The MiTalks series on Health and Humanity is a journey through grit and determination, says Saimi Sattar
Say ‘two’ as if you you are expelling spit and that is the first step towards beat-boxing, the art of mimicking drum machines using one’s mouth, lips, tongue and voice,” says Vineeth Vincent, beat-boxer and MC for the programme MiTalks on Health and Humanity organised by FICCI Heal. Vincent goes on to entertain the hall which is full capacity, with at least 80 people standing to witness the show.
The MiTalks has been conceptualised as the Indian version of TED Talk, which are short powerful talks on diverse topics. The aim is to explore ideas that can define the future, reveal new perspectives and make the world a better place. With Vincent pepping up things in between, the audience is hooked on to stories of extreme grit, empathy, laughter, technology and survival as well as life lessons.
Shivinder M Singh, vice chairman, Fortis Healthcare, lets out many secrets of being happy. “You are already rich and I can prove it,” says Singh and goes on to add, “There is a scheme in our hospital where we are willing to pay a million dollars for you to donate your eyes or perhaps your limbs or maybe your heart. Will youIJ Doesn’t that make you rich that you have these giftsIJ”
Biker Sana Iqbal, who is a depression survivor, recounts an incident which turned her life around. Iqbal, who is from Hyderabad, was alone biking to Maharashtra and had decided to end her life. By chance, she happened to stop at a dhaba which proved to be a life-changing event. “The owner asked me whether I was biking alone and then told me to wait for 10 minutes. I was scared but he stepped out and said that he wanted to click my picture for his 10 year-old daughter as he wanted her to be like me,” recalls Iqbal. And that changed her perspective 360 degrees. “For the first time, I was not thinking about myself and my troubles while I rode. I thought about the man and his daughter and what he had said,” says Iqbal.
While Iqbal was trying to end her own life, for Kanika Tekriwal, CEO and co-founder, JetSetGo, cancer was the turning point. While Tekriwal had her heart set on being a part of an aviation company, her Marwari parents, who lived in Bhopal, had decided to get her married. “A little before the wedding, my mother suggested that I get my hand, which was painful, examined,” she says. It turned out to be cancer and Tekriwal was just 22. Treatment ensured that she was cured. “But in the conservative Marwari set-up, as a relative pointed out, no one
would marry me,” says Tekriwal, adding it proved to be the cliched blessing in disguise. She hasn’t stopped soaring since, going on to build India’s first online marketplace for private jet and helicopter charter.
Since the atmosphere gets a little intense, Indo-US hip hop artists Slyck2Shades step in to pep up things. They present a tribute to their parents in their inimitable style.
Prof Raj Raghunathan, author of If you are so smart, why aren’t you happy, then sheds light on how easy availability of things might not necessarily make us happy. While the audience shifts a little uneasily with a power cut in the auditorium, Raghunathan goes on to tell the tale. “A person was given a wish that he can have everything he wishes for and soon enough he realised that this was not a good idea. As the element of surprise was missing, it made him unhappy,” he says.
Actor, author and yogi Anu Agarwal finally takes the stage to speak about her journey from the much-feted debutant in Mahesh Bhatt’s film, Aashiqui, to a person who wanted to dedicate her life to doing good and practising yoga. “The quest for me was, who am IIJ My friends used to laugh and say that you are Anu Agarwal, the famous actor. But I was looking for something more. I decided to learn yoga when it was not even fashionable. And that changed my mental perspective completely,” she says. For a wee bit, we, too, feel better.