An Interactive Session with Dr. Binayak Sen

A stay in IISc, brief or prolonged, ensures exposures of several kinds-one of them is the exposure to a plethora of speakers who range from fields related to science and technology to fields as diverse as societal well-being and policy making. Similar was an experience when we interacted with the well-known social activist Dr. Binayak Sen in the Materials Engineering Seminar Hall of IISc, contemplating and debating on various issues related to the society and the country as a whole.
Generally one expects such sessions to be one-sided where the speaker does most of the talking and there is virtually no room left for the audience for informal interactions. But the determination to "speak less and discuss more" with which Dr. Sen strode into the hall was quite overwhelming and heartening at the same time. In his short address which was deprived of elaboration yet full of precision, he stressed upon his areas of focus, making an ideal platform thus for plenty of discussion which ensued and persisted for another hour or so.
Hence there was hardly any soul left in the hall who could not get a chance to personally interact with Dr. Sen. Amidst the volley of questions fired at him one could easily sense his concern and stress regarding "conviviality" and the well being of underprivileged and deprived people, which indeed impressed upon us quite well throughout the session. Indeed, the session acted as an ideal trigger towards a newer and rejuvenated line of thought for the well being of the society and the nation, in its entirety.    

Book Reading Project-Lecture and Discussion

As the new year has commenced with its own share of optimism and joy in our lives, I embark upon a yet another exciting journey of the second semester in the Institute of Science, to get enchanted by the captivating aura of this place to deeper extents.
Today we were indeed lucky to have an interaction-cum-discussion session on the book by the renowned astrophysicist Dr. S Chandrashekhar-'Truth And Beauty:Aesthetics and Motivations in the Pursuit of Science' graced by our distinguished professors and Prof. N. Mukunda, who gave the opening talk of the session, which was followed by the talk by Prof. Arnab Rai Choudhari, essentially resourcing the food for thought which was a vital driving force of the entire session.
This was follwed by detailed discussions on the book in groups of around 15-20 people who in turn were led by professors from our institute, where specific intricacies in the magnificient book were dealt in a holistic and heuristic fashion. It was really amazing and overwhelming to listen to various views juxtaposed together which were ultimately trying to define(or sometimes 'undefine' in an innate and perspective manner) "truth", "beauty" and "aesthetics" in arts and sciences and try to resolve the thin demarcating line between the two. Towards the end almost each one of us could relate with others' views and develop a deeper understanding of the terms "beauty in sciences" and "motivations to seek the truth in science".
It was indeed a mesmerising session which would certainly act as a key step to "Baptising" ourselves into the magnificient religion of science practised in this institute, as one of our professors puts it.