The Day We “Lived the Dream”! – The story behind the success of TEDxIIMB 2013
The 9th of January, 2013 shall be remembered not only as the day the dreaded CAT came out of the bag, for a lot of us at IIMB, it shall also be remembered as the day a constellation of stars, leaders in their own fields, men and women of mettle and achievements, descended upon IIM Bangalore to make TEDxIIMB 2013 what it eventually became – a phenomenon!
This, in return, is a long thank you speech to all those people who made TEDxIIMB 2013 a runaway success!
First, the choice of the subject, the theme for the event: “Live the Dream!” Let us just put it this way, we couldn’t have found a more impactful topic for an audience full of dreamers, student leaders and alumni of IIM Bangalore!
Next, let us say this as loudly and as emphatically as possible: Thank you Speakers! for your tremendous effort in making the subject come alive!
Now lets do it real slow, in the order in which the speakers enthralled us with their wisdom, clarity of thoughts and well timed humor… We wish to thank Rahul Tandon, founder of IIMPACT – an organisation working tirelessly in the field of women’s education, for reminding us how much still remains to be done to educate the girl child!
Mr. Rahul Bose, we cannot thank you enough for inspiring us to look forward to that “one day in the month” when we feel in control and do only that, that gives us true happiness!
Mr. R. Balakrishnan.. no… Balki, thanks a million for telling us that a dream is not a destination, it’s the path itself! The enjoyment is in the journey, the destination shall take care of itself!
Ms. Shaheen Mistri, we are truly grateful to you for telling us the truth about the condition of the downtrodden in our urban populations and giving us hope through your initiatives like Teach For India!
Dr. Anurupa Roy, thank you for showing us that age is no pre-requisite for achievement and success. If all of us could only do what you have done by the age of 26.
Mr. Arunachalam Muruganantham for telling us not to follow the money but to follow a cause with passion… for telling us what the true meaning of Social Entrepreneurship is and for being the first man ever to wear a sanitary napkin!
Mr. Boman Irani, our very own Virus, you have no idea how grateful all of us at IIMB are to you. Thank you for pretty much everything, especially for telling us the importance of honesty towards our professions! The story of your life is a true inspiration and the way you defined your dreams and then lived them all have instilled in us the belief that “Everything is possible”, we just need to wish for it hard enough!
And, to you Chandru, thank you for exposing us to the wonderful concept of a musical novel, we loved your Facebook Song, what a way to wrap up TEDxIIMB 2013!
Lastly, but perhaps most importantly, thank you, the audience: for the tremendous enthusiasm and abundant praise you have bestowed upon the event. This was our baby and you made it a legend! For you alone, we promise to make it an even better show next time around!
While you savour the sweet taste of an evening well spent, let me leave you with a promise to see you again this time next year… with an even bigger and better TEDxIIMB 2014!
