Give it a shot! You won’t regret it! | Rida Tharana | TEDxYouth@NPSKRM

Summary

Radha Tarana shares her inspiring journey of overcoming societal norms and personal challenges to pursue her dreams. From being one of the first girls in her village to attend a convent school, to becoming financially independent, she emphasizes the importance of self-belief and following one's passion. Her story highlights the struggles women still face in rural areas, the need to challenge gender stereotypes, and the significance of manifesting dreams with hard work and confidence. Radha encourages her audience to take control of their lives, experiment, and push beyond societal expectations.

Takeaways

• 🌱 The concept of 'reaching beyond' is subjective and personal for everyone, ranging from small goals like getting enough sleep to larger dreams like financial independence and following one's passions.
• 🎓 Radha Tarana shared her background of coming from a small village in Coorg and being one of the first girls to attend a convent school, emphasizing the importance of education and independence.
• 👩‍🔬 Despite societal expectations, she pursued a career in biotech and genetics, which was her way of escaping a traditional life path and breaking gender norms.
• 💸 Radha faced financial difficulties, convincing her parents to let her study by taking a student loan, which she learned to repay through her work, despite not being taught about loans and interest in school.
• 🎤 Radha started working as an MC (event host) at 17 to support herself, gradually improving despite initial struggles, which taught her persistence and resilience.
• 💪 She overcame gender biases in the industry, emphasizing how important it is to push beyond societal limitations, especially for women, and to follow one’s passion.
• 📈 Through her work and social media content, she unintentionally went viral, amassing thousands of followers by sharing her thoughts on gender roles, societal pressures, and self-worth.
• 💼 Radha realized that a 9-to-5 job wasn’t for her, as it drained her creativity and happiness, prompting her to explore her true passions in life.
• 💬 She encourages everyone to take control of their lives, to stop giving others the power to validate them, and to focus on self-confidence, self-love, and personal growth.
• ✨ Radha's story is about persistence, self-belief, and not allowing societal norms or external opinions to dictate one’s path, encouraging the audience to dream big and work hard.

Q & A

What is the main topic of Radha Tarana's speech?

The main topic of Radha Tarana's speech is 'Reaching Beyond,' which she interprets as pursuing dreams beyond societal expectations and limitations, and following one's passion regardless of conventional norms.

How does Radha define 'Reaching Beyond' for different individuals?

Radha explains that 'Reaching Beyond' is subjective and varies for each individual, whether it's achieving financial independence, completing education, or pursuing personal dreams like starting a business or following a creative passion.

What challenges did Radha face while pursuing her education?

Radha faced financial challenges, a lack of support from her father later in life, and societal expectations for women to marry young instead of pursuing higher education. She had to take a loan to study and worked as an event host to support herself and her family.

How did Radha get into event hosting?

Radha got into event hosting out of financial necessity while she was studying. She initially struggled with public speaking but kept practicing until she became successful, earning more money than her previous job as a promoter.

What societal issues does Radha address in her speech?

Radha discusses gender inequality, the societal expectations placed on women, and the privilege that some have while many women still struggle for basic education and rights, especially in rural areas.

What advice does Radha give about self-confidence?

Radha advises that individuals should believe in themselves, not seek validation from others, and not let others' opinions define their self-worth. She emphasizes the importance of taking control of one's own life and decisions.

What was Radha's experience working in a 9-to-5 job?

Radha worked a 9-to-5 corporate job but found it draining and unfulfilling. She realized that such a job was not suited to her personality and creativity, which led her to focus on her passion for event hosting and content creation.

How did Radha become a content creator?

Radha started posting videos expressing her opinions on societal issues and personal experiences, not intending to become a content creator. However, some of her videos went viral, and she gained a large following, which eventually led her to monetize her content.

What does Radha say about failure and success?

Radha emphasizes that failure is an important part of learning and growth. She encourages people to take risks, try new things, and view failure as a valuable experience that leads to improvement and eventual success.

What message does Radha want to leave with the audience about achieving dreams?

Radha's message is to dream big, pursue passions, and not let societal norms or other people dictate one's path. She believes in manifesting success through hard work and self-belief, and she encourages others to take control of their energy and environment to reach their goals.

Outlines

00:00

🎤 Introduction and Reaching Beyond

The speaker, Radha Tarana, introduces herself and reflects on the concept of 'reaching beyond.' She humorously engages the audience, encouraging them to think about what 'reaching beyond' means to them. For some, it could be achieving personal goals like settling down or becoming financially independent. She briefly mentions her own journey, coming from a small village in Coorg and attending a convent school, emphasizing how personal growth and ambition can lead to new possibilities.

05:02

📚 Education Struggles and Breaking Norms

Radha shares her story of overcoming societal norms and financial challenges to pursue education. She highlights the gender-based disparity in how sons and daughters are treated regarding education and opportunities. Despite financial hardships, Radha took out a loan to study in Bangalore, which marked a pivotal moment in her life. She reflects on how schools often fail to teach practical life skills, like understanding bank loans and interest rates, which she learned through her own experiences.

10:02

🎤 First Steps into Public Speaking

Radha recalls her initial foray into emceeing (MCing) and the hurdles she faced. Despite lacking public speaking skills and facing gender biases, she persisted through multiple failed attempts to improve. She started by working as a promoter earning a modest amount and then transitioned to MCing, which paid more and helped her support herself financially. She discusses the importance of perseverance and not giving up, even when success seems elusive.

15:04

🎬 Escaping 9-to-5 and Finding Her Voice

Radha reflects on her brief experience in a corporate job, which made her realize that the 9-to-5 lifestyle was not for her. She felt drained and stifled, leading her to start recording and sharing her thoughts on societal issues, especially those related to gender roles. One of her videos unexpectedly went viral, leading to a rapid increase in her social media following. She explains how this newfound platform allowed her to voice her opinions on topics like body shaming and societal expectations of women.

📈 Growth, Gratitude, and Reaching Beyond

Radha concludes by emphasizing the importance of self-love, gratitude, and manifesting one's dreams. She reflects on how her journey is just beginning and encourages the audience to believe in themselves, dream big, and never let others dictate their self-worth. She encourages experimentation and taking risks, emphasizing that failure is part of growth. Her final message focuses on taking control of one's energy and surroundings to create a fulfilling life.

Keywords

💡Reaching Beyond

Reaching beyond refers to pushing past personal, societal, and conventional boundaries to achieve more than what is expected or what feels comfortable. In the video, the speaker emphasizes that reaching beyond can mean different things to different people—whether it is pursuing education, financial independence, or personal dreams like owning a house by the beach. This concept ties into the core theme of self-empowerment and breaking out of limitations.

💡Manifestation

Manifestation involves envisioning and actively working toward achieving one's goals and desires. The speaker recounts how she envisioned moments, like giving her autograph, long before they became a reality. This idea of manifesting one’s aspirations is a key part of her personal philosophy, suggesting that visualization and determination are powerful tools for success.

💡Financial Independence

Financial independence is the ability to support oneself without relying on others, especially family. The speaker emphasizes its importance as part of reaching beyond traditional societal roles, sharing her journey of taking a student loan and working multiple jobs to pay for her education and support her family. Achieving financial independence, especially as a woman, is portrayed as a significant milestone in her personal journey.

💡Gender Roles

Gender roles refer to societal expectations placed on individuals based on their gender. The speaker discusses the different expectations for men and women, such as the pressure for women to marry early or the unequal investment in education between sons and daughters. She challenges these norms by advocating for women to break free from traditional roles and pursue their own dreams.

💡Societal Norms

Societal norms are the unwritten rules and expectations that govern behavior in a community or society. The speaker highlights how these norms dictate life paths, such as following prescribed career choices or getting married at a young age. She encourages others to break away from these norms and follow their own passions, as they no longer have to conform to what society traditionally expects.

💡Self-belief

Self-belief is the confidence in one’s abilities and worth, even in the face of external doubts or criticisms. The speaker stresses that self-belief is essential for success, especially when others may doubt one’s potential. She shares how believing in herself allowed her to overcome failures, continue hosting events, and eventually achieve her goals.

💡Failure and Persistence

Failure and persistence refer to the process of encountering setbacks but continuing to strive for success. The speaker recounts how she failed multiple times when starting out as an event host, yet refused to give up. Her persistence illustrates the message that success often requires enduring failures and learning from them.

💡Education

Education in this context refers to both formal schooling and the broader process of learning about the world, especially in non-traditional ways. The speaker shares her journey of pursuing education despite societal and financial obstacles, using it as a means to escape limiting conditions in her rural village. Her education allowed her to reach beyond what was expected of her, serving as a foundation for her independence.

💡Content Creation

Content creation is the act of producing and sharing material, often online, to engage an audience. The speaker became a content creator accidentally, starting by sharing her opinions on societal issues and women's rights. Her content resonated with others, leading to a significant online following. This aspect of her journey highlights how modern platforms allow individuals to amplify their voices and inspire change.

💡Social Change

Social change refers to shifts in societal attitudes, behaviors, and norms over time. The speaker advocates for social change, particularly in the treatment of women and the breaking of traditional gender roles. She wants to challenge the existing social structures that limit women’s opportunities, particularly in rural areas where many still struggle for basic education and equality.

Highlights

Radha Tarana introduces herself and the concept of 'Reaching Beyond,' emphasizing that it means different things to different people.

Radha shares her background, mentioning her upbringing in a small village in Coorg and being the first girl in her family sent to a convent school.

She highlights the importance of education and her father’s initial support in sending her to school, noting the cultural expectations she faced as a girl.

Radha reflects on societal pressures, particularly how education is often viewed as a tool for marriage invitations in rural areas.

She recounts her determination to pursue biotechnology and genetics, even though her family lacked the financial means.

Radha describes her struggles with student loans and how she was unprepared by her school education for financial realities like interest rates and banking.

Despite financial challenges, Radha began working as an MC to support her education and repay her loans, learning to navigate the events industry.

She shares her experiences of overcoming rejection and failure in her MC career, emphasizing persistence and resilience.

Radha discusses the sexism and gender biases she encountered in her professional journey, especially in industries like event hosting.

She reflects on the importance of self-gifting and self-love as ways to celebrate achievements and maintain a positive outlook.

Radha recounts how her opinions on societal issues, particularly regarding women, began to resonate with people and her unexpected rise as a content creator.

She expresses her surprise and anxiety when her social media following grew rapidly, reaching 100k followers by 2021.

Radha emphasizes the importance of believing in oneself and not giving others the power to dictate how one should feel or think.

She advises young people to experiment, embrace failure, and take risks in pursuing their goals.

Radha ends by stressing the importance of self-validation, taking control of one’s energy and environment, and not letting societal norms define personal success.

Transcripts

[Music]

hi everybody

how many of y'all know me though

raise your hands

that's it

we're gonna follow me after i mean

you're all following me after we're done

with this okay so my name is radha

tarana um you've all got my introduction

and the topic that was given to me was

reach beyond uh so one of the things

that i had in my head was

what's what's reached me on exactly

it's it's objective for sure some of you

is like i just want to go back home and

sleep

that's reaching beyond for you some of

them really want to have a settle life

sit in a nice place have your own house

at a beach that's reaching beyond some

of you just finishing your education

being financially independent some of

you have stronger stories which can keep

changing the aspect of reaching beyond

so now here i'll just quickly talk about

me

where i come from what i do and how

exactly did i reach me on right so i'm

23 years old i come from coorg

and i come from a very small village

we

were the first girls to be sent to a

convent school luckily and we were also

the first girls to be kind of sent forth

and put forth to be like okay i really

want my daughters to study and be

financially independent so my father was

really supportive

then i don't know what happened now but

he was then so we were the first girls

to be sent to common schools and i was

really good at my studies and but you're

not really pushed you know the toppers

are usually selected okay you're a

topper so you're exceptionally good at

everything you're average so i'm gonna

push you a little more and if you are

somebody who's just doing okay then you

know what take a back seat but that's

the best part you have so much more to

offer

than what you think you can do right not

everyone's good at studies but you're

good at so many more things that who the

person who's good at studying might not

be good at now this generation we're not

just checking up to i want to be a

doctor i want to be an engineer or have

a settled financial status where i'm

getting money on a regular basis but we

follow passion someone's a dancer

earning really well somebody's a content

creator somebody's out there traveling

and living their life somebody's out

there with a business and entrepreneurs

technologies and a lot more of stuff you

know these small businesses that boom

during covid we never thought something

like that would be possible we never

thought something like that could work

and that's exactly what i will be

discussing about or as to

how you can be yourself and dream bigger

and it should it doesn't really have to

stick to what society has taught you or

the societal norm of this is the

dictionary i give you and if you follow

this is when you are going to get live

the so-called life that you're looking

for

so uh

the idea was very simple i went to a

convent school i was in class 10th we

were all sitting together all my girls

are together we're doing the signature

i'm not sure if you do this okay so

fanciest my father had the fanciest

signature

still copied i'd still copy it um every

time i'd feel like okay i've scored

something low like okay and i know how

to sign so i just signed that but

everyone sitting together they're like

we need to come up with a nice signature

is it cool we should really sit down and

get a nice signature when they sat down

they all had fancier signatures the s

looked like a dragon and the r was

flying up high and the fanciest a of all

and now when it came to my name

i just wrote my name it was r-i-d-a

t-h-a-r-a-n they said

your kids are gonna copy

and i said okay just thinking of kids

i'm sorry that was not in my head i was

actually thinking that i'm going to be

reaching at a position someday where

somebody is going to come and say oh i

think i need your autograph and when i

write that

i want them to know my name

you guys i manifested that

last year 2020 uh 2021 i was at a mall i

was hosting a show and i remember this

one person coming to me with a beautiful

book that they genuinely love and they

said i admire you i love what you make

and there's so many things that has

changed for me when they reach out to me

they don't say oh you look pretty you're

wearing a nice stress they say i was

able to say no

i could stand up and say i wanted to do

this no i don't want to marry this early

i want to be able to conquer this or

conquer that that's not exactly the job

i would want for my gender i want to

experiment and explore and i gave my

first signature it was my name it was

nothing fancy it was just my name

so as i kept going uh there were a lot

of hurdles that came my way so then i

planned i'm gonna take biotech and

genetics because that was the only

course that was not available in cool

and the only way that i could get out of

that place if it were not the case i'd

be giving a ted with two of my kids

right beside me

so the deal was to get out of that place

no matter what so um i took by i took

science i was studying there in court

still and then i somehow convinced my

parents okay you know what i really have

to go do this it's very good scope

india is gonna be amazing genetics is

what i'm gonna be i don't know how i

convince my parents but i did convince

them but they said we don't have the

money for this though what are you gonna

do about this i am not going to pay this

because

practically everyone there were engaged

at the age of 16 and at the age of 18

guys i'm 23 and this still

happens so if you are at a place where

this does not happen this is what i want

to do open up your bubble and understand

that most of the people still struggle

to get their education and their

education is basically uh just to be on

an invitation of your wedding

and not the dreams the amount of

investment that you put on your sons is

not the same that you would put on your

daughter and that's what i want to

change and that's what i want to go for

and then i said okay i'll take the loan

i'll take the loan and that's when i

realized the schools didn't teach me

about banks it didn't teach me about

interest it didn't teach me about taxes

it didn't teach me about the basics that

i would require to be there i go on to

the bank i say i want a student loan um

they tell me about the interest 13

13 is a nice number it's okay i guess

who knows 13 percent would be acquired

over a larger sum so i said it's cool i

took uh three lakhs as the loan i

convinced my parents i said you do not

have to give me anything right i would

sit down and pray to god you don't have

to do any just send me to bangalore i'll

figure it out i need to get out of this

place no matter what so i moved out that

was the only time my parents ever came

to bangalore to drop me a hostel that

was my dad and he's never never come to

visit us after that

i mean not that he doesn't want to he

checks on me every time but he's like

she'll take care of it so um

that happened my parents were in a

financial crunch it didn't really work

out for them and that's when i got into

emceeing i got into events i was 17 i

desperately needed the money i needed 2

000 rupees for my mess fee and i was

okay with veg

i went on started with working i i used

to go to events i would see how they

worked i would see mz speaking i was not

good at speaking at all i would stutter

i didn't know how to speak how to

address a crowd what would i do do i

look good enough and obviously we live

in a sexist industry let's just not deny

that you know that uh this role is

particularly based with this gender this

role might suit this gender and right

now is when the diversity is coming into

picture and the industry was the same as

well we need tall pretty cute straight

hair and all of that as the preference

all the time now we didn't leave we're

like no we're gonna go we'll try no

matter what so the term we i use is i

had a lot of people at that time aware

of my support so i always like to

address it as we and not i okay

so we would just do it and um i started

hosting my first event didn't go well

second bad third stuttering structuring

all the way along fourth

fifth no now imagine as a normal person

would i not give up at three third third

try i'd be like this is not my cup of

tea fifth yes but no i did not because i

was earning 800 as a promoter but i was

earning 2000 as an mc which would lead

me to i could just get my mess fee paid

and i would be able to invest my time on

my records and my studies as every every

other students did that they had pocket

monies coming in they would go to really

fancy restaurants you're living in

bangalore come on for those three years

every saturday sunday i'd be at a mall

or at a corporate show hosting an event

making sure that i'm getting enough

money coming through midway i stopped

taking the loan so i stopped taking at

two lakhs i started paying back i

started taking care of my sister's

education because the financial crunch

was still low and i didn't want them to

miss out on that still telling you guys

this is so important

so they got their education they were

studying they're really smart girls very

beautiful um and after that i just

decided okay i'm gonna start paying the

loan i'm someone who cannot take money

from anybody and if i do i have to

return that back and the same thing with

the bank as well bank was scared too

every month i would call up so i've

added the money in the account please

take it they wouldn't take it

they'd be like why are you not taking

the money i've put it in finally instead

of two lags i had to pay three likes

because that's when the interest thing

came in and i learned that okay this is

how much i have to pay but i cleared my

loan

2021 jan entirely but in the meantime we

had

panda make that hit

yes

i was also the first person to actually

complete that loan they don't give it to

anybody apparently they're like they all

come and say we'll kill ourselves if we

cannot pay right now but anyway so

pandemic happened and the event industry

shut down the reason i am here is

because i have the audience it's the

same thing that goes with the event

industry as well the only way it can

perform is when we have the audience but

the entire lockdown it shifted to

virtual events and i slowly went into

corporates when i went into a corporate

event or when i went to yes i was

working for

concentrics for six months i realized

nine to five is not my job it it

it made me feel sad i wasn't happy i'm

i'm happy to go i'm a happy-go-lucky

girl i just

should everything might go down in the

drain but i still somehow find to be

happy it's okay it happens we get out of

it there's a new day to look after and

there's a new thing to do so let's just

not go for it

but that those six months were terrible

i just realized nine to five is not my

cup of tea it just shunned my

capabilities it shunned what i could do

what i believed in how i could achieve

things i was just so drained i didn't

have the time for anything so what i

would do i would just get ready my cab

was waiting for me and i just had

opinions about certain things you know

about society on skin color skinny

people fat shaming people

opinions on when you have to get married

when you have to have kids everything

and and basically i thought it was

targeted only towards women

no matter how much you say we've

progressed but we don't look into the

rural areas of how women still fight to

get the basic needs we're still

privileged here

so i was talking about that

i didn't have the time for it and i'd

gifted myself an iphone essie at that

time as a birthday gift and i'm a

self-gifting woman every time i do come

up with an achievement or i want

something i give myself something

everything that i'm wearing is a gift

for myself i believe in a big time so i

was just there so i still hold my phone

quickly record because the cab driver

would call me 100 times and just post it

so my idea was not to be a content

creator my idea was to just

escape from whatever i was going through

and and just share my opinions of what i

thought about the system or what i

thought about

women and how they could change

and one of the reasons just went viral

now it's this notifications popping up

now and then and i'm just like what is

happening i just don't know why is all

of this happening

i have anxiety i still have anxiety i

have anxiety and i don't touch my phone

for a week straight i was at 3000 then

um and then drastically these numbers

are just changing people are just

following me just does not make sense

and it's very confusing

finally i'm just talking to somebody and

i say it's 20 20 november i say by the

by the time we hit 2021 i hope i'm able

to make it to 4k that's 4k followers

it's a big number i was from 3k to 4k we

hit 20k

and on 2021 jan i hit 100k

apparently a lot of real started going

viral and then slowly i didn't still

know how to monetize out of it but i

slowly i just i just was like okay

people are actually hearing me out my

opinions does matter and i started

taking up issues again as i told you i'm

very these are all my experiences that

i've been through my entire life let

that be about just facing a normal thing

i always keep telling um a man stands up

and and makes a decision you'd be like

that is a true leader did you see

he knows exactly what he's doing a woman

does the same thing the same decision

this is exactly why women shouldn't be

there did you see that the face that she

made right it didn't seem pleasant and

that's the narrative we have to change

there is there's a subjective role

that's given to each gender you look

good at this you look good at that this

is a sustainable job for you where

you're able to also help your family and

your friends but what about your dreams

but what about what you want to do what

about what you want to say or what about

your

vicious and and will what about what you

like and that's exactly what how you

take control of it we live in a society

which is really hard you just cannot say

no to your parents if we are financially

dependent on them but one of the things

i would want to

just just make sure that you're forced

upon is

believe in yourself when you think you

can't do this or you're just not good at

it is the time you need to believe in

yourself the most the way you look at

yourself is the way the world will look

at you you can't change people's

opinions i'm pretty sure 50 percent of

you might not agree with what i say or

might not like me but that does not

change what i think about myself do i i

come off as a very strong confident

woman i know exactly what i get to the

table and that will never change

so your perspective about me might

change or might not change but it will

never affect what i think about myself

and that's how you gain confidence i

couldn't come here and stand up and

speak but the main difference what we

have is we give this power of what we

should think of ourselves to people

around us you like you will validate me

you will decide how i should think how i

should feel what will make me look

pretty and what should no no that's the

decision made for you it's your life

it's your hair it's your body how you

feel about yourself is what matters are

you feeling healthy are you feeling

pretty are you feeling confident is up

to you but the minute you give that

power to somebody is when you know it's

not going the way you want and that's

the power you should take away from

everyone to young girls to young boys

out here all i would say is

this is the time for you to experiment

go on

get that show

get that gig whatever that you're

looking for try it out you fail good for

you you have an experience you learn

from it you go for it this is the time

you do not lose opportunities we are the

generation that will feed on to it we

are not someone who's gonna be like

let's just let it go we want it we get

it i keep telling this radar wants it

gets it

in a nice way i'm not gonna hurt anybody

but in a nice way but it's also the fact

that i manifested everything that i have

here i worked my ass off to be there i'm

so sorry for the language but i worked

really hard to be here one of the things

that i realized is

you know with constant

gratification gratitude uh constant

self-love towards yourself to people

around you you just change the persona

of how you see the world once you're

full with love within yourself right you

just see exactly that with every other

person around

and that's all you have to do

so reaching beyond as i told you is

subjective

it keeps changing for each one of you

and i hope one day you all have your

reach beyond stories but this is my

reach beyond story we're just starting

we're just beginning maybe soon enough

you'll see me somewhere else and be like

i know her she came to my school and she

gave the speech which i didn't

understand then but she's here now

as i told you it's it's dreaming big

don't don't hold up and say

when people go on no that's not possible

let it go it's that's not something you

can do don't

never let that go for it the minute as i

told you you give it to somebody

your energy is trained decide your

energy decide your space decide the kind

of people you want to be with the kind

of energy and the environment you want

to grow around and that's what will

change

with this i would like to end but

sayonara this is

signing off thank you