TEDxGLIMChennai

Speakers

Speakers may not be confirmed. Check the event website for the latest lineup.

• Archana Thiagarajan

  She is a pioneering Indian freediving champion and the first Indian woman to represent the country at a world championship in Japan. She currently holds national records for the deepest dive at 45 meters and the longest underwater swim of approximately 137 meters. In addition to her sporting accomplishments, she served the nation with distinction as an Aeronautical Engineer in the Indian Air Force from 2014 to 2024, where she trained on the sophisticated PC-7 aircraft and managed Services sports teams. As a certified Molchanovs Freediving Instructor and the founder of Yuj Freedive, she is dedicated to advancing India’s freediving ecosystem by promoting the sport through workshops and highlighting the profound connection between yoga and diving.

• Arun Krishnamurthy

  Arun Krishnamurthy – Founder of the Environmentalist Foundation of India (EFI), known for driving large-scale, science-based ecological restoration initiatives across the country. Led the scientific restoration of over 185 freshwater bodies, transforming neglected and polluted lakes into sustainable ecosystems that support rich biodiversity. Former Google professional who chose full-time environmental conservation, building a nationwide community movement by mobilizing 60,000+ volunteers, largely students and youth.

• Joyston Joseph

  Joyston Odathumparambil is a 27-year-old from Mumbai, currently specialising in Marketing and Business Analytics at the Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai. He has worked at the intersection of marketing, product, and technology, and loves volunteering in his free time. What drives him is understanding human behaviour and designing favourable outcomes, whether professionally or personally. He believes a life well-lived is one where you’re at the service of others, helping build something that contributes positively to the world. His hope is that we see each other not as stepping stones but as collaborators in building a better world for this generation and the next.

• Sudhanshu Mani

  Sudhanshu Mani is an Indian innovator and railway engineer known for his leadership in the development of the Vande Bharat Express, India's first indigenous semi high speed train.He was General Manager of Indian Railways Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai.

• Swami Narasimhananda

  Swami Narasimhananda is a monk of the Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission founded by Swami Vivekananda in 1897 and is presently the Secretary of Ramakrishna Mission Sevashrama, Kozhikode, Kerala which runs a higher secondary school from kindergarten to 12th standard and a polyclinic. He is a former editor of ‘Prabuddha Bharata’, an English monthly journal of the humanities and social sciences started by Swami Vivekananda in 1896. He has edited a book containing Swami Vivekananda’s teachings named ‘Vivekananda Reader’. He specialises in Indian Philosophy and Religious Studies. He is a member of the International, Interdisciplinary and Interreligious Research Group on ‘Consciousness Studies’ under the UNESCO Chair in Bioethics and Human Rights, Pontifical University, Rome, Italy. He gives classes on spirituality and management in leading business management colleges. He regularly addresses the youth across India, particularly in educational institutions of national importance. He is an Adjunct Faculty of consciousness studies at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bengaluru. He has publications in Hindi, English, Sanskrit, Malayalam, Bengali, and Tamil.