Theme: See/Saw and what is yet to be seen

In a dynamic world with fast changing paradigms, TEDxIIMShillong is a platform to explore different angles on a menagerie of developments — spanning innovations in technology, social ventures, music and ground breaking ideas.
With speakers who are household names and others from closer to home, we look to explore and understand the balance between diverse perspectives, and the shifts in the status quo that time and pioneering initiatives have instigated.

Hotel Pinewood
IIM Shillong
Mayurbhanj Complex, Nongthymmai
Shillong, Meghalaya, 793014
India

Azeem Banatwalla

Azeem Banatwalla is the proverbial jack of all trades, and master of puns. An engineer-turned-writer-turned-comedian, he has extensive experience writing for print and digital media, having worked with National Geographic Traveller India and The Man Magazine. He has performed alongside American comedian Dwayne Perkins on his tour of India. Azeem is a part of the comedy collective “East India Comedy”. He has shared the stage with India’s top comics including Vir Das, Anuvab Pal, and Sorabh Pant. He’s currently touring his one-hour special “Out of my System” across India. Azeem specializes in observational and quirky humour, talking about topics ranging from sports to Bollywood to Indian culture. He has scripted shows and content for UTV and ACK Animation, and written projects for Wizcraft, Cineyug, YRF, Samsung and Adlabs Entertainment.  

Bertha Dkhar

Ms. Bertha G Dkhar, lost her sight due to incurable retinitis pigmentosa at the tender of 20 while she was pursuing her Masters at the Bangalore University. But in her loss she found the purpose of her life. Inventor of the braille code in Khasi, one of the major tribal languages of Meghalaya, she has dedicated her life to educating similarly disabled children from poor families in the region. As the Programme Coordinator, Mainstreaming Disability Unit: Education, Bethany Society, she educates blind children alongside others blessed with normal vision. In March 2010, Ms. Bertha was awarded the Padma Shri for her efforts and her unique model of schooling the visually impaired. She has also received the national award for Child Welfare from the Government of India in 2000.

Chithra Madhavan

An author and eminent research scholar in the fields of history and archaeology, Dr. Chithra Madhavan has an academic record steeped in history, finally culminating in her Ph.D. Dr. Chithra is one of India’s leading experts in epigraphy (having been conferred the Junior Fellowship in Epigraphy by the Department of Culture, Government of India for the period 2001-03), with extensive research on the relevance of temple architecture towards current day signs and practices. Over time, she has expanded her base of study from India to Southeast Asia with particular focus on Cambodia. Dr. Chithra has published a number of books on ancient Indian architecture, epigraphy and inscriptions.

Lou Majaw

Lou Majaw is a Khasi guitarist popularly known as the ‘One of the Biggest Fans of Bob Dylan in the North-East’. He was introduced to the music of Bill Haley and Elvis Presley at an early age, and himself learnt guitar in school. Majaw then moved on to Kolkata (Calcutta) where he played for various groups such as the Dynamite Boys, Vanguards, Supersound Factory, and Blood and Thunder. In 1966, Lou was introduced to Bob Dylan's work. Inspired by his music, he later organized a ‘Dylan's Birthday concert’ in Shillong on 24th May 1972. Since then he has organized the concert each year to pay obeisance to Dylan, with the shows eventually gaining national and international fame.

Muralikrishnan B

Mr. Muralikrishnan, is one of the fore-runners of the e-tail race. A graduate from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, he was one of the successful early movers in India’s e-business growth. He setup iWay, India’s first embracement towards cybercafés during his tenure at Sify. He then moved to eBay where he handled Product Management before taking over as the Country Head. A marathon runner, he quit eBay in 2013 to take up an entrepreneurial venture in the health space, with Almond Wellness Inc. and their visionary health app product – getfitgo. Mr. Muralikrishnan, was recently roped in as COO for IndiaProperty.com. He is an avid squash player, photographer and traveller.

Nikhil Vij

Nikhil Vij is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay and one of India’s young entrepreneurs. Nikhil co-founded TalentPad, a New Delhi based online recruitment platform that connects talent with employers in the technology/internet/analytics space. TalentPad is a fast growing full stack recruitment company focusing on premium jobs/candidates and working with 150 companies across sectors like e-commerce, online media, mobile, enterprise SaaS and online education. Nikhil conceptualized the engagement model of the company which is unique, seeking to reverse the traditional job equation by looking at the recruitment problem from a candidate perspective. Nikhil was a Quantitative Analyst at Morgan Stanley for two years before co-founding Clipr.in, a social e-commerce company focussing mainly on the social, emotional and psychological aspects of shopping.

Nitin Kakkar

Mr. Nitin Kakkar, easily one of India’s breed of virtuoso directors, shot to fame as the director of the television horror serial – Sssshh… Phir Koi Hai. His shift in focus towards films was highly rewarding. His debut film, Filmistaan, which dealt with the idea of binding India and Pakistan through films, was awarded the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Hindi. While he has received a lot of plaudits for Filmistaan, Mr. Kakkar has shifted his thoughts towards trying to use his films to ideate on and find the right ingredients for creating a better India through unconventional venues.

Varun Jhaveri

Varun Jhaveri is currently the UNESCO GAMAG Youth Representative. He has been associated with the work on youth participation, gender rights and media as an active Youth Advocate. Recently, he was invited by the Director General of UNESCO to attend the UNESCO Conference as a Plenary Speaker to speak on ‘Youth Advocacy as a Means to end Gender Inequality in Media’. He was also invited by Government of India to address the delegates from 15 countries on ‘Youth, Safety and Leadership’ at Global Youth Meets. He was recently chosen and invited as the Conference Ambassador for Harvard Project on Asian and International Conference. He is also associated with Teach for India as a Leadership Fellow.