The first TEDxHyderabadSalon on the theme of Civic Responsibility was held on April 17th, 2016. The salon focused on four topics — water conservation, city cleanliness, food distribution and urban congestion.
It was a bright and sunny Sunday when the attendees of the world’ s first ever TEDxSalon event on a bus arrived at Rahagiri where after a round of introductions, interesting conversations, a sumptuous breakfast and a lot of photos all the attendees boarded the world first ever ‘X’ bus.
In the bus Anupam Mishra’s TEDIndia talk on the ancient ingenuity of water harvesting is played which leaves the attendees wondering as to how many ingenous innovations have been taking place and have been working perfectly for years together. Also the TED talk by David Sedlak on 4 ways we can avoid a catastrophic drought is played which makes the attendees think about how to deal with the growing water shortage in Hyderabad
Our though leader Mr.Subhash Reddy(Smaran NGO) who has been working on water conservation from many years talks about effective way of recharging borewells which is imperative today as Hyderabad is in the midst of an extreme water shortage, as all four of the city’s major reservoirs have gone dry.
One of these dry reservoirs, Osman Sagar, known locally as Gandipet Lake, was the first stop of the ‘X’ bus.When the bus arrived at Gandipet Lake,which was in a very dry state , attendees and thought leaders got discussed the ideas and brainstormed solutions for effective water conservation.
The attendees were back in the bus again for the next leg of the salon which was at the Hyderabad Traffic and City Police Command Headquarters,as the bus travelled through traffic two TED talks wer played in the bus :
A talk by Josette Sheeran on Ending Hunger now which focused on how it’s a pity that even today in the 21st century there are humans that sleep hungry every night.
A talk by the Ugly Indian on Why is India so filthy? Which hits home the point that a change in our habits can result in a change of our environment.
Our though leader Uma Chilakamarri(Robinhood Army) talks about how food is to precious a resource to be wasted and how she works in collecting and distributing food among the needy.
Finally, the bus reached the headquarters where our thought leader Mr.T.Krishna Prasad,Addl. DGP tells us about how a lot of latest technology was being put in use for the control of traffic and to catch the violators and showed the attendees a live demo of the camera system zooming in and catching a traffic light violator which left everyone in awe.
Also Our thought leader Umashanakar Kotharu(Call ambulance) talked about how to provide an ambulance to the injured more effectively and another of our thought leader Vishala Reddy talked about how “Car Free Thursday” intiative has reduced the number of cars by 9000 in Cyberabad. Mr.T.Krishna Prasad said that the traffic department is open to tying up with new startups that can help curb the road accidents.
Soon after a TED talk by Eli Beer on The fastest ambulance? A motorcycle was played which was an intriguing foray into how two wheeler ambulances can be more effective in life saving specially in densely populated areas.
Our thought leader Umashanakar Kotharu(Call ambulance) talked about how to provide an ambulance to the injured more effectively and another of our thought leader Vishala Reddy talked about how “Car Free Thursday” intiative has reduced the number of cars by 9000 in Cyberabad. Mr.T.Krishna Prasad said that the traffic department is open to tying up with new startups that can help curb the road accidents.
After a day full of intense discussion all the attendees settled in for lunch and then bid goodbye, elated to have spent a Sunday differently, making new friends and sharing disruptive ideas.