LiteraturesLight. He became an avid performer of his works in and around Bangalore. After he began to realise the need to amplify voices on critical issues, he became a certified peer educator on his campus and talked to students about mental health, patriarchy, feminism and so on. He has delivered talks on self-help and mental well-being through his story at several platforms including the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS).