TEDxIMIB 2022: POSSIBILITIES

IMI Bhubaneswar organized TEDXIMIB with the theme “Possibilities” on 29th January 2022 with six eminent speakers from diverse backgrounds, Mr. Indrajit Lahiri, Co-Founder of Foodka YT Web series, Published Author, Entrepreneur, Mr. Anant Ladha CA, CFA, CFP, LL.B., FPSB Certified Investment Planner Founder at 'Invest Aaj for Kal', Ms. Vidisha Baliyan, Miss Deaf World 2019, Retired Tennis Player, Mr. Sammya Batra Mullick, Manager at PwC, Art & Photography Curator, TEDx Speaker, Zoya Thomas Lobo, Country's First Trans Photojournalist, and Mr. Neeraj Gaba, Lakme Fashion Week Director, #MrGaba of India’s Next Top Model on MTV India, Youth Mentor shared their experiences. The main objective was to inspire the entire crowd with their experiential tales, polished with the theme of "Possibilities". 

The event commenced with encouraging words from our Director, Prof. Ramesh Behl. Appreciating this year’s theme he quoted,

“Our life has infinite possibilities powered by different factors”,

IMI Bhubaneswar as a management institute has seen its journey of growth revolving around the possibilities which were converted into opportunities. Lastly, Mr. Behl addressed the audience quoting, “We should be open, be curious and most importantly be ourselves”, to truly embrace the opportunities in form of possibilities around us.

Mr. Indrajit Lahiri shared his experience as a Co-Founder of Foodka YT Web series, Published Author, and Entrepreneur. With time he realized his passion and love for Storytelling which gave birth to the Foodka YT Web series. His journey from content creation in YouTube to book writing involved a few personal experiences that made him adopt it as well. He quoted, “Content writing is probably documenting a slice of time that you`re experiencing right now”. Towards the end Mr. Lahiri suggested to the youth that this is the age of storytelling, content creation, hence we should find out our passion and look for possibilities around us. 

Ms. Vidisha Baliyan had a completely different vision of opportunity for her to see how discipline, punctuality, and determination can change our lives. Talking about her love for 'tennis' in her life, she talked about the world of the deaf woman, always reminding herself of how important determination is, and the reason for her existence, and vowing never to give up.  She was advised by her doctor not to wear heels due to severe back pain, but she fought and won the Miss World title for Hearing Loss. She shared with us her permanence mantra to manage your day, week, and year with a proper plan.  

Mr. Sammya Batra Mullick enlightened the audience with his beautiful journey. Mr. Mullick wrote his own autobiography with multiple layers in the story for the readers to connect with. He got an opportunity to participate in the live photography competition, Canon PhotoMarathon India 2019 with the theme foodie heaven, the idea was to bring out the food stories in which he was a National Winner. Mr. Sammy enlightened the audience about finding this Kolkata Instagrammer community of over 2 lakh photographers, as there was no platform like Instagram for skilled photographers in the city. 

Anant Ladha eloquently emphasized how nothing significant has ever been accomplished without taking risks. He honed his direct equity trading skills daily. In his first year, he read 50+ books, spent 5 hours a day on the computer, sat with his father and grandfather discussing the process, and lost 100% of his money three times throughout his college days. These setbacks taught him three important life lessons, don’t invest when you're overconfident and respect the market, don't invest unless you understand the procedure, lastly Don't sacrifice studies for the sake of the market, because the market will always exist. 

He concluded by quoting, “No one will believe you unless and until you believe in yourself, and until then, nothing significant can be accomplished”. 

Zoya Thomas Lobo -Country’s the first transgender to become a photojournalist, beautifully explained her journey. She stated that being trans is neither a shame nor a punishment and that she is just like everyone else. Her motivator was the question, "If others can do it, why can't I? However, if you create a solid path for yourself, a strong mentality within yourself, everything becomes feasible. Her final words were that society should provide transgender people with the option to live a normal life and that their families should support them.

 

Highlighting the theme ‘Possibilities’ in a Spiritual and practical manner, Mr. Neeraj Gaba tried to define Possibilities as, “Likelihood and chances which comes from both positive and negative aspects”. Spiritually, Possibilities are internalized waves like the ocean. He manifested three levels of it where the first one is the deepest part of the ocean, full of calmness. The Mid-level contains heavy current waves followed by top waves which rise and die. Mr. Gaba beautifully elaborated that we should work on Aligning ourselves with our aptitude, connecting it to the mid-level of the ocean for overall Individual growth in life. 

Prof. Rohit Vishal Kumar, Faculty Coordinator TEDx, gave the concluding address, in which he described how their first TEDx license request failed, and then how they resurrected? He eloquently described their entire path of possibilities, describing how the transition from offline to online was difficult at first, but they persevered and hosted this great event. 

Life is brimming with opportunities. However, our difficulties frequently make it difficult for us to recognize the prize that lies ahead. We give up on our dreams or merely ride the waves due to circumstances we can't control. We believe that merely because we missed the train, we will be unable to reach our destination. We put so many restrictions on ourselves, and the worst part is that we aren't even aware of it. You convince yourself that you tried in the past and it didn't work no matter what you did. Instead of sealing doors that might have opened in the future, look for ‘POSSIBILITIES’.