iit madras alumni
news 2006
About 15 people including alumni and family members attended the meeting of the Pune Chapter of IIT Madras Alumni on April 9th, 2006. The overall session was a very positive one.
P.S. Ramanathan (PSR) (1975 BT ME) and Mukund Iyer (1998 BT OE) walked in around 11:00hr to be met by Saumitra Pal (1968 BT ME), H.K. Panigrahi (1970 BT MT), Col. R.V. Kenjalkar (1987 MT ME) and his wife, Manoj Apte (1997 MT HS), and Ramesh Miraje (1998 MT CE).
As the socializing went on for some time, we were joined by V.K. Gopalakrishnan (1978 BT ME), Dr. S. Mayadevi (1981 MT CH), Girish Pasad (1998 MT ME) and his family, Vijay Chavan (1999 MT AM) and his family, and Nilesh Lakhotiya (2001 MT ME) and his wife.
The session started off with PSR addressing the gathering. Opinion was solicited from the participants as to how we can sustain the momentum to form an alumni chapter that can be of benefit to IIT, IIT-ians and alumni. Some of the participants opined that such an activity was not really interesting to the populace.
The picture on the right shows Panigrahi and PSR.
A ball-park estimate of about 300+ IIT Madras alumni are in Pune. About 65 alumni are registered with the iitmaapune Yahoo group, of which 10 alumni attended the alumni meeting.
PSR suggested that it is important to somehow rope in alumni occupying high positions in Pune. S. Ramakrishnan (1971 BT EE, 1973 MT EE), Director General of C-DAC Pune, and Thomas C. Benjamin (1976 BT CE, 1978 MT CE), former Commissioner of PMC, were some of the names that came up.
PSR opined that it is important to network with each other. We must harness this networking to help recognize deserving alumni through the Distinguished Alumni Award (DAA) presented by the Institute. Presently, several applications for this award come from abroad, but very few come from within India.
PSR also suggested that we organize future meetings to conduct some 'business'
rather than just for the sake of socializing.
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| L-to-R: H.K. Panigrahi, Col. R.V. Kenjalkar, Mrs. Nanda Kenjalkar, Isha Pasad and Mrs. Pasad | L-to-R: Col. R.V. Kenjalkar, V.K. Gopalakrishnan, R. Mukund Iyer |
Vijay suggested that we should have a guest lecture during alumni meetings.
He also suggested that we should do more to publicize alumni events;
emails may not suffice.
Alumni raised another point about the Institute benefitting from
guest lectures by experienced alumni.
Col. R.V. Kenjalkar (1987 MT ME) and Manoj Apte (1997 MT HS) were elected as the provisional Chairman and provisional Secretary of the IITMAA Pune Chapter respectively.
The next Chapter meeting is scheduled for the 15th of August 2006. A "let your hair down" theme was suggested for the next meeting. The Chapter is expected to be formally inaugurated on the 2nd of October 2006. The dates of January 26th, May 1st, August 15th, and October 2nd have been tentatively fixed for the future IITMAA Pune Chapter meetings.
For the next Chapter meeting (August 15th), a target of 100 people has been set. "Each one catch one more" policy was mooted. PSR also informed us that it may be possible to arrange for a Reliance phone which could be used for the Chapter purposes.
A target amount of Rs. 1.5 lakhs has been set to be collected for sponsorship,
advertising and other administrative purposes.
Gopalakrishnan suggested that sponsorship amounts should be scaled so that
small industries and independent consultants could also be interested.
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| L-to-R: Col. R.V. Kenjalkar, V.K. Gopalakrishnan, Dr. S. Mayadevi, R. Mukund Iyer. | L-to-R: Vijay Chavan, Ramesh Miraje, Girish Pasad, Manoj Apte. |
Citibank approached alumni with an offer of Citibank Gold Card with
IITMAA logo and picture.
This was well received.
Alumni who are interested in the IITMAA Citibank cards (lifetime free)
must attend the next meeting of August 15th.
» IITMAA Indian Oil Citibank Gold Credit Card
A box of IITMAA merchandise consisting of 20 T-Shitrs, 5 Neck-ties, several caps and stickers was made available for sale. The people peresent at the meeting purchased most of the stock. Hinjewadikars, Pashankars, Bavdhankars, Kothrudians Wakadians and Aundhians, rush!!!! The current sales collection stands at about Rs.2,500.
The meeting ended with a splendid self-sponsored lunch at the Bombay Brasserie restaurant.
This report was prepared by Mukund Iyer R. (1998 BT OE). Pictures are courtesy of Saumitra Pal (1968 BT ME). Captions are courtesy of Mukund Iyer R. (1998 BT OE).