The Power of Ideas

So when I arrived at TED, it is understandable that I feared that I would be out of place. But, of course, I found myself quite at home. The Infosys campus was incredible- large, well-maintained, and interestingly built- though a bit too eclectic. I took long walks through the campus, which took one from the Epcot to a Mediterranean style building in less than a few seconds. It was on such walks that I met some of the most interesting people, and heard some of the most interesting ideas from my fellow attendees. It was the kind of environment where everyone felt confident that they had ideas worth spreading, but more importantly, that there were ideas worth hearing.

The talks at the conference were most definitely ideas worth hearing. One of my favorites was by Devdutt Pattanaik, the Chief Belief Officer of the Fortune Group. Don't be too quick to judge the job title- it turns out that a Chief Belief Officer is very relevant to today's world. Religions are clashing, beliefs are contradicting, and employees pay a price for it.  Pattanaik showed that the trick to understanding another belief system, even when it seems absolutely nonsensical, is to understand another's mythological roots. The stories one grows up with moulds one's behavior.

He went on to shed some light on his mystical job description. A Chief Belief Officer uses his insight into mythology to understand how to involve people's beliefs to make business better, and to serve them better. Picking and prodding humorously, and finally explaining much-complained-of Indian characteristics like the side-to-side head shake, and punctuality, or lack there of, Pattanaik struck a chord; perhaps the India that is now racing against the western world need not change it's personality. Maybe it will win the race, even with Indian Standard Time.

One of the main themes at TED was social entrepreneurship- but at a whole new level. Ravilla Thulasiraj, the head of the Aravind Eye Center, described how the center has made a thriving business out of treating people in villages for cataracts. Shaffi Mather similarly created a self-sustainable ambulance service, and is now working on a service to stop bribery.

Feminism and female empowerment, much to my delight, was a popular topic at TED. The playwright and actress Eve Ensler gave an amazing performance, asking the members of the audience to unleash their "girl cell." There's a vulnerable, emotional girl in us all, she argued, that we try to suppress. That girl is our greatest asset.

While Ensler traced the lighter tints of being a girl, Sunita Krishnan filled in the darker shades. A long-time anti-trafficking worker, she described some of the challenges and stereotypes against former prostitutes. Yet these stereotypes can be socially crippling- especially for the children, the four to five year olds, that she saves. Sunitha mentioned in an after-talk interview that Prajwala, her foundation that rehabilitates these trafficked girls, was getting evicted from their current location.  (Hey Ram: Where's that axe?)

Disturbed and saddened, I was perhaps at my lowest low; and then TED showed me the humane side of humanity. One woman stood up and yelled, "I will donate $10,000 if 10 other people will." More than 10 people stood up.

Almost every single talk shared an incredible idea. There were some big names like Shekhar Kapur, Abhay Deol, C.K. Prahalad, Mallika Sarabhai, and Shashi Tharoor. I found that few of the well-known speakers presented as amazing ideas as the lesser known speakers. Pranav Mistry, a graduate student, showed a technology called the Sixth Sense device that is bound to revolutionize the industry. His device integrates technology with the objects that we interact with on a daily basis. It was heartening to hear that he planned to make the software available on the Open Source platform.

To keep history alive, Ramachandra Budihlal showed an augmented reality device that allows one to visit a monument, receive information on it, and even go back to a period in a "time machine" and view what the monument may have looked like when it was first built.   

TED made the unimaginable imaginable for me. It showed me a whole new India- an India that defies both the "India Rising" and the "Slumdog Millionaire" stereotypes. Sometimes one might find it hard to have faith in a nation that takes years to fix a major road, while its GDP grows at an unimaginable rate. TED made it clear that it isn't India as a corrupt republic that I should have faith in- it's India as a secular democracy.

The conference, of course, had its lighter moments as well. Dinner was always followed by entertainment. On the last night, a party was held at the Lalith Mahal Palace. Contrasting the intellectual atmosphere of the previous days, the party was something of a non-stop Bollywood danceathon. I actually found I met some of the most interesting people and did some of the best networking while dancing.

From the first breakfast to the last dinner, TED was an environment where one felt comfortable to share their thoughts and ideas with everyone. Luckily, though one of the youngest at TED, I found that I was surrounded by youth- mainly Fellows. The TED Fellows program allowed for one hundred people, all striving and succeeding in their field, to come to the conference free of charge. They brought a young vitality to a corporate conference; and I'm certain it's because of them that everyone, irrespective of their actual age, danced like teenagers that night.

TED's motto of "Ideas worth spreading", is actually farther reaching than just the conference. On ted.com, some of the best talks from all of their conferences are posted, and discussed. The open translation program, which anyone can contribute to, makes these talks available to a significantly larger group of people in their own native language.
TEDxs, or independently organized TED events, bring the TED platform to a whole new scale. Anyone can organize a gathering together of their community to share the idea of sharing ideas. (TEDX Chennai)

The beauty of TED is that the conference, the fellows program, the website, the open translation program, and TEDx are all absolutely focused on spreading ideas. TED is a utopia, making all kinds of ideas from all kinds of people available to everyone.

Ideally, society as a whole should be striving to be inclusive. If every single person had the opportunity and willingness to share their ideas, however silly they may seem, then that would be equality. In a capitalistic society, it makes little sense to continuously push for equality on the lines of goods, and economics status, even if that is the humanitarian, socially accepted thing to do. In a democratic society, it makes more sense to harness free thought and expression.

In his talk, Anil K. Gupta gave examples of how people in rural settings have created based on necessity: a bike that can be ridden on water, a motorcycle-driven laundry business, a pair of stilts with springs for climbing coconut trees, and the list goes on. Ideas can come from anywhere, and everyone should have access to them- every person that needs to bike across water, or get laundry done, or climb a coconut tree.

When Mahatma Gandhi was thrown off a train in South Africa for the color of his skin, the seed of non-violence was sown. If Martin Luther King Jr. hadn't known about Gandhi and his ideas, he may not have enabled a desegregated United States to form.

An idea is powerful. An idea spread is power.

Tara Kola, 16,  is a high school student at The International School Bangalore. Her interests include writing, brooding, and climbing trees.

Also read: Why TED matters | Tara Kola on 26/11