Humans of TechTatva was an event organised by the Conclave category on the evening of 5th October 2019 at the M.V. Seminar Hall. Five speakers recounted their inspiring stories and experiences, each of which left the audience feeling motivated. “I just came here to listen to some good speeches”, said Archishman Ray, a 3^rd year EEE student. “The speakers were very good, and I found it quite inspiring”, he added. After the conclusion of the speeches, the last two names in the Conclave 2019 line-up―comedians Rohan Joshi and Ashish Shakya―were also revealed.

Dr Aravinda Bhat
Assistant Professor, Department of European Studies

Dr Aravinda Bhat spoke about life as a visually challenged person. Born and raised in Manipal, he described the obstacles he faced growing up, being educated and living in a society designed exclusively for non-disabled people. “I’m not disabled because I am blind. I am disabled because society hasn’t considered my needs”, he said. On the other hand, he also described the role technology plays in helping people like him by enabling them to participate in the world around them.

Sangeet Pandey
Student Speaker

In her speech, Sangeet Pandey talked about the need for inclusiveness in our society―especially when it comes to the language we use. “Language was invented by us, for us, and that includes each and every one of us. Language must change with changing times”, she said. She devised the word ‘het’―an amalgamation of the words he, she, and it, to be used as a gender-neutral pronoun. She encouraged people to use it to solve the issue of addressing people who identify with non-conforming genders.

Chintan Rout
Student Speaker

Chintan Rout told the audience three stories. The first was about his struggle to accept his sexuality and the second, about how he dealt with eating disorders. In his third story, he described his experience with suicidal thoughts and how it taught him to accept the ups and downs of life. “The world will never accept you if you don’t accept yourself”, he said. His speech struck a chord with the audience and elicited thunderous applause and a standing ovation.

Anandita Pandey
Student Speaker

Before speaking, Anandita Pandey sang a song about self-belief and not giving up for the audience. In her speech, she spoke of the power of positivity, imagination, and having faith that one’s dream will come true. “Our brain is the most powerful asset we have”, she said. “It can do more than just finding Thevenin’s voltage.” She also stated that kindness and self-belief are the two qualities most needed to attain success.

Althaf Ibrahim Para
Former President of the Student Council

Althaf Ibrahim Para shared some of the life lessons he learned during his time as a student at MIT. He emphasised the importance of qualities such as hard work, perseverance, patience and teamwork. He also stressed the importance of dealing with failure. “Failure isn’t the opposite of success. It’s a part of success”, he said. He used humour rather effectively in his speech and had the audience chuckling at regular intervals.

Image Credits: Photography and Videography Team of Tech Tatva 2019