Tuesda , October30, 2012 TechNews

campus@technewsiit.com

UTSAV GANDHI

3

ISO hosts 2nd CTA train party

By Ibrahim El-Natour
TECHNEWS WRITER

ISO at IIT is host,
ing their second CTA “L" Party!
If there is one thing we are famous for be,
sides being the Windy City [and deep
dish pizza] it is that we have probably
one the most efficient mass transit syse
tem in the country, if not internationally

Everyone knows that the best kind of
party is a VIP party, so exclusive that youhave to
know someone throwing it just to get on the list:

Well, we kind of know people, and by
that we mean we can get you on the list: Now
what if we told you that this party is on the best
train system in the world, “the L"; what would
your reaction be? A party so exclusive every
train car has its own D] and its own theme:

We will have 4 cars to represent 4 lo,
cations: the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Afrie
ca: And all these cars have different food, songs,
and dancing: We’re actually not quite sure if
you can handle a party so exclusive! And so
here is where you come in, put on some tradi7
tional clothing and hop on our CTA train party

This party will be on Friday Novem7
ber 2 from 7 pm: to 10pm: and it’s so exclusive
we are only letting people off the train: Board,
ing will take place on the 35th/Bronzeville
IIT train stop; so be there early and get ready
to experience a once in a life time event:

Reserve your spot! Sign up for
free at http://tinyurl:com/ctaparty2012
Tovolunteertohelp decoratetheattheCTAtrain
email Ayman at aymanhamed90@gmail:com

Decorations will be provide
ed as we try to exemplify the world cul
tures and regions: Simply join the CTA
and us for decorating “L" party after:

1'

Photos courtesy ofISO

r“

 

|-Fest Week celebrates campus diversity with food, fun

By Ibrahim El-Natour
TECHNEWS WRITER

If money were not a concern, where
would you go in this world? What would
you like to see? Which crazy and interesting
foods would you like to try? The Interna7
tional Students Organization is going to make
this happen for you: ‘How?’ you may ask

The week of November 5th is In,
ternational Week, a week filled with activi7
ties to stimulate all of your senses: We will
start off the week with the best way to start
anything, that is, food: To kickestart IEFest,
ISO is proud to present ‘Taste of IIT’, a jam,
boree of eclectic and flavorfiil dishes from
all around the world: Now you get a chance

to experience new tastes and flavors in small
portions, so you can try many different foods
and feel your stomach crossing the globe on
the MTCC Bridge: A word of advice on your
journey across the globe: show up early, be,
cause the treats always get grabbed up quickly,
as we like to call this day IEFEAST: Rememe
ber: MTCC Bridge, Monday, November 5
from 11am73pm: To participate or volunteer,
sign up at http://tinyurlcom/tastebooth:

That’s not all this week; Taste of IIT
is only the beginning Tuesday will be IEColors
Day, a day to celebrate and show off your nae
tionalistic pride: There will be face painting,
flags, and flag stickers given out on the MTCC
Bridge: Thiswillbegoingonfrom 1272p:m: and
576 pm: on the MTCC Bridge, onNovember 6:

Now that you are well fed and have

Vedic Vision Society:
‘Law of Karma' goes around, comes around

By Sneha Saraf
STAFF WRITER

Speaker Avelo Roy began Friday’s
lecture, “Law of Karma," by starting with the
basics of our true spiritual identity as the soul:
He then explained the universal definition of a
problem: something that nobody wants, every,
body tries to avoid, and that which nobody can
escape: These fundamental problems are called
death, old age, disease, and birth: To be a re,
sponsible human being means to take advan7
tage of our intellectual facilities and question
life, or in Vedic terms, inquire into the Absolute:

With those ideas established, the
speaker moved on to introduce the law of kare
ma, which, simply put, is the science of action
and reaction Roy gave two examples to lead
into this idea of karma and justice: He started
by showing Princess Diana with her two chili
dren, juxtaposed with two children of obvi7
ous poverty carrying bricks on their heads,
asking us to contemplate why some are born

into wealth and opulence, while others are
born into scenes of poverty and exploitation:
With his second example, he asked us if we
thought it seemed fair that Adolf Hitler, whom
was responsible for the torture and deaths of
millions of people, died only once by suicide:

Though it might seem that every,
thing begins at birth and ends at death, the
Vedic perspective proposes an alternative:
We used to have a child’s body Now we have
a youthfiil body, but our sense of “I am" has
not changed: This sense of “I am" comes from
the eternal unchanging soul, the spiritual be,
ings that we all are: This soul continues trans,
migrating after the death of this body into an,
other body, awarded according to our desires
and credits from our past activities (karma):
Roy gave the example of how one who likes
to eat lots of meat may be awarded the body
of a tiger, since that body is most suited to
fulfill that desire: Of course this is a simplie
fication to explain the idea, as karma is ex,
tremely individualized with multiple variables:

According to Vedic philosophy, at

shown off your national pride, it is time to step
up to the challenge and participate in IEGames;
a day of competition and fun, where tradi7
tional games from all around the world will be
played: Bring your AEGame, because we will
not go easy on you: This will be held across
the MTCC Colored Rooms, November 7:

After 3 days of fun and excitement
from around the globe, you have to end the
week with a bang: Thursday night is the cape
stone of ISO events for the semester: We will
start the night with the IEFest, a night of cule
tural performances including singing, dance
ing, (bad) jokes, and a night of all around fiin.

During the show we will take a
brief break, but not for the audience: ISO
Fashion Show will take place at this time,
with a huge mix of fashion from all around

every situation we are faced with the reaction
of our past karma, both good and bad: And in
every situation, we have the freewill to make a
choice that determines future karmic reactions
depending on the action performed: These
reactions can be instant, delayed, or fructify
in another lifetime: Roy gave the example of
somebody who may choose to lie on his ref
sume: The immediate reaction may be that he
gets the job because of the lie, but later on he
gets caught and dismissed: Additionally, in his
next life he could find himself in the position of
the boss or hiring manager and get cheated by
a new employee who lies on his resume: Again,
this is a simplification to explain a concept:

Our free will is strongly influenced,
however, by our sense of “I am", in conjunction
with the mind and senses: This perspective
drives the choices made and therefore the sub,
sequent reactions encountered: For example,
one who identifies himself as a man or an athlete
or scholar will see the world from that respec7
tive viewpoint, and the actions are influenced
according to that sense of material identity

the world, and then we will get back to the 1,
Fest performances and overwhelm you with
excitement: After all that there is even an af7
ter party! Join us at the Bog from 1272 am:
at the IEFest after Party IEFest Performance
and Fashion show will be in the Herman
Hall auditorium from 7711 pm: and the after
party in the BOG will be held from 1272 am:
To participate in the IEFest with any type of
act, sign up at http://tinyurl:com/ifestperfor7
mance: To participate and represent any part
of the world for the IEFest Fashion Show, sign
up at www:tinyurl:com/iitfashionshow2012:

To be added to our mailing list,
and the rest of the excitement we have
to offer , including international movie
nights clothing trips and much more 7 sign
up at http://tinyurl:com/isomaailinglist:

Roy compared karma, or the univere
sal law of actions and reactions, as the neutral
force of justice: Just like a police officer gives a
speeding ticket to any violator, so too we will
face the consequences, both good and bad,
of our decisions and actions: Reactions from
previous pious activities, like being born into
a good family, wealth, beauty, etc: are nice, but
are equally binding because it still does not al
low us to escape the problems of life: Beautifiil
people also get old, wealthy people also get dis,
eases, welleeducated people also die, and so on.

Therefore, Roy concluded by ex,
plaining that by using this human form of
life to inquire into the Absolute and leading
a Godecentric lifestyle, we can perform ac,
tivities beyond the law of karma: These ac,
tivities are karmaefree, and when there are
no more karmic reactions, the Vedas state
that one no longer has to face the four prob,
lems of birth, disease, old age, and death:

As always, the lectures
are available for viewing and dis,
cussion on facebookcom/vedicvis: