Josh Talks hosted the sixth edition of its event in Delhi today, October 30. The line-up of speakers included people from diverse backgrounds including entrepreneurs, activists, sportsmen, artists, musicians and stand-up comedians.
Their earlier events have seen eminent personalities like actor Boman Irani, comedian Papa CJ, Founder of OYO Rooms Arunima Sinha, and equal rights activist Harish Iyer among others.
Speaker Line-up
Stand-up comedian and the host of the day Abhijit Ganguly began the event saying, “I wanted to chase my dreams and take up an unusual profession”.
The first speaker at Josh Talks India, Kristin Braddock said that she was so inspired by India that she never wanted to go back.
Kristin Braddock explained the ‘Power of Stories’ at the event sharing the experience of training 1400 women in slums to work.
Pop-Up Shop Founder Pernia Qureshi was the next speaker.
Lead a life of passion and you will be happy. I want to do things that make me happy, on a daily basis.
Pernia Qureshi, Pop-Up Shop Founder
From a drug addict to a national leader, Jyoti’s inspiring story will touch your heart. Jyoti lost her father at the age of 12, who was also an addict. She then decided to quit drugs. Now she is leading a thousand kids. Jyoti wishes to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi. She said, “If a tea seller can become a PM, I can become a dancer too”.
Sourabh Kaushal calls himself a space explorer. He has received the prestigious Kalpana Chawla Young Scientist award. His journey from when he began as an engineer is really motivating.
My dream is to reach space one day.
Sourabh Kaushal
Check his Twitter profile and you will get a sense of the patriotism this man exudes. An Oxford alumni, a former investment banker, and now a stand-up comedian, Papa CJ did what he does best – steal hearts.
About his moniker, Papa said, “Angrezon ko lagna chahiye unka koi baap hai” (The foreigners should feel that they have somebody superior to them).
Failure is the only way to get success. I get my result every 15 seconds and that’s my failure or victory.
Papa CJ
Our reporter asked him a question about his hair. This is what he replied. “Loreal, because I am worth it.”
Comedy is a tricky affair. Getting offended is easy. Let’s check out what Papa CJ has to tell about it.
Offence is about intent. A comedian’s intent is never to offend his audience.
Papa CJ.
Ryan Martyr is a contemporary dancer. But he is also a traveller and a writer. He neither has a job nor does he plan to have one.
Laura Quinn, founder of Do One Thing spoke about creating India’s first girl superhero.
She adds referring to this event that Only Much Louder’s Vijay Nair “helped entrepreneurs like me get a stage to talk about our stories.”
Arjuna Awardee Rajindar Singh Rahelu is a paralympic powerlifter. He suffers from infantile polio and has won the silver medal at the Glasgow Commonwealth of 2014. Born into a poor dalit family, Singh Rahelu owes the medal to his parents.
I used to crawl to my classes, I got exposure when my teacher gifted me a tricycle.
Rajindar Singh Rahela
He is a LGBT rights activist. He is HIV positive, but that does not deter Gautam Yadav from working in Delhi slums. Talking about the struggles he faced in school, he recalls:
People in school used to bully me by calling me a hijda.
Gautam Yadav.
He has represented Asia at the UN. His dream of speaking at the UN, like Malala, has come true.
Tech entrepreneur Harsh Songra was diagnosed with a developmental disorder dyspraxia at the age of 9. It was too late for his parents to get him cured, so his father started teaching him computer and through video games. He overcame issues of coordination.
He founded an app, My Child App which also caught Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s attention. The words glowing behind him definitely marks his inspirational journey.
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