The first speaker was Malaika Vaz, a 19 year old Goan who is also the youngest woman to have gone on both the Arctic and Antarctic expedition. Being the explorer, filmmaker and social entrepreneur that she is, Malaika went on to share her experiences and encounters with nature in her charismatic talk. Raul Rodriguez, a criminal intelligence officer at the Interpol, went next and engaged the audience in his talk about the art of deception. The third speaker, Pranav Lal, a cyber security analyst and a photographer, demonstrated how he manages to excel at his profession despite being visually impaired. Ulrike Reinhard, founder of the Janwaar Castle, spoke about how she managed to reinvigorate a rural village though skateboarding.
Post the lunch break, theoretical physicist Suvrat Raju charmed the audience with his speech on the Black Hole Information Paradox. The audience was then enraptured by Sonam Wangchuk, the engineer, innovator and the inspiration behind ‘Phunsukh Wangdu’ from the movie ‘3 Idiots’. Talking about SEMCOL, a movement which is changing the landscape of education in Ladakh, Wangchuk received a standing ovation from the captivated audience. The penultimate speaker, Sumeet Vyas, then reflected on the theme ‘Rewired’ in his talk. The final speaker was the well-known actor, lyricist and poet, Piyush Mishra who mesmerized the audience through his talk which was delivered with such ease as though it was just another bit of poetry for him.
Overall, through its wide range of compelling speakers, TEDx BITSGoa succeeded in its goal of spreading innovative entertaining ideas. The event was organized by an entirely student run team and was certainly one to remember.