TEDxGateway 2018: From Raghu Rai to Shabana Basij-Rasikh, a look at the speakers at this edition

TEDxGateway, being held in Mumbai on Sunday, is a consortium of entrepreneurs, scientists, researchers, educators and experts from several fields coming together to share their ideas on several global and national issues. The event will go on through the day and feature several speakers including the 12-year-olds Gitanjali Rao and Haaziq Kazi. Rao was declared America’s Top Young Scientist in 2017 and also won the Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge for Tethys, a device she created that detects lead contamination in water. Kazi has been vocal about plastic pollution in the oceans and the struggle of the aquatic life to survive amid the plastic waste dumped in the sea. The Pune-based student has developed the prototype of an ocean cleaner called ERVIS, a ship that sucks the waste out of water bodies. [caption id=“attachment_5652771” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  12-year-old Haaziq Kazi and the founder of HELA, Shabana Basij-Rasikh will be delivering talks at TEDxGatweway 2018 along with several other entrepreneurs, artists and disruptors across the globe. Images via TEDxGateway[/caption] Also featured in the line-up is Padma Shri awardee Raghu Rai, the photographer who has extensively covered the political, cultural and social issues of India through the years. After viewing Rai’s exhibit in Paris in 1971, acclaimed photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson had nominated Rai as a member of his organisation, Magnum Photos. Yet another individual who has been capturing the world through his lens, the British photographer Levon Biss is also set to deliver a talk at the event. TEDxGateway will also host the geopolitical futurist and author Parag Khanna who provides regular commentary on global trends and scenarios. Khanna has previously given two TED talks and in 2017 released his most recent work, Technocracy in America: Rise of the Info-State. Shabana Basij-Rasikh, the founder of HELA, a nonprofit organisation dedicated to empowering Afghan women through education will also take the stage on 2 December. Rasikh has been working with girls and young women in Afghanistan to help them receive education. From dressing as a boy during the Taliban regime to helming her non-profits, Rasikh’s focus has been on women empowerment in her country. [caption id=“attachment_5652801” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Musicians of Maati Baani (Left) and Kuchipudi and Bharatnatyam exponent Ananda Shankar Jayant (Right) will take to the stage at the day-long TEDxGateway 2018 on 2 December. Images via TEDxGateway[/caption] Along with humanitarians and strategists, artist and dancer Ananda Shankar Jayant and the poet, Rives will also be present at TEDxGateway. While Jayant, the Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam exponent, will take to the stage with a dance performance, Rives will be one of the hosts of the day-long event. Trained at Kalakshetra, Jayant is a cancer survivor who turned to her art for positivity during her treatment. Rives is an American poet and author who appeared on three seasons of HBO’s Def Poetry Jam. Some of his best poems include Kite, which talks about waking up alone in a new lover’s apartment, and Mockingbird. Also performing at the event is the band Maati Baani which creates with its music a confluence of Hindustani classical and soulful folk tunes. To talk about India’s agrarian crisis and the significance of sustainable agriculture, TEDxGateway will also host horticulturist Dnyaneshwar Bodke, who founded the Abhinav Farmers Club to educate and support farmers in adopting sustainable means of farming along with marketing their produce without the presence of middlemen. Read more about him here:  _Horticulturist Dnyaneshwar Bodke shares his ideas on sustainable farming ahead of his TEDxGateway 2018 talk_ India’s minister for Commerce and Industry and Civil Aviation, Suresh Prabhu is also set to talk at the event. Among other attendees include Shantha Rau Barriga, director of the disability rights division at Human Rights Watch, television and print journalist Govindraj Ethiraj who founded Boom, a fact checking initiative, and piano prodigy Lydian Nadhaswaram. Artificial intelligence and deep learning expert Prashant Warier, peace and conflict researcher and educator Shahnaaz Khan, architect Sameep Padora, and technologist and design thinker Tom Wujec will also be speaking at the event. The day-long forum, TEDxGateway, will be held on Sunday, 2 December, 2018 at DOME @ NSCI in Mumbai. More details can be found on TEDxGateway’s  website