The discussion meeting of Thinkers’ Forum USA, was held on February 19, 2012 at Dr. Shoeb Amin’s office at 48 New Main Street,Haverstraw, N.Y. The meeting was attended by Mr. Mehfooz Rahman, Dr R. Chowdhury, Dr. N. Elahi, Dr. I.Moeen, Dr. F. Sheikh, Mr. N. Salik, Mr. Ajaz Uddin Shah, Mr. M. Ashraf, Dr S. Amin, Mr. A. Ahmad, Mr. I.Bokhari, Mr. Z. Khizer and N. Kidwai.

The first topic of the meeting was “Holism”. Few days before the meeting, Mr. Mirza I. Ashraf has already e-mailed the article to the participants. After introduction, Mr. Mirza I. Ashraf gave his presentation, and because the topic was very complex , lot of questions were asked. Mirza Sahib graciously answered all the questions and made the discussion more interesting by telling short historic stories. Although It was felt that the speaker was interrupted too many times, nevertheless the complex discussion  was very absorbing and two hours  flew by very quickly.

After the main discussion, there was exchange of ideas about how to make the format more organized. The general consensus was to keep each presentation to last about 15-20 minutes and followed by the Q &A period of 20-25 minutes. If the topic is lengthy and complex, the presentation shall be for about 45 minutes, followed by Q&A period of about 45 minutes. The moderator shall make sure that all the participants shall have a chance to express their opinion and ask the questions.

The discussion on first topic ended at 5:30 P.M., and because of lack of time, second topic was not discussed. Informal discussions continued during the tea and snack time. The meeting ended at 6:30 P.M.

THE NEXT MEETING IS SCHEDULED ON SUNDAY, MARCH 25, 2011 AT 3:00 P.M.