When the power of 11 women inspired a crowd of 1000
“If not women then who? Women are the way forward,” says Yasraj Akashi the senior ambassador of TEDx India. After holding several TEDx talks over the past six years, Yashraj and his team put together the very first TEDx Gateway Women’s Talk in India on the 29th of May. In retrospect, the event was not easy to pull off and Yashraj admits that he and his team faced several challenges from its very inception.
With over 11 speakers addressing an audience of a whopping 1000 members, this time the TEDx Women talks brought in several emotional and personal elements to it. The speakers were Leila Seth, Chetna Gala Sinha, Deepika Bharadwaj, Ashwini Ashokan, Aditi Gupta, Upasana Makati, Ananda Jayant Shankar, Reemaben Nanavaty, Vivian Riess, Ariel Garten and Natalie Di Luccio. All these women represent different backgrounds and brought in a truly wide perspective to things..
This time around the team took a conscious decision to add only one speaker with a strong technical topic. The guiding theme behind the first women TEDx talk in India was ideas.
We were very clear that we wanted the talks to be purely idea specific. Ideas that people can take back home and begin conversations with, says Yashraj.
Breaking the norm
The idea of gender parity struck a chord with the audience when Leila Seth, the first woman judge of the Delhi High Court, began her talk with the lines “September 1942, is etched in my memory. It was a few weeks before my 12th birthday, and I had lost my father. My mother made no difference between my brothers and me; she ensured we were all educated.”
Needless to say, that intro received a standing ovation. Natalie Di Luccio’s talk on music and losing her voice also touched a nerve. The stories also resonated with the men in the audience. “I found the stories to be very powerful; it was brilliant being a part of Natalie’s experience. It was very powerful,” says Vikram Murdani, one of the attendees of the event.
According to Radhika, another attendee, the event was a powerful medium for women to express their emotions and life’s stories to the fullest. While the different speakers brought in aspects of women’s empowerment, it also initiated conversations around what the audiences could do. After listening to Deepika Bharadwaj talk on the misuse of dowry laws, one of the women audience members said, “We need to ensure that the laws are not exploited and the right people use it for the right reasons.”
Creating ideas
Yashraj says that women tend to be more open to ideas and the softer elements, and therefore, for a Tedx Women platform it is imperative to get the ideas out. He also says that each speaker rehearsed their talk at least seven to eight times before the event. “I wanted people to go back by not just saying it was a wonderful event. I wanted people to go back and have conversations. I wanted people to step up and put in a thought and do something event after the event,” adds Yashraj.
There were speakers who had participated earlier, like Chetna Gala Sinha. Despite that people lent her a patient ear and she received a standing ovation, which she graciously accepted with the words, “This applause is not for me but my animals.” “The stories are really powerful, and I am humbled by what these women have achieved in their lives,” said Chinmay one of the attendees at the event.
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Women’ leadership and empowerment
Was this TEDx women’s event successful in conveying the message of women’s leadership and empowerment? “Gender bias exists globally and is going to take time to correct, mediums like TEDx platform are needed to tackle the issue and reach out to more women,” says Armaan Arora, one of the attendees.
According to Vikram, these ideas and topics need to reach a wider and more diverse cross-section of people. He says that it should be showcased in different parts of the country in different languages. He further adds, “If I were to do a TEDx Women event it will be for an audience that is largely made of men. Get women to talk to an audience full of men. While you need to empower to women to think differently, the men too need to understand the importance of women leaders.”
