Mahindra University organized the 4^th edition of its TEDx conference on Sunday, the 11^th of April 2021. Held virtually, this year, the conference's theme was “Alt+F4”, a commonly used keyboard shortcut to close a currently active process, freeing up space to start another process or restart the process anew. The idea was to learn from the speakers how to break stereotypes, look for fresh perspectives and alternate solutions in professional and personal lives.

TEDxMahindraUniversity is a platform that brings in prominent speakers with rich experience to talk about and share their field(s) of work with the audience. In its 4^th edition, the event sought to look at disconnecting and then reconnecting to find a story worth telling and sharing. There were five prominent speakers at the event from diverse segments of the society and each brought a different perspective to the meet.

"It is business as usual, even during these unusual times of pandemic, at the Mahindra University. Our students have gotten into accepting the virtual learning mode and organization of this TEDx event is yet another example of that spirit of head-on challenge to the pandemic. The theme was unusual but perhaps just right, in keeping with the pauses and new beginnings of the last year, and the guest speakers gave us plenty to think about. We will not let the pandemic get the better of us and here's hoping that next year we are back to the live format", says Dr. Yajulu Medury, Vice Chancellor, Mahindra University.

Dr. Monojit Choudhury, Principal Researcher, Microsoft Research Labs, talked about research and how to overcome obstacles that comes in the way of researchers. Through his talk, “Resist, Recast or Restart?”, he took the audience on a journey through his own research experience and shared the different nuances of research on code-mixing and shared insights into how a career in research evolves. Ms. Nancy Charaya, Co-Founder, Anthill Creations, shared her journey of creating playgrounds for the underprivileged. She focused on how you can reboot your own career path to go on an entirely unchartered territory and also promote societal good. Dr. Gayathri Vasudevan, Co-Founder, LabourNet, focused on the disruptive nature of Covid-19 and its impact on economy and livelihood. She called for more collaborative and inclusive models that work by re-learning and coming together to make a difference.

Mr. Mathieu Jouve-Villard, India Head of the French banking group, Credit Mutuel and Managing Partner at Wedge Consulting, talked about the power of negotiation in business from international perspective and talked about how cultural differences across regions/countries play an important role in this endeavor. He shared how taking a step back to understand each culture appropriately can foster a healthier and smoother negotiation process. Ms. Tanusha Bajaj, Social Media Influencer, talked about her own journey and called upon the audience to keep searching, to keep pushing and to go against all odds and pullbacks. After all, she says, the hustle is only fun, if you love the song you’re dancing to.

Overall this virtual TEDxMahindrauniversity 2021 event went off well and was appreciated by the audience.