University of Pennsylvania
Speaker: Vijay Swami
Pictures
The PA-DE chapter of HSS organized a Speaker on Campus event at the University of Pennsylvania Campus on Friday, September 21st from 7pm to 8.30pm. This event was also co –sponsored and arranged by Rangoli, the Indian Graduate Students Association on the U Penn campus. About 22 students attended the event; all of them were graduate studens from India.
The event started with a brief introduction of Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh followed by the speaker,Sri Vijay Swamiji’s introduction. Vijayji spoke about “ Ecological Awareness and Native Cultures”, with specific references to his 22 years of experience working with the natives of Arunachal Pradesh. The presentation was an eye-opener to one and all in the room. It was fascinating to see how the daily lives of the tribals are intricately woven into coexisting and protecting Mother Earth. It also showed how little all of us were aware of some parts of our own Motherland. The presentation was very pictorial and therefore kept the interest of the audience throughout. The presentation ended with an interesting question and answer session.
At the end of the presentation the General Secretary of International Center for Cultural Studies (www.iccsus.org), Dr Shekhar Patel explained more about their efforts to revive and unite the native/ancient traditions around the world. The center is opening a project office in Arunachal Pradesh to work with the natives there. He also explained the many projects in which the students can lend a helping hand. This interested the attendees even more.
The evening ended with informally meeting the students and getting their contact information. About 16 of the attending students expressed genuine interest in getting involved in the activities of both HSS and ICCS. The president of “Rangoli” invited HSS to give a 15min presentation during their Diwali function in November as well as welcomed the idea of organizing the exhibition during that time. This event therefore was a beginning of forming relationships with the student association on the U Penn campus.