We are delighted to announce that Mensa India has become a Full National Mensa!

Mensa India was started in 1972 and now has more than 1700 members in regional chapters across the country. Indeed, it is because Mensa India has numerous chapters, each with its own set of governance and incorporation documents, that it has taken considerable time and effort for the varying national documentation to be brought into alignment with the requirements set out in the Mensa International Constitution.

Now that this has been achieved, Gowri Shanker, President of Mensa India, would like to express his thanks to all those who have helped Mensa India reach this important milestone, including former Director of Development Bibiána Balanyi, Executive Director Michael Feenan, and Dan Burg of American Mensa. On a national level, Gowri said that in addition to all the tireless Mensa India volunteers, a special mention must go to former presidents Nirav Sanghavi and Kishore Asthana, President Elect Imtiaz Saigara, and Chief Editor Krishnan Iyer.

Gowri has highlighted two special projects about which Mensa India is especially proud: Tribal Mensa and Project Dhruv are initiatives which have identified, nurtured and mentored thousands of underprivileged, gifted children across western and northern India; and plans are in place to extend these schemes across the whole country. Mensa India said that the experienced Tribal Mensa and Dhruv teams would be delighted to share their experiences and advice with other national Mensas if they would like to implement similar programs in their own countries.

One of the underprivileged children to benefit from these Mensa India projects is now studying for a university degree in mathematics, and she is planning to go on to do a PhD. Clearly appreciative for all the support she has received, her blog is called, “I believe in magic because of Mensa India.”

Another underprivileged child wrote that, for him, this is what Mensa stands for: 

M = Motivational mentors who are always with us.

E = Encourages me to do what I want to be in my life.

N = Never be negative if we fail in any competition. They let me know the reasons of failure so that I can work on that.

S = Sympathetic towards us during financial need.

A = All Mensans are like my family who always stand with me all the time.

It doesn’t get more inspirational than that! However, as President Shanker made clear, he and his colleagues at Mensa India are not resting on their laurels:

“With the newfound energy that comes with becoming a Full National Mensa, our team hopes to bring the magic of Mensa to people of India across all economic levels.”

Congratulations once again to Mensa India!