As an engineering graduate from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University in Delhi, Chayan Malik seemed to have his career graph chalked out for him. However, two years in IT changed Malik’s perspective. He decided to change tracks and pursue an MBA. It eventually led him to Great Lakes Institute of Management in ECR. Somewhere along the way, Malik began watching TED talks. “I was hooked,” he says. And before he knew it, he held the TEDx licence for Chennai.
“I wanted to help create a new perspective from other people’s ideas. When I joined Great Lakes, I wanted to meet like-minded people and set up Club Eclectics. We would host events based on various themes, such as economics and leadership. Here, we would play TED videos and invite the faculty to speak about the topic, followed by a discussion,” says Malik. It was while doing this that he realised he could create a local TED community.
However, applying for a licence was not easy. A few years back, the TEDx Chennai licence had been revoked for flouting norms and a strongly-worded communiqué sent out to TEDx communities across India for violating rules. So, when Malik applied for a licence in August 2016, the application was rejected. “The core team sat down to see what we might have missed out and applied once again. This time, the application was accepted and I had an interview with a TED official. They were keen to know about our ideas, our target communities, etc. Eventually, it all worked out. I had a lot of help from my team and faculty.”
Receiving the licence was only the beginning, he says. He was invited to attend the TED workshop at Infosys, Mysore, to brainstorm, share ideas, meet other organisers and curate better events. “The real work began after that. We worked for five months to organise our event, TEDxGLIMChennai in February this year. This was no less than setting up a startup,” he smiles.
Finding sponsors was one of the major issues. “Once things were set, the event sold out two days before it was set to take place. We had some great speakers on board — Mehak Sagar, RL Shankar, Bosskey and Mudit Dani — and the topics ranged from sports and career change to dance.”
The event went off without a hitch and TEDxGLIMChennai was awarded 80 points. “That is rather rare, and hence, very encouraging for us,” he says.
Malik, who is graduating this month and will soon begin working as a SAP consultant, is already planning next year’s event.
“This time, we will apply for the licence earlier and begin working with more time in hand. I also plan to train future batches at Great Lakes, so they can work on organising the events. I will ensure I am around as well, regardless of where I may be working. In the long run, I hope TEDxGLIMChennai will be the best TED event for every student/millennial.”
