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IITG Newsletter

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  • The G Team

    Chief EditorsKurella Venu

    Chandan Kumar

    EditorsSiddarth Trivedi

    K.V. NitinShiva Prasad

    Execution PanelKunal Prakash Mishra

    Joormana BrahmaVikram ChatterjiSiddharth Gaur

    Nitesh SinhaY. Sricharan

    N.J. AjayRahil Vijay

    Kushal Kumar SinhaDhaval Sanganee

    DesignDivyanshu Bansal

    Ganesh Iyer

    Volume 6 January 08

    Manthan 2

    Techniche 6-7

    Reflections 10 Alumni 12

    Book Review 11

    Spicmacay 9

    In conversation

    with Aquatics Meet 5

    4

    Inside the pages

    wishes you a

    Happy New Year

  • Dihiiiiiiing Dihing!!!!.... Dihiiiiiiing Dihing!!!!

    The invigorating shouts grew fiercertowards the end of the prize distributionceremony, it felt as if some Sukhois were zooming overhead!!Our eardrums, already reeling under lecture torture, and even the newly constructed walls were crying for sympathy!

    And why shouldnt they be??? Victory always sounds like that!!!!...Dihing has done it again and in style, captur-ing the illustrious trophy of MANTHAN 2007. Hats off to you guys!!

    The inter hostel cultural extravaganza, MANTHAN 2007, saw an enthusiastic and full-of-life participation from all the hostels entertaining us all with some spectacular and spellbinding perfor-mances. This time, we also wel- comed the youngest and newly in-ducted hostel in IITG fraternity, Barak. The word Manthan itself, meaning to churn, is a testament to the enthralling performances which involved a lot of churning and grinding of the best minds of the country. Wiping off the forgetful memories of the year passed by, the flame of Manthan blazed at its fiery best this time setting afire the stage every time a team set their feet to enrapture the audiences.

    With a plethora of cultural events spanning every artistic genre: music, choreography, theatre, comedy, fine arts, literary events; there was a whole ocean for freshers to dive in and they rightly pounced upon the opportunities to take the fest to superlative stan-dards. Kudos to all you facchas for your concerted effort!!

    The Caravan of Manthan set off on a memorable journey with the fine arts events Rang de Gali, Fassade and the poetry contest, Akshar. The fine arts and literary events savored the privilege of wishing Manthan a very good morning with the best artistic cerebrums fighting out and all the budding Niralas and Shakespeares

    penning down their imaginations. The beautiful mornings seemed soaked in the coloured waters of competence, loyalty and zeal, laying a silken path for the caravan to roll on!!

    After relishing the breakfast @ SAC, tables were set for a grand luncheon in the welcome of caravan in Community hall . The war of tongues, the debating contests, Manan and Manzar, saw the stage transformed into a battlefield with the swords of tongues battling for supremacy. Rising mercuries, an aftermath of spicy debating, got iced off with Dramatics contest. Dramas were creditable for their outstanding performances. For me, the spoofs

    were a bit of a disappointment except one or two that really tickled a bone

    The evening masala events were as always special. The twilight glow of the sky set up a party mood. The hall roared with sounds of hard metal, the crazy supporters banging down the mess utensils, the rest drying up their throats in screams of love for their hostels. You just cant find an atmo-sphere so electrifying and bewitching, barring the Indo-Pak encounters!!!...

    An enamouring blend of innovation and creativity were the highlights of the

    fashion quest: Provogue, provoking a thunderous burst of applause and hooting everytime our models catwalked the ramp, Subansiri being the noisiest!!! Also, Barak kissed the turf of Manthan for the first time winning a lot of hearts with their simple yet catchy style. Wheres the party tonight?? The most loved event, Ghungroo, the battle of dancers, saw some fantabulous choreography send-ing the whole arena into a festive mood with some captivating steps n shakes. The sound of strings charms us all. The musical events Symphony and Sur saw every chair occupied, fasci-nating the crowd with some virtuoso performances.

    After a merry joyful ride through the boulevards teeming with cultural festivities, the caravan of Manthan halted to rest with the Curtain Raiser to Alcheringa 08, where we caught a glimpse of our spectacular cultural fest, Alcheringa. It was followed by fourth yearites swooning the audi-ences with their skills and lot of bakar!!

    Its the organizers and participants that deserve a praise for their cumulative effort in bringing out a fest of such a supreme quality. Kudos to you all...May the spirit of Manthan stay alive forever!!!

    G Newsletterhttp://202.141.80.5/~psc January 08

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    Siddharth Gaur

  • Ravi Gupta

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    Loneliness

    Even the worst of my fearsI am ready to face

    If only God would let me have my good old days.A few words of love

    Is all that I am craving for now.If I am not bereft of this loneliness

    Where am I going is anybodys guess.This loneliness has made me

    but a cross patchItd be good if all these relations

    God were to detach.Battered and bruised,

    I started believing in fateIts been ages since I have

    found a reason to celebrate.The only humor that could arise

    is but poignantOh!!! I have got so much anger to vent.If bestowed a single happy day again

    It may fulfil my wish of being sane.Bouquets and brickbats,

    I have seen it allHonestly, its impossible for me

    to get up from this fall.Well wishers and optimists say

    "all will be right"Yes it will, if ya hear the soundOf phoebus steeds in the night.

    Shiva Prasad

    Finding the princess

    It dont begin so well, see, but that's deceptive. So if you is lookin for some thing sad and terrible in its beauty, dont be lookin here.

    Well, it happened this way- things was generally down and going roundabout with me, and I couldnt make no head nor tail out of it. There was this girl I liked, see, and she called me up to say there was some guy liked her, and she thought he was alright.

    Now it being that she was 400 kilome ers away, and that she handed me the raspberry when I asked her out, it didnt make no sense.If yer a girl, and y'know what she meant, get in touch. I'd sure like to know...

    That was the first thing. Then there was this other girl, and man she was a piece! Things were going pretty well, only they was doing so online. I'd never actually met her. So I shows her rofile to my friends, and they, being the nconsiderate lot they are, happily point out that the photo on it is Natalie Glebova's.

    Who the heck is that says I.Turns out Miss Universe.The profile is fake.

    Ouch! This pierces the heart. So I mopes about, and doesnt go to class, and sleeps all the time. But this dont help. So I tries playing something, but I never played much before, and losing dont raise my spirits none. There being nothing else left, I goes back online and searches up a girl who is from back home. Theres this one might be alright, so we starts chatting every night. Of course my friends is of the opinion that she has up a picture of A. Jolie so something must be wrong. But then I have up a picture of Brad Pitt, so I dont see anything in that. Maybe hes just jealous.

    So I stops moping around and pursues his, and within ten days we is commit ed. Now I live in Calcutta see, and she ives in, well forget it. Its three hours way.( Im not goin to tell you every

    thing. You have to make up the left outbits.). We exchange photographs and theres nothing wrong near as I can make out.

    We decides to meet when I get homefrom IITG, but we dont tell anyone, especially our parents. IITG? Oh,that'swhere I study, see. Course mom notices I'm on the phone a lot so she guesses but she dont know for sure. Third day back, I announces that I'm off to visit my friend and boards the train to Durgapur. Now that train beinga local, goes so slow and is so packed,that only the thought of seeing my shona(thats what I calls her) keeps megoing. That and the fact that I cant getout of my seat. Theres also fish in a basket next to me, but thats ok. I like fish.

    So I finally arrives and gets on a bus while Im on the phone to her, and I asks her where is she. Look outside, she says. I do and there she is, more beautiful than I've ever seen Angelina Jolie. And she gets in, pretends not to know me, and sashays past, leaving behind a scent that is so soothing and feminine, that I falls in love. You will too, if you sit next to a bunch of fish for three hours.

    We get off next to this park, still not together, just in case anyone should see us. Now for some reason I have a cake with me. I dont know know why, no, wait, I remember. We is going to celebrate my birthday. But the guard at the gate doesnt let me take it in. No eatables allowed. So I start to eat but then she turns up and theres some thing in her face which makes me stop.So I give it to the guard, figuring theresa chance we might still get it back when we leave unless he likes it. Younever can know.

    I find her some way off , around a corner. Hi, I says, grinning idiotically. Then she says hi and we start to look for a place to sit. I cant hardly say anything, Im so nervous but she nows that, and she is too, I know, though she hides it. She handles the conversation and where we are going because you know, that park was as full of couples pod of peas. So we finally sit down and she demands to see my bag. Now that not turning out so interesting she turns to the messages on my phone, and

    these this one has profane language in it. Whats that she asks, being a delicate flower well brought up, and I refuses to tell her, whereupon she insists, but being strong of will and sound in mind and body I insists on not telling her. Whereupon she gets huffy, so I tells her how nice she looks and she melts at that.

    And then, for some reason, she takes out this album and starts to show me photographs from way back. This is good stuff. So I good-naturedly ribs her about it, and keeps the two best photos for myself. And then I get a birthday gift and it includes chocolate, and I hopes that she will feed it to me but she showing no inclination in that direction, I has it myself.

    By now its time to go, and suddenly madam has a spell of shyness, and we part with a very formal handshake. That makes me feel bad, but we boards the same bus, and she asks would you like to sit next to me. WouldI?? And that is how I finds the princess.

  • Q: How did you like the campus?

    KB: Oh, its a lovely campus! I must say that I'm quite astonished by the development in infrastructure- when compared to what it was five years back, its mind boggling!

    Q: Could you narrate some of your experiences as an IITian?

    KB: Well, people generally say that you have to study hard to get into IIT, but the truth is that you'll have to work a lot harder once you enter IIT, and that proves quite a difficult task, as there are simply too many things to do! In my IIT-D days, I was the editor of Pulse, the English weekly of IIT-D and enjoyed being an investigative journalist.

    In Conversation with...

    Q: You have been a student of Dr.Gautam Barua.What do you remember of your student days with him?

    KB: He is the greatest teacher I have ever had. He always used to keep the course content up to date, teaching only the latest material. He was, and probably still is, extremely matter of fact- to the point of being blunt at times! He was also very down to earth, humble and a great source of inspiration for all of us.

    Q: Do you think creativity is an inborn attribute?

    KB: Yes it is, but it can also be learnt systematically. For instance, great artists and musicians are what they are because of their teachers.

    Q: What is the essence of an innovative mind?

    KB: The first attribute is openness to learning; the ability to accept failures. An innovative mind never fears failure- it takes them in its stride. Edison failed 2000 times before he was able to invent the light bulb.

    Q: How can an individual cultivate a creative mind?

    KB: Keep learning! Don't ever develop attitudes like- "he/she doesn't know anything, what will I learn from him/her" or like "he/she is great, but his/her level of thinking is simply too high for me". Be keen in your observations, and learn from them.

    Q: Thinking, especially in a systematic manner is very vital. Then, why is it not nourished as part of our education system?

    KB: Well, people are doing it these days- we have finally realized our follies ,I suppose! In fact, this exercise has been attracting more success than was expected.There is, after all, a time for everything. Perhaps the time is now ripe to bring in systematic thinking into the mainstream of our educational system. Let's hope it meets with more and more success as time passes.

    Q: Einstein once observed- "Try not to be a success, but rather try to be a man of values". But, somehow, somewhere down the line, we're losing our values. Having worked in HR, how do you look at this?

    KB: India may perhaps be the only country in the world, where good culture, values,morals etc. aren't taught as part of the curriculum. Maybe this is the only disadvantage in an otherwise good system. Short term gains may be possible by sacrificing values, but long term gains always come only with traits like honesty, trustworthiness, etc..

    The customer must, first of all, have faith in us that we would deliver to them honestly and truthfully. These values must be embedded in children from a very young age, so that they do not falter as adults.

    Q: How can India develop its potential manpower?

    KB: Well, I think it has developed quite well already! Possibly, one area where we lag behind is "service orientation". Success doesn't come from "What I get for myself"- it comes from "What I give to others".

    Q:Tell us something about Mindtree?

    KB: Mindtree is a very different, medium-sized company. It is 8 years old. We focus mainly on how customers could be satis-fied better by understanding their implicit needs. This, we do, by providing our employees with an environment of joy, continuous learning and inspiration. Our main business areas are IT consulting and product realization services.

    Q: What traits do you look for in a prospective employee?

    KB: We look for someone who is inspired, willing to learn and willing to serve whole-heartedly.

    Q: A word for the young generation- the IITGians?

    KB: I would just ask you to be honest, work hard and love others- if you do these things, I assure you that there's nothing to be scared of or be worried about in life.

    Q: Would you like to add a word of caution to the young generation?

    KB: Well, work done for work's sake or by force is worthless. Guard against work which isn't inspiring you. Never be complacent or arrogant, for that could ultimately become the cause of your downfall.

    Kalyan Banerjee is co-founder of MindTree Consulting, the mid-sized design services and IT consulting company. Kalyan graduated from IIT Delhi, and then did his masters at IIT Kanpur. He was Professor Gautam Baruas student. After work-ing in Wipro,at MindTree, Kalyan has been part of the Innovation Community for five years.He spoke to Joormana Brahma and Ajay during his recent visit to the campus.

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  • Inter IIT, IIT Bombay,

    S(Ch)eating Arrangement :

    At times everything works in our favor. Yes, it did during the mid-sems. The staff felt like doing away with the regular seating arrangement-one that has people of the same paper sitting alternatively .With super-muggers seated beside us, what else could we cool people (who dont mug- yeah! a euphemism which we use to avoid studying ) ask for in the examination hall. Anyways, expecting more of such brilliant maneuvers (say, no invigilators at all!!) conducive to combined efforts in the exams from the admin.

    Bail the Mail :The surge in the number of mails from the sports secy, reminding us of each and every match in the Spirit -07 competition has put severe pressure on both the junta and web. On us, because our accounts are reaching the limit size. Its a chore to disturb this sloth filled inactive life with some work.

    Okay!! We get it; he is sincere toward his duties and not a dodger. Then, the junta has the duty of lambasting Mr.Ballari, there were no reminders for the events in Manthan.

    F (l)ood Fest:Oh! Yes, there were floods all over the SAC on Diwali. The ideas economics was good but the implementation wasnt.The fest started a bit late (No big deal), followed by shrieks and ear-perforating noises. Rock Music, at the drop of a hat? Spare us on festivals! 3 (in)efficient counters for the mammoth junta? The dust bins were inundated with the trash, only for them to be emptied in the near vicinity. Senseless! And only a (un) lucky few tasted the buns(read Naans) .

    ShipraShipra

    Shipra Laughs

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    14-24 December 2007

    The 43rd Inter IIT sports meet would by remembered by a lot of people for a lot of reasons, but IIT Guwahati's performance would not be one of them.

    Pretty much outclassed in all team events(except badminton), it was a bitter pill to swallow for our contingent that had high hopes for this year's meet. In the overall championship, IIT Guwahati's men finished with a meagre haul of 2 points, and the women's contin-gent failed to even get off the mark. To put this into perspective, IIT Bombay, the winner of the men's general championship, had 90 points.

    The reasons for this debacle(there is no other word for it) are mani-fold. Some of us did not practice hard enough, those who did were plagued by withdrawals and inju-ries, and the remaining were just not good enough. It is indeed puzzling how an institute like IITG (that arguably boasts of the best sports infrastructure amongst all IITs) fails to produce top sports-men. Lack of full time coaching, and the lukewarm response of the junta to repeated calls to come out and play, might be a few things that need to be addressed. Competition for places improves teams by forcing established play-ers to raise their game, and seeing the ease with which some people get into our Inter-IIT contingent, it's obvious that complacency is something that is really hurting us.

    For those few familiar with IIT Guwahati's previous Inter IIT performances, this year might seem like an improvement over previous years - when we would always end up empty handed in both individual as well as team disciples. However, we still have a long long way to go before we can actually compete with other IITs.

    A handful of bronze and silver medals should never satisfy our hunger for success. There is only one place where we must desire to be : the top of the podium, and our attitudes must change to reflect that.

    But even these statistics do not provide the complete picture. Losing did not hurt as much as the manner in which we lost. Had we gone down fighting, we could still have held our heads high. As it turned out, the way we were taught a lesson across all team events, seemed to suggest that we did not have the stomach for a fight, or the determination to answer our critics.

    Inter IIT Sports Meet, IIT Bombay,

    14-24 December 2007

  • Shakespeare said Whats in a name??...O Greatest of writers, if you are listening from the heavens (I suppose you are there!!!).I want to tell you that your lines are not immortal...As you guys know, our Techno-Management Festival was born with the name TECHNICHE and it is the name, etymologically a favourable environment or space where technical thinking breeds, which spurs our intellect and limbs towards participating and organizing events, thus carving out a technical niche for ourselves and enthusiasts across the nation.

    First of all why do we organize Techniche? Just for publicity? naahWe as the prominent institute of the country have the responsibility of adding a new dimension to the technological scenario of India and feel the need to nurture the creativity and to acknowledge the genius of students from all over the nation by providing them a platform to showcase their technical expertise.

    The year 2007 marked the mightiest and the best Techniche ever by any standards. The whole campus, transformed into a Mini-Hindustan swarming with participants spanning every corner of our beloved country,proved to be a perfect habitat for around 1000 students to get immersed into waters of technical competence. The ripples of Techniche touched overseas shores too absorbing a lot of foreign competitors, making them glued to technicheonline.com, the hub for Spin the Web events. But from where do you get all these numbers? The

    name of institute the helps but it is the sponsors link on the site that sets the ball rolling!!!.. Its a common conversation,Whoa!!... See the sponsors list, there is Google, HCL, Intel, Reliance industries, NRLit must be a quality event!!!..It is this quality which replicates into a monstrous quantity of enthusiasts!!...Apart from an overwhelming response from the sponsors and students, many adorable and illustrious personalities showered their essence of wisdom, thus enlightening our intellect and propelling our career ships in right direction.

    The festive season for technophiles, 7-9th September, flagged off to a ceremonious start with the lighting of the Techniche lamp by our esteemed guest, Mr. Himanta Sarma. Also we got a new Communicator, our own radiostation, Campus Radio set in tune by the same guest. After the inaugurating whistle, the Techniche Express set off for an unforgettable journey, with compartments buzzing with the anticipation of technical battles!!!

    Robo-Mania was at its frenzied best which witnessed the biggest participation. Ghost of Chernobyl, the Manual Robotics Event, was the clear winner with a whopping 122 teams. The air surrounding the arena was so captivating; you could feel it from a distance. Thats the feel of a festival!! Bravo!! ..The underwater quests were not less fierce either! Aqua Hustle too had 89 hustling bots, which looked like fiery sharks, desperate for their prey, no matter what path they followed...

    The Don of all robotic events, Houdini Act - the autonomous robotics contest saw a significant rise in the number of teams to 31. Personally I loved it the most - watching the robos bustling around with such impeccability in an arena which wasnt easy to crack..Watching Federers in lush greens is a true eyecandy but watching bots dispatching the balls is not less fun either. The semi autonomous event,Techno-tennis first of its kind also saw a creditable participation.

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  • Now moving on to Computer Centre, the softo-geeks showcased their wizardry and exceptional skills, working their way out through mind boggling problems.

    The events Kernel, System 32, Access Denied,Trinity of Neo had CC teeming with e-masters. After a whole day of mental stretching, the evening belonged to zestful gamers who thronged the CC cooling off their senses.Virtual Arena, the Gaming Zone had a skyscraping participation of 400 teams. Ohh my god!!!..

    Ever enjoyed the merriness of flying gliders? Silent Wings, the Glider Flying Competition, had hearts ballooning with joy as they saw their hand made crafts piercing the calmness of the beautiful sky. In this segment of Match the Makers, Techscribe and Chanakya Neeti gave students an opportunity to present technical and management papers. Moreover, Innovasion and Industry defined problem saw ideas transformed into working models.

    This festival promised everything, a blend of thrill, fun, tickling of brains, entertainment and blessings of visionaries, and delivered it too. The fun factor was given air by Spur of the moment events. CSI, the crime investigation event, had the honor of being the most admired event. Shambles, introduced for the first time, ParADigm and Structify with their adventurous n creative appeal had

    uncanny power of pulling in hoards of guyz n galz. The school kids too had share of their fun with Technothlon which also was adjudged the best event!!..

    Every one of us wants to be a superachiever but ability alone wont do. There have to be examples that we can follow, the paths we should traverse. To show such paths, many renowned and supersuccessful dignitaries like Dr. Kiran Bedi, Dr. Raghuram Krishnapuram from IBM research labs and Dr. R.K. Jha, Project Director, SEZ, Navi Mumbai

    shared their secrets of success influencing a lot of young minds.

    Organising such a mega national level fest requires a lot of meticulous planning and die-hard effort. I whole-heartedly thank all the core teams, the organizers, the faculty members, the participants and the sponsors, all of whose concerted effort took the fest to superlative levels!!

    Siddharth Gaur

    Techniche 07 witnessed the arrival of the first female officer of the police depart-ment, a role model for millions of women in India, a woman who changed the way India looks at criminals, displaying along the way that bit of charisma which has taken her this far. The lecture was about the social responsibilities upon us - the students, and how education and knowl-edge can bring about a change in the most despised men of our society (i.e the crimi-nals), how we as students can help reform these people. A burning example of the use of these human resources is the Tihar jail in Delhi. After a survey it was found that 500 of the convicts were degree holders and they were used to teach the other inmates, The result?

    They were reformed, their perspective changed and the devils workplace ceased

    to exist. Dr. Bedi called upon us to take such initiatives. She also emphasized the impor-tance of principles in life and how we should follow them uncompromisingly. All the questions thrown at her were answered very eloquently and the audience definitely were left awestruck by Dr. Kiran Bedi, culmi-nating in a standing ovation to one of the most dignified and admired women in India.

    The dream filled eyes, the confidence high. The hungers increasing, wanna taste the zing! The heart beating harder, IITG I enter.

    I walk, walk out to a scenic paradise, walk into my new life! Began Life, with an automatic enrolment to the PDP. New friends, interaction with seniors made us busy bees. But life seemed to be fun and sure became easy. Then came the grand Techniche, every techies delight. Tech aspects, management, labour!a great learning curve for 1st yrites. With tech, cult, sports fests, bunk, proxies, Gosh! 1st sem off, without any fight!

    From Vills to Pals, ChuKoNu to Trebz, From the blazing guns in CS, To the vrooming cars in NFS! Come 2nd sem, ulti boom we did witness, Man! Multi-gamins pure bliss, And classes? Who cares! Gave it a miss! While ULFAs bombing the city was shocking!

    But, hey, IIT was still rocking Oh! Ho! Cos of the BOMBS that kept on flocking! Guys the rockin Cult Fest has started, Only time in IIT, the species female is spotted, Its Alcheringa, The grand platform for the talented!

    So, to the brains, what else is IITG offering? Nothing has been left untouched. Just nothing! Kapili Open, Cult-Nites, Lohri celebrations, the Garba jhoom, SPIRIT, Inter-Batch, Holi-dips, the Diwali dhoom, INTER-IIT sportsmen at WAR, Manthan passion gushing through veins! My word! The talents like Guwahatis incessant rains!

    1 glorious year in IITG! Oh what a treat! Life never was so complete. From fuchche to guys waiting for fuchche! For them the stages all set, After all we too wannabe Master of Puppets!!!!!

    Life @ IIT G by Shalab Malhotra

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  • CampusRadio

    Techniche, since its very inception, has held special meaning for the IITGians. The success of Techniche has always been a proud moment for all of us but this time there were more reasons for the organizers satisfaction to have sans no bounds. One of the biggest achievements of Techniche 07 was the start of campus radio.

    The thought of this project was first conceived by Dr. Ramagopal Upalluri, faculty advisor of the technical board.

    But the idea was removed from obscu-rity only after the ascent of the anchor-ing club, Anchorenza. As Abhishek Mishra, secretary of the same, puts it, It was he who convinced the Director and DOSA for this (implementation of the idea of campus radio). And the work took off with their nod. The tech-nical details were looked after by the technical board. The workshop by Big FM provided invaluable support and all the required technical input to realize this dynamic project and played a major role to infusing the urge into the people here to be a part of this concept. Abhishek tells that the first broadcast of the campus radio was done through the CS lab. He remem-bers how he, with difficulty, hushed everyone present there for this. But all this hard work paid off. He received 79 mails in first 10 minutes of the start of the broadcast. Calls from faculty mem-bers as well as from their family mem-bers flooded his phone congratulating him on this. Dr. S. C. Mishra, Dean of Academic Affairs, offered help by granting the permission to record in the Centre for Education Technology.

    This enhanced both the quality and enthusiasm of the team. The number of servers was also increased and now the campus radio boasts the punch line Radio G, G bhar k bajao G and hosts a score of items including latest news, the works of faculty members, interviews of distinguished people visiting the campus and much more. The RJs belong to our IITG student community (members of Anchorenza) providing more familiarity to the radio.

    Techniches website claims, It (techniche) is a vision that strives to enhance the potential for authentic creativity and fan the sparks of innova-

    -

    tion of the "to-be prodigies" of our nation. Campus radio is the very embodiment of the result of these innovations. To say that its popular is no new information. Plans are already afoot to convert this into FM radio once its properly established. But this is not the end of the story. Dr. Uppaluri presented another of his visions called campus video. Let us resolve to turn that dream into reality in the decade edition of Techniche.

    iDEASInnovation is a trait all IITians have in abundance. Finding new uses for simple things is what we are famous for. The bible says There is no new thing under the sun. But using all available resources to deliver simple solutions is what an IITian has once again shown himself capable of. Hari Singhal, a fourth year biotechnology student, has made a money denomi-nator to help the blind differentiate between various currency notes. The new invention is an extremely simple device. It consists of two metal plates of 4 6 hinged along one of the breadths. The currency note of India is placed between the plates such that one length and one breadth of the note coincide with the corre-sponding one plate. The plate is then closed over the note, the portion of the note that extends beyond the plate is

    folded at the back side of the plate where the currency values are written in Braile at fixed locations. Different notes have different dimensions which enables different markings for different notes.

    Ideas are I of Invention . Haris inven-tion was the outcome of an idea which occurred to him when he was trying to figure out the denomination of currency notes at night during a power failure. He made a precursor of the present form of the device. He then tried it out at a school for blind and the results was incredibly positive. Encouraged, Hari invented an even more refined form of his device.It was the internship in his third year when he showed his creation to a professor at the Vellore Institute of Technology. The professor introduced

    him to a company Worth India known for implementing such innovative ideas on a larger scale. The company is willing to produce Haris creation and has also filed a patent for the same. The product is to be made of plastic and is expected to cost between Rs 2 to 5.

    Hari believes its always difficult to have simple ideas. The statement makes Haris feat even more remark-able. Once available in market his creation will earn him a million of good wishes and blessings. Isnt that what we all dream of getting?

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    Nitesh Sinha

    Nitesh Sinha & Rahil Vijay

  • audience was spellbound and left asking for more!

    SOLID Jazz

    Yet another time this semester spicmacay did it big. It invited a Norwegian Band for performance in IITG. Solid, as the band is called, is a 3 member (at the age of 22, 23, 25 ) group, made waves in the international musical community and received the award of the worlds best jazz musical band. Jazz is improvised style of music. No actual preparation is done before performance, its on-stage jamming. The performance followed a workshop by the same band and both the events witnessed a full house. Attended by Prof. S. Dandapat, DoSA and Chandan Mahantha ,the Cultural Board Chairman, IITG, the event started with a formal welcome by the Chairman. Event kicked off with IITG band, ICHOR's rock performance, bringing back the weather of Manthan again all over the campus. Then 'Solid' conqured the crowd with compositions such as 'Happy Accidents', 'Time To Go', 'Complicated Shoes' and 'Corrs'. That evening saw a energised crowd in the best of its form.

    The dance performance by Shri Kalakrishna was a visual treat, to say the least! The event was well attended by people from all walks of life: students and faculty members of IIT-G, as well as people from outside- all assembled in one hall with the common passion of witnessing a master at work.

    The programme kicked off with the lighting of the lamp by Shri Kalakrishna and Smt. Krishna Sen, Head, SPICMACAY, NE region. This was followed by an intro-duction to Andhranatyam by the greatdancer himself where he took us through the development of this dance form as a temple dance originally performed by Devadasis(particularly in Andhra Pradesh). It was performed, mainly to bring out the 'lasya' element of classical dance.

    The performance then started off with a temple ritual called Pushpanjali. This was followed by Bakthi Kaurishya where the devotional aspect was portrayed wonderfully. Then came Singara- where he depicted the heart rending feelings of a woman, whose lover has been separated from her. After a few more peformances spanning the whole range of emotions(Navarasas), the

    SPICMACAY

    In high Spirit 07

    To say that Spirit 2007 was an unquali-fied success would be an understate-ment. The common man would not expect too much from an IIT when it comes to delivering a sporting spectacle, but the 2007 edition of IIT Guwahatis annual sports festival was a pleasant surprise. From efficient organisation to some outstanding performances, Spirit surpassed all expectations. The 7-day extravaganza, which kicked off on the 29th of October.2007, provided all sports enthusiasts a chance to feast their eyes on some truly memorable sporting contests.

    Spirit featured 7 disciples: Football, Volleyball, Hockey, Table Tennis, Badmin-ton, and Basketball. The competition in each sport was fierce to say the least: with our inter-IIT probables being pitted

    against professional teams from across the northeast. The fact that we not only held our own against teams of such calibre, but also gave them a sound thrashing in some cases, is truly remark-able. Evenings at Spirit were truly remarkable, what with the IITG junta urging our teams on, and the lush green floodlit fields teeming with anticipation of the match at handA special mention must go to the organisers for having brought such exceptional sport-ing talent to the games.

    Spirit also gave our contingent for the inter IIT some valuable match practice to iron out the flaws in their game, and warm them up for the tough task at hand. The commendable performance of all teams points to a very bright future for sports in IIT Guwahati. Heres hoping that the potential shown here shall be realised at the inter IIT in a few weeks time.

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    N.J. Ajay

    Siddharth Trivedi

  • We IITians are really a very rare breed, it may sound clichd but believe me its true. However, before I delve deep into what I meant, lets first get an insight about the way people see us, Of all the non-IITians we come across, a few are the blind worshipper types who create a halo around us, ranting about how extraordinarily gifted people we are. This is the admiration that our hearts crave for, and hence these are the people we like(our only solace while we are still here).Then there are those ignorant blah-blah people, a small example would bring home the point ( it actually happened with my mum) my son studies in IIT-Guwahati..is it?, there is no IIT there!, but yes one of my relatives studies in IIT-Varanasi yeah right, ignoring the ignorant is the best solution..Others also include the Ill show these IITians category(inferiority complex?), but a great man once said : General-ization is a sin, and as will be clearly brought out by the following few para-graphs, youll be hard put to find some-thing worth showing all IITiansIts really hard to distinguish this rare breed, but the following categories should paint the whole spectrum: (as in our lingua franca)

    1. The Ghissus:A kind who is rarely seen outside his room, these are the last remnants of the classic IITians perception that the outside world has, someone who knows it all, marks reigns supreme and the other activities are nothing but menial and formal, these people are the I walk alone kind..

    any other cultural, sporting, or academic activity. Hats off to these people (you must be getting an idea which category I belong to) the bulk of the IITians

    ReectionsReections

    2. The self-proclaimed bonds: As the name suggests these are the protagonists gone wrong, its over- confidence, which drives their actions, these Im always right people are never flexible, IITians rarely despise anyone but this kind is an exception

    3. The real studs:These are direct descendents of Midas, whichever field they choose; success (gold) is the only result. You keep trying to mirror them and it will all go haywire, so better do your own thing. These people are inherently nice, and will help you wherever required but their eyes are always set on their goals, of course these are very few in number, and you want them in few numbers thats for sure dont you?

    4. The jack of all trades: The majority lies here. These people make up an IIT campus, their thinking being I want to do every damn thing which I havent tried earlier. That is the reason why whenever a swimming pool is opened, or whenever names are required for the interested people in particular sports, you have hordes of them turning up. While a few of them do stick to doing a particular thing, the rest of them move on quickly and become the probables of some other thing. Their presence is a must be it in a tech-fest or in a cult-fest or in

    5. The chilled ones:

    This is the most interesting class and besides the jacks these too find promi-nence in our campus Profs and acads go to hell, Sports? Dont have that kinda energy, extra-co curricular activities? no talent here people!, my room is my world I have dozens of Orkut profiles, and still more girls to chat with(half of whom Ive never met), counter strike just increases my adrenaline, and a headshot is what turns me on..... Hell, I made 100s of paladin and your halberdiers could do nothing! Pink Floyd (and for some Altaf Raja) along with the obvious companion being the staple (unanimously official) drink..

    Almost all the IITians have a bit of all the characters described, which one does justice to our tag is altogether a different question. The question on everyones mindWhich one am I? Im afraid only you can answer that

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    Shout BackPlease someone start bothering about the Kameng road that leads to B1 and B2.Its full of pits in summer and very damp during rainy season. Ashish

    In Kapili, the overhead tank was overflowing at night a few days ago. Eversince I pointed it out to the mess manager in presence of the caretaker, the overflow has become a day and night "service". Sharvan

    Plastic waste is piling up near the Bus-Stopsv Why doesn't some one install a dustbins there? Kunal

    Plastic cups are being used in a few hostel canteens and messes, inspite of their ban in the entire campus. If price is a problem, its complete injustice to limit this implemention only to a few canteens. Latha

    I don't understand the special the previlage to 80.19 proxy users : a proxy which is by default disabled in case a problem arises in CC. Gaurav

    Kunal Prakash Mishra

  • BookReview

    A Thousand Splendid Suns is yet another masterpiece from Khaled Hosseini. Its not easy to have your first novel be a bestseller and its tougher to keep up the momentum and bring out an equally splendid book the next time, but Khaled Hosseini seems to be a pro at that! The book starts on a high note, directly jumping into the plot and draws the reader into the lives of its charac-ters right away. Its the story of two women, Laila and Mariam who find themselves married to the same man. Both the women are as different in character as different can be.

    While Mariam has seen rejection, dejection, and disappointment early in her life, Laila has had a more pleasant childhood on account of the freedom that was bestowed upon her thanks to her intellectual father. The book starts out with depicting the life of these two women in different sections and finally brings them together. Once that happens, its the story about the survival and the existence of these two women, how they face the wrath of a violent husband and of murky political changes. But on the bright side, its also about how they find each others company the only source of comfort and strength. They come to form a bond that makes them both sisters and motherly to each other.

    The entire theme of the book is sort of laid in the one line Mariams mother speaks, learn this now and learn it well my daughter. Like a compass needle that points north, a mans accusing finger always finds a woman. The book can be looked at from two angles. One, that of an over exaggerated violent novel which further demeans the stature of women in the eyes of the reader. The violence and the grotesque scenes depicted are really grave and in spite of throwing light again on the intricate intense writing style of the author, might not suit many readers.

    However, the strength with which Hosseini draws the readers into the life of his characters is brought out when one reads these scenes, especially the one l line that talks of the violent misogyny in such a helpless way that you want with all your heart to throw the book away. For example, Therewas no cursing, no screaming, no

    pleading, no surprised yelps, only the systematic business of beating and being beaten". The other angle through which the book can be looked is the wonderful way in which the staunchness of a woman is depicted. It brings out the ferocity with which women have to survive and live, not merely exist. It will forever change your perspective of looking at afghani women. Think of any emotion, you have it in this book, from love to hatred to sacrifice to prejudice.

    The book brings out the rich and violent history of Afghanistan through the eyes of someone who is probably the most affected by it. Whilst Kiterun-ner showed us Afghanistan from the point of view of the Rich, both before and after the war, "A Thousand Splendid Suns" shows you Afghanistan through the eyes of the common man and you will learn that at both times they are worst affected .

    The writing style is truly KhaledHosseini; he always manages to draw the readers in and out of his novel in the best way possible. You will want to cry

    with happiness when happy things happen, cry your heart out during tough moments, feel agitated at the right times and when the book is over you will find yourself to have under-gone a huge plethora of emotions. A stunning accomplishment, A Thou-sand Splendid Suns is a haunting, heartbreaking, compelling story of an unforgiving time, an unlikely friend-ship, and an indestructible love.

    Vikram Chatterji

    I love the way you look at me, Your eyes bright

    with a silver lining across, Always sending chills down my spine,

    I love the way you laugh, Making me wonder Who said the pearls of Hyd are the most beautiful?

    I love the way you scold me, The innocence of a child,

    The possession hidden in the wordsI love the way you wait for a reply,

    After messaging me,Cursing the network and following it

    with missed callsI love the way you miss me,

    Your brain and heart fighting each other for a mutual existence

    I love the way you blush when you hear a compliment,

    Your cheeks red And an insatiable hunger

    for more of thoseI love the way you make me so happyAnd the ways you show your care.

    I love that you are with me And glad that you are mine

    I love the way you feel That I am flirting with you

    In your subconscious mindTrying hard to prove yourself

    That I m notI love the way

    You read this again and againJust to see the reflections of

    your feelings in my wordsI love you for whatever you areAfter all I exactly dont know,

    Rather any language other than 'love' Is insufficient

    To express what I like in you

    Just For You

    Pranit Joshi

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  • Vivek Inder Sharma who passed out as the DR1 of the Chemical Engineering Dept. (Class of 2007) is pursuing his graduate studies in the Dept. of Nuclear Science and Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

    Your life at IITG in a few words.It might sound hackneyed! But life at IITG was the best period of my life. It gave me the greatest of friends, a very healthy environment to live in and academic success!

    What is it in IITG that you miss the most?Well there are lots of things. I miss the company of my friends, the innumerable night outs, all the soaps and sitcoms, the fried maggi, the walks in campus and all the card games we played for days at a stretch!

    Any memorable experience, in IITG, that you would like to share with our readers?I think that most of the memorable experiences happened outside the classroom! I am sure after 4 years at IIT, all the times spent in the canteens, the hostel lobby, the sports complex will be memorable - you will remember them all.

    Can you tell our readers something about the MIT CAMPUS?The MIT campus is not like the traditional campuses we have in India. It does not have a boundary or anything but is more like a city. And its awesome! I mean a campus that has its own Cyclotron and a Nuclear Reactor!! The amenities and facilities are extraordinary to say the least. Sculptures, murals, and paintings are found throughout the campus, including works by Henry Moore, Pablo Picasso etc. The infrastructure is amazing. Most of the facilities are open 24x7, so you can work/enjoy any time of the day/night you feel like. And there are 12 Nobel Laureates who are current members of the MIT community and I think being amongst them is the greatest feeling about being at the MIT campus.

    How different is the life there from IIT life?Life is totally different from IIT. Its more

    about research here than courses which is the opposite of what we as undergrads have at IIT! And here it is more independent. Also I feel the courses here are more practical whereas as an undergrad at IIT we mostly dealt with theoretical stuff. And life is much faster. It always makes you feel exhilarated but can sometimes be intimidating!

    Can you tell us something about your on-going research work there?Currently, I am investigating the possible reasons for the loss in performance of fuel and electrolytic cells due to degradation.

    I am working on identifying the chemical and/or physical mechanism(s) that lead to gradual degradation of cell performance over time focusing on the interaction of various components of cells in a stack as possible means of degradation.

    You are working on fuel and electrolytic cells. I think, as a Chemical Engineering student at IITG, you did not have many courses related to this. So how did you decide to work in this field? As an undergraduate student, how did you go about achieving what you had wished for? Most of my work as an undergrad was Fluid Mechanics stuff which is not related to fuel cells .While I was going though the MIT webpage,I found Center for Nanofliuds and Technology interesting and applied. After getting here I discussed about research projects of various faculties and decided to work on Fuel and Electrolytic cells. As far as

    research is concerned , try working in any research project to gain exposure and and experience and be open-minded while applying because research these days is interdisciplinary.

    As long as you are interested in something, it really does not matter what background you come from (of course you need to little familiarize a little ,but thats about it!). So what is most important is that you keep your goal in mind and keep working towards it. Academic performance is an important ,not the only, criteria for acceptance in good universities, so I always tried to maintain good grades in all the courses.

    What in your opinion can be the role of a newsletter in an institute like IITG?A newsletter can be a really important part of an institute. It can act as a bridge between the students and the administration. Moreover, It can act as a forum for the student and faculty to express their opinions, as a carrier of their concerns and suggestions and as a meeting place to form common consensus.

    Anything you would like to say to the juniors?This one is especially for the first yearites. Right after coming to IIT we get a feeling that clearing JEE has been an achievement and it is going to be a real smooth sailing from now on. That is true to a certain extent. But keep in mind, this is just the beginning. There are more challenges that lie ahead. And there are a lot of things still to be done. So dont lose your focus. Keep in mind what you are here for. I dont really mean to scare you, nor am I implying that you should really be a book worm! Try all sorts of stuff. IIT has a lot to offer and is a really great place for the overall development of your personality and you have a lot of potential. Make full use of it.

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    Alumni Speaks

    It really does not matter what background you come from, keep your goal in mind and keep working towards it.

    XPSticky NoteSorry It should have been alumni speak....

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