Inviting suggestions for inspiring people as speakers for TEDx Chennai 2010. Please suggest names.

TEDx Chennai 2010 Speakers

S.Muthiah
This gentleman calls himself ‘a storyteller’. But that is an understatement. He has, in no small measure, contributed to the unraveling of the glorious past of this land, once the hub of the British and French Empires. S.Muthiah is very popular amongst the madrasis, its because Muthiah brought forth the magnificence of Chennai (Madras) through his books – Madras Discovered, Tales of Old and New Madras, Madras – the gracious city, Parrys 200, The Parry Story, Getting India on the Move, A Planting Century and Madras – its Past and its Present, The Spencer Legend and The Spirit of Chepauk. On March 7, 2002, Muthiah was made an "Honorary Member of the Civil Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire" for his work on Heritage and Environment conservation in Madras. The past life of Muthiah is also very interesting and impressive. In 1946, he was one among the first batch of students, from this part of the world, to go to United States for higher studies, immediately after World War II. In the U.S. besides graduating with a B.S. Engineering, B.A. and M.A. (International Affairs), he represented his University in Athletics, Debating, was active in campus journalism and worked with local newspapers. Returning to Ceylon in 1951, circumstances forced him to rethink a career in the Foreign Service and he joined The Times of Ceylon, to become wedded to journalism and started writing ever since.

GeetSethi
Meet Geet Sethi, a semi-professional player of Billiards and Snooker, who dominated the sport throughout the 1990s. He was born in Delhi and grew up in Ahmedabad, studying at St.Xavier's. He started playing billiards at the age of 13 and found extreme joy in it. He won his first major billiards event - Indian National Billiards Championship at the age of 21, and went on to win it four years in a row after that. Today, he holds 9 World Titles - eight for billiards and one for snooker. He also holds the Guinness Record for being the first amateur to have recorded the maximum break of 147. He hit the Gold in the billiards doubles at the Asian Games 1998, Bangkok. He also won several medals at the subsequent Asian Games in 2002 and 2006. His motivational book Success vs. Joy received much acclaim and is rated as one of the most inspiring books of today. He is now the co-founder of Olympic Gold Quest, a foundation for the promotion of sports in India. The foundation supports Indian sportspersons with the passion and potential to win the Olympic Gold. Mr. Sethi himself will compete in the Olympics once cue sports are finally recognized as an Olympic Sports.

Dr. AnandaShankarJayant
Dancing with joy, Ananda Shankar Jayant, one of the much celebrated and renowned dancers of the country; imbues technique and grammar with a sparkling quality, bristling with life. Hailed as an intelligent and thinking dancer with contemporary sensibility, Ananda, with her grace, vivacity and inner luminescence draws the viewer into the inner spaces that she paints, leaving the audience deeply touched. A breathtaking performer, brilliant choreographer and erudite scholar, Ananda has polished her art to a fine pitch, where the rigor and intensity of training, deep dedication and commitment meets a finely tuned intellect, that blends with ease traditional structures with contemporary inputs. Ananda’s much acclaimed and intense body of artistic work, spans, rich mythologies historical chronicles, searing commentary on gender issues, as well as secular & philosophical presentation. She was conferred with the prestigious Padmashri, in 2007 by His Excellency the President of India, Shri APJ Abdul Kalam . She has been selected to receive the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi award for Bharatanatyam this year, and will soon receive the award from The Hon’ble President of India. She is also a much sought after speaker on dance, art addressing social issues, classical arts in a contemporary society, gender issues, women studies, multi tasking, climate change and breast cancer. She calls herself a Breast cancer conqueror, having battled the disease over the last two years, and supports other breast cancer survivors, as the Convenor of Asha a support and advocacy group for breast cancer.

M.Mahadevan
Mr Mahadevan, who started his life in Chennai as an assistant professor of marketing at Madras University, now runs a chain of restaurants that serve Thai, Chinese, Mexican cuisines among others. M. Mahadevan known as Hot Breads Mahadvan, decided to venture into Hotel business when he was the assistant professor. He opened Hot Breads, the pioneering bakery on Cathedral Road. Mahadevan now runs Oriental Cuisines Pvt. Ltd, a Rs 45-crore empire with 61 restaurants in India. After Hot Breads Mahadevan launched a whole slew of fast food and restaurant brands for every segment of consumers – Benjarong, the Thai restaurant, Wang’s Kitchen and Noodle House for Chinese, Don Pepe for Mexican, Zara, the Spanish Tavern, Copper Chimney, Ente Keralam, The French Loaf and Maple Leaf and the byword in food courts - PlanetYumm. After the success of Indian operations, he ventured into foreign shores – he took Hot Breads to France and Italy, tied up with Saravana Bhavan to take the brand to US and opened a string of bakeries in the Gulf region. Mahadevan also helped open the Chennai-based Anjappar restaurant abroad. With 11 brands in his Indian operations and 4 in the International markets, Mahadevan manages a large work force – almost 1400 people in India and about 1000 in the International markets

SangitaSharma
Organic farmer and Safe Food Campaigner Sangita Sharma is a Bangalore-based campaigner for safe foods who goes by her inner call, to work for the cause of farmers. In 2009, she launched the campaign ‘MY RIGHT TO SAFE FOOD’. Her work focuses on providing sustainable solutions, advocating livelihood issues to equip marginal farmers. A self contained farmer herself, Sangita moved from a successful corporate career to setting up the ‘Annadana Soil and Seed Savers Trust’ with like-minded partners. After working abroad for over 16 years in the travel, media, fashion and corporate sector, Sangita returned to her roots in Bangalore in 2001, quitting her high profile job as a specialist in corporate affairs in pursuit of a vocation. Deep down there was a constant gnawing within Sangita, that if she could promote corporate visionaries, then why not the cause of farmers? She then educated herself in low cost sustainable farming methods by applying organic principles, to practice the same in her parents’ 6-acre farm, where she now resides. Her organization staunchly upholds its major mission to safeguard farmers and their rights by providing them access to organic open pollinated vegetable seeds and ensuring them all technical skills related to soil regeneration, seed saving and seed keeping. Currently, Sangita is a managing steering committee member of OFAI (Organic Federation Association of India), the equivalent of Soil Association in UK and Rodale in USA.

SamimRizvi
Ultra Cyclist and Professional Perfumer Samim Rizvi is the first Indian to qualify for Race Across America, one of the world’s toughest ultra marathon bicycle race stretching 5000 kms. It far exceeds the Tour De France which is only 3600 kms. Samim cycled 701 km in just 24 hours this March to qualify for the race. Samim, 41 and a proud father of two, has been training for eight years for this grueling race. An attack of Pneumonia stopped him from completing the 2010 race but is determined to fight in the 2011 edition. In year 2006, in a bid to raise awareness on global warming, Samim ran from Bangalore to Mumbai and cycled all the way back. The team educated dhaba owners and truckers about global warming. Samim is the Director of Fitness at Bulldog Sportz, a sports management and professional training team. He is also a professional perfumer after studying perfumery in Paris.

T.ChendilKumar
T Chendil Kumar or CK as he prefers to be called, is a corporate trainer and a guest faculty at IIM Bangalore. With over 20 years of experience in sales and marketing and entrepreneurship, CK took a decision to switch over to training and speaking at the age of 45. He doesn’t regret it one bit because he now does what he enjoys best – connecting with people and enabling confidence in them. He calls himself “Chief Catalyst” of his organization simply because he doesn’t nurse any grand illusions of changing the landscape. He feels he can create an awareness and ignite a spark in his audience by challenging them. CK is an avid Toastmaster and a much sought after speaker. He has sponsored more than 10 Toastmasters Clubs in India. A redeeming feature of CK’s talks has been his sprinkling of relevant humor in his talks and programs. He has been conducting workshops on using humor in Public speaking to a wide variety of audiences in India, USA, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, Dubai, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia tremendous feedback. He maintains his sanity by dipping regularly into Asterix and PG Wodehouse.

ShekarDattatri
Wildlife and Conservation Filmmaker Shekar Dattatri's lifelong fascination with wildlife began at the age of 13 when he joined the Madras Snake Park as a volunteer. This led to nature photography and, later, to wildlife and conservation filmmaking. During the last 25 years his films have won several national and international awards and many have aired around the world on channels such as National Geographic and Discovery. Moving away from television production Shekar has spent the last 10 years working closely with conservation NGOs to produce several hard-hitting advocacy films on conservation issues, some of which have helped bring about change. These include ‘Mindless Mining – the tragedy of Kudremukh’ and ‘The Ridley’s Last Stand’. He has several popular articles on wildlife, filmmaking and conservation to his credit and is the author of two children’s books on wildlife, ‘Riddle of the Ridley’ and ‘Lai Lai the baby elephant’. He is a founder of the Trust for Environmental Education, a registered non-profit organization. In 2004, he was awarded a Rolex Award for Enterprise for his wildlife and conservation filmmaking. Until June 2010 he served on the National Board for Wildlife, a high level advisory body chaired by the Prime Minister. More information on his work can be found at www.shekardattatri.com.		More

RasmusAnkersen
Peak performance coach & Bestselling author Rasmus Ankersen published his first book “DNA of a Winner” at 22 years old. The book became a bestseller and led Rasmus to follow up the success with “Leader DNA” and “Raising a Winner”. At age 25 he wrote three bestsellers. His desire to understand the code that unlocks World Class performance led him to be head coach of the first soccer academy in Scandinavia, which has produced several international top players. Also he was a mental coach for the Danish youth national soccer teams and has also and still is working as personal coach for several World Class athletes. The latest six months Rasmus has been travelling around the world visiting the world’s most successful performance hotbeds. The result is his first international book “Shocking Truths – how to grow a super-athlete” which will be published World Wide this year. Also in the business field Rasmus’ work has had a huge impact. He is speaking about “The Gold Mine Effect” for organizations and companies all over the world. Last year he spoke at the famous TED University in Oxford. Also Rasmus is advising executives how to create an environment, which fires up human potential. In his home country Denmark he has been awarded as one of the three biggest business talents and recently the prime minister invited him to contribute with a chapter to his upcoming book, which is going to define “The Danish Dream”. Today Rasmus lives in London from where he controls all his projects. Based on his findings in The Gold Mines around the world he is just about to build one the most visionary soccer academies ever seen. Late 2010 he will launch the first part of it in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Another vision is to build a running academy in Ethiopia with the ambition to take running to a whole new level. Together with his researchers Rasmus is also working on another book release in 2011, “Hunger in Paradise”, about how the rules for motivation and leadership will change dramatically in the future.		More

TEDx Chennai 2009 Speakers

RomulusEarlWhitaker

Romulus Earl Whitaker is a herpetologist, wildlife conservationist and founder of the Madras Snake Park ,The Andaman and Nicobar Environment Trust , and the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust.

In 2008, he was selected as an Associate Laureate in the 2008 Rolex Awards for Enterprise, for his efforts to create a network of rainforest research stations throughout India. In 2005 he was a winner of a Whitley Award for outstanding leadership in nature conservation. He used this award to found the Agumbe Rainforest Research Station in Karnataka, for the study of King Cobras and their habitat.

He was producer of the 1996, 53 minute, Super 16 mm wildlife documentary The King and I made for the National Geographic Channel Explorer program. This film on the natural history of the King cobra, the largest venomous snake in the world, received the Emmy Award for Outstanding News and Documentary Program Achievement, 1998

He has authored several books on reptiles, especially on snakes, and in 2004 co-authored the comprehensive field guide, titled “Snakes of India – The Field Guide” on the Snakes of India.

AnilSrinivasan & SikkilGurucharan
Anil Srinivasan and Sikkil Gurucharan have now become well-known for having charted a new format to listen to Carnatic music. Using the classical piano as a frame around the free-flowing classical South Indian voice, the duo have managed to create a significant following in a very short period of time. The format, eponymous with their critically acclaimed “Madhirakshi”, released by Charsur (2006) has now come to be regularly featured on the festival circuit. Their work has now traveled to the United States (Fall 2008 tour), Singapore (Esplanade November 2008) and Malaysia (Fall 2008), and of course all over India. Anil Srinivasan is a trained western classical pianist while Sikkil Gurucharan is a well-known Carnatic vocalist. Anil Srinivasan is a classical pianist born in Madras, India and educated at the University of Southern California and at Columbia University, New York. The two have recorded four albums together in just two years, starting with Madhirakshi (Charsur), Maaya (Charsur), This and the Other and The Blue Divine.

SharadaRamanathan
Sharada Ramanathan is currently a film director, and thinker and writer in the fields of culture and media in India. Her debut film Sringaram (Dance of Love) won three Indian National Film Awards and two Tamilnadu state government awards. Sharada has been engaged with the fields of culture and media for 25 years including a nine-year stint with the Ford Foundation as consultant and Program Officer for Culture & Media. She is a board member of the World Culture Forum –India.. Sharada is also a thinker and writer in the fields of culture and media and is with the international think-tank of the South-South Cooperation Creative Industries Initiative of the UNDP.

VittalN
N.Vittal is best known for being the Central Vigilance Commissioner and very well respected. He Secretary to Government of India in the Ministry of Information Technology from 1990 to 1996 and was Chairman of the Telecom Commission and Secretary to the Department of Telecommunications from 1993 to 1994. In 1996, he was appointed by the Government of India as Chairman of the Public Enterprises Selection Board where he was involved in improving the public sector undertakings. He has been a columnist for the Economic Times and has authored several books. He was awarded Dataquest IT Man of the Year in 1993 and was the winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award of Dataquest in 2004.

KrupalathaMartinDass
Krupa is the founder of Sukrupa who's mission is to help underprivileged slum children escape a background of poverty, slum life, illiteracy, ignorance and replacing it with hope & opportunities available to mainstream children. As an executive director Krupa is responsible for overall planning, developing strategy, public relations, budgeting and fundraising. Krupa was a successful entrepreneur for over a decade. She quit her lucrative globe trotting consulting career to pursue her passion to serve underprivileged children.

G R K Reddy
Mr G R K Reddy is the promoter of the MARG Group. MARG is an Infrastructure Development Group based out of Chennai. The Group’s business interests encompass Ports, Airports, Special Economic Zones, Information Technology Parks, Science Parks and Commercial space. MARG, a widely held Public Company has forayed into Asian Countries like Sri Lanka and Maldives handling infrastructure projects in these countries. A visionary to core, GRK envisaged that “Sustainable Infrastructure” will be a critical factor to drive the Indian economy. A Post-Graduate in Commerce, and an Honorary from Kellogg school of management, GRK is actively involved in Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), a premier Industry Association in India and is a member on a number of prestigious Committees: Steering Committee , CII National Committee on Real Estate & Housing , Steering Committee, City Connect Program – CII Taskforce on Building Inclusive Cities , CII Tamilnadu, CEO Forum , Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai, Rural Technology & Business Incubator (RTBI) , Director, Business Advisory Committee Member, Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai , Academic Council of the Anna University, Chennai. He is currently the Vice President of Indo Australian Chamber of Commerce.

KavitaBaliga
Kavita is currently a faculty member of Oscar winner A.R. Rahman’s KM Music Conservatory in Chennai, India. In addition to teaching and conducting, her recent projects include recording for A.R. Rahman in the Hindi films ‘Yuvraaj’ and ‘Ghajini’, completing a choral transcription for the Telagu film ‘Puli’, and singing the operatic aria in Shekhar Kapur’s short film ‘Passage’ which will be shown as an accompaniment to a sculpture exhibition at the Swarovsky Kristallwelten museum in Austria. She also finished a transcription of the protest song “We Shall Overcome” for a concert sponsored by the American Consulate in Chennai honoring the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s pilgrimage to India. At present, she has returned to Chennai for her second year at KMMC. Her honors and awards include winning 1st place in the Youth Focus Competition of California, and 1st place in the Satya Devi Memorial Trust competition. Kavita has participated in concerts around the U.S., Switzerland, Italy and India and has had the privilege of working with talented and established musicians such as “Guitar” Prasanna and A.R. Rahman who have helped her find her “voice” in multiple genres of music.

Dr.SanthoshBabu
Dr. Santhosh Babu, IAS. MD ELCOT, & Director e-Governance & CEO, TNeGA, Govt. of TN. Civil Servant belonging to the 1995 batch of Indian Administrative Service, Tamil Nadu Cadre. E-Gov Initiatives: Created the first paperless at the Tamil Nadu Corporation for Development of Women Ltd, Chennai in Nov 2001, 100% computerized the Chief Minister’s Special Cell. He developed a web based Out of School Children Tracking & Monitoring system www.back2school.in this is the first such tracking software in the country. Developed Tamil Nadu’s first web based grievance redressal system at Krishnagiri www.vasathi.in.

SatyabrataDam
A professional Submariner (Indian Navy) specializing in underwater navigation and weapon control, Satyabrata Dam is more often found hanging from lofty heights of the highest mountains across the world. He is an explorer without destination, forever traveling and exploring some of the remotest, least known and most hostile spots on Earth. Starting at the age of 10, he has climbed nearly 300 peaks worldwide including Mt Everest and the highest peaks of all the continents as well as the highest spots of nearly all the 131 countries he has explored so far. He has skied to the North and South Poles and across Alaska, Greenland and Northern Siberia. Satya walked the length of Africa from Tunisia to South Africa at the age of 18 and later retraced the Silk Route from Mongolia to Turkey on foot and Bactrian Camel. He has circumnavigated the world in a tall ship and is a past national champion in Enterprise Class boats. A sky diver, windsurfer, shark-diver, water-skier, deep sea diver, Satya specializes in extreme adventure sports. Satya is a TED India Fellow and a serial blogger and has been featured widely in national and international media and twice in Limca Book of Records. His other interests include music, magic, cosmology and particle physics. He is currently completing a collection of mystery stories, an adventure novel and a collection of his climbing stories. Satya’s Blog: http://satyabratadam.blogspot.com/

JeevaRaghunath
Jeeva Raghunath is an international professional storyteller and author. She tells and writes in Tamil and English, and is based in Chennai and Singapore. She has been working with teachers and children for ten years, to help develop children’s communication skills through storytelling, speech, and drama. Ms Jeeva also enjoys using principles of storytelling to help adults in corporate settings to improve their communication skills. She is very passionate about developing communication skills among children and her training is a lot of fun for she believes in simplicity and learning through fun.

MadhavanR
Madhavan is an IITian, turned farmer who married his passion for farming with his engineering background. His love for farming made him quit a job at ONGC and follow his heart. He believes in smart agriculture, where Only 20% of agriculture involves tilling the soil and the rest 80% with engineering skills. Madhavan bypasses the middle men and sells all his farming produce himself. He believes that food insecurity is more threatening than an atom bomb. About 49% of Indian children suffer from under-nourishment. He believes that producing more food is a solution to the problem and he is already walking his talk. Former President Abdul Kalam, visited his farm and acclaimed that “We need not one but a million Madhavans in this country!”

KhurshedBatliwala
Khurshed Batliwala or ‘Bawa’ as he is fondly called, Director of World Alliance for Youth Empowerment, an NGO which addresses adn provides sustainable workable solutions for the contemporary issues faced by young people fo our times. Under the guidance of Sri Sri, he has designed the YES!+ series of courses that inspires youth the world over to realize their self identified aspirations. Bawa did his maths from IIT Bombay. In his own words, he decided “it was better to teach people meditation and make them happy rather than teach them mathematics and make them miserable”!