TEDx stirs speaker to invigorate village in India

Event in Dubai convinced speaker to take concept to her village in India and initiate positive change.

ABU DHABI // Inspired after speaking at a TEDx event in Dubai, Masarat Daud took its "ideas worth spreading" concept to India yesterday, hosting a version tailored to bring positive change to her home village in rural India. TED, which stands for technology, entertainment and design, is a non-profit organisation that began hosting conferences in the 1980s. At TEDx events, independent hosts bring in speakers to share stories of personal success, with a mission to motivate people to improve their local communities.

Ms Daud, 26, was one of the speakers at the first such event in the UAE event, TEDx Dubai, held in October. She was asked to speak because of the educational programme she started last February called the 8-Day Academy, which runs intensive courses to teach people key skills, from computing to public speaking. She said the event gave her the "vision" to take TEDx to India. "When I stood on the stage in Dubai it was just me talking, but so many people got inspired by my words," she said.

"They weren't necessarily going to join my project, but they would find the impulse to follow their own ideas. I was so passionate about the event, I knew I had to take it to India if I could." She held yesterday's conference in her home village of Fatehpur, in Rajasthan state's northeasterly Shekhawati region, with the help of James Piecowye, a professor from Zayed University and co-host of the Dubai event.

The event featured eight speakers, including Samar Jodha, a photographer, Aman Nath, the co-chairman of the Neemrana hotel chain and Amrita Choudhary, a women's rights campaigner. "I wanted people from these small towns and villages who had made it big," she said. "There is no point in having an American businessman coming to talk to them, as he wouldn't connect with them. I wanted to show people that they, too, could be successful."

About, 1,000 people attended the three-hour event, including a handful of visitors from Mumbai. Ms Daud said she is hoping to make TEDx Shekhawati an annual event. [e-mail]