Dear all,

i am enlisting some issues which i think we as a group must collectively resolve. Some of these concerns need to addressed at the urgent for all the necessary arrangement to be made and for us too, to have enough time to plan our trip in advance.
i am also supplimenting it with my view points at some places, which are open for discussion and critique.

1) THE PARTICIPANTS

It will be great if all of us willing to be a part of this, can confirm our participation by February 11, so that we can make the arrangements for stay, and the travel of the visionaries whom we plan to call for the confluence.

i have already informed the following and hopefully we would see some postings by them soon:

• Ashish Gupta ( Software engineer based in Delhi)
• Pankaj khanna ( Green Technology Innovator Currently working with Development Alternatives in Delhi)
• Menakshi Diwan ( A Social Scientist from TIS, currently pursuing her M. Phil from JNU in community health issues)
• Shivani Gaur ( An Interior Designer, working in Delhi)
• Manu Ananth ( A ceramic Designer/ innovator based in Mumbai)

We also need to find some means by which atleast the names (with brief discription) of the participants, and some other common informations is vissible to all in one page. Me and Vaibhav have not been able to find a way of doing this in this blog.Does anyone has some suggestions.


DATE AND VENUE FOR THE CONFLUENCE

Mentioned below are some possible suggestions for the venue. In terms of time, it will be important to freeze on this too, latest by February 14, if the confluence has to happen on the proposed dates.
1) Pondicherry - Vaibhav and Dipan have being pursuing it since long, so arranging stay and food doesnt seem to be a problem here.

2) The Sewagram Ashram at Wardha - One of Gandhiji's Ashram, the place has a distinct energy of it's own, and wardha is only One and a half hour drive from Nagpur, the theoritical Center of India. Vaibhav would be able to make the necessary arrangements here.

3) Hyderabad has a flavour of it's own, but we would need to find someone who could help us in arragning a place for accomodation and the confluence to take place.

4) The Gandhi Darshan Smriti and Samiti in Delhi manages the memorial at the Birla house - the place where gandhiji was assasinated. They may be able to provide us with an acoomodation, and the venue for the confluence, but again one needs to check this.

2) THE 2 DAYS OF THE CONFLUENCE

In our past discussions amongst some of us through the mails, there have been mixed opinions about the exten to which
So i believe that a certain structure will only add to the dynamic nature of the confluence.

so that the enitre act of coming together gers greater meanings for all of us.

One also questions the value that a meeting of this nature will have for each one us.
i am also quoting from one of Ashish's mail


i am enlisting some of the ideas that i have gathered over the past few months thinking about this confluence.

Bridging gaps and biases
IT will be interesting to

it will be great if we can get to understand each others understanding of this confluence.
Can innovations be a good backdrop to initiate dialogue?? Please comment
Within innovations lie the key to effective change, which we all are endevouring towards.
ACTIVITIES

can we share one innovation each from our experiences, which either has been our doing, or we relate very strongly to? It will be interesting to find topics which this diverse cross section of people will be able to relate to, and participate in the dialogue which will result therewith.
One intersting way of doing this could be to do it within a time frame of 10 minutes precisely, with a maximum of 30 slides ( max. 20 seconds perslide).

THE OUTCOME

Do we really need an articulated, pre defined outcome?? i dont know please comment.

3) THE VISIONARIES ??

As mentioned in Vaibhav's postings, we will be joined in by a group of innovators of
i am taking the liberty of calling them the visionaries for the lack of a better word, since they do have a a mass of experience of attempts to tchange the environment around them.

The importance of sharing/ dialogue with them is to be able to share a vision which is an outcome of an iteresting and an elaborate journey, and to probably get greater insights into the dynamics of innovations which foster meaningful changes.
I am taking the liberty of introducing some of them, as i have know them. please pardon the biases of my vision in their discription.

K B Jinan, is a designer He is a innovator. His vision as i have understood roots from a response which is fundamental to His present day focus is to change the way people think, nurture the natural ways of a childs thinking, and influence adults specially those who are Do check his website on thinking www.re-cognition.com. It also gives links to the wonderful work he has been doing with children and the craft initiativ called Kumbham in Kerala.

Ravindra Kumar Sharma ( fondly known as Guruji not because of his religious connects, but because he taught Laathi to 500 students at the age of 16, and since then the tittle has stuck.
He initiated an institution (if i may call it so) called Kala Ashram almost 15-16 years back in his native place in Andhra Pradesh. The Ashram which was established to do preserve and sustain the various folk arts & crafts of the region, has also led to an enless search and the understanding of the concept of india.
macro level understanding of the structure and working of the indian society and psyche.

in the process of this study, though working largely with the craft communitites, what has evolved is this beautiful understanding of the indian pysche, the inter realtionship of the socio-cultural -econimoic fabric of india.
foundational reinterpretations and interventions, in Indian society, and its rationale, in contemporary Indian thinking.
Combined with his story telling techniques, i am sure all of would find something to connect with all that he has to share.
One of Penguin publication called Bapu Kuti by Rajni Bakshi ( a collection of stories of people, whom the author felt are carrying the gandhian legacy) has a chapter on him.

PB SRINIVAS - an IIT-IIM graduate, who chose to not board the flight to America after graduating, but instead work
His vision and the conduct is also a bridge between two generations

ANAND KUMAR - Anand Kumar with good understanding of science policy in India in post- and pre-independence India. Widely read and traveled with insights on some gifted leaders in India from Shivaji, Vivekananda, Gandhi and Aurobindo.Krish Murali, who is based in B'lore would also join, depending upon the availability of time. He has been working on idea of Innovation and its implications, from large corporates to Grass root innovators.

SOME INTRODUCTIONS


Let me begin with a brief introduction of mine ( thoughi find it to be one of the toughest question to answer), and i hope that other joining in to make this confluence happen would also do this to help each of us develop a virtual understanding of each other before we physically get to meet in person.

Having studied enginnering and design, and not finished both, i am still a 12th pass by formal education. Currently i am working as a designer with a firm in Delhi which is extensively into designing museums. THrough my work and my experiemtns ( if i may call them so) have
a spirit which somewhere has also led me to know more of this beuatiful context of India that i am a part of

SInce we all are professional, and by profession i mean we are enganged in an activity which has has some meaning for an individual/ or a group other than us. However large or small.

As professionals, we are always working in a macro scenairo of inter realtionships with ohter professionals...
COuld the dialouge be the roles of present day professions in shaping the indian context. From engineering to art, from dance to agriculture... What is their present face? How are they related to our cultural,economical, and political fabric, and how we would like to see it changing. This might make sense specially in the wake of the interaction with people like anand kumar, srinivas etc...
some other topics ...
The Information Age -

FOR VAIBHAV, what will the visionaries comment on? they also need a backdrop to talk to us,