Here’s the first in the series of small tidbits from my TEDxChennai experience.
The invitation to TEDindia at Mysore was a godsend. I got to witness for real what a world class conference is and how it should be organized. Their attention to detail was astonishing.
What Scored for TEDindia: There’s no doubt that TEDindia will rank amongst the best conferences I have attended in my life. The reason why I absolutely loved it is not just about outstanding speakers but has to do with outstanding participants. Almost every person who I had met has achieved something to be proud of or is a person very high up in the corporate rung. This was the biggest lesson we took from TEDindia and applied it to TEDxChennai. We started to focus heavily on selecting great people.
Losing My Appetite: I skipped both breakfast and lunch on the day. The exact thing not to do as an event organizer. This is a syndrome I’ve had for long. I lose my appetite completely hours before a talk. I survived the entire day on 3 cans of RedBull which I had asked my wife to buy.
The RedBull Guilt: The next day morning, my wife became emotional. She read in the news that a man had died because he had consumed 3 cans of RedBull to survive a night shift. He had died of heart attack induced by excess of stimulants. That man could very well have been me.. or so my wife thought and inflicted on herself the guilt.
The Toilet Time: I also have a psychological habit. 20 minutes before my talk, I lock myself in the toilet, switch off my mobile, close my eyes, imagine the crowd in front of me and mentally run through the talk. I never prepare for my talk days in advance. It’s that 20 minutes.
Now, if I talk crap, you know where it comes from! 
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hi kiruba,
Read your Post,First you should take Care of your health,then only u can achieve more.all the best for your future and current projects.
by salo.
Latest heard Redbull sales crashing, fun apart, 310+ people
(read lucky enough)who were present for TEDx Chennai know that u rocked, u left all crap in the toilet itself for sure
Kribs,
Please take care of your health — not only for your own sake but for the sake of your family. We are not in college anymore. Your body is changing and you need to mentally adapt. As I have expressed to Dev before, one of my biggest fears for relatively younger urban Indians is the oncoming (and some may say, ongoing) epidemic of work related diseases. Culturally, we tend not to exercise and eat anything, without any discretion. Please think of your food as an investment for your health in your latter years — this will help you remain productive in your latter years. While your enthusiasm and efforts are without parallel, I think your very honest post is part of a larger phenomenon of professionals in India. As someone who had endangered his health (and I am younger than you) by gaining a lot of weight (work-related stress was the cause), I am pleading with you not to ignore your most precious asset — your health. After all, what’s the use of being the richest guy in the graveyard? Please desist from having that Red Bull crap man — please go to sites like WebMD or Livestrong and improve your health. Your wife’s fears are not unfounded (I can vouch for that because I am trying to regain my health).
Just to digress — could you upload more footage of your Goa brainiacs gathering, in that Mahindra resort? I would love to see what all you guys were discussing about.
India cannot afford to lose its precious human resources like you, da. We need guys like you to show rest of us what we are capable of and what potential lies in us, as Indians. If guys like you become less productive, the nation could potentially lose billions of rupees in lost/inefficient use of its human resources.
Once again, your honesty and openness is frankly very admirable.
Surprised to know that even the best men in the business get tensed. Good read. Keep them coming. And +1 to what Salomi has said. Take Care.
Was there any crap… you were good… TEDX was awesome…. great Work Kiruba…
Good to have you back after your brief stint with politics.
Hello Kiruba Shankar,
I’m an avid reader of your blog right from the year 2002
Kiruba Shankar I will advise one thing. Please allocate 30 mins of your time today.
Just go over your old blog posts from the year 2002 to 2006
Just one word comes to my mind .. Interesting.. very interesting
and another word.. It was catering to EVERYONE. even for non geeks..
Please Kiruba Shankar please go back to your old blogging ways, It was so much more fun and interesting to read indeed.
And don’t tell me Twitter killed the blog.. please blog more often, Please post even trivia..
Well wisher
Don’t know much about TEDx and your talks but see good blogging!
Well your condition should hence forth be known as ” The Kiruba Syndrome”!!!
Congrats for 2010 TEDxChennai. Glad to see you in team TEDxChennai 2010.
Health is wealth!
rightly said..not sure who!!!
Dude.. toilet time and the last line.. too much!! But jokes apart, follow the advise given above and perhaps more will come, on taking care of your health!