City historian sheds light on Cooum via TEDx talk

This year, TEDxNapierBridge focuses its spotlight on the atomic sparks that produce the incredible changes that our community is witnessing and their origins. We aim to showcase how cause leads to an effect, how thought transforms into action via the theme: Think, become. In line with this theme, TEDxNapierBridge will feature eight speakers, all of whom will share their attempts at thinking of game-changing ideas and making them happen. We wanted to explore the consequences that can happen from interesting ideas,” says Shyam Sundar, the curator of the event. 

One among the speakers, historian and columnist Venkatesh  Ramakrishnan will be talking about the history of Madras as seen from the banks of the Cooum. He tells us, “The Cooum is a short river at only 72 kilometres from origin to sea and has more history than the Ganges and Cauvery. The Cooum is now a cesspool, but for centuries, history was being created on its banks. For instance, a Burmese princess was born in what is currently the Children’s and Women’s Hospital, Egmore. The hospital itself was designed not by an architect but by the chief doctor himself, who designed it in the shape of a woman’s pelvis. I will be talking about more such interesting anecdotes.”

The other speakers are Dr Kim Ramasamy, Chief Medical Officer, Aravind Eye Hospital (on how artificial intelligence could help the visually impaired), writer-social activist Nityanand Jayaraman (on the topic of environment), filmmaker Gautham Vasudev Menon (on the mystic marriage between character and story in mainstream cinema), building conservationist Kalpana K (will talk about architectural conservation for everyday living), sex educator-author Pallavi Barnwal (on why are conversations about sex still a taboo), photographer Arun Vijay Mathavan (on the indelible link between caste and death in modern India) and independent educator Suriya Prabha (on taking artificial intelligence to Tamil Nadu’s rural heartland). 

TEDxNapierBridge is a platform that hosts inclusive TEDx conferences inspired by TED’s commitment to ideas worth spreading. It is a conference for all kinds of minds. Their goal is to create an extraordinary event of ideas, to foster game-changing dialogues, and inspire action that implements real change in Chennai. The second edition of the TEDxNapierBridge will be held on August 11 at Egmore Museum Theatre, from 2.30 pm onwards.