Since 1984 ‘Technology, Entertainment, Design’ (more commonly known the world over as ‘TED’) have been sharing ‘ideas worth spreading’ relating to all things, from education to business, science to development. In the last 30 years, they’ve shared over 2,400 talks in more than 100 languages which have been viewed 500 million times.

These talks are a regular source of ideas, information and inspiration here in the Reality Group office – here are a few we love, and why we love them.

Ernesto Sirolli – Want To Help Someone? Shut Up And Listen?

“Why don’t we for once, instead of arriving in a community to tell people what to do. Why don’t we for once listen to them!”

Ernesto talks about how a trip to Africa as a young man has shaped his life. A great example of the danger of thinking you know best and a reminder of the importance of an opening your mind (and your ears).

Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche – The Danger Of A Single Story

“Show a people as one thing — as only one thing — over and over again, and that is what they become”

Novelist Chimamanda Adichie discusses how only hearing one story about a people or place can lead to misunderstanding (a danger very much aligned with Reality Tours and Travel’s mission to ‘challenge people’s perceptions’ by showing them the many sides of Dharavi).

This incredible talk has already inspired one blog post by Reality Tours and Travel (The Danger of a Single Story: Why Dharavi’s Other Story Needs to be Told).

Stewart Brand – What Squatter Cities Can Teach Us

“What’s going on the street in Mumbai …basically everything!”

Did you know one billion people now live in squatter cities? Did you know it’s expected to rise to two billion? Did you know this is good new!? Find out why in this informative but incredibly brief TED talk.

If you have a little more time and want a little more detail, check out Robert Neuwirth, The Hidden World Of Shadow Cities too!

Ken Robinson – Do Schools Kill Creativity

“My contention is that creativity now is as important in education as literacy, and we should treat it with the same status“

As TED’s most viewed talk, (over 40 million times), we couldn’t very well leave this out, could we!? Sir Ken makes a hilarious, entertaining and moving case for rethinking the fundamental principles on how we are educating the next generation, cultivating creativity and recognising many types of intelligence. A great inspiration for our work at Royal City School!

Krishna Pujari – Challenging The Perception Of Slums

“So we thought yes, we should do the tours to raise awareness about these issues and use the profit to help with some of these issues…with two main goals. One to change the negative images of Dharavi and slums in general. Second, to raise money for community development projects”

We couldn’t leave the boss out, could we!?

Last year our Co-Founder, Krishna Pujari, shared the incredible story of how he befriended fellow Co-Founder, Chris Way. How Chris took him to Dharavi. And how Reality came into existence…