Theme: Escape Room

The ever-changing socio-cultural scenario around us can be hard to navigate or even unpleasant at times. These are times when one feels their voice is not loud enough in his/her own life choices or when one feels locked up in a system charted by others.

This year’s theme, Escape Room, represents a gateway to a better world, better opportunities, and a better life. It embodies people who have clawed their way out of unkind and harsh situations by using everything that is accessible to them. They worked hard day in and day out to improve their situation and opened doors for others to do the same. Be it a technological innovation or a voice raised against the wrong, an example one set, a monotony one broke, an act that inspired others, a lead one took standing for a team or a section of society, and many more. It could be a story of an extraordinary ‘escape’ that happened in one's ordinary life. These stories can inspire more and more stories to happen and make the world a better place.

At TEDxSIUNashik 2021, we will broaden our horizons to garner actionable insights on how people stayed resilient during those times, unclasped those chains, and broke free.

Symbiosis Institute of Operations Management
Plot No.A-23, Shravan Sector
New Cidco, Nashik
Nashik, Maharashtra, 422008
India

Apurv Misal

Founding Team Member, Head - Marketing & Sales, Phool.co

Mr. Apurv Misal is a founding team member of PHOOL and he spearheads growth and revenue for the brand. PHOOL is a Kanpur based social impact enterprise that upcycles temple flower waste into organic consumer products such as incense. It employs more than 60 women coming from marginalised sections of the society.Apurv always believed social impact needs a better platform, sharper storytelling and the magic of marketing to ensure financial stability . Having previously helped early and mid-stage Fintech as well as E-commerce startups like Chumbak scale revenues , he believed PHOOL had the potential to become India’s first fragrance D2C brand. Scaling the brand from 10 orders per day to more than 1000 orders per day, braving a pandemic and bouncing back stronger, Apurv's journey with PHOOL has been an adventurous one. Part of the Stanford Seed program for startups , Apurv believes escaping his comfort zone was the best thing he could do towards his personal growth!

D.P.K Pillay

Shaurya Chakra,Research Fellow, Manohar Parrikar IDSA

Col. (Dr.) D.P.K Pillay is a war wounded and decorated veteran who is fondly remembered for his selfless action of rescuing wounded children before saving himself in Manipur for which he has been decorated with a Shaurya Chakra for gallantry beyond call of duty. He is also engaged in development and employment generation in the region where he was nearly killed. He has held key positions in Ministry of Defence and handled issues ranging from defence policy and strategy, implementation of the reform of national security system, defence cooperation with foreign countries. He represented India at various international forums including the UNOG for CCW conferences, UNGA, Shangri La Dialogue, ASEAN and UNEP, among others. Col Pillay is strong research professional with a PhD in National Security Policy Studies and now is pursuing research at IDSA and was nominated as a "Researchers who changed the world" by Routledge London.

David Gallo

Oceanographer and Explorer

Dr. David Gallo is an American oceanographer and explorer. With more than 16 million views his TED presentation “Underwater Astonishments” David has been among the all-time top TED Talks. He was one of the first scientists to use a combination of robots, autonomous vehicles, and submarines to explore the deep seafloor. He co-led an expedition to create the first detailed and comprehensive map of the RMS TITANIC as well as leading the successful U.S. effort to locate missing Air France flight 447. He has given 8 TED and more than 15 TEDx presentations and has appeared in numerous documentaries and televised international news programs. He is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, a National Fellow of The Explorers Club, a TED-All Star, a TED-Speaker Mentor, and a recipient of several prestigious awards.

Eldho Pachilakkadan

Founder of India's First Raw food restaurant - Primate , Naturalist, Evolutionist and Writer

Mr. Eldho Pachilakkadan, Founder of India’s first raw food restaurant and Founder of Utopia United Foundation, an NGO focusing on developing sustainable spaces and communities and also, Founder of ‘Birds’ Art Gallery. He is also a Founding Member of TNHS (Travancore Natural History Society). He is a Naturalist, Evolutionist, a writer, Farmer, Artist, Filmaker and many more. Eldho who was an architect for 16 years realized after a long stint, where his heart was and where he would like to have his future at. He shaped his destiny his way , converting 10 acres of barren land into a wild fruit forest to learn the ways of nature. An advocate of raw food, Eldho walks his talk and also, his family practices what they preach – cooked food is not real food.

Megha Jose

Founder - The Pawsome People Project

Ms. Megha Jose completed her undergrad in Computer Science and Engineering and worked with Cisco as a Project Manager for 3 years before quitting and joining Fortune Wealth Management as Director. As an animal lover, Megha started The Pawsome People Project in 2019 when she returned to Coimbatore. She started the NGO with an aim of creating a community of animal lovers and fostering peaceful co-existence between street dogs and humans. Her long-term vision for the NGO is to train street dogs as service dogs and help differently-abled people in India. Pawsome now has over 300 volunteers in 5 cities in India and has sterilised 208 dogs, aided in 111 adoptions and 77 fosters, and rescued 133 street dogs. Megha and her team have been featured nationally by India Today, Hindustan Times and many other media houses for their work during the pandemic. Megha’s journey with Pawsome was also featured globally by her favourite football club, Chelsea Football Club.

R. Vasudevan

Indian Scientist & Plastic Man of India

Dr. R. Vasudevan, a Padma Shri awardee, has contributed considerably for the environment through innovative ways of handling plastic waste. Fondly called as “Plastic Man of India”, he has been the brain behind laying the modern plastic roads which are highly durable and cost effective. He is a scientist, currently serving as the Dean, Department of Chemistry in Thiagarajar College of Engineering. His 42 years of teaching experience with publications in reputed international and national Journals paved way for obtaining the patent on laying flexible pavements from waste plastics. Meet the man who could guide us to handle plastics responsibly in a way that do not necessitate ban of plastics.

Rifat Jawaid

Founder of Janta Ka Reporter

Mr. Rifat Jawaid has been a journalist for over 24 years with 12 years spent working for the BBC in London across divisions and platforms including leading a global team of over 400 journalists spread across continents. Known for high-impact journalism, Rifat also had a brief stint with India Today Group where he worked as the Managing Editor-Newsgathering for four TV channels namely Aaj Tak, Headlines Today (Now India Today), Dilli Aajtak and Tez. He also worked with The Statesman and Rediff.com as the featured writer and eastern India correspondent respectively early in his career. Rifat launched the digital-only news website, Janta Ka Reporter, in 2015. The website became one of the biggest disruptors in Indian media within three years of its launch. In 2019, media outlets such as Business Standard and The Week included Janta Ka Reporter in the list of top 10 disruptive digital media houses to watch out for in 2019-20.