From Times of India.
No number crunching at IITs [Indian Institue of Technology, India's main university of techology] on Sundays... that's the day geeks get in touch with their spiritual side.
What would the typical weekend of an IITian look like? Crunching numbers and cracking software codes is a likely guess.
Only it is wide off the mark, for, this new generation of IITians believes in getting in touch with their spiritual side every Sunday. So out go the labs and in come the temples.
"The IIT students spend their weekends attending classes on stress management, mind concentration and, of course, chanting the Mahamantra - Hare Krishna Hare Rama at ISKCON temple,"says Vivek, coordinator of the Youth Forum.
When quizzed about the coming together of what seems like two opposite poles, Avinabh Grover, a biotech student at IIT-Delhi, says,"To us, this place is the mascot of Indian spirituality... the MIT of Hinduism."
In fact, students feel that spirituality is as indispensable as science."Science has many limitations and assumptions.
For example, the Big Bang theory may partially explain the origin of the universe, but what caused that phenomena, who created the infinitesimal particles that made it happen? Through religion, we have a better understanding of nature,"says Sreenivasulu, an MTech degree holder from IIT Kanpur.
Involvement in spiritual activities has also meant a happier existence for these geeks."After joining this group, I feel happier and less stressed in life.
Believe me, it's better than watching a movie or TV,"says Rakesh Kumar, an IITian from Kanpur.
Inspired by the IITians, other engineering and management students have also started flocking to temples.
"The PowerPoint presentation classes and seminars on time and stress management and concentration through mind control are very effective,"says Vikram Singh, a BBA student.
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