Instant Answer

Hallelujah! All glory to God for whom nothing is impossible. Thanks to our prayer answering God, Ravi Kumar has agreed to come. Team Eureka is definitely relieved. 

Where does my help come from?

"I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
   where does my help come from?
My help comes from the LORD,
   the Maker of heaven and earth."                                                  
This psalm from the Bible reminds me how amazing and overwhelming it is to know that I have a heavenly Father, the creator of the universe and my maker who loves me and is able to help me out when nothing or no one else can. He's the only one who is not only always available but always able to help. Indeed It's because He lives that I am alive today and I know it's because He lives that I can face tomorrow.
This reminder is reassuring when TEDxSabarmati is in situations like the present. It has been quite a tough day today for Team Eureka as they face a potential drop out among the speakers. Getting one of our most anticipated speakers, Ravi Kumar (Lingo Boy) who lives in Mumbai to come to Ahmedabad is a major challenge as there seem to be new hindrances coming up. We are looking forward to hearing him speak. We're doing our best and counting on God to do the rest.

Ahmedabad Mirror, Here we come!

Entered Fadia Chambers for the first time today. For the uninitiated, that's the building that Ahmedabad Mirror calls it's office. I accompanied Aastha Kankariya, Zubeen Agarwal and Keval Hutheesing of the great Team Eureka who were there so AM reporter Dhwani Pathak could interview one of the speakers of TEDxSabarmati, Ravi Kumar, also known as Lingo Boy, a peacock fan selling wonder in Mumbai who can market his fans in around 12 foreign languages. This 17 year old boy who does not have a formal education can speak in French, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish and Russian among other languages to convince tourists to buy his fans. This multi-linguist not only sells fans made by his grandmother in Mumbai but has fans around the globe. Its time for this Bhavnagar boy to get recognition in Aapnu Amdavad and we hope that Ahmedabad Mirror will be just the tool to get him the appreciation for his keen business acumen and quick learning skills. By the way, if this is the first time you are hearing of Lingo boy, you can check out his Youtube videos on this blog (read earlier posts).
Speaking of firsts, another place I walked into for the first time was Metropole Hotel where Team Eureka had gone to make sure that our distinguished speakers would be given some good food and drink just like the delicious Iced Tea they had at the cafe at Natrani today. Accomodation is accounted for, food and drink is being taken care of, looks like the TEDxSabarmati speakers are in for a time as delightful as their talks.

Professor Suresh Lalwani

I pray before I dial the numbers. Pen in hand, recorder open on my mobile. I am ready. No answer even after two calls. Hardly a minute passes before the Professor himself calls back though. He starts speaking and I realize I haven't turned on my recorder yet. Oops, looks like I have to ask him to wait. He very kindly obliges and I accidentally disconnect the call. So far so great. Anyway, I press redial and the interview has begun. Thankfully, there were no (more) mishaps.

Suresh Lalwani is the young 27 year old Chief Mentor for ProED Academy and Navkar Institute of CA & CS Gandhidham. As Assistant Professor at the Tolani Institute of Management Studies, he spoke about how the role of education is not only in helping a person understand technical aspects or simply making a person's career but also in stimulating thought processes and making them think rationally. There certainly is no dearth of education in Prof. Lalwani, he completed his Faculty Development Program from Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad. His excellent performance in Post Graduate Diploma in Management (Finance) was acknowledged by Dr. Kiran Bedi by whose hands he was awarded a Gold Medal. That's not all, he has also completed his Post Graduate Diploma in Human Resource Management and studied Chartered Accountancy (Intermediate), M.Com (Costing) and Honors Diploma in Computer Science. If that weren't impressive enough, he is currently pursuing a Ph.D. from Symbiosis International University of Pune in the area of Diversity in Human Resource Practices.

The intellectual and philosopher in the professor is reflected in his choice of books and movies as well. History, fiction and autobiographical books appeal to him as do thought provoking movies like Deepa Mehta's triology.

Looks like all those expecting food for thought at TEDxSabarmati can take note, Prof. Lalwani is just the person serve you a feast.

All aboard!

Aha, I'm on the train to TEDxSabarmati and it's racing along! I finally got to meet Team Eureka, the core team,  who had a brain storming session yesterday. Around eight lattes were downed and a million ideas came up. Working towards making this event a rewarding experience. The people who are slated to speak at the event are special in their own way and I'm waiting to hear what they have to say. Not just on the mic at TEDxSabarmati but also on their phones during their interview.Yup, I hope to get personal interviews exclusively for TEDxSabarmati! Meanwhile, loads of other work is going on with the lights, stage design, sound and other aspects being worked on. Prateeq Kumar, one of our speakers very kindly agreed to design our passes and website. Woot, everyone's working at full pace!

One Ticket to TEDxSabarmati, Please.

The bottom of my laptop is becoming hotter by the minute. My Facebook chat status has switched to Idle. A quick glance at the clock and some not so quick mental arithmetic tells me that it has been 27 minutes since I sat down in front of my laptop with my right foot tucked under me and a glass of apple juice by my side. The drink is still untouched and my foot is now tingling. I still haven’t figured out what I am supposed to write. Writing an article that will be my ticket to being a modest part of TEDxSabarmati is no trivial task. Contemplating it gives me strange feeling, it’s how most people feel when they are standing first in line, on top of the highest and steepest slide they’ve ever seen.  After all, TED talks feature some very inspired and inspiring people. Besides, I’ll have something to say during those awkward moments when people ask me what I’m doing this vacation. So anyway, I want to give it a shot, what I hope is my best shot, and try to fill in the prestigious position of Blog Manager of TEDxSabarmati. The clock now shows 33 minutes and as I stare at my screen again, I sigh. Crafting article, what on earth is a crafting article? I haven’t the slightest idea. Neither Google nor Collins Dictionary have been able to answer and every time I try to open a chat window to ask Aastha, she goes offline. What am I to do? Except of course, write 297 words to say that the last two lines of her most recent Facebook message have filled me with more anxiety than she knows, until she reads this, of course.


-Adnah Bright

-          

Ravi Kumar (Aka Lingo Boy all over the YouTube)

So This is it. (A Worth Watch)

Watch this video, and tell us about your reaction if we get Ravi Kumar (aka Lingo Boy all over the Youtube) to be one of the speaker at  TEDxSabarmati.

Ravi Kumar a completely uneducated Slum boy who sells Peacock Fan outside Hanging gardens but he can speak in 12 Different Languages to market and sell his product (peacock fans).

"The Awesome Story"

"The 3A's of Awesome"

"Creativity is as important as Literacy in today's Education world"

Do Schools kill creativity?

What is TEDx?

TEDx was created in the spirit of TED's mission, "ideas worth spreading." The program is designed to give communities, organizations and individuals the opportunity to stimulate dialogue through TED-like experiences at the local level.

At TEDx events, a screening of TEDTalks videos -- or a combination of live presenters and TEDTalks videos -- sparks deep conversation and connections. TEDx events are fully planned and coordinated independently, on a community-by-community basis.

What you'll find at every TEDx event:

The content and design of each TEDx event is unique and developed independently, but all TEDx events have several features in common.

•              TED's celebrated format: A suite of short, carefully prepared talks, demonstrations and performances (live, or just TEDTalks videos from TED.com) on a wide range of subjects to foster learning, inspiration and wonder -- and to provoke conversations that matter

•              TEDTalks videos: A minimum of two pre-recorded talks from the acclaimed TEDTalks video series (these talks are available free on TED.com)

Bias-free programming: Lack of any commercial, religious or political agenda

A Flowing River of Ideas

On a sunny afternoon in 1411, on the banks of the river "Sabarmati", Ahmed Shah got his "Eureka Moment" and decided to lay the founding stone of a new establishment after observing a courageous rabbit scaring off a bully dog. That establishment has now turned into the sprawling metropolis called "Ahmedabad".

Over the years, the river Sabarmati has flow parallelly with the flow of ideas on its banks. Beginning with Ahmed Shah, here have been numerous individuals who have had the click of the lightbulb, that is their Eureka moment on the banks of this river. It startedout with the various Jain merchants who had migrated form Rajasthan looking for newer business opportunities. A lot of the businessmen set up their first ventures right on the banks of this city.

Soon came the industrial revolution and the era of the textile industries in Ahmedabad. This textile revolution started out as the brainchild of a few rich merchants while they were strolling on the banks of Sabarmati. Soon this idea grew to such an extent that Ahmedabad was nicknamed "Manchester of India". At a certain point of time in the 20th century, there were over 20 mills on the banks of the Sabarmati.

Talking of Sabarmati, how can one forget the Sabarmati Ashram which was the prime residence of the Mahatma himself. It was in the courtyard of this residence on the banks of the Sabarmati where Mahatma Gandhi planned the Dandi march which is said to be one of the most successful peace protests in the history of mankind. 

Today, the banks of the river Sabarmati are the locations of one of the most modern developments in the city- The Riverfront. It is this idea that will change the face of the city for eternity. From the past to the future, this river has been witness to a truly revolutionary "Flowing River of Ideas".