We at Josh Talks, in collaboration with Facebook, are hosting our eighth event of the year on the 18th of November in Vadodara. This day-long conference cuts across genres to bring to you incredible stories of gritty people who are most likely to be your next role models. Here is the speaker lineup of Josh Talks Vadodara 2017: 1. Swati Bedekar - Founder, Vatsalya Foundation Swati Bedekar not only spreads awareness about using sanitary pads but also enabled rural women to make a living out of it. She used the existing Sakhi Mandal groups to launch an enterprise wherein the women members would manufacture sanitary pads using wood pulp. This model can be adopted anywhere – especially in India. 2. Aariz Saiyed - Comedy artist Aariz Saiyed is a member of Gujarat-based comedy collective called The Comedy Factory. A musician by choice, Aariz can’t stop joking about how playing Guitar is not even a talent anymore, it has become a trend. 3. Jitendra - Social Changemaker Jitendra, a 37-year-old security officer currently posted with a private firm in Surat, has written 3,000 letters, on postcards addressed with love and respect, to numerous families of Indian army martyrs. He uses the money from his own pocket to send the postcards and to procure the required addresses. 4. Chirayu Mistry - Standup Comedian Engineer turned comedian Chirayu Mistry has transformed the Gujarati web content scene. A member of The Comedy Factory-- he not only dazzles everyone with his brilliant standup comedy, he also writes humorous scripts for online videos. 5. Harish Iyer - Founder, Flinnt Harish Iyer aims to revolutionize education by increasing engagement between teachers and pupils. Using his app Flinnt, faculty members can instantly share resources and simultaneously connect with their students. Since the app launch in June 2014, Flinnt has reached over 40 educational institutions and over 30,000 students in Ahmedabad, Baroda, Surat, Anand, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Udaipur. 6. Raksha Bharadia- Author As someone who went from being a homemaker to a writer and now an entrepreneur, Raksha Bharadia has some solid advice for those wanting to take up writing as a career. She has interviewed personalities such as Vikram Chandra, M.F. Hussain, Pandit Jasraj, Mahesh Bhatt, Kiran Bedi, Birju Mahraj and Zohra Sehgal for her book.Apart from writing her own novels, Raksha also wrote screenplay and shortlisted stories for the show ‘Lakhon Main Ek’, which was aired on Star Plus. 7. Bhupendra Tripathi - RBI Manager, Gujarat Bhupendra Tripathi suffered a paralytic attack, was diagnosed with cancer, and then lost his vision. The brave hero managed to cross all of these hurdles and today works as the super-efficient manager of RBI Ahmedabad. 8. Meghana Sahu - Criminologist and Forensic Scientist Criminologist Meghna Sahu has been working independently as Handwriting, Signature, Fingerprint, Forensic expert and Graphologist since 1998 at Gujarat. She has 17 years experience working for criminal prosecution, criminal defense, and also in civil and private cases. She has solved more than 7000 cases in the field of Handwriting, Finger Prints Signatures and Insurance claim investigations. 9. Hunny Bhagchandani - Founder, Torchit There are over 285 million people who live in darkness and can't appreciate the colorful world we live in. They lose their confidence when they are unable to navigate and analyze their surroundings. This is where Hunny Bhagchandani steps in. has replaced traditional canes with Torch-It to lead blind people out of the darkness into the light. 10. Himanshu Patel - Gram Sarpanch, Punsari Village There was no electricity, no water system and law and order were almost out of control when Himanshu joined as a Sarpanch in 2006. Punsari is one of the best villages of India, with all the amenities of a city but it was not always the best. Know how the efforts of one man changed the village in the past few years. 11. Pratik Sinha - Founder, Alt News Pratik Sinha quit a career in software to devote all his resources to an enterprise he believes is of vital importance today. Alt News was the organic outcome of his vision for an independent news venture that would bring to light the undocumented and unseen. He hopes to be a watchdog of both social media and mainstream media. 12. Manoj Shashidha - Vadodara Police Commissioner The new Vadodara Police Commissioner Manoj Shashidhar is fighting traffic issues in the most unique manner. Hint: It involves cutting-edge technology. Uplifting stories and thought-provoking experiences come together to take you on a roller coaster journey of ideas. Join us! To know more visit - events.joshtalks.com/vadodara17 Buy your ticket here: http://bit.ly/joshvadodara
