July-August 2022 MInd

Hello Mensans!

I am glad to have received an overwhelming response to the appeal for submissions to this edition that I ran out of space to fit everything in. If any of your submissions have been missed, they are still in the editor’s inbox and we would be using them in the upcoming editions

The spotlight of this edition is a fabulous article on the musical instrument veena by Pramiti Sriram from Mensa Mumbai Hop to page 10 to read the same

A photo submission by Punkaj Gupta has earned a special mention in the Mensa International Photocup Competition 2022. We've published that photo on page 8 of this edition.

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

Inthisissue:

Puzzles, Crossword & Quiz Corner

Art & Photography Events & Activities 6 14

Writings & Meanderings

Pages from Mensa World Journal

Cover photo by: Sahej Agarwal, Mensa Mumbai

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

Puzzles, & Quiz Corner

Crossword

Puzzles, Crossword & Quiz Corner

Clues

ACROSS

1 Abbreviation for tablespoon

5. The likelihood of a thing occurring rather than not occurring.

7. Anything done too late.

9 Period extending from December 24 to January 6

11 A member of a Turkic people of Uzbekistan & neighboring areas

12 Being five more than one hundred twenty

14. A dead body that has been brought back to life by a super natural force.

16. Associated with royalty, luxury, power and ambition.

18. The last letter of the Greek alphabet.

20 In the midst of; surrounded by

22 Lose freshness, vigor or vitality

23 Sycophant

24. A major Egyptian god; Father of gods and men.

26. The qualities of a hero or heroine.

27 The ratio of the distance travelled (in miles) to the time spent travelling (in hours)

29 Become normal or return to its normal state

30 A line determining the limits of an area

31. Mandatory last name for female Sikhs, literal meaning “Princess”.

DOWN

1 An American who favored the British side during the American revolution

2 Decrease gradually or bit by bit

3 Accustom or acclimatize

4. The act of providing approval and support.

5. Located in the region of the ear.

6 A knife used as a weapon 8 A disorderly crowd of people

10 A person who studies about the unidentified flying objects 13. An engraving on wood.

15. A large tree with smooth grey bark, glossy leaves and hard, pale fine grained timber.

17. An Indian peasant or tenant farmer.

19 Nocturnal burrowing mammal of Africa that feeds on termites

21 The Latin name of England

23 A fellow Jamaican

24. Wood heaped for burning a dead body as a funeral rite.

25. Make perfect or complete.

27 Humble in spirit or manner

28 A person with unusual powers of foresight

Rashmi Garg Mensa Delhi

Puzzles, Crossword & Quiz Corner

Solution to previous issue's crossword

Art & Photography

Cambodian Rainforests

Since 1970, Cambodia's primary rainforest cover went from over 70 percent in 1970 to 3 1 percent today

Punkaj Gupta, Mensa Bangalore

Sahej Agarwal, Mensa Mumbai

Sahej Agarwal is a grade 12 student at DPS, Nerul He enjoys reading and writing poems and aspires to be a researcher in the field of AI He enjoys chess, adventure sports, traveling, dining, and photography He recently joined MENSA Mumbai

Events & Activities

About Mensa Positive (+ve) SIG

Hello All,

It is my pleasure writing about the Mensa Positive SIG which got formed during the lockdown days in 2020. Amid negativity (driven by the news of pandemic spread and a little discomfort in Mensa whatsapp groups) came an outcry by a Mensan for the situation to get positive. A positive response from me led to the formation of Mensa Positive SIG With pandemic having come under control, Mensa Positive SIG looks forward to revive itself with new events and so the SIG conducted its 1st Meet (online) on 9th August 2021 which resulted in finalising on conducting 3 kinds of activities in the coming days of which the ground work for the 1st activity has already begun and the same would get launched soon. We plan to conduct all kinds of activities (thought process is put in gear) that carry a potential for enhancing positivity amongst its members and Mensa Positive SIG invites more & more Mensans to join the Mensa Positive SIG & thus enhance the positive ambience of the SIG in particular and also that of the Mensa Mumbai Chapter

SIG Co­ordinator: Manish Balwani

1st Meeting of Mensa Positive SIG

Writings & Meanderings

Autumn, the New Spring

When I see a heap of yellow and red leaves lying on the ground in Autumn my first desire is to jump in it, kicking and yelling, like the kid I was in my spring I see it as an invitation to let myself go. However, a perfectly formed single red leaf, lying by itself, reminds me sometimes of myself and I see it in all its dimensions, past and present. In it I see when I was a bud, often uncertain of survival, then a shiny new leaf, reflecting the sun and cradling the dew, then a mature one, creating shade and oxygen for my family and, perchance, for my world, too And I remember Albert Camus, who said that autumn is the second spring, where every leaf is a flower

Camus was inspired by the beauty of the leaves, yellow and red, adorning the trees. However, I think of 'my' leaf as a flower, in the real sense, where fragrance is present as well as the potential seed And, it is this seed out of which will grow a new world, if I focus on it and continue creating Yes, there is much in me which has potential and the last red leaf is not the end. WC Bryant may have felt that autumn is the year's last loveliest smile but for me, there is no last smile ­ if I do my work well, the shade and fruit of my tree will continue to bring smiles to the generations which will follow me. And, if I can teach them that autumn is when creativity can find the time to get actualized, and that it is a time not only to dream of a better world but how to make it so, the generations following them will continue to smile too

On reflection, the last red leaf may remind me of myself but it is not quite me. It is just a sign which says the season is changing. It is up to me to ensure that it is changing for the better.

Enough said We must remember that we do have the time to also have fun Amid our serious pursuits, we must pause now and then and go and jump in the heap of leaves waiting eagerly for us to do so.

Kishore Asthana, President Mensa Dhruv Program

Former President, Mensa India

Writings & Meanderings

Poetry

A Student’s Talk to God

One day the almighty came on land And heard a cry bitter and bland He saw a boy with a bag of books And a face full of unhappy looks With that boy he started to speak Looking at the tears on the boy’s cheek “What happened to you my little one? why don’t you go play and run” “I have studies to do“, replied the boy “Along with history and the battle of troy” “What’s the problem with studies son?

They as easy as eating a bun” “Their only problem is that they are tough And give me nights full of cold and cough All my books are way too thick I just faint the moment I pick There is history geography and a lot of math Making studies worse than a storms wrath” The lord explained to the lad And made him very glad Hard work can make studies easy for you son The more you do the ahead you run Revising things will simplify it

And also improve your grades a bit If at all you have a doubt Ask your teacher what it is about Most important is to balance work and play The more you do the happier you stay Whoever does these deeds With my wish he always succeeds

Sahej Agarwal, Mensa Mumbai

Writings & Meanderings

The Fading Sound of Ancient India

Introduction

The term ‘Vana’, as mentioned in Vedic literature, refers to a stringed instrument that can be plucked, bowed or struck for sound. It can have one or more strings and may or may not have frets. The great Sanskrit grammarian, Panini, explained that ‘Vana’ is derived from the word ‘Vaan’ meaning sound. Over centuries, the Vana, one of the oldest musical instruments, evolved into the Veena Owing to its association with Gods and mythology, the Veena is highly revered in Indian culture It can produce a wide range of sounds almost rivalling human vocal cords and has been instrumental in standardizing many fundamental tenets of Indian music.

Origin and Evolution

ccording to legend, a hunter once observed different sounds om vibrations of his bow. Using grass roots, twisted bark, egetable fibre and animal fibre were then used to create a ariety of strings. This eventually led to the creation of a harp like nstrument called Akasa This further evolved into the Audumbari eena that influenced the design of the ‘Vil Yazh’, or the Ancient eena This instrument had a hollow belly covered by a board or tretched leather. This belly was broader and rounded towards e back, and tapered towards the front, continuing into a curved m The strings varied in length and were stretched one above t gth of the instrument Based loosely on this structure, numerous variations of the Veena came to be

One such type of early Veenas was the Alapini Veena: a stick­zither type Veena made of a single string and a gourd shaped resonator that extended from shoulder to hip The body of the instrument was made of a two inch thick rod of red sandal wood or Khadira wood Other popular types included the Eka tantri Veena: a tube zither veena made of a single string having one or more gourd­shaped resonators. The Alapini Veena became eminent as the instrument of court music The Kinnari Veena was closely related to the Alapini Veena and Eka Tantri Veena The now widely popular Saraswati Veena evolved from Kinnari Veena The Harps, stick and tube Zithers and Lutes that were introduced to Southeast Asia and China evolved differently over the last two millennia leading to the creation of many different regional specific instruments.

Broadly, the evolution of Veena can be grouped into 7 stages: Stage 1 or the Harp Stage: The Veena was akin to a musical bow with strings of different

The Vil Yazh of Ancient Veena

A Kinnari Veena

Writings & Meanderings

lengths tied to it to produce different sounds when plucked

Stage 2: A gourd (resonator) was attached to the bow of the primitive harp to amplify its sound.

Stage 3 or the Lute Stage: This stage saw the emergence of tuning pegs in which the strings were tied to pegs on one end and to a bow on the other end This feature enabled the player to increase or decrease the tension, and therefore pitch, of the strings by turning the pegs clockwise and anti clockwise, thus igniting idea of pressing the string at various places or frets, to produce different sounds. This led to the creation of the Lute.

Stage 4: This stage saw the emergence of Veenas with two large gourds as illustrated in the Paintings at Ellora

Stage 5: The Nissari Veena was popularized It had a plain fingerboard without frets, and was played with either a bow or plucking, as illustrated in the Paintings in Ajanta caves.

Stage 6: A Veena called the Saari Veena, with frets for the left half of the fingerboard became the most played Veena of the time. Paintings of these veenas can be seen in Halebid and Belur sculptures

Stage 7 or the Modern Veena Stage: This stage constituted the transformation of the Veena into the currently popular types The popular variants are:

1. Thanjavur Veena or Saraswati Veena: This Veena is made by craftsmen from in and around the town of Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu using a particular strain of Jackwood. The Thanjavur Veena can be further divided into the Ekantha Veena (made of a single trunk of wood) and the Sada Veena (having joints between different blocks of wood)

2 Mysore Veena: This Veena, made in the erstwhile princely state of Mysore, is made out of both Jackwood (for the heavier body) and Rosewood (for the lighter top plank) The small kudam or pot is usually made out of metal Notes are played more on the frets with shallow gamakas or nuances.

3. Bobbili Veena: This Veena is crafted by the artisans of the Sarwasiddi community of Gollapalli in modern Andhra Pradesh. It is made of Jackwood, owing to its intrinsic benefits of excellent resonance, clear grain lines, durability and its ability to sustain moisture Inorder to make the border of the Veena’s body decorative, an ivory white sheet with inlay art is pasted on these Veenas

4. Rudra Veena: This Veena, also called Bĩn, is used widely in classical Hindustani music.

Carving of Shiva playing the Veena in the Ellora Caves

A Saraswati Veena

Writings & Meanderings

It is believed that this Veena was created by Lord Shiva Its body (dandi) is a tube made of bamboo or teak that is attached to two large resonators made from calabash gourds The bottom end of the dandi is completed with a peacock carving that is unique to this veena. It gained a lot of importance in the Mughal courts.

5 Vichitra Veena: This Veena is a modern version of the ancient Eka tantri Veena It is somewhat similar to the medieval Chitra Veena, a 20 to 21 string lute like Veena without any frets It is more popular in Hindustani music

6. Ranjan Veena: This Veena is structurally a combination of the Veena, the Sitar and the Guitar. It is a smaller type of the Veena with a unique tone, and is usually played with picks on the fingers.

7 Mohan Veena: This Veena resembles a modified Hawaiian guitar, held on the lap and played with a bar, just like a modern Slide Guitar

8. Electronic Veena: The Electronic or Digital Veena is a new acoustic improvisation of the Thanjavur Veena connected to an inbuilt amplifier often used for solo or duet concerts in large concert halls

References in Hindu Mythology and Ancient Literature

The Veena is regarded as a celestial instrument played by numerous Hindu deities, and has been cited in the Vedas, Brahmanas and Sutras In the Ramayana, there are mentions of nine stringed Vipanchi Veena and Ekatantri Veena. It is most famously considered to be the holy instrument of Goddess Saraswati, also known as ‘Veenapani’. Sage Valmiki also mentions that his poem Ramayana has been composed in such a way that it is contained within the seven notes and can be sung to the Veena In Mahabharata, the Pandeva prince in exile, Arjuna, teaches Veena to a Virat princess. Another reference is made in the story of the prince Udayana who charmed princess Vasavadatta with his proficiency in the Veena. According to mythology, the divine Sage Narada or ‘Mahathi’ had Veena as his inseparable companion at all times

There are various Sanskrit treatises on music which chronicle Veena in great detail. Sage Bharata in his treatise Natyashastra, describes the Chitra Veena; Sage Narada, in Sangita Makaranda, describes a number of Veenas including the Vaishnavi Veena, Brahmi Veena, Saraswati Veena, and the Kinnari Veena Pandit Ramamatya in the third chapter of his treatise, Swaramela Kalanidhi, also explains the construction of veenas and divides them into various categories

A Rudra Veena

An Electronic Veena

A depiction of Goddess Saraswati playing the Veena (Painting of Saraswati by Raja Ravi Varma)

Writings & Meanderings

Structure and Mechanics of a Modern Veena

A Veena is usually about four feet in length and has a large resonator (kudam) that is carved and hollowed out of a log of Jackwood or Rosewood The neck (dandi) is long and topped with 24 brass frets set in black beeswax on wooden tracks It has a tuning or peg box ending in a downward curve, and an ornamental ‘Yali’ a small table like wooden bridge topped with a convex brass plate glued with resin. Typically, two ivory rosettes are glued onto the top board of the resonator.

Of the total seven strings, four pass over the frets, and three are stretched to the side of the fingerboard The fingerboard contains a number of frets made of either brass or silver secured to two ledges, running along each side of the neck of the instrument Plucking strings of different thicknesses and pressing them between different frets creates sounds with different amplitudes and pitches thus leading to the composition of notes and ultimately music.

Recent Trends

Veena performances used to accompany Vedic chants during Yagnas or rituals in ancient and medieval times Thus, the Veena was patronized by royalty and also played in temples Considering its antiquity and widespread influence, Veena was designated as the National Instrument of India after independence

Indian postage stamp depicting the Veena

In recent times however, the popularity of the Veena has waned for many reasons including:

1 Low awareness

2. Higher costs of Veena production owing to reduced availability of skilled craft­persons, scarce raw materials, low patronage and limited or no government or philanthropic support to artisans

3 Longer time to learn (5 10 years of training)

4 Limited number of qualified teachers (Gurus) and facilities in most parts of India

5. A steady decline in Veena concerts and Limited exposure to traditional Vainikas in music concerts

It is disheartening to observe an instrument with a history of nearly 3000 years get into a state of decline, largely owing to lack of awareness and patronage If the decline is not addressed, this rich piece of India’s heritage may be relegated to citations in ancient literature There is time and opportunity to reverse this trend and preserve the legacy and heritage by doing our bit.

Pramiti Sriram, Mensa Mumbai

Pramiti Sriram from Mensa Mumbai has devoted over seven years to playing the veena

Pages From Mensa World Journal

From The ExComm

A summary of the London ExComm Meeting

London was chilly. Our Thai dinner, on the other hand, was lukewarm, and came with a minor drama as a waitress spilled two bottles of beer over a lady in our midst, and later we could see and smell a woman’s long blonde hair catch fire from a lit candle only two tables away. “‘Let’s call it a night”, we said at that point, and went back to the hotel.

The meeting itself was good, though You see, it had been two and a half years since the Executive Committee of Mensa International last met in person, in real life, viscerally, co locatedly, or whatever adjective best describes the opposite of online Zoom calls, where nobody will hear you scream because you’re still on mute. There’s a refreshing dynamic to being in the same room, that allows also for difficult conversations to be rewarding; misunderstandings can be dealt with, and private, one on one conversations during coffee breaks make the joint talks around the big table easier

ExComm is made up of five elected people and the chairs of the three national Mensas with more than 10k members (US, UK, Germany), and we carry out the day to day work, together with our staff at the International Office.

We handle quite a lot of minor issues that would bore our readership, but which are our job to take care of, so you can happily ignore them (you can always read our detailed meeting minutes on mensa org) We discussed issues of member administration, volunteer management, compliance, keeping our financial reserves safe, and so on Then there were the more profound questions that come back over and over again.

What’s the point of Mensa International to begin with? First of all, to guarantee that Mensa remains recognizably similar, regardless of where in the world you are; that it’s the top 2%, not 5% (and on a proper IQ test, not some cheap personality quiz); with the same purpose of identifying and fostering intelligence; and, in a democratic, round table society where all members are equal All famous franchises have to make sure their local branches do not veer off in weird directions, and Mensa is no different. Also important is to expand Mensa to new countries: we have members in 100 countries, but established groups in less than half that number For the individual member, the 7% of your membership fee paid to MI ensures your membership does not end at your border Whether it’s Canada or Japan, if you’re a Mensan somewhere, you’re a Mensan everywhere Also, you get access to our international online community, activities and services.

Examples are: Special­Interest Groups (SIGs). If you run a SIG in your national Mensa, and you want foreign members to join, make sure you have it listed on mensa.org. To do that, contact Nancy McMahan Farrar,the International SIGs coordinator If you want to create a SIG that’s international from the start, directly under MI, that works, too

Communications. Time­sensitive announcements will increasingly be made through our e­

Reprinted from the Mensa World Journal, July, 2022, issue 114, Editor Kate Nacard.

Pages From Mensa World Journal

mail newsletter, in order to shorten lead time In addition, we will use our Workplace community to keep members updated on what’s going on through the group, “Mensa News”

International member database. Following the policy decision made by the IBD last year, work is underway to create an international member database We are currently investigating possible CRM systems that can be used for this purpose, and expect to have a first version ready before the end of this year

Charity. The paperwork for our new Mensa International Charitable Foundation is being submitted to the UK Charity Commission. Meanwhile, we’re exploring ideas for fundraising, as well as charitable initiatives to support

Conflicts We often deal with diverse complaints against national boards, which can be quite time­consuming, and it’s well known that conflicts sprout all the time in Mensa, whether that is intelligent or not. The assumption is often that Mensa International should step in to correct a national board when they stray; in reality, Mensa International is the very last resort when all else fails The first step is always to resolve trouble internally; e g , with an ombudsman or a supervisory committee Ultimately, a board has to answer to the membership, who can always elect new people.

Litigation This is another hazard because when members take Mensa to court, it can end up costing a lot of money, not only for the member (or, as is mostly the case, the ex member) who sues, but also for Mensa By our Constitution, taking legal action against Mensa before exhausting the internal avenues of redress can be an act inimical to Mensa in itself However, we should not assume that a Mensa board is always right, and that complainants are always wrong.Any board can make mistakes, and without vigilant members keeping a watchful eye, boards would make even more mistakes and never correct them

Mensa International is always ready to help clarify the rules of Mensa, and to guide boards and members on appropriate measures and procedures It is not, however, Mensa International that should correct errors or hold board members accountable in the first instance. That is the job of the members of the national Mensas themselves. Of course, if a national Mensa does not correct an error or persists in violating the Constitution, it is the International Board of Directors that, at the end of the day, derecognizes the wayward group and appoints a new board to start over again

However, it is always better if problems can be resolved internally at the national level at an early stage before something escalates that far.

These were among the topics discussed at our London meeting. Next, we look forward to the first real IBD meeting in three years, in Budva, Montenegro, from 6th to 9th October If you’d like to join the meeting as a member of the audience, you’re more than welcome to come along Regards,

Björn Liljeqvist Chairman, International Mensa

Reprinted from the Mensa World Journal, July, 2022, issue 114, Editor Kate Nacard.

Pages From Mensa World Journal

What’s in the MWJ this month?

thank you to our Chairman Björn Liljeqvist for providing an overview of the Executive Committee’s meeting ­ the first face­to­face meeting in two and a half years! ­ in London. See p3

don’t forget to regularly check the mensa org website for details on international events! p4 on p5, Susan Jensen brings us a detailed report on the 2022 Mensa Mind Games, held this year in Portland, Maine, USA ­ did you know that sleep helps to process emotions? Have a look at the latest research on p6.

Polish Mensan, Doda, is our Member Profile this month p7 on p8, have a look at the mission of Tribal Mensa Nurturing Program, an initiative of Mensa India ever locked glances with someone across the room and felt an instant chemistry? Science tells you why! p9 science editor, John Blinke, brings us the latest science snippets on p10 on p11 is the International Directory of officers p12 Therese’s Teasers tease our minds as usual!

Happy reading, Kate

Download/read the full colour MWJ at www mensa org Kate Nacard, Editor, Mensa World Journal

American Mensa Mind Games

Mensans gather every year to play and evaluate the newest board games on the American market Mensa Mind Games, as this event is called, was the brainchild of American Mensan Steve Weinrich and has been a rousing success since its inception in 1990.

Judges at the Mind Games rank their favourite games The top five winners get the coveted gold Mensa Select seal Winners in the past include Scattergories, Quarto and Trivial Pursuit Registration for Mind Games opens between May and September of each year; the 400 available Judge slots usually sell out within a month. The judges are allowed to bring guests who can play the games but aren’t allowed to cast votes. Each of the Mensan judges is required to play and evaluate thirty games over the course of a weekend. In the past, playing time lasted from Friday morning until 5 am Sunday morning This year they added Thursday afternoon for game playing, to the relief of many long time attendees

Any intrepid soul who is able to play all thirty games and has time on their hands is welcome to play games not on their list.

Reprinted from the Mensa World Journal, July, 2022, issue 114, Editor Kate Nacard.

Pages From Mensa World

Mind Games is always held at the end of April/beginning of May, with the location switching each year to a different American city/host Mensa group This year the games were held in lovely Portland, Maine, at the DoubleTree Hotel Both the DoubleTree and its sister hotel next door were filled to capacity with Mensan judges and their guests.

The games are graded on a 1­5 basis in the following categories: Aesthetics; quality of instructions; originality; play appeal, and play value (i e is the cost of the game good value for the level of fun/quality of its components?) Most importantly, Mensans and their guests fill out paper or digital comment cards for each game which manufacturers use to improve their games.

Judges are given stickers for each game. At the end of Mind Games the judges place the stickers in the slots labelled 1 7, ranking their top seven game choices The top five highest ranked games get to put a gold Mensa Select label on their games

This year the top five games were Atheneum, Genotype: A Mendelian Genetics Game, Shifting Stones, Life of a Chameleon and Miyabi Some of the games that were quite popular but didn’t make it into the top five had too many small, easily lost pieces, were considered too costly for what was being offered, or had inadequate or confusing instructions.

Many attendees gathered a small group of compatible players together so they didn’t have to search high and low for enough people to play the 4 6 player games My little group included myself, Beth MacLean of Portland, ME, Tamar Pandi of Winston Salem, NC, Nico Pandi of Alexandria, VA and Bob Waddell of Virginia. Beth, Tamar, Nico and I, all first­timers, met at registration. Bob, who has been to Mind Games before, joined our group on Friday morning

On Sunday morning everyone gathered together to hear the five top ranked games and select, one person at a time, the game they wished to take home Chief Judge Laura Heffernan managed to keep things organised and flowing as hundreds of people stood up when their name was called and selected a game to take home with them.

Anne Allen, this year’s Mind Games Chair, did an amazing job of organizing the many small details that made this weekend flow smoothly Folks could go up to the microphone to announce they needed X number of players for Y game; or they could put a tree stand on their playing table to indicate more players needed

Anne is one of those stalwart heroes who calmly pick up enormous amounts of responsibility while remaining cheerful and pleasant.

Mind Games will be held in Columbus, OH next year If you would like to attend as a judge or guest of a judge you can check the https://www us mensa org/ website under the ATTEND button and look for registration for 2023 Mind Games to open some time before September 2022.

SJ.

Tribal Mensa Nurturing Program

Tribal Mensa Nurturing Program is an initiative working to identify and nurture gifted children among tribal populations in India. We aim to enable and empower these children to become future leaders

Pages From Mensa World Journal

We believe that there is a strong need to recognize gifted youth, as their accomplishments, potential, the capacity to lead, their concerns about the world, and their ability to think creatively are in fact national assets However, for these children to be successful, they need support and encouragement from peers, families, educators, programs, and organizations.

Through the Tribal Mensa initiative, we sincerely hope to be able to impact the lives of many of our country’s most able young people We hope to be able to offer them recognition, resources, and opportunities which will play an important role in their overall development

We understand that these gifted children need to be nurtured, supported, and challenged in order for them to reach the heights that they are capable of. We hope to be a stepping stone for these children to advance, excel and flourish. The Tribal Mensa Giftedness Identification Program conducts tests to screen tribal school children in order to identify those who are gifted

Once identified these children are nurtured through a series of activities designed to ensure maximum learning and development of the child’s mind and body Our 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 The Bal Yogesh Project provides the gifted students with training in basic yoga and philosophy. The Bal Mitra Upasak Project guides the student’s development through physical, mental and spiritual exercise. Not only are the subjects made challenging and enjoyable to these gifted children, but special care is taken to nurture their curious minds

To ensure that every child receives the nurturing they deserve, we provide individual counseling and conduct teacher training programs and workshops at regular intervals to enhance the quality of education. Once the child completes school, our team provides scholarships to those students who wish to study further and improve their chances for a brighter future Through this initiative, we strive to create future leaders among these tribal youth We hope with time that these individuals will be able to empower their communities and our society With the help and support of our donors, we have since the inception of this program screened more than 50 schools spread across Maharashtra, Karnataka, Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Assam and have identified over 2,500 high IQ (gifted) children These children are now undergoing skill development programs and are in different stages of intellectual nourishment I am sure that if we work together we can help and support these young people who represent our nation’s future leaders, educators, and professionals

Reprinted from www.tribalmensa.org

Reprinted Mensa Kate Nacard.

Pages From Mensa World Journal

From The ExComm

experiencing Mensa face to face

Hello team!

While I have no update on audited financial statements at this stage, I would like to talk about Mensa functioning in a Covid era After being on the Executive Committee (Excomm) since November 2019, I actually didn’t have an opportunity for a face to face meeting until the end of March 2022 when the Excomm had a meeting in London. It was a bit challenging to fly from New Zealand for just three nights or so, but the meeting was a very fruitful one. Our schedule was packed with many discussion items and brainstorming

It was very busy you can read the minutes from the meeting which have a whopping 30 pages I thought that online meetings would do, but actually, through face to face interaction we were able to progress so many matters, and what’s important we were able to do that more quickly and thoroughly. That’s why I can’t wait for the IBD in Montenegro at the beginning of October, as I believe that having a real full time meeting after three years would help us to move our organisation forward

Mensa is all about interaction between Mensans If you are hesitant about whether to attend a face to face Mensa meeting, that’s natural However, I would say that it’s high time to get back to what Mensa is all about: member­to­member interaction. If you want to get a proper Mensa experience, I highly recommend that you come to Montenegro, EMAG, AMAG or go to your National Mensa events

If you haven’t been to a Mensa gathering, you may be reluctant to attend a big gathering, which is fair enough However, the bigger the gathering the better, trust me

On a private note, on top of my day to day job, I have been focusing on psychological research (Researchers’ degrees of freedom) and taking care of my orchids. I can’t wait to see my parents later this year as I haven’t seen them since 2019. Thank you for your attention I will be back later this year to update you on finance and the budget for 2023

Hopefully, I will see some of you in Reno or Montenegro If you see me around, don’t hesitate to approach me and say hi. Take care!

Jacek Cywinski

Reprinted Mensa

Pages From Mensa World Journal

What’s In The MWJ This Month?

on page 02, latest research finds that the mental workload of intensive care nurses can be successfully evaluated using eye­movement tracking glasses

our Treasurer, Jacek Cywinski, exhorts us to return to face­to­face meetings on p03 on p04, read how Scientists unravel the mystery of genes that are key to brain development Australian Mensa is fortunate to have Teresa Wong as its Recruiting Officer Read about Teresa’s Recruitment Initiative, which can be extended globally, on p05

on p06, Direct International Member Tiago Machado tells us of his unusual hobby

our monthly member profile is on p07, while latest research into how sleep helps us process emotions is on p08 did you know that just being exposed to new things makes people ‘ready to learn’? Read about it on p09 Supplementally is on p10, the Officer Directory is on p11, and Therese’s Teasers are on p12

Happy reading, Kate

Read /download the full colour MWJ at www mensa org

SIGHT

Kate

Pages From Mensa World Journal

Recruiting Expertise

Australian Mensa has a proactive recruitment programme, which encompasses marketing and testing It is headed by Teresa Wong, who is based in Sydney and has developed an initiative called Australian Mensa School Affiliate (AMSA), where schools can become affiliates after approval of their objectives in fostering intelligence and giftedness. AMSA schools also encourage their students to apply for testing at a discounted rate, so Australia has enjoyed renewed success in recruiting eligible candidates

From attendances at European Mensa Annual Gathering (EMAG) development committees, Teresa learnt of other Mensa nations’ efforts in school recruitment. As the Australian membership is comprised of approximately 30% child members, she was keen to promote to schools

Australian Mensa (AM) believes that traditional advertising is no longer very effective, so developing brand awareness at grass roots is essential Expanding Mensa membership now requires innovative online strategies.

Having negotiated and promoted Mensa in the Australian TV series, Child Genius (initially a British initiative), Teresa was shocked that 70% of parents of Child Genius applicants were totally unaware of Mensa’s existence Commercial programmes may not always reflect Mensa’s objectives, but they do enliven public interest

Crimson Global Academy (CGA) is an international online school for high achievers, and became an AMSA affiliate in 2021 because some Australian Mensa students were already attending, and its founder was a New Zealand Mensan CGA promotes Mensa to their students on the ‘About Us’ page https:// www cga school/au/our school/ and in their blogs

Parents were delighted as a good number of our students have since taken up courses and CGA’s 10% discount on their highly regarded courses. The CGA webinars are well received via AM’s Parents Facebook pages.

Recently Teresa was instrumental in securing a total of AUD100,000.00 in scholarship funds, which CGA is offering for free tuition to some 20 students Courses are worth around $5,000 each and candidates apply to CGA directly There are no conditions attached, other than candidates being current members of Mensa Should the results of this scholarship be successful, CGA is willing to roll out scholarships worldwide to Mensa nations! Contact Teresa if your nation is interested.

It was MIL’s LEAP (Leadership Exchange Ambassador Programme) initiative that inspired Teresa to become Australian Mensa’s Recruitment Officer

She also grew to appreciate how other nations used technology to reach remote members So Zoom was introduced to AM, long before it was needed for social distancing!

If you wish to know more about the AMSA recruitment initiative, and the potential CGA scholarships for your child members, please contact Teresa Wong: recruitment@mensa org au

Reprinted from the Mensa World Journal, August, 2022, issue 115, Editor Kate Nacard.

Jnana Prabodhini