On the opening day, I met GEP Ministers and Members from Australia, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Spain, Sri Lanka, USA, UK, Japan, China, Brazil, Greece, Italy, Uruguay, Russia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Nepal. It was great to see GEP colleagues I had first met in 2010, and others whom I had communicated with via email and Skype, but not met in person. It was especially nice to connect in person with Mira, whom I have been working closely with for the past 7 years, since I first joined the GEP. Mira does an amazing job for HH Jagadguru Swami Isa’s GEP, Isa Viswa Vidyalayam school, and the Isa Viswa Prajnana Trust.
Several GEP members volunteered as drivers of the GEP minivan, to take us back and forth between the hotel and the Old Assembly Hall at the Government State Secretariat, in the centre of the city. Thus, I had the pleasure of talking with numerous local professionals and learned about their daily challenges and cultural issues.
Each day, two hotel workers kindly came to
my room to help me dress in my silk saris,
which was quite an experience in itself—6
meters of silk and lots of pins!
On the second day, I arrived well in time
for the Inaugural Function. A beautiful flag
ceremony honoured every country member present, and a Global Peace Shawl was given to each one. Representing Australia, I was the first to be given the beautiful locally made shawl by the Deputy Chairman of the Upper House of the Indian Parliament, Prof. PJ Kurien. In 2010, he and I were photographed with the original text of the “I Theorem” by Swami Isa, which is now known as the “I Theory”— a unified theory of everything. Scientists in many countries, especially Dr. Christophe Dumas in France, who is the GEP Minister of Science and Technology, are fascinated to discover more about it and its
applications in society.
During the Parliament, robust discussions,
questions, answers, and submissions were
made by experts in various fields of science
(medicine, engineering, architecture, etc.),
along with the Students’ Parliament and
government leaders.
At the Valedictory Function, I had the pleasure of sitting next to one of India’s
most respected scientists, the former Chairman of the India Space Research Organization, G. Madhavan Nair. He was a
very kind and intelligent person. Also present was Kerala’s Leader of the Opposition, the always energetic and smiling Ramesh Chennithala, and one of
the veteran political leaders who had been the Governor of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Vakkom Purushottam.
Then, I had the honour of presenting trophies to the following award winners for the 2017
session:
Best Minister: Dr. Christophe Dumas, Head of Solar-Thermal Division, Centre for
Alternative and Atomic Energy (CEA), Cadarache, France
Best Student Minister: Anusruti S.S., Govt Law College, Thiruvananthapuram, India
Best Parliamentarian: Dr. P. Krishna Kumar, presently working as Associate Professor in
Economics ad Kerala Law Academy, Law College, Trivandrum, India
Best Student Parliamentarian: Paras Dubey, 5 years Integrated M.Sc. Economics, Shri
Mata Vaishno Devi University, Jammu & Kashmir
Best Submission: Dr. Sujakshi Haridas, Physician, Trivandrum, India
Best Student Submission: Anoop Krishnan H., BA Journalism Mass Communication and
Video Production, MarIvanios College,
Thiruvananthapuram
To my surprise I was also presented with a special plaque of recognition, which was ever so heartwarming.