Lakshmi Pratury is the founder of Tamarind Grove, a group that builds connections and hosts events around the Indian community in India and America.
Why you should listen to her:
After more than a decade in marketing and venture capitalism, Lakshmi Pratury turned her focus toward linking her home country of India more tightly with the American tech community. Her firm, Tamarind Grove, runs meetings and events to spark dialogue and make connections.
Pratury worked at Intel for 12 years as a marketer and evangelist, then moved to a VC firm, Global Capitalist Partners. At GCP, she focused on connecting India's legendary software-development community with US tech. She began to focus more strictly on relationship-building with her move to the America India Foundation, where she founded the AIF's Digital Equalizer program, offering technology education to some 80,000 children and 2,000 teachers in India. She also launched the AIF Summit for social entrepreneurs from India. At Tamarind Grove, she plans events and meet-ups that will more tightly link the Indian and American tech communities.
"Q: What should a multicultural woman do to grow as a leader? A: I have always felt being a woman is an asset, being brown is an asset, having an accent is an asset. The thing that is most intrinsic to multicultural women is that they have great cultural sensitivities. Be comfortable with who you are and understand that you have an edge."Lakshmi Pratury interviewed on Invincibelle.com
Blog Posts on TED
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The lost art of letter-writing: Lakshmi Pratury on TED.com – December 20, 2007
Lakshmi Pratury talks about letter-writing, and shares a series of notes her father wrote her before he died. This short talk may inspire you to set pen to paper too. (Recorded March 2007 in Monterey, California. Duration: 4:09.)
Watch Lakshmi Pratury's talk on TED.com, where you can download it, rate it, comment on it and find other talks and performances.
Read more about Lakshmi Pratury on TED.com.
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Lakshmi Pratury: India turns 60, time to renew its vows – August 16, 2007
At TED2007, Lakshmi Pratury beautifully spoke about the lost art of letter-writing and its power. Founder of Tamarind Grove, which creates business and cultural links between the US and India, and a longtime TEDster, Lakshmi just posted on her blog her thoughts on the 60th anniversary of India's independence (that was yesterday, August 15): "In most Indian states, when someone turns 60, they renew their wedding vows. (...) If India is turning 60, who would it renew its vows with and what would each party say?" She starts by quoting India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, the eve of the independence: "at this solemn moment we take the pledge of dedication to the service of India and her people and to the still larger cause of humanity.” Then she proceeds to analyze the wows in the context of "the cause of humanity", discussing the destinies of the traditional elite (kings and princes), the middle class, the business conglomerate and tech elite (winners), and the poor, about which she says: "India has not delivered what it promised to them, but they delivered the spirit of India better than any other strata of society". "India is in a good place today. The world is watching us and the only hindrance to India becoming a super power is India itself. (...) It is only our humility of our capabilities and a dedication to preserving our culture that can catapult India into true leadership (...) while embracing the entrepreneurial and risk taking values of the west. It is my dream that the largest democracy, India and the richest democracy, U.S can work together to create a new democracy of ideas that can change the world we live in for a better tomorrow and this is my toast to the bride and the groom as they renew their vows on the 60th birthday". Read her full post. More
