VIVEKANANDA STUDY CIRCLE

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY - MADRAS

A Brief report of activities for the last three years

(Distributed during Inaugural function on 1st August, 2000)

"Look back to the past, drink deep from the eternal fountains that are behind and march forward..."

An adventurous spirit to explore newer avenues of experience a deep hunger for knowledge and a strong dislike for a stagnant life is what sustains and nourishes this youth forum- the Vivekananda Study Circle (VSC). Its scope has witnessed a steady expansion since its inception in Sep'97- centenary year of Swami Vivekananda's triumphant return from the west and the golden jubilee of India's independence.

We are especially fortunate to have Swami Brahmeshananda a qualified doctor and who is experienced (having conducted a study circle at IT BHU, Varanasi ) to conduct the regular Sunday classes. At the beginning of every academic year he gives lectures on the theory and steps of meditation followed by a separate, well arranged GUIDED MEDITATION session for 1 hour.

The regular sunday classes typically consist of chanting "Shanti Mantras", guided meditation for 20 min, reading from Swami Vivekananda's works, a talk on a particular topic followed by an interesting discussion on it . Normally the topics for odd semesters have been like "life and message of great persons", "character building series" and for the every semester., slightly deeper study of "Gita" , "Kathopanishad" etc.. For a lecture series though continuity is beneficial, each lecture will give independently, a new light on the topic . At the end , the book and cassette library will be displayed and all are welcome to borrow books and cassettes. They contain nearly 300 variety of books and 60 cassettes including previous lectures. In addition they can also be obtained through VSC volunteers in the hostel. In the absence of Swami Brahmeshanandaji, we wee fortunate to be able to organize an number of Guest lectures by prominent people from various fields on a wide range of topics.

The tuition center at Velachery, run with the help of VSC vols and NSS first year students aims at providing free, value oriented education to the poor school going children- what Swami Vivekananda considered the panacea to all problems of our country. The enthusiasm shown by the little children and their parents is a great motivation for us. Saturdays have been kept aside for extra curricular in addition to important occasions like Bharath Utsav, Gandhi Jayanthi, etc. VSC takes part in organizing book sales, exhibitions, bhajans, etc. On the occasion of the National Youth Day (Jan 12) this year(2000) we organized a trip to Vivekanandar Illam and last year(1999) organized an institute level debate competition.

VSC has been organizing a number of special lectures mostly in CLT , by prominent speakers like Swami Gautamananda, President, RK Math Mylapore, Prof. NVC Swamy, former Director of IITM (on Science and Spirituality), Sri Michel Danino, a french born scholar from Aurobindo Ashrama (a slide show cum talk on Indus saraswathi civilization), Swami Jitatmananda (on Modern science and Vedanta), Dr. David Frawley, Director, American Institute of Vedic studies, New Mexico, slide show cum talk by Dr. Srinivasan (BARC) on Mind Matter Interaction, Kum. B.Nivedita and Mr. Prabhu Ramakrishnan of Vivekananda Kendra. Audio cassettes of all lectures are available in the library.

The study circle thanks all those who have been helping us directly or indirectly in its growth and all those who have been inspiring us to scale new heights. We thank the Institute for its invaluable support. We hope that all will be able to benefit from our activities and be part of a wonderful life in the campus, the country and the world at large. We hope that in the coming years also an increasing enthusiasm from the students will sustain the study circle and help it scale hitherto unknown frontiers.

We would like to emphasize again that all our activities and facilities are open to all. We request every interested person to feel free to approach any VSC volunteers for help. Please watch out for notices in hostels and Departments notice boards. NO MEMBERSHIP OR FEE OR REGISTRATION REQUIRED. Hope to see you more often.

"For a complete civilization, the world is waiting, waiting for the treasures to come out of India which through decades of misery and degradation the nation has still clutched to her. Little do you know how much of hunger and thirst there is outside of India for these wonderful treasures of our forefathers. If India wants to raise herself, it is absolutely necessary that She throws her marvelous inheritance broadcast among nations and be ready to receive what good others have to give her. Expansion is Life; Contraction is death"     -SWAMI VIVEKANANDA