Fundamatics rst issue Q1 2012 FAP: FINANCIAL AID PROGRAM A Class of 1981 Legacy Project ©Loan Scholarships from past students ... to present students ... to be repaid when borrowers earn ... for the benefit of future students ©5th year of FAP operations 1132 loan disbursals ... to 436 students ... amounting to Rs.212 lacs to date Implemented by: ASF: ALUMNI SCHOLARSHIP FOUNDATION An IITBombay Alumni Initiative [email protected] FAP Motto: To Make IIT Education Financially Achievable Quarterly magazine of IIT Bombay Alumni Association From the Beehive Here it is. The very first issue of your quar- further develop and strengthen the hive by terly magazine Funda- matics that will now consolidating the alumni database, extending give you the right combination of serious our web presence and creating events and brain food and pure, unadulterated fun, reunions of all hues — silver, ruby, jade and Reinvigorating the art of the spirited essay, gold — and inclinations. A special character- Funda-matics aims to bring together the best istic of bees is communication and the one of IITB alumni thought and debate, keeping thing that we have found lacking so far, has alumni around the world up-to- date and been the presence of an alumni magazine. A on their toes. Within these pages you will periodical that can provide a global platform find contributions from some very eminent for exchanging fundaes, unleashing creativity, people, - directors of other IITs, prominent indulging nostalgia and above all, binding politicians, world-renowned economists, alumni together. Most IITB alumni were bestselling authors, national policy makers, notorious in their student days for turning newspaper cartoonists, well-known moun- in assignments at the last minute. So was it taineers, industry czars. Read some thought- with this first issue. Like bees that collaborate provoking pieces and a few wordy onesas to achieve a common goal, the threat ofa well interlaced with some humour and light looming deadline got in worker bees from moments. The editors chose the beehive across the world who bumbled, grumbled, metaphor for the magazine because both IIT- fumbled, stumbled and were often humbled BAA and its volunteers simulate several kinds while harassing alumni for contributions. We of its typical behaviour. For instance, bees burned the midnight oil (actually, it was more show a remarkable level of social behaviour. like ‘dawn oil’) to bring you this maiden is- IITBAA too, is a universe buzzing with busy sue of FUNDA-MATICS. And we intend to worker bees flitting in and out, engaged in bring you one every quarter. We can only do multiple tasks to create and sustain a vibrant, this with your submissions and valuable feed- ever-evolving organisation. Bees display great back. Unlike our aphid counterparts, — more organisational skills, without any centralised bees are always welcome at this hive. To end control. IITBAA and its chapters across the with a PJ, we recast the age old question, ‘To globe also function seamlessly on multiple bee or not to bee. That is thequestion’, with fronts, creating and administering path- the answer ‘You just have to bee. After all, it breaking initiatives for the IITB community is for your IITBee.’ as well as the society at large. It works to All the bees Contents From the Beehive 3 Pi in an Onion 1 Changes and Reforms in the IIT System Gautam Barua 2 Six Questions towards a Better IIT K N Teja 5 The Bull Session Kirat Patel 7 Mission IITB Rajanikanth Shastri 10 From the Edge of the Abyss 13 Financial Crisis in Europe Viral Acharya 14 W(h)ither the Euro - A Fable Jamal Mecklai 18 Aadhaar Ya Niraadhaar? Bumblebee 20 Imagining Aadhaar Raj Mashruwala 21 Imaginary Aadhaar Samir kelekar 24 Global Meltdown Jai Narayan Vyas 26 From Harry Potter To ‘Hari Puttar’: Shekhar Kulkarni 29 Ek shiksha: Quality Education for All Avinash Awate 33 Body in Motion Pradeep Anand 36 Travellers on “The Road not Taken” Bumblebee 39 From Karl Marx to Saffron Sparks 40 Prose from the Real PRO Queenbee 46 Plane-ly Speaking Grumblebee 48 M&B 52 M&B V.2002 63 A Hot Texas August Afternoon Pradeep Anand 67 From IIT to Chillar Party P Anand 69 20,000 Centimetres Under the Sea Lazybee 71 Anil Gidwani ko Gussa Kyon Aata Hai? Bumblebee 73 Armchair travel 75 Setting up the Liddarwat Camp: Himankan 82 Makarand Karkare 76 Letter from Girish to his Mother 78 On the Birds and the Bees 80 Birds & Bees: Take I -1971 Manu Hinduja 81 Birds & Bees: Take II- 2011 Anubhav Mangal 85 The Game of the Name Stumblebee 89 Get Real Mr. Murthy Rajanikanth Shastri 93 Sentenced To Speak One Sentence Jumblebee 95 Parrikar ki Manohar Kahaniya Humbl(ed) Bee 98 IIT + Hostel 4 = Tiss! + Bana de! Madan Mohan Rwo 102 Alaska Ahoy! Milind Yedkar 106 Koli Mil Gaya Anil Gidwani 109 The Green Gandhian 112 Messy Territory Humbl(ed)bee 114 The Civil Monk from Wall Street 117 Memoirs from IIT Bombay (1958 -1962) Sudhir Sharma 119 Class of 1967 129 From IITB67 GJR Team 130 Thoughts On Second Innings Dan Mayur 131 Reminiscences 134 Welcome Message From The Class Of 1976 138 Let’s Get Involved In India’s Transformation Atul Vijaykar 140 A Few Memoirs From The Lost World Rajaram Desai 141 Game, Set And Match Shirish Potnis aka Potty 143 The Great Indian Gifts Bokya ( aka Madhav Bokil) 145 Vivek Borkar And His Chinese Dhobi Gautam Saha 147 A Journey On The Road Less Travelled Rajaram Desai 151 One Way To Get High Anil Padhye 154 Sour Education For The Crème Of The Nation Harshwardhan Gupta 156 The Great Indian Balancing Trick Satish Kini 160 The Sublimation Of Work Gautam Saha 164 A Salute To The Batch Of 1976! Gautam Saha 167 Do It Now, Instead Sushil Rathi 169 Just Call Me Sushil Rathi 170 My India Of Tomorrow Gautam Saha 171 Board of Directors? Know them better 183 Servicing the Alma Mater: IITBAA Programs at a Glance 187 Thank You 192 Fundoo Fundaes IITB Pi in an Onion O-pi-nion, they say is like a nose. Every- you thought that an opinion from a freshie, body has one. When it comes to opinions a 2009 graduate does not count, think again. about IITs, many alumni have more than The short piece by Dharma Teja and his sim- one opinion. After all, it’s their alma mater ple suggestions for tweaks in the library and they are talking about. From Jairam Ramesh hostels has caught the attention of two of our to Narayan Murthy to just about anybody, Deans and an action plan is underway. opinions come forth very candidly, albeit This is a start. We hope that more of you will differing ones. For this section, we decided to come forth and freely express your opinions, seek opinions from a cross-section of alumni. preferably with a suggested action plan. We What would you call one who has done will not insist that your opinion or your his B.Tech and M. Tech from IITB, done plan conform to a ‘world-class standard’ – his PhD from a reputed university abroad, although no body so far has said that IIT taught at IITK and has been the Dean and Bombay alumni are not ‘world-class’. now, Director at IITG? Try calling him Dr Gautam Barua. We thought we would get Bumblebee a well-rounded opinion from someone who is 3-in-1: alumnus, faculty and administra- tor. True to our expectations, Dr Barua has described the needs of IIT very lucidly and backed them by making some prescriptions of how alumni can help. And then, we have opinions from two old-timers. Both from the active batch of 1975, sometimes referred to as Jairam Ramesh’s batch. Kirat Patel is the captain of an industry that manufactures chemicals, and is a founding director of IITBAA in its present form. Rajanikanth Shastry had a long stint with the IT industry and is a passion- ate alumnus, batch leader and fundraiser. Hence, we have opinions from both core and noncore sectors of the industry. And in case 1 Fundoo Fundaes IITB Changes and Reforms in the IIT System Gautam Barua A big expansion in higher education, and in global rankings, JEE paper problems, court particular, in technical education, is taking cases, the media gleefully reports the small- place in India. Of course we all know that the est “scandal”. The IIT system is therefore expansion that took place through the estab- under pressure, as never before, to perform, lishment of private engineering colleges hap- and to adapt to the changing environment, pened some time ago, but what we are now by making suitable changes in all aspects of in the process of seeing is expansion by the its working. I would like to highlight some of Government and the corporate sector. The the directions of these changes. Limitations of number of IITs have increased to 15 from 7 space do not allow me to delve deep enough four years ago, and it is widely assumed that into each area and so my arguments will this will rise to 20 in the next few years (the seem incomplete. Nevertheless I hope I will 16th, the conversion of IT-BHU to IIT-BHU, be able to get you to appreciate the issues. has already been agreed upon). The number PhD Research of NITs have risen from 16 four years ago to 30 today. About 20 IIITs are being proposed With the country growing economically at in the public-private sphere. All the IITs and a healthy rate, people have realised the need NITs have also increased their sizes signifi- for indigenous research to carry this growth cantly and more increases are planned.