Arts
They were young and had something to say
If ideas are worth sharing, then you’ll always find an audience for it. The TEDx Colombo event held recently at the Hilton, Colombo Residences drew an audience of 500 plus, all of whom were there to listen to seven speakers talk about their projects, hopes and ideas.
These audience members were from all walks of life-politicians, corporate giants and well-known artists mingled happily with students and young professionals.
Umeshi Rajeendra. Pix courtesy TEDx Colombo
That was the charm of an event organised by a young group of people who, together with several co-partners, volunteered their time and effort to facilitate the largest TEDx event in Colombo yet.
The theme for this year’s conference was ‘Reimagining Spaces’; however speakers seemed to digress to a more general format, speaking about social constructs, social entrepreneurship and even dance.
The session opened with Abdul-Halik Azeez, the rather intense and talented photographer and social commentator that Instagrammers will know better as Colombedouin.
Halik used some of his images to illustrate his talk, which urged his largely young demographic of listeners to think outside social constructs and expectations for a better grasp on reality.
His talk was followed by Selyn founder Selyna Peiris, who shared a light, but informative take on how she transformed her family’s handloom business to become a socially responsible employer that won over employees by allowing them flexible work schedules alongside leadership and business opportunities.
A video talk on transforming communities with paintings, and a rousing performance by Stringendo followed. Sohan Dharmarajah, a hybrid researcher-mathematician problem solver spoke about the power and scope of ‘big data’ and consultancy work.
His words of advice for would-be consultants on finding work in an ROI focused, cost-cutting economy- “don’t oversell yourself” and to go in with confidence and passion for what you do.
Abdul-Halik Azeez
Mesh Academy of Dance founder Umeshi Rajeendra spoke about the transformative effect of dance, sharing how it helped her get over learning difficulties as a child, while Tilak Dissanayake (in a humorous but perhaps slightly too technical talk) spoke about the economy and innovative thinking, quipping “I don’t have enough time today to solve world hunger, unfortunately.”
Poet Mishal Mazin (slightly nervous at first, soon settling into a hesitant but comfortable rhythm) regaled us with his take on materialism, interspersing poetry with astute, tongue-in-cheek observations on being a writer and “therefore being poor” and the social standards young people are expected to aspire to.
The organisers picked a finale that was guaranteed to receive a standing ovation- with their inspirational story of fundraising for a cancer treatment facility in Jaffna with Trail.
Sarinda Unamboowe and Nathan Sivagananathan delivered a familiar talk that still received pin-drop silence and resounding applause at its conclusion.
The last time I heard this talk was in 2013-two years on, the duo have polished and perfected their presentation to focus on the kindness of strangers and an all-ends-well tale of determination and perseverance.