Latest news with #TEDx
The Hindu
17 hours ago
- General
- The Hindu
TEDx Davangere receives overwhelming response
TEDx Davangere, organised with the theme, Awakening Intelligence: Spiritual, Emotional and Artificial, at PSSEMR School in Davangere, saw the participation of nine distinct achievers and received an overwhelming response. In the event organised recently, the achievers shared their life experiences and ideas for change. The day-long event also had a mix of cultural events and music, a release said. Delivering the TEDx talk, transformation coach Prashanth Tavalam said that pressures of different kinds in one's life are transforming into pandemic. Sharing her life experience, entrepreneur and content strategist Richa Tiwari said that she left a life of peace to accept challenges and elaborated on how the habit of questioning society and questioning herself brought about change. Founder of Kalpataru Skill Nest Lavanya V.K. emphasised the need for accepting defeat and converting it into a steppingstone to proceed towards success. Sustainability leader Hanasoge Ramanna Prasanna highlighted the need for preserving dwindling natural resources and the significant change that conservation can bring about. Asia's youngest public speaker and child prodigy Garuda Balaji highlighted the need for working without any expectation and discharging one's duties honestly. AI Safety advocate Prashanth Baliga dwelt at length on the cyber challenges ahead and the precaution one should take while being online. Co-founder and CEO of Sonic Lamb Navajith Karkera said that creating a suitable ecosystem is crucial for achieving goals. Geriatric Care advocate Nishmita R. underscored the need for respecting senior citizens for their personality and values. Digital Growth coach Preeti Muzumdar advocated against going after success forgetting the individual life and individuality. The event provided a great opportunity for fruitful discussions on serious issues coupled with entertainment. TEDx Davangere organiser and Head of PSSEMR School Manjunath Rangarajan coordinated the event along with other faculty members. As part of the event, an exhibition was held in the school's prayer hall.
NZ Herald
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- NZ Herald
On The Up: Kiwi musician Emma G - from 24 brain surgeries to mental health advocate through music
This open-minded determination and thirst for learning has helped her through some of the toughest times in her life, with music acting as one of the driving forces. From her humble Waikato beginnings and health struggles, to being a two-time TEDx keynote speaker, Ghaemmaghamy hopes her songwriting stories and coaching can help people navigate the worldwide post-Covid mental health crisis. Emma G teaches youth and adults about songwriting and music across the United States. Growing up with hydrocephalus, a condition where fluid builds up in the brain's ventricles causing them to enlarge and put pressure on tissue, wasn't easy, she says. Headaches, memory loss and multiple other side effects made living a 'normal' childhood a challenge, but it was something she'd learned to live with, and songwriting helped her cope. 'I think I grew up a lot faster than everybody else around me, which made things difficult to kind of relate to my peers in a lot of ways,' Ghaemmaghamy says. 'Music has always been the thing that helped me be normal and connect with people in a way that didn't feel ostracising.' She first put pen to paper on her 5th birthday with a song titled School is Cool and hasn't stopped since. A prominent member of Kiwi band Static Era, Ghaemmaghamy also placed sixth on the New Zealand version of hit show The X Factor. She won the New Zealander of the Year Local Heroes Award in 2014, which was about the time she decided she wanted to head overseas and start using her creative outlet differently. 'Chris Yong [of the band Tadpole and formerly Static Era] helped me realise that music didn't just have to be about staying stuck in my muck,' she says. 'It was also an opportunity for me to start writing a future and writing my way out of the chaos, the pain, the overwhelm, the depression, the whatever it was I was going through. That's when I started to really begin learning about how therapeutic music can be for self-expression, depression and anxiety.' In 2019, she was contracting to a multi-million-dollar company in the US, writing their theme songs and doing their performances, when another opportunity struck. 'The woman who ran the company, her son wanted to do what I do, so that's when I started doing Youth Empowerment through songwriting coaching. I started helping young people learn how to express themselves through songwriting and singing.' Ghaemmaghamy now has multiple clients, has toured the US, and has been a keynote speaker for TEDx on two occasions. 'I have always had this kind of idea that your growth happens outside your comfort zone, so I don't like to live in my comfort zone,' she says. Emma G's new book looks to bridge a gap when it comes to navigating mental health challenges. Taking all her knowledge, experience and connections, the time soon came for a natural next step: compile her thoughts into a book. Mental Health Sounds Like This, in Ghaemmaghamy's words, describes her process of what it looks like working with her clients and the exercises she uses, while also linking to her own musical journey and experiences. And while she's well behind the science of how the brain works and cites in the book studies on the positive impact music has, she's not interested in being a therapist or dishing out therapy. 'Therapy's job is to look at the past and how it plays into our present, a coach's job is to look at the future and help bridge the gap between where we are at the moment to where we want to be,' she says. 'My hope is that this book sort of bridges the gap and fills in some of those blanks when it comes to how we understand our brains now, as it pertains to healing and mental health.' Giving advice, Ghaemmaghamy says, can sometimes cause more harm than good because everybody is learning and evolving in different ways and with different personal circumstances. Music, she says, with its wide avenues and opportunities, creates a platform for expression. 'We're constantly finding unhealed parts of ourselves, which can then be healed. There's always another page or there's always another song, right?' Mental Health Sounds Like This releases tomorrow, July 27. Mitchell Hageman joined the Herald's entertainment and lifestyle team in 2024. He previously worked as a multimedia journalist for Hawke's Bay Today.
IOL News
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- IOL News
From Soweto to the sea: SA's first Black freediver makes waves
ZANDILE Ndhlovu is South Africa's pioneering Black freediver, widely known as the 'Black Mermaid.' Image: Supplied ZANDILE Ndhlovu holds her breath. She's 25 metres underwater, without oxygen, and face-to-face with a bull shark off Sodwana Bay on KwaZulu-Natal's north coast. Man and beast engage in a silent stare-off. Then the shark glides away. It's not a movie scene, but a regular moment in the life of Ndhlovu - South Africa's pioneering Black freediver, widely known as the 'Black Mermaid.' 'You can't leave until the bull shark stops the stare-down,' she says, because you have to establish dominance. 'And then it eventually leaves, and you just break for the surface because you realise that if you hold yourself and you calm yourself, the animal is calm. So if you just pause in the moment and not freak out, you're already on the winning side.' Ndhlovu, known for her blue braids and fearlessness in the ocean, is a research assistant for an award-winning team of scientists featured in Shark Week 2025, airing this week on Discovery Channel Africa (DStv 121). Throughout the week, a series of documentaries will spotlight African scientists, conservationists, and filmmakers helping to reshape shark science and ocean storytelling. Last year, the series drew over 25 million global viewers. ZANDILE Ndhlovu, known as the Black Mermaid, and her colleagues, marine biologist Ryan Johnson(left) and shark geneticist Gibbs Kuguru, appear in the documentary Great White Reign of Terror. Image: Supplied Ndhlovu and her colleagues; shark geneticist Gibbs Kuguru and marine biologist Ryan Johnson, appear in the documentary Great White Reign of Terror, which investigates a spate of shark encounters in the Eastern Cape. Her job is to dive in and retrieve whatever the science team needs. 'Whether it's to dive in and retrieve a receiver or help with tagging or understand what the problem is; is there a shortage of food for the sharks? Why are they not there? My assistant work is a question of what do the scientists need and how can I get into the water and be able to do that in the most streamlined way that allows us to get closer to wildlife.' The founder of the Black Mermaid Foundation, conservationist, and TEDx speaker, Ndhlovu believes sharks can 'read' your heartbeat. 'That's why you have to pause, make eye contact until it elects that you can go and then you go. The secret is not to act like prey because sharks will always chase,' she says. 'I often say our fear is often the danger. There's a possibility that we can do something to harm them. And so there's something in capturing and holding ourselves accountable to how we show up in wildlife spaces that allow the animals to also be calm.' Sharks, she says, are essential to ocean health. 'They are ecosystem regulators. Without the big sharks, we have larger fish species that bloom and grow unchecked… They can eat up smaller species that are key to coral health.' Ndhlovu can freedive to 35 metres and hold her breath for over five minutes. 'The thing that is most humbling about freediving is that not every day is going to be a strong breath hold day. Some days you wake up and your body's like, no, and then other days you wake up and it's like, okay, cool.' Ironically, the writer and filmmaker who is South Africa's first Black female freediving instructor, grew up in Soweto, a landlocked township in Gauteng. This week, she told the Independent on Saturday that it all started at the age of 28 in 2016 when she went snorkelling for the first time. 'It was so beautiful that I wanted to know what happens after snorkelling,' said Ndhlovu. Scuba diving followed, then freediving, and finally the founding of the Black Mermaid Foundation. 'I said to myself, I think this is what I'm looking for. And from the first moment when I held my breath I knew that that's where I wanted to be.' Before turning to the ocean, Ndhlovu worked in customer relations and ran her own agency. But the ocean tugged at her heart and she listened. 'The pull to this day is the ability to be with the water. And in the water, there's no one identifier — not the idea of being Black or a woman or anything in this world. She's a universal equalizer. To her, we're just all human. And there's something about not holding the burden off of identity. There's something about just being.' Her mission now includes bringing marine access to township children. Through the Black Mermaid Foundation, she's already introduced over 1 000 youngsters from Langa and Gugulethu to snorkelling and conservation. 'Who I am is a conservationist, but at heart, a storyteller. My grandmother's table is where I learned about stories. I think about using stories as a powerful tool for change, for narrative expansion, for conservation.' To this day Ndhlovu calls Sodwana Bay her underwater home because that's where she had her first open water dive. 'It's a very special place to me… It's the one place where you could come across anything; great white sharks, bull sharks, whale sharks, whales. It's such a magical part of the country.' However, she warns that Sodwana Bay is already showing signs of climate change because recently she went diving there and noticed coral bleaching. She believes that local coastal communities who are often wrongly blamed for what's happening in our waters have a crucial role in conservation. 'Local communities may not be the hardest hitters of impact on the ocean, but when we're catching small fish, that kills reefs, which means less fish… There is a powerful place for ocean literacy, education that allows communities to see how we can do better together.' As Shark Week hits local screens, and Ndhlovu starts a new six month course for children in Philippi, Cape Town she reflects on what her journey means. 'Just to see these shows come home is powerful because, again, it's just such a reminder that regardless of where you come from, you don't know where the world will take you. Even as a girl from Soweto, who only found the ocean at 28 years old, it's never too late. But also the world is open and what a time to be alive.'
Indian Express
5 days ago
- General
- Indian Express
‘I Too' campaign seeks to instil empathy, social mindfulness among Tricity youth
Also by Amanpreet Thakur A social awareness campaign, 'I Too' (I Think Of Others), has been launched in the Tricity to encourage empathy, compassion and a sense of moral responsibility among the youth. The initiative, led by social group Suvichar and supported by volunteers, is spearheaded by former IAS officer and TEDx motivational speaker Vivek Atray, who termed it 'a call to rise above self-interest and build a more mindful society'. 'In September and October, a lot of activity happens, so we are looking forward to doing a lot in the coming few months,' Atray said, outlining plans for the campaign's interactive sessions and outreach. 'The central theme is empathy. In today's world, we must rise above selfish motives and do something meaningful for others.' Atray noted that many young people show emotional sensitivity towards animals, which he described as 'a beautiful thing', but stressed that compassion must also extend to the elderly, differently abled and others in need. 'Youth are nation-builders. If we make them aware and guide them to think of others, we can build an excellent nation,' he said. The campaign's volunteers will visit schools, colleges, universities and organisations across the Tricity to engage with students and staff, urging them to adopt the 'I Too' mindset in everyday life. Though rooted locally, organisers emphasised that anyone, anywhere can use the slogan and symbol to spread awareness. 'Social media is both our friend and enemy,' Atray added. 'We must use it wisely to reach out and share positive messages.' At the launch, Col D S Cheema spoke about the 'power of thought' and its influence on behaviour: 'Thinking is like the soul talking to itself. Our thoughts shape our actions, habits and character. You become what you think.' He emphasised that cultivating both the right mindset and skillset can help people share the 'fragrance' of their personality with others. Calling the campaign timely, Saguna Jain said, 'Today, everyone is leading a personalised life, obsessed with individualism. Words like independence and happiness are being misunderstood. True happiness comes when we spread it to others. So many people live in isolation today. Campaigns like these can rebuild human connection.' Hardeep Singh Chandpuri, recalling his student years in Australia, said empathy was once integral to social life. 'But now everyone just thinks about themselves. This campaign must reach people who really need help,' he said. Explaining the name of the initiative, Charanjit Singh said: ''I Too' is not just a slogan. It's a commitment. Everyone should write it and put it on their wall — a daily reminder to care for others both personally and professionally.' Closing the event, Col Cheema highlighted the concept of social mindfulness: 'It's about how you behave when no one is watching, except the Almighty. Most human behaviour is driven by punishment or reward. True mindfulness is what you do beyond that.' Citing research ranking Japan highest and India lowest in social mindfulness, he added, 'This needs to change.' With a sustained outreach planned across educational institutions and a growing group of supporters, the 'I Too' campaign seeks to build a culture where empathy, moral values and social mindfulness become second nature. 'I THINK, YOU THINK, WE THINK — this is the ultimate goal of I Too: I Think Of Others,' Atray said.
The Hindu
5 days ago
- Business
- The Hindu
How to bounce back from career breaks with confidence?
Career breaks are no longer rare. But what still feels rare is the confidence to return from one without apology. Especially for professionals in technical roles, a break is often treated as a red flag, not because skills disappear, but because perceptions haven't evolved fast enough. According to LinkedIn's Gender Insights Report (2024), 38% of women in India list parenting as the reason for a career break compared to only 9% of men. This isn't just a statistic. It reveals how career breaks are still judged, especially for women and mid-career professionals. It's not the gap that's damaging; it's the outdated assumptions attached to it. Returning professionals assume they'd have to 'settle' for less after a break. What they actually need is a reframe, not a downgrade. To delve deeper into the topic, The Hindu will host a live webinar, titled 'How to bounce back from career breaks with confidence?', on July 26 at 5:00 p.m. The panellists include: Sarabjeet Sachar, Founder & CEO, Aspiration; Gauri Das, Senior Vice President at India Factoring & Finance Solutions; and Shourya K. Chakravarty, CHRO, Aptech Limited. Register now for free to ask questions and interact with the panellists. Those who ask the three best questions will receive a free online subscription to The Hindu. Panellists Sarabjeet Sachar, Founder & CEO, Aspiration Sarabjeet Sachar, Founder & CEO, Aspiration, with about four decades of experience, is a TEDx speaker (Editor's pick), LinkedIn Top Voice, career transition coach, and someone involved in recruitment for over two decades. He's spent 23 years in recruitment, held leadership sales roles at The Hindu, The Times of India, and Zee Telefilms, where he was the Senior Vice President, National Sales (Network). For the last eight years, he's been coaching professionals to grow, transition, and thrive in their careers. His passion to make a difference in people's careers has helped him achieve a four lakh following across social media. Gauri Das, Senior Vice President at India Factoring & Finance Solutions Gauri Das is an engineer turned HR Professional with a double Master's in Human Resources and Psychology. Gauri is an HR leader with 17+ years of experience. She is a certified ICF coach and is associated as a mentor with various institutions, including IIT Bombay. She is the co-author of the book, 'The Power of Connections!'. She is the national president of the WICCI Future of Work Council. Shourya K. Chakravarty, CHRO, Aptech Limited Shourya K. Chakravarty, is a professional currently serving as the Chief Human Resources Officer at Aptech Limited, a pioneer in the non-formal vocational training business with a significant global presence. He has almost three decades of experience in Human Resources, CSR, administration, and employee communications. His professional journey commenced with the Aditya Birla Group, and he later held key roles of growing responsibility and complexity at renowned companies such as General Mills India, GE, HSBC, and Firstsource Solutions. He has also served as the former CHRO at QualityKiosk Technologies, leading pivotal HR transformations. (For any feedback or suggestions, reach out to us at education@
