Back From THINK INDIA

(Retrospective Post)

I had a pretty good time at the Think India convention.... we were a total of 19 from our College- 9 guys, all my classmates save two. (On the whole there were apparently 800 delegates, though i think the organizers fibbed.)

It was a 3-day event held at The Art of Living International Centre, AoL's massive Bangalore Ashram, around 25kms from the city. The campus is HugE, and growing, and has the very impressive Vishalakshi Mandir as it's focal point. (see photos)

I was expecting Dorms, but we were assigned rooms in the Ashram's big accomodation facility. There was a hitch in the accomodation the very 1st night - we were given the wrong combination for the lock to our room, and it was 1030pm by the time we got in.

Thankfully, the rooms were pretty nice. (read: clean!)


There's a 11pm curfew in the Ashram, but get this, they don't shut the gates! (that's "freedom" for ya!) We all walked down to the closest village, a kilometer away at 1130, bought some liquor and happily walked back to the room. We didn't exactly abide by Ashram rules after that.

Neither did we pay much attention to the instructions from the Think India guys...

That's the good thing about having friends who have the same attention-span as you ....

...you all get bored at the approximately the same time!

We attended only the interesting lectures...mostly only on the 3rd day. Rest of time, we were generally lolling about through the ashram. The girls, on the other hand, i think, attended almost every lecture... they even attended the Yoga sessions faithfully!!...waking up at 530am!!! Hehehe..

( Vishalakshi Mandir at the heart of the Ashram )

The convention was largely all talks discourses.... Guruji's, Professional's, Scientists, Doctors, Social Workers... a whole mixed bag. Some of the speakers were mind-blowing...i mean, really really really good! But most of the others were just plain boring, coz they just kept repeating on a common theme.

Ancient-scriptures were linked to Scientific advances.
The relevant Shlokas were quoted to prove that the New ideas of today can be found in millenia old texts.
Everything from Business Theory to Rocket Science to General Relativity were ascribed to the Vedas.
By the end of it, many speakers went beyond just linking the old and the new, and were directly attributing ancient-knowledge as the seed for today's developments.

Every time one of these speakers would start off, we'd get up, all 9 of us, and walk out! LOL!!!


Like i mentioned before, a few guys were really fantastic... they were crystal clear about what they wanted to convey. It was awe-inspiring and really an absolute pleasure to sit and listen to these guys talk. That they were true masters of their subject came across to everyone, just by the words they spoke. You could actually see that these guys were going to succeed, just because of the way they thought about life and things. T'was really a treat for my cortex!!!

There was an interactive session at the end of the 3rd day...a kind of closing session. I didn't make it to the session (as usual!), but i later heard that the ABVP-guys, who acted as moderators for each group, kinda hijacked the (every) discussions to voice out their political agenda.

I had been pleasantly surprised at the lack of overt-propaganda in the entire 3 day, but i guess this was it. (read my apprehensions: previous blogpost)
We finally got back into Bangalore at night, in a crowded bus. (3rd day)


It wasn't my usual idea of a 'break'...but we had some very 'different' fun. Besides, college authorities were giving us 3-days-attendance ...and i think we made full use of that.

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Think India...Think!

[Alternatively titled: Join the Klan, mein furher!]

I'm off to the Think India convention... from the 11th to the 13th.

Who'd have ever thought i'd ever go to an event organized by the ABVP! And not just visiting the place...Staying there! For 3 days...Christ!





I present several quotes from the "Think India" website:



"In the context of the present day degradation of the nation's social and moral values....."

"...ignite the minds of the youth..."

"...addressing the need of spirituality and patriotism..."

"... to trigger appropriate action on the part of 'intellectual soldiers' of our country..."





Also, a page describing the topics to be covered lists the very first topic as:

"Spiritual Nationalism"

(Love the wordsmiths who thought this term up...)





There's also an essay competition. The topics being:



"India as a nation: A SWOT assessment"

(attached text: SWOT: Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, Threats)

"Branding India to Indians"

(attached text: "...Account for the existing image of India and make out a case for its change in terms of... religion, democracy, in the coming years...")

"Role of students in campus and society"

(attached text: "...student activism as an asset to society and not a liability...")

"Spirituality, Society and Development: towards Synthesis."







Is it just me or did you just notice a pattern here??? :D

Lets just hope there isn't any lynching! click

Imogen Heap

Test for Genius:

Have you heard of this artist?

...Speaking for myself, she's bloody brilliant!

Imogen Heap
(Album: Speak for Yourself )

I was lucky to get an mp3 CD....but its a bit difficult to lay hands on a RAR file for Imogen (i've tried), so you could try downing some individual songs off some off the usual sites... My picks: Headlock, Angry Angel, Speeding Cars, Hide and Seek.

PS: If you'll trust my taste in music....also try "Natalie Merchant" (Album: Tigerlily)
Technorati Tags: music, imogenheap, imogen, vocals, alternative

Bison Attack!

I was the victim of The Bison last Friday.... even though i'd got through her turf without incident, i still got gored. It was pretty ugly... she thought i was questioning her judgement. She pretty much let me have it in front of everyone.

A very humbling experience... the logical half of my brain says it's okay, forget it, at least now you'll be careful in the wilderness. The other side however, would like nothing better than to take aim and shoot a rusty nail in one ear and out the other.



The sad part is, i had to go apologise later. The boss is always the frikking boss.



Why run a risk?... Throw the dog a bone.......Or in this case, the Bison.

Campfire New Year

Happy New Year everyone!!!

This year my SMS greetings to everyone read:

"Happy New Year! Have tonnes of fun and a grand year ahead.

-Dinesh"

We all met up at BMC-UGH (Bangalore Medical College Undergraduate Gents Hostel) and had a good old time. Campfire...on the roof (!!!), under the stars, with speakers hooked up to the plug-points from the rooms below us. It was a chilly night so having the fire was a really nice touch. Daaru was sponsored by us seniors, and the juniors joined us later too... some of the guys were real surprises, we never thought they'd drink, or smoke... when they did both, we were suitably impressed. At midnight, everyone broke into spontaneous hugging (lol)...me too. (I kinda sprained my back in the process...badly.)





At one point in the night, the fire had gone out and there were only glowing embers- Amit, a junior and a good friend, and yours truly, walked across.



The hostelites took to the streets outside hostel, stopping every vehicle and wishing them for the New Year. Imagine being stopped by 100 odd guys at night! Naturally, the drivers were bloody intimidated... you could tell, 'coz once they were through the crowd, they accelerated like crazy! This is a yearly event, and Part-2 of this is the Cops... who come to restore order, and drive us back into the hostel and shut the gates. Easier said than done - every year someone gets thwacked by the cops, and the guys then get quite aggressive... abusing the cops from behind the shutters and stuff. Phun!



We kept talking on the roof, and the guys kept fading away. Juniors first, then seniors, then some of my own batchmates, till we were down to 6 guys...talking philosophical stuff. That continued for a long time, and of the stuff that i do remember, some of what we said was pretty profound..i swear, the ghosts of Plato, Kant and Nietzsche were among us yesterday. We just kept going and going....till finally we just got too hungry, and i was sent to get some emergency grub. (from the bus-terminus)



I reached home at 430 in the morning...ripped the whole way, and i couldn't feel my fingers when i got off the bike. Spent New Year's morning in Church and the rest of the day at home, with the family...but i couldn't really take it beyond 1 in the afternoon and i crashed till 6pm. Plus my back was giving me hell.



I hate screechy, weepy children....that said, tomorrow, i start my Pedo rotation! Crappity crap! At least there'll be 2 other batchmates alongside, doing their roatation in Orthodontics. Also, 2 of the guys are off on outside-postings...lets hope the month turns out okay.



...lets hope the year turns out okay.

...as for New Year resolutions, this time i've made some. (I used to long ago, and not at all in between)

However, only when i actually break my resolutions will i actually reveal what they are...saves me some shame, i think.





God bless us all in 2007....this year is going to be an important year for me, lets hope i can live upto the expectations, my own, most of all.

Technorati Tags: newyear, campfire