WEDNESDAY, JULY 5, 2000
Activities
of the Day
Today started off with a nice breakfast of toast, cereal, egg, potatoes, pita, and bananas. After breakfast we had class in the conference room and were greeted by an Indian scholar, Dr. Gopalakrishnan, who gave us insight on Hindu beliefs of the mind, body, and soul.
Morning
guest lecturer Dr. N. Gopalakrishnan's (Secretary of Indian Institute of
Scientific Heritage), presentation was on “Indian concepts on culture,
spirituality and religion”. His
lecture began by highlighting the four Indian concepts of God:
Upanishadic level: Omnipotent/omnipresent concept
Vedic
level:
The Universal person concept
Puranic
level:
Trinity concept -BRAHMA, VISHNU, SIVA
Itihasa
level:
Incarnation concept in reality
Most
interesting aspect of the lecture dealt with the pure scientific books on
UPAVEDAS (subsidiary to vedas). They
are the:
Economics
(Arthasaastra - Upaveda to Rigveda)
Science
of archery (Dhanur veda - Upaveda to Yajurveda)
Science
of music (Gaandharva veda - Upaveda to Samaveda)
Science
of health (Ayurveda - Upaveda to Atharvaveda)
Science of civil engineering & sculpture (Sthaapathya veda - second Upaveda to Atharva veda)
After Dr. Gopalakrishnan's lecture, all of us met with Mr. Mahadevan, staff reporter for "The Hindu," one of the leading English national newspapers in India. He wants to know our impressions and views on India. He is planning to meet with us again prior to the end of our program in India. Afterwards few minutes we met with the Principal (President) of Loyola College.
After
lunch, all of us went to the Thiruvananthapuram City Hall for a lecture by Mr.
Najeeb, the City Secretary. On behalf of the Mayor (who is in China for a visit)
Mr. Najeeb welcomed us to his office with a tea and biscuits. For an hour he
explained to us the functions of the city (here it is known as a Corporation).
All of us are fascinated with the special privileges given to women (for
example, in the city council, through the law, it is mandated that one third of
the elected seats are set aside for the women). We were also impressed by the
“peoples plans” in each wards.
The
last visit of the day was to the new state legislative building. Construction
was completed only last year and reflects the unique Kerala architectural style.
The Kerala Legislative Assembly Secretary, Dr. N.K. Jayakumar invited us to his
office and gave us an overview of the functions of the State legislature.
Today, we end our study session at 5:00 p.m. This allowed us to concentrate on writing our daily log and other written assignments.
Welcome to the Photo Session
1. CSU team and Loyola students with Dr. N Gopalakrishnan
2. Another snap of CSU team and Loyola students with Dr. N Gopalakrishnan.
3. CSU team with Loyola students attending Dr. N Gopalakrishnan's lecture
4. Jesse presenting a certificate of appreciation to Dr. N Gopalakrishnan.
5. Ms. Lottie Renfro with Dr. N Gopalakrishnan
6. Fr. Antony and the principal of Loyola College answering CSU team's questions.
7. CSU team with the reporter of THE HINDU daily newspaper
8. Dr. Williams with THE HINDU reporter.
9. Corporation Secretary, Mr. Najeeb with CSU team.
10. Jesse presenting a certificate to Mr. Najeeb, Thiruvananthapuram Corporation Secretary.
11. Jesse with Mr. N K Jayakumar, Legislative Secretary, Kerala Legislative Assembly.
12. CSU team with Mr. N K. Jayakumar, Legislative Secretary, Kerala Legislative Assembly.
13 Another snap of CSU team with Mr. N K Jayakumar.
14. Dr. Murali Nair, Ms. Savage and Dr. Williams with Mr. N K Jayakumar, Legislative Secretary.