TEDxPanaji Salon- UnMuted

TEDxSalon is the more intimate sibling of the main TEDx Conference. Where a conference fills an auditorium, a Salon fills a room; there are fewer people, there are closer conversations, and there is the kind of evening where the ideas don’t end when the talk does.

Held in a smaller format with a tightly curated line-up, the Salon is built for depth over scale. A handful of speakers. Live performance. Real exchange between the stage and the seats. It is designed for people who would rather spend an evening genuinely thinking than passively watching. This is where Panaji’s most interesting ideas get tested in good company.

UnMuted

UnMuted is about the things young people don’t say out loud and the safe space the Salon creates for them to speak. It’s youth centred, built around opening up rather than performing.

Meet our panellists

Dr Peter Castelino

Founder and Managing Director of COOJ Mental Health Foundation

Dr Peter Castelino is a consultant psychiatrist and Founder and Managing Director of COOJ Mental Health Foundation, which runs the Distress Suicide Helpline, now in its 14th year and part of Befrienders Worldwide. He has led over 100 gatekeeper trainings and runs ISAS, which supports suicide attempt survivors. A past president of the Psychiatric Society of Goa and a Member of the State Commission for persons with disabilities, he has built programmes in psychosocial rehabilitation, geriatric care and community mental health. A Fellow of the Indian Psychiatric Society, he received its Bagadia Award for community work.

Ayesha Joshi

Marketing Consultant & Strategic Youth Advisor

Ayesha Anne Marie Joshi is a Goa-based entrepreneur, marketing strategist and youth development advocate with over a decade of experience. Founder of Ayesha Joshi & Associates, she is Independent Director at Mohidin Properties & Holdings and CREDAI Youth Convenor for Goa. She founded Interconnect Café, connecting over 1,500 youth from 27 countries, and has led sessions on entrepreneurship, networking and professional development across colleges in Goa and Pune. Through CII–Young Indians and UWC, she champions student engagement, leadership development and cross-cultural learning.

Dr. Kshipra Vora

Academician & Psychologist

Dr. Kshipra Vora is a psychologist, academician and educator with a Ph.D. in Psychology, a clinical background and 17 years of teaching experience. She describes her work through four T’s: Teaching, Training, Testing and Therapy. Passionate about making conversations around mental health more open and meaningful, she is drawn to emotional realities that often go unspoken. A cancer survivor herself, she hopes to create safe spaces for survivors and caregivers to share experiences. She believes we always have a choice in how we respond to life, and that we must bloom where we are planted.

Debarati Chakraborty

Moderator

Debarati is Co-Organiser & Curator of TEDxPanaji, overseeing curation, media relations, design, content and the website, and working with speakers from the earliest stages to find the idea they want to put on the TEDx stage. A journalist and editor with two decades of experience, she has worked with Hindustan Times, The Telegraph and The Indian Express, and writes for HuffPost. Co-Founder of Samsthiti LLP, she designs cohorts that help people communicate with clarity and intention. Her travels across 16+ countries keep returning her to one question: what changes when people truly say what they mean and listen?