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VOTE OF THANKS

VOTE OF THANKS

I am afraid I could not run this during the course of the function. It would have been really cruel to inflict a ceremony on people so keen on enjoying.

I think it needs to be done though, for fear that truth may not be told.

Whenever one envisages a gathering of this scale, one has to get the venue right. Everybody who was there on that beautiful breezy night was sure that the venue was right. For this I have to thank, you guessed it wrong --- Deepak Singh Karki. He was the one to suggest Wing Cdr. NS Dhanjal’s name to me. You see we were reeling under a criticism tailing us from the last two meets that we organized in NCR. The fault was -- both the previous meets were in trans-yamuna areas: Noida and Ghaziabad. There seemed to be a valid point that locations for meets must be located somewhat centrally in NCR. So, we started checking some army clubs and messes in and around Dhaula Kuan through Capt Vikas Gupta (1993 ME) and eventually, as fate would have it, we fell into NSD’s lap.

I don’t know for sure but certain things in life do not happen as mere coincidences, flukes or just every day occurrences. I strongly feel that our meeting NS Dhanjal, was one such incident which cannot be passed off as attendant. From the time of doing a reconnaissance of the venue till the very function, anything we requested of him was met with one reply: “Ho jayega. Tum chinta mat karo.” Sometimes, I was hesitant to ask other things of him, a bit scared that I might just push things beyond his patience. But the result of his joining us in our enterprise was, that he became one with us, got involved in all our activities and consequently, allowed us to forget about the venue and concentrate on other things. A beautiful venue, done-up equally well on that night, excellent menu and layout for food and drinks – in short, breathtaking. I will think of this as one of Wing Cdr. Dhanjal’s finest sorties. And I will want you to wait because he will better it yet. I am always fascinated with things that I know little about. The guys who manage our website at ietalumni.org are one set of people that I am in awe of. If I shouldn’t be or if my assessment of them is wrong – then I do not know what to do. I have them and I like them and my team would not like it without them. Even now, Shivam at Carnegie and Sankalp at TCS are working tirelessly to upload what invincible Rajiv asks them to. I do not know what we would have done without this excellent dedicated duo – Sankalp and Shivam. It is good to know that you are from IET. I hope and wish that you earn more than just good money in life. We know you have made a good start.

As fate and good fortune would have it, we also had the services of a very sincere and a hard working fresh pass-out in the form of Arun Chaturvedi. A major force in this event, also a man for all seasons. This is also the time for expressing gratitude to some of the students from IET and members of ASIC. These students such as Robin Lodhi, came from Lucknow to attend this meet and also to know what their alumni are like. Cheerfully, they also offered to help us with the arrangements for which we are very grateful. The registration desk was entirely managed by this set of students from IET.

There have been some failures too. For some reason we have not been able to bring MCA alumni into the active fold. I hope this may be rectified in times to come. We are also aware that many batches are very active on their own yahoo (or other) groups but are loathe to come out of such confines and interact on the forum featured on our website. Batch camaraderie is special and in some regrettable cases, we have been unable to link such identities to a larger one. As a consequence we have a sort of ghettoisation. This will be another challenge to the process of forging an alumni identity.

When we decided to have, apart from online registrations, a set of physical ticket counters across NCR, we were wondering – who and what people would man these counters for us. “ Man these counters…”, I wonder (after writing this) if they have a gender-neutral expression for this. Whosoever we called, readily agreed. And for this I have to thank VPN Maurya, Ruchi Verma, Alok Kotnala, Mohit Goyal, DS Karki, Capt. Vikas Gupta and Vipul Gupta. Their dedication and the fact that they set self-imposed targets was the high point of this meet.

“…yet his means are in supposition: he hath an argosy bound to Tripolis, another to the Indies; I understand, moreover, upon the Rialto, he hath a third in Mexico…But ships are but boards, sailors but men: there be land-rats and water-rats, water-thieves and land-thieves….” (Shakespeare, Shylock in the Merchant of Venice.)

Not our means though. They weren’t in supposition because of these people. By the time we went into the meet we were a set of relaxed people on the participation front. This we could achieve only because of the people I just mentioned.

You will do well to know good fortune when you accost one. You have one in the name of Rajiv Tivari. Indefatigable, invincible. Infamous. He is still working; needs no monitoring, is a self-perpetuating eternally moving machine. Before the rest of us could get out of our hangovers, this fellow was busy posting snaps, editing videos and pushing the website duo to the limits. Within 24 hours you had video glimpses of the meet. He sings consummately, he walks the stage like a leopard, keeps recording, keeps managing and even after the event he is sitting over his pc converting video formats and adding bylines to the photos of the meet. In difficult times I carried on firmly only because I knew he was there doing something, somewhere. There was a time when the team was a bit despondent from the response to online registrations. Rajiv hit upon the idea of sending smses onto the phones of the alumnus, through websites giving such services. And what an inescapable, relentless and unavoidable barrage it was. I know what I owe him, because I could not have done this without him. I must add, on a lighter note, that some very resilient species among NCR alumni, still managed to abscond from the meet!

An expert navigator who figured the exact route to the venue location on google map once we described it to him, and posted the maps on the website. I thank Vipul and Dhanjal sir also for their bit on the map work

I had a very good team and an inspiring chairperson. It is also time now to move on. We are mostly, from the first few batches of the college. I am sure NCR chapter now needs fresh and new faces. We have already spotted some serious talent like Gunjan Singh, who agreed to manage the stage on a very short notice. I am sure IETLAA will know what to do. But for us, it is now time.

I thank Sankalp and Vipul for taking charge of still photography. Sankalp specially, as he made it all the way from Kolkata.

It is also imperative to thank some alumni spouses. Without their blessings and understanding their other halves could not have contributed the way that they have. Mrs Dhanjal (Anupam Kaur), Mrs Rajiv Tivari (Parul) and my own wife (Shruthi) are to be thanked profusely on this front.

NCR chapter’s journey did not begin with this singularly spectacular gathering. It began some years ago. I have mentioned it before that NCR is fortunate to have a high density of Alumni. The distribution pattern of alumnus was the same a decade ago. What is it that singles out NCR now? Why has it become special today? What is it that makes it path breaking, what is it that makes it a beacon? Who did it, whose dream was it and if one were to believe Paulo Coelho, whose dream was our Universe conspiring to fulfill?

That dream was Amita Aryas’s. And you, the alumni of NCR have made it come true.

It is enough for me to know that each one of you who is reading this is applauding her.

Thank you all for being there and also for reading this so patiently. We hope to meet again soon.

Glimpses from IET Lucknow Alumni Meet, 25th April, 2010, 13 BRD Mess, Palam technical Area, New Delhi

This is another Monday morning in the office. A Monday morning after an overnight flight is taxing, except if the flight is a time travel to fond moments, peoples and places of past.

The much awaited evening came demure and grew into an enchantress, one that spellbound all those who chose to be there, counted and bound. One can well imagine how the morning would be! “ज़ब रात हो ऐसी मतवाली फिर सुबह का आलम क्या होगा”

We coalesced our present, and also future, into our past yesterday, 25th April 2010 at the magnificent 13BRD mess, also Known as the Anurakshan Mess, with sprawling lawns, so sprawling that almost golf carts had to be put into service, to move people from on end to the other. It was a scene to behold to see IETians/IETenns with one hand glued to glass travelling long distance, far across the runway!

It was an evening in which emotions were as fluid as were the fluids. Or as mellifluous the voice of Mr. Sandeep Asthana, 1990 batch or the strings of flute played by little twinkling star of the night, Kartikeya (Son of Ms. Meenakshi Vashishth (Vatsa) 1988 batch), who compelled us all to mount the bow, with our hands spread a-flying, breeze caressing our hair (well, whatever remained, for the gentlemen of species) and the works. But, the big difference is that this ship was no Titanic, as it was under sharp and able supervision of a Veteran like a Wing Commander of Indian Air Force, who never misses a thing, least icebergs.

So we started flying from domestic airport, and then changed our train near Dwaraka to catch our Ship, before leavingfor home afloat in our cars. Things happened in between and we can’t really disclose all that, as binding those moments in words can never do justice to what all transpired during that quarter of the day and how.

For example, when Lt Col. RS Bhooomla along with his batch mates of 93 starts the jig of Sara Jamana and Mr. Rahul Shrivatstava starts his Amitabh Bachchanish routine! Or Mr. Saket Verma starts describing the secrets of nick names of 95 batch. Or Wg Cdr NS Dhanjal, 88/89 spills the beans that IET was originally named IIT! Or the recent batches 2007-2009 make their presence felt by turning up in a great number (still less than the other end, though) and supporting the participants representing the current batches in seeking guidance from super seniors. Or when IPL final became a regally ignored spectacle! Oh my, what am I doing!

Afraid that this privilege will remain with those 170 odd humans, who made it all happen, even if they had to drive 60 kilometers one way. Leaving Newton and his Ilk confounded, defying theories of gravitation, the more distant objects formed majority of the presence.

If you don’t believe all this, none of your fault. You will see and then believe. So please stand by while the glimpses get airborne (Photos, Video coming soon), that is in case we manage time out from pouring compliments from the very people who made the meet a rousing success and first of a kind – the ‘Biggest’ IET alumni meet to happen anywhere. Not only that, it will not remain so for long as a bigger line is sure going to be drawn in times to come soon.

Amen!
- By Rajeev Tivari (ME - 1995)

As and update: The pictures are now available.