Today was the second episode of Ted Talks. I am almost a Ted Talks virgin, to be honest. I have never watched the show from the West before Shah Rukh Khan spoke on it, no-holds-barred. I loved the concept although the whole talking to an open audience without any question thrown at you, looked a bit daunting to me. So when I sat to watch the second episode of Ted Talks’ Indian version, Nayi Soch, I approached it with an open mind and I was heartily rewarded for that! Shah Rukh Khan started the episode by putting emphasis on what words can do. It’s a very potent weapon which can kill or build empire. We totally agree with him. My dad says, ‘There are 100 different ways to say something, it’s upto you to decide which one you will choose’ (I can’t claim it’s original but it is definitely effective). SRK thus brought in guests who understands the power words hold on the dias, and made them share their experiences about it.
First up was Gurmehar Kaur, the girl who stirred a hornet’s nest for saying ‘Pakistan didn’t kill my father, war did’. The girl took the dias first and explained what all she went through because of that. Clearly, her ‘words’ got the better of her and all she wanted was peace between two nations despite the loss 0f her father.
Next up was Child Psychologist Shailja Sen. While introducing her, SRK said he made her speak to his kids because Aryan doesn’t talk and AbRam doesn’t stop. He didn’t elaborate it any further and passed the baton to Sen. Well… She spoke about how parents should treat their kids to give them a better future. While I almost yawned through the segment mostly because I am not a parent and don’t feel any affection towards kids, Shah Rukh woke me up from the slumber by asking her how should kids treat parents. Well, when you are a parent, I guess you get to ask such intelligent questions. But then it’s SRK. He is an intelligent man.
Javed Akhtar took the dias next and started his anecdotes. Honestly, I skipped through that part by browsing something on the internet. It’s not his fault! I deeply respect him for the dialogues he has been giving us over the years but people of this generation, who have a very small attention span, need a hook to latch on to a conversation almost immediately.
Clinton Cerejo and his band lyrically explained the power of words. It made me wonder why a song in between such intense talks. But guess that’s the format. Well, it was unnecessary!
Last but not the least was Deepak Ramola, teacher-writer and the founder of Fuel. The latter is the short form of Forward the understanding of every life lesson. I was instantly hooked! The guy, all of 25, has achieved something that I have never even thought of. He takes people’s life lessons and turns them into personality uplifting activities. Some people are pure genius! I never knew life lessons can be activities too. It also plunged me into minor depression thinking, ‘What the hell am I doing with my life’ But since I got struck by no such brave idea as Deepak, I went back to mundane. But I must say it did stir something me inside to figure out an unusual way to give back to the society.
It got better when Ramola asked Shah Rukh Khan to share his life lesson. The actor said that he believes in treating people the way they treat him. He also emphasized on spending time with our-self. That’s where SRK and me are similar. I love to be with me…the best friend ever! Self obsessed? No, because nobody knows you better than you do. Even SRK agrees to that.
All in all, I liked the show because I didn’t have overbearing expectations from it. But I hope they will have more people like Ramola in the future to inspire people.