The Hindu Business Line : Crackling with interest

It was massive but not extravagant, assertive but not loud, and informative without being overbearing. It was powerful, enigmatic at times, colourful, vibrant … and the list can just go on.

But most importantly, it made you reflect and look inwards even though every bit of your attention was on the speakers and the fellow attendees.

And in this contradiction it stood out from so many of the other conferences one gets to attend every year.

There were no branding exercises, no marketing gimmick, little propaganda, and the sponsors were politely semi-invisible. And hence there was no one between the speakers, you and your thoughts.

One of the first things that you would notice once you entered TED was the huge amount of energy and positive feeling. You would see people queuing up for sessions, people in animated conversations, people listening in rapt attention.

And you would realise that these people are here because they are genuinely interested in what is being discussed, and not because of any other motive.

And it was a strange feeling to see an audience (of which a chunk comprised wealthy, elderly westerners) being moved by an Indian lady who fights human trafficking, and to an extent where many opened their purses to support her initiative.

And it was strange to see the audience swaying to the tune of world harmony, and it was strange to see the audience break into a thunderous applause when the Curator announced the delegates from Pakistan. In the truest sense of the word the Infosys campus had become a melting pot and the world had become a global village breaking all barriers.

But it surely did feel unreal, and that is because we are not used to people being tolerant, open, honest and genuine in our daily lives.

It seemed that everybody had left behind their pettiness at the security counter before entering the TED premises.

And perhaps because of that you had a CEO of a foreign company saying that because India is a market for them and because they earn money from here, they have a sense of responsibility towards the country. And probably it is because of this that he spent 45 minutes with this reporter trying to analyse how India can progress.

But was this just a fancy bubble, will all the good intentions be lost once the audience disperse?

Perhaps not and hopefully the enthusiasm will spread from the people who have been here to many others.