Manthan Foundation turns 10

Technology may be to blame for the dumbing down of conversation, intellectual discussion and debate, but in Hyderabad, the Manthan Foundation is largely responsible for keeping them alive.

When they started organising their talks 10 years ago, chartered accountants and friends Ajay Gandhi and M.R. Vikram didn’t realise just how big their idea would grow into. “We would generally crib a bit, that the city did not have a space where we could go beyond cricket, movies and entertainment,” says Ajay, “So one day we said, ‘Enough of cribbing, let’s do something on our own’.”

Their first talk drew a crowd of around 70 people at Saptaparni (a cultural event space). “It started raining and the power went off,” Ajay remembers, “So we went indoors — they had an open hall where they have the library now — and about 70 of us crammed into that. In candlelight, we had a 45-minute talk followed by a Q&A session without a mic!”

Ten years have passed, but the two friends, who have always been interested in anything that “stimulates the mind”, are just as passionate about their cause. Says Vikram, “Both of us think alike but we disagree on many things too, it’s good fun. That’s what Manthan is all about.”

Their drive is seen in the quality of speakers and talks. With over 157 talks, averaging around 16 to 18 every year, Ajay says their focus is on good speakers rather than good topics; speakers such as Kumar Sangakarra, Rajamohan Gandhi, Shekhar Gupta, Yogendra Yadav. Ajay says, “Now we get a lot of recommendations and we decide whom to invite... we never lower the bar of quality.”

The two are also sure that the very idea of Manthan can inspire people around the country to form groups like theirs, without them needing to do it themselves. The idea that intelligent conversation can help society is what they believe in. Ajay says, “For us, this is our activism... this the Karma we have chosen for ourselves.”