Pursue dreams for they give you wings to fly, say speakers

Neha Saini

Advertisement

Amritsar, February 7

Most success stories start with an idea or a dream, but a dream can have multiple interpretations, in as long as it can last. What you do with your dreams is a different story but what the bottom-line remains is that you dare to do so. The theme ‘I have a Dream’ made for an engaging and inspiring day at Invictus International School, as they hosted TEDxInvictus, an independently organised TED event, at the school premises.

The event featured community voices and TED talk videos under the theme “I Have a Dream”, while the speakers included eminent names like actor and Odissi dancer Jayati Bhatia, fashion influencer Tina Kakkad, entrepreneur and founder, Typsy Beauty, Kairavi Bharat Ram, Namrata Zakaria, Parnab Mukerjee, wellness expert and entrepreneur Vibhuti Arora, neuroradiologist and researcher Dr Santosh Gupta, language expert Nagma Khanna, philanthropist Sukhamrit Singh, Dr Anupma Gupta and student Bhuranyu Mahajan.

Sharing his dream and urging the audience to take the blinders off to have a look at the real world, Parnab Mukerjee, a knowledge resource curator and activist, asked to give peace a chance, especially in a world so blinded by war.

Sharing similar sentiments, though towards a different cause, Namarat Zakaria, journalist and sustainability advocate, who runs Baradari, a fund-raising fashion community to help weavers and artisans, gave a call for strengthening rural economy by buying local. Cotton, she said, became a national identity when Mahatma Gandhi gave a call for Swadeshi. Clothes do not just define fashion but can be used for political expression, a mood flex and fuel the rural economy if we include the artisan and weaver communities in our growth story, she said. Before she became a full-time CEO and make-up influencer, 24-year-old Kairavi Bharat Ram was struggling with mental health issues, battling depression. While she sought refuge in watching make-up videos that eventually piqued her interest and inspired her to launch her own beauty brand, Kairavi said that contrary to the belief, beauty industry is inclusive, allowing everyone to just ‘be themselves’.

In the session, Dr Santosh also laid emphasis on the relation between mental health and spiritual practices like meditation or mantra chanting. “We need to understand that complete well-being involves both tangible and intangible understanding of our mind and body, Dr Santosh said.