Ted Talks- SRK- Thoughts on humanity, fame and love [video]

Some days ago, clips of SRK's TED Talk in Vancouver went viral on social media. Since then, I've been waiting with bated breath to listen to the full-length speech... aaand it released today!

SRK's talk is funny, witty, and an insightful look into how the world has changed.

He begins the speech by introducing himself and his work to the world.

In the remainder of his speech, he compares himself with humanity, and talks about how they have both evolved with time.

"Humanity is a lot like an aging movie star, grappling with all the newness around itself, wondering if it got it right in the first place and still finding a way to keep on shining regardless."

SRK narrates an incident from his adolescence, when he had to learn how to drive on the night of his father's death. He said that from that day on, he learned about the "crude tools of survival."

This part of his speech reminded me a lot of my childhood, when I was a little naive. At that age, you believe what you are told and have a rosy view of the world.

He then moved on to talk about his life in Mumbai, when he was in his 20s. Once there, he realised that life wasn't as simple and one-dimensional as he thought it would be.

He wasn't just Shah Rukh Khan, a young boy from Delhi. He was fast becoming the rising superstar of Bollywood.

By his 40's, SRK had already achieved superstardom. He lovingly recalls his meeting with Angelina Jolie and Hannah Montana. He and humanity were going places.

This was around the 2000's, when the internet came along and changed our lives forever.

SRK has time and again expressed how social media prevented him from speaking honestly about his thoughts, how it curbed his freedom of speech.

It even affected his family, because people judged them for their personal lives.

If you're thinking his speech was serious from start to finish, though, then you don't know SRK enough!

He talked about trying to reinvent his social media persona (because that's how superstars are measured by the audience these days), and how he started to put out philosophical tweets. When someone replied saying, "ADIDAS," he had no idea what it meant. Suhana, his daughter, explained it to him.

Toward the end of the speech, he praised the present generation, saying that it is brave and indefinable. He also talked about how India, his motherland, gave him the superstar status and made him the "Badshah of Bollywood."

SRK said India taught him the true meaning of love and compassion. He went on to recite a Kabir doha on love:

Pothi Padh Padh Kar Jag Mua, Pandit Bhayo Na Koye

Dhai Aakhar Prem Ke, Jo Padhe so Pandit Hoye

He ended the speech by saying that we always have two options. We can either use our power, energy, and technology to wage wars or...

The speech subtly touched upon the problems we're facing today. From cyberbullying to war, there are ways in which humanity is being threatened. But, like SRK said, we can change if we figure out how to love and be compassionate toward our fellow human beings.

Watch the entire talk here: