Tedx BESC

Out of the 3 TEDx Events that I’ve attended and 1 that I myself have organised, TEDxBESC, was by far the best”, was the comment by Apoorv Kumar from TEDxBITMersa.
On the 4th June, the Concept Hall of The Bhawanipur Education Society College was lit, not just with light bulbs, but with thoughts, thoughts and ideas spread by the Thought Leaders of TEDxBESC, the 1st ever TEDx event by an undergraduate college in Kolkata.

A TEDx event is an independently organised event, based on the format of TED conferences, where speakers take the stage to share ideas, spread awareness or Showcase talent, to create a better, more aware and connected community, all within 18 minutes each.

TEDxBESC, had 9 Torch Bearers, who spared no efforts to light every particle of the space with knowledge and ideas. Mr Rajeev Poddar started the afternoon by sharing his inspiring life story, he explained, how even a person with 90% handicap can rise above all odds and be the most sought after teacher for Economics and Accounts in the city, which deservingly received a standing ovation. He was followed by Mr Niladri Banerjee, who revealed the facts and theories related to the disappearance of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, most of his findings were out of the recently de-classified files of the great leader, a brainstorming session indeed. Hardik Nagar, who was next, became an instant favourite of the crowd, as he shared the noble ideology of Minimalism. Shashwat Tulsian took the attendees on a roller coaster ride sharing his life experiences, both good and bad, along with his learning from them and pushing them to have more experiences in life.

These 4 thought leaders were followed by the Hi-tea, during which, the attendees enjoyed the Experience Zone which the organising team (Anuj Agarwal, Yash Dugar ,Kalicharan Shaw and Rahul Agarwal) had set up with the help of all the volunteers, it consisted of simple, competitive and some group games, along with a Virtual Reality Headset. It was surreal. Attendees also used the break to network and share their thoughts and converse with each other and the thought leaders.

After the break, the event started with Mr Chirag Tekchandaney, who gave us a brief about his agricultural business of hemp and its innumerable uses. Mr Amartya Talukdar, addressed one of the most controversial but undermined issue, Men’s Rights, and made people aware of the hardships that Indian Men are facing due to gender biased laws. Our only Foreign speaker, Mr Raul V. Rodreguez, unveiled the mystics behind the sub-conscious human mind, of profiling someone. He was followed by Ms Nivedita Bhattacharjee, who proposed the idea of Mandatory theatre training for all students, to help them make better decisions in life. Our last thought leader, Mr Sharan Banerjee gave us an overview of the current scenarios of Model United Nations’ practices and how they have de-railed from their motive of training people to be good diplomats.

The topics were not based on a theme and had no apparent link between them, but they all were sure to have quizzed the attendees minds. The evening ended with our mentor, Prof. Dilip Shah saying that the TEDxBESC family is not just the speakers, Volunteers and organisers, but also all the attendees, who may stay in touch the for the future events. TEDxBESC must have ended, but the experiences, will still continue, as the college now is planning to host various other TEDx events, it sure has started a new genre of events at the college.