iit madras alumni
news 2005
IIT Alumni of Greater Houston (IITAGH) organized a July 04 BBQ party and bid farwell to the distinguished guests, Consul General of India Hon. Skand Tayal, an IIT Kanpur alumnus, and his wife Kusum Tayal. Ashok Rao, IITAGH Trustee and IIT Delhi alumnus, and his wife, Sheela Rao hosted the party at their residence in Houston.
The party was organized to bid farewell to Hon. Skand Tayal, the Consul General
of India, and his wife Kusum Tayal. Mr. Tayal is from the Indian Foreign Service
(IFS) 1976 batch, and is a Chemistry graduate from IIT Kanpur. Mr. Tayal will be
taking up his next assignment as Indian Ambassador to Uzbekistan in September 2005.
The party was attended by about 50 alumni and their families. It was a typical Houston hot day, with temperatures above 90 degrees and more than 50% humidity. The BBQ started at about 12:30, and the party lasted up to about 17:00.
IIT Madras alumni who attended the event include Subba Viswanathan (1966), Sivraman (1970), Vissa Rammohan (1975), Sudharshan (1998), Lavu Sridhar (2000), Ravish (2003), and Raphael (2003)
Mr. Tayal was presented with a custom made hand crafted
Texas Cowboy boots (see pictures),
and Mrs Tayal was
presented with a photo frame with a picture of the
Tayals when they first arrived at Houston.
Addressing the gathering, Mr. Tayal, thanked the guests, the hosts, and organizers for the farwell party. Referring to how we grew up with Indian movies, Mr. Tayal said the following.
In most movies, the villain, usually Pran, would steal the bride
towards the end of the movie in a Mercedes van. The police would
be chasing the van in a ramshackle jeep with the gap continuously
widening. The hero would chase on a cycle, or a horse, sliding
on hilly slopes, through the trees, etc., and land straight on
the Mercedes van's top.
Mr. Tayal then said that in this story, the Mercedes van symbolized the developed nations, the police jeep symbolized the developing nations, and the hero symbolized the guests at the party who landed in the US!
The President of IIT Alumin of Greater Houston (IITAGH), Sundy Srinivasan, announced two new trustees for the organization, Sandeep Bhakri (IIT Delhi 1984) and Shauvik Kundagrami. Among the trustees, Mallik Putcha (1964 BTEE) is from IIT Madras.
IITAGH also announced their recognition as a 501 (c) (3) organization under US Internal Revenue Code (tax).
This report was compiled by Lavu Sridhar (2000 BTEE).