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Ganesh Sankaran (JB) –
After graduation, spent half a decade in steel plants
automation before moving on to Wipro. Currently doing
program management for Optical Networking companies and
working with Ciena in San Jose. Got married to Sumati in 97
and has a 3 year old son Shashank. Nobody quite knows how
the name JB came up but it is said that it referred to a
particular item on the Mess/Sarvi menu.
Kumar Thiagarajan
(Bug/Andy) - He was among the quieter lot on campus
except when he was in the QT or the Gym lawns playing
cricket. After graduating from BITS, he did his Masters from
New Jersey and since then has been living in the Northern
Virginia area. Besides focusing his energies on the USTA
tennis league, Bug is also popular in the area for
conducting and organising a number of activities among
BITSians. He resides in South Riding, VA with his wife
Lakshmi.
Rajesh Ramadoss (Kannadi)
- Rajesh was a regular fixture on the Bank Canteen circuit
in BITS and was also briefly coerced into student politics
before wisely keeping away from it. After graduation, he
completed his Masters from Rutgers and is now employed by
Agere in Allentown, PA. Besides competing (and finishing!!)
in marathons here in New York, Boston etc, he has also been
setting the NJ cricket league on fire with his batting and
captaincy. His other interests include Moby, Steinbeck and
brewing his own beer!!
Srinivasan Vedantham (Pettai)
- The name was coined on campus during Pettai's first year
(some say because of his attire!!) and it has stuck since
then. Pettai completed his PhD from UMass, MA and is now an
Asst. Prof (Research) at Emory University in Atlanta. Like
most BITSians, Pettai competes in the Atlanta cricket league
besides checking out every desi restaurant in the city.
Srinivasan lives in Atlanta with his wife Manjula.
Shivshankar (Shivri) -
Shivri is still the same garrulous guy he was on campus.
After graduation, he finished his PhD from Lowell and is now
employed by 3M in St. Paul, Minnesota. Shivri who was active
in student politics on campus claims he doesn't really miss
it now though that's quite doubtful!! Shivri resides in
Minnesota with his wife Prithi.
Srinivas Meenakshisundaram
(MSrini) - He was the "wired" guy in the wing who could
solve CT problems in three different ways while we all
struggled to find one solution!! He was also the "gazer of
the stars" for being actively involved in the astronomy club
on campus. He completed his Masters from UMass, Amherst and
is now employed by Agilent at Santa Rosa, CA. He is now a
semi-professional photographer and regularly contributes to
National Geographic. He and his wife Vidya have just been
blessed with a son Lakshman.
Rajesh Ananthasubramanium (Rantha)
- Initially he was a terror to the freshers and they would
look for places to hide when he was around. But later, as
other interests caught up with him, he really mellowed and
let it be. He was also in BackStage working on several plays
and projects. After graduating from BITS with an MMS, he has
moved through several companies and is now in the Bay area
working for IndiaPlaza, a Satyam company, as the head. He is
married and has a daughter.
Anuhasan Chhillar (Anu)
- Having a famous lineage didn't deter Anu from rolling up
her sleeves and toiling for various productions in BackStage
besides dabbling in music, art and the students' union.
After graduating, while on a stint with Thermax in Pune, she
met and married Capt. Vikas Chhillar. Currently, she manages
her highly successful financial company based in Calcutta
besides acting in several movies, tele-serials and working
behind the camera as well in production.
Ranjeet Singh Malhotra
(RSM, Rasam, Surdie) - In theory a civil engineer, but
tronix got his juices flowing. BITS got a special MS
Electronic Sciences degree going for him enabling him to
augment his love for chips while he got Mu-P and the
Robotics lab on track. Dabbled in making the tea industry in
Assam techno-savvy, but ditched all that entrepreneurial
jazz for a hi-tech job at Trintech Technologies, Dublin,
Ireland embedding amongst other things, solutions for point
of sale systems. Presently single and giving the Irish a
taste of his guzzling techniques as he downs his fav
Guinness and Jameson while chasing pretty young things at
most of the pubs in downtown Dublin.
Amit Jain (AJ now) is
the serial entrepreneur of the group and the BPO guru.
Having founded and quit Bridgade, he only recently started
Vision Healthsource and sold it for gazillions to Perot
Systems. He lives in Chicago and commutes back and forth to
India.
Last we heard Malini
married her BITSIAN sweetheart, Sharat Dhall ('87)
and has not been heard since.
Vivek Misra (Misra) -
After BITS, Misra did an M.S. in Comp. Sci. at Univ.of
Southern California, Los Angeles where he had a great time
amidst shootouts, muggings and helicopter searches in
south-central L.A. Worked for Citibank in L.A. and then
moved to a startup in the San
Francisco-Bay-area and rode out the internet economy wave.
Still in sunny, stressed-out bay-area with Adobe, having an
occasional good time with old BITSian buddies while
reminiscing about the good times and riding his red
barchetta – well at least he thinks so. Currently single,
but not ready to mingle! Ask him why…
Ashvin Subrahmanyam (Ash)
- An MBA from the University of Illinois at Chicago (94)
however returned to the motherland to start work with
Britannia, moved to Mattel Toys India in 2000. Ash then
moved to Danone to join their business in China as Marketing
Manager for a portfolio in their biscuits division based in
Shanghai riding out the SARS wave by planning a holiday in
India. Married in Sept. 2000 to Tenzin Dolkar Aukatsang who
is a graduate of LSR and NIFT. Currently waiting in wings
for their first kid. Congrats!
Priya Gopalen (Gopes) -
This basketball champ from BITS, moved to Manila to do her
MBA where she got much more than a degree. Came back with
husband in tow (Ram) and stuck a nose up to the capitalist
corporate world whilst starting to work in the NGO sector
for the uplifting the downtrodden in India. We bow to thee O
noble lady! Recently blessed with a kid, both hubby and
Priya are currently making plans to move back to a student
life in the US. Priya will shortly be at Columbia while Ram
at MIT. All the best guys.
Rajesh Chelapurath (C)
- After BITS, in 1993, went to work for Larsen & Toubro Ltd.
in Bombay at their Medical Equipment Division. Then, in
1996, went to Tulane University, New Orleans for an M.B.A.
in Finance amid all that Jazz, Mardi gras, etc. Released
from studies in 1998 and went to work for Burnham
Securities, Inc. in Houston, USA as an Investment Associate
into portfolio management. Now he is an Associate Managing
Director (a.k.a. yuppie with a BMW). Got married in March
2001 to Deepa Poduval - also a BITSian (99). Current
status - DINK. Spends time with Shyam & Basu living close
by.
Nitin Pai – Worked with
Bajaj Auto in their Styling Studio from 92-96. Moved to Tata
Elxsi in Bangalore and now head a group of 50 designers and
engineers for the Design Services Division. Design anything,
from scooters (Kinetic Zing) to washing machines for
Whirlpool and TVs for Akai and Sansui. Hoping to do a car
next…
Venkat Ayyadevara (Avro)
- After BITS, I got a Masters from Concordia University,
Montreal and a PhD. in Mechanical Engineering from Carnegie
Mellon University, Pittsburgh. Along the way, with the first
name, last name fundas, my name has morphed from A.V.Rao to
Venkat Ayyadevara. In 2000, I joined the Telcommunications
Business unit of Trilogy Software, a software company based
in Austin. In September 2001 I moved back to Pittsburgh to
join Evoxis, a software start-up. I am currently taking
care of product development in Pittsburgh and a small
offshore unit in Madras. Got married in 2002 to Kanthi.
Athur Raghuvir Yuvaraj
- After BITS, I did an MS in Computer Science from IISc
Bangalore. Joined a start-up Aditi Technologies in 1996 and
quickly - in 1996 itself - shifted to K & V Software
Systems. SAP took over K & V in 1999 and created SAP Labs
India. Currently I am a Development Manager working on SAP
Technology Areas at Bangalore. Got married to Deepa in 1998.
Deepa works with HAL in the Materials and Process Group and
has contributed to Tejas (LCA) development. My son Sudyut is
2.5 years old and has just started Play School.
Aruna Mahesh - After
completing BITS (in 1992) I worked with Eicher for just
about 16 months .It was a fun experience. Got married in
1994 Feb to Mahesh (also a Bitsian '84 batch, my
brother Kamesh's batch) and spent a couple of years off and
on travelling to US along with him when he was on deputation
from TCS. Had my first son Prashant in 1996 and my second
son Nishant in 2002 Feb. Well, raising TWO BOYS is PROVING
TO BE REALLY CHALLENGING!! Mahesh is now a director in
Cognizant Technology solutions, Chennai. We are nicely
settled here in Chennai. Having done Mech, I am presently a
HOME MAINTENANCE ENGINEER! Enjoying this 'job' very much.
Nirmala Jammulapati (Nimmy)
– Married to Srikanth (’87 batch) and living in Salt
Lake City, Utah. Currently working for Mercer Consulting and
has two children Maya and Vishal.
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L. Venkatraman (LV) -
This ladies man and charmer-par-excellence had women
swooning in BITS and subsequently at S.P Jain (Mumbai) where
he did his MBA to complement his dual degrees (Chemistry,
Mech) from BITS. The loss of the ladies at BITS was to be
the gain of one particular lady at S.P Jain, when finally
destiny caught up with LV and he did all the swooning (for a
change) over Aarthi. After a brief period in Mumbai, LV and
Aarthi made Hyderabad their home for a while, but currently
they are both at large in the US with LV engaged in IT
projects for Satyam.
Arvind Sudarsan (Stud)
- He was a man amongst boys and then a giant amongst men.
While most of us showed up at BITS as boys and left as men
(at least a few of us), Stud arrived a full-fledged man,
grew to be a giant and decided (almost) never to leave BITS!
In his first five years at BITS he earned his dual in
Chemistry / MMS. What many don’t know is that he also did a
Ph.D in the subtle art of terrorizing wingies using unusual
techniques (the fiery-glare-with-hands-on-hips pose; the
alpha-male-walk; the bristling-moustache display; the
spittle-missile tactic – remember this was before DiCaprio
made it famous in The Titanic). He then settled down at BITS
for another four or five years to practice his terror
tactics on students as a prof. But the years have mellowed
him and today he leads a semi-retired life of bliss in
Chennai. He is a part-time management consultant, dabbles in
the stock market and regularly corresponds with Dara Singh
to discuss the finer points of The Wrestlers Menu at Velu
Military Hotel (A/C Upstairs), Nungambakkam, Chennai: 600
031.
Pradeep Mirchandani (Mirchi)
- In his youth, i.e. when at BITS, Mirchi used to be a
barber’s delight (on the rare occasions when he visited
one). His flowing beard was a pleasure to behold, when you
didn’t trip on it. And his erudition was a delight to listen
to and read (he edited the SandPaper), when you could
understand him. But strange are the ways of fate – while he
could hold forth on everything from Shakespeare’s tomes to
Scotland’s brews (especially the latter), he was completely
befuddled by two areas of human achievement, Chemistry and
Chemical Engineering. Alas, those were his very two chosen
degrees at BITS. This queer anomaly played out its course
over five mixed years – long periods of carefree abandon
interspersed with the harrowing times of quizzes and exams.
Anyway the Mirchi that emerged from BITS, naturally, had a
morbid dread of formal education; but being a sucker for
punishment, he went on to do an MBA in Mumbai and is now
inching towards the completion of his CFA (Chartered
Financial Analyst). He is today an equity research
professional in an investment bank in Mumbai and his home by
the sea is always open to any passing BITSian. Old Man by
the Sea, they call him.
Arvind Babu (Pazham) -
When we christened Arvind Babu, Pazham (Fruit) after the
Gnana-Pazham (Fruit of Wisdom) of South Indian Hindu
mythology, little did we realise how apt the name would be
in the years to come. After several years in the IT field
outside India, he has metamorphosed into a philosopher and
has chosen to live the Thinker’s life in Chennai. While it
is heartening to see one of our own strike out on the road
less traveled, one can’t but wish that he would be less
reclusive in his philosophical pursuits and share with us
his experiences and discoveries.
A. Arumugam (Aru) -
After plodding through five years at BITS and two years at
B-school in IIM Ahmedabad, Aru is sacking as a private
equity professional in Mumbai with AIG. He is still on the
lookout for his dream girl. On the flip side, knowing full
well Mirchi’s generosity, he never misses an opportunity to
take full advantage of it.
Kumar Shanker (Aggu) -
Kumar was known as the wise man of the wing for the ability
to always remain "In-control" whatever be the situation. His
open mind let him dabble in various musical pursuits though
he is a confirmed HCIF (Hard Core Ilaiyaraja fan). After
BITS, he joined GAIL where he spent years toiling in places
with no pincodes before catching the CEO's eye with an open
letter offering suggestions to improve the company. Now he
works in New Delhi under the CEO's special cell directing
projects for the company. He and Chandra have just had a son
Arvind.
Ronnie Paul Varghese (Ron)
- Ron was the quintessential stud on campus and his
hobbies include motor bikes, bungee jumping, sky diving,
driving 18 wheelers, 4-wheeling...you name it and he'd love
to try it out. Not surprisingly, he worked in BackStage at
BITS where he would come up with innovative stage ideas and
concepts. He completed his Masters from Arizona and is now
employed by Agilent at Fort Collins. He is married to Beena
and since then has toned down a bit in his pursuits!!
Shankar Nagarajan (Kuruvi/Kuru)
- Currently works as a senior manager in the
network-engineering group for North-East Optical Networks, a
regional service provider of bandwidth and advanced optical
networking solutions based in Westborough, MA. Prior to
that, he was working for BTP plc, UK and Cornet Technology,
Virginia in similar roles. He was an integral member of the
Backstage coterie all through his BITSIAN years. Shankar
resides in Shrewsbury, MA with his wife Anuradha.
Vivek C. Philip (Philpot,
Philip) - Was mostly found in the music room at the end
of the auditorium pounding away at the skins. Philip
followed his heart and pursued Sound Engineering at Film &
TV Institute of India (FTII), Pune. Is currently at Mumbai,
working in the music industry as a composer /arranger for
ad-films, albums, film and television. Married with no kids
and his hobbies include Chemical Engg!!! Hooks up with the
boys in Mumbai whenever he raises his head out of the studio
and his wife is out of town – hmmn.
Baradwaj Rangan (Baddy)
- Quit Chemical Engg., which is what he did in BITS, to work
as copywriter with J Walter Thompson, Chennai. An
advertising scholarship to Marquette University, Milwaukee,
led to his American stay, which then saw - for reasons too
complicated to explain briefly - his becoming a software
programmer, ending up with Motorola in Schaumburg. After
some seven-odd years out there, he's now back in India, back
to writing. You can find his movie reviews on SitaGita.com
as well as select newspapers in Chennai.
Vara Ramakrishnan - Is
married to Dinesh Ramanathan (Danda, 87B4A7) and
lives in San Jose, California. They have a daughter, Anjali,
born in November 2002. After BITS, Vara earned a Ph.D. in
Computer Science from the University of California, Irvine.
She works at PMC-Sierra, a networking semiconductor company.
Nikhil Adnani (Nikki) -
Left BITS after 2 and half years and moved to Canada.
Worked a number of odd jobs including a brief stint on a
dairy farm (Moo! – source for his inspirations) before
graduating with an MSc in Electrical Engineering from the
University of Manitoba. Currently a research engineer and an
independent (professional) animator/filmmaker (check out
www.groovechamber.com for his flash films). Lives in
Ottawa, Canada with wife Alison, son Nanik, two dogs and a
big cat named Otis.
Gurmeet Singh
Sran (Nuclear Surd!) - After a bout with his knee, he is
currently at GE Capital International Services. Maybe he
should be called a knee jerk surd
J.
Gurmeet is a Six Sigma Black Belt handling ‘quality’
projects in Gurgaon. Married to Rupinder and has a wonderful
daughter named Jasleen.
Diwakar Pingle - After
BITS started with software, completed my MBA in finance at
Symbiosis Pune where I met my wife Aparajita. Spent 4 years
at ABB Project Finance, 2 years as an Investment banker at
NM Rothschild, was jobless for a while and had a short stint
with Standard Chartered. Currently work with a trading firm
Tionale Enterprises Pte Limited headquartered out of
Singapore (but am based in Chennai). Currently developing
projects in the SE Asian region. Harsh Pingle is the junior
and is three years old.
Vallabh Das - After
BITS, I went to Case Western for a degree in Biomedical
Engineering. Got my Ph.D. and am now at Emory University as
Assistant Professor in Dept of Neurology and am involved in
primate neuroscience research in Atlanta, GA. Got married in
1996. Wife's name is Harini, who is working at UPS as a
financial analyst. We have a daughter, Apoorva, who just
turned two.
Simu K.Thomas - I
certainly enjoyed the glory days a little longer since I
went back to BITS for my Masters and then worked in a Pharma
company in Bangalore for a year. Moved to Ohio long enough
to get my MS from University of Toledo and then it was off
to Baltimore for a PhD. in Pharmaceutical Economics from
University of Maryland. These days I'm with Novartis
Pharmaceuticals, New Jersey, taking care of health economics
research for Neuroscience and Transplantation products.
Married Rebecca in Dec 2002, she currently works for Aventis
Pharmaceuticals. Nope we dont discuss drugs!
Vijay Seetharam (Kuchchi/Vikasa) - After BITS I went to
XLRI. Worked for a couple of years in Sales and Marketing in
Reckitt and Colman based at Calcutta before moving to
Citibank in 1997. Ever since I have been with Citi at
Chennai working in the Credit Policy Unit. Got married in
1998. Wife's name is Nirmala and I have a daughter, Shruti
who just turned two.
VC
Srikanth (VCS) - Worked in the steel major, SAIL till
1996 when I finally made it to the IIMs. Was disappointed
not to find many BITSians there (IIM Calcutta) but then was
lucky to be amidst a great bunch of wingies. Thought it’s my
best chance to make a career change and joined the software
company, Ramco Systems, where I continue till this date.
Have been moving across functions and am currently doing
Account Management. Anjana is my wife and it’s been a year
since our son, Pranav was born.
Ramki Sankaranarayanan (Ramki/Kottaram)
- Post BITS, joined Tata Elxsi and worked for 2 years and
then went to SP Jain Institute in Bombay for a MBA. Rejoined
Tata Elxsi in 1996 and continue to be there to date. As a
General Manager, I currently run the Worldwide Sales &
Marketing function in the company. After spending a little
under 4 years in San Jose, I returned back to Bangalore
early 2002 to assume the current position. Got married in
1997. Wife's name is Banusuja. We have a daughter Mahima
Advaitha who is 5, and very recently we had a son, Arav
Aadikesh.
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