Have you ever heard a story that kept you up all night? Have you heard a story that changed your view towards life? Have you ever heard a story that compelled you to be a better person tomorrow? Josh Talks Delhi managed to do all that. The sixth edition of Josh Talks was held on 30th October, Saturday, 2015 at Airforce Auditorium, Dhaula Kuan, New Delhi.
Josh Talks showcases India’s most inspiring stories in order to make inspiration accessible to all. This edition of Josh Talks had ten speakers – dancers, entrepreneurs, scientists, social activists, sportsmen; who came to this platform to share the story of their success and failure.
The event kick-started with Kristen Braddock who shared her beautiful journey of starting a social enterprise “Sewing New Futures”, which creates alternative livelihood for the marginalized women and young teenage girls to give them space in the mainstream social milieu.
Next up was India’s leading fashion icon, a stylist, designer, highly acclaimed Kuchipudi dancer and founder of “Pernia’s Pop-Up Shop” which is India’s first true fashion website. During the question session she advised the young fashion entrepreneurs to “follow the best people in the world to get inspired by their work” and further talked about the importance of marketing and the use of strong and creative visuals.
The third speaker was a 16 year old girl with an extra-ordinary story. “I would hide drugs in my pockets and hair”, she told the audience and narrated the story of her dark days which were spent stealing, rag-picking, sleeping at railway stations and under flyovers, lost in the haze of drugs before being introduced to Chetna NGO. With the help from this NGO she overcame the loss of her family and drug addiction and is now a national leader who works for the underprivileged, and is heading more than 10,000 children.
The next speaker was a recipient of the Dr. Kalpana Chawla Young Scientist Award, Sourabh Kaushal who talked about space, stars and exploring the world beyond our planet. He went on to say that “true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination”. For him “success consists of going from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm”.
The fifth speaker was indisputably one of the most awaited speakers. He is former management consultant, corporate coach, motivational speaker and Asia’s best Stand-Up Comedian, Papa CJ. “In comedy, failure is the only way to success”, he said and went on to answer the audience’s questions ranging from the secret behind his hair to his evolution of being a stand-up comedian in an era where it’s easy to get offended over little things.
The next half of Josh Talks started with Laura Quinn, Founder of Do One Thing, an organization which helps to build a sustainable ecosystem of socially responsible businesses in India. She talked about the importance of purpose in one’s life and said, “When you have purpose in your life, everything changes”.
The next two speakers almost had polar stories. Ryan Martyr is a 24 year old dancer, traveler, musician and writer, with no aspirations of having a steady job. His sole purpose in life is to please his soul and he believes in, “if I do what I love, I will be happy”. “If I’ve life, I want to die the happiest person”, he said.
The next speaker’s life was illuminated by happiness only once he touched the horizons which seemed impossible to reach at one time and refused to be limited by his condition. Rajendar Singh Rahelu, 41-year-old power-lifter suffering from infantile paralysis, having won the silver medal at The Glasgow Commonwealth Games’14, Summer Paralympics Athens’04 and the Arjuna Award in 2006, told his story which was full of obstacles that were never too big for his him to overcome.
The last two speakers had indomitable spirits. They both refused to drown in sea of self-pity or leave things completely in hands of fate. Surely, they were knocked down, but they got up and took their fate in their own hands. They carved a beautiful life not just for themselves, but they managed to change lives of thousands in that process. Gautam Yadav, coming from the slums of Delhi, he is today a youth icon for the young LGBT community, an ‘HIV & Human Rights Activist’, an honorary board member of several social groups across the globe, a representative at UN and is himself gay and lives positively with HIV with a mission for a better and equal world.
The last speaker was Harsh Songra,the undetected patient of dyspraxia himself till the age of 9, turned his life around after being cured and founded 3 startups by the age of 19, one of which is “MY CHILD” which helps to detect dyspraxia in under a minute. He believes in two things, “Escape the competition” and “Sacrifice who you are for what you want to be”.
Thus, this sixth edition of Josh Talks had ordinary people with extraordinary stories. Stories that inspired, moved, and motivated the people in every sense. Stories brewed out of passion, courage, determination and struggle. Stories which inflicted hope and compelled one to look for the true purpose of life, and be a better person tomorrow.
Nidhi Panchal
Image credits: Mridul Kumar