‘Threads 2019’, the dynamic conference organized by the World Hindu Council of America has finalized a stellar line of speakers for this event which is to be held from Nov.1-3,2019, at the Woburn Hilton in Woburn, MA, USA.
Expansive in its reach, the conference will feature a dozen sessions that cover several areas of engagement. Achievers in each field will discuss their experiences and engage in conversations that speak of their impact on the society at large. As Dr. Sailesh Rao, Director, Climate Healers said, it will be the “first of its kind conference to tell the story of Hindus in the western world.”
While there is a broad sense of the success of Bharatiyas in the US, the conference aims at holding a periscope to more closely document what that means. Paramacharya Sadasivanathaswami, who edits the popular ‘Hinduism Today’ noted, “the time has come to celebrate and to thoughtfully reckon the impact of Hindu Dharma on American society.”
The Bharatiya-American community has recently burst into the political scene with energy. Among those are elected state officials Niraj Atani and Padma Kuppa who will be on hand, along with others, in a session on public service and advocacy. The panel will focus on cultivating skills and creating networks for young Hindu-Americans and study the positive values of Hindu thought like truth and moderation in the public square.
Philanthropy is another area where Hindu-Americans give back to a nation that has embraced them so generously. Experts in this session, like former Obama administration official Nishith Acharya and Megha Desai of the Desai Foundation will talk about how the strategy of giving can be crafted, so there is optimal end use of funds as well as personal fulfillment.
From the world of business are two sessions. “Exploring Opportunities in the US-India Relationship”, moderated by Dr. Mukesh Aghi, President and CEO of the high profile US India Strategic Partnership Forum, will look at the opportunities in Bharat– US commercial relationship as well as the impact of this relationship on the global economy. Jit Saxena, a leading figure in the data and analytical industry and Ram Sudireddy, a serial entrepreneur, along with others, will discuss what it takes to, “think outside the box,” in a panel that will focus on, “Innovation – Thinking Non-Linearly.”
The session on medicine, pharmacy and biotech will investigate not only how access to life saving therapies and technologies can be effectively made to reach all but, how it can be done ethically; a case in point being gene editing. Panelists will include experts in radiology, vaccines and drug manufacturers.
Education as a building block for a community and a nation has speakers who cover the gamut – college student, high school teacher and professors at ivy leagues. In another session, eminent professors from the fields of physics, medicine and biology will meet with philosophers to understand and articulate the connection between the two disciplines in a discussion titled, “Science of Consciousness: Lessons from Modern Science and Vedanta.”
Eminent Professor at Oklahoma State University, Subhash Kak expects, “the amazing spiritual tradition we have in Bharat which is increasingly finding a place in the intellectual and secular fabric of life in the United States of America,” to be of interest not only to Bharatiya-Americans but to other ethnicities too.
The world is now consumed with the idea of holistic living, a long valued Bharatiya tradition. Ayurveda, naturopathy, yoga, meditation and other aspects will be discussed to see how emotional, physical and mental balance at the individual level leads to a more peaceful society. Dr. Stuart Rothenberg, the national medical director of the Transcendental Meditation Health Professionals Association, and the keynote speaker for the holistic panel, states: “This conference will bring together inspiring speakers from a wide variety of fields to share the contributions of Hindu Americans to advancing knowledge and improving quality of life for individuals everywhere”.
Bharat’s diverse performing arts are renowned. Along with writers and visual artists like Philip Goldberg and Malathi Iyengar, musicians and dramatists will, in an interactive session, tell the story of how they have kept their unique art forms alive and relevant, here in America.
The inspiring and thoughtfully curated sessions, which will provide a wealth of information to attendees, will be complemented with other programming too, according to Conference Convener Dr. Jai Bansal. He said, “there will be lightening talks on unique ideas and projects, while poster presentations on various subjects will provide visual enhancement of various Hindu-American themes.”
For more information and to register: www.threads2019.org.
The World Hindu Council of America is an independent, nonprofit and volunteer-based charitable organization serving the needs of the Hindu community in the US since 1970.
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