Workshop at S-VYASA, Bangalore on 'Scientific Spirituality'

In today's world, we find people distraught from spirituality considering it something unscientific and not related to science. Pandit Shri Ram Sharma Acharya was a noble soul whose entire life  was dedicated to the alleviation of such muddled mentalities prevalent among people. As a part of his birth centenary celebrations a workshop was organised at the lush green campus of S-VYASA-an autonomous body actively involved in research on the variegated field of  "योग", which is a highly commendable deed for preserving the ancient mastery of our beautiful country India in this revered field, on 11/09/2011.

                 The programme was suffused with several enlightening and inspiring lectures by IITians and IIScians, who have themselves felt the transformation in their lives through spirituality free from orthodoxy and blind faith, generally referred to as "scientific spirituality". Yet the icing on the cake was the lecture by Prof. Swamy, former director, IIT Madras who almost eradicated all the misunderstandings from our minds through his words which were mingled with the essence of science along with spirituality and the tremendous power gained from experience and deep study. I would like to quote a line from his lecture which indeed definrd the essence of this workshop-"There is an eternal question in the minds of all people regarding the origin of everything-this question can be answered in 2 ways-one is through science, which is rather complex; while the other is quite simple, which is given by 'वेदान्त'."

        The programme concluded with a novel 'दीप-यज्ञ', where we pledged and purified ourselves through the immense power of the 'गायत्री मन्त्र' along with lighting lamps to commemorate the occasion. Indeed the entire workshop was a major breakthrough in the novel idea of "scientific spirituality".

हिंदी समिति द्वारा आयोजित "हिंदी रसावली" कार्यक्रम

भारतीय विज्ञान संस्थान में अक्सर लोग अंग्रेजी भाषा का ही प्रयोग करते हैं| विज्ञान में हिंदी का महत्तम उपयोग और कर्नाटक के लोगों में हिंदी के ज्ञान का अभाव इसके मुख्य कारण हैं| इसलिए भारतीय विज्ञान संस्थान की हिंदी समिति हर साल हिंदी दिवस का रमणीय उत्सव मनाती है| इस साल भी इस उत्सव को १४ सितम्बर के दिन धूमधाम से मनाया गया| 

इस कार्यक्रम के मुख्य भाग थे स्वरचित कविता पठन और अन्ताक्षरी| स्वरचित कविता पठन के अंतर्गत हम सभी लोगों ने श्रेष्ठ कविताओं को सुनने का अभूतपूर्व आनंद उठाया| न जाने कितने भाइयों और बहनों ने सभी उपस्थित लोगों को मंत्रमुग्ध कर दिया| कार्यक्रम के मुख्य अतिथि- भारतीय विज्ञान संस्थान के प्राध्यापक  श्रीमती थिलगम मैडम एवं श्री रूद्र प्रताप सिंह साहब भी इन उन्नत कवियों और कवयित्रियों की दाद देते हुए फुले न समाये| इसके पश्चात अन्ताक्षरी का दौर शुरू हुआ जिसमे १६ छात्रों ने भाग लिया| चारों दलों-पनवा चबा, दिल जले, मिलेंगे मिलेंगे, उद्घोष ने बहतरीन और विनोदमय प्रदर्शन के साथ कार्यक्रम पर चार चाँद लगा दिए| श्री रूद्र साहब ने भी कार्यक्रम के उपलक्ष में कहते हुए अपने वाक्-चातुर्य से कुछ ही शब्दों में सभी हा मन हर लिया| सचमुच, यह कार्यक्रम इस उत्कृष्ट संस्था में बिताये गए यादगार पलों में से एक है|

Lecture on the Feasibility and Ambiguity of the much-hyped UID 'आधार' Scheme

It is a well-known fact that many eminent personalities are frequent visitors of IISc. Owing to this fact,
I got the golden opportunity to attend the lecture by Dr. Usha Ramanathan, a renowned and internationally recognized expert on law and poverty, based in Delhi on the  much hyped "UID-'आधार' project", involving a rigorous propaganda by the government of India. The lecture was organised by 'Concern'-an IISc student-body which invites eminent people from various disciplines to deliver lectures on topics of national as well as social importance and concern.
The lecture was held at the Materials Engineering Seminar Hall on 6th September, 2011, with audience completely filling the hall(I had to sit on the floor to hear the lecture) comprising of a uniform cross-section of the diversified intelligentsia at IISc. The lecture mainly dealt with the ambiguities and lack of foresight among the top brass involving the 'आधार' project. The key words of Dr. Ramanathan regarding the plan of the UIDAI and the government were that that the UID claims to be made 'universal', 'ubiquitous' and 'unique'. As said by Dr. Ramanathan there are various loopholes in the UID system, which have not been addressed till now.  One of the main problems is the technology and measures which are being implemented under this scheme. The biometrics have not proven to be a viable option in case of the highly variegated population that our country has. The implementation too could not reach out to the masses effectively. Throughout the lecture Dr. Ramanathan sifted through various possible threats in the long run due to the project and its implementation which most of us were probably unaware of. She indeed set a long-lasting impression on our minds through her prompt expression of thoughts and ideas and excellent oratory. Her expertise in the subject too added a unique flavour to the enlightening lecture on a subject about which we could have hardly thought of as laymen. Her lecture is a great masterpiece in my gallery of instances of excellent delivery of views and ideas and enrapturing oratory.

The Experiment on 'Ant Taxonomy' as a part of our Biology Practicals

Biology, till now was a subject about which I did not know much, not even at the 10+2 level. Now in IISc we are indeed not just learning, but exploring biology. And this process is amazing and enrapturing, in every literal sense one might think of.
         Recently, we performed a novel experiment in biology-a novel experiment, not in terms of some complicated use of a principle, but in terms of the approach, the feeling of enjoyment in terms of doing something different and pleasant(in terms of Prof. Gadagkar, rather we played a game!). We identified the genera of the dead specimens of ants through a key based on the external morphological features prepared by Dr. Thresiamma Varghese, a distinguished research associate with Prof. Gadagkar at the Centre for Ecological Sciences, IISc, who guided us through our experiment(actually as entertaining as a game) through a binary key prepared by her dealing with 10 of the around 45 odd genera of ants in the IISc campus. The twist in the game came when we were told that the genus of one of the 6 dead ant specimens given to us could not be found through the binary key. We had to isolate that odd ant, through the sheer power of carefulness, which added a distinct flavor to our game. In all, the experiment, though short, was thoroughly amusing, entertaining and enrapturing along with being informative and enlightening.

Lecture by Dr.Prakash at the Faculty Hall, IISc organised by IISc Alumni Association

One of the privileges the IISc students are always proud of is being able to see great people from all areas of science and technology frequently. I too attended one of these lectures(indeed, one special lecture happens everyday in some corner of IISc) at the Faculty Hall given by the well known Dr.Prakash, director of the CFTRI(Central Food Technological Research Institute), Mysore, organized by the IISc Alumni Association, moderated by Prof. Apaji Rao. The topic of Dr. Prakash's lecture was regarding the role of food and nutrition in providing national security in a situation where masses die of malnutrition everyday.
    The lecture covered the dos and don'ts that need to be followed for maintaining a healthy life and society in the whole, through efficient management and policy. His example of  the commendable work done by CFTRI was indeed a touching one, which introduced us to the humane aspects of this movement. I particularly liked the term 'carbon food-prints' used by him for describing the environmental compatibility of the food that we grow.
     The lecture, as a whole inspired us to think scientifically and rationally about a problem that has been prevalent in our country for so many years, thanks to the visionary attitude of Dr. Prakash.

Talk on 'Nuclear Energy'-an Indian Perspective by Dr. Bharat Karnad

Generally we youth seek for fiery oratory-whether by a fellow youth or a distinguished intellectual; oratory that arouses the sleeping enthusiasm within us; which racks our brains and compels us to think and contemplate.
Exactly that was the thing that happened in those 75-80 minutes at the Satish Dhawan Auditorium, IISc when Dr. Bharat Karnad, a respected policy maker and critic delivered his ideas on the various facets of nuclear science and technology and its defense purview with respect to our country.
               In the sea of lectures by eminent speakers, which are held almost everyday(or maybe thrice a week, perhaps) in/around the campus one has literally to strive hard everyday to keep track of the time and venue of each lecture, all of which are unique in their own respect. Indeed I was lucky to attend this lecture organized by Prasthutha-a students' concern of IISc at 6:00 pm on 30th August, 2011.
              In his entire talk, Dr. Karnad described the "nuclear"scenario in India as well as abroad and the adversities India is facing due to not testing our nuclear weapons. What really bothers us is not Pakistan but China. He also stressed on the need of preparedness for this fallout arising due to lack of weapon testing systems in our country. In all it was a memorable experience anyone would like to cherish throughout his/her life.