First edition of TEDxPatan held

KATHMANDU, March 25: On Tuesday afternoon, the hall of Yama Maya Kendra in Patan Dhoka was filled with 90+ youths, and members from various government and international organizations to attend the first edition of TEDx Patan—a TED event organized independently by seven Nepali undergrad students. The theme of the talk program was ‘Starting with the Village’.

The TEDxPatan speakers included Former Nepal Rastra Bank’s Governor Dr Dipendra Bahadur Chhetri; Senior Consultant Oncologist at Bir Hospital, Prof Dr Aarati Shah; Bandana Shakya from ICIMOD; Bikash Palikhe from Sustainable Mountain Architecture; and Avinash Jha from ICT for Agriculture. Chari Maya Tamang, founder member of Shakti Samuha, who was not physically present at the event, addressed the audience via video message.

The speakers presented their ideas on how sustainable development of Nepal is not possible without the inclusion of villages in the plan. Be it in the sector of finance, health, education, architecture, technology or agro diversity, the rural population (that makes for 81.80% of the total population of Nepal according to a 2010 World Bank data) must be given topmost priority, the speakers highlighted.

The attendees, who consisted of carefully selected applicants, seemed impressed by the event.

Anushree Acharya, an undergraduate student of Public Health at CIST College, commented that the speakers were insightful. “As a student of Public Health, we need to do a lot of field works based in the outskirts of Kathmandu, and many other rural areas. To know from such experienced personalities that it really means a lot to the overall development of the country reaffirmed my faith in the career path I’ve chosen,” she said.

Similarly Parsuj Mainali, an undergraduate student of Rural Development from Makawanpur Multiple Campus in Hetauda, remarked that to see a representative from an international organization like ICIMOD emphasize on the significance of grassroot level development is inspiring. He said, “I loved it when Bandana ma’am said ‘We should plan with the community, not for the community’ while explaining how Nepal’s agro diversity can be utilized for the benefit of all.”

Saujan Gyawali, project coordinator of TEDxPatan, who was also live feeding the event on Twitter, said that the organizing team was happy with how the event turned out. “We’re further motivated to come up with more interesting and insightful events. Our TEDx license is valid for one and half years, and we look forward to making good use out of it,” he said.