Indian Institute of Sustainability, Gujarat University organized TEDx on 17th December 2023 with the theme “Ecoverse”. TEDx is a global platform which invites speakers from any field who can inspire people for individual as well as common cause, like health, happiness, motivation, innovation, new ideas, creativity, health, happiness, problem identification etc. For the TEDx event organized at Indian Institute of Sustianability (IIS), Gujarat University, in total 8 speakers were finalized which involved 2-3 months of rigorous efforts from IIS Team, student volunteers and the Hon’ble Vice Chancellor of Gujarat University. The event started with university song and lamp lighting, followed by the event inauguration by hon’ble Vice Chancellor of Gujarat University, Dr. Neerja Gupta under “Paras Parv”.
Besides the inauguration, Hon’ble vice chancellor was also the first speaker of this TEDx event. Dr. Neerja Gupta is the first woman vice chancellor of Gujarat’s oldest and largest University and has a vast experience in the field of academics, administration, and research dimensions.
Her talk was about understanding sustainability through our tradition and culture. She highlighted the fact that Indian culture, and lifestyle inherits sustainable practices since time immemorial through different examples. Her first example discussed the significance of growing wheat during “Navratri”. Growing the seeds for nine days exemplifies soil testing at each home, and giving those sprouted seeds, also called as “Naurata” to the king exemplifies a data center. At this data center, the experts and the king used to identify which soil produces best, and which soil requires any treatment. She also gave example of how modern Science is repeating the discoveries which were once actively utilized by our people during Ramayana and Mahabharata.
When Bhishmpitamah was lying on the bed of arrow, and wished to see the vrihad roop of Sri Krishna, after seeing the divine God, he praised the God in long verses of poems. Everyone there, Pandava and Kaurava were amused to listen to those verses, however, no one could remember that to reproduce further after Bhishma’s death. Then Sahdev collected all the vibrations from the atmosphere and wrote the book “Vishnu Sahastranaam”. This exceptional ability of Sahdev of collecting sound vibrations to re-create sound was discovered few decades back by a German Scientist. By throwing coins to rivers, we as humans fulfill our ecological responsibility of cleaning the water bodies, as certain metals like, silver, gold and copper, cleanse the water. She concluded by saying to believe our traditions and culture without always finding reason for doing that, and these acts must not be considered as “Andhvishwas”, since there is huge difference between “Andhvishwas” and “Superstition”.
The highly anticipated first-ever TEDx event at the Indian Institute of Sustainability (IIS), Gujarat University, boasts an impressive lineup of prominent speakers. These individuals have shared their diverse expertise and perspectives on sustainability. The list includes Dr. Neerja Gupta (Hon'ble Vice-Chancellor, Gujarat University), Prof. Vivek Suneja (Dean, Faculty of Management Studies, University of Delhi & Former Pro. VC Delhi University), Mr. Arun Mahesh Babu IAS (Managing Director, Gujarat Power Corporation Ltd.), Prof. Jaydeep Mukherjee (Head, IIFT Gandhinagar), Mr. Naman Singhal (CEO, Atal Incubation Centre, Indian School of Business), Mr. S B Dangayach (Founder Trustee, Innovative Thought Forum, Former M D, Sintex Industries Ltd), Dr. Gajanan Dange (President of YOJAK Center for Research and Strategic Planning for Sustainable Development) and Mr. Ankur Agarwal (Medkart founder).
