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TED Circles—Imagination

TEDxManipal hosted its first-ever TED Circles on the 26th of September, an enlightening event that brought together people from different backgrounds to discuss and exchange ideas or inspirations and dig deep together on a lively discussion on the theme—Imagination.

The event, which was conducted on Zoom, saw the participation of not only students but also a MAHE alumnus. Faculty mentor of TEDxManipal, Dr. Raghu Radhakrishnan, Director of International Affairs and Collaborations at MAHE, was chosen to be the guest of honour for this enlightening evening. The event was co-hosted and facilitated by team members Sidesh Das, Khushi Prasad, Vaidehi Patel, Swakshi Agarwal, Kashish Miglani, Vani Mittal, and Khushi Agarwal. Kashish Miglani, lead organiser and co-host, kicked off the event by highlighting the power and importance of imagination, allowing us to see things before they happen. Even venerable scientist Albert Einstein said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” Following this, co-host Sidesh Das explained the core objectives of TED Circles communities, which is a place where people come together in small groups to have insightful conversations about big ideas.

The audience watched an illuminating TED talk by Charles Faulkner, a renowned life coach, motivational speaker, creator, and author on Imagination—It’s Not What You Think. It’s How You Think. Faulkner talks about how deeply embedded the role of imagination is in how we see the world. We don’t realise just how big a chunk of our thought processes involve imagination because it happens at a subconscious level. He gives numerous examples of such situations citing how we tend to amplify certain behaviours of people into character traits based on our prejudices and preconceptions, how we try to create patterns and draw comparisons where there aren’t any, and much more. He explains how imagination is the first step to novel inventions and discoveries, and how we recreate the world in our heads every time we learn something new.

After Faulkner’s stimulating discourse, the audience was divided into five breakout rooms into groups of eight, with a host in each, to enable them to chew over their views and ideas. The hosts encouraged the participants to discuss their key takeaways from the talk, where they provided remarkable insights on how imagination remains the biggest instrument in something as cosmic as innovations and inventions that extend mankind’s knowledge, to something as commonplace as our perception of the world. People also talked about how our imagination is often guided by our past experiences, which can be both a boon and a bane—while prejudices can lead to flawed judgements of people and situations, they also stem from a sense of self-preservation as people tend to avoid situations that they know lead to bitter consequences.

People also discussed how the presence of predictability and certainty in life can channel our imagination into something fruitful, like envisioning a better future, while unpredictability can lead to a rather undesirable version of imagination, i.e., overthinking. The participants had their own exercise in imagination, wherein the host asked them to describe what they think the world would look like in the next hundred years. Two contrasting opinions arose—one of a promising future that offered better healthcare, education, inclusivity, acceptance, openness, and representation, and the other of a vastly misinformed and divided world because of the information overload of the internet era, where the loudest voices subdue the weak.

After forty-five minutes of plenty such rather engaging discussions and debates, the breakout rooms were again integrated and Vani Mittal, organiser, and co-host, gave the Vote of Thanks, following which the guest speaker Dr. Radhakrishnan congratulated TEDxManipal on hosting a successful TED Circles event despite the pandemic, and the very first of its kind. He also thanked Lt. Gen. (Dr.) M.D. Venkatesh, Vice-Chancellor MAHE, for his support towards the platform to empower the exchange of new opinions and ways of thinking. “Organising TED Circles for the first time was an incredible experience. We aimed to spark community connections amongst the Manipal audience, and the entire team was glad to see such a great turnout. Overall, it was an evening filled with inspiring ideas that I am sure changed a lot of perspectives,” said Kashish Miglani, sharing her experience of the evening as a host. Not only did the community emerge as an excellent place to form new circles, but this TED Circles on Imagination also successfully made us conscious of the sheer power of ideas and novelty.

Featured Image Credits: TedXManipal




Towards a Cognizant World—TEDxManipal

As the crowd in the TMA Pai Auditorium filled the hall with whispers of excitement and anticipation, the organisers of TEDx waited with bated breath as months of preparation was set to come to fruition. Raghav Kumar, the head organiser, took the stage for a few minutes to explain the theme of the event: Cognizance. He described how crucial it was in today’s fast-paced social and political climate for young people to be cognizant of the world around them. As he wrapped up his introduction, the speakers prepared to deliver their talks—the third edition of TEDx Manipal was officially underway.

Session 1
Varun S

“I am a summation of my stories,” said Chaya Dabas, the founder of Baatein—a writing platform for poets and storytellers, and the first speaker of the day. She began her speech with an anecdote about how her father would pick up inanimate objects like toothbrushes and pens and bring them to life with stories. She further went on to describe how she grew up in a house where everything that surrounded her had a story to tell, and how this enriched her view of the world. As an avid basketball enthusiast and budding storyteller, she appeared to have a bright future ahead of her. However, at the young age of 13, she was diagnosed with cancer, and suddenly her whole life came to a standstill. She spoke about the importance of not planning too far into the future and living every moment to its fullest. She concluded her speech with a passionate call to the audience to believe in the power of stories and their ability to heal the harshest of wounds.

The next speaker, Ms Gayathri Prabhu, offered an entirely distinctive experience from the other speakers. Her speech was written in the form of poetry. She proceeded to narrate a beautifully constructed homage to the strange dichotomy of being a teacher and being human. She described the scars left by an abusive childhood, and the pain of making it through to adulthood, never having fully healed, and the difficulty of being honest with her students in a world constructed by dishonesty. The pain in walking into a classroom, knowing that you must hide a part of yourself, was something that she had difficulty dealing with. In her own words, “Teachers can’t have scars. Teachers must be normal.” She wove together strands of her past to deliver a painfully honest and heartfelt experience, and by the end of her speech, the audience felt a strong emotional connection with her.

Chhaya Dabas spoke about the importance of living life to the fullest.

The third and final speaker of the first session was Srikaanth Vishwanathan, a swimmer from Bangalore. At the age of 46, he completed an arduous 14 hours swim across the English Channel, finding himself amongst the rare group of people who have achieved this feat. He spoke about his intense training regimen and all the difficult setbacks he faced throughout his 10-year journey towards achieving the impossible. He further stressed the importance of pushing yourself beyond your capabilities. He ended his inspirational and rousing speech with a quote from Neal Donald Walsch—“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone”. He left the audience feeling like the world was theirs to conquer, as the event went into the first break of the day, the Social Space.

Session 2
Joshika S

After the first round of talks, the attendees headed over to TMA Pai Hall 2 for a short interactive session aptly named Social Spaces. Members from the audience got the opportunity to talk to the speakers and ask them questions about their passion and profession.

The second session began with internet personality and former POPxo video coordinator, Cherry Jain taking the stage. She spoke about how she dealt with feeling like the odd one out and having to project an image of someone she was not. Channelling her fears into creating content for social media helped her turn her life around. Cherry built her social media presence from the experience that she gained from working with POPxo and now she successfully runs her own blog, Much, Too Much. Her captivating stage presence kept the audience hooked throughout her talk, which concluded with emphasising the importance of accepting one’s flaws.

The next speaker was Ankita Modi, a second-year biomedical engineering student from MIT, who is working on raising awareness about prevention and cures for nosocomial infections. These infections are contracted due to the toxins present in a hospital. She shed light on this sinister phenomenon and showed how ignorance in this matter has led to a high mortality rate. By citing an example of a patient who had been admitted with injuries due to a road accident but eventually lost his life due to nosocomial pneumonia, she emphasised on the consequences of a lack of awareness on this issue. She then delved into the prospects of research on the usage of nano-particles to cure such infections. Concluding her speech, she urged the audience to focus on research for the betterment of humanity and not just for the sake of publishing papers.

Ankita Modi has been raising awareness about prevention and cures for nosocomial infections.

Shubham Jain, an alumnus of MIT, was the final speaker of the second segment. The founder of Tresmoto, a company that focuses on building an IoT enabled electric two-wheeler, his speech gave the audience an insight into achieving success in a startup. He presented an in-depth analysis of the various industrial revolutions and how they played a crucial role in widening the gap of income disparity between the rich and the poor.  Speaking about the AI boom and the increasing number of jobs that are lost to smarter technology, he cited examples of places where AI performs at par with humans. He reflected on how companies like Uber infiltrate the market and create thousands of jobs, but would also be the first to hand out pink slips when autonomous vehicles enter the scenario. His speech emphasised the value of human resources over AI, in spite of its numerous advantages. The talk was followed by a brief break from the proceedings for a quick lunch.

Session 3
Joshika S and Aryaman Jha

After the lunch break, the congregation reassembled as the next speaker, Megha Bhatia took to the stage. Megha Bhatia is a lawyer by profession and the founder of Our Voix, an organization that conducts workshops around the globe to sensitise and empower children against sexual harassment. However, she mentioned that it has been difficult to get schools’ permissions to organise these workshops. In some cases, they have only been allowed to conduct the workshops for girls, failing to acknowledge the abuse faced by millions of boys. A few disheartening video clips were played, which showed children admitting to being afraid to confide in adults if they were harassed. Further, she addressed the ignorance surrounding this issue and how people fail to realise that a staggering amount of child sexual abuse cases are perpetrated by family members or acquaintances. Her dedication to the cause shone through in the way she persistently laid stress on the importance of taking cognizance of the millions of voices that go unheard and giving them a chance to speak. Her talk was well-appreciated and received a massive round of applause by the audience.

The next speaker was Sovesh Mohapatra, a seventeen-year-old student from Orissa. Sovesh has spent much of his past few years working on tech-based solutions to humanity’s everyday problems.  He discussed the difficulties he faced while trying to embark on a route withholding only academic interests as he hails from a land where marriage and family are deemed to be the end goal in life. He then explained the importance of AI in facilitating speedier drug testing which in turn enables the development of more efficient medication. He spoke about his work in developing a therapeutic method to cure cancer, by targeting only infected cells and leaving the healthy ones unaffected. He also went over some of his other innovative solutions that include software to predict the quantum efficiency of solar cells with 95% accuracy and a road safety app that helps prevent accidents. He assured the audience that he was no child prodigy—all he did was stay focused on his desired path and prioritised his work over everything else.

Sovesh talked about how we can use technology to solve both the trivial and significant problems we face.

Aaron Friedland, the final speaker of the day, is a scholar, a social worker and an entrepreneur advocating the art of reading. He commenced his talk with a brief history of the six reading revolutions throughout the advancement of mankind—starting from reading animal tracks and stars, to the advent of the printing press, and finally to merging photographs and videos for optimum information. The shift from reading the text to absorbing visual media distracted people from the actual process of reading, with TVs impacting literacy rates and basic linguistic capabilities. Aaron spoke about his company, SiMBi, founded to empower global literacy by partnering with UNHRC, which focuses on the ‘reading while listening’ methodology. SiMBi developed a peer-to-peer reading app that allows students to read out loud and record books that another student across the world can listen to and follow along at their own pace. Different accents and dialects make the platform a wonderful and easily accessible method of learning. He concluded his presentation with ‘A Huxleyan Warning’, a concept derived from two books, which essentially reminded the audience of the significance of the art of reading.

The event ended with the organisers giving a vote of thanks to everyone involved in making it an enriching experience, including the Dean of KMC, Dr Pragna Rao and the Director of MIT, Dr Srikanth Rao among other sponsors. Furthermore, they also expressed their gratitude towards the audience and most importantly the speakers for sharing their wisdom and experiences with the students of Manipal.

Image Credits: The Photography Club, Manipal.




Creating Conversations—Sitting Down With Chhaya Dabas

Chhaya Dabas is a poet and the founder of Baatein, an online poetry and storytelling platform. She started writing poetry when she was ten years old and hasn’t stopped ever since. Baatein aims at rekindling the lost charm of meaningful conversations in a world that has become extremely self-absorbed and a society that is slowly losing the ability to connect with each other. Her work has been featured on many notable platforms such as CNN, India Times, HerSaga, and Sheroes. We, at The MIT Post, had the chance to talk to her about the art of conversing and the story behind Baatein. She was one of the speakers at TEDxManipal that took place on 24th February, 2019. 

What was your inspiration to start ‘Baatein’? How important do you think it is for people to partake in conversations in their day-to-day life?

I started Baatein in 2014, and initially, the vision was purely to give a platform for my writing, but I realised its potential when I saw how it was interacting with people beyond the purposes of a blog. Growing up in a digital world, my team and I noticed that the people were getting a lot more social online while losing out on talking to the people around them about things that mattered. It’s important to talk about one’s emotions rather than saying “R.I.P” on Facebook because the younger generations depend on us and we’re creating a world for them. Over the years I have not only found my own voice and expression in Baatein, but it also became a platform that many people found relatable and inclusive to interact and converse on, irrespective of their background.

Regarding why it’s important for people to start conversations, I feel there’s a lot of apathy in the real world, and so much politicization alongside the spread of digital media. We wanted to create a bridge because it’s important to think of where the impact of digital communication, possible even across borders, is actually happening. Baatein wanted to create a safe space for people to share their ideas and create passionate outcomes of what they believe in. The fact that you and I are talking about why conversations are important is exactly whybecause you will take something away from it and I plan to hopefully take something away from my TEDx experience. Our conversations and experiences make us who we are, the whole soul within us. Phones and technology can provide emoticons but can’t replace tears or a hug or laughter. So as we and digital communication proceed ahead, human interaction has to go hand in hand with it. It’s about symbiotic balance, rather than confusion and apathy towards it.

What made you realize your love for writing, and how did you decide that poetry would be the best form for you to express your emotions?

I was born in a household where almost everyone around me had a very literary taste. For example, my grandfather is a Ph.D. in linguistics; he’s written over 17 books in Hindi of research and poetry. My maternal grandparents are both remnants of partition. My Nanu was a Railway officer when bodies were being transported from both the newly found countries. My mother was a teacher, and my grandmother was a singer at All India Radio. So basically, we grew up in an environment where stories became part and parcel for life.

My grandfather and I grew up reading stories of Panchatantra, Akbar-Birbal, etc. It became a whole house of creativity, to express what you feel and be vivid and imaginative, because of which I was inclined to at least try my hand at writing. I never knew if I would be good or bad; I still don’t know, it’s a learning process. I was ten years old when I wrote my first poem.  My language wouldn’t have been refined at that age, but that was an expression which not only I discovered, but my well-wishers and teachers as well. It started with trying to understand myself because I’ve always believed myself to be a very bubbly and extroverted kid who never shied away from talking to strangers. I felt poetry would express the other sides of me.

Being a woman, you get exposed to gender stereotypes in various forms and adversities, depending on where you are. I tried to understand this by channelising various aspects of it through my poetry. For example, a friend of mine who was a photographer did a series where she captured young Muslim girls in their various daily activities. There was a picture that she clicked, of young Muslim girls standing wearing hijabs with their eyes closed. I got really attached to that picture; I wrote about how, irrespective of religion, women for all their lives are told to look down, in terms of not raising their eyes, not raising questions or not lifting a finger. In the poem, I talked about how today they’re challenging something that’s stopping them, and after a point, that anger has to burst out. It was an inspiration that came from the picture I saw, which spoke to me about something. So that’s how writing has always taken part in my life, what I’m not able to form in spoken words or actions sometimes comes out well in the written aspect.

You battled cancer when you were 13 years old. Was there any aspect of your struggle that affected your work ethic or the focus of your content?

Writing became more prominent in my life when I dealt with cancer, which was in 2008. And that took away a year from me, I didn’t have hair at that time and I couldn’t go to school normally. You’re a teenager at that point and you’re just stupid at that age. Writing became more prominent to just understand this process because I was too young to understand what an MRI means. But I was not that young to not understand that this is what pain also happens to be like. So that’s how writing became not only a healing process for me, but a distraction as well, and something that helps me understand what was happening in my own grief because I was just 13 years old. So since then, it has been my way to understand the different aspects of life and to express them.

And of course, since writing is a reflection of what you see in the world and your understanding of it, my content also changed accordingly with context. For example, I’m writing a fictional story about a child who lost her father to cancer and about how it’s her experience in understanding that life goes on. I wrote a poem for my doctor as a thank you note which he still has kept in his mandir, which was very special for me. I met a girl who was with me in the ICU; both of us were bedridden so we just talked but I still remember speaking to her even though I didn’t know who she was. I’ve been wanting to write about all these things for a very long time even though I still feel I may not be putting forward my best work. I’m not talking about the words or expressions you’re using being bigger and fancier, I’m talking about the expressions behind it. Writing evolves with what our purpose is as we grow up, and how we engage with the worldthe people we love or hate, how we deal with worries and concerns and experience happiness. For me, writing is a constant reflection.

‘Baatein’ is now a platform for many artists and writers to get in touch and collaborate with their talents. Did you expect it to grow into such a big community for poetry? How do poets feel about their work getting recognition?                                                                                                                      

‘Baatein’ was a blog I started with two other people—a girl from Hindu college and a guy from NSID. Since I was in DU and also in the Dramatics’ Society, I was able to inform people more about what I was creating alongside growing social media. People were recognizing me a little and talking about how ‘Baatein’ was a great place to read poetry, so that was a beautiful encouragement. And then in 2015, during the DU fest season, we decided to put a couple of stalls in some prominent collegesthe idea was just to engage with people and bring the stories on the platform.  But we chose the route of creating some merchandise around it and it got a phenomenal response even though we were not going in the market with an idea of making a profit. Over the years ‘Baatein’ has just found its own routenow it’s a fully-fledged organization with a 10 members strong team and office where we’re making money as well. And I think the crux maintains the same as we did interact with more people. On 3rd March, we’re collaborating with Faraz Arif Ansari, who’s the creator of India for LGBT which has won over 50 Awards internationally. He’s doing acting workshops for the transgender community and we are coming on board to create a poetry evening for the community itself.

At ‘Baatein’ we’re not looking for Shakespeares or people with the Pulitzer Prize. It’s a place that people feel happy about. This is something that we try to maintain and of course, getting recognition as a poetI’ve been very lucky to have been recognized on some notable platforms at a young age, with a very long way to go. But it matters because the art space had found recognition only in recent times, as opposed to being considered a hobby or passion. Now you have professional and full-time spoken artists, you have painters, you have professional drummers. To me, the world is much more creative and accepting now, and the digital world has a huge role to play in this—we’re exposed to so many opportunities not only within our expected geographies, you’re able to work with someone sitting in some random point in London from Delhi as if you’re just next door. I believe that poetry gives people a much-needed outlet. I feel honoured that I’ve been invited to give a TEDx talk, just the fact that the idea clicked somewhere makes me happy.

Your efforts to help people initiate conversations have moved to from a blog to an Instagram platform for such a big community now. How does this transformation make you feel?

It is quite scary because it lacks structure and routine that my 9-5 job offered before I decided to make Baatein my full-time profession. Our team feels overjoyed when someone messages us on Instagram about how much they loved a post or the whole community, and even when brands approach us to offer sponsorships for our events. We have put our heart and soul into this, and although it is a business that needs to make money, our goal is to make people feel happy and content at the end of each event that is organised by us. In the process of transformation, I think we’re still a caterpillar and there’s a long way to go before we become a butterfly. Seeing people communicate and contribute is the most beautiful part of this process.

How do you think your art inspired others to come out and share their art too? What impact did you wish for it to have on the audience?

I wanted Baatein to make its readers and writers feel happy when they join the community and then they could choose to create content or contribute in their ways. We try to encourage everyone to write or just express their emotions in any way that suits them. Readers usually find our content simple and relatable which is what I was aiming for. When I was younger, I used to think that poetry was something that had to be explained to me by someone and had to conform to a rhyming scheme, but now I know that poetry doesn’t lie in complicated words and it’s the emotion that matters. We don’t judge whether a poem is good or not and we understand that everyone who has sent in an entry has done so with the intention of creating something. Instead of disregarding any poem we try to offer some constructive criticism which will help them improve since not everyone in the community is a professional or commercial writer. Whoever wishes to use this route to express themselves is more than welcome because Baatein is purely conversational and who are we to pick and choose who gets to talk.

What are your future plans for ‘Baatein’?

Because of my personal journey, I never planned for five years or even a year ahead because you never know what’s going to happen next. Staying in the present and focusing on what I want to do each day is what matters to me the most. We still have a few milestones that we have set for ourselves, the most immediate one being a traveler’s and writer’s cafe. We also hope to publish a book for Baatein and maybe start a school one day. Our main goal is to reach as many people as possible in as many forms conceivable.

What advice would you give to an amateur poet or entrepreneur, and how can they achieve their passion in a more financially sustainable way?

I had the opportunity to attend a talk delivered by Ritu Kapur, the founder of The Quint. She said if you have an idea, just go for it without being worried about it; you never know what that idea could become. I was frustrated with my job which left me with no time to give to my creative passion. Before I left the organisation that I was working with, I knew that I needed to have a business plan and a basic idea of where the money would come from.  I left only when we had found our first client for Baatein. An entrepreneur should ask themselves four questions before starting a business which areWhat is the basic idea? What do you create? Are you passionate about it? And where will the money come from for the business to be financially stable? It is important to plan the business out after weighing in all these factors. If you’re passionate about your dream people would want to help you out and want to contribute to making it bigger by attaching their dreams to it.

I think that a writer’s content should be driven by passion. If they feel strongly about a certain issue, they should use writing as a means to express their emotions. Their passion will guide their flow of writing, and they won’t have to worry about what the next line should be. I wrote my entire TEDx talk in one go because it came from my heart. The grammar polishing step followed right after, but I tend to focus more on the emotions that I experience while writing. Writers should go with simple words instead of using the thesaurus and complicating things. Although, the rules of the language are important and a writer should abide by them. Even commercial forms of writing require their writers to put in all of their heart to deliver a simple yet catchy line for an advertisement. My advice for a budding writer would be that they should try to read as much as they can and write to satisfy their own yearning and not someone else’s demands.

Featured image credits: Baatein’s Instagram account.




Our Voix Against Child Sexual Abuse—Sitting Down with Megha Bhatia

Megha Bhatia is the founder of Our Voix, a youth-run organisation that aims to prevent child sexual abuse. She has been the key figure in conducting workshops to sensitise children, teachers, and parents about sexual harassment along with her team. Winner of the prestigious India Volunteer Award 2019 and National Youth Icon Award 2019, she strives to empower children in a friendly manner and make their childhood a safe experience. We, at The MIT Post, got an opportunity to speak with her regarding Our Voix and her experiences so far. Catch her at TEDxManipal on 24th February 2019.

How and when did you start Our Voix, and how has your journey at the organisation been so far?

I started Our Voix in January last year when I came back from London. The journey has been challenging because when one starts an organisation like this, one realises that it is not all smooth. You get to know about your inhibitions too. Moreover, you get a deeper understanding of how society thinks about a sensitive issue like child sexual abuse. It has been a great learning experience as I have realised my own potential too.

Furthermore, we have gathered more than a hundred volunteers from different countries. We have gone from conducting a workshop for one child to over 500 kids. Overall, it has been an incredibly fulfilling experience.

After one of the workshops on preventive measures for Child Sexual Abuse (CSA), if a child confronts to the volunteers that he/she had been sexually harassed, how do you medically and psychologically assist the child?

It is something that has happened several times in the past. When we conduct these workshops, quite often children open up to us. We have a psychologist in our team who works at Ganga Ram Hospital, so we provide counselling to the victim. The next step is to take legal action, so we report the instance to the police and the child helpline number1098. A support person comes from the child helpline, and we take the matter forward.

What are the challenges you face at organisational levels while pitching in the ideas to conduct such sensitive workshops at places like schools, welfare homes, localities, etc?

We face tons of challenges while organising these workshops because when we initially started, schools were reluctant in educating the kids about this issue. I remember conducting one such event at an orphanage, and the person in charge told me not to mention the child helpline number because the kids might call them. But if a child does call, there must be a reason which cannot be overlooked. Another such instance took place at a school where the principal of a school told me that we could teach the girls, but not the boys because it must not happen to them, which is incorrect. As a matter of fact, it happens to boys more often.

Initially, the schools, orphanages, and other organisations were not supportive, and it was difficult for us to conduct workshops. Some people even said that devoting half an hour to such an event would affect the kids’ studies adversely. However, what they fail to understand is that it is unreasonable to expect a child who is being harassed to focus on studies since the kid is in trauma. Since we are an NGO, raising funds for the organisation is another challenge because these workshops are not mandatory anywhere in India, there is no particular curriculum regarding them. There is a lack of awareness regarding the issue everywhere, and the situation is deplorable. I have been to 40 MCD schools, and none of them had a counsellor even though they suggest that children see a psychologist in such a situation.

You mentioned that it is economically strenuous for you to conduct these workshops. So, how do you raise funds?

We have started charging for our workshops at private schools. However, we do not charge at government schools because they can’t always afford to pay. Furthermore, we have started training teachers so that they can be employed. Apart from that, we organise fundraising events such as speed jogging, dramas, and musical events.

How can we get kids to speak out about being abused, considering in several cases family members are the culprits?

In fact, in 94.8% of cases, the assault is either by a family member or by a known person. I believe gaining the trust of the children in a workshop is what makes it successful. A kid will not open up to you unless they trust you. 

In our workshops, we ensure that for the first thirty minutes are invested in this, and the children find themselves in a comfortable environment where they can share things. We do not want the workshop to be intimidating for them. I have seen that a lot of other organisations conduct similar workshops in a much scarier fashion. At Our Voix, we teach the kids through cartoons and other activities. It is then that the children can disclose it to us which they couldn’t even to their principal or teachers who have been there for about ten to fifteen years. Hence, we try to make a comfortable bond with them involving no restrictions. We allow them to speak up and share and ensure that they will not be blamed for it.

It was recently that a girl told me that she would tell her friends instead of her mother because the latter might blame her. We aim to become these friends to them where they can feel free to share.

Apart from keeping the forum of discussion open between parents and children on this topic, what else can a parent do/observe/look out for to identify that the child is in trouble? Also, what parents can do to educate their kids about sexual harassment?

Parents should start spending time with their children. They should know where their kids are going and should ensure that their child isn’t falling into the wrong company by being aware of who the child is communicating with via smartphones. There are also certain warning signs that can be observed. For instance, younger kids might wet their bed or suck their thumb, while the elder ones might develop an eating disorder or they begin to start feeling ashamed about their body. If a child has a bubbly personality, after the assault he/she might stop talking to people and start hating themselves.

It is imperative that the parents teach their children the correct names of their private parts and not feel hesitant to speak about such issues. Teach your child about safe and unsafe touch. Teach your child that one can be abused without any physical contact too.

Parents can create an environment where even if a child wants to say no to a relative who kisses forcefully or asks them to sit on their lap. They should value children’s choices, ask your child what they would like for lunch or give them some responsibility and allow them to make their choices. It is essential that parents talk to their children about everything possible, other than sexual harrassment too. It would then give them a comfortable platform to share stuff.

Have you ever come across a case of victim blaming? How does it affect the child’s psychology and in what ways do you tackle it?

There have been plenty of such cases. There was once a case in which the girl had disclosed it to us and the principal claimed that the girl was lying.

There was another very serious case where the girl had been getting raped by her brother for a year. She disclosed it to us and I advised her to share it with her mother. The mother told her, “Tu bhi toh aisi hai.” I was completely shocked at how a mother could have said something like this to her child. When we reported the matter the entire family refused to believe it and said that it doesn’t happen in our culture and a brother can never do such a thing.

Victim blaming can have a drastic impact on the child. A nine-year-old is too naïve to understand all this, and it would scar her mind forever.

Our Voix also conducts workshops for the corporate sector. While you sensitise them about Child Sexual Abuse, do you also seek any collaborations or avenues for growth for your organisation in lieu of the Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR)? Could you please give us a few insights?

Yes, we are planning to go forward with it. Since we are just a year-old organisation, we couldn’t apply for CSR as we required certain documents. Our next step would be to approach companies so that we can get the benefits from CSR. The ultimate goal is to reach out to all the states and not just be confined to Delhi or any particular district. I want to take this knowledge across India, and I think companies can provide a great platform for us.

How can we as a society prevent these instances from occurring?

First and foremost we should be to educate ourselves and not be ignorant about the issue. It is not just happening among the underprivileged but our homes too and possibly everywhere else. Start talking about it and be open about it.

I was once conducting a workshop, and I asked the people to what sex is and describe it to me. They were incredibly shy about it. Not talking about things enables the abuser to commit such a crime in the first place. The other thing is to stop blaming the victims. If let’s say your friend comes and tells you something happened to her, take a stand for her. To speak openly and to not blame are the victims are two of the most vital things one must do to curb these assaults.

Featured Image Credits: medium.com




Where Experience Met an Assemblage – TEDx ManipalUniversity

About a hundred people turned up at library auditorium on a Sunday morning knowing one thing for sure – they were going to get inspired. The TEDx ManipalUniversity logo greeted the enthusiastic arrivals. The Think Tank, a club formed with an aim to organize inspirational and motivational talks, organized their first TEDx event on the 29th of January. This was Manipal’s third time playing host to a TEDx event with it having taken place in 2010 and 2012 previously. The first University based TEDx event that had most of the crowd comprising of students or faculty of Manipal University, with a theme of E.D.G.E. (Explore, Discover, Grow, and Engage) showed all signs of being an event to remember. As the ecstatic audience took their seats they were greeted by The Think Tank, followed by a brief introduction to TEDx and how the day’s activities – a total of nine speakers were scheduled to deliver their talk with a short break after each group of three. Just after every break and as well as at the start of the event, clips from famous TED talks were shown.

Sanah Rizvi – On Success

A graduate of the University of Massachusetts, Sanah Rizvi‘s blithesome personality radiated joy and inspiration in the entire room. She convinced everyone that there is neither a short cut nor a potion for success. Her thought was that success is a result of everything around us, including our friends and family. Her influence was such that a brief interaction with her could render one with an impulsive desire to make something out of one’s life. After the joyful interaction, a huge round of applause acknowledged Sanah Rizvi – the first speaker of the event.

Dr. MS Valiathan – An Alternative to Expensive Medicines

The next speaker was one who was quite different from the others. His age and experience set him apart from everyone in the room. The cardiac surgeon who needs no introduction, Dr. M. S. Valiathan narrated his moving story – his vision of a bridge narrowing the gap between poverty and medicine. He did that by creating an affordable mechanical heart valve, the ‘Chitra’ Valve. He also spoke about determination and belief by narrating his own experience of how his product was rejected three times before becoming a commercial success.

Sabyasachi Sengupta – The Craft of Networking

Networking and Communication have proven to be one of the most important dimensions of our survival. To put forward new and innovative ideas to people, mastery of the art of communication needs to be done first as without convincing people, no one would be willing to pitch in. Social acceptance gives rise to a healthy boost in confidence. A jolly Sabyasachi convinced the audience the importance of networking and through his own journey from Kolkata to Amsterdam, narrated the qualities a good networker keeps in his mind – understanding one’s self-worth, making an impression, being a good listener and adamance for one’s own mistakes. Sabyasachi’s speech was a steady flow of words with sweetness all around which was the result of his networking skills he accumulated over the years. The man was highly amicable off-stage as well, where one of his advices to a student, when he opened up about his introvert nature, was to take videos of himself and look at them. Sabyasachi was confident that this method works very well for those with a fear of public speech as well.

What followed was a short break and the audience were given a chance to interact with the speakers – get to know them at a personal level, and ask them queries related to their topic.

Dwiref Oza – Art and Emotions Embrace Our Feelings As a Human 

The fourth speaker was a student of MIT, Dwiref Oza. His speech focused on art as a form of self-expression and its importance in modern society. He exuded charm as he spoke, saying that the purpose of art, through various mediums such as images, words and sounds, is to move people. He urged everyone to embrace their emotions, wander like children and to view the world through the lens of art. To quote him, “Art is humanity trying to understand itself and the world around us”.

Tushar Lall – There is Creativity in Everyone

The founder of The Indian Jam Project – whose aim is to knit classical Indian tones into western music, the fourth speaker of the day was Tushar Lall. A youth icon admired by people across the nation, he talked about his road to success as an artist. According to him, art is not limited to just painting or writing, every skill attained by a person is a form of art irrespective of the work they are doing. He emphasised on not thinking about the number of competitors – we can only see the path to victory if we eliminate the numbers. He ended by pointing that not stopping in life is a rarity and thus, only a handful succeed.

Avani Awasthee – To Dwindle Environmental Pollution

Next came Avani Awasthee, a student of School of Communication, Manipal University voicing her concerns for the environment. She narrated her journey to playing a part in saving the environment. She spoke of her efforts, from starting a ‘Cycle to Recycle’ initiative to clean up her hometown Pune, to being one of the lucky 150 students from around the world to travel to Antarctica. Cited as the best journey of her life, she met a number of environmental enthusiasts on her trip and learned a lot about the alarming threats to the environment which a lot of us are not aware of. She encouraged us to protect our environment, for the sake of the upcoming generations who, otherwise, would have to face numerous hardships.

Geeve George – The Innovator With a Heart

The 16-year-old mastermind took the stage after Avani and blew everyone away when he said that he is an Intel Real Sense Challenge 2014 finalist. The boy-wonder, Geeve George, a student of Little Rock Indian School, Brahmavar won some tools and a 3D camera which he used to create a tool used by the visually impaired. The philanthropist in him came out when he had put the software for open sourcing – releasing it for other people to use it in their own ways for free. His exceptional decision came with the thought of making his device meet the requirements of people he himself would never have thought of. Furthermore, his research in the MIT Media Lab, Boston opened his eyes to another real world problem – the lack of proper science equipment in many schools around the country. His creative mind focused and using the wearable Google Cardboard (Google’s own Virtual Reality set) and a lens with a smartphone acting as the display device, he created the most readily accessible microscope ever built. His Magnum Opus bearing the name MagniWear has recently been open sourced as well to boost availability across Indian schools.

In the short break that followed, a gleeful Tushar Lall was seen signing autographs, giving advice and accepting countless requests for selfies. Geeve George had allowed everyone to take a look at MagniWear. Everyone was astonished as it seemed like their eyes started hovering over a sheet of cells. Never had anyone in the room looked at the microscopic world as vividly and comfortably as then.

Padmanabh Pandit – Art + Technology = Future

After the second break cum interactive session, the third and the final half of the day began. MIT’s Padmanabh Pandit talked about how current Indian society fails to realise the importance of art by comparing art with failure. To prove his point, he stated examples about the coexistence of art and technology. He gave the example of how a movie’s cinematic experience depends equally on the story and acting, as well as the cameras and CGI used. He also spoke about people pursuing science and art degrees simultaneously. According to him, art and science have always been intertwined and separating them would be a disrespect as well as a disaster to mankind.

Ganesh Nayak – MIT’s Very Own Daredevil

Then entered Ganesh Nayak who, without a brief introduction, emphasised on the day December 23, 2012. Although this is the day when the Mayans predicted to be our doomsday, it has a totally different meaning for the faculty member of MIT. Because this day is the reason for which his breathlessness when he climbed a staircase changed into a cry of ecstasy after cycling 40 km and a further 10 km uphill. Yes, this was indeed the time of his life when he made the greatest decision of his life – to quit smoking. His normal life took a cosmic turn to a one of adventure after he reached the apex of a hill in Agumbe, Karnataka. Embracing adventure as a part of his new life, he trained his body to a more daring one – to climb the Himalayas. For that, he saved money for a year, quit his job, took a bicycle and went to Srinagar with an iron will. His adventure had some lighter moments, including him eating too many apricots and having indigestion in the middle of nowhere not able to find a decent toilet to do his deeds. His search led him to a normal toilet which was nothing short of paradise to him. But the joy lasted a short time as an officer ranted on him for using an officer’s only toilet. His nerve-wracking moment came when he decided to take his bike to a ten-day journey across the sand valley instead of the bus. From battling a sandstorm to facing water shortages, he said he had never felt closer to death before. A shepherd then saw him and his companion stranded on the desert and saved them. According to him, adventure changes our perspective on things and makes the ordinary into extraordinary. When the shepherd gave him a bottle of water, the colourless liquid had a completely new meaning for him. Ending his speech, he said even if his adventure looks daunting and life-threatening, it was worth every bit. His next adventure you ask? Alaska!

Lohit Sahu – On Personalised Education

Last but most certainly not the least, Lohit Sahu talks about customisation. From our favourite suit to matrimonial sites which select a particular partner based on the information a user puts about himself, everything in the world is tending towards customisation – to connect with the user/audience in a way which never had been fathomed before. And then his question came, “Why not education?” To show the world that it’s possible, he founded Phyzok Learning Solutions which focussed on ‘flipping’ the current methods of teaching. But before that, he had to make sure that our current education system isn’t doing a good job for most of the students. He asked students in a beach in Mumbai about some simple scientific phenomenon like the reason waves are formed at the beach. To his surprise, most of them failed. He then tested his method by offering his system of personalised education to 300 underprivileged girls through his initiative – ‘Project Udaan’ in 2013 to clear IIT JEE 2014. And the audience had a heavy round of applause when he mentioned that only in a span of 5 months (the exam for which people prepare for 2-4 years), a staggering 143 of them cleared the test!

The 6 hours filled with motivation and inspiration thus came to an end. But to the audience’s surprise, The Think Tank organised a dinner party at Arte Central Park with the speakers. “We didn’t want anyone to go back without thinking that they couldn’t speak with a particular speaker,” said Abhay Sahni, Curator of the event. “We thought that after a talk anyone would want to discuss with the speakers about their ideas or various other topics and what better could be done than to organize a dinner and social spaces which break the barrier between the speaker and the attendee and there’s a smooth conversation without any formal appointments.” The unannounced event was well met with, as the experience of having dinner at the same table as someone who has achieved wonders in life and take their experience to fuel our own passion is one to be grabbed at all cost!

PC: Rohan Agarwal for The Think Tank