1

The Annual Reunion Magazine Of

IIT Bombay Greater NY Chapter Alumni York Chapter Alumni AssociationIIT Bombay New Greater

Vol. 2017 REFLECTIONS

Annual Reunion Sunday September 17th, 2017 Hyatt Regency, 2 Exchange Place, Jersey City, NJ

2 IITBAA GNY Chapter 3 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

September 17, 2017

Friends and Fellow Alumni,

Welcome to the 2017 Annual Reunion of the IIT Bombay Alumni Association Greater New York Chapter. On behalf of your Executive Committee, I am honored to welcome you here today.

The GNY Chapter is proud to keep this tradition of meeting annually for over twenty years now. We hear some new perspectives from our own alumni but also those from other IIT’s and other colleges who have rich experiences Greater New York Chapter Alumni AssociationIIT Bombay New Greater in areas of the business, education, research, and government. The 2017 York Chapter Alumni AssociationIIT Bombay New Greater Commitment. An investment that benefits us all. program reflects the richness of such experiences. The GNY Chapter is one of the largest IIT Bombay Alumni Chapters – both We celebrate the good work of IIT Bombay, and support its commitment inside and outside India. It is also generous in supporting IIT Bombay. In addition to our individual donations, last year the GNY Chapter donated to future generations of scholars and leaders. $7,500 from its account to assist current IIT Bombay students with their ongoing education and/or research.

Jason I. Feldman, CPWA®, CIMA® Dilshad T. Chowdhury The GNY Chapter is one of the most diverse with its membership including Senior Vice President -Wealth Mgmt Registered Client Service Associate from the first batch in 1962 to the most recent batch in 2017. Our meetings Advisory & Brokerage Services [email protected] are enhanced by this diversity. Additionally our events also benefit from Senior Portfolio Manager, Portfolio participation by alumni of other IIT’s as all our events are open to all. Management Program In April 2017, IITBAAGNY celebrated Pi Day. In spite of a major winter snow [email protected] storm over sixty of you showed by to meet and greet each others and answer some interesting pi day questions. Carlos M. Raimundo, CFP® The Feldman Group Wealth Strategy Associate UBS Financial Services, Inc. In June 2017, we held our Annual Family Picnic at Duke Island Park, [email protected] 1285 Avenue Of The Americas Bridgewater, NJ. The rain gods smiled on us that day as we had a beautiful 16th Floor blue-sky picnic day. Over 100 hundred of you showed up with your family New York, NY 10019-6031 and friends. The highlight was the participation of two graduates – Bonnie 888-804-8467 Dias and Sudhir Sharma from the first IITB class of 1962. They joined IITB before the JEEE! In November, we will have the Diwali Dhamaka – fun filled Advice you can trust evening of music and good food to close the year. At that event we will also starts with a conversation. recognize the winners of the 2017 Youth Achievement Awards, which is open to high school children of all IIT Alumni in the Greater New York area. This will be the third year of this GNY initiative.

Our monthly “Chai-Pe-Charcha” continue to be a great success. They are informal, vocal, and opinionated – just like the student days.

Thanks to you, we are one of the more vibrant IIT Bombay alumni chapters in US. In particular, I would like thank the volunteers and their spouses who so generously give their time to support this Chapter. Please volunteer, bring your ideas and help this Chapter grow. ubs.com/team/feldmangroup D. C. Agrawal President CPWA® is a service mark of the Investment Management Consultants Association, Inc. in the United States of America and worldwide. CIMA® is a registered certification mark of the Investment Management Consultants Association, Inc. in the United States of America and worldwide. Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. owns the certification marks B.Tech.(Hons) Mechanical Engg ’69; Hostel 4 CFP®, Certified Financial Planner™ and federally registered CFP (with flame design) in the U.S., which it awards to individuals who successfully complete CFP Board’s initial and ongoing certification requirements. ©UBS 2013. All rights reserved. UBS Financial Services Inc. is a subsidiary of UBS AG. Member SIPC. D-UBS-568EF42A 4 5 06 Ramblings on Self Improvement by Vignesh Rege 18 OFFICE Today’s Program BEARERS AND 2016 -Youth Award Essay by Parth Patel 21 VOLUNTEERS

IIT Gandhinagar: An Oasis in India’s Higher Education Desert 26 07 Executive Committee D. C. Agrawal ’69 - President Speaker’s Bio Nivvedan S ‘14 - Vice President Anurag Chaturvedi ‘92 - Treasurer Tarana Gupta ‘09 - Trustee Sagar Shah ’08 - Trustee 10 Raj Singh ‘88 - Ex-Officio Student Exchange Experience Kicha Ganapathy ‘67 - Ex-Officio Greater New York Chapter Alumni AssociationIIT Bombay New Greater Advisory Committee York Chapter Alumni AssociationIIT Bombay New Greater by Avni Patel Brijesh Agarwal ‘85 Shweta Bhandari ‘02 Sushil Bhatia ‘66 Vinay Karle ’96 12 Sreedhar Kona ‘97 Ruyintan (Ron) Mehta ‘70 Uday Nadkarni ‘78 Reflections on Smoking at IIT Jude Netto ‘66 Jignesh Patel ‘92 Bombay Kumar Shah ‘70 Suhani Shorewala ‘14 by Sagar Shah Gagan Singh ‘95

Spouses Committee Mala Ganapathy Jeanne Karle 14 Vrinda Master

CONTENT Sonurita Parmar Reflections - 9/11 Mita Patel Sunaina Singh by DC Agrawal

GNY-Point EDITOR’S NOTE Tarana Gupta - Designer As we said last year - at its core, this magazine is for us and by us, IIT Bombay Nivvedan S - Editor 17 alumni, and inside it you will find stories, analysis, opinions, advice, and Sagar Shah - Editor creative work that alumni wanted to share. In keeping with our view of what this magazine should be, this year the theme is reflections, where in our Seeing Safe Driving and Self- alumni reflect back on their life or topics of interest. We hope you find some Driving as Going Hand in Hand of it useful, and enjoy reading it, as much as we enjoyed putting it together. Don’t forget to write to us with any comments and feedback!

By David Cullen Please send them to [email protected] or [email protected]

Nivvedan, Sagar & Tarana

*The content, opinions and views expressed in the articles are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the views of IITBAA-GNY or IITBHF. 6 Leadership Conference BIOGRAPHIES 7 September 17th, 2017 10:30 am 11:30 am “Safety First / Evolution of Experiences in the Big Data 1:30 pm Does Higher Education Take Autonomous Driving” Industry 10:00 am India Higher – Value added by Jassi is President, CEO and Founder of Registration - Coffee / Tea / Light Snacks Dr. Bharat Balasubramanian (Dr. IITs? B) retired in 2012 as Vice President Axtria, a Big Data Analytics company of Group Research and Advanced that provides cloud platforms and 10:20 am services to help companies make Atul Singh is the founder, chief Engineering responsible for Product executive officer and editor-in-chief Introduction Innovations and Process Technologies better data-driven decisions. Axtria has been recognized as one of the of Fair Observer. a crowdsourced DC Agrawal ‘69- President IITBAA – GNY Chapter after nearly 40 years as a research multimedia journal. and development engineer for the fastest growing technology company Mercedes-Benz brand in Stuttgart, in US and India. Prior to founding Axtria, Jassi was founder and CEO Singh teaches political economy at the 10:30 am Germany. He has been at the forefront University of California, Berkeley and of most of the major advances of marketRx, a life-science analytics “Safety First / Evolution of Autonomous Driving” company that was acquired by at the Indian Institute of Technology, that have occurred in automotive Gandhinagar where he also teaches Greater New York Chapter Alumni AssociationIIT Bombay New Greater Bharat Balasubramanian ’73 – Ex-VP, Group Research and Advanced Cognizant in 2007. York Chapter Alumni AssociationIIT Bombay New Greater technology over the past 20 years. world history. Engineering-Daimler Benz. Executive Director, Center for Advanced After his retirement Dr. B joined the University of Alabama, College Jassi is member of Board of Ocular Vehicle Technologies - U of Alabama. Therapeutics [NASDAQ: OCUL], Singh has a diverse background. of Engineering as a professor He studied philosophy, politics in mechanical engineering and Board of Sikh Research Institute (SikhRi), and Board of Directors and economics at Oxford on the 11:30 am electrical & computer engineering Radhakrishnan Scholarship and did as also executive director of the of Panjab Digital Library (PDL). Experiences in the Big Data Industry Formerly, he was on Board of Trustees an MBA with a triple major in finance, cross-discipline Center for Advanced strategy and entrepreneurship at the Jaswinder “Jassi” Chadha ’90 IIT Delhi. President and CEO, Axtria Vehicle Technologies (CAVT). Dr. B’s of TIE Global, Vice President and Board of PAN IIT USA, Board of NJ Wharton School of the University Entrepreneur, Angel Investor, Ex-Board Member TIE Global mission is to prepare UA students of Pennsylvania. He graduated from for their careers in the automotive Young Presidents Organization (YPO). He is an active angel investor and Lucknow University and got his law industry in Alabama and the degree from BPP Law School, London. Southeast, and the University of participates on the board of director of several private companies. He is the He has worked as a corporate lawyer 12:15 pm Alabama and industry for future in London for Freshfields Bruckhaus automotive challenges. winner of E &Y “Entrepreneur of the Lunch / Networking Year” award, “Top Forty under Forty” Deringer. Dr. B is a 1973 Mechanical by NJBiz Magazine, and honored with Engineering graduate from IIT “Lifetime Achievement Award” by Atul Singh 1:30 pm Bombay. He has a Masters and Pharmaceutical Management Science Doctorate from University of Association. Jassi was named to the Does Higher Education Take India Higher – Value added Karlruhe, Germany. PharmaVOICE 100, which recognizes by IITs? the 100 most influential people in the life sciences industry. Under Jassi’s Atul Singh Professor, U of California, Berkeley and IIT Gandhinagar, leadership, Axtria continues to grow Editor Fair Observer Dr. Bharat and has been recognized as one of the fastest growing tech companies in US. Balasubramanian Axtria was recognized by INC5000 2:15 pm (#32 in 2014, #511 in 2015 and #938 in IIT Bombay Update 2016), Deloitte Fast 500 (#91 in 2015 Devang Khakhar - Director and #183 in 2016), 2015 Red Herring 100, NJTC Most Innovative Company, Ravi Sinha – Dean, Alumni and Corporate Relations NJBIZ Top 50 (#15 in 2014, #11 in 2015 and #3 in 2015). 3:00 pm Closing Remarks In recognition of his service and achievements, Jassi was awarded Chairman Nivvedan S ’14 Vice President, IITBAA – GNY Chapter Distinguished Alumni Service AwardDelphi Automotive PLC by IIT Delhi in 2008.

TODAY’S PROGRAM TODAY’S Program Sponsors include: UBS, Bel Air Investment Advisors; and Ujala Foundation Jaswinder Chadha 8 Director’s Message 9 D-III/D-10/2017 June 21, 2017

Dear Alum,

I am happy to report significant progress at IIT Bombay since I last wrote to you in 2016. You will be glad to know that the Institute has moved up from 219th rank last year to 179th rank this year in the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings. Overall, the Institution improved on its 2017 performance by 40 places.

Among the major developments in the Institute this year, a team of IIT Bombay students received the award during ‘Transform Maharashtra’ campaign, an initiative led by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, as a part of his efforts to engage the youth. The competition was launched by the Chief Minister in IIT Bombay during the Mood Indigo in December 2016.

Pratham, a microsatellite developed by IIT Bombay was launched by Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota on 26th September 2016. Signals are being successfully received from the satellite at our ground Greater New York Chapter Alumni AssociationIIT Bombay New Greater station. York Chapter Alumni AssociationIIT Bombay New Greater

I am very pleased to inform you that the student team from Innovation Cell of IIT Bombay has won the “Grand Award” at the 25th Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition (IGVC) that was held at Oakland University in Michigan, USA on June 2-5, 2017. The IIT Bombay vehicle, SeDriCa, left the other teams behind by a wide margin.

We celebrated our 54th Convocation in August, where over 2500 degrees were conferred on graduating students. Dr. Rajendra Singh, Chairman, Tarun Bharat Sangh and winner of Stockholm Water Prize 2015, was the Chief Guest for the occasion and he delivered the Convocation Address.

IIT Bombay is the mentor institute for the new IITs at Goa and Dharwad. IIT Goa was inaugurated on July 30, 2016 at the hands of Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar in the presence of the then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and Chief Minister of Goa, Laxmikant Parsekar. IIT Dharwad was inaugurated on August 28, 2016 at the hands of Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar in the presence of Chief Minister of Karnataka K. Siddaramaiah.

The IIT Bombay incubator, SINE has been recognized as a Centre for Excellence (COE) under the National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovation (NIDHI) program of Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. SINE has also been approved funding of Rs.43 crores for setting up the COE. SINE proposes to set up the COE in the new building premises identified for SINE. Around 60,000 sq.ft. has been earmarked by SINE to house at least 60-70 start-ups at a time. SINE will also provide state-of-the-art equipment and incubation facility which will include dedicated labs, co- working space, fabrication and prototyping facilities, intellectual resources etc.

It was indeed a pleasure meeting many of you on campus and during the chapter meets around the world. Several hundred of you visited the Campus on Alumni Day in December 2016. I want to thank you for staying in touch.

In an important development, the Institute is establishing a ‘Centre for Learning and Teaching.’ Our Distinguished Alumnus Mr. Pramod Chaudhari contributed Rs.2.51 crores to help set up the Centre. It will carry out research and development on Teaching and Learning and also work closely with the academic units, students and faculty to enhance teaching methodologies and learning outcomes. I also want to thank you for making a record number of donations to IIT Bombay in the last year. This was possible because of the popularity of important programs like YFA (Young Faculty Awards), Student Scholarships, and the creative teamwork of all our alumni volunteers involved in the efforts.

Do stay in touch. Regards, Devang Khakhar students may have been personally stay as part of this course. A 15-hour since high school, in which sports was 10 competitive, they were rarely overtly overnight train full of card games, a big part of my experience. Thus, 11 competitive and generally worked singing, and story-telling has a way of not only did the team provide a fun together. transforming classmates into friends. alternative to jogging around the track IIT Bombay: Several field visits and outings like by myself, but it also evoked a sense of When I was originally planning this seemed to have formed a sense nostalgia for more carefree times. my exchange to IIT Bombay, I was of camaraderie among the CTARA thrilled to come across The Center students, and I was happy to be part of What is more impressive than the An Outsider’s for Technology Alternatives for such a community. breadth of activities available is the Inside Look

By Avni Patel Greater New York Chapter Alumni AssociationIIT Bombay New Greater York Chapter Alumni AssociationIIT Bombay New Greater Behind the chaos of JVLR and engineering students in India. My based held true for most of my mayhem of Mumbai lays IIT general perception of the Indian experience and that of other exchange Bombay’s campus of over 500 acres educational system had been formed students. It seemed futile to have – a lush oasis in the concrete jungle. through tangential exposure and of to engrain to memory things that After living there for a semester, a course 3 Idiots. As a second generation could easily be looked up and did not friend’s insight that IIT is the “best Indian American, the Indian culture provide a measure of a meaningful piece of real estate in Mumbai” has been seminal in my upbringing. or conceptual understanding of resonates. Indeed, the air is distinctly Throughout my childhood and content. In addition, the interaction cleaner, ambiance calmer, and adolescence, my family and I had between students and professors was Rural Areas (CTARA). I looked Refreshingly, academics form only caliber of talent students possess and scenery considerably greener than come to India regularly. When I would more formal than that I experienced forward to the opportunity to part of the picture of student life at the amount of time they put into their the city outside. It is this serenity of visit, I noticed that our family friend’s while as an undergraduate at Duke contextualize my background in IIT. The campus is not only brimming extracurricular pursuits. For example, the campus amidst the backdrop of children in the 10th and 12th standard University or thus far at The Cooper civil and environmental engineering with some of the brightest minds in I had heard throughout the entire the bustling excitement of Mumbai seemed to be in a quarantine of a sort Union. This underscored a more within development based work. India but also complete with a wealth semester about the Performing Arts that makes IIT so ideal. With the call as they studied for board exams. In hierarchical relationship rather My academic experience within of stimulating activities. I had not Festival, but it was only when I saw of an Uber or Ola, auto rickshaw, a sense, their academic obligations than a collegial one. I imagine that CTARA greatly shaped my stay at imagined that I would be doing Zumba the elaborate sets for the performance, or (for the more adventurous) the served as an explanation for their a shift in pedagogy can and will IIT. As a department, CTARA is based to Daddy Yankee songs or (poorly professional quality trailer videos, Mumbai local, the city is yours to absence from any fun outings or come with time, especially as many in experiential education through attempting) parkour on the bike rack and multiple dance sequences that explore. And, after a day of taking travel as a sickness might. faculty members have pursued field visits and the application of by the lecture hall on a semester I understood the magnitude of the in all of the sights, sounds, smells graduate education in the United theory. This provides insight into exchange to India. Nor did I expect expression “PAF God hota hai.” Along and tastes the city has to offer, the I had seen billboards of top scorers States and other nations abroad. Their the nuances of development projects to find fellow rock climbers among with the fervor surrounding PAF, comfort of your hostel room above a and even recall being disturbed by a experiences can inform not only their and the intersection of politics and both the exchange students and IIT it was easy to get swept up in the mess with four meals a day awaits. front-page newspaper article about teaching methods, but also changes in technological solutions to implement students. It was exciting to find sites to nostalgia of many of the graduating suicides following publication of board curriculum and evaluation. societal change. climb outdoors around Mumbai and students for whom “insti”, as they so Somehow, each and every person I results. While the pressure at some appreciate the unique beauty of the affectionately called it, held formative met seemed pleased to be on campus. elite institutions in the states can Another expectation I had was One course in particular, Rural city from a different perspective. memories. While I am sure I could I guess that positive energy was be grueling, the stress and intensity that IITB would be an academically Environmental Services: Planning not fully appreciate the inside jokes contagious, and over the course seemed to pale in comparison. Thus, competitive environment. Several and Design, provided a context- The diversity in student activities is or sentimental thoughts shared in of several months IIT Bombay I was interested to observe first-hand students definitely took a course load based approach to learning. The on par with universities in America. I the valedictory functions, I could transformed from an abstract idea in the differences in the student life that seemed humanly impossible course focused on designing a water often heard that this type of vibrant tell without a doubt that IIT Bombay my mind to a home away from home and educational pedagogy between with seven or eight courses including provision and wastewater treatment life outside of school is not the norm holds a special place in the hearts of on my exchange from The Cooper universities in America and at IIT. labs. However, while the spirit of system for Mowad, a town about two on all campuses in India. At IIT, there its students. And after four months of Union for the Advancement of competition that I had expected hours from Nagpur near the Madhya are student interest groups to cater an alternate reality from my life in the Science and Art in New York City. Instructional methods in my courses was interwoven in even dance Pradesh border. During our field stay, to everyone, whether they enjoy states, it will hold a special place in my were similar to those in America with performances like PG Cult and in we met with the town’s government competitive quizzing on literature or heart too. Before my semester exchange, IIT most classes conducted as lectures the Performing Arts Festival, I was as well as conducted civil and social performing classical Indian music. One Bombay was just a highly intense, using PowerPoint presentations. pleasantly surprised that most surveys to form the foundation of our of the experiences for which I am most competitive university that was However, my expectation that students were more than happy to work. The first time I felt a sense of grateful is joining the campus athletics home to the cream of the crop education would be memorization- help one another in academics. While belonging at IIT was after a class field team. I have not been on a sports team By Sagar Shah 12 A nonsmoker obviously felt out of followed this religiously, and pretty 13 place and just to feel a part of the soon I discovered a sharp reduction When I think what has affected my life group, (s)he started to smoke, one a day. in my intake. Outside of campus, a lot recently, smoking comes to mind. The craving begins, and soon, he finds it’s gradually becoming cool not to Its been 30 months I smoked my last himself walking all the way to staff-c smoke. In the object-oriented lives cigarette. I feel proud that I could do for a smoke, gathering those difficult with ambitions at stake, everyone it. I know so many of us smokers are four bucks from his wing. It surely is realizing the effect of smoking unable to do it. I know my wife is very was a sight. And when one cannot on efficiency and lifestyle. Passive happy with it. Though sometimes I do wake up in the morning without a hazards are well known. Many of us go down the memory lane and it brings cigarette, the reality of addiction has smokers sincerely wanted to quit. We back the start of this habit. set in. Once while making fun of the knew cigarettes threaten our health, whole habit, we were discussing how annoy our acquaintances and cost “Smokers Die Younger”- I saw this on disgusting this habit has become and an inordinate amount of money. It a packet of cigarettes in my third year how addicted we all are (contrary increases anxiety, decreases mental at IIT Bombay and it appealed to me to our earlier beliefs that we could strength, leads to drowsiness and like Maverick did in Top Gun. Shelling never be addicted and we carry a exhausts all the energy. Nobody can out a hundred bucks spontaneously, will stronger than Skywalker), we force a smoker to quit. It requires a personal commitment by the smoker. Many smokers use the cigarette as a crutch in moments of stress or Greater New York Chapter Alumni AssociationIIT Bombay New Greater discomfort; the cigarette is sometimes York Chapter Alumni AssociationIIT Bombay New Greater Reflections used as a tranquilizer. But the heavy smoker who tries to handle severe personal problems by smoking heavily all day long, is bound to on Smoking discover that cigarettes do not help him/her deal with his/her problems effectively. When it comes to quitting, this kind of smoker may find it easy at IIT Bombay to stop when everything is going well, but may be tempted to start again in I smoked half a pack at lakeside with realized that we smoked without sense a time of crisis. Exercise, good food a couple of my friends. A cigarette in or reason. Smoke before lunch, after habits, or social activity in moderation my hand, I felt like a man! One may lunch, before lectures, after lectures, may serve as useful substitutes for say it was my choice to smoke. What before an exam, after an exam, with a cigarettes, even in times of tension. concerned me was the ease with which chai, without a chai, in times of stress, The choice of a substitute depends on students took to smoking then. in times of idleness, being happy, what will achieve the same effects Now come my opinions from 8000 being sad, being with friends, being without having any appreciable risk. miles away with presumptions on alone etc. It dawned upon me that I Once a smoker understands his/her what might have changed. As a had become a chain smoker. It was own smoking behavior, he will be freshman, I was scared to hell to smoke ruining my health; I was depressed, able to cope more successfully and before seniors; now it’s a matter of hardly socialized, slept through the select the best quitting approaches for pride to smoke in the corridors. Alcohol day and felt drowsy all the time. It himself/herself and the type of life- and smoke go hand in hand now. And was not as if I smoking to counter style he/she leads. Quitting smoking there are no barriers between juniors examination or project stress. One not only extends the exsmoker’s life, and seniors now. Earlier, we used to puffs away every waking moment but adds new happiness and meaning avoid smoking with seniors, which of one’s life without even noticing it. to one’s current life. Most smokers is not the case now. Every IITian One grabs a quick smoke in a hurry, state that immediately after they quit begins by thinking he will never get to kill time, while talking, while smoking, they start noticing dramatic Look, he’s not addicted. Smoking at staff canteen working. We smoke unconsciously, differences in their overall health and post lectures was a daily ritual then. cigarette after cigarette, without even vitality. I read an anecdote, ‘I phoned Attending meetings for the various realizing. Is it worth it? I decided that my dad to say I had stopped smoking. organizational bodies at Shack, having whenever I felt like smoking I shall He called me a quitter.’ the lovely morning snack at Kresit, the stop everything and prepare myself for Now it feels rather foolish how much juice at Bhavani snacks near H-5, or the smoking! a ‘meditative’ smoke. Go to some quiet I used to smoke and why. It has taken famous chai at main gate (Mahendar place where I can sit undisturbed, so long for the cleansing process. Now bhai must have moved now?) is alone. And when I do smoke, I shall it feels pretty good to advice other inevitably accompanied with smoke only smoke – no multitasking. No smokers to start quitting :) flying off. more smoking with friends, with tea or coffee or no more hurried puffs. I By D C Agrawal 1 skyline. My secretary mentioned their senior management to know 14 15 that a “small” plane had hit the exactly what was happening 9/11 had dawned like any other World Trade Center. There was on their rail systems on a real workday. I still remember that some smoke and a little fire. Not time basis. All Amtrak services it was a beautiful and crisp blue- thinking much of it, I went to my nationwide had stopped by then sky day that morning as I drove office to initiate the conference including Amtrak and NJ Transit to Princeton Junction to catch the call as I had some thirty people on train services to and from New 7:02 morning train to Newark. I the call. York. Given potential terrorist wanted to get to work on time, as actions, the Hudson River tunnels I had to prepare for an important Within a few minutes of starting and the emergency exits had to be secured and literally walked to ensure there were no bombs and Remembering explosives. It was really shocking to actually see the WTC towers collapse around

Greater New York Chapter Alumni AssociationIIT Bombay New Greater 10:30 that morning. Given 9/11 York Chapter Alumni AssociationIIT Bombay New Greater the rail negotiations with the Port Authority, I had Some Professional and visited One WTC several times those days with the last visit only three days ago. I just could not Personal Reflections believe that something like that was possible. As conference call at nine that the call, it quickly appeared that an engineer, I just assumed that morning. we had a major problem. Outside such structures were designed my office I could see hear some to stand for hundred plus years; In addition to my executive crying. Others on the call who I never thought the steel in such position at NJ Transit Rail, I had had access to TV or computers buildings could just melt. been also serving for over twelve said that CNN was reporting that months as a Special Advisor to the WTC had been hit. Recognizing As the morning progressed, I Commissioner, NJ Department the implications, I very quickly heard about the many deaths of Transportation on reaching ended the call. As the events there. People jumping to avoid agreement among three private unfolded that day, it was also the the fire but certain death below. railroads, the Port Authority end of my reaching an agreement On one side was the whole issue (owner of World Trade Center) on the NJ rail initiative. of a major terrorist attack on and NJDOT/NJ Transit to advance US soil, the chaos on TV and India some critical passenger and Looking at the WTC towers on the other side was the surreal freight rail improvements. Given fire, and then hearing about calm from the loss of so many upcoming elections for a new the plane crash in Washington, innocent souls. There were few NJ Governor, it was important DC we realized that we had a cars on the street except for the “After 44 years of marriage and two to reach agreement on some major emergency. All trains emergency vehicles. All air traffic critical issues that week, finalize were stopped at the nearest train from Newark airport and other wonderful sons and 3 grandchildren, our all the legal documents, and get station. Listening to the internal airports had come to a halt a few the necessary approvals before railroad communications, we hours ago with not a plane in the family has become truly diverse with October end. learnt about the chaos on the sky. NY City streets and emergency Polish and Chinese daughters-in-law and After the daily rail operations evacuation of folks from the WTC 1. senior management meeting, towers. D. C. Agrawal was DGM at NJTransit Rail on 3 grandchildren coming into our extended which ended around 8:45am, 9/11/2001. He was also past President of As- sociation of Indians In America’s NJ Chapter. I saw some of the office staff Since I was the internal lead Given his two positions and 9/11 involvements, family. ” looking out of the windows from with Amtrak, Long Island RR he was interviewed by NJ Historical Society as where you could see the NYC and PATH, I was on the call with part of their 9/11 Oral History Project. At NJTransit, we had to deal she could not reach them. The best available information on you have that view in mind, is it really 16 so hard to leap to picturing other 17 with the emerging commuter NY-NJ cell phone network had the missing and how to help the Seeing Safe Driving and Self- trucks in other duty cycles running crisis. How to get the survivors crashed with the antennas on top families of those who had been with various levels of task-oriented and regular commuters home of WTC. I was able to reach them declared dead. Driving as Going Hand in Hand automation? Especially if it makes the from Manhattan - Penn Station from my office phone later in the roads safer for all? I, for one, think not. New York was still closed. day. Luckily they were far from Given the enormity of the The ferries had begun to bring WTC and were fine. However, my tragedy, I felt really small in my Commentary by David Cullen, Executive Editor Advanced Vehicle Technology. FYI: Here are the SAE J3016 Levels This article originally appeared on Heavy Duty The long and the short of his résumé shocked survivors fleeing wife, who was an Occupational inability to help. I did try to help Trucking’s (HDT) website truckinginfo.com and of Automation for on-road motor downtown Manhattan to Safety consultant, had to report some individual families - from is is reproduced with permission is that he knows a thing or two about vehicles: applying technology to make driving NJTransit’s Hoboken Terminal for emergency duty to fit the trying to find TV tapes of possible Author’s Bio : David Cullen, Executive Editor safer. and Liberty State Park, which NJ emergency responders with sightings of the missing, to make Executive Editor David Cullen comments on Level 0 – No Automation: The full- the positive and negative factors impacting were designated as emergency masks and other protection arrangements for families to come time performance by the human trucking – from the latest government “Increasing safety and the [SAE] driver of all aspects of the dynamic response centers. The federal equipment as they left for WTC to the US for funeral services, and regulations and policy initiatives coming out levels of autonomous driving are two driving task, even when enhanced by emergency management office search and rescue mission. Except ensure resources were provided of Washington DC to the array of business and societal pressures that also determine what facets of an identical technology set warning or intervention systems had set up portable shower for my youngest son who was to the needy widows and truck-fleet managers must do to ensure their using advanced sensors, actuators operations keep on driving ahead. facilities to remove unknown trying to keep up with all the children. I also worked on getting and ECUs with slightly different Level 1 – Driver Assistance: The software,” is how Balasubramanian toxic contaminants from the news, it was real silent and quiet police protection for the local There is a mechanical engineer and driving mode-specific execution said he sees technology converging evacuees. Strange, bizarre and not at home that evening … just temples and gurudwaras. professor of mechanical and electrical by a driver assistance system of to make operating vehicles far safer

Greater New York Chapter Alumni AssociationIIT Bombay New Greater fully understandable at first! absorbing the implications of the engineering— whose distinguished either steering or acceleration/ York Chapter Alumni AssociationIIT Bombay New Greater than they are today. Balasubramanian day. As an Indian-American, my wife and globe-trotting career has already deceleration using information about contends that self-driving and safety The Hudson River rail tunnel and I realized that we need to do spanned over 40 years— who can the driving environment and with the advances should not be viewed in was the major transportation link One of the first things I noticed more for the “average American” simply and succinctly explain how expectation that the human driver isolation. He said flat out that “current autonomous driving technologies performs all remaining aspects of the at that time to move thousands the next day when I went to work to know us – our backgrounds, discussions on autonomous driving will actually make it onto a road near dynamic driving task of people fleeing NY to NJ. Late was the look from strangers …. heritage and values. In 2003, revolve too much around an ‘all or afternoon, emergency train the lack of trust and distancing with the support of the NJ you… and sooner than you might nothing’ approach.” Rather than see it Level 2 – Partial Automation: The service was finally restored from away from me. In my thirty plus Department of Education, AIA- think possible. that way, he suggested that “the true driving mode-specific execution by NY Penn Station with packed years in US, I had been welcomed NJ started an annual art/writing advantage in deploying advanced Bharat Balasubramanian, PhD., laid one or more driver assistance systems trains leaving all afternoon and not shunned as a “foreigner and competition based on a Mahatma driver assistance systems [ADAS] out his road map to the fairly near of both steering and acceleration/ lies in their ability to dramatically evening. outsider”. Indians in other parts of Gandhi quotation, which was future in a colorful and engaging talk deceleration using information about reduce the number of accidents and the country, especially Sikhs who open to all NJ high school and (complete with comical video clips) the driving environment and with the fatalities – and this [occurs] with I experienced first hand how looked different, fared even worse middle school students. Gandhi on May 1 at the National Private expectation that the human driver every incremental piece of safety the 9/11 events had touched the with physical attacks. For me, was the best representative Truck Council’s annual meeting in performs all remaining aspects of the technology [introduced].” people,Image when Courtesy: I left my Dileep office Bhandarkar the looks of the strangers and the symbol of India, especially given the historic Netherlands Plaza hotel dynamic driving task around 9pm to go home and awful smell of death wafting from his message of nonviolence. Over in downtown Cincinnati. The arc of He pointed out as well that “typically, Balasubramanian’s global automotive Level 3 – Conditional Automation: The met this continuing stream of NYC were most troubling. I tried the last 14 years, this annual implementing truck safety technology career is the stuff of a Bollywood epic, driving mode-specific performance by evacuees. I can still remember not to go out of the office building competition has received over lags cars by 10 to 20 years. But the gratitude on the face of two that day. 30,000 entries (with nearly 90% or at least of a recruiting video for a an Automated Driving System of all with [the rollout] of autonomous aspects of the dynamic driving task young girls, who worked near from non-Indian-Americans) top-notch engineering school. driving technologies, these times with the expectation that the human WTC, when I shared a bottle In addition to professional and has better informed over will probably be cut dramatically Born and raised in India, he attained driver will respond appropriately to a of water with them... they had acquaintances, I got to know that 100,000 NJ students, teachers through legislative and societal a degree in mechanical engineering request to intervene pressures. “Depending on road and nothing to eat or drink the whole several Indians had passed away and family members about the at the Indian Institute of Technology traffic complexities, [SAE] Level 4 day as they had spent over ten at WTC. The numbers became values cherished by their Indian in Mumbai. He then followed his Level 4 – High Automation: The High Automation mode [coupled] hours walking from WTC area to much larger as you talked to neighbours. passion for automotive design to one driving mode-specific performance with ‘high automation’ [installed] on 42nd street, then to the piers to others. As the immediate past its epicenters— Germany-- where by an Automated Driving System of parts of Interstate highways ‘from get a ferry to Liberty State Park in president of the Indian association Some important lessons learnt. he went on to earn a master’s and all aspects of the dynamic driving entry to exit’ could be achieved by NJ, then a bus to Hoboken, a train in NJ, I got involved in trying to One: Life can change in a then a doctorate in engineering and task, even if a human driver does not 2022,” he predicted. On the other launched a 38-year career in research respond appropriately to a request to to Newark and then finally on find out what the community minute. When you leave for hand, Balasubramanian said that “in and development with Daimler AG. intervene their way home to Princeton. needed. It just happened that work each day, just remember other [less advanced] scenarios, the Balasubramanian retired in 2012 as I had worked with and knew to part lovingly with your loved vehicle may only operate in Level 2 group vice president of research and Level 5 – Full Automation: The full- At a personal level, the enormity the person appointed by the NJ ones. Two: Be involved in the Partial Autonomous mode, such as advanced engineering for Daimler. time performance by an Automated of the situation was not fully Governor to manage the 9/11 community where you live, on city streets.” Leap ahead to 2022 Not content to rest on his corporate Driving System of all aspects of understood until much later that Emergency Response. I reached even if you consider yourself – only five years hence – and picture laurels, Balasubramanian’s next the dynamic driving task under those highly autonomus trucks plying day and the following days. My out to her, volunteered as a a transient. You will need move was to accept an engineering all roadway and environmental “entry to exit” stretches of Interstate wife had called during the day resource and went to the Liberty community support and help professorship at the University conditions that can be managed by a (OK, well let’s just say they’ll be doing worried about our two sons who Park Emergency Response during moments of unanticipated of Alabama as well as the post of human driver. so during clear weather). Now that worked and studied in NYC as Center that weekend to get the crisis. executive director of UA’s Center for By Vignesh Rege Domains fit into three buckets: you fall in. Ask yourself, where do 18 19 health, wealth and spirituality, I stand with respect to the rest of regrets and future anxieties. Self is going to be. along the way? If it’s the latter, shed it. Self improvement involves the allowing for some overlap and humanity? The 100 percentilers in awareness gained via spiritual efforts Put your ego on a diet. On a spiritual following steps: dependencies. each of these buckets are familiar to makes it easier to not get dragged into Our societal obsession with small diet. us - say Bolt, Gates and Buddha. heated arguments. It also helps with talk also makes it harder to learn 1. Figure out potential domains of 1. Health: swimming, running, lifting, self calibration. from each other. Be the example here. If failures hurt you, that means improvement yoga Most of us tend to be skewed heavily Open up, answer honestly and from there are things you can do to 2. Calibrate yourself in that domain 2. Wealth: education, career towards one of the three. For the When you feel like you’ve hit your the heart. Humans have a tendency improve spiritually. The end result 3. Chart out your next steps 3. Spirituality: meditation, yoga audience of this post, it’s likely limit, remember that nature operates to mirror each other and seek social isn’t a robotic emotionless being. It’s ‘wealth’. Work towards reducing through phase transitions whereas proof for actions. You can be the one someone who is at peace with failures these skews and it should be possible our brain thinks linearly. Have you who provides that social proof. It’s ok and successes. to reach the 90%ile marker in every experienced an occasion where to say you are having a hard time. It’s bucket. Efforts that you take in you’ve surprised yourself with what ok to describe why. Be nonchalant Of the three buckets, spirituality Ramblings on every bucket make progress on other you ever able to accomplish when while doing so. People will mimic has the least obvious effort-fruits buckets easier. Same holds for you thought that you couldn’t? That’s you and follow suit. The end result is relationship. How the fuck do domains within every bucket. Yoga an example of your abilities eclipsing a more genuine interaction. A better breathing exercises help you diminish improves flexibility which makes your brain’s linear constraints. use of time. Some will hesitate. That’s your ego? Self Improvement it easier to lift heavy. Lifting can fine too. It’s hard to open up. Allow improve muscles strength that them the time. The answer is unknown. I believe it reduces strain during hiking. Wealth “Most people had something to do with living in the Greater New York Chapter Alumni AssociationIIT Bombay New Greater Figuring out domains needs you to be Each of these buckets are filled with can enable easy access to better In the process of self improvement, present. Focusing on your breathing York Chapter Alumni AssociationIIT Bombay New Greater open to new experiences and fight the the time and effort you invest in them. health facilities and can free up time. overestimate what failures are inevitable. Failures are is the easiest way there is to focus on urge to define your comfort zone too You can calibrate yourself in every Meditation frees up brain time by can be achieved information transfer mechanisms. the present moment. Once you focus early in life. bucket by guessing what percentile training you to not get lost in past They are a critical precursor to step on the present moment, your ego is in 1 year and 2 and 3. They make it easier to figure handicapped. Your ego thrives on the out what next steps you should be slights and regrets of the past and the underestimate what focusing on. They are hard to deal anxieties of the future. Focusing your can be achieved in with though because our emotions attention on the present moment is get entangled in them. Our ego is your weapon against your ego. 10 years” - (Gates) hurt. If only we weren’t slaves to our egos. The weaker your ego becomes, the quicker you recover emotionally Phase transitions in a domain are Growing up in modern human from failures and embarrassments. made possible by small inconspicuous societies fattens our ego and our The quicker you recover, the more wins in related domains. When you identity. I was a Hindu, an Indian, a information you can gather from that hit a plateau while trying to make Mumbaikar, a Marathi even before event. The more information you progress in one of these domains, take I could speak. Our identity tends to gather, the easier it is to calibrate and a step back and figure out easier wins collect more and more traits as we figure out next steps. in related domains. grow up. Many of these traits are slapped on by our social up bringing People can aid you in figuring out next While charting out next steps for rather than via a concerted conscious steps for self improvement in specific improvement, remember to focus on effort on our part. The later your ego, domains. Seek people who were at setting up systems rather than goals. the easier it is for your ego to be hurt. your state a few years ago and are What new habit can I imbibe rather The more you identify with things, now better than you in that domain. than what next goal can I hit? Set up the more fiercely you will defend Learn from their mistakes. A word of systems and celebrate goals. them. The only difference between caution while seeking advice. I a debate and an argument is a sense What systems to set up requires some of identity. Arguments are a waste of f you want to be amongst the best research. Learn from the Internet time. Time is truly the only resource in a domain, a majority of the advice and the people around you. Learning you have. Save time. Whittle down you get will naturally be mediocre. from people directly is hard because your ego. Be picky when imbibing advice. most people are unaware of what The best coaches are the ones who contributes to their own successes. Next time you get into an argument, listen carefully, take their time to Here it helps to know what questions take a step back. Ask yourself why understand you and then help you to ask to tease out learnings from your emotions are rising. What aspect figure out the one thing you should people you converse with. Asking of your ego is causing your emotions focus on to improve. Seek the best good questions requires active to rise up to its defense. Is this aspect coaches. listening. Active listening requires something that you truly want to fighting the urge to figure out what incorporate in your identity? Or is your contribution to the conversation it just something that you picked up By Parth Patel Pratham comes into the picture. by one and put a check next to their 20 Pratham works to further the name. Not all of them could recognize 21 If I had to summarize my experience education of youth who fall under their name so there would be sticker working with and learning about this category with extra classes and with a picture of something next to Pratham hands on in India in three programs that are supplementary their name that they would associate words they would be: eye-opening, to school. One thing that stood out with themselves. Next the kids sang heartwarming, and inspiring. to me during my observation of songs for 5 minutes and got ready for When observing Pratham learning these classes was the amount of some learning. They started with a centers in Ahmedabad and Surat, I dedication that people who worked quick activity in which the students explored a part of India I had never for Pratham had, whether they are had to point something in room out experienced before. A part where teachers, accountants, or anything and say what it does, for example a reading is more of a privilege than a in between and how much of an fan, which blows air. Then teacher necessity, and a place where getting impact they are making on students’ had a lesson planned out that had to an eighth grade education is no lives. Also, starting from the first do with learning numbers. After that guarantee. I say “experienced” in day, when I visited a range of classes the teacher told the students a story this context because I had already with students anywhere from that had a moral so they could take seen this place, and I was already ages five to ten I was impressed by something away from the story as Greater New York Chapter Alumni AssociationIIT Bombay New Greater My Internship York Chapter Alumni AssociationIIT Bombay New Greater Bel Air Investment Advisors Is happy to support with Pratham The IIT Bombay Alumni Association keenly aware of it. I knew education how smoothly and efficiently the well. A few more fun learning-based GREATER NEW YORK was lacking in parts of India and all whole system ran. I did not get to games followed and then it was around the world, and I was very observe any of these classes in depth, lunch time. Each student brought aware of the polluted conditions a however the level of enjoyment their lunch to class. For lunchtime, In honor of our friend Ron Mehta multitude of people are forced to live that the students seemed to have the students and teacher would go in because of near destitute poverty. jumped out at me. These students downstairs to wash their hands at a I would even try to help wherever I were loving class; they worked with spigot and then come back upstairs to Bel Air Investment Advisors provides customized investment counsel could. However, I never understood smiles on their faces. Another thing eat their lunch. After lunch the class the intensity of these conditions until that impressed me was the teaching was over and the students returned to high net worth individuals, families and foundations. The firm’s I got out the car, looked at the area tools that the teachers used. Some of to either another class or went home. surrounding the first center I visited, them were standard ones that can be After observing this class I headed investment advisors, some with over 35 years of investment and experienced the atmosphere that seen at any given Pratham learning to a few more preschool classes in experience, have helped clients protect and grow their wealth while was present. Many of the students center, but many were hand crafted different environments just to see who live in such areas do go to and drawn by teachers. By the end how they looked, which ended my navigating the most diverse market conditions. schools, whether they be public or of my first day in the field, I probably exciting day. Here are some pictures private. However the quality of these visited five to six different learning that I took. schools would often be very low. For centers for 20-30 minutes each. example, a fifth grade student at this The next day or two was spent Eric S. Bright school could still be reading at a first On my second day I visited pre- prepping for the Pratham Access grade level. At these schools, students school classes and sat through an English Immersion Camp. This is a Senior Vice President also receive very little individualized whole two to three hour class. I four day program that many schools [email protected] | 310.229.1551 attention, which is essential at a enjoyed it. The class started with are invited to participate in. Its goal 1999 AVENUE OF THE STARS, SUITE 3200 | LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90067 young age to encourage learning the students, about 3-5 years old, was to immerse the students (average and good habits. For me, witnessing playing with toys that stimulated about 15 years of age) in the English these conditions first hand was eye- their minds for 10 minutes. Then the language so they can improve in opening. teacher took attendance at which it and learn about some parts of I learned earlier that this is where point each student would get up one another culture because all of the excited, and so was I. They were learned what they want to be when quite moving. 22 23 very interested by the fact that I they grow up, and some of their live in the US and were curious to favorite sports. By the last day, I had By the time the Immersion Camp learn more. People were eager to talk given my email and phone number, came to an end, I had made many to me and it felt very good. After and gotten some emails and phone new friends, and lived a great I introduced myself, the students numbers to become Facebook friends four days I will never forget. The were asking a lot of questions about with some of the students. experience was heartwarming. the US and some fun personal I gave a PowerPoint presentation questions, like what people in the that I created to talk a bit about After the Immersion Camp, I visited US eat and wear, or who my favorite myself, and the US in comparison a school that attended the Immersion Hollywood actor is. As time passed to India. While doing so, I tried to Camp and sat in on one of its classes. I got to know many of the students be as interactive as possible, and it This class’s theme was a reflection by name, and I received many verbal was a great success. The students of the Immersion camp, so I helped “thanks” and three thank you cards. followed my whole presentation, the students out with that. We did It was uplifting. The people were an understanding what I said, and some activities for that and then we absolute pleasure to work with and answering all of the comprehension played some fun English based games it was so fun talking to them. When questions I asked. They also asked to wrap the session up. One of the talking to them in-between activities, many follow up questions on what I games we played was 20 Questions, I I did switch from English to my presented that kept the conversation had a blast and so did the students. scratchy Gujarati at their request, but very lively and entertaining. For Greater New York Chapter Alumni AssociationIIT Bombay New Greater during all of the activities, English example, at one point I started Afterwards, I went to Surat to check York Chapter Alumni AssociationIIT Bombay New Greater was basically the only language singing We Will Rock You and out the centers there. I sat in on spoken. In these side conversations drawing the Statue of Liberty another pre-school class which was I got to ask them some questions (the students were laughing and pretty fun. The layout of the class about their life, India, and their clapping like crazy!) I also was was very similar to the Ahmedabad interests and the responses were privileged enough to hear some of class I observed. The next day I took very interesting to hear. The same the students sing. One sang three a bus to Chikli, which is close to went for the conversations I had with minutes of Justin Bieber’s Baby. Then Navsari. There is a Pratham PACE the students when helping out with afterwards, the whole class recited center located there. When I actually students are studying it in school. make a paper hat and paste cut outs all of the teacher’s questions with activities, or giving presentations. I the Indian national anthem, it was got there it was totally different than My role was to act as an assistant to of people, places, and things they success. I thought this gave them a the team running the camp and help like and dislike that they find in great chance to speak and listen in wherever needed, interact with the magazines. It served as a fun and English, while learning more English. students as much as possible (which useful activity that provided a way was a lot of fun), take pictures, and for students to break the ice with Note that the Hindi on the board give a presentation about my life and each other. For example, one student is just there to show the difference the US. I would have to say working that has a picture of a car on his between Hindi’s grammatical at this program was probably the or her hat sees that another has a structure and English’s) highlight of my whole trip to India. similar picture would then ask, “Do The activity that ended the first day Parts of My Overall Experience: you like cars as well?”, and regardless was handball. It was run by some My first experience with the Access of whether the answer was yes or students and teachers from the English Immersion Program was no, a friendly conversation ensued. Riverside school. They organized getting to see all of the students This provided a great way for many team building drills and dancing and smiling. The moment students to practice English with activities. One of them including I saw it I was exhilarated by the another student who is at a similar people forming two lines, linking loud but fun music, and the many proficiency in the language. hands, and having one person run students moving to the beat. Each of through the lines with their eyes the four days of the camp is started I also feel it is important to note closed. with aerobics. This gave the students that during this experience, at no a chance to get closer to each other, point did the student seem bored, This was followed by everyone and loosen up before their activities unenthusiastic, or disrespectful. They sitting in a circle to talk about what (keep in mind the students are from a were always actively listening to it means to be a team, part of a team, few different schools, so they did not every presentation and many took and a good sport. This provided the all know each other). I thought the detailed notes. students with something to take activity was very productive and a After the hat activity, teachers came away from their experience. Then, great way to start a busy but exciting in the classrooms and taught the the handball began! day! students how to construct sentences in a more colloquial manner, instead My Personal Experience: Another activity I observed was a of relying on textbook structure. The On the first day when I introduced hat making activity. In it, students audience was engaged, and answered myself, the students were very what I expected. The building, 24 funded by the Naik foundation, 25 was very large and located on the side of a highway. When I went inside the building was very well maintained and had a modern look to it. Inside I met with the manager of the sight and got a tour of the facility and learned about the program. PACE centers are places where people between ages 18 and 30 (I think) can come to learn a specific vocational job for a certain amount of months. In the case of this PACE center, it is hospitality, which means working at a hotel in either food & beverages, housekeeping, or bakery and the course takes about three months. Greater New York Chapter Alumni AssociationIIT Bombay New Greater This gives people with less York Chapter Alumni AssociationIIT Bombay New Greater fortunate backgrounds a great opportunity to become specialized in a field where they can get a steady income a good lifestyle. I really enjoyed my visit, it was really cool seeing how this whole program worked.

This is one of the teachers lecturing a group of students in one of their classrooms.

This is a student cooking our lunch in their practice facility! UJALA Foundation

This is one of the managers of the Ujala is proud to contribute to the following organizations: center, one of the managers of the Cornell University School of Engineering Surat urban centers, and me eating Drexel University School of Business lunch cooked by students. Johns Hopkins School of Medicine This is me talking to all of the The Franklin Institute, Philadelphia students and answering any The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia questions they had for me! After visiting the PACE center, my American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) experience with Pratham in India Legal Aid of D.C. ended. Philadelphia Zoo However it left a lasting impact on Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay me. I created memories I will never And many more… forget, met people I will continue to stay in touch with, learned a lot from travels, and I left India UJALA FOUNDATION “Investing in the future – youth, education, and health” inspired to make a difference in any way I can. RAJ L. GUPTA, Executive Director the catastrophic decline in medical Unsurprisingly, the coaching business the Gujarat state government at a 26 27 education. Remember, the vast is now a multibillion dollar industry. hugely symbolic location. Appositely, majority of India’s best minds go into Even as middle-class Indians send Rajmohan Gandhi, the nearly 82-year- IIT Gandhinagar: science, engineering and medicine. their children to Kota, richer Indians old grandson of the Mahatma, now The less said about those who get simply pack them off abroad. Children teaches here. an education in arts, commerce and of leading politicians and bureaucrats “oriental” subjects the better. leave for places like Harvard and Yale IITGN not only gains from being on Suffice to say, a growing number are as soon as they finish school. the banks of the Sabarmati, but also An Oasis in India’s deeply worried about the gargantuan Given the dire state of affairs, is there from its location in Gujarat. Gandhi’s crisis in India’s higher education reason to hope? ancestral home, with its long, jagged system. coastline, has been a land of traders since time immemorial. Purportedly, Higher Education On August 7, 2016, Shail Kumar A LOTUS IN THE MUD it was a Gujarati sea pilot who guided argued, “everyone is paying a hefty Vasco da Gama to Kozhikode. Today, price for [the crisis]: students, parents, Those who take a cyclical view of life Gujaratis can be found all along industry, society and the nation.” Since and history muse that things are never East Africa, Canada, Britain, the US Desert most degrees are often not worth the static and can always turn around. In and any other part of the world. paper they are written on, students the East, this view has always held Gujarat continues to be the most strive to get into elite institutions such weight. That may or may not be true, entrepreneurial of Indian states and as the IITs. To do so, parents pack them but there are institutions and people is relatively better governed, even Greater New York Chapter Alumni AssociationIIT Bombay New Greater off to coaching classes in towns like still living up to ancient ideals of though traffic signals are ornamental York Chapter Alumni AssociationIIT Bombay New Greater By Atul Singh Kota where they prepare for dreaded education in India’s time-warped land. lights that no one heeds. The entrance examinations for up to four entrepreneurial environment gives This article was first published on www. They mapped the massive scale of that “non-profit status allows for tax years. The chosen ones get to go places fairobserver.com and has been reproduced the de facto privatization of Indian exemption and makes it easier to One of these institutions is IITGN. IITGN the opportunity to serve the like IIT. Those who fail to make the cut with permission. This does not necessarily higher education. They posited: “This launder money.” Led by the visionary Jain, it is needs of the local industry, find jobs reflect the views of the editors, IITBAA-GNY, privatization has resulted from a are often deeply disappointed, some an institution that is taking risks for its graduating students, and draw or IITBHF, and has been included here as it are scarred for life and a few even and embracing bold ideas. For a upon well-heeled Gujaratis to support was deemed valuable to the scheduled breakdown of the state system and Most Indian higher education discussion during the Annual reunion. an exit of Indian elites from public institutions are absolutely awful. They institutions, to both private sector churn out graduates with little skill institutions within the country as and scant knowledge. In 2016, a study IIT Gandhinagar offers some key well as abroad.” The situation in 2017 found that barely 3% of graduating lessons for tackling the acute crisis in is far worse. engineers are employable in software India’s higher education system. or product market and only 7% Readers must know at the outset Kapur and Mehta also pointed out could handle core engineering tasks. that this author teaches at the Indian that the ideological and institutional Dheeraj Sanghi, an eminent academic Institute of Technology Gandhinagar underpinnings of privatization remain renowned for his forthrightness, has (IITGN). Furthermore, this author very weak. In 2004, the University chronicled “the absolutely abysmal greatly admires Sudhir Jain, the Grants Commission (UGC), India’s apex quality of education in [Indian] director of the institution. He also body for higher education regulation, colleges” for many years. More than has close relationships with and classified two-thirds of 15,000 colleges “poor quality curriculum, poor quality high regard for a number of faculty that educated almost 10 million faculty, poor infrastructure, poor members in IITGN. Therefore, this is students as “Arts, Science, Commerce school education” et al, Sanghi blames certainly not an article written from and Oriental Learning Colleges.” Such the culture of copying in colleges for Olympian heights with Apollonian terminology gives away the fact that the terrible state of Indian education. objectivity. Yet this author hopes the Victorian spirit might be dead in it will shed light on an issue that Britain, but still thrives in India’s UGC. Sanghi is right. In India, plagiarism is bedevils the future of the land of the a way of life. Laziness, not learning, is Buddha, Kabir and Tagore. Little of the Victorian rectitude the guiding principle of most faculty survives in India, though. Politicians and students. The country has lost have got into the education business its moral compass and education CRISIS IN INDIAN HIGHER and so have bureaucrats. Indian is about gaining certification, not EDUCATION dirigisme simply means that acquiring knowledge. The malaise those with connections can begin is captured best by a 2015 Reuters start, IITGN is on the banks of the the young institution. commit suicide. The coaching classes India’s higher education system has engineering institutes, medical report that chronicled rampant fraud Sabarmati, the river by which Location is important but not industry is booming in India. In Kota long been in crisis. In September colleges or management schools. at Indian medical schools. This has Mahatma Gandhi set up his ashram enough. Besides, India is a land where alone, the industry has an annual 2004, Devesh Kapur and Pratap Indian license raj enjoins that higher been a longstanding phenomenon. some kilometers downstream when opportunities are squandered on a turnover of nearly $250 million Bhanu Mehta authored a Harvard education institutions be nonprofit For the last two decades, I.P. Singh, the he returned from South Africa. In daily basis. Even famous institutions (Rs1,500 crore). Some middle-class paper titled, “Indian Higher institutions. After all, they are temples author’s father and an eminent plastic 2012, after turning down other offers have been crumbling. “Tagore’s parents spend up to a third of their Education Reform: From Half-Baked of learning. That may well be true, but surgeon, along with many of his of land, Jain astutely wrangled 400 Viswa-Bharati University is now a salary on coaching for their children. Socialism to Half-Baked Capitalism.” Kapur and Mehta astutely observe illustrious colleagues, has bemoaned acres of riverfront property from picture of decline and decay” and students at Malaviya’s Banaras Hindu subcontinent. Through this have to keep internal systems in 28 29 University allege sexual harassment experience, they come to understand equilibrium to create outward looking Earlier this year, the president of India Younger faculty members at IITGN By contrast, Danino and Gandhi by faculty. So, IITGN’s location by the their country’s traditions and its universities.” That is precisely what conferred on Danino the Padma Shri, embody this interdisciplinary illuminate ancient and modern India Sabarmati in the entrepreneurial state complex ground realities. The he has achieved. A cursory look at a national honor for the country’s ethos and some of them are highly for those who want to learn. of Gujarat was and is no guarantee assumption is that travel through the IITGN’s website tells any visitor that most eminent citizens. Other sages impressive. Amit Prashant has a mind of success. The institution has got dusty towns and rustic villages of American Nobel laureates, Japanese come from abroad. Fred Coolidge, that cuts through complex issues like There is one last thing that needs off to a rollicking start because it India will give students much-needed ministers and Portuguese officials a youthful 68-year-old professor a hot knife through butter. Vimal mentioning but that requires a trip puts the students center stage. In a practical knowledge, connect them have spent time at the campus. and cyclist, brings to the campus Mishra is a walking encyclopedia on to the past. The pre-independence conversation with other university to real-life problems and make them l’étonnement philosophique, the river basins and more. Amit Arora period from 1892 to 1947 was a time leaders, Jain remarked that directors better decision-makers when they The campus itself is superlatively ability to marvel at the wonder of the has shed light on how to make the of extraordinary developments in may come and go, but students will assume positions of leadership. designed. G.C. Chaudhary, the world and incessantly discover things infernally heavy tripods used by India’s higher education. As Kapur be associated with the institution for Along with this exposure, IITGN instils superintending engineer, has come new. the Indian army much lighter. Rita and Mehta point out, philanthropy life. In his view, students and alumni rigor among its students. There is zero from the Military Engineering Service Kothari is a multilingual author, played a big part. Public institutions of are the biggest stakeholders in any tolerance for plagiarism that plagues (MES) on deputation after building translator and teacher par excellence. enduring significance, such as Aligarh academic institution. the country. Students who copy from runways for fighter jets in difficult BREAKING DOWN SILOS TO SERVE Neeldhara Misra is a fount of Muslim University, Banaras Hindu others and fail to do original work face conditions. He has achieved wonders WIDER SOCIETY knowledge on internet technologies University, Jamia Millia Islamia, Therefore, Jain has fostered a culture swift and severe action. Regurgitation on a tight budget. Once, Chaudhary and online tools. Manas Paliwal, a Annamalai University and the Indian of student involvement in all aspects is unacceptable. Students study a was Jain’s student. Conveniently, Coolidge and this author shared an lover of Montreal and Canada, has wit Institute of Science “were created of campus life. They have given inputs range of subjects from mathematics to Jain is a civil engineer who did his office earlier this year. Among other and wisdom beyond his years. These largely through voluntary donations.” in architectural plans, chosen names humanities to develop the confidence PhD from Caltech. This means he has things, Coolidge has worked on the and many others will form the spine The two gentlemen go on to observe Greater New York Chapter Alumni AssociationIIT Bombay New Greater of hostels, created mini-traditions and to come up with and develop their been exceedingly hands-on in the evolution of the human brain and of IITGN for decades to come. After all, that “the net share of private York Chapter Alumni AssociationIIT Bombay New Greater traveled around the country to find ideas. As Jain often says, IITGN aims to designing and building of the campus. done some interesting work even on what is an institution but a collection philanthropy in shouldering the their moorings. IITGN’s “Foundation produce graduates who not only solve The buildings in the academic area the Neanderthals. One fine morning, of people bound together by shared burden of public institutions was as Program” for students who join the important problems, but also identify all flow into one another and foster Coolidge asked this author which norms and working toward a common high as seventeen percent in 1950 and institution is exceedingly radical. problems worth solving. serendipitous social interaction god had emerged from the forehead purpose? is now down to less than two percent.” This five-week program is intended between faculty and students. Steve of Zeus. This author responded it Jain has taken it upon himself to to expose students who might have Naturally, students will only be able Jobs had precisely the same idea when was not a god but a goddess named With the institution’s spine in place, turn the clock back. He engages spent four years in Kota to the wider to do so if they have the confidence he designed Pixar’s headquarters in Athena. Coolidge then revealed that Jain has been building relationship with people with extraordinary world. For the first time, many paint and bravery to think independently Emeryville. this is where the frontal lobes are with other institutions. IITGN has warmth, infectious cheerfulness and or play sports, do community service and critically. Therefore, inspiring located. signed multiple memoranda of indefatigable energy. Staff members or organize social events, meet people students and making them think is a Unlike Jobs, Jain and Chaudhary have understanding with the likes of Tata such as Santosh Raut, Sunita Menon from other walks of life, and discover fundamental goal that Jain has set out created the campus rather frugally. This is a part of the brain that Chemicals and the Indian army. Young and Yashwant Chauhan ensure that new possibilities for the future. for his young institution. In a country Yet it has won numerous awards for controls our key cognitive skills such researchers such as Arora and Paliwal visitors enjoy warm hospitality for where rote learning and obsession its environmentally friendly design as language, memory, thinking and will be finding solutions to India’s real- which India has long been famous. Jain encourages his students to with examinations rule the roost, and has been deemed “the greenest judgment. Did the ancient Greeks life and real-time problems. A research explore. Under his leadership, IITGN this focus on learning and thinking campus in India.” Its innovative observe the human body and come park connecting industry and This warm welcome bowls over provides multiple opportunities for its harks back to Tagore. Unsurprisingly, features such as the use of natural up with this conclusion? Or were academia is soon on its way. Jain is foreigners like Olivier Lavinal, donors students to go abroad and experience Tagore’s iconic poem, “Where The light, use of fly-ash bricks, cavity they simply intuiting something taking a leaf out of Caltech or MIT and such as Ruyintan Mehta and even other cultures. Students do research Mind is Without Fear,” that celebrates walls, solar panels, passive cooling fundamental that modern science has striving to make IITGN much more prospective faculty members. It projects, courses and internships all cosmopolitanism, curiosity, reason, technologies, saving pre-existing trees, finally verified? We may never fully than a watering hole for students on generates goodwill that has helped over the map. Some spend summers knowledge and truth takes center and integration of horticulture and know. their way to jobs in multinationals, Jain raise money for IITGN. In at US universities such as Caltech stage on IITGN’s vision document. waste management are path-breaking careers in the civil services or research particular, he has tapped the Indian and Texas A&M University. Others in the country. Naturally, this As a modern-day philosophe, such in American universities. diaspora in the US and Gujarati do courses in design or literature at pioneering spirit rubs off on students serendipitous discoveries delight this business community closer to home. places like the New School in New STRONG ROOTS AND OPEN and faculty. author. They are only possible if an Of course, no institution is perfect Remarkably, alumni from IITGN are York. Some go to Japan where they WINDOWS institution creates an interdisciplinary and IITGN has its warts. After all, already donating to the institution. experience work ethic, discipline, Most young institutions hire faculty environment. This is precisely what it cannot escape the Indian terroir. For the financial year 2016-17 that punctuality, politeness and high In the past, India was known for its rather quickly. In contrast, IITGN Jain has done. In Jain’s recent visit Many students are burnt out and lack ended in March, Jain raised about $3 technology in a society markedly universities. Takshashila, Nalanda has been patient and picky. To set to Portugal, the education minister the desire to learn. Few can write half- million (Rs18 crore). Compared to US different to theirs. Yet others make and Vikramshila are haloed names in the institution on the right footing, of this former European naval decently and even fewer can speak universities, this is piffle but IITGN is a their way to Portugal where they history. They educated scholars not Jain has astutely collected a crew superpower remarked that he wished coherently. Some faculty members are lighthouse for other public institutions savor the sun and sand in the land only from India, but also from abroad. of sages who retired from older IIT his universities operated a bit more not as passionate as others. However, in India that are entirely dependent from where Vasco da Gama set sail for Each of these universities set strong campuses to provide statesmanship like IITGN. it is important to remember that even on government largesse. India. roots in local communities but opened for this young institution. Some Harvard is far from perfect. This its windows to the world. It is this sages come from non-academic The minister cited the example of author knows graduate students who This author hopes that other Jain has also made IITGN students millennia-old ecumenical and liberal backgrounds. Michel Danino, a French IITGN’s engineering and anthropology crammed up over the summer and institutions will use this lighthouse to discover their own land. An tradition that IITGN is laying claim to. engineer-turned-environmentalist, departments working together then taught undergraduates Indian sail to better waters and India’s higher “Explorer’s Fellowship” enables Jain has created internal systems conservationist and renowned scholar on interesting problems, hoping politics from September without ever education will improve in his lifetime. students to travel through the that work. He has put good people in on ancient India, is a shining star in Portuguese universities would do the visiting the country or having any length and breadth of their vast key places. He once remarked: “You the IITGN firmament. same. knowledge of a single Indian language. 30 31 Greater New York Chapter Alumni AssociationIIT Bombay New Greater Greater New York Chapter Alumni AssociationIIT Bombay New Greater Diwali Dhamaka

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