In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized (subject to certain rules and regulations).

Ram Chhatpar Shilp Nyas
Mahesh Nagar Colony, Samne Ghat
Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, 221005
India

Almitra Patel

Being encircled by science from a very young age, the curious Almitra Patel went on to become the first Indian woman engineer to graduate from MIT. She successfully headed a refractories firm for over 30 years after which her inclination shifted towards environmental issues and since 1991, she’s been an active self-taught garbologist. When she filed a countrywide PIL to enforce hygienic waste management and was appointed to a Supreme Court Committee for Solid Waste Management, it resulted in India’s first Municipal Waste Management Rules. There has been no stopping this woman ever since as she still works actively on this front to awaken the citizens of India towards eco-friendly living.

Ashutosh Kumar

Ashutosh Kumar, an engineering graduate from IIT Kharagpur, heard about Jagriti Yatra when it first came to the fore years ago and has been related to it ever since. As its Executive Director, he is the man who popularized Jagriti Yatra, a name that is today a national phenomenon. The vision behind Jagriti Yatra has been “building India through enterprise” and Ashutosh has an immense contribution in upholding this vision right since day one. In the past 9 years that he’s been directing it, Jagriti Yatra has immensely helped over 4000 aspiring youths, giving rise to around 1000 enterprises! It has become so successful a ‘movement’ that it has been iterated in countries like France and USA. He is also closely associated to Jagriti Enterprise Centre - an initiative to support scalable enterprises that can generate employment, create livelihoods, and thus foster economic prosperity in the regional level. Ashutosh is also a member of India@75 Taskforce for Skilling and Entrepreneurship, an initiative by CII (Confederation of Indian Industry). Apart from this, he takes keen interest in theatre and has created several short films.

Dr. Sukant Khurana

Dr. Sukant Khurana is a trained behavioral neurogeneticist, who also exudes his charm in the fields of electrophysiology, data science, artificial intelligence, computational neurobiology and drug discovery, to name a few. There’s another side to him - one that brings to light a tremendous talent in visual art. He has conducted various exhibitions where he sold paintings. Thinking out-of-the-box, he has experimented with creating art through fire, water and even shooting bullets.

Kalyani Khona

Driven by her desire to see a truly inclusive society and armed with a game-changing solution, Kalyani Khona took the plunge and found Inclov, the world’s first matchmaking platform that helps find a life partner for people with disabilities and health disorders. Inclov, which is primarily a mobile app is complemented by an offline platform called Social Spaces that allows people to meet in-person and get to know each other better. She has designed the app in a manner that it suggests matches based on an individual's medical condition, availability of cure, level of independence, and lifestyle choices.

Mohammed Asif Iqbal

Though blinded at the age of 16, Mohammed Asif Iqbal went on to achieve only great things in life. He became the first commerce graduate from St. Xavier’s college, Calcutta and also the first blind MBA(HR) from Symbiosis Centre for Management and Human Resource Development, Pune. Having an extensive knowledge in the HR and IT field, Asif has been a regular speaker at prestigious institutions like CII, SHRM, National NHRDN, and Assocham. He currently works at the reputed consulting firm, Price Waterhouse Coopers.

Nidhi Chaitanya

Deeply grounded in the life principles and vision of Swami Chinmayananda, Brahmacharini Nidhi Chaitanya is the new generation mentor and messenger of love. She is a spiritual teacher unlike any other, having the most practical answers for all your troubles and innate queries, inspired from the ancient and sacred manuals of life - the Bhagwad Gita and the Upanishads. An avid Facebooker, a prolific writer, a wonderful blogger, and a suave poetess, she bagged the Women Game-Changer award from the All India HR club in 2015.

Nidhi Nasiar

A Teach for India fellow currently impacting students in a low income private school in suburban Ahmedabad, Nidhi remains an ardent explorer of ways to nurture the self. She lives her life from behind the spoken word lens with nature as her muse. Brought up in various cities of the country, she reflects the multitude of flavours in the cultural spectrum thus facilitating her to map specific social situations with corresponding behaviour patterns. Her engineering degree comes to the rescue to provide a solution centric approach to handle even the emotional outbursts. Simple yet relatable unless her dramatic hand gestures and ebullience manage to scare you off.

Pooja Rai

Pooja Rai is a passionate entrepreneur and a budding author. An architect from IIT Kharagpur, Pooja is the co-founder and CEO of Ant Hill Creations, an organization based in Bengaluru which aims to bring back play in the lives of kids all across the country while combating the problem of waste. Though still in its early years, Pooja's venture has proven to be a master stroke- an idea that is not only reforming mindsets but also resolving the critical problem of resource utilisation in the country.

Raamesh Gowri Raghavan

Raamesh Gowri Raghavan is a man who moonlights as an award-winning copywriter by day and daylights as an award-wanting poet by night. While he likes to juxtapose archaeology and literature, he also enjoys maintaining a literary journal and running off to an occasional trek in search for adventures. Not stopping at just that, Raamesh indulges in peer counseling for suicide prevention from time to time and takes an active interest in learning new languages.

Sabika Naqvi

Passionate about poetry, Sabika Abbas Naqvi, a history graduate from Lady Shri Ram College, aspires to change the ‘normal’ order of society through ‘resistance,’ ‘reclamation,’ and ‘subversion.’ It is through her attention to detail, that Sabika loves to challenge the norms of patriarchy and misogyny. She is the proud founder of Sar-e-Rahguzar: Poetry on the Streets! She moonlights as a performative protest poet who uses the language of poetry to spread love and ideas of intersectionality and express her innate thoughts. Passionately serves as a consultant on gender issues and presently strives as an alternative educator trying to reform the school education system.

Tarun Katial

With an experience of over 20 years, Mr. Tarun Katial is a man who single-handedly revolutionized the media and entertainment landscape of India. He has helped in creating some very unique and iconic content for the broadcast industry. As the Chief Executive Officer of Reliance Broadcast Network Limited (RBNL), he had laid the foundation for 92.7 BIG FM, one of India's largest radio network with 61 stations. Mr. Katial, a strong believer of creating positive social impact through meaningful TV content and original programming concepts in radio, has a passion for reading, traveling, teaching, and practicing Vipasanna.

Tarun Sharma

With a fierce passion for technology, Tarun Sharma began his inspiring journey as a software engineer, eventually culminating into the Chief Executive Officer for BMC Software India Pvt. Ltd. (BMCI). Always eager to find solutions to social problems through technology, Tarun is the co-founder of EC Cubed and Serv’d, which has been hailed as one of the leading social impact companies in India by The Economic Times. Tarun and his initiative's inspiring work with Serv'd has been recognised by the prestigious Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as well.