TEDxPathwaysSchoolGurgaon

From left to right: Chaynika, Seolmin, Kazuya, Ayesha, Rima, Bipasha, Kashish, Kashika, Nandidi and Tanisha.

No performance is ever complete without the perfect ambiance to complement it. Introducing our Decorations team, who tirelessly work to create a beautiful, inspired stage to truly reflect the personalities of our vibrant speakers and performers.

Hours, days, weeks of work go into finessing a single performance, but who ensures that these events are publicized and brought to your attention? Presenting the Posters team, in charge of creating brilliant visuals to truly capture one’s attention.

Known as the shy, anime-loving guitarist of the school band, sixteen-year-old Salil Sodhi is well known amongst his peers for his intense math 'obsession': no whiteboard of the music room is left unstained after Salil finds a problem interesting enough to puzzle him for days.

Outside school, however, the dynamic changes. At home, a completely new force dominates: his love for aviation. Simply put, he loves planes to the extent that these marvels of human engineering take precedence over any other emotion, thought or problem he may be facing in life. Even his Instagram feed, something many teenagers take pride in developing, is dominated by pictures of plane spotters capturing mind-boggling shots of the world's finest planes taking off and landing. This profound love and passion are what motivates Salil to share his experiences and insights with the community.

Salil lives each day trying to live as unfiltered as possible, embracing new hobbies and pursuing new interests. Most importantly, he constantly tries to spread awareness of the allure of aviation.

The way you look, the way you behave, the way you perform- all of this is what shapes you. All of this is what defines you. Society is a barrier between the real you and surreal you; it influences one in reality and transforms them into a surreal self. To each individual pressured by society's norms, the societies guidelines, the society itself- be aware that it is filtering you. It is reshaping you- beyond belief, beyond doubt, beyond recognition. The real question, however, is whether it is ethical or not. Do you want to be manipulated? Do you want you be filtered? Do you want? Don’t let the fake shadows overlap your personality. We must learn to strip ourselves of the unnecessary layers in order to discover who we truly are. Break the obvious. Realism is the new you. Presenting yourself candidly to the world in todays times is a big achievement in itself. It reveals a disposition without a stamp, shows who you truly are. Filters in any form- facial or psychological- that are hindrances to your inner soul and may give the world a false illusion of you being someone else. People may perceive you differently, but being unfiltered is being in your skin. Comfortable, safe- you.

I check my Instagram mentions for the third time today.
Is it always going to be this way?

Again and again, I’m compelled to see,
how many people want to worship me.

Another layer of concealer, just a dab of glitter,
All for the sake of that one .

“Awesome time tonight!” Is that true, though?
I cried and cried, I died inside, but that, they’ll never know.

I always look so happy, snapping the best selfie,
I want to let out the sadness in my heart, but my own mind would never let me.

Why do I stop myself from breaking free?


My mind is sucked in by addictive, hypnotic lures,
All those floating hearts, all those charming words.

Just twenty likes today; I hate myself now.
I’m chasing after appreciation, why and how?

I never fail to reward my followers with a daily dose of Me.
Because those eight hundred likes will forever give me glee.

So I dress up; make myself an ideal girl,
With a perfect life, in a pretty world.

But these people, what do they really look at?
Is it the real me; a fake doll, or what?

I’ll never let my real self slip through, under my ‘pretty’ face, it’s shut.


Cute, beautiful, smart - utter perfection,
This isn’t even me! It’s other people’s reflections.

One day I try and look at how
My real looks now.

As I look in the mirror, I’m horrified,
To see how my real face has died.

I’m so overshadowed by the appreciation of others,
I’ve forgotten how to be myself.

Because I’m just another Instagram girl,
Hot off the shelf.

For real, this time - yourself.

By Aditi Amritesh, on Instagram

Plethora of images - different poses, different angles, different frames and yet all the same.
Claredon, Inkwell, Hudson and more – when do we stop? When do we say, no more?
In a world we are constantly told, it is not us, as us, but a filtered version we must behold.
Silence the noise;
Halt the gore;
Walk with poise, ask for more.
Unearth, excel;
Unfilter, yourself.

Sukkriti Nath

Pathways is organising a TEDx event on 16th of October. The theme of our event is ‘Unfiltered’. Tickets will be available soon. You may contact us on [email protected] for further details.