#tedxdhaka

[khabir]

"TEDxDhaka - Anusheh Anadil - Track 1" by TEDx Music Project

[jhalmoori]

Starting from the very grandeur of the architecture of the venue, Krishibid Institution of Bangladesh, TEDxDhaka 2014 Breaking Barriers was as extravagant a show as it could ever get. Every bit and piece of this show was something to be experienced and cherished for a very long time. It is surely to stay in my own book of memory for as long as I live to breathe.

It started off with Mohammad Tauheed, the man behind TEDxDhaka, taking over the microphone and announcing the first speaker of the show, Mr. Iqbal Habib, whose grand architectural designs revolutionized architectural innovations in Bangladesh, the man behind the grand Hatirjheel project which shines like a star amidst the jungle of concrete blocks of the city.

His talks and his ideas were even more extravagant when it came to social responsibility. He spoke about his idea (which later came true) of rehabilitating the slum people around the Hatijheel project, who were excavated during the project, but were given apartment flats by the Govt. after finishing the project. The one idea that said, let’s not remove the problem “the slum people” but include them in the project itself.

[quote_center]Farzana Wahid Shayan, a musician with a prophetic humbleness, with her entangling words, sure to win a thousand million hearts. Who sings with her soul, and speaks with her heart [/quote_center]

As the show passed we came across some extraordinary people, people who spent nearly 20 years of their lives to prove a point, a point that most people wouldn’t want to acknowledge, or believe in, a point that said, garbage can be a resource. Yes we are talking about the Garbage Men, Iftekhar Enayetullah and Maqsood Sinha. They spoke about their fight to bring a change in the society, that most people ignore; the change that would turn garbage waste into resources. They surely made their point and most, if not all, people who were present would now look at garbage in a totally different way.

Then we had Monira Rahman on stage, a strong determinant voice to stop the brutality on women. Her heavy voice surely had put an impact on the souls of every single person who was present in the event. She shared with us some inhumane and some extraordinary stories from her life. Her journey, her passion, to end violence on women, and to protect women from abuse, such as Acid attacks, which in most cases are done by the very people they seek shelter from, their husband, their father, the very people who are supposed to protect them.

[quote_left]“I want to make this world a better place to live in… I want to teach everyone what I learn from The Tech School… I don’t want to work for anyone. No offence… I just want to change Bangladesh and I’m hoping I can change the world” – Abrar & Safwan [/quote_left]

This time on TEDxDhaka, for the very first time we had guests from abroad, who flew in just for this very event, to share with us some extraordinary stories and experiences from their life. It was their presence that made TEDxDhaka 2014, the very best of TED in Dhaka.

Rosey Hurst, with her 17 years of experience in ethical trade and labor standards shared with us her experience of visiting Bangladesh over the past 10 years. It was for the first time for many of us that we could see the change in the standard of living of our garment workers.

She showed us what she could see from her eyes, how the lives of our garment workers have improved drastically over the past 10 years. The first time she was here, they did not have any furniture or electrical devices on their rooms, but now when she visits those houses, she can see televisions, fridge, small furniture, etc, things that she could not see 10 years back.

We had another guest Nina Smith, whose eyes had the depth that you might only see if you look into the night sky. The sorrow, the pain, it all reflected in her eyes. She had dedicated her life into making other peoples life better, life of children who almost work like slaves in carpet factories. She is in a mission to stop this current day slavery once and for all, and not just in the carpet industry, but every other sector that involves child labor.

She made her point, if we want to stop child labor, we need to stop buying products that involve child labor, so that it forces those factories to change their policies and stop child laboring. To make it more interesting she brought a blue carpet on the stage that was GoodWeave certified, the organization working to stop child labor and the organization she is Executive Director to.

The biggest surprise on stage was the saxophone, Prof. Dr. Peter Eigen, dazzled the audience with his musical extravagance. The audience was thrilled by harmony before coming to the devastating world of corruption and the efforts that are being made to put a stop to it. He scope about the biggest problem in this country, corruption and transparency in the system. He made a second entry to the stage with his saxophone to give the audience a gift, a blend of soft tunes to be enjoyed coffee and an graceful evening fall.

TEDxDhaka 2014 wasn’t all about serious matters; we had with us some of the most extraordinarily talented bunch of people along with us to spend the evening, musicians who put life into music, who give meaning to music.

Farzana Wahid Shayan, a musician with a prophetic humbleness, with her entangling words, sure to win a thousand million hearts. Who sings with her soul, and speaks with her heart. She is one extraordinary musician you are bound to stumble upon.

[quote_center]I like to sit with people i don’t know” that’s how an University teacher introduced himself to me [/quote_center]

While Shayan struck us with her melodies, we had on the other hand Moktadir Dewan Shanto, a pioneer in his own line, the first beat boxer from Bangladesh, took the crowds to a whole new experience with his mind blowing beat boxing skills.

Anyone would have guessed that it was the musicians who were the main entertainers of this event, but they were just part of it, as we had with us, some of the smartest and the most intelligent people with us who thrilled us with their engineering skills.

The duo Khushboo and Rakib literally surprised us with their out of the world creations. They created robots for NASA, robots that would effectively help pick up sand and dust from the moon. Their plan is even more extraordinary than their creation, they want to use that to clean the garbage from the streets of Dhaka and help construction site workers with their chores of moving heavy objects. One of their hall of fame creations is the Manobgari, a robot inspired from the movie Transformers.

Among us were people who are reshaping this world, with their study of health and nutrition. Anisul Karim is one man who is working in health and nutrition research and has spent considerable amount of his time in researching the nutrition of babies. He bedazzled us with his demo graphs and stats. He gave us some proud moments to cheer for our country, and also moments to stop and think on how to solve the remaining problems.

[quote_center]The TEDxDhaka 2014 Breaking Barrier, was thought provoking to say the least, from social issues, to fundamental philosophies of life, the meaning of life and the meaning of happiness, every individual shared some bit of it. [/quote_center]

At a more personal level speaker Tanzeem Chowdhury spoke about our mental health and mental illness, topics that are generally not showered on. She made us realize the fact that we human beings are ignorant about this fact. She gave us a number of statistical data to ponder upon and question ourselves “ARE WE REALLY OK?” She showed us a lot of different applications of modern smartphone that can help us realize if we are suffering from mental illness or not. The first step to any problem is realizing there is a problem.

Among us was Munem Wasif, who took us to the extraordinary world of photography, he trailed us into the alleys of “Puran Dhaka” and took us to mysterious life of the Puran Dhaka people. The antique buildings, the architectural marvels that are in ruins, he took us right within those buildings. His photographs were accompanied by his memories and his life stories that gave life to his photos. His photos were talking to us through him. It was thrilling.

Then it was there was this time of the marvelous duo, Manik and Ratan, the twin brothers who marveled in the world of cartoons. Their success isn’t bounded by our national borders. They are appreciated and acknowledged globally. They speak of my heart, and the heart of millions of youth in our country, where we are socially pressurized to pursue a career on what brings in money and respect, not what makes us happy. They rebelled and they won the war. They inspire people like me and you. They had their fair share of standing ovation from all of us present in that room.

[quote_center]It was not just the extraordinary speakers in the event but it was also the people around us that made this TED break barriers. On my left was a physicist and on my right was a literature teacher [/quote_center]

Shehzad Noor Taus, not too many people are familiar with that name, that’s because the guy is too young to have even gotten the time to get fame. He is one of the most talented software developers in Bangladesh; he won the Zend Cartificate at age 10, the youngest in the entire world. He made us realize how important a part programming plays in our society and great we can do for this world if people from all sector of life started to learn programming.

The stars of the show were none other than Abrar Jawad and Safwan Rahman. They literally stole the show from everyone. These kids of 9 and 11 were the cutest pair of geniuses on this planet. They won the heart of every single individual who was present there, the moment they got up on the stage.

What took me a quarter of a century to realize, these kids unraveled that by the age of 10. If everyone wanted to be the next best engineer, or the next best architect, we won’t find anyone to employ them. We need people with big dreams, and we need engineers and architects who can help them build those dreams, it’s your choice which role in the society you want to take.

These coding geniuses showed us that it doesn’t matter how young you are, you can still do the unthinkable. When most regular child at 10 would be breaking toys and crying for newer ones, these kids are busy coding and making software. The most interesting part was, they showed us live on how they replicated a basic version of the MS Paint, and how ridiculously “simple” it was.

It was not just the extraordinary speakers in the event but it was also the people around us that made this TED break barriers. On my left was a physicist and on my right was a literature teacher. The very essence of diversified personalities sharing the same roof, communicating with a common ground, was itself an extraordinary experience. I met with a lot of people, some while having lunch and some while sipping a hot cup of coffee, and all of them were extraordinary people.

“I like to sit with people i don’t know” that’s how an University teacher introduced himself to me. For a change, it wasn’t the weather that started the conversation and that is the beauty of TED.

While I joined a group of A-levels students in their lunch table, I was not expecting them to be enjoying the event as it dealt with a lot of heavy issues of the society, but surprisingly, they were totally enjoying the show to the fullest. That’s what TED is, it is for every single conscious citizen of the society.

It was a coffee break when I met a wonderful lady who flew all the way from Chittagong with her mother to attend the event. People not just from different walks of life, but from distant places attended the show, and for them, it was all worth it.

It is a memory to keep. But most importantly, it made everyone realize that it is time for ‘breaking barriers’.

TEDxDhaka 2014: Breaking barriers Starting from the very grandeur of the architecture of the venue, Krishibid Institution of Bangladesh, TEDxDhaka 2014 Breaking Barriers was as extravagant a show as it could ever get.

[xeroanonymous93]

zee #potato #habibi #habibti #premperiti #TEDxDhaka #instalove

[xeroanonymous93]

#TEDxDhaka #volunteer #technology #food #Batman #baanana

[thewholeshebangladesh]

Someone needs to form a literary coordinating committee in Dhaka, so that events like TEDxDhaka do not clash with the wonderful Hay Festival this weekend. What to do, what to do.

Hay Festivals Worldwide

[jhalmoori]

4 TED Talks All Entrepreneurs Should Watch

4 TED Talks All Entrepreneurs Should Watch

Those who know me, will really be surprised that i am listening to TED talks now. Normally all kind of talks are not my cup of tea but TED is something i always love to listen. I started to follow TED talks from 2012 not because it is cool but also for their motto: “Ideas Worth Sharing”. This is just a true feeling of all entrepreneurs out there.

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[mercutios]

[noxmoony]

Yo guys, so a few months back in September, I gave a talk about my journey so far as an artist at TEDxDhaka...and finally it's online :D It was such an amazing experience to be able to speak in front of such an amazing audience...and I was really honoured to have been able to speak along with all the amazing speakers at TEDxDhaka.. And to be honest, being a TED geek, I was really stunned..when I learned that I was going to be a speaker this time. So yeah...um feel free to watch it guys, it's my story so far as an artist...and I hope you'll likey!