News

SJR - Silver Jubilee Reunion

This was the fourth consecutive year, that saw the alumni of 25 years standing attend their Silver Jubilee Reunion (SJR) in large numbers. The BTech/MSc(Int) Class-of-76 could trace 110 of their batchmates before the event, and out of those 66 attended the SJR. It was surprising that some of those who were located only at the last moment decided to join the gathering, whereas several of whose whereabouts were known well in advance and who live in nearby areas of Delhi/ Ghaziabad remained conspicuous by their absence. Quite a few, though very desirous to attend their SJR, had to cancel their programme at the eleventh hour. Prof TR Viswanathan, a favourite faculty member at the Institute during the 70s also accompanied them for the SJR and was an important guest for the function. A large contingent arrived by the Shatabdi Express on Friday, December 29. The first priority for most of them was visiting the Halls of Residence. Students gave them a very warm welcome, wherever they went. They too found student volunteers to be just "terrific" for the care with which these volunteers attended to their comfort during their entire stay.

The inauguration was followed by the Departmental Visits. Special mention of a very warm hospitality by the Electrical and the Chemical Engineering departments is made in the mails received after the event from the alumni of these two departments. The reception given to them by the Mechanical Engineering on the terrace roof was also considered a novel feature by the ME alumni. Departmental visits were followed by the Director’s Lunch in the Visitors Hostel and taking of the Reunion group photograph at the basketball courts. Afternoon session on December 30 was devoted to the Kelkar Alumni Lecture (KAL) that was delivered by Padma Bhushan Dr Anil Kakodkar on the theme of "Strategies for the development of Thorium based Power Systems" Evening of the same day saw a jam-packed session in L7 in which Mr Muktesh Pant, Mr Atul Malhotra, Dr RS Nikhil, Mr Sudhakar Kesavan, Mr Harish Kumar and Mr Birendra Kumar participated in a panel discussion on the theme of the Management and Entrepreunership that was moderated by Dr Arijit Bose. The panel discussion was followed by a Cultural Show put up by the Class-of-76. Beginning with a poem composed by Mr. Rajesh Nandan Pandey on his reminicences of IIT K, the Cultural Show also became an instant hit. Much against the wishes of all present, it had to be wound up as it would have delayed all other subsequent programmes. Quawalli sung by a party arriving from Lucknow and cutting of the Reunion Cake were the major highlights of the Reunion Dinner.

The schedule on December 31 started with the presentations of the Distinguished Alumnus Awards (DAA) of the year 2000-2001. Mr Jeet Bindra, Prof Sartaj Sahni, Mr. Deepak Bhagat and Mr Arvind Gupta made moving acceptance speeches on being conferred the awards. Dr. Pradip Sindhu and Dr. Rajendra Singh, both recipients of this year's DAA, however, could not attend the convention and join the list of Mr. Umang Gupta and Prof. P. Balram who are also to receive the award on some mutually convenient suitable date in future. The DAA presentation ceremony was followed by the Inauguration of the Silver Jubilee Year Annual Alumni Convention (SJYAAC) at the Pioneer Batch Continuing Education Center (PBCEC). Mr Habakshish Singh Jolly from Kanpur, Mr. RN Trivedi from NOIDA, Dr. RT Krishnanfrom Bangalore (all past Presidents of the Alumni Association) had come for this special function. The unpredicted rains created the problems for the SJYAAC Exhibition that was initially to be put up in the open but had to be shifted indoors at the last moment. The Exhibition displayed a life sketch of Prof PK Kelkar, the founder director of IIT/K, old IIT/K photographs, photographs of the past KAL speakers, past DAAs, past AA presidents and secretaries, past Alumni Association newsletters, cartoons, poems written by alumni and photographs of the past Silver Jubilee Reunions held in recent years. Alumni then moved to Hall III that had hosted the Reminiscent Lunch. It was followed by the felicitation function in Hall III quadrangle itself. On the same afternoon, Mr Arvind Gupta, who had brought with him the kit of his educational toys, gave a demonstration-lecture on science education to school children in the Conference Room of the PBCEC. His lecture was attended by many from the campus community. He became an instant hit with all those who came to hear him. Since then, several books authored by Arvind have remained in great demand on the campus. The Annual General Body Meeting was also held on the evening of December 31. The New Year’s Eve function was organized in SAC.

The question that comes to our mind is what these SJRs have been achieving for the Institute. Obviously, they are able to open a great reservoir of deep nostalgic feeling among the alumni towards their Alma Mater. Many of our alumni who have earned for themselves great fame and name internationally come closer to the Institute through such functions and a close contact with them can be of great mutual interest. After establishing contact, many of them come forward with plans to mobilize the campaign for the fund raising for the Institute. Many of them wish to start research collaboration with the Institute. A few of them have already started working in this direction. But when I look at the organization of all such events from a totally detached manner, I feel that a lot still needs to be done to involve many of our alumni who are from the MSc (2 yrs), MTech and PhD programmes. In spite of our best efforts, the SJRs till now have remained UG- centric. But we have to go beyond these narrow emphases. The sooner it is done, the better it would be for the Alumni Association and the Institute.

Sanjeev Bhargava
Secretary, Alumni Association