What if uncertainty isn’t something to fear, but something to embrace? Amrit Kallar weaves together history, personal struggle, and the unexpected power of fiction to explore how living in the unknown can lead to clarity and purpose. From the battlefield of Austerlitz to the tech offices of San Francisco, Amrit challenges us to see uncertainty not as chaos, but as a creative force. Amrit is a Business Operations professional who has worked with global technology companies, driving strategic projects and large growth initiatives. A chemical engineer from Indian Institute of Technology and an MBA from UCI Paul Merage School of Business with a stellar academic record, she has always loved reading and writing fiction. When she’s not driving her daughters to golf on busy freeways, and sometimes even while doing so, Amrit contemplates deeply, and often restlessly, about the world we live in and about the next book she will read. Her debut novel, Gilded Spirits, will be released in Fall 2025. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and twin daughters. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

What if the greatest strength in medicine, and in life, is learning to live with uncertainty? In this talk, Aneri Patel shares her journey from a hospital bed in Ahmedabad to a research fellowship in oncology, revealing how uncertainty shaped her purpose, her career, and her humanity. Blending science, personal experience, and the metaphor of Schrödinger’s Cat, she invites us to embrace the unknown not as a void, but as the birthplace of healing, presence, and transformation. Aneri Bhargav Patel is a fourth-year medical student at the UC Davis School of Medicine, currently completing a research fellowship in Oncodermatology at UC Irvine. She has developed learning resources for the medical curriculum relating to microbiology and mentored several students navigating the path from community college to medical school. Aneri was elected to the Gold Humanism Honor Society for her commitment to compassionate care and humanism in medicine. Her research interests include cancer immunotherapy, dermatologic toxicities, and AI in medicine, with work presented at medical conferences and published in peer-reviewed journals. Outside the clinic and lab, she finds joy in glass painting, photographing nature, and using improv to make medical education more engaging. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx