Hello Mensans,
Disclaimer:
World Environment Day on June 05, reminded me of one of the photographs that I had clicked during the previous winter. Out of the whole season, there were few days when the visibility extended to 100 metres from where you stood, even at noon. The thick blanket of smog screened us Delhiites from being able to see the sky. Occasional rains cleared up the atmosphere, at least temporarily. For the first time in weeks, I was able to see the setting sun from my window.
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 expresses.
Please do 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.
Puneet Khurana Raunak Onkar Sahil Jain Bhuvan Sharma Roshan Alva Kiran K Krishnan V. Iyer
Send in your articles and contributions in plain text format and pictures in high resolution .jpg format to: editors@mensaindia.com
Editorial Team:
Cover:
Krishnan V. Iyer Chief Editor, Mind
By Krishnan Iyer, Mensa Delhi
In this Issue: Crossword Events About Tribal Mensa Achievements By Tribal Mensa Scholars Tech Talk Poems Extracts from Mensa World Journal
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Camera: Nikon D5300, 18-55mm VR Zoom Lens Camera settings: Zoom – 6x Tripod used.
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ACROSS 1. Group of eight. 4. The brightest star in the constellation Lyra. 6. A yellow powder, used as spice or seasoning. 7. Drops of fresh water that fall as precipitation from clouds. 8. Shilly-shally. 10. Sinful. 12. Covered with or dipped in egg. 15. Magnificent. 16. Baby foxes. 17. Workplace for practice of an art.
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DOWN 1. Exterior. 2. Discolouration of metal surface caused by oxidation. 3. Swarming with. 4. Lexicon (informal word). 5. With the mouth wide open as in awe. 9. A great city; located on the Tigris river. 10. To take power by force or illegally. 11. A fertile area in a desert. 14. A portable shelter. 13. Capital of Japan (renamed Tokyo).
-Rashmi Garg, Mensa Delhi 1
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50 I 54 N 58 F 64 Y 67 S
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Solution to previous issue's crossword: 5 6 7 8 9 L A R I A 14 15 E R H A N G 18 A T O T T O 21 R H O M E R 26 27 28 N O P E U N 31 A N E A D O 33 34 R N E V E R 39 40 A I I I T 43 44 45 B A N N A H 48 49 I N G T H E 52 C I D O O R 55 56 M Y W R O N 59 60 B A S E P S 65 66 A T S E S E 68 69 H E R B A
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Events Mensa Mumbai Investment SIG Meet
Attendees: From left - Hersh Tolani, Rigby Samuel, Shariq Merchant, Vijay Goswami, Qadir Varawala, Sanyam Jain, Prawal Potnis, Saikat Dutta and Geetanjalee Naniwadekar (not in the picture). Mensa Mumbai's Investment SIG meet-up took place on June 22. Credit goes to Sanyam Jain who organised it. Topics of discussion included what kind of investments each one prefers. Ideas for profit and current market scenarios were other subjects touched upon.
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Tribal Mensa Nurturing Program
Underpriviledged Giftedness
TMNP is an initiative to identify and nurture gifted children among underprivileged populations in India. Tribal Mensa Nurturing Program (TMNP) received a standing ovation for its good work at Mensa international – IBD 2016 at Kyoto, Japan. European Council for High Ability (ECHA) recognized TMNP as the first non-European Associated Talent Center. Spread across 40 villages in India over a span of 15 years, Tribal Mensa's aim is to impact the lives of many of India’s most able young people, offer themrecognition, resources and opportunities which will play an important role in their overall development. 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 TMNP works 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. The students are also individually counselled and assessed by the team. Teacher training programs are also held to increase the effectiveness of the Gifted program. Some Interesting facts: ● 30,000+ students screened using the Mensa test ● 2500+ identified as Gifted ● 50+ schools reached ● 15+ years of on field experience ● 1 Tried and tested holistic nurturing model ● ‘Free’ of cost programs for underprivileged gifted students To know more visit the website www.tribalmensa.org or contact them on tribalmensa@gmail.com
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Success Stories TMNP has been conducting nurturing workshops and study skills workshops at KarveStreeShikshan, Wai, Maharashtra, India for the past few years. All 9 girls who excelled in class tenth board exams from the school with 90%+ were a part of the program. Testimonials:
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Tech Talk Mechanism For Adding Waves Having designed the mechanism to generate and plot wave patters of any wavelength and amplitude, I began to wonder if one could add them to plot the resultant. This held the promise of plotting practically anything, as the French mathematician Joseph Fourier had shown. But how to do this? Would there be one drafter for each wave all working simultaneously? That would be a rather clumsy solution – not only difficult to operate, but severely limiting how many waves can be added. I kept trying for a long time (almost an year or more) and then suddenly one day it struck me! What if we select one wave on the drafter and make it move along another wave? The two will get added of course AND the next one can be added to the resultant!
This gives us the way to successively add any number of waves – one at a time! I mounted a sine wave drafter on a carriage and provided a pointer for the user to manually trace the previous wave or resultant. Our mind is an amazing blender. It keeps processing problems that you may
consider forgotten and present you with a solution with endearing simplicity.
You can watch this design in action by clicking the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xf_z 1mpotS0 What’s next?: Real life waves are damped i.e. they gradually diminish. This sent me on a similar quest. This period of exploration, ideation, false starts and failed attempts is an emotional roller coaster. It’s stimulating, frustrating and sometimes downright depressing. Am I trying the impossible? But finally, at the end of this looong tunnel – I saw light!
~Ujjwal Rane (Mensa Mumbai)
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Poems Did you know?
In Praising you, Lord...
Did you know Some fireflies /Are full of lies Pretending to be / What they are not Waiting for the unwary
In praising you, Lord, I paint you with words, Golden and glorious, The best I have, Many wordstrokes later I look back At the letters and commas, Exclamation marks and their kin And realize Till the full stop, all the ink Was a waste A conceit of my mind I see you only Where the canvas is blank
And some people, too /Are much the same Did you know One can use / The palette of words To show the world Nooks and crannies / Of a heart unfurled And many can find / Themselves there Did you know Every poem / Was once prose That soared, lambent / As it rose Far above others / On its own And did you know, You too can be One of those Did you know? Did you know?
In praising you Lord, I sing solemn songs Full of devotion Piety unparalleled Listening, I find You are only In the silences between words And in the calm When the singer rests And yet, Lord I keep glorifying you in words And singing your praises On and on I know not who I am And behave as if You know not who you are
-Kishore Asthana, President, Mensa India 7
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 ExComm -Rudi Challupner, Director of Development Dear Members of Mensa, Right now I am in my second year as International Director of Development. The time passes very quickly too quickly, I would even say! Development is a very big task, in every respect. It consumes a lot of time, a lot of money – and it needs a lot more travelling. These requirements are limited, as unfortunately, neither the quantity of time nor amount of funds were available to pursue the big steps I was dreaming of. This means that one Director of Development would need a huge Department of Development, and the funding of it. A bigger involvement of many officers, for example of the Executive Director will be necessary in the next working period, and additionally it will be necessary to focus on creating a pool of motivated volunteers. I am not a candidate in the International Elections for another period as Director of Development – but if I had been, I would request from the next IBD to allow the realisation of a worldwide Gathering of Development. All these wonderful members with excellent ideas for developing and spreading the Mensa mind over the globe should come together, get to know each other, co-ordinate their initiatives and lay the basis for a big step forward. It’s a good time for it! But enough of dreaming; let’s turn to the focus of development at present. We, and by “we” I mean the International Board of Directors, and many other members supporting development activities have made progress. Steps, some big, some small, were set in Algeria, Andorra, Baltic Countries, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, China, Chinese Taipei, Colombia, Cyprus, Ecuador, Iceland, India, Israel, Jordan, Luxembourg, Mexico, Moldova, Montenegro, Peru, Portugal, Russia, Senegal, Taiwan, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Uruquay. Remarkably successful, and always with the energy and the almost unlimited commitment of the local leaders, we were in Montenegro, which could be recognized as a Full National Mensa soon, and recently in Taiwan, where we officially have an Emerging Mensa now. Many Mensas in South America (Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru) are well on the way to receiving official recognition within the next year. Another important matter we always should keep in focus: also existing National Mensas should develop. Our theoretical maximum of members is 2% of the population! Everywhere there is a lot to do. Let’s make some more steps forward! Floreat Mensa, Rudi Reprinted from the Mensa World Journal, July, 2019, issue 078, Editor Kate Nacard.
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IBD Meeting, 2019
From 10th - 13th Oct 2019, Malaysian Mensa has been chosen to host the International Board of Directors (IBD) meeting, the most important International Mensa Meeting in the world. Hosted at the prestigious Hilton Hotel Kuala Lumpur, it is a meeting that will bring together more than 50 National Mensa chairpersons from around the world who make up the International Board of Directors (IBD). At this annual meeting, decisions will be made on how the society around the world is run. These include governance decisions including global growth efforts, trademark protection, presentations on Mensa projects around the world, sharing of ideas, and much more. It is the single most important Mensa meeting that ensures we as a society continue to grow and achieve the vision that our founders set out to achieve through this society and we as members want through our elected office bearers. The fostering and nurturing of intelligence though the various programs run by Mensa International and Mensas around the world, the research and development of methods to investigate and understand human intelligence and the socially stimulating environment that is so essentially Mensan. One of the biggest highlights of the IBD meeting is the opportunity to get to know Mensans from all around the world. Besides the Chairpersons, members from other countries will also come and take part in the various events held around the IBD. Dinners, tours and other exciting activities are usually lined up along side the meeting for members to interact and foster new friendships that make Mensa so special and meaningful. One of the key events that make this IBD 2019 special is that it is also the Malaysian Mensa’s 35th Anniversary and we will have the opportunity to celebrate it at the Gala Dinner scheduled for the 12th October 2019 at Carcosa Seri Negara, one of the most prestigious and historical venues in all of Malaysia. It is the place where the Constitution of Malaysia was drafted and has had the honour of hosting many eminent guests such as Queen Elizabeth II and King Bhumibol. The organising committee for the 2019 IBD has been working hard since Dec 2017 to prepare for this incredible event. Many great experiences are lined up and will be open for registration very soon. All the latest information will be uploaded at: www.ibd2019.mensa.my Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/ibd2019 Tan KeeAun, Chair, Mensa Malaysia
Reprinted from the Mensa World Journal, July, 2019, issue 078, Editor Kate Nacard.
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From the Excomm Words Of Thanks From Our New Chairman Dear Mensa members, I'm honoured and grateful to serve as Chairman for the next two years. I'll do my best to further Mensa's goals, in the interest of all members. One may ask how I can say that, since obviously not all members share the same interests. But in a larger sense we all do: we are all in Mensa hoping to get something meaningful out of it. For some it's intellectual stimulation, for others it's friendship; many of us are motivated by the work to support gifted children. And so on. Typically it's a little bit of all. A core function of Mensa is to allow members to find and engage with one another so that they can cultivate whatever they have in mind. Or, as the case may be, in heart. If the new executive committee can make this easier, it will be a very good thing. Good things happen when members meet. In fact, that's how I joined Mensa, through a chance encounter that I will never forget. I was fifteen years old when my Mensa story began, in the early nineties, when one day we had a most eccentric substitute arts teacher in school. I would later learn that he was a board member of Mensa Sweden, at the time a small group of barely 200 members. Still, I knew about Mensa from a popular science magazine I used to read as a young boy. The teacher, a brilliant Hungarian named JolaSigmond, and I started talking after class; it was the most exhilarating conversation I had ever experienced. All and everything mixed and intertwined in a multidimensional communion of thought at 300 verbal km per hour. Intellectual resonance, that feeling you get when someone responds and elaborates at a similar pace to yourself, so that harmony ensues. No jokes falling flat on the ground, no awkward silence. Hours later, the joint exploration of idea space had filled me with a thrilling realisation that something important had happened to me. I need more of this, I thought to myself, so I took the supervised test and became a Mensa member. I would very soon become a volunteer, and one thing led to another and here I am, wondering what on Earth just happened, 28 years later. Mensa has given me much to be grateful for, but Jola I thank for making me join in the first place. I have more people I want to thank, for more recent contributions. First of these is BibiรกnaBalanyi for her service to Mensa as chair for the past four years. It is Bibiรกna we have to thank for, among other things, getting our brand new website at mensa.org. Bibiรกna will continue to serve Mensa in her new-old role as Director of Development, a position we both have held in the past. I also want to thank Nick Sanford, Dan Burg and Rudi Challupner for their services as, respectively, Treasurer and Directors of Administration and Development during the past two years. In the case of Rudi, congratulations are also in order as he again assumes office, as Treasurer a second time. Congratulations as well to Mark Dettinger, re-elected as Director of Smaller National Mensas, and last but not least, to our new Director of Administration, Isabella Holz. We have a strong team in place and I look forward to working with them. But there's more: a big thanks to the election committee and all the candidates and every member who voted. Every election is a lesson in democracy, and without candidates and voters there can be no election. Thank you for reading. BjรถrnLiljeqvist Chairman, Mensa International chairman-mil@mensa.org
Reprinted from the Mensa World Journal, August 2019, issue 079, Editor Kate Nacard.
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Brilliant Young Cellist JivanXander Ramesh is a ten-year-old cellist – at five, he was Carnegie Hall’s youngest-ever string performer. In April, the New York Philharmonic performed a composition of his at Lincoln Center. Jivan joined the musicians on his cello. Below, Jivan shares with us his Musical Thoughts. Music is a foundation of my life. It is a source of safety, calmness, serenity, joy, and exhilaration. I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t playing or composing music. I started playing the cello before I was three years old and started composing before I was four. Because music has always been part of my life, many of my most important memories are entwined with music. A few years ago, my parents and I drove to Florida on a family vacation. We love wildlife, so we went to Crystal River, where manatees gather in the winter. I cautiously stepped into the ice-cold water with our party to search for manatees. I am always humming, so of course I was humming as I swam around. Suddenly, I felt a nudge on my leg. I turned around, and a young manatee had come right up and was nuzzling me. Then another one came, and then another. Soon I was surrounded by young manatees. Everyone in our group was amazed – the manatees were attracted by my humming! Even now when I go back to Crystal River, people know the story of the boy who called the manatees by humming. Another animal and music memory I always think of involves my black cockapoo, Sirius. He was a wonderful dog and my big brother. We met on the first day I came home as a baby. Sirius’s superpower was that he was a cello dog. Whenever I played the cello, he sat with me to listen. He even nudged me and barked at me when I played badly. Nothing could prevent Sirius from coming to listen to me play. He would refuse walks, treats, and food and would come and sit with me when I played. Sadly, as Sirius grew old, he lost his hearing. But even when he couldn’t hear, he came and sat with me when I played and followed the vibrations. Sirius’s faithfulness and love of my cello helped me practice and love music. It’s wonderful when you are playing and there is someone there who truly loves you. I miss him very much, and I still think of him when I play the cello. A final memory, which is both sad and yet hopeful, happened about a year ago. I was very close to my grandmother, and we used to speak daily. Then suddenly we learned she had suffered a massive stroke. We drove back to Canada to see her at the hospital. She could not talk or respond, and we thought she couldn’t understand a word we said. Because my grandmother loved hearing me play cello, I decided to play for her in the hospital room. To our amazement, she responded to the music. There were tears in her eyes, and she started trying to talk to us. We spoke to her, and she understood and answered our questions by pointing at a Yes or No that we wrote on a piece of paper. The nurses and families of the other patients on the floor also came to hear me play. They told me that the music was helpful and asked me to play in the hospital each day I was visiting. I learned that when I played music, I could touch people and help them get better. Music is a type of universal communication. You don’t need to speak the same language or even be able to speak to be moved by music. You don’t even need to be a human! Music transcends.
Reprinted from Mensa Bulletin, June 2019, Editor Chip Taulbee
Reprinted from the Mensa World Journal, August 2019, issue 079, Editor Kate Nacard.
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Mensa International OFFICER DIRECTORY
Chair: Mr Bjorn Lljeqvist chairman-mil@mensa.org Director Admin: Ms Isabella Holz admin-mil@mensa.org Director Development: Ms BibianaBalanyi development-mil@mensa.org Treasurer: Mr Rudi Challupner treasurer-mil@mensa.org Dir. Smaller National Mensas: Mr Mark Dettinger dsnm-mil@mensa.org Hon. President: Dr AbbieSalny, 407 Breckenridge, Wayne NJ 07470 USA Tel: +1 973 305 0055 SIGHTCoordinator: Mr HenkhenkBroekhuizen SIGHT@mensa.org SIG Co-Coordinators: Ms Barbara Kryvko and Mr Henri Buccine-Schraeder sigs@mensa.org Ombudsman: Mr Martyn Davies ombudsman@mensa.org Executive Director: Mr Michael Feenan, Slate Barn, Church Lane, Caythorpe, Lincolnshire NG32 3EL, UK Tel/Fax+44(0)1400272 675 mensainternational@mensa.org Editorial Staff Editor: Ms Kate Nacard 407/23 Corunna Rd, Stanmore NSW 2048 Australia mwjeditor@mensa.org T: +61 402152858 Science: Mr John Blinke Johnb44221@cs.com Books: Mr Hal Swindallmwjreviews@gmail.com Puzzles: Ms Therese Moodie-Bloom tmb@ozemail.com.au
Reprinted from the Mensa World Journal, August 2019, issue 079, Editor Kate Nacard.
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