editors Chennai
Nishanti Sudhakar
Bengaluru
Kiran K
Hyderabad
Abhishek N
Mumbai
Saurabh Garg
Pune
Siddesh Dubal
Kolkata
Vasudha Verma
Delhi
Kajal Gupta
Special editorial support by Shreya Singhal, Mensa Delhi
On the cover Sunset in Bengaluru by Avinash Singh Mensa Bengaluru
Template & magazine design by Shreya Singhal, Mensa Delhi
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.
Contents 1. From the Editor 2. Quiz 3. Crossword 4. Writings & Meanderings 5. Tech Talk 6. Art & Design 7. Lensa 8. Mensafir 9. Environment 10. Parenting 11. Jnana Prabodhini’s Institute of Psychology 12. Events 13. Tribal Mensa 14. Mensa Project Dhruv Scholars 15. Pages from Mensa World Journal
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From the Editor Dear Mensans, With an expansion in the editorial team, we had a spike in volume of submissions this time. In the past, efforts were made to include all submissions. However some trimming down had to be done this time to have uniformity in the sections. Your submissions are there in the editor’s inbox and can be used in future editions. Don’t be disheartened if your contribution didn’t make it this time. They have only been shelved for upcoming editions. I have always opined that Mensa Mumbai is the most active chapter among all regional chapters of Mensa India. From what I have observed, their SIGs hold regular meetings, visit places of interest as often as possible with itineraries planned well in advance, down to the last detail. Mumbai Mensa members have shown similar dynamism in sending submissions for the magazine as well. Currently we have one sub-editor from every regional chapter who would act as a point of contact for the respective chapter members to send in their submissions. Sub-editors will also be the points of contact of one or more special interest groups that they are part of. We got the most submissions from Mumbai Mensans not just through their chapter’s sub-editor but also via the SIG route. In this edition, an article by Amish Mody on how a windsurfing course made him reminisce about his journey as a startup entrepreneur might be of interest to you. There is also an article by Dipen Mehta on underwater photography. He had sent several fabulous underwater photos taken by him during his travels across the world. Sadly, due to space constraints we weren’t able to accommodate all of them in the magazine. Coming to the MWJ section, there are instructions on how you can join international SIGs (special interest groups) by registering on the Mensa International website. 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. 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
May-June 2020
QUiz 1. Countries - Trinidad and Tobago and Albania - are miles apart, in terms of distance, and also in the way, they practice different cultures. But there’s something unique about the names of their capital cities. What’s so unique about them? 2. In 1959, on the 8th of December, it was the 4th day’s play of the test match between Australia and Pakistan at the Karachi National stadium. The play on offer was absolutely drab, but there was a historic first which occurred on that day (from a political point of view) and it has never happened since then. What historic first took place? 3. How are the following, more famously known as? Doc, Sleepy, Bashful, Dopey, Happy, Grumpy and Sneezy 4. This person, before he became famous in a totally different aspect of life, helped set up football clubs in Durban, Pretoria and Johannesburg and named all three, ‘Passive Resisters’ Soccer club. Identify him?
6. One face of it shows the image of the founder, whereas, the other side represents 3 men in a circle and with arms on each other’s shoulders, forming a bond of sorts. What’s being described here? 7. The logo of this company is an amalgamation of 25 icons, each of which, indicate something about their business. Name the company. 8. The names of two iconic brands are scrambled in the phrase below. Please identify both: ARE PROFS RICHER 9. The origin of this word has its roots from Greek which means, rule of a high priest, and it is followed in most of the organizations in the modern era. Name the word. 10. What’s the significance of the below logo which gave rise to a global behemoth later?
5. Complete the set with two names and identify the theme connecting all of them. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Alexander Hamilton, Andrew Jackson, ________, ________
Abhishek N Mensa Hyderabad
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Crossword
May-June 2020
Across
Down
1. A combination brewery and restaurant. 5. Loud, confused and empty talk. 9. Site of original Olympic games. 10. Occurring with no delay. 11. A musical instrument. 12. One who refuses to join, or withdraws from, a trade union. 13. Violent and lawless. 15. The man who leads prayers in a mosque. 16. To talk; An Indian food products company. 18. An unsaturated hydrocarbon; C8H8. 21. Come to terms. 24. Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca. 25. The number that is represented as a 1 followed by nine 0’s. 26. An ornately decorated ceiling. 27. Agree with. 28. Principal port city of Syria.
1. An embarrassing mistake. 2. Plural of Etymon. 3. To combine with Peptone. 4. Showing a lack of reaction. 5. Admiration for women. 6. A person’s dying act. 7. Giving of holy communion to person about to die. 8. Photograph again. 14. Ignorance (of orthodox beliefs). 15. A substance introduced into the body to increase immunity. 16. A short moral story (often with animal characters). 17. Make a hoarse, rattling sound. 19. A lovelock. 20. A spiny insectivorous egg laying mammal. 22. An annoyer. 23. Force to leave or move out. 20. A chemical agent for use in chemical reactions 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)
Solution to previous issue’s crossword
Rashmi Garg Mensa Delhi
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WRITINGS & MEANDERINGS
our society’s bottleneck Recently, due to the coronavirus, we have all been put under forced lockdown. This has had other noticeable effects as well, namely the considerable reduction in death caused by factors other than disease. No one has perished from toxic septic tank gases. Nobody has been lynched due to inaccurate ideas or instincts. People are not being run over, abducted or killed by distracted drivers, thugs and bandits. Crashes on the road have stopped and road rage has fallen. Newspapers had these snippets nearly continuously throughout the paper, but now they’re gone. Why does our world seem to function much better without human contact? What factors are causing our current problems? Our most pressing issue is apathy. When a person is left bleeding after a hit-and-run, our first instinct isn’t to dial 108. Rather we whip out smartphones and film the dying person to share on Instagram and Facebook with a load of useless hashtags to impress our fake friends. Apathy is rampant in our society. When politicians loot people to become billionaires, do we care? In the short term we will fire off letters, the media will furiously yell at everyone and dignify it by calling it a debate, and a minor firestorm erupts. But after a week we stop caring. Our lockdown has simply stopped people from
going outside to do the things that we pretend to care about. We must fix the deeper issue here. The second issue is our tendency to never move. When we shoot off angry messages about random topics, are we not simply acknowledging that we will not move but will complain about others not moving and not taking us with them? That cannot continue. We cannot be hypocrites. Our final and most destructive issues are opinions, or specifically, the ensuing herd mentality. Opinions here are not evaluated on use or truth. Rather they are based on how many ‘normal’ people believe them. If a brand-new idea is introduced, even if it is the most useful and true opinion in history, if it does not follow accepted opinion, it is discarded. When we vote, do we vote based on track record? No! The majority votes for the person who looks good, makes empty promises of free money, reservations, or on the basis of caste! This must end, or incompetence will flourish and competence will wither. If we do not fix these problems with our mindset, apathy, being unmoved by anything, and being opinionated, the coming generation will inherit an India with the final nails in its coffin. Arnav Prashanth K Mensa Bengaluru
May-June 2020
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Heraclitus: a man never steps into the same river twice A man never steps in the same river twice. As the man steps into the river, the river changes the man. It not only swirls around him, but also starts swirling within him. He mingles in the water and becomes the water. For some surreal moments, the man becomes the river. Then when the man steps again in the river, he looks the same, but he isn’t. The man came in and left his imprints on the riverbed. He came carrying a weight on his shoulders but went out a little stronger.
But the river knows, and she remembers. The man knows and, in the river, forgets himself. Each time they meet, the two become one. And then they change a bit, imperceptibly, when they go again their separate ways. Each time, bit by bit, drop by drop, through eddies and swirls, the two travel further. And this beautiful journey of a thousand lifetimes begins when a man steps into a river.
The river too changes a bit. As the man leaves, his footprints on the riverbed soon dissolve. But the river adjusts herself around his footprints. She gives the man and takes from him too. She has grown wiser. So when the man steps again into the river, the water that touches the man is that which had never touched him. When the man steps again into the river, she looks the same, but she isn’t. Unmesh Divan Mensa Mumbai
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Windsurfing Your Way Through Entrepreneurship Recently, I had the opportunity to take a windsurfing course at the Quest Adventure Sports Academy in Rameshwaram with a buddy of mine. It was one of the most exhilarating, intense and immersive experiences of my life. Being a startup entrepreneur, when I look back at the experience, I couldn’t help realise how similar windsurfing is to entrepreneurship. Sounds crazy doesn’t it? Well it may not be as crazy as you think. Here why:
2. Planning and preparation As a windsurfer, when you hit the beach, you first check for wind direction and intensity. You study the tide. Then you look for obstacles that you will need to keep clear of. These include natural formations of rocks and coral and also human presence in the water, especially fishermen and their nets. You then choose the place to launch your windsurfing board and chart a path that you will sail on the water and back.
1. Know your Basics In Windsurfing, like any sport, it’s important to know the basics. The dos and don’ts, the technique, the physics, consequences of wrong actions and what to watch out for. As an entrepreneur, it’s important that you step out of your safe zone. It’s important to learn about the industry, its overview, its current operations, its pain points and challenges.
As an entrepreneur, when you are convinced of taking the plunge, it’s important to study the market as thoroughly possible to understand the customer requirements, to understand how you will be able to supply the product or service, to understand what your competition is currently doing. Then it’s important to plan your strategy, identify obstacles and plan how to surmount them, chart a path and set milestones.
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3. Set up and Safety
4. Confidence is key
Before you set up, you have to inspect and set up your equipment, the sail, the mast, the boom, the outhaul and the up-haul line. You have to ensure that the knots are tight and firm. It is also important to strap your lifejacket and helmet (if possible). After all, safety first! You don’t want to be stranded in the open sea with any part of the equipment coming loose.
It’s always hard to get on the board the first time. You are unsure of yourself. You have to climb onto the board. It could be physically taxing. Then when you get on, you have to balance yourself. Stay focused. Pick up the heavy sail from the water. As the water drains off the sail, you have to maintain your balance. Then grab the boom. Slide your feet into position. Get both your hands in position. Then lean back and start sailing. All this could be overwhelming mentally in the beginning. It’s important to remain confident. This is very important.
When you start the business operations, ensure that you have identified the available resources; ensure that you are covered when it comes to critical people, equipment, facility and even statutory requirements. If one of these comes undone, you may find yourself straying from your chosen path. It wouldn’t be fun to be left stranded at sea in the startup phase.
The startup phase for the entrepreneur is no different. The plunge is hard. Most are unsure of themselves. But as you get on with it, it becomes physically and mentally taxing. It’s important that the entrepreneur balances his/her time attending to various aspects of the business. It’s important to stay focused. First few
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months or years are tough. But one day suddenly the business will take off. At that time, it’s important to move from micro-management to delegating some of the functions. It’s time to get into position to scale-up. It’s important to remain confident always. This is very important.
5. Try and try again In the beginning, any windsurfer will tell you that it’s normal to fall; to fall and fall again. Don’t let this get to you. Climb back on the board, again and again. Pull up the sail, again and again. Get into position again. You will develop muscle memory. You will improve with practice. You will get it right. Just don’t give up. As an entrepreneur, you will fail, again and again at different things, with different clients, for different reasons. It’s important that you don’t get rattled. It’s important that you get back to work. It’s important to learn from the mistakes. The learning curve will be steep in the beginning. Things will improve. You will get it right. Just don’t give up.
6. Balancing the sail When you’ve figured out how to hoist the sail and get into position, you will start to enjoy yourself. Sometimes as the wind picks up, the wind will try to pull the sail away from you. It’s important that you lean back and use just enough strength to ensure that the sail is perfectly balanced with your body to ensure that you glide over the water. If you exert too little pressure, the sail will fall away from you. Apply too much pressure and the sail will fall on you. Getting that sweet spot is important. Find that balance, and ride the waves with it. As you progress in your journey as an entrepreneur, you will face some headwinds. It’s important that you brace into the right position. Every challenge will need you to react differently. It’s crucial that you don’t throw caution to the wind. It’s important to run a tight ship. After all, resources are limited for every boot-strapped enterprise. It’s important to maintain discipline. It’s important to maintain focus. But it’s also important to cut yourself and your team some slack as well. It’s important to not exert too much pressure on yourself or the team. You and/or your team may crumble under excessive pressure. After all not everyone works well under pressure. It’s important to gauge how much is enough. Find that balance. Ride the journey with it.
May-June 2020
7. Enjoy the ride So after all that falling into the water, getting back up and balancing on the board, it’s important to enjoy the ride. It’s important to look ahead. Enjoy the view. Enjoy gliding on the water. Experience joy, experience thrill and experience a sense of satisfaction. It’s important that you enjoy the entrepreneurial journey. After all the investment of time, money and effort, it’s important that you retain your passion. After all the sweat and blood, it’s important you experience the joy of building the business from the ground. It’s important that you allow yourself and your team to experience that sense of accomplishment eventually. Find joy in what you do. Otherwise what is the point of doing it anyways?
Amish Mody Mensa Mumbai
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About the authors Arnav Prasanth K Our Society’s Bottleneck
The writer of this article is Arnav Prashanth K. He is a thirteen-year-old studying at National Academy for Learning (NAFL), Bengaluru. He is an avid reader and fluent in programming languages including Java, JavaScript and Python. His main hobbies are coding, reading books, and playing Minecraft and Super Mario Maker 2.
Unmesh Divan Heraclitus: a man never steps into the same river twice
The author of this article is Unmesh Divan. He has been a Mensan for more than 20 years. He is a businessperson. He reads a lot, plays the guitar sometimes, and writes occasionally.
May-June 2020
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TECH TALK
WhatsApp Integrates QR Codes, Should Marketers Lose Sleep? Until a couple of years ago, who would’ve thought that something that started as a warehouse tracking mechanism would end up being ‘the next big thing’ for marketers around the globe? Yes, I’m talking about QR codes. With WhatsApp joining the QR code bandwagon with its latest beta update, this technology is surely destined to take off and potentially explode. Imagine this - You share a QR code with your consumers which directly open a WhatsApp chat window. You have a chatbot that responds to consumers in real-time without the lag of humans typing. You can showcase and create catalogues of your products on WhatsApp where people can shop by paying on the platform itself through UPI
integration (yes, that feature is available to beta users for over a year. It was available through an invite-only program. Thankfully, I got my hands on this in late 2018. Mass rollout expected in Q3 of 2020). By joining forces with Reliance Jio, WhatsApp has made a bold move of transitioning its platform from a conversation channel to an e-commerce portal. Intentional or not, this opens new avenues for marketers and marketing. If this inevitable comes to reality, it’s going to open a can of spam-worms. Talk about brands spamming on 1-to-1 chat, placing ads in stories, and Facebook finally monetising the platform it paid for years ago. Your data is already synced with Facebook and now Facebook can leverage this information to serve
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targeted ads. Just like the Facebook blueprint, is there a WhatsApp blueprint initiative around the corner? Is ‘Certified WhatsApp Marketer’ going to be a thing in the future, or it already is? It’s not just about WhatsApp, I had recently written an article over on the LitmusWorld blog outlining how QR codes are the future of customer feedback management. Here’s the article for your reference: Are QR codes the next big thing in customer experience management? QR codes can be omnipresent, nonintrusive, and easiest for consumers to connect with brands directly. But on the flipside, companies that enable the spread of QR code technologies are also making it less user-friendly. For instance, LinkedIn has, for a long time, had QR code functionality. WhatsApp has just joined the team, but none of these apps let you scan QR codes apart from their own. Paytm, on the other hand, has a universal QR code scanner that can read through any QR code. This means if your brand needs to board the QR train, your target audience either needs to be an active Paytm user or needs to download a generic QR code reader from the app or play store. This, in my opinion, is too much to expect from your consumers. Statistically speaking, as per 2019, there are 502.2 million smartphone users in India. Of these, 95.17% of people use an Android-based smartphone and only 3.35% of people use an iOS device (exact
numbers vary from source to source, but these numbers should give you a fair picture of the situation). While the newer devices come with cameras that have QR code scanners baked into their native camera apps, there is a huge chunk of the target audience that still needs to survive on third-party scanners. So, why as a consumer, should I pull my phone out of my pocket, download a third-party QR code scanner, and scan a QR code? What’s in it for me? And that’s the bigger question marketers need to solve for today. What is the drive for your consumers to take those sets of actions? Is the incentive worth your consumers’ time? How do you ensure your QR code is not just another noise in the market? If done right, there are a bunch of benefits of adopting a QR Code technology: 1. Highly cost-effective The cost of printing QR codes on products, posters, bills, and tent-cards is far lesser than paid advertising. Pushing your messaging to your target audience is far more effective than pulling your customers on the same messaging through QR codes. 2. Far superior conversion tracking You can give your consumers discounts and other benefits and track their online behaviour.
You instantly know if your campaigns are effective enough to get audience engagement. You can have dynamic QR codes. Generic QR codes can be used for mass campaigns; dynamic QR codes can be made for individual consumers. This lets you track which consumer scanned your QR code, where the QR was served, and whether it led to a conversion 3. Not all brands are doing it While QR codes have seen a jump in the last couple of years, the number of brands leveraging it is far lesser. Capitalization on the idea of QR codes and integrating QR codes not just for feedback but also for various marketing engagement activities can lead to distinctive brand positioning, in turn leading to higher market share. What do you think? Are QR codes the future of marketing? Or just like any other feature, QR codes will make a splash, get people excited, and phase out eventually?
Chirag Parmar Mensa Mumbai
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Ellipse with three pins: what a second grader taught me A few years back my daughter – in second grade then – came to me at 7 o’clock in the morning and declared she needed a math project. In panic I looked around and found a piece of styrofoam packing (thermocol). I tacked a sheet of paper on it with two pins. Knotted a string to form a loop and threw it loosely around the pins. With a pencil then I showed her how plot an ellipse by keeping the string taut (see figures). I also demonstrated she could shorten the string with a knot and make the ellipse more ‘pointy’. The clock ticked 7:20 as I handed her the ‘project’. (By the way did I tell you the school started at 7:30 AM? ) But my panic was nothing compared to the shock that came next. She asked me, “Dad, what would happen if we used three pins?” I was completely
taken aback. Not because the question was difficult (see solution below), but because the possibility had never struck me my whole life! Neither had I met anyone who asked that. And I have met thousands of students from science and engineering and met hundreds of professors in India and abroad. (I actually poll them now) down faster than lighter ones. All it took to change that notion were two balls dropped from the leaning tower of Pisa! This is not to downplay books, but let’s not ignore our hands – the two great teachers by our flank all the time! Why? I guess the answer lies in the ‘hands on’ nature of math we did that morning. I had read umpteen books that talked about the string and two pins method of
plotting an ellipse. I knew all the calculations to get the string length and the distance between the pins (the two foci) like the back of my hand. But I had never used my hands to actually try it! That the difference those 20 minutes of simple handy-craft did! It’s hardly consoling, but I am not alone. For centuries the whole world accepted that heavier bodies come down faster than lighter ones. All it took to change that notion were two balls dropped from the leaning tower of Pisa! This is not to downplay books, but let’s not ignore our hands – the two great teachers by our flank all the time!
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Ellipses formed by P1 and P2 as loci
Ellipses formed by P2 and P3 as loci
Ellipses formed by P1 and P3 as loci
May-June 2020
Here are the 6 ellipses formed using the set of 3 pins as Loci, with the larger of each confocal ellipse being a result of its respective two pins and the smaller as a result of the addition of a third pin
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Extending the sides of the triangle formed by the three pins, the plane is now split into seven zones within which the arcs of the ellipse will exist. On a point each of these lines, the arcs of different ellipses are connected to each other with tangent continuity, giving us the above figure – a single ellipse formed by the three sets of ellipses illustrated previously.
Ujjwal Rane Mensa Mumbai
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About the authors Chirag Parmar
Ujjwal Rane
WhatsApp Integrates QR Codes, Should Marketers Lose Sleep?
Ellipse with Three Pins: What a Second Grader Taught me
The author of this article is Chirag Parmar. According to him, every stage of success in his life is a testimonial of his creative approach to thinking out of the box. He holds a strong balance between work ethics, personal enrichment, and collaborative excellence. A marketing ninja, an author, and a proud member of Mensa India, he started his professional career in the 6th grade when he picked acting as a full-time career along with his education and since then he has climbed up the ladder in terms of skills, knowledge, and expertise. He is currently a marketing specialist for a SaaS tech company called LitmusWorld. Before this, he was an executive at Zycus. Parallelly, in his way of giving back to society, he also co-heads the social media team for the ‘specially-abled’ welfare cell of one of the leading political parties in India (pro-bono). He is an MBA in marketing (bronze medallist) and an engineer in electronics (batch topper). He has 11 certifications in marketing from organizations like Microsoft, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google, HubSpot among many others. He has recently published his first book on corporate politics called ‘Corporate MITRON - The Art of Corporate Politics’. On a personal and professional front, he is a staunch believer of the fact that there are no traffic jams along the extra mile.
Ujjwal Rane believes “teaching kids yields the best returns because they teach you lot more in return”
May-June 2020
ART & DESIGN
ARTWORKS BY MENSANS
U N I C O R N A N D WAT E R FA L L Yuval Gupta, Mensa Mumbai Year: 2016 Size (in): 113/4 x 161/2 Method: Neo-impressionist technique with flat brush strokes
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SUNSET BY THE BEACH Yuval Gupta, Mensa Mumbai Year: 2015 Size (in): 81/4 x 113/4 Method: Sponge-dabbing for background layers; brush painting
May-June 2020
3D PENCIL ART Abhinav Mahadevan, Mensa Chennai Technique used: One Point Perspective A 3D scene depicted in 2D will converge at 1 point. For example, here you can see that all lines converge at the center of the paper (the center of wall at the far end)
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About the artists Yuval Gupta Unicorn and Waterfall; Sunset by the Beach Yuval Gupta is an IBDP Student at Podar International School. He loves playing chess and has a great interest in arts and crafts. His hobbies also include coding and he is interested in new technological advances such as artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Abhinav Mahadevan 3D Pencil Art I am Abhinav Mahadevan. I have been a Mensan since 2010 and am currently also the Vice President of the Chennai Chapter. Professionally, I have been working in the IT industry for the past 12 years. I am also passionate about sports and play Badminton and Table Tennis whenever I get the chance. The above art is a new hobby I have been exploring, given the current lockdown situation and lack of anything else to do during weekends! The output has been better than expected and so I happily share it with my fellow Mensans.
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LENSA
Planets From Early Morning Sky In the month of April, Jupiter, Saturn & Mars can be seen lined-up past midnight. The planets are bright enough to be seen with the naked eye. Looking at it via binoculars or a telescope shows their features and other fine details. Jupiter’s 4 moons are seen very easily even with a pair of binoculars. The bands of Jupiter are visible with a medium telescope. Saturn’s shape is also visible via a low power telescope. As the magnification of the telescope increases, more and more details are visible. All the below planets have been clicked from Mumbai suburbs. The finer details in the images have been brought out using postprocessing techniques.
Equipment • Celestron Nexstar Evolution Edge HD8 Telescope. • 2X Barlow, ZWO ASI 294MC Pro camera • Image captured via Sharpcap Pro Software • Image processed via AutoStakkert & Regixstax.
Rupesh Sangoi Mensa Mumbai
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Saturn and its rings with finer details
Jupiter with the Great Red Spot
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A composite picture of Saturn and its moons
Mars- the red planet (the southern polar ice caps can be seen in the picture at the bottom of the planet)
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About the author Rupesh Sangoi Planets from Early Morning Sky I am an engineer with a BE degree and run my software company in Mumbai. Many years ago I started with astronomy with a small telescope to observe the planets. Over the years the hobby matured and so did the equipment. I currently use a Celestron Nexstar Evolution EdgeHD 8� Telescope with Starsense and different astro cameras like ZWO 294MC Pro, ZWO 120 & also Nikon D5600 DSLR. Over the period astronomy equipment has also matured from being completely manual to ones facilitating computerised observations & image captures. The telescopes now have auto sky scanning attachments that can make the telescope ready to point at any object and track it. The telescopes now have auto sky scanning attachments which will scan the sky palette, identify the stars and make the telescope ready to point at any object and track it. The image capturing & processing software have also matured where they can automatically take a series of pictures, align, label them, etc. I stay in suburban Mumbai which does offer slightly darker skies compared to the town side but apart from normal planets, one cannot capture much of deep sky objects from here. Occasionally I venture out to the outskirts to get the best of the dark skies but that also means carrying all the equipment with me.
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MENSAFIR
Blue ribbon eels
The Journey Down Under How do you combine a passion for travel, photography and scuba diving into one activity? Underwater photography of course! One that gives a glimpse into a world seen as dark, deep and scary by many, while also being one that offers a world of myriad possibilities, experiences and surprises! Welcome to the world of exotic locations, vibrant corals, large pelagics and wild and weird critters.
The spark Ever since I was a child who saw the epic ‘Secrets Of The Sea’ by
Jacques Cousteau on his boat ‘Calypso’ on my neighbour’s TV (we did not have one at that time) and bothering them every Sunday morning to switch it on for an hour, I was hooked. As a child I got exposed to the wild and wonderful world that most had never seen except maybe in passing in the pages of an encyclopedia. I had to patiently wait 18 years before I moved to Dubai and I could afford to do my basic course in diving – costs in India were just too prohibitive for a person early in his career (it would have taken me 3 months’ salary to do it in the
first year of my career)
The Training I started off doing my Open Water (OW) course with PADI – one of the more popular training bodies (there are many others available depending on geography and personal preference). OW is your stepping stone to go diving yourself, with a buddy and without having to have an instructor going along. However, it is limiting in its nature as it restricts people from going beyond a depth of 18 metres (60 feet) under water. The next step is to do Advanced Open
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Underwater installation to help coral grow. Dahab, Egypt
Water (AOW) which allows a diver to go upto 30 metres (100 feet). Further qualifications allow you to go deeper and further – but that is beyond the scope of this article.
The common myths and questions The most common question that divers get is “aren’t you afraid of sharks”? The answer is no, sharks are intelligent creatures and not mindless killers as depicted by blockbusters like Jaws. For divers, shark encounters are a special treat to look forward to and most species of sharks will avoid human contact and swim away when divers are around. Divers are more worried about much smaller things like a stonefish or a 5 cm blue ring octopus whose bite can kill a human within a few minutes rather than a shark!
The second question often is, “what about the water pressure?” Another common belief is that the pressure will impact you. Human body is mostly composed of liquids and those do not get impacted by pressure – only the air spaces like lungs, sinus and ears do. The easiest thing to do is equalise (just like you blow into your nose to pop your ears on a plane) and you are fine. Third question is, “how deep do you go”? Here is the truth – the best diving is from the surface upto 2025 metres where light is abundant, the corals colourful and fish, plenty. Below that, the light from the sun dwindles and that means fewer corals and fish. The only reason to go or stay deeper would be for purposes like looking for sharks or wreck diving. Another common ask is, “which is your best dive destination?” and my
answer is – “what is your favourite set of clothes?” – it depends on the mood and occasion, right? Each place has its own charms and offerings and I have a few that I will list at the end of this article.
The Journey Continues After doing my AOW, I did multiple specialties including underwater photography and videography, underwater naturalism, diving with nitrox (breathing an enhanced mixture of gases), boat driving among others – doing 5 specialties gives you the title of Master Scuba Diver (MSD). After this you can continue doing amateur specialties or branch off to turn professional by doing a Dive Master (DM) course, which I did, though I am not a practicing professional. I continued to travel, seeking out dive destinations around the world and have dived in over 15 counties
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including Fiji, Samoa, Papua, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Burma, all over the Red Sea, France, Maldives Cyprus and Bahamas, and have clocked up over 1500 dives.
Underwater Photography – the basics Underwater photography has a lot of elements common with land photography. And there are some key differences as well. These are… The cost! First and foremost, we should be clear that it is not a cheap hobby. Underwater photography costs a lot (we are not talking about buying a GoPro and a selfie stick kind of shooting here, though you can go that route). Saltwater is a very corrosive environment and not really good for electronics. Hence everything has to go into casings that are not just water resistant, but can also withstand the tremendous pressure that the air inside the case has to go through. Just to give you an indication, some casings for DSLRs with the right kind of lens ports can cost more than a car in India! The lighting: As you go below a few metres, you start losing the reds first followed by other colours, in the reverse sequence in a rainbow ROYGBIV – which is why most pictures and videos around the 20 metre mark are very blue. The three rules for getting vibrant colours at any depth
are lighting, lighting, lighting! Underwater lights and flash strobes bring back the colours in photos. The water: Sea water is not as clear as fresh water and much lesser than air. To add to it, there are suspended particles and sediments. Hence the further you are away from the subject, the murkier it is going to be – and zooming does not help as the amount of water upto the subject just gets compressed. Hence you need to get as close to the subject as possible underwater. The setup: Photographers on land have the luxury of zooming or changing lenses depending on the objective of the shoot. Underwater, you are (by and large) stuck with one setup – either wide angle for vistas and large animals, or macro for close-ups of critters. Once your camera is in the casing you cannot change the plan underwater! So you are shooting sharks and come across beautiful but tiny sea slug, it is tough luck!
My Setup I shoot using a very practical and (relatively) inexpensive photo kit. My camera is a Canon G16 compact in a Meikon housing. In terms of lighting, I have a Sea & Sea YS-03 strobe and a Dragon 2000 lumen video light. For videos I have another camera SeaLife Micro2.0. I have a couple of mountable lenses – macro and wide angle that go on the outside of my casing, giving
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me a little flexibility to change my mode of shooting while underwater. All these are mounted on a DIY aluminum frame. Most items purchased on Ebay for a total outlay of about 2000 USD.
My favourite places (short version)
• Lembeh straits, Sulawesi, Indonesia – a muck (sand and dirt) diver’s heaven with the most weird and wonderful creatures per square km anywhere on earth. • Tubbataha Reef, Palawan, Philippines – a coral reef that can be dived only 4 months in a year and that too from a boat you live on for a week. It has amazing coral diversity, drift dives and large creatures like manta rays, whale sharks, different sharks and large schools of fish. • Maldives south route – clear waters, beautiful corals, large pelagic creatures like mantas and various kinds of sharks. • Sipadan, Borneo, Malaysia – rated in all dive lists as one of top five dive destinations. It is a barracuda, jacks, turtles and sharks galore. There is also a cave system known for being a turtle’s graveyard. • Fiji – soft coral capital of the world. You find large pelagics too. The people are just
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wonderful. • Raja Ampat, Western Papua, Indonesia – diver’s heaven, highest coral and fish diversity anywhere on earth. You get a chance to see manta rays, sharks, rays, soft and hard corals and incredible scenery while sailing. • Sudan, Red Sea – pristine, with very few divers, a huge WW2 wreck and lots of sharks. The best destination in the Red Sea.
The future I am now continuing my passion by investing into the industry and becoming a part of it by looking into purchasing shares in dive operators – with the ultimate goal of retiring somewhere close to the ocean! To do dive destinations include Galapagos, Palau, Cocos Islands, Guadalupe and Socorro - too many places, too little time (and moolah) Happy bubbles and clicks!
For more information contact Dipen Mehta (dipen@un-boxed.me) or on Facebook: Dipen.Mehta Dipen Mehta Mensa Mumbai
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A Road Trip Through The Land of Fire and Ice We were just about to land and I looked out of the window and what lay underneath was something I had never seen before: a landscape so unique, it almost felt like landing on Moon. Iceland truly has a very different landscape with more than 100 active volcanoes on one hand and home to Europe’s largest glacier; hence I call it the land of fire and
ice! This Nordic island country is very sparsely populated and is one few such places on earth, thereby home to an immense amount of natural beauty that one can explore. I would love to share how we planned our trip for Iceland in 6 nights in the summer of 2019.
Best time to visit Generally, the best time of the year is during summers starting from the end of May until September. The temperatures range between 11-20 degrees Celsius, and there is sunlight for almost 22 hours a day. This is a great time to witness the midnight sun. However, the Northern lights can be viewed only during the winters and we planned
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our trip in the second week of June.
Stay We booked our stay partly on the Airbnb platform, and the rest in hotels. It is recommended to book at least 3 months in advance since the best locations get filled up very fast due to high tourist interest and demand during peak seasons. Also, there aren’t many hotels.
Commute A road trip is the best way to explore the country at your own leisurely pace. We booked a car online much in advance; there are many car aggregators and suppliers available, Avis being one of the largest. Icelanders drive on the right side of the road (as opposed to India). However, it’s easy to get a hang of it since Iceland has limited traffic and only one central road – The Ring Road (so you don’t have to worry about getting
lost). I would advise to take the local wi-fi device (provided by car hire companies) that will help you navigate while travelling. Also, carry your local driving license which is valid there.
Food We are vegetarians. So we did carry some ready-to-eat food alongside since it’s tough to find vegetarian food everywhere. Also to my surprise, Iceland is one of the few countries in the world with no McDonalds outlets. Iceland has great seafood and soups to offer, including shark meat, which is a local favorite.
Main Attractions Gulfoss, Seljalandfoss, Geysir, Black Sand Beach, Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon, Dettifoss, Husavik, and Blue Lagoon Spa Resort.
Route & Stopovers Reykjavík (2 nights), à Vik
(1 night), à Höfn (1 night), à Egilsstadir (1 night), à Akureyri (1 night), à Reykjavík.
Quick Tips • Most people in Iceland can talk in English • Always dress in layers as Iceland weather can change drastically during the day • Take a full insurance cover for cars as extreme weathers can damage the car • Carry comfortable footwear • There are multiple attractions to see, so choose and plan wisely • Carry a good quality DSLR to capture those magical moments • Have a bath in the natural hot springs
Rohit Lakhotia Mensa Mumbai
May-June 2020
About the authors Dipen Mehta The Journey Down Under Dipen Mehta is an ardent traveler, photographer and scuba diver, having traveled over 55 countries and has dived in over 15. He has over 1500 dives under his belt till date and hopes to continue diving regularly once the lockdown lifts. He combines the three passions by shooting underwater photos and videos during his travels. He has just completed a book documenting his underwater adventures called “A Journey Down Under� and done a trial print run. His future plan is to do a proper print run and offer it on online sites for sale.
Rohit Lakhota A Road Trip through the Land of Fire and Ice Rohit has been a Mensan since 2009, and is presently associated with the Mumbai chapter. He is an investment professional and apart from travel, he enjoys good food, company of people, and offbeat movies, not necessarily in that order.
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ENVIRONMENT
On The Outrage Over The Death Of An Elephant In Kerala One of the trending topics on multiple social media platforms is the death of an elephant in Kerala, after someone fed her a pineapple stuffed with crackers. This act is being described as cruel, inhumane, cowardly, etc. The fact that she was pregnant further adds an emotional aspect to this. Assuming the authenticity of the news (since the investigation is ongoing), the outrage is completely justified. But what bothers me is the insensitivity and inaction towards similar incidents of animal deaths caused by accidentally ingesting plastics and other pollutants that we humans are relentlessly throwing into the environment. Animal deaths because of irresponsible use of plastics is as worthy of outrage as the death of the Kerala elephant that died due to eating cracker stuffed pineapple. The internet is full of reports which describe the deaths of animals from seahorses in the oceans to cows on the streets, all because of the accumulation of plastics in their body. The
only difference in these cases is that the effects are not observed immediately unlike the current incident. The least we can do is to consciously avoid the use of plastic. Some of the steps that we can take are: 1. Do not throw food wrapped in plastic 2. Carry your own bag when you step out for shopping 3. Say no to single-use items whether it is plastic or not The list can go on and you can come up with your own workaround. If all of humanity think twice before using plastic, we can save our planet. The environmental damage that we are causing because of pollution is much bigger. Covering the situation in the name of development is doomed to destroy the Earth. What I have highlighted in this article is only the tip of the iceberg. Even after discovering the first exoplanet, Nobel laureate
Michel Mayor says that “We do not have an option B, we must take care of our planet”. If you are convinced and want to learn about the repercussions of our day-to-day activities and how you as an individual can take actions, I strongly recommend you to watch documentaries like ‘Racing Extinction’, ‘Our Planet’ and read works of Dilip Kulkarni (although he mostly writes in Marathi, you can start with ‘Ahead to Nature’). ‘Silent Spring’ by Rachel Carson is also a must-read. You can always contact me for sharing more resources on this topic. Let the silent sacrifice of the mother elephant bring a change in our lifestyle to make our Earth more sustainable. I hope that the next time you carelessly use plastic, you will be aware that some species are going to die because of that. This should make you feel that you are as cruel as the man who fed crackers to the elephant. Sarang Shrirang Bhutada Mensa Bengaluru
May-June 2020
About the author Sarang Shrirang Bhutada On the Outrage over the Death of an Elephant in Kerala The author of this article is Sarang Shrirang Bhutada. He is part of the Bengaluru chapter. Having recently graduated from IIT Kanpur, he is working in the field of bioinformatics. He likes to spread awareness about environmental issues with an emphasis on taking personal actions to protect mother Earth. He is passionate about cycling and trekking. He also enjoys reading non-fiction, solving puzzles, and playing chess and badminton.
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PARENTING
Millennials and Planning Young adults today, are not advocates of planning. I am a victim of this scenario, being a member of the preceding generation. Speaking for Gen X, a good part of our life existed in the pre-mobile phone era. Consequently, when one left the workplace/house for a meet up with others, there had to be an impeccable plan in place, down to the last detail. That little exercise was really good for our cognitive abilities. The sequencing, planning and organising that went into planning a meeting, were all frontal lobe activities. The efficient frontal lobe in the brain, crisp, alert and sound, helped us lead our lives in as stress-free a manner as possible. Meeting up with a friend for a cup of coffee involved fixing the time and place, well before one was out of communication range. Going for a movie together was slightly more complex. The person who would reach first had to buy the tickets and then wait on the corner. There had to be a 15 minute buffer between arrival and show time as contingency for unforeseen happenings. One did
not want to miss the beginning of a movie! Going with a colleague from another branch for a meeting to a third place was even more complex. There were discussions of who would carry what material, strategising on how the meeting was going to be addressed, who would say what, along with coordination over time and whether to meet around the corner or below the building or in the client’s office. The most complex task belonged to the housewife (or ‘homemaker’ if you will)! She had to get up early enough to get breakfast ready, pack lunch boxes for everyone, get children ready for school, get ready herself, attend to the washing and cleaning, and by the time all that was done, grocery shopping loomed large. Then came preparation of dinner, getting ready to receive the children and then helping them with their homework…..whew! That was like a fascinating workout for our frontal lobes and it contributed to our mental acuity. We did it so frequently and
efficiently that we were unaware of this important skill that we had. It made living our lives so much easier. It freed up thinking time for other creative endeavours. Let’s take a look at the same situations today. Meeting up for a cup of coffee would go something like this: (On WhatsApp) “How bout cuppa coffee?” “Wer?” “Coffee Hse, down d street.” “Wilkum” “Wen?” “Will msg wen I lv” “K” Some time later… “We go to Chai Parlour instd?” “Y?” “M Hppning. Hvlft” “K” Yet some time later.. “Rchd. Wer u?” “Shoe sale. Coming” “K. M next door. Cards” I do not even dare to get into the possible conversations in the other scenarios.
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Youngsters today do not need to plan. They are in constant communication with their friends, workmates and families. They take everything, a step at a time. The trouble is, without exercising the ability to plan, they have begun to lose the skill of pursuing something in its depth. Partly responsible for this, is the ubiquitous smart phone. In the early 1980s, schools were very enthusiastic about using computers over paper. They felt that there were many advantages of digital documents as compared to paper ones. That is quite true but as in all things new, there are advantages and disadvantages. The presence of hyperlinks on digital text, while freeing the student from the linearity of thought presented in a printed text, was quite a distraction for many students and led them down a path of enquiry which ended up quite different from what they started out with. With the advent of the smartphone, the computer screen just got smaller. One turned on the screen to get directions, saw a message, planned to answer it, saw another message that offered a 40% discount on a music app and in the end, the original task was forgotten. Trying to evaluate links and navigate a path through all the information
involves a mentally demanding exercise in problem solving. Also, responding to every ping on the smart phone has the same effect. Each time one breaks away from the task at hand to read a message and respond then and there, the frontal lobe gets involved and eventually the brain gets tired. When it then came to important decisions and planning, the individual would just be too tired to give it his/her best. Today, one sees several children with Executive Function Disorder. I say this because in a career of over 25 years, one is able to compare then and now. I believe one of the reasons is the addiction and reliance on smart phones to do all the planning. What presents as EFD may not actually be EFD but a reluctance to get involved that then turns into a habit. It is somewhat similar to children exhibiting ‘dyspraxia like’ symptoms due to the fact that they don’t go out to play anymore. It is a concern that we, as educators, need to address.
Bela Raja Mensa Mumbai
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Jnana Prabodhini’s Institute of Psychology
Evolution In Intelligence Measurement Learners follow different approaches for learning a topic. While teaching the subject, one needs to see how and if everyone understands it. Though one is presenting to all the learners in a singular way, everyone is grasping it as per their capacity and using it in examination and / or in practice. How is this capacity or potential? What is its nature? Does it develop or improve over time? These are some interesting questions. We are aware about ‘intelligence quotient’ (IQ). It does give us an overall picture of intelligence; but does not cover of all aspects of intelligence. Let us explore the basic nature of intelligence.
Nature of intelligence Intelligence was supposed to be a homogenous capacity in the early twentieth century. Multiple intelligence tests were constructed to measure this intelligence in terms of ‘Intelligence Quotient’ (IQ). When two intelligence tests
were found to indicate different IQ, this homogenous nature was questioned. IQ could not explain different capacities of prodigies like Ramanujam, Gandhiji, Rabindranath Tagore among others. Different theories were put forward. Spearman stated general ability and special abilities as factors of intelligence. Thurstone studied correlations observed in multiple intelligence tests and factor analyzed the scores to explore seven primary mental abilities. All these theories, though diverse in nature, agree that though intelligence is mostly inherited, it can be enhanced though special efforts and through various activities. This is a positive aspect of their findings.
Three-dimensional intelligence J.P. Guilford(1967) states that intelligence consists of three dimensions viz. Type of thinking, medium of thinking and outcome of thinking. The types
of thinking are based on five operations - Cognition (grasping/ understanding), Memory, Divergent Thinking, Convergent Thinking and Evaluation. Every operation is performed through four types of mediums or contentsFigural, Symbolic, Semantic and Behavioral. They jointly produce six types of output, the productsUnits, Classes, Relations, Systems, Transformations and Implications. Visual Art expresses itself through the Figural medium, Mathematics through Symbolic, Communication through Semantic (language) and Theatre through Behavioral content. Through these different media, thought goes through five thinking processes, mentioned above to perform six products. Thus jointly with different possible combinations of these aspects 5 X 4 X 6 there are 120 combinations or aspects of intelligence that are possible.
Triarchic theory of intelligence As per Robert Sternberg’s Triarchic
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Theory (1986) Contextual subtheory, Experiential sub-theory and Componential sub-theory are considered to be three aspects of intelligence. As per context (the culture and the situation) the intelligent behavior is decided. Experiences contribute to intelligence. Componential aspect takes into account the psychological or cognitive processes behind the grasping ability. The Metacomponents give direction to thoughts and evaluate the thoughts. Knowing the nature of the problem, deciding the steps to solve a problem, finding resources within the individual to solve the problem and monitor the process of problem solving are included in the Meta-components. The Performance component controls the actual process of grasping. The Knowledge component compares the information and decides the preference. All these components and sub-components jointly form intelligence of a person to be used in practice.
Multiple intelligences Howard Gardner (1983) conceptualized seven intelligences for the research ‘Project Zero’.
Intelligence is not one but many, they are not ‘inherited’ but ‘by birth’ are the basic assumptions of the theory. These intelligences have corresponding separate independent centers in brain, which are working in coordination. These centers are differently efficient in different persons, which contribute to diverse intelligence and capabilities of individuals. There is a unique pattern of these intelligences for every person. The immediate eenvironment stimulates these intelligences. Images (raw patterns) formed on the mind transform into ‘symbols’ in respective areas and they in turn get converted into higher order ‘notational systems’. All this decides the efficiency of the person and their capability. With all these mental equipments, a person tries to solve problems in life - in vocation or avocation areas. Gardner names the types of intelligences as Linguistic, Musical, Logico-Mathematical, Visuo-Spatial, Bodily Kinesthetic, Interpersonal and Intrapersonal. He also adds two more, Naturalistic and Spiritual while keeping the link open for more to be added. This theory helps
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in understanding e xceptionally high intelligence and variety in intelligence.
Emotional intelligence
Daniel Goleman (1995) has stated a totally different nature of intelligence. Management of self and others’ relationships is taken together as intelligence. Salovey and Mayer put forward this concept in 1990. Understanding one’s own fillings, emotions, thoughts, thinking style and managing as well as expressing them appropriately was considered to be core of Self Competencies. On the other hand understanding others’ mental status, nature and getting the response as per one’s requirement, cooperate, encourage, facilitate is a part of Social Competencies, Both these competencies need to be utilized in society and one needs to monitor one’s own intelligence in relation to others. In the line of Intelligence Quotient, psychologists were also trying to develop Emotional Quotient. Nurturing rather than measurement then becomes essential, for being satisfied rather than successful.
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Conclusion Every theory is important in its own diverse areas. In academics and in work environments, these theories play different roles and contributions. They have their own strengths and limitations. We need to decide appropriately when to use each relevant theory. Keeping this in mind if we understand psychological profile of children, realistic expectations can be set and healthy relationships can be strengthened. This will enable us to know strengths of children and enhance them as well as know their areas of improvement and help them by arranging special activities or training. Jnana Prabodhini’s Institute of Psychology has constructed and standardized 120 tests of intelligence. They can reflect over academic intelligence. Selected tests are used to test aptitude of a student and give them advice regarding careers suitable to their aptitude. Dr. Sujala Watve Mensa Pune
About the author Dr. Sujala Watve Evolution in Intelligence Measurement Dr Sujala Watve is the National Supervisory Psychologist of Mensa India and the General Secretary of Jnana Prabodhini’s Institute of Psychology. She is based out of Pune.
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EVENTS
Mensa Meetings: Delhi Chapter
The meeting for May was held on 17th May 2020 This was the first of its kind meeting, wherein people from 7 different cities joined the meeting through a video conference. Mensa Delhi decided to hold these meetings every month going forward. In the meeting, it was also informed that for the past 8 months, the executive committee of Mensa India has been meeting through video conferencing on the first Sunday of every month. Apart from that, Mensa Delhi also rolled out Slack as a means of digital communication for its active members. So far, this was split over Google and WhatsApp groups.
The meeting for June was held on 14th June 2020 A total of 27 people joined this meeting from 12 different cities and 4 countries. In this meeting, a demo of how Slack can be used was given to the attendees. It was also decided that 25 senior Dhruv scholars will be made Mensa Delhi members. The meeting was concluded on the decision that Mensa Delhi members will go on a trip to Rishikesh to meet the Dhruv scholars there, once the lockdown restrictions are eased or removed.
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TRIBAL MENSA
Tribal mensa nurturing program TMNP’s Initiative To Help Rural Poor During Lockdown TMNP identified 65 poor families who require food supply during the lockdown period. TMNP approached Jan Kalyan Samiti and received 65 food packs (grocery supply for one week). TMNP representative Mr. Sachin Kadam visited the villages and delivered the grocery packs in early June. These are the villages in which TMNP has been working for the last 15 years for giftedness identification and nurturing.
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Tribal Mensa Nurturing Program Online Self-Sustaining Program During this time of the Covid-19 Pandemic and the shifting paradigms in education and methods, Tribal Mensa Nurturing Program (TMNP) has taken upon itself to consistently provide nurturing content to the underprivileged gifted children in its program as well as work towards being self-sustainable in the process. The first step that TMNP has taken towards self-sustainability is opening the doors of an internationally developed novel IQ test on an online platform. While this test is not an eligibility test for MENSA, it is inspired by the Raven’s Progressive Matrices, a new innovative IRT-based online adaptive test, the Scrambled Adaptive Matrices (SAM) has been developed and used in talent identification projects both in educational and work settings with more than 15000 participants. It is completely nonacademic in nature, nonverbal and a figural test. The test is adaptive, and an
immediate percentile score is given. Everyone with an access to the
internet is welcome to logon and take the test. 50 minutes of your time and Rs 500 help TMNP in its
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journey towards being sustainable and to conduct nurturing activities free of cost for the underprivileged gifted children. Your contribution in this manner will help the underprivileged gifted as well as give you the chance to test your IQ on this unique test.
Head on over to www.tribalmensa. org today to give the online test today. As I write this, a range of programs are already in the development pipeline. I am sure I have all of your support in this endeavor of TMNP. Akshay Kulkarni
About the author Akshay Kulkarni
Principal investigator, Tribal Mensa Nurturing Program Akshay Kulkarni is working with Tribal Mensa Nurturing Program for the past 5 years. He is involved in various activities of Tribal Mensa Nurturing program such as identification, nurturing programs, counselling sessions, and content development. Tribal Mensa Nurturing Program is an initiative working to identify and nurture gifted children among underprivileged populations in India. TMNP team believes that there is a strong need to recognize gifted youth, as their accomplishments, potential,
capacity to lead, their concerns about the world and ability to think creatively are in fact national assets. Once identified through Mensa India IQ tests, these children are nurtured through a series of non-academic workshops designed to ensure holistic learning and development of the child’s body, mind and brain. Team members make two trips a month to each school that we work with and conduct nurturing activities based on the ‘Pancha Kosha’ Model of Human Development which is derived from ancient Indian texts. Each student receives a “Nurturing Kit” which contains activity books and games that challenge the child’s intelligence. Individual counseling, assessments and teacher training programs are conducted to increase the effectiveness of the Gifted program.
Contact: +91-9822626835 | Email: kulkarni.contact@gmail.com m.me/tribalmensa | tribalmensa@gmail.com | http://tribalmensa.org
May-June 2020
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From Mensa ProjecT Dhruv ScholarS
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KRISHIKA CHHABRA
I am Krishika Chhabra. I am a Mensa Dhruv Scholar. There are 5 members in my family, my mother, father, 2 sisters and me. I am 18 years old. My father had a small daily-needs store earlier but nowadays he is without a job. He is searching for any kind of work in gardening which he is knowledgeable about and interested in. My mother is a homemaker. We live in Sahara Grace EWS Society, Gurgaon.
year of the Bachelor of Fine Arts course. I feel very happy that I have been selected as a Mensa Dhruv Scholar. I do not think I could have afforded to join this course if Project Dhruv was not helping me meet expenses. Apart from this, being selected as a Mensa Scholar has increased my self-confidence. This is so important in life. I also feel fortunate that I can depend upon Prabhat sir and Asthana sir in case I need any help.
How I decided to spend the lockdown
I sat for the Mensa test in February 2015 when the test was held at the Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sanskriti, in Sushant Lok I, Gurugram, where I was studying in Class VIII at that time. I was lucky to have been selected as a Mensa Dhruv Scholar.
Apart from practicing my art, I spent the lockdown helping my father plant hundreds of fruit and vegetable seeds that we had access to. We did not purchase these seeds from anywhere. We have planted many fruit and vegetable seeds, such as papaya, mango, guava, tomato etc. We are looking after the saplings that are close to us and we have advised others to take care of the saplings in their area.
The journey from Class VIII to this date has been an eventful one. Now I am a student at the Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, where I am in the first
The real reason we decided to plant these trees is very personal. It is true that we cannot feel the pain till it comes to us. Sometimes, it even leads to good things such as
this tree plantation drive. My mother is an asthma patient and it is very difficult for her to live in a polluted city like Gurugram. It also became very painful for all of us to see her suffering so much from breathing problems. This led us to planting as many trees as we could so that no other person has to face the problems that my mother was undergoing today. I was also interested in planting these trees because I felt that the fruit and vegetables available in the market are often covered with insecticides and artificially ripened. I would ideally like the fruit to be ripened on trees.
My career objective My career objective is to become a freelance artist. My art theory is quite good and I am making all efforts to learn more because I would also like to teach Fine Arts. Two of my recent sketches are given here (on the next page). I hope that as soon as the lockdown ends, my father can get a job. Then I can go back to my university in Rohtak with a lighter heart. Krishika Chhabra
May-June 2020
PA PAYA
M O T H E R ’ S D AY
Krishika Chhabra, Dhruv Scholar
Krishika Chhabra, Dhruv Scholar
This one is inspired by the papaya trees that I hope some of our seeds will grow into soon.
I made this portrait of my grandmother for her on Mother’s Day
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ARTWORKS BY DHRUV SCHOLARS
SIDE PORTRAIT Avinash, Dhruv Scholar Year: 2020 Medium: Pencil
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PORTRAIT Saurabh Mishra, Dhruv Scholar Year: 2020 Medium: Pencil
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About the artists Avinash Side Portrait Mensa Dhruv scholar Avinash has just passed his class 12 examination. He plans to become a computer engineer. Avinash’s hobbies include reading books, painting and sketching, and acting.
Saurabh Mishra Portrait Saurabh Mishra is a Mensa Dhruv scholar in Gurugram. He is currently preparing for his class 12 boards at Vidya School . Saurabh’s father is a driver and his mother is a homemaker. Besides art and craft as his hobbies, Saurabh likes to travel, play basketball and read books.
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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
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From the ExComm Mensa finances are most likely not as interesting as socialising and making new friends, but they are quite important from the organisation’s perspective. As the International Treasurer, I would like to raise Mensa members’ awareness of what the financial side of our organisation looks like. Mensa International has two main income streams: the component paid by National Mensas, and trademark income. Additionally, there is a small stream of income which comes from Direct International Members and testing. The component is like tax, in that it is paid quarterly at the rate of 7% on membership fees and at the rate of 2% on trademark income. Based on 2019 predictions it is expected that our turnover will be around 470,000 GBP. You are probably interested in how this money is spent, aren’t you? Expenses vary from year to year but do not exceed budgeted amounts. Based on 2019 predictions, the biggest cost is running the Mensa International Office (25%), followed by the organisation of the IBD meeting (20%) and name protection (19%). It is worth mentioning that in 2019 we spent around 30,000 GBP on Mensa International Elections. That cost will be significantly lower in the future years as Mensa International no longer reimburses National Mensas for printing election materials and the frequency of the elections has changed from every two years to every three years. The list of the biggest expense group is closed with website maintenance, development, and hosting (5%). I strongly encourage you to use our website as it offers you a lot and it is constantly evolving. Lastly, I would like to mention that as of 31 December 2019, Mensa International had 551,485 GBP in bank accounts. If you are interested in more details, please go to our website, and check the agenda or minutes of the last IBD or check the financial statements which were attached to this very journal not long ago. Alternatively, you could attend the IBD meeting and see finance discussion in the flesh – sometimes they can be exciting! Hopefully, I haven’t bored you too much, I will provide a further update when the financial statements for the year ended on 31 December 2019 are approved. Thank you for now and please stay in touch with your family and Mensa members in these difficult times as they need you. Jacek Kywinski Treasurer, Mensa International treasurer-mil@mensa.org Reprinted from the Mensa World Journal, July, 2020, issue 090, Editor Kate Nacard
May-June 2020
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What’s in the MWJ this month? • Mensa International’s Workplace initiative is thriving; have you joined it yet? Stay in touch with what’s happening globally; page 2 has all the information you need to join in! • This year might be your year for a photography win, but the closing date for the International Photographer of the Year competition is coming up! All the info you need is on p04. • Did you know that neuroticism is usually accompanied by an avoidance of face-to-face communication with other people. Check out this research on p04. • A grateful British Mensan shares her pandemic experiences within Mensa as she toured NZ (p.5) • What do you give away without intending to? Anew study has revealed that body language can be heard as well as seen. Have a look at this new research from the University of Connecticut. (p6) • Irish Mensan Shabnam Vasisht features as this month’s Member Profile (p07), • A scary thought - are you mixing with psychopaths? On p08, our Features Editor brings us some interesting research on whether all psychopaths are extremely intelligent! • Find out whether high IQ people were more prone to anxiety and other mental health disorders (p09), • Is 6 feet far enough for social distancing? Our science guru provides the answer (p10) • If you have ever wondered what the financial side of Mensa International look like, read what our Treasurer says. (p3) • And on a lighter note, Therese’s Teasers are here for all you crypticpuzzle-lovers on p12! Available to read or download on www.mensa.org Kate Nacard Editor Mensa World Journal
Reprinted from the Mensa World Journal, July, 2020, issue 090, Editor Kate Nacard
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MInd - The Mensa India Magazine
Workplace News
Join Mensa’s community on workplace! Our newly launched member community is live and growing, with new members signing up daily. There are great conversations and sharing, SIGs and members are welcome to join and to start groups of their own. Did we mention that the platform comes with its own chat app? This means you can easily connect with all the volunteers and team members that you need to organise and collaborate for the society. Are you a Direct International Member on Easter Island, wondering if there is anyone else out there? Or an Emerging National Mensa looking for help and reason to keep growing? With Workplace, not only can you see, you can also experience what being a part of a globally connected society is all about. To get access, simply visit www.mensa.org/user/vanity-email to obtain your personal email and then use it to register at mensainternational. workplace.com. That is how we restrict access to members only. National Mensas too are welcome to make official groups on Workplace and be in contact with every member all at once; posting announcements, discussions, files and forms that you need to keep your society growing. The best part is, access to the platform is automatically determined by active membership, as verified by having a member e-mail alias from the international website. This ensures that your society benefits members who are actively contributing, leading to a more sustained growth. Tan Kee Aun Chairman, Malaysian Mensa Society Mensa International Workplace Co-Admin Reprinted from the Mensa World Journal, July, 2020, issue 090, Editor Kate Nacard
May-June 2020
MENSA INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR The art of photography is an area where Mensans from over fifty countries with different languages, customs and traditions can converge with a single, visual language! Use your creativity, skills, and technical expertise to produce your entry in this year’s Photocup competition. The theme is Shyness. If your Mensa chapter is holding a national competition to select entries for the International phase, a set of the rules and closing dates will be available from your national office or board. (Contact your national office for these.) The top three national entries are to be sent to mensaworldphotocup@ gmail.com by August 20, 2020. Direct International Members and members from countries not holding national contests are eligible to enter the International competition by sending two entries only to photocup2020@gmail.com by July 31.
Reprinted from the Mensa World Journal, July, 2020, issue 090, Editor Kate Nacard
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Jnana Prabodhini Institute of Psychology Jnana Prabodhini Bhavan, 510 Sadashiv Peth, Pune, Maharashtra 411030