Conquering the Heavens and into Deep Space

It all started during their high school days around 8 years ago. Sriharsha Sheshanarayan (left), Abhijith Janardhan (right) and Arvind Shreyas (below) were possessed. Rather, they were star-struck and space-struck. They wanted to explore the heavens above through the telescopes they were making and the stratosphere with the Aeroplanes they were learning to design and the outer fringes of deep space with the spacecrafts they were going to conceive of in the near future. To this end they began to build up their background with great passion and intensity.

They gathered diverse materials and constructed instruments to explore Astronomical objects. They built rockets of several types and they began to learn advanced topics of their interest. And they went in search of people who could guide them and resources they could tap into. It was then that they came across CFRCE. Abhijith Janardhan had been meeting Prof. Dr. Ramachandra in a series of talks and been enraptured by his novel method of teaching. This planted a seed in him that was to yield a great harvest in future. A few months later, Abhijith was in search. He wanted to meet the Physicist and explore possibilities of learning more. With characteristic zeal he tracked him down and asked about being mentored by him at the  "Centre for Fundamental Research and Creative Education." Dr. Ram readily agreed, impressed as he was with Abhijith's keen inquisitiveness and inquiring attitude. He asked Abhijith to join a program, "Discovering Einstein," held at the Centre. Abhijith could hardly contain his excitement. His enthusiasm percolated to his friends, Sriharsha, Shreyas B P, Arivand Shreyas, Prithvishree Ravindra and Nikhila Karanth who also approached the Centre. Soon, these bright young students were discovering learning. The topics ranged from Physics and Chemistry to Biology, Mathematics, Astronomy, Astrophysics and Space. It was an enthralling period for them and soon, they were filled with a sense of great purpose, nothing less than the actualization of their deepest potential and for the good of the Nation and the world. They were some of the first to explore the powerful CFRCE methodology of Neuro-Cognitive Mentoring by means of which they became independent of all teachers, for life. Simultaneously, their personal development shot up as they made plans for their future. Mutually reinforced by each other, they chose fields that would give them the highest fulfillment and the best opportunity to contribute back to society.

Today, all the six have accomplished and distinguished themselves at the highest levels of excellence in their chosen fields. Sriharsha, Abhijith and Arvind Shreyas are among the select group of students pursuing Aerospace studies at the University of Toulouse, France. Prithvishree and Nikhila have completed their MBBS degrees and are on their way to become established Doctors of Medicine. Shreyas B P after completing his Bachelor's degree in Engineering at the National Institute of Technology, Surathkal, is on his way to greater heights of learning....and the journey goes on...

Boundless Creativity

A lot has transpired since April 8 when Dr. Ram found a way to support Madhavan Venkatesh in his creative endeavours. Over the weeks, Madhavan has amply justified the hopes and aspirations of his friends, colleagues and fellow researchers at CFRCE. Vasudev Shyam on the other hand obtained his visa to London and set sail on the voyage to the Timeless. 

Put simply, Vasudev is presently in London in the company of some of the very finest minds in the field of Loop Quantum Gravity and Shape Dynamics. He is on a 15-day research retreat at "College Farm," Prof. Julian Barbour's Timeless "Leibniz Institute for Theoretical Physics."  The aim to the group is to  discuss key problems in Shape Dynamics and Bianchi Cosmologies. Younger colleagues at CFRCE await the wealth of riches that Vasudev is bound to bring back after giving abundantly to the group of his own store of learning. 

Meanwhile, Madhavan has been having bouts of intense creativity. He has formulated and proved theorems on Loop Groups and Algebras, a special type of Lie Groups and Lie Algebras that have become well know in 2-Dimensional Quantum Field Theory and Mathematical Physics. 

Madhavan seems to have got interested in Loop Groups due to two reasons. The first, while he was studying the Cambridge Monograph on Mathematical Physics by Fuchs and Schweigert, "Lie Groups, Lie Algebras and Representations for Physicists," and the second being his interest in the Loop Space formulation of Quantum General Relativity.

 

But no one was prepared for the surprise or perhaps shock that Madhavan sprung on them. He submitted a paper to the arXiv entitled, "An Algebraic Topological Construct of Classical Loop Gravity and the prospect of Higher Dimensions." We have it from Dr. Ram himself that it is a top-notch paper of a very high order and of cutting edge quality. He spoke about it over and over at CFRCE. More remarkable he said was the fact that Madhavan had smashed his way through insurmountable obstacles. He wondered whether a lesser person would have survived what Madhavan has had to. But Madhavan has and has come out of the ordeal stronger and purer, alchemized. And to let the cat fully out of the bag, this paper is the first of 3 new papers he has already written and is finalizing for publication!

The reason why Madhavan has perhaps survived is perhaps mostly due to his intense faith in himself apart from the support he found from his family and others who really cared for his creativity. One wonders how many young minds would have the gift of that kind of faith. Surrounded by the default negative environment that has a 99 can'ts as opposed to one "can," it is not hard to see the absence of faith in oneself.

World Class Distinction for CFRCE Students

April 8 is a very significant day. On the morning of this day Prof. Dr. Ramachandra or simply Dr. Ram as he is better known was deeply concerned. One of his (presently)12th grade students Madhavan Venkatesh was under pressure. For those already familiar with CFRCE, Madhavan's name is synonymous with creativity of the highest order. Together with Vasudev Shyam, also in the 12th grade, Madhavan has been working on the very frontiers of Modern Mathematical Physics. Both Vasudev and Madhavan have written papers of a very high class encompassing the most sophisticated Mathematical methods that go by the name of Differential Geometry, Symplectic Geometry, Presymplectic Geometry, Lie Groups and Lie Algebras, not to speak of Loop Quantum Gravity and Shape Dynamics. 

Perhaps less known is the fact that they have been in correspondence with some of the most renowned Physicists of the present century. Vasudev has been corresponding with Prof.Julian Barbour, Henrique Gomes, Sean Gryb, Tim Koslowski and Flavio Mercati. His work has received appreciation from Prof. Lee Smolin, Prof.Jorge Pullin, and Prof. Parampreet Singh.

Madhavan has been corresponding with Prof.Jorge Pullin, Prof. Carlo Rovelli and Prof. Fernando Barbero. His work has received appreciation from  Prof. Jorge Pullin and Prof. Parampreet Singh.

Vasudev Shyam has been invited by Prof. Julian Barbour to the "Leibnitz Institute for Theoretical Physics," or simply, "College Farm," where he is to be in a select group of six to seven experts on Shape Dynamics. The irony is that he may not be able to make it due to delay in his Visa. Even though Prof. Julian Barbour has personally written to the Consulate, the Visa is still pending. 

Now coming to the significance of April 8, on the morning of this day, Dr. Ram received en email from Prof. Abhay Ashtekar. Prof. Ashtekar wrote to him that he had been hearing about Madhavan from Prof. Jorge Pullin and Prof. Parampreet Singh. He had learned that Madhavan had been forced to concentrate on his regular school studies. He certainly did not want to interfere with Madhavan's parents as they would be better acquainted with the practical aspects of undergraduate careers in India than he was. But if it helped strengthen Dr. Ram's case with Madhavan's parents, and or encourage him, he could feel free to quote him (Prof. Ashtekar) as saying that he found it most remarkable that someone in the 11th (as he was just two months ago) standard was doing research at that level.

Prof. Ashtekar also wanted to thank Dr. Ram for fostering the growth of bright young minds and that he was following with interest the paper that Vasudev and Madhavan had submitted to the "Journal of General Relativity and Gravitation," that would soon be appearing.

Dr. Ram immediately had the solution to his problem, that is, to support Madhavan in his research. But in spite of Prof. Ashtekar's permission to quote him, he felt very hesitant. He had always felt like the German Mathematician Franz Newman that, "The greatest luck is the discovery of a new truth. To that, recognition adds little or nothing." But he also recalled the saying that, "if, for the sake of a higher cause, you have to use something of it's power, it is one's sacred obligation to do so." He also realized that Prof. Ashtekar spoke not only for Madhavan but for all those exceptionally creative young minds who year after year lost their battle to the unenlightened educational system and the social pressures.

Therefore, after thinking about the best possible way to go about it, he spoke to Madhavan's father about Prof. Ashtekar's email. Afterwards, he disclosed a little of it to others at the Centre with the hope that it would inspire the younger students who were on similar paths as Vasudev and Madhaven. But he refused to quote the email in full anywhere as it was too personal.However, he agreed to allow part of it to be posted in the CFRCE blog with the intention that it may inspire and send hope into the hearts of aspiring students.

So, we don't know and may never know what exactly Prof. Ashtekar wrote to Dr. Ram but from what he mentioned, it is that the Cause for which Vasudev and Madhavan are working is absolutely worth supporting and nurturing. 

In Dr. Ram's experience, there are many students who could hope to be like Vasudev and Madhavan. But they very soon succumb to social pressure that for the most part is unenlightened, it's only justification being that the crowd follows it. The price to pay for that oversight is loss of the geniuses that society laments no longer are coming. For, how could they? They are nipped in the bud, even before they have anything to show!

Meeting with a Parent

A student along with his parent walks in to the CFRCE premises and as they are about to enter the visitors' chamber, notice a quotation on the wall by Helen Keller, "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing".  As they look below they are struck by another quotation by Aldos Huxley, "Experience is not what happens to you. It is what you do with what happens to you." As they are wondering what the connection is between these two, their eyes fall on yet another by Jadunath Sarkar, "India cannot afford to forever remain an Intellectual parish, a beggar for crumbs from Cambridge and Oxford, Paris and Vienna. She must create within herself a place for highest intellectual research and regain her rightful place as the leader of Asia even as Periclean Athens was, the leader of Hellas".

A few steps more and they enter the Director's chamber. The Director welcomes them with a broad smile and ushers them to take their seats. He asks, "What can we do for you?" The parent begins immediately, "My son here is in the seventh grade. We know he is bright but he is quite lazy. He is not responsible. He does anything but study." The Director nods reassuringly and asks the parent, "Does your son play? Does he watch television? Does he like gadgets?" The parent responds, "He is doing that all the time. That is the problem."

The Director smiles once again and says, "That is not a problem, it is the solution." "What do you mean?" The parent asks somewhat bewildered. "You see," explains the Director, "It is not indispensable to study in order to learn. Indeed, study need not have anything to do with learning though when used intelligently, can play a powerful role. Neither does learning have anything to do with studies though it may often motivate one to study."

"What?" asks the parent, "What do you mean?" "It is just this," says the Director, "What is important in any activity is the outcome. Once that is clear, there can be several ways to achieve them. Learning means, creating new neural networks in the brain that mirror the processes that go into the actions one needs to take to achieve the outcome. The brain unlike a computer has the ability to cross-train itself. This makes it possible to transfer skills across domains, somewhat like technology transfer. At CFRCE we specialize in redirecting the natural movements of children and indeed, any individual whatsoever, towards desired outcomes. For instance, we motivate a child who excels at games to use the same activity to learn school lessons. Games then do not become a distraction but a powerful mode of learning.”

“But” asks the parent, “is it really possible? Can my son achieve top scores in that manner?” “Yes,” reassures the Director, “Not only that, he will achieve in the true sense of the term. He will grow into a harmonious personality with qualities of leadership and entrepreneurship and fine social sense with a feeling of contribution to society. These will be the subtle, deeper effect of mentoring at CFRCE. As far as formal academics is concerned, every year, our students go on to achieve academic excellence of the highest order and those who complete their 12th grade go on invariably to top institutions in the world  like Stanford, MIT, Berkeley, WPI, Carnegie Mellon University, Purdue University, etc to name a few.

But we consider this a lesser part of our fulfillment than the former.” "Do I take it that you can take my son through the mentoring program and make him successful?" Asks the parent. "Let's go into it a little so that we can know he is ready for it," replies the Director.

"Would you be taking a test? An Interview?" Continues the parent.

"Not exactly," the Director goes on, "However, we communicate with the student and make certain observations. We then deduce certain facts." "How can you do that?" Asks the parent. "Well," goes on the Director, "The essence of all learning stems from the power of communication. There are certain cues that one may pick up. These reveal more than mere tests that are after all, forcing the student to remain self-conscious. To determine whether a student can really adapt to the intense, but natural and spontaneous learning we install rather than just instil, in the student, we need to observe the student when he/she is in a natural state. That, I have already done. Your son seems to be quite bright. As we were discussing, I could see that he had turned his face slightly away. One would think he was bored. His eyes, however, reveal that he was quite alert. It is just that he, if I am not mistaken, learns more by listening. He inclined his right ear to do that, and appeared to be looking away."

"That's right. I was listening," says the student.....

Fifteen minutes later, the student is in a really excited state. He has asked questions on topics he had been thinking all along and found how to answer them.

"Do you think my son can now join the mentoring program?" Asks the parent.

"There still is one more thing that needs to be done. After that we can decide upon that."

"What is that?" Asks the parent.

"He needs to answer this scientific puzzle, here on this paper," says the Director.

The student bends down and reads the puzzle. As he is reading, his features brighten up.

Five minutes later, he is successful in tackling it. He is now ready to to become one of the keenest young minds, ready to take on topics years beyond him in a bold, adventurous, impetuous and joyful manner.