Golden Jubilee Convocation – IIT Kharagpur

The Golden Jubilee Convocation held on 26th Feb’05 provided us with a wonderful opportunity to skip work for a couple of days and revisit one of the “fine monuments of modern India” once more (I’m sure I wish to do it many more times in near as well as distant future).
The convocation was a success with no additional security arrangement, which could have spoiled the show; no central minister on the podium making ridiculous claims; no sarkari babu echoing his masters voice; and no PSU boss (or even his fat deputy) throwing a corrupt feudal look towards the rest of the world. The dignitaries were all IIT-KGP alumnus like the Director-BARC or Lord Sushantha Bhattacharya and quite familiar R Gopalakrishnan from Tata Group. 
The chief guest was Mr Arjun Malhotra (he set up the G S Sanyal School of Telecom and unlike Mr VinodGupta decided to name the school after his professor G S Sanyal). Arjun delivered a remarkable  speech on the occasion that made the audience spellbound. He touched upon several themes – the fond memories of his IIT days ( “I remember long discussions about life over late night tea at Cheddis”) ; The lessons he’d learnt while founding HCL in the year 1975 in a garage with five others; how his short stint with DCM enriched him; what keeps silicon valley entrepreneurs going and many such anecdotes. The pleasant surprise came when he mentioned VGSoM of all departments of IIT while discussing the how hard is the decision making in real life. (“That situation is one that will be familiar to those of you from the VGSoM. Management consists of taking decisions under conditions of uncertainty”).

While his look, posture & anecdotes reminded me of Dr Subroto Roy, the similies & metaphors had an unmistakable resemblance to that of Prof Sadhu. (“You cannot lead a team unless you can read the team”;  “I call every graduate of this fine institution to go out and create with compassion; lead with love & work with wisdom” He started quite predictably with Nehru, mentioned Gandhi & John F. Kennedy in between and again concluded with that famous quote (“ the making of India’s future…”) of Pandit Nehru, the father of our IIT system.

We four (Kesavan, followed by Kalyan, myself and finally Vaibhav) were somewhere in the middle to receive degrees. There was an element of nervousness since on the stage I had to manage the convocation scarf without forgetting to bow three times at right places and that too in front of flashbulbs & television cameras in plethora. But, it was too cool & near perfect for all of us.

The convocation was followed by a lunch at hangar thrown by the director for degree recipients and other guests. We caught a glimpse of new VGSOM building at the back. Inside, it looked really impressive with new classrooms, computer lab and an elevator. Juniors have added two new white-boards in the placement room (our school is growing…) where I found names of some of us boldly written at strategic places!

Our very own Bahadur (the eternal companion of all those who used to sit in the computer lab till 4 in the morning) was replaced by a new security guard from some private agency.

Juniors were extremely cordial in the hostel. (In fact, I have copied some movies from Praveen Peter’s PC and a few softwares too!). More aquagurads, geyser & one cloth drier have eased the burden on the existing ones. Shareaza is no longer in operation. But the top-priority & confidential activities are now carried out in a new avatar of it called DC++. The quest for good and better movies, hence, could not die down.
Those hapless souls who had taken Buyer Behaviour last year as audit ( including a reasonably smart Shobhit &
his not-so-smart dada) would be glad (!) to hear that our Nike dadi ( so wittily named by Shubhomoy) has joined VGSoM as a permanent faculty and dumping assignments one after another on our juniors. The venerable E-Commerce course has been scrapped since it did not find any takers. ERP however is till a very hot subject being driven by the job market growth.

….there are many more gossips to share and many more anecdotes to tell…

Howver, I feel I have successfully bored you with this long mail and before our yahoogroup moderator disqualify me as a member, let me take refuge in the lap of some useless things which somehow helps me in earning a living!

Love to all !

IIT Kharagpur – February 26, 2005
Posted first at yahoogroups ‘vgsom2004’ on 28th February,2005

Teacher Extraordinaire – Remembering Prof Himadri Ray

“Taxes, Death & Salesmen – all of us wants to avoid these” – his intense voice had an element of authority, which he established later as he guided all of us to a journey into the fascinating world of marketing management. In the very first class, his snow-white hair & bright sparkling eyes provided enough clues about the experience & insight our resident marketing guru used to possess. Once, a few of us pressed him hard to get some clue about the end-semester question paper. Amused, he gave a nonchalant reply – “when in doubt, assume the worst!”

His case studies offered ample foods for thought leading to high-voltage verbal duels with the smiling professor sitting in the last row managing the entire episode. And, invariably, to our utter frustration, he used to catch us on the wrong foot on any weak proposition. “A sound marketing plan can never defy fundamental economic logic” – he always hastened to add while pointing at the illogic in our proposal. ‘Marketing is nothing but an extension of economics’ was his sincere belief.

After a long stint in the industry, his scholarly soul probably found its rightful place in the IIT in the twilight years of his life. No doubt, in spite of some serious ailment, he enjoyed being a Professor. “This is the noblest profession” – he once told me. His modest presence was there to welcome all of us when we joined VGSOM. Students come & go, but teachers remain the silent witnesses of this irresistible march of time. Prof. Himadri Ray could not witness his beloved students leaving the hallowed precincts of this noble Institution. He has left all of us leaving an indelible imprint on our collective psyche as an erudite individual & a kind-hearted human being.

First Published in IIT-KGP Alumni Newsletter KGPian, July-2006

Stopping by school on a rainy afternoon…

It was almost evening when I reached our school inside the IIT campus. The sweet drizzle was going on. And it was all green surrounding the lonely building. To a true connoisseur of colour it could surely have been an aesthetic upliftment. Well, there was none to greet me in the silent corridor. Its silence was however shattered soon by the footsteps of a man in his early fifties with specs over his nose. Even the almost opaque glasses could not hide the confusion in his eyes, as I found out. He was uttering something, to and fro. His single line message was finally conveyed in a couple of minutes when I understood that he is proceeding to his native place by the evening Steel Express. Goodbye, Sir ! Have a safe journey.
As soon as he left, I found a young aged man with slim features and a brand new sports-shoe entered the building. I felt relieved, ah! Now I will get the book on six sigma. I enquired whether it is there in the library. He was pretty confident, “yes yes, anything you ask for”. He hurriedly searched through the first rack and pulled down a thin little book. He gave a satisfying smile – this is your book. But, how come the Breyfogle’s book became so thin. My god! It was some nondescript Burlington of operations management. I felt like sinking. I asked for the library catalogue, but there is no such thing called catalogue. It will be prepared, he assured smugly, within a year. He did not forget to add his trademark assurance – “ anything you need don’t hesitate to …”. Convinced, I came out.

Lets go the hostel. As  I reached the main gate, another well-built gentleman with smiles galore in his visage approached me. His posture reminded me first of a kathakali mudra and then a familiar punch line – there is more to acrobat …” – Classroom habits die-hard. But, yes, I gained from this encounter – a decent packet of Bengali sweets changed hand. I thanked him profusely and also the person who was carrying those bagful of packets.

And then came THE CAR – the biggest in IIT. With no one except the tall dark driver inside, it probably, arrived with the message that Boss will appear very soon. Everything around disappeared behind it; the young lad of IE department, the younger lass he was talking to whose skin colour reminded me of Mediterranean sunshine, the beautiful trees setting up a romantic backround and even the pebbled lane soaked by light rain. Understanding the vulnerability of my presence, I resumed my solitary journey towards the hostel. It started raining again.

New Delhi, September – 2004