The Internet is sometimes thought of as a dark force, which can lead to many negative outcomes. However, an inspiring and uplifting talk on the power of the Internet for good, was delivered at TEDxPanchgani by Kunal Kapoor. Kapoor emphasized the immense power of the Internet, and how it can be harnessed to bring together the power of the ordinary people, which can combine to create an unstoppable force. Using four stories to bring out his point, he showed how seemingly small and unimportant incidents, such as the death of a little raccoon, can bring a whole city together. Other stories tugged at the heart-strings of the Audience, or showed how complete strangers can come together from all over the world to help people who need it, thanks to a single tweet. These examples showed how the Internet, including his crowd-funding platform, Ketto, can connect those who need help with others who can give that help.

Kunal Kapoor is a highly talented and versatile actor, who has trained under the well-known Barry John. He has acted in a number of well received and critically acclaimed Stage productions with the theater group Motley, which is headed by Naseeruddin Shah, who is himself an acting legend. Having begun his film career as a Director, Kapoor went on to act in a number of popular films, one of which was Rang De Basanti, for which he received a Filmfare Awards nomination. Lamhaa, Don 2 and many other hit films soon followed. Kapoor’s interests are definitely not confined to films. He is a trained pilot, and also a Rally Car driver, who has started training for the Formula Three In 2014. He is also a style icon, who was recently rated by GQ as one of the Top Ten stylish Indian men. A tech geek, he has co-founded Ketto, which is Asia’s largest crowdfunding platform. To date, Ketto has raised almost a billion rupees from over 300,000 people, for a number of worthy and deserving social causes, and showed the power of the Internet, which has been an immense force for Positive Change.

This talk was given at TEDxPanchgani an event held at Ravine Hotel using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx