Aspire, explore and reflect

In an era when media rules the roost, all it takes for one to hit the road to success is motivation and determination. Having stirred conversations and been in the spotlight for their individual efforts, the speakers of the Under 25 Summit are all set to share their success stories with youngsters, in an attempt to motivate them to greater pursuits,

India’s largest youth festival, the Under 25 Summit will be held on February 2 and 3 at Jayamahal Palace Hotel, and will witness renowned speakers like Sadhguru, Anand Ahuja, Elie Seidman, Abish Mathew among the 80-strong list who will share their stories to give meaning to the theme of the sixth edition, Aspire, Explore and Reflect. Anand Bhat, an organiser explains, “The summit was always built as a platform to inspire, where youngsters could come and be made aware of everything that is happening in the creative field around them. Hence, the theme. We want to complete the loop from drawing inspiration to the next steps to follow.” 

In a chat with a few Bengaluru-based speakers, we find out what the audience can learn from them...

A Paradigm shift
Raghava KK is an artist who specialises in creating new forms of art or new media for the cyborg age using new tools, processes and forms of media to understand art and art history, and therefore the cultural history of humanity at large.

Raghava says, “Young people are the ones who are digital natives and understand the cyborgification of homo sapiens better than anyone else. I will urge them to not make the mistake we made by looking at art as a reaction tool by reacting to events in our life, looking backwards. Instead, I’d like to inspire them and urge them to face forward and create the world they want to see — with the tools that they will inherit from us and help build with us. I don’t want young people just looking for jobs, I’d like to see them creating new paradigms. The future is a space waiting to be imagined and co-created with destiny. We are young and we will not let the future just shape us. We will create the future together. That is the power of art.”

Being a voice for change
The power of social media influences and change lives. Content created here is more accessible and influential than the content generated by traditional media; and impressionable young minds look up to their favourite influencers and idolise them.

Niharika NM, a 21-year-old Youtuber, is one who believes in the same, “My journey has been bittersweet, but I’d have it no other way. I’ve been on this amazing rollercoaster, blind-folded and the anticipation of what’s to come next is exhilarating. The best part of the journey is the amount of love that is showered on you for just being yourself. Hence, Youtubers/influencers that have established a following have the choice to use their voice to create an impact because they will not go unheard. I strongly believe that if an influencer can use their platform to change the mindset of at least one person for the better, they have succeeded in creating a ripple that could possibly transform into a wave.”

She wishes to use this platform to connect with, motivate, inspire and encourage the youth of today, and simultaneously be inspired. 

Let the music play
For the Jordindian, Vineeth ‘Beep’ Kumar and Naser Al Azzeh, what started as a fun endeavour soon changed their life beyond measure. With over a million subscribers and over 6 million views for their song Smoke Shisha Play Fifa which created a wave and stuck to the playlists of many, they have all the spotlight on them for being the comedians they are.

“There was no clear motive behind starting a channel, we didn’t know it could become a channel in the first place. We just wanted to make a couple of videos for family and friends, and shared them online. When that gained traction, it motivated us to make one more video and then another, and another. The next thing we knew, we hit a 100,000 subscribers on YouTube within six months. Only then it sunk in that we were onto something. Given that our work is based predominantly on an audio/visual medium, what we honestly look forward to through the summit is connecting with our audience on a more personal level and of course, having fun while we’re at it.”