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WATVE’S
FORUM FOR THE HOPELESSLY CURIOUS
What starts off as an argument, often leads to a flurry
of new ideas. This is often seen in science where
informal discussions and arguments trigger inquisitive
pursuits.
More than a decade ago, Milind Watve initiated a unique
discussion forum or ‘katta’ (in Marathi), where a
group of people would get together in the evening to
discuss and argue over questions, ideas and unexplained
phenomena of the natural world. Participants at kattas
have ranged from students to engineers and doctors,
drawn by a common urge to ask questions about everything
from molecules to elephants to philosophy. This
tradition has been running uninterrupted in Pune for
years, and has fired up the imagination of several young
students, enabling them to identify their interests and
follow successful (and satisfying) careers.
There were three kinds of discussions - 1) Where Watve
clearly knew a lot about the theme and led the
discussion. 2) Where a topic was pre-decided by
consensus, a few seminal papers/articles related to that
topic were distributed beforehand, and people were
expected to read those prior to the critical
discussions. 3) Where people brought up interesting
topics over which nobody was an authority, and the
discussion was allowed to flow in whatever course it
took, with a little nudging from Watve (these
interactions were sometimes baffling because no
satisfactory outcome emerged, but in retrospect,
that’s ok).
Did the katta influence my own life? Totally. It exposed
me to a world of ideas that were far beyond the scope of
a standard syllabus. Ideas that I may or may not have
been exposed to otherwise.
Adish
Dani
Post-Doctoral Researcher, Harvard University
Ex-Student Of Milind Watve
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