‘Common culture can solve conflicts’

Rarely one gets to see a farmer, Parliament Member, start-up expert and musician share a dais to inspire others through their achievements and success stories. The TEDxSecunderabad precisely proved to be such a platform where speakers from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and India unlocked South Asia’s potential and how their experiences can benefit each other apart from taking on the common challenges that these countries face.

The speakers ranging from business and government to art and music expressed their views in the standard format of 18 minutes.

TEDxSecunderabad was supported by the U.S. Consulate General in Hyderabad.

If Novin Darlami, Member of Parliament, Bhutan, delivered a talk on the role of youth in national decision making, Sunesh Rodrigo, a Corporate Trainer and Public Speaker- turned-farmer from Sri Lanka who grows paddy, pineapple and pepper spoke about addressing the issue of global food crisis through sustainable ventures such as farming.

Sajid Iqbal, founder of CHANGE - a popular youth led development organisation in Bangladesh shared the story of his journey that began with the “Solar Bottle Light” which helped to improve lighting in congested and dark slums.

Sidra Saeed, socio-political activist from Pakistan captivated the audience through her talk “Choose Politics or Choose Ignorance” while Binalakshmi Nepram, civil rights activist and founder of the Manipur Women Gun Survivor Network, drew the attention of the audience on involving women in conflict resolution.

South Asian countries share cultures, histories, and languages apart from conflicts, policy challenges, etc., that obstruct the growth of trade relations across the region,

Nabeel Adeni

organiser and licensee of TEDxSecunderabad