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From the Desk of the Editor:By Ajit Narayanan [2003-DDEE]
The morning program began with breakfast (at Tiffany’s), followed by a talk on Shaastra. Shaastra is fast becoming the premier student festival in IIT Madras, and it was interesting to hear Mr Sayan Ganguly, who is in charge of the event this year, talk about the progression of Shaastra from humble (but ambitious) beginnings to what it is today. The next event was a panel discussion on entrepreneurship. This was
the second-most popular event of the day, and had a huge number of
student and alumni participating. The event was moderated by Mr Srini
Nageshwar, President of the IITMAA, and featured Mr Subroto Bagchi, the
founder of Mindtree, who gave a great talk after an inspiring video. The
panel discussion following the talk was a good opportunity for several
of the alumni and students to interact with renowned entrepreneurs from
IIT Madras, such as Mr R Subramanian, the founder of Subiksha, and The afternoon session began after an invigorating lunch (at Tiffany’s again) followed by a talk by Mr Chand Das on the up-coming Pan-IIT 2008. The famous Pan-IIT video, featuring such hep dudes as Prof Idichandy and my co-editor Prof Nagarajan doing a fist-pump and calling all and sundry to register for the event, was shown to much relish from the audience. [We interrupt this editorial to bring you a sponsor’s message: Register for Pan-IIT 2008! www.paniit2008.org] The Director spoke after the Pan-IIT session, and his usual wit and sparkle haven’t lost their sheen despite the heaviness of the head that wears the crown. I remember, while we were planning the event, one of the organizing committee pointed out that any alumni event has a much better attendance if the Director is talking. I can see why. The Director’s talk was followed by the five projects that the alumni have taken upon themselves to implement in the year ahead, as part of IIT Madras’ Golden Jubilee Celebrations. They included a talk on Water India by Mr Gautham on behalf of the 1978 batch, a talk on Education by Mr Balaji Sampath, my fellow VP in the EC, a humorous take on entrepreneurship by Cmdr Mohan Menon, a talk on how he has ‘rebooted’ the IIT MAA by our beloved president Srini Nageshwar, and your own beloved co-editor (me) talking on the book on IIT’s history. I must say I’m quite shocked by the notoriety of the tag ‘1 crore book’ that seems to have been affixed to the book, in view of certain budget estimates that no one wants to take responsibility for (least of all myself). That said, there is a certain ring to it, no? ‘The One-Crore Book’. One day, it may well be as famous as the ‘One Lakh Car’. The dinner program was organized in a smashing manner by the Shaastra organizers in the Himalaya Mega-mess. And rounding off the event was what was undeniably the most popular event of the day: a screening in the OAT of ‘The Dark Knight’. All in all, I suppose the Alumni Student Conclave gave all of us that warm, fuzzy feeling that Saturdays used to give us when we were still students. True, we didn’t have the obligatory booze party through the night. But the interaction with students, the nostalgia of the old campus, and most of all the evergreen romance of the OAT movie made it a day that is worth repeating year after year. Ajit ‘Q’ |
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This
month’s issue was timed to coincide with what is hoped to be the premier
event on the alumni calendar in future years: The Alumni Student
Conclave. This event was held on the 6th of September, 2008. Attended by
about 80 alumni, and about 250 students, the event proved to have caught
the mood of the moment and carried itself off very well indeed.