March - April 2020 Mensa India Magazine

In this Issue Editorial Art & Design Mensa Sports Mensafir Crossword Updates Lockdown Special Writings & Meanderings Pages From Mensa World Journal

From the Editor 02 03 07 10 14 15 16 20 25

On the cover: Snow-clad mountains at Kedarkantha in Uttarakhand

by Kajal Gupta, Mensa Delhi

Template & magazine design by Gaurav Sinha, Mensa Delhi

Hello Mensans, In this edition, we have a very fascinating travel story which is also the cover story, by a Mensa member from Delhi. Kajal Gupta, the author has also joined us in the team of sub-editors.

We have a special section focusing on activities by Mensa members from across the country during the COVID-19 lockdown, including social service work.

Local level SIG groups have been merged into national SIGs. At present we have 15 national Special Interest Groups. To join the SIGs of your interest, contact your chapter heads or one of the members in the group to request the admin to add you in the WhatsApp group.

Coming to the MWJ section, take a look at how you can make use of your ‘vanity email address’! Also, the poets and photographers among us may want to participate in the international contests for Mensa members. More details in the Mensa World Journal section.

We’re trying to streamline submissions process and in particular obtain more contributions to the magazine from all Mensa India chapters. At the moment, contributions mainly arrive from Mensa Delhi and Mensa Mumbai. We have a team of sub-editors on board to help in better co-ordination and in obtaining submissions from across all chapters.

Please keep sending your contributions of whatever nature - articles, quizzes, puzzles, crosswords, photographs, poems and anything that you wish to be published in the forthcoming issues of MInd.

Disclaimer: All contents in this magazine are opinions of the individual authors and contributors.

Neither Mensa India, the society, its office bearers nor the editors are responsible for any content or views expressed.

Send in your articles and contributions in plain text format and pictures in high resolution .jpg format to: editor@mensaindia.org Krishnan V. Iyer Editor-in-chief, MInd

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MInd - The Mensa India Magazine, March-April 2020

Art & Design Paintings by Needhi Neekhil Gandhi

Title Medium Size Year Name

Title Medium Size Year Name

Friendship Water Colour A4 (30cm × 21cm) 2019 Needhi Neekhil Gandhi

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Free World Water Colour A4 (30cm × 21cm) 2019 Needhi Neekhil Gandhi

MInd - The Mensa India Magazine, March-April 2020

Title Medium Size Year Name

Reflections Water Colour A4 (30cm × 21cm) 2020 Needhi Neekhil Gandhi

Title Medium Size Year Name

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Beauty of Nature Water Colour A4 (30cm × 21cm) 2020 Needhi Neekhil Gandhi

MInd - The Mensa India Magazine, March-April 2020

Title Medium Size Year Name

Happy Girl Water Colour A4 (30cm × 21cm) 2019 Needhi Neekhil Gandhi

I am Needhi Gandhi from Pune. I am a Mensa member since 2018. I study in 8th standard in Aksharnandan School.

I have completed two exams of Bharatnatyam with A+ Grade. I love to paint as I can express myself through it and it makes me very happy. I am a good swimmer. I enjoy making best out of waste. I like to connect with people.

I have started an online maths activity named “The Puzzle Place” for my age kids. My family supports me always. I love to be with my family.

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MInd - The Mensa India Magazine, March-April 2020

Painting by Sheetal Harpale, Mensa pune

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MInd - The Mensa India Magazine, March-April 2020

Mensa Sports Long Distance running and Well-Being Why is Running Important?

Some people run to lose weight, some run to improve their health and some run to compete in races. Whatever the reason, running enhances physical and mental health.

Running helps to stay fit as you constantly burn excess fat, helping to maintain a healthy body, while also strengthening your bones and muscles. It is great for your well-being, but it is important to understand the way to train to reach your goals.

Setting goals Having goals, either written down or in the back of your mind, provide an incentive to run and also work as motivation to keep going. It gives you something to work towards and it helps you understand how you should structure and plan your training. The best way to set a goal is by following the SMART principles: - Specific - Measurable - Achievable - Relevant - Timed Nutrition Tips • Vary your diet to make sure that you are consuming all the different vitamins and minerals.

• Make sure to consume a sufficient amount of macronutrients, specifically proteins, fats and carbohydrates, with more focus of carbs as they are beneficial for energy storage which will help during a run.

• Try to eat little but often.

• Remember that sports drinks give a lot of energy for training or races, but they have a high sugar content.

• Just because you are burning a lot of fat and calories, does not mean you can eat more junk food, especially if you are running to lose weight.

• Consume natural foods, rather than supplements.

• As much as possible, avoid eating processed foods high in salt and fat.

• Keep a balanced diet and know how many calories you need. Generally, adult males need about 2,500 calories and females need 2,000 to function properly. When running, you are burning some of these so you will need to consume more to compensate for what you burned.

Have planned meals to optimize training and recovery.

• Leave a sufficient amount of time between your meal and training.

• Load on carbs for race day.

• Keep a bottle with you at all times and drink water regularly.

• If you are trying to eat healthy, have a ‘cheat day’ once in a while to reward yourself.

Yoga Yoga is highly beneficial for a runner as it enhances one’s core strength, stability and balance, besides improving one’s flexibility and mobility. Most importantly, the breathing techniques taught in yoga, where on has to breathe using the stomach, rather than the chest, increases the lung capacity of the individual.

The ‘Sun Salutation’ used in yoga as a warm-up exercise is a great way to stretch every major muscle in the body from head to toe. The ‘asanas’ (postures) works on flexibility and stretching of the back and calf muscles and building strength in the core, back and quadriceps.

All in all, yoga is the total package for an athlete to improve control of your mind, body and breath.

Meditation The most important contribution of Yoga is in meditation.

Meditation that one learns and practices in yoga helps to train one’s mind to be at peace, stable and focused. A strong and stable mind is essential for a strong and balanced body.

It helps immensely in building ones temperament, discipline and focus that helps not only in running but in all walks of life.

Rohan Mehta Mensa Mumbai

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MInd - The Mensa India Magazine, March-April 2020

My Basketball Journey Taking into consideration my disinterest in sports, it was a surprise altogether how I developed an inclination towards basketball. My fascination with basketball started when I was in 6th standard.

participated in Basketball Zonal for two consecutive years and stood second in both. Within these 2 years, I injured my hand at the fracture point almost 9-10 times because of which I couldn’t play at times for weeks and couldn’t write for months. This didn’t stop me from playing or going to the

I approached the school basketball coach to learn the sport but was indirectly told that girls don’t play basketball in our school.

Even when I took along an entire team to play, all we were made to do was stand in a corner and dribble the ball. At this point, I approached the Physical Education head but didn’t get any support from him either. So, I decided to take coaching outside of school, but due to restrictions at my home along with my health issues, my parents neither encouraged me nor financially supported my court to at the least train my team. endeavor. Thus, I told them that I have decided to do random errands and earn money. After another consideration, seeing Reminiscing the difficulties that I had to face during my my seriousness and determination for the sport, my parents childhood as a girl to play basketball, along with the varied got convinced and allowed me to ways in which the sport helped join basketball coaching at a nearby me to grow as a person, made me sports complex. decide to introduce basketball to the lives of other girls who After I joined, within a month I didn’t get any such opportunity. got my right hand fractured and Thus came the idea of teaching thus was restrained from further basketball to the underprivileged playing. Even after my plaster girls of a nearby slum. was removed, I wasn’t allowed by either of my parents or doctor to In December ’19, this journey play basketball. So, I decided to started. In collaboration with start playing in school. Since the a team of rotaractors and an coach still refused to help, this NGO, I approached the parents time, I convinced the school’s boys’ residing in the slum to send basketball team to coach me. With their daughters to get trained in my continuous efforts, they finally a nearby school. After a lot of agreed for the same. So, I learned effort, 50 girls started coming from the boys, made a girls’ team, every weekend to the school coached them myself and after 4 and I, along with the team, have months successfully conducted a been teaching them basketball basketball match amongst the girls ever since. to convince the authorities to get a new basketball coach. With the I still remember the first class we help of the new coach, I, as the took, the first question we asked team captain, along with my team them was why they came and

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MInd - The Mensa India Magazine, March-April 2020 what do they want to become. One girl answered “athlete”, another one said, “yoga teacher”, some were too shy to answer, and others were not so sure. That was the day I promised myself, that in the last class that we will have with them, each of them would be able to shout out their dreams with new enthusiasm and vigor to fulfill them.

in them qualities such as teamwork, discipline, and passion.

This is also just another means to giving back to society. During the training, we provide them with food. In the last training that we gave them, we taught them how to play a basketball match properly.

When we will be able to resume back after the virus, we plan to conduct tournaments One of the girls amongst them. We amongst them is have collected a lot deaf and dumb. Her name is also Kajal. But her disabilities of new and fancy clothing along with accessories for girls. don’t stop her from playing now. I remember the first day I We plan to give them away as prizes along with certificates met her, she was reluctant to play; she was afraid and said that and medals. It’s a work in progress, the entire project. But, if she had come to only accompany her sister. And I remember I am able to change the life of at least one girl out there, then the last practice we had; she was amongst the few players I it would be one of the biggest accomplishments of my life. had selected for the first match. She smiles so bright now.

With sign language, her sister helped me to tell her that if this This is one of my favorite moments of my first day with them.

Kajal didn’t give up in her childhood then how can she being One of the rotaractors asked them “Aapki favorite didi kaun named Kajal too, give up. hai?” (who is your favourite elder sister?), and all of them pointed towards me and shouted “Kajal didi”.

The purpose of this whole project is not to make them future basketball players. The purpose is to tell them that even To read more of my stories, visit my blog: https:// though they are underprivileged, they can not only get basic secretescapades1.wordpress.com/ education but also engage in extra-curricular activities. To tell them, that being underprivileged should not stop them from following their dreams or being passionate about athletics or Kajal Gupta anything else that they want to do with their life. It is to instill Mensa Delhi

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MInd - The Mensa India Magazine, March-April 2020

Mensafir Kedarkantha Trek - My First Snowfall Experience “I will come back. I know, I decided I won’t repeat the treks, first camping site which was called Juda ka Talab campsite at but I will come back to this one”, I said, at the end of the around 2 pm. It was a beautiful 5 hours journey where we had journey. started experiencing around 1-1.5 feet of snow. This campsite was about 500 meters away from the Talab. Since the Talab I have done 5 treks till date. Amongst them, Kedarkantha is was fully covered with snow, we were not allowed to camp the closest to my heart. At a time like this, when we are in there. It was a crowded campsite. We both wanted to be left lockdown, if asked what I miss the most, I would doubtlessly alone with nature; and so after having our lunch, we thought answer ‘travelling’. So, I took this opportunity to write about of going around to explore more. Our trek leader was not my most memorable travel trip to date. very impressed with the idea of us going farther without him and the spikes (used to get a grip on snow). But rebellious There’s no one particular thing that makes it memorable. So as we are, we went anyway. We went up, and after roaming let’s start at the beginning of the trek. around, luckily found the Juda Ka Talab.

Juda Ka Talab- what a beauty it was. I can indeed call it one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. There I saw my first snowfall. Fast as the rain, the first one was, but the second one, it was so slow - like a movie in time-lapse. I just stood there, staring at the beautiful sight, trees covered in snow seeming as if it was Christmas all over again. The silence was such that we could hear the birds chirping. The lake was entirely frozen. I just sat there for a while, looking around and taking the serenenity all in. It felt like being in a foreign location or like in a movie.

We stayed there for over an hour and left only when we realized our trek leader would be searching for us. The return The trek started at Sankri Village (10 hours from Dehradun) journey is something I wouldn’t forget in my lifetime. My at 10 am. It was Holi on that day, my favorite festival. As the trek partner explained to me that we must slide and go down. trek began, we met various villagers passing by who played With the excellent balancing skills that he had, he just stood Holi with us within the first 15 minutes itself. We reached our straight and skid to the end. Me, thinking I would be better off

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MInd - The Mensa India Magazine, March-April 2020 sitting and sliding started thus. I realized only a few seconds later that I had no control and I was going to cross the end and fall. My trek partner sat at the end with his full weight towards me and somehow stopped us both from falling. Can’t imagine what would have happened if he wouldn’t have been able to do so.

After this mind-blowing experience, we reached our campsite, had dinner and were sent back to our tents to sleep since we had to start the trek at 3 am the next day. With all the shivering that I always experience in such cold weather in tents (the temperature was between 0 to -5 degrees Celsius), I couldn’t sleep at all. It was around 9 pm when we came out to take a stroll. We realized at that moment that it was a full moon night, and what a view it was!

The moonlight had lit the entire place like sunshine.

It was exactly how the picture portrays, no filter at all.

The next day, we started the trek at 3:30 am. I was in terrible shape because I hadn’t slept for 2 nights straight. The climb was getting steeper now with the speed getting slower. But stopping wasn’t an option because the trek leader told us that we would have to head back if we do not make it to the peak by 10-11 am. After that the snow would start melting because of the sun and it would be too slippery to climb up, he reasoned. As much a struggle the journey was, the scenic beauty far eclipsed it. There was just snow all around, just us three and snow. As far as the sight could reach all one could see was snow. It was indeed a beauty.

After about 2.5 hours and 4 kms of trek we reached the Kedarkantha Base Camp where another beautiful sight awaited us. On one side the sun was rising and on the other the moon was setting; both amongst the snow clouded mountains, like some magical scenery.

It was a site we could only marvel at. It offered the perfect view of the mountains and all we wanted to do was sit and enjoy this beauty. And that’s all we did for about an hour or so. Then we started again. I was too tired and the lack of sleep was killing my energy. “Just 2 kms to go,” I said to myself.

After about 1.5 km, came the Maggi point. The 7-foottall stall that was supposed to be there was beneath our legs, immersed in snow, because of the snowfall that had been happening throughout the winter season. A steep climb of about 0.5 km was left, but there was no energy left in my body. My eyes couldn’t keep open any longer, and I decided to go to sleep right there. So I asked my trek partner to continue and took off my jacket, spread it, and just laid down and slept.

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MInd - The Mensa India Magazine, March-April 2020

What is the craziest place you have slept at? I have slept on a footpath on campus, on a terrace while stargazing and on a beach in Goa too, but this was something even I hadn’t expected of myself. I slept at the height of 12,000 ft in the middle of nowhere on 7 feet of hard snow, in the blazing sun, all alone, wondering if I fell asleep will I end up rolling down from one mountain to the next one; but still too sleepy to care and thus ended up falling asleep then and there. But that was not the craziest part of the trek.

When my trek partner came back after an hour or so and woke me up, I was all charged up again. We mingled with a large group, and we all decided to slide down the mountains.

From top to bottom, we just slid through them one by one.

The path from Juda ka Talab which took us probably 6 hours to climb to the point where I slept, just took 2.5 hours back down because we just slid through half the way and ran the rest of it like an Olympic marathon (I wish my parents don’t come across this article. Otherwise that would be the end of

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MInd - The Mensa India Magazine, March-April 2020 my trekking and travel trips).

After reaching Juda ka Talab, I realized I didn’t want to stop.

It was just 2 pm, and I wanted to trek more. So after having lunch we came down back to Sankri Village by 7 pm. About 5 minutes before the trek ended, my friend fell hard in mud, and I laughed like anything (can’t skip a chance to mock him).

So, we ended up completing a 4-day trek in just 2 days (that’s what happens when 2 enthusiastic trekkers get together and do not listen to their trek leader). And there we were, back to the home-stay, then back to Dehradun and then finally back home.

Another beautiful travel journey completed, another trek ticked off, another Holi celebration done, just with snow and mountains this time. Even though I covered most of the things, I can’t wait to go back again, and this time reach the top too.

To read more of my travel stories, visit my blog: https:// secretescapades1.wordpress.com/ Kajal Gupta Mensa Delhi

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MInd - The Mensa India Magazine, March-April 2020

Crossword

ACROSS 7. Amazed (8) 8. A desert in central China (4) 10. Run away secretly with one’s beloved (6) 11. A point system of writing in which patterns of raised dots represent letters and numerals (8) 12. To cover with a screen (8) 15.Violent and needless disturbance (6) 17. Morning time (11) 21. A device that locks something (6) 22. A person who makes a will (8) 24. Scapula (8) 27. A color, a fruit (6) 29. None, nothing (4) 30 .Purchased, not homemade (8)

DOWN 1. Inhabited (7) 2. Cut (something) with scissors (4) 3. It has one eye, but can’t see (6) 4. Nickname for the BBC (4) 5. Black gold (4) 6. So fragile that saying its name breaks it (7) 9. A small sealed packet containing small quantity of something (6) 13. Has hands, but can’t clap (5) 14. A group of nine musicians (5) 16. Meaning “Little Water” in Russian; originating in Poland and Russia (5) 18. Achieved independence from Sweden in 1905 (6) 19. Move along very quickly (7) 20. A chemical agent for use in chemical reactions (7) 23. Full of holes, but still holds water (6) 25. Take something out of its shell (4) 26. A form of ”enough” (4) 28. A motor vehicle with four wheels (4)

Rashmi Garg Mensa Delhi

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MInd - The Mensa India Magazine, March-April 2020

Updates National SIGs now active Several of the district or city level SIGs have now been merged into National SIGs (Special Interest Groups). For more information on how to join them, please contact your chapter heads or ask a participating member to have the WhatsApp admins to add you into the group(s).

• • • • • • • • • • • • • •

MI Art and Design SIG MI Math SIG MI Chess SIG MI LENSA SIG MI Ancient Wisdom and Archaeology SIG MI Astronomy SIG MI ATMAA (The Music SIG) MI Invest SIG MI Book SIG MI Mensafirs (Travel SIG) MI Young Mensan SIG (10-18) MI Puzzle SIG MI Writing and Meanderings SIG MI Parenting SIG

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MInd - The Mensa India Magazine, March-April 2020

Lockdown Special Keeping Sane and Sober In Trying Times – The Dubai Online Quizzes Dubai – the land of fun and frolic. Full of a variety of activities to do and for many seasoned stalwarts, one of them is the weekly pub quiz. On many week days pubs around Dubai host a variety of pub quizzes and attendance

So, here we have a group of people stranded at home, itching to go out and exercise their grey cells – with no solution in mind After a bit of brainstorming and tweaking, my friend Joseph Sakr and myself – started experimenting on how to go online and do a quiz – giving people bored at home an outlet for a couple of hours of entertainment each week and doing our two bits to retain sanity in their family. Joey started off with the first one – done on Facebook live – it had six rounds ranging from general knowledge, sports, music etc – most rounds were multiple choice to make it easy on the participants and it elicited a good response with over 15 teams participatingÂ

ranges from 10 teams in smaller pubs to around 40 in the biggest ones. The idea for the pub is to fill in slack days with people who would come and spend a couple of hours (and of course spend money ) and for the quiz goers, a chance to socialize, tickle their brains and win some prizes.Â

I wanted to increase the interactivity, liveliness and difficulty of the quiz and hence decided a different approach • Do it on Zoom meetings – more interactivity and ability

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And the prizes are worth competing for – pubs have done quizzes where one off prizes have been electronics worth US $ 400 for first and $ 200 for second – not a bad return for two hours of investment! Regular pub quizzes either have cash prizes or vouches for F&B at the hotel where the pub is located usually in the 150$ vicinity for 1st and smaller for 2nd and 3rd  This has created a new breed of Dubai residents – “Pub Quiz Junkiesâ€?- a group who goes to 2-3 different pubs each week getting their fix‌ Then comes COVID-19. Dubai shuts down slowly – first schools, then parks, beaches, restaurants and finally does the unthinkable – shuts down pubs!! This includes a 24 hour stay at home diktat with US 500 $ fine for stepping out without applying for a permit – even to walk to a grocery!!Â

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MInd - The Mensa India Magazine, March-April 2020 to see and talk to each other • Avoid multiple choices and make the quiz non culture specific (e.g. avoid English music round to ensure that people who don’t listen to English music don’t have a handicap) • Introduced a Joker round (scores double if joker played) • Set up a Google Drive Sheet so that people can enter their scores  The biggest issue with such quizzes is to keep it fair for everyone so the rules were made simple – only people from one location could participate as one team + be honest and not to google (since there were no prizes, there was less incentive to do so!)

The quiz was opened up to Mensans and non Mensans (local friends, colleagues, ex Dubai residents etc).  First week saw 21 teams taking part and week two we were up to 34 teams. It was truly an international quiz with participants from Canada, USA, UK, Dubai, Zimbabwe, India and Singapore

taking part

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The response was great and people appreciated the variety of questions and the level of difficulty and wanted to know when the next one was. And we are not the only ones – we have come to know that a couple of pubs are doing a similar quiz (but software based with no interactivity) to engage their customers We are all doing what we can in these trying times and hope to bring some cheer into us prisoners’ lives – so quiz on!!

Note: Participants include non-Mensans too.

Dipen Mehta, living in Dubai runs his own consultancy. Dipen is a life member, Mensa India since the mid-1980s

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Dipen Mehta Mensa India

MInd - The Mensa India Magazine, March-April 2020

Mensans’ Social Work During Nationwide Lockdown Lockdown occurred, an unprecedented event in our life time. And it occurred without warning, because the authorities were forced to do it. It didn’t allow anyone any time, because that would have resulted in mass panic movement of migrant labours across the country, aggravating an already precarious situation. Unfortunate fallout of this was that the most vulnerable section of urban population, the casual and migrant labourers. The homeless, the hapless CSW were left without food and means of acquiring food.

A Mensan moved by watching videos of plight of these people shared on social media decided to do his bit, first by the easiest way and then gradually moving to other means. Another Mensan extended a helping hand and meals for 400 persons on day one quickly moved to 1500 on day three and to 2000+ on day five. Rotary Club of Mumbai was roped in and they pitched in by providing meals from various kitchens located at Marine Lines, Reay Road, Versova, Chowpatty and Lower Parel.

Meals are distributed from points set up at Belasis Road, Mumbai Central, Agripada, Nagpada Police Station, Madanpura, Byculla, Tardeo and other places.

Photographs and information submitted by Mensa India – Mumbai chapter.

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MInd - The Mensa India Magazine, March-April 2020

Social Work By Mensan From Chennai Chapter In response to the current crisis, I’m a part of a group of students, alumni, and an entrepreneur, working to design and manufacture face shields, which are used as PPE over the face masks, to cover eyes and other parts of the face from infectious materials. These shields are being manufactured using 3D Printing and Injection Moulding. They are now being manufactured at a cost of ₚ60/pc, and then distributed to various private hospitals at the manufacturing cost, with zero profits, and for free to the government hospitals and policemen. As a not-for-profit endeavour, we are trying to compensate for our expenses on the shields being distributed for free, by running a fundraiser on Ketto - https://www.ketto.org/fundraiser/face-shields.

As of today, we have delivered over 22000 pieces, and have around 30000 more pieces, yet to be delivered, as outstanding orders right now. We look forward to ramping up our production and cater to the growing demand, as much as possible. We are also encouraging and guiding a lot of groups across various cities in India, in helping them replicate this model at their locations.

We have also been featured in the news, here https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/iit-madras-team-gives-free-face-shields-to-doctors-cops/ articleshow/74958425.cms https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/iit-m-students-and-chennai-group-3d-prints-face-shields-covid-19responders-121917 https://www.thequint.com/coronavirus/students-iit-madras-3d-printing-face-shield-ppe-doctors-police-sanitation-workers Pranit Mehta Mensa Chennai

Pranit is associated with the Chennai Chapter, currently pursuing his 3rd-year undergraduate studies in the Department of Engineering Design, IIT Madras.

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MInd - The Mensa India Magazine, March-April 2020

Writings & Meanderings Doors of the Mind Imagine a vast hall in our minds. We spend our lives in this hall. There are many doors here and one corridor leading off, with no door at all. In the final stages of our lives, we go into this door-less corridor and, at its end, fall off this plane of existence. This note is not about what happens when we fall off at the end. It is about what happens as we spend our time in this Central Hall.

question often asked and then replied in a way which enforces the sense of ones indispensability.

At all times, we must remember that, in the final analysis, the choice is entirely ours. We are the Openers of The Doors.

The Hall belongs to us and it is not the other way around.

Whoever thinks that she belongs to the Hall is powerless to do anything worthwhile and prematurely awaits her end The doors in the Hall are of different colors. Behind these near the entrance of the open corridor. Ennui and a sense doors we can find creativity, laughter, adventure, love, of worthlessness are the major experiences if one tarries at serenity and fulfillment. There are some doors behind which this point too long. Some people mistake this inaction for we find negativity, too, in the form of addiction, disease, spiritual detachment but such people do not find the bliss enmity, vileness, bigotry and such things. When we open a they are looking for. door, we spend time behind it experiencing whatever that room contains. We then come out into the Hall and have the In this connection, I would like to particularly mention two choice to do nothing, open another door or go into the same doors, which are often mistaken for each other, though they one again. Inside these doors, there are other doors leading to are quite different. One is marked Religion and the other different rooms, too.

Spirituality. Though the two doors are independent, the rooms behind them are interlinked and the room behind the All the doors are unlocked and open smoothly when we are door marked Religion also has a portal to go into the room born. Those we choose to ignore become harder to open, as marked Spirituality. their hinges rust. Those doors we keep opening frequently remain smooth. In the nature of things, it is possible to be Most people enter the door marked Religion under the behind more than one door at the same time, but the time mistaken notion that this will take them automatically to spent behind any additional door takes away the time from Spirituality. Unfortunately, in most cases people who enter other doors. the door marked Religion are unable to reach the spiritual, as they get engrossed in the many diversions offered by religion.

As we age, we make our choices. We open certain doors and An impression has been conveyed by religious leaders that ignore others. We are guided in our choices by a variety of we must enter the room of religion for the Creator to factors - our genes shape these to a certain extent. Our family listen to us because He does not do so in other places. This and friends are another influence, for we usually prefer to misunderstanding also tends to make the seeker unwilling open those doors behind which we are likely to find those to leave the varied attractions of this room by opening the we like or which are recommended by them. That is why the interconnected door of Spirituality. wise recommend good company.

The door marked Spirituality leads to a wondrous corridor When we spend too much time behind a particular door, the whose hallmarks are inclusiveness, empathy and compassion. hinges start rusting and it becomes increasingly difficult to If travelled till the end, this takes one outside this construct come out and all we do is guided by the colour of the light altogether and permits the adept to view it from the perspective in that room. of the one who created it all. The adept realises what has been called moksha, satori, enlightenment and baqa. At the end Sometimes we spend too much time behind a door because of her life, the realised one might experience a change of form we find happiness there - this may be a ‘good’ happiness or but not a change of focus. She finds herself at the place she a negative one such as that caused by drugs or visions of already was. This state has to be experienced and cannot be paradise through religious extremism. Often we spend too learned through words. One must see for oneself what colour much time behind a specific door because we feel helpless. is and it is not possible to describe it in words to a blind This can happen because of things like prolonged illness, person. So it is with this state. addiction or the wrong company, such as that of religious zealots. It can also happen because of laziness and lack of We should review the choices we have made till now. We daring. Sometimes it happens because of belief in our own should also evaluate if we have been behind a particular door importance – “what will happen to all this if I leave?” is a too long. If need be, we should make fresh choices before

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MInd - The Mensa India Magazine, March-April 2020 the door hinges on the as yet unopened doors get too rusted to open. Remember, till we have the power to choose, it is not too late to open any new door. It may be increasingly difficult to do so, but, with a strong will, it is still possible to do so. All we have to do is exercise our will in channels it has not travelled before, but would like to. The alternative is travelling through the door-less corridor to our end, carrying with us the regret at what could have been.

At the end of our lives all the doors will open of themselves, but by then it would be too late. At that time the doors only allow us to go out into the hall, where the door-less corridor awaits.

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Kishore Asthana President – Mensa Dhruv Former President – Mensa India

MInd - The Mensa India Magazine, March-April 2020

A Free World Without Borders And Governments ‘A free world without borders and governments’ may at first glance sound like a good idea but if one looks past the superficial romanticized idea of complete freedom, one realizes that what this actually means is complete anarchy.

This idea terrifies me and I am completely against it.

resources and destroying completely their way of living.

Without governments, there would be no one to regulate weaponry and keep it away from the hands of dangerous criminals. No one to police the sale of potentially worldending nuclear materials .There are some people who just Without the government, there would be no police force; want chaos. As few as they may be, with no government, they no one to protect the citizens, no one to protect rights and could cause so, much damage the world may never recover. freedoms that an individual in the modern day has. Without Even a few dangerous people could cause enough damage to anyone to watch over us, the world would devolve into chaos ruin the lives of thousands if not millions of people. Terrorism with every man for himself. There would be on one to stop would run rampant. Extremists would be untethered and free criminals from simply pulling a gun on you in open daylight to commit horrendous and inhumane hate crimes against and taking your possessions, or worse, your life. religious or otherwise minorities.

An honest man could never succeed in such a world. One could work hard day in and day out to make a living and provide shelter and food for themselves and their family and one day, all of a sudden, someone could break into your house and kick you out under threat of gunfire. Nothing would be able to save the honest people of this world.

As it stands today, the environment is already in serious trouble and more and more species are being wiped off the face of the earth due to human activities. This is the situation today even after efforts by the governments of the world to prevent pollution, incentivize people to use renewable technology and establish sanctuaries and reserves to protect endangered species. Without governments to Moreover without any government to provide healthcare launch programs like ‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’, the situation or prevent epidemics ,the world would become a disease would be exponentially worse with no co-ordinated efforts infested place. If no observes what happens during a recession to safeguard the future of humanity. This would jeopardize or plague, that is as close as one can get to a real- life example not only humanity’s future but also the future of every other of how it would be like in a free world without borders and living creature on Earth. government. As mass panic occurs and all regulated systems break down, people resort to their most primal instincts. For all these reasons, I believe that ‘a free world without There is anarchy in the streets as people plunder shops and borders and governments’ is a horrifying idea which can create burn down cars. That is only an infinitesimal fraction of the a nightmarish scenario for humanity, the likes of which can amount of chaos that would occur with no governments. only be seen today in fictional books representing a dystopian future where Earth is a desolate wasteland. This terrifying A world without borders also means that the protected fiction can become reality if this idea is implemented. lands of the native tribes of each country would no longer be protected. Nothing would stop greedy people from encroaching on their territory, stripping it of all avoidable Vansh Tibrewal

About the author: I am from Mensa Mumbai. My membership id is 10180010. I am a class XI student from Dhirubhai Ambani International School. I’m an avid reader. My favourite authors are Stephen Hawking, George Orwell and Douglas Adams. I also love playing chess and listening to music. I also enjoy watching Netflix. My favourite subjects in school are computer science and mathematics.

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MInd - The Mensa India Magazine, March-April 2020

Post COVID-19 Trends I’ve been having my fair share of discussions around this, footprint, can now look at being done digitally on reading other perspectives, and more. Bored of boredom, platforms like Airmeet. working from home (twiddling my thumbs), I thought I’d pen • Museums / Tours / Tourism. Through AR/VR expect a down my thoughts on the matter — in part if nothing else to lot more experiences to move to digital platforms, thereby see how this post ages. also increasing their accessibility. More on that here, I believe this pandemic will also have expedited the growth and building of businesses around: Solving for Digital Loneliness — Digitally While a lot has been said about social media and digital platforms leading to deep loneliness — with a forced hiatus from IRL interactions with other humans, I feel the time is right for digital solutions to loneliness to get traction.

Biotechnology From understanding the pathology of the virus, to custom designing a vaccine/cure, to 3D printing of said cures and vaccines through synthetic genes and what not — the ways in which advances in biotechnology can help avoid a pandemic are numerous. COVID-19 makes it evident we’re still (if not increasingly so) a world susceptible to a pandemic, thus being an impetus in interest and advances in biotech.

Right from AI companions, to mental health apps (Wysa), interesting remote-work solutions (shoutout: Tandem) and more.

Automation + Solutions to Reduce Contact

• Fitness. Across workouts in a gym moving to online live video classes (CultFit), or apps that closely mimic the personal trainer experience (Freeletics). And the Peloton was a good gift now, wasn’t it, in hindsight (I kid!).

• Education. The emergence and adoption of digital classrooms rapidly increasing in pace, as well as individualised learning, in a one-on-one context outside of a classroom. This use case has way too many examples to even start quoting them, and I’m sure you’ve heard of how kids revolted against this in China by downvoting a remote learning app to a 1* rating on AppStore (trying to get it de-listed).

• Hanging out. From ‘hanging out’ to happy hours, to birthday parties and Demo Days , to a lot more all done on Zoom, Facetime, Google Hangouts and what not, fun, social gatherings done digitally bound to become more commonplace. These two NYT articles do a great job of walking through it. Article 1, Article 2. Conferences, otherwise quite the waste of resources with a high carbon

App based medical consultations are going to become increasingly popular as people slowly understand that the mere act of going to see a doctor will often get you sick even if you weren’t to begin with.

A lot (most?) of this tech already exists — we’re likely to see its adoption and usage increase manifold, and across use cases While online entertainment & gaming are surging ahead — with the objective of bringing purely technology based — solutions that make these shared experience will become automation to tasks, and to solve for reducing contact. Some increasingly commonplace. While Twitch and MMORPG of this will overlap with added convenience for users — albeit already exist & are being used such — this chrome plug- incremental at best. in for shared Netflix watching was interesting.

Right from speech and proximity inputs instead of physical IRL + Social activities becoming Digitally Social and/or contact based inputs (car doors opening, elevators taking Individual audio inputs, lighters at airport smoking rooms), to drone delivery, DocuSign-esque solutions to manage paperwork, Activities that are social in the physical world today, digital and contactless payment mechanisms (commonplace increasingly moving to a digital experience — and continuing enough in India — not so much in the global landscape), to be social or becoming individual. remote and virtual assistants, etc. etc.

Open Source One can only hope that this event makes it all the more evident why we need to have open source and collaborative means of working as more the norm than the exception, across contexts, globally.

PS. Wardley Maps are a good tool to read about and understand in this context. Quite powerful in helping think through how an industry and value chain could evolve.

3D Printing As supply chains are affected, across the globe and categories,

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MInd - The Mensa India Magazine, March-April 2020 some critical to survival, 3D printing will be seen as an effective and affordable (?) way to solve these challenges.

While it may be adopted for shorter term constraints and reasons — that very adoption I warrant will make its benefits more apparent in the economy leading to quicker adoption.

Video Conferencing Auxiliaries Obviously, video conferencing in every form is on the uptick.

Supporting technologies around this, I believe will rapidly advance as well. Real-time transcription, translation, Filters for any video conferencing tool, analysis of emotional health for employers and more, video analytics, automated indexing of videos (check out VideoKen). _________________________________________

Cultural and behavioural changes I expect (and hope) that catch on.

Trust and Empathy as a foundational layer In all of this — I believe we will have learnt to trust each other a little more. Employers learning to trust employees more, with remote and work from home policies; to people trust each other to self-quarantine, be respectful of social distance and hygiene and more — I’m looking forward to a world wherein we trust each other a little more, across contexts.

Along with this, we are already seeing a deep sense of empathy for others awaken amongst us. Whether we’re thinking about how we can support household helps, delivery personnel, daily wage earners and local businesses, or as working from home helps us better understand what our primary school

teachers go through while we’re at work, and more.

While this happens, what will also become evident are bad players who aren’t operating from a point of trust and empathy, and will eventually lose the faith, love and loyalty of those around them in whatever form. For workplaces where HR was still operating in the old school HR management style, they will increasingly see a need to transform into a Chief People’s Officer, and a People’s Happiness team.

Environmental Consciousness With the ‘break’ from us, that nature is having — and is making the best of News from the Venetian canals being clear, full of fish, swans and even dolphins, Dolphins returning to the ports of Calgari, shorelines and ports the world over, pollution decreasing massively (and here), I hope there are enough of us that come to realise and believe that the smallest of steps, taken by enough people have the power to make a tangible difference. And that this is most definitely in our locus of control.

That enough of us start demanding and asking better of our corporations and our governments.

To add, of course — the broken window theory — with nature having for the time to repair some of the damage we’ve cause — I hope it deters and slows enough of us from too rapidly going down the same path again.

Abhishek Agarwal Mensa Mumbai

Abhishek Agarwal, most recently was the Director of Strategy at Ninjacart. He’s been an entrepreneur, has run his own angel fund OperatorVC and a strategy consultant. He’s guilty of being the cliched IIT(D), IIM(A) bloke, and hopes that’s where the cliché ends.

A budding triathlete, sheesha enthusiast, and dog lover, he’s from the Mensa Mumbai Chapter. You can follow him on Twitter @AbhiHiSahi

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MInd - The Mensa India Magazine, March-April 2020

Pages From Mensa World Journal Mensa International Limited is a company registered in England and Wales under registration number 00848100. Mensa’s registered office is Slate Barn, Church Lane, Caythorpe, NG32 3EL, United Kingdom MWJ Editor: Ms Kate Nacard 407/23 Corunna Rd, Stanmore NSW 2048 Australia mwjeditor@mensa.org | T: +61 402152858

From The Chairman Why are we here?

As I write this column, the planet is united in fear of Corona. An invisible viral showstopper is making its way around the world, forcing us to change our plans and wash our hands with lots of soap. Less than a month until the meeting of the Executive Committee, this year in Frankfurt, Germany, the question is if we’ll be able to go there in the first place. Italy itself was just quarantined, and by the time this column is published, it’s anyone’s guess what state we’ll be in. I hope for the best.

The power unleashed from a single strand of RNA is striking. Infected or not, it’s on everyone’s minds. But is the virus intelligent? Probably not too bright, no ... Yet it seems to express a narrow cunning, evolved for a simple task without concern for us. Human intelligence, in turn, is mounting a counterattack, busily working in labs to develop vaccines and other measures. In the long run, my money is on human intelligence. After all, that is how we got where we are. And why we have Mensa.

Members often send me ideas and opinions on what Mensa should or should not do. Recently, an Australian gentleman wrote to me with an impassioned plea for action, by Mensa, to do something about climate change. He wrote: ”The world is in crisis, climate change could well mean not only the extinction of human life but all life on earth, yet Mensa’s policy is to not get involved in politics. So we sit back and watch as the idiots drive us off the cliff?”

If Mensa’s non-political nature stands in the way, should not the Constitution of Mensa then be changed, to allow that?

The short answer is no, we’re not changing the Constitution. The non-political nature of Mensa is genius, and as central to our ethos as that 2% limitation.

The longer answer is more interesting, because the question isn’t bad, and using intelligence for good is a core value of Mensa. We were never supposed to be a pointless society. Indeed, if we resigned ourselves to being a party club for smart folks, a lot of members would in fact leave, those individuals who stay precisely because one wants to contribute to a good cause. So what cause is that?

Our cause is larger and more abstract than many other problems. For that reason, it is sometimes forgotten and then the sociable aspect of Mensa becomes easier to notice. So let me state it plainly, paraphrasing the Constitution of Mensa: Intelligence exists. It is valuable, and should be put to good use. But to find it, we must know what we’re looking for.

Who’s to say what is good use? The Constitution talks about ”benefit of humanity” but is silent on what that means. It’s for everyone to decide how they want to use their intelligence. So what if members have different opinions on what would benefit humanity – as long as we agree that intelligent solutions are generally to be preferred.

Enduring societies tend to have something in common. They know why they exist, what role they are meant to fill. A society with a sense of purpose is also likely to be a good social club. These are not mutually exclusive things. As long as Mensa remembers the ”why”, parties and meetups will follow as the most natural thing, for we’ll have cause to celebrate.

Here’s an example from my own country. The attitude towards giftedness in Sweden is much different today compared with twenty years ago. Our society finally warmed up to the notion of paying attention to the needs of the gifted too. It’s an

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MInd - The Mensa India Magazine, March-April 2020 intellectual climate change, so to speak. It is now generally accepted – across the political divides – that children of high cognitive ability have a right to stimulation and education at their level. Sweden might be a special case; lots of countries are way ahead of us in gifted education. The point is the shift in mentality. A lot of work remains, and Mensa can’t take credit for it all. Simply that it was instrumental in the process is enough to make me happy.

Hundreds of more or less divisive issues in politics and life can still be important to us as members and citizens, without Mensa having to side one way or other on each of them. Mensa can still make a difference, by promoting the value of intelligence, loud and clear. That is not a small thing.

In the works …

There are a few interesting projects going on right now in Mensa International. A new adaptive intelligence test not least; a trademark reform to make licensing easier; a ”refactoring” of governing documents (to make them easier to read, without changing the meaning); updated election rules; new promising national groups; etc. My favourite one is about improving communications for members. An electronic newsletter, with surveys and useful stuff is about to complement the Mensa World Journal. A new international discourse forum is in the works and will be launched soon.

An interesting platform we have been exploring is called Workplace by Facebook. I can strongly recommend it to all national groups who want a better option for their members than the regular, ad-driven Facebook, where each member has to be confirmed manually each time they join a group. Instead, this is a mini-facebook (same owner) aimed at private organisations, without the ads and only for the employees, or in our case, members.

Since December, we are using Workplace as the main community for international volunteers, including the IBD. Upgrading from simple e-mail lists to Workplace has been a game changer, giving us the best parts of the facebook-style interactivity without most of the known downsides. There’s a mobile app too, obviously. While this community is hosted separately from Mensa.org, our own website remains the public face of Mensa International, and the repository for official documents. We’re exploring the possibility of offering all members access to our international Workplace, and if we’re successful in that, you will hear of this again – at least if you register at mensa.org.

For full details on our work, please see the minutes from the International Board of Directors and the Executive Committee on the member pages at Mensa.org.

All the best, Björn Liljeqvist International Chairman

Reprinted from the Mensa World Journal, May, 2020, issue 088, Editor Kate Nacard

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MInd - The Mensa India Magazine, March-April 2020

How to verify your membership to others Going to a Mensa gathering in another country? Are you using SIGHT or trying to join a SIG? Need to prove that you are a member of Mensa? Easy!

Log onto mensa.org. Go to your personal profile page, by clicking on ”Logged in as YourName” at the top of the screen.

Copy the URL, which looks like this: https://www.mensa.org/user/<number> That’s it! This link is your passport. It is all you have to show others. By clicking on it, anyone who’s logged in can verify your good standing as a member regardless of which national Mensa you belong to. Sharing your national membership number is useless. Just give them the link to your profile page! By the way – have you got your free <yourname@member. mensa.org> ”vanity” e-mail alias yet? A great thing to put on one’s resume; you can get this on your profile page.

If you still don’t have an account at Mensa.org, go get one today. All members of Mensa everywhere can do this, and if you want to have access to Mensa services outside of your own country, it is the first step.

Screenshot from mensa.org, profile page example.

Reprinted from the Mensa World Journal, May, 2020, issue 088, Editor Kate Nacard

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MInd - The Mensa India Magazine, March-April 2020

Nice to Meet New - In Malaysia

While others were busy celebrating International Women’s Day and enjoying special discounts, a group of Mensans already sat as equals meeting new friends of diverse backgrounds, while taking the opportunity to peek into the fastest growing start-up in the region: Fave.

Albeit the unfortunate circumstances of the coronavirus outbreak, where some members couldn’t join us for health concerns, the first Nice to Meet New (NTMN) of the year kick-started with an encouraging turn-up of 51 participants. Among the participants included familiar faces that joined as early as 1989, to quite a number of young Mensans accompanied by their parents.

Launched in 2019, NTMN is a quarterly event meant to welcome new members and to provide an avenue to interact and connect with current members. This year, we upgraded the program to feature members who had benefited from Mensa and had extraordinary achievements at their careers. We hoped the conversation would help members find value in their membership, while learning how diverse our community can be. Today’s meeting proved to be a great success, with increased member’s engagement and interest in volunteering.

We were greeted by Fave’s co-founder, Yeoh Chen Chow, at their headquarters in Bangsar South. Chen Chow has been a member of Malaysian Mensa Society since 1996. Prior to starting Fave, he led regional operations for Groupon Asia Pacific.

He also had a stint at JobStreet.com and Accenture. After leading a member’s introduction and ice-breaking session, Chen Chow generously shared his start-up journey from raising funds to business structure and company culture, not forgetting to throw in a couple jokes in the process. He also shared some words of wisdom for those interested in joining or starting a start-up.

“The right attitude to have for a start-up, is not just being passionate about an idea; everyone can come up with an idea.

Instead, you should be passionate about a problem, a problem you can’t stop talking to your friends about, a problem you stay awake at night to think about, a problem you won’t give up trying even after failing one too many times,” he said.

He went on to share that “It’s very challenging to run a startup as you often get rejected and fail so many times, that you thought of giving up. However, remember that among the many success stories people tell, there’s always one common factor, which is they did not give up for that one last time.”

Past Chairman Low Keng Lok also took the stage to address questions related to Mensa. “What Mensa means to me is a level playing field where we are all equals, regardless of race, gender, and age, because we all joined under the same criterion, that is, achieving the top 2 percentile of IQ score,” said Keng Lok. He also emphasized that Mensa is a place for forming strong bonds and lasting friendship. The event rounded up with a quick tour around the office followed by a dinner session.

Feedback since the event has been quite positive. Many agreed that the sharing session was a great addition. Nevertheless, we also received a request for more time to be allocated for member interaction, so rest assured, more events are coming

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MInd - The Mensa India Magazine, March-April 2020 your way!

Personally, I think the new NTMN structure is definitely an upgrade. Being a rather fresh member myself, having just joined in December last year, this event is indeed a memorable one. Within a couple of meetups, I felt that I was already part of the family. To me, Mensa is a home for brilliant (some say crazy) minds like us to find like-minded friends, to have in-depth discussion on topics of interest, and to be comfortable as ourselves without a worry of being judged.

How I wished Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d joined this club earlier. Now, the introvert inside me is looking forward to the next event. I hope to see you there too!

Tou Hui Ling

Reprinted from the Mensa World Journal, May, 2020, issue 088, Editor Kate Nacard

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MInd - The Mensa India Magazine, March-April 2020

The Mensa International Photographer of the Year 2020 Rules of the competition for Direct International Members (DIMs) 1. This competition is organized by Mensa International as part of the International Project Convergence.

2. The theme for 2020is “SHYNESS” 3. There is no fee for entry into the Competition. The entrant must be a member in good standing of Mensa International, or of a national Mensa group that is not running a national competition, for the duration of the competition. Important: Members of national groups should ask their national office or board for details of their national competition. Only submit using these guidelines if your national group confirms they are NOT taking part in Project Convergence.

4. Photos should be in .jpg format not exceeding 1 MB. Entries in the DIM category must be received by July31,2020.

5. Name, country, membership number and title of photograph should be included inthe photo information/ label or in the text of the email.

6. The photos should be e-mailed to the following address: photocup2020@gmail.com. Please Note: Any entries sent to Mensa International by members of a national group that is running a national competition will be declared invalid and will not be passed to the national Mensa for inclusion in their competition.

7. Each entrant may submit two colour images.

8. All entries must be the sole work of the entrant.

9. Any promotion of entries is not allowed.

10. The three best entries in the Direct International category (including members of non-participating national groups) will be selected by a judging panel organized by Mensa International separately from the International judging panel.

Entries will be judged on the effectiveness of how they convey the theme as well as composition, technical and other considerations. The decision of the Judging Panel is final.

11. The three best entries in each national Mensa competition and in the DIM category will be included in the Mensa World Photo Cup competition run under the supervision of Mensa International.

12. The International winner (MIPhotographer of the Year) will be selected by a professional judging panel that will include the Mensa International Chairman ex-officio.

13. Winning photographs will become part of the ‘Mensa IPC Collection’ and will be exhibited at the Annual Gatherings and otherwise publicised, inside and outside Mensa.

14. Entrants will retain copyright of their photos but will grant Mensa non-exclusive rights for publication in Mensa journals, on Mensa websites, on Photo SIG posters, for display in exhibitions, or other appropriate places as part of the Mensa IPC Collection without any financial reward to the contestant.

15. Contestants agree that their name and country may be published nationally and internationally.

16. By submitting entries for the competition, the entrant accepts all the conditions listed above.

17. Closing date for DIMs’ entries: July31,2020

Reprinted from the Mensa World Journal, May, 2020, issue 088, Editor Kate Nacard

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MInd - The Mensa India Magazine, March-April 2020

From the ExComm From the Director of Development I am happy to report that a lot has been done since my first report to you. I reached out to all emerging and provisional groups via email, Facebook, Workplace and WhatsApp to give them a kind ‘push’ to move to higher status and asked if they needed help. All responses were highly positive. Groups felt energized and appreciated ‘being talked to’. They especially appreciated prompt answers and ‘instant’ help. All the groups wanted to move to higher status. I provided all necessary documents, explained the procedure and answered questions.

This approach proved to be fruitful: India achieved Provisional status in January, after several decades of being ENM. (For me, this was a dream coming true.) Peru is new on the map of Mensa community: it received Emerging status in January. In March, Mexico achieved Full status after many years of being provisional. But more is yet to come: India aims at full status; Peru, Taiwan and Luxembourg are heading towards becoming provisional. I am in active contact with Pakistan, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Bosnia.

There are many new opportunities as well. Some national groups became so energized seeing development successes that they decided to lend a helping hand in establishing Mensa in other countries. Turkey is again on the way; there are activities in Russia (helped by Spain), Albania (Montenegro) and Ukraine (Poland).

Unfortunately, Colombia had to be downgraded to ENM status at the request of its national chair, the main reason being inactivity. We will work with them in the future to explore if it can be invigorated again.

I have created welcome (‘mommy’) letters for the countries receiving a new status. The welcome letter congratulates them and outlines the next steps. I also introduced the idea that the MI office sends out a signed certificate for the groups achieving an elevated status. This can serve as a memory item helping them to remember and be proud of their achievements. It can be displayed for the members, urging volunteers to work on the next level. All that, and some other documents, will constitute a welcome package.

As promised, I created a Facebook group ‘Mensa Development Forum’ to connect national chairs and their appointed development co-ordinators worldwide, where they can exchange ideas, transfer know-how and share best practices. It is up and running.

The pandemic has changed the premises and arena for development, and has put social interaction and programmes on hold (resulting in fundamental problems for many groups). It is hitting Mensa where it hurts the most: social events cannot take place. Our organisation is based on socializing, being together and being in an intellectually stimulating environment with each other. Development work has become harder to meet status requirements. There is uncertainty about any future development travels of the Executive Director, and this makes planning almost impossible.

However, I try to view that as an opportunity. I am confident that a part of the development job can be performed even in times of lockdown. Active work is going on, primarily based on reaching out to groups via various platforms, and being present with assistance on an immediate service basis.

I strongly hope that by the time you read this article, all that will be a bad memory. We can all take energy from the hardships of being isolated and jump into Mensa again, moving it forward hand in hand!

Please do not leave Mensa in these hard times. Mensa needs you more than ever. And you need Mensa and the inspiring community it provides. Please stay and stick together!

Floreat Mensa!

Bibiana Balanyi Director of Development Reprinted from Mensa World Journal, Issue #089, June 2020, Editor Kate Nacard

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Workplace for all members In the midst all that is happening around us, here is some good news to help us through this together. More than ever, members yearn for and seek the world class connections, experiences, networks and activities that our society has been known and cherished for and there can’t be a better time than now to experience that.

We are proud to invite you to Mensa’s truly global online membership platform where groups, events and conversations can exist exclusively for members.

Today, we introduce to you Mensa International Workplace.

To access, simply use your Mensa International Member Email (https://www.mensa.org/user/vanity-email) and log in at mensainternational.workplace.com.

The goal of the Mensa International Workplace is to create an exclusive platform where every member around the world can connect and collaborate with other members in a safe and secure way. Members can take advantage of this platform by having access to features like groups that can act as SIGs or National Mensa groups which only members can be a part of.

They can also host events and invite other members to participate.

Find features such as a dedicated main app AND chat app, groups, polls, video streaming, photos, tags and so much more in a format that is powerful, secure and best of all, familiar to all. That is because Workplace is effectively the same as Facebook, but for companies and organisations.

There is never a better time than now; to be even more connected with the largest and most established High IQ society in the world, than now; in a time when everyone is far apart.

Bring your membership to new heights. Welcome to the Mensa International Workplace!

Tan Kee Aun Chair, Malaysian Mensa

Björn Liljeqvist Chairman MIL

Joint initiators of the Mensa Workplace Project

Reprinted from Mensa World Journal, Issue #089, June 2020, Editor Kate Nacard

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MInd - The Mensa India Magazine, March-April 2020

Development News I can report another wonderful achievement: we will extend the IBD table by one chair. After being a Provisional Mensa for quite a long time, Mensa Mexico has achieved Full National Status!

Our Executive Director Michael Feenan has checked the application materials of Mensa Mexico against the requirements of ASIE 06-21, and following the result, ExComm unanimously approved Mexico’s recognition as a Full National Mensa.

This achievement is the result of the diligent work of many volunteers, and the concerted efforts of former chair Ilsa Ruiz, current chair, Guillermo Vázquez and their devoted helper, ex-chair Cinthia Reyes.

I am particularly happy about this achievement as this is another parabolic story. Mexico became an Emerging, then Provisional Mensa chaired by Cinthia, while I was Director of Development. Now, I can witness their attaining full status.

Mexico started its activities in 2008, became an ENM in 2008 and a PNM in 2010. It has 370 active members and a great potential to grow.

Congratulations to everyone who made that happen!

Floreat Mensa!

Bibiana Balanyi Director of Development

Reprinted from Mensa World Journal, Issue #089, June 2020, Editor Kate Nacard

MWJ Poetry Competition The Mensa World Journal is proud to announce its 2020 Poetry Competition for members worldwide. Members are invited to submit their original poems to the editor, mwjeditor@mensa.org, by August 1, 2020. Poems are to be previously unpublished and no longer than 30 lines in length. There are no limitations on the theme/topic. All entries must be in English and following the judges’ decision, no correspondence will be entered into. By submitting an entry (maximum of three entries) into the competition, members understand that their poem may be published in the Mensa World Journal or in any other National Mensa journal at the editors’ discretion. The author will, of course, be acknowledged. Please include your National Mensa and membership number with your entry.

Reprinted from Mensa World Journal, Issue #089, June 2020, Editor Kate Nacard

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Mensa India HQ Jnana Prabodhini Institute of Psychology Jnana Prabodhini Bhavan, 510 Sadashiv Peth, Pune, Maharashtra 411030