Gurgaon
- Rewadi - Narnol - Singhana - Chirawa - Pilani ... It's
no longer just Rohtak - Bhiwani - Loharu - Pilani or via Dadri ... we crawl past Gurgaon, zip onto the Delhi
Jaipur highway, on to the state highway in Haryana from
Rewadi and then bump and grind over the most of the 25
km or so in Rajasthan (camel carts and all) and then we
hit Pilani ... the goose bumps start building up... its
been 17 long years for me and 23 longer years for my
colleague Raju.
The
start of an overwhelming visit... short – just 1 and a
half days – but filled with unbelievable warmth, emotion
and of course nostalgia... how does one capture a
homecoming? Where the complete BITSian family – all
those who touched us – faculty, students, your old mess
or favorite redi to just about every one else on
campus – welcomes returning alumni with open arms. So
please be patient if some of my narrative seems to run
speedily in one direction and suddenly veers in
another... and then yet another. We go past Birla
Sarvajanik (I
spent an 'interesting' couple of days there back in 1985
(due to Jaundice... my most distinct memory... they
would wake me up just when I had gone to sleep, with
some difficulty, to take my temperature… but I digress)
the bus stand, Nuthan (for those who remember, Soniji
and his spirited store are no longer there) and a closed
BITS gate with a sentry at his post!
The
Circuit House has blossomed into VFAST (Visiting Faculty
and Student Transit) Hostel... with WI-FI connections,
air-conditioning, good food and even better hospitality.
We quickly check in and step out.
APOGEE (A Professions Oriented Gathering Over
Educational Experience or Academic Week from our days)
is on. The reception
hut is 'as always' at the corner of the first circle
(next to the NCC office)... with some action at all
times of the day (and night)... with active midnight,
actually really early morning, cricket on the side.
The
campus is pretty spruced up, tree-lined roads, freshly
painted buildings, with the Iron Man and his omnipresent
bird at the Gandhi-Shankar circle. Incidentally roads
now have names and one-way traffic has been enforced for
motor vehicles.
The
Clock Tower continues to anchor BITSian life. It's a
delightful and very nostalgic sight and brings back a
plethora of memories of all kinds including those of
classes, tests, movies, comprees and mess grub! It
retains its captivating charm and character even after
so many years in the 'real' world. The D-Lawns along
with the others are well maintained and bounded by color
that I recollect used to amaze first time visitors –
greenery and flowers in the desert? Many miss the fruit
that ripens in this Oasis – BITSians past and present –
adding value wherever
they pass, forever bonded together by their years spend
around this Clock Tower.
With the recent Go-Live of BITSConnect (renamed NEURON -
NExt-gen University-wide Redundant Optical Network) and
the inauguration of the new imposing library building
(the original library and ref lib are closed at the
moment) – both events on Mar 20 - some fundamental
changes have come into being. BITSConnect (an effective
collaboration between the institute and alumni) brings a
1.5 GB optic fiber backbone to every room in the insti &
bhawans and to the
staff quarters, with Wi-Fi access at Skylab and VFAST.
With increase in external bandwidth this will also work
well on distance learning programs, industry-institute
programs and much more.
All
staff has a PC (over 1000!! PC’s with staff and labs)
connected on the network and hostel wings average 2-3
systems -- See this make a major difference over the
next few years, adding phenomenal value.
All
those who have participated in this initiative have
reason to feel proud; this could be an inflection point
as Neuron becomes the backbone for many future
initiatives. OLAB (Oyster Lab for VLSI design with $50M
(mostly in software and systems) is a start.
"Sarey
Gyarah" or the IBM 1130 is no more. Nor are the card
punching machines that were required to feed it.
Student profile now includes lots of gults (from AP)
especially in the first three years (possibly 50% on
campus). BITS will now consider only Inter II year marks
for students from AP ignoring 1st year make up's
(improvement exam marks) which may see this balancing
out somewhat. Also, AIEEE had listed BITS (unilaterally)
as a participating institute (admissions through AIEEE
process). This has now (Apr 2004) been completely
overruled by the High Court of Rajasthan and BITS is
free to continue with its admission process. Distance
learning Programs (DLP) are doing very well. [NOTE: Now
of course we have the BITSAT]
Girls have gone up from the 3-5% in the 80s to about 35%
now. Incidentally, old timers, Mal is now MB!!! With
walls and all ... That was one of my old hostel rooms
that I did not get to visit. The sams at Nagar's
redi (near the workshop) are just
as I remembered them from so many years back. Naagar was
our mainstay for so many years of campus life. I can
still sort of taste them as I write this. He simply
would not take any money and neither did Pappu on my
visit to Skylab (where we spent many many hours). Their
warmth was simply overwhelming.
I
got to our BT (Birla Temple), the Sarasvathi temple, at
about 6:30 AM one morning. A place visited by many
daily, for many others during 'testing' periods. It
retains a peaceful and soothing atmosphere. I never ever
got to the BT that early. This morning I participated in
the morning aarthi with the punditji and
discovered that the place retains its simplicity.
Rooms with 'character' like S-70 no longer exist - the
first sem Modern Physics classes with Prof VK Tiwari,
the packed room (was it High/Low Cal or something else?)
with Prof Ravishankar - S70 is now 3215 (15th room on
the second floor of Faculty Division 3). All room
numbers have been rationalized and C-Block is FD1,
M-Block FD2, Workshop FD4 and the new LecDem Theatre
(with PCs and projection systems) seating building FD5.
FD5 has come up next to the new library (on the road to
CEERI) tucked behind / next to the C-Block/FD1. The bogs
there are great too.
C’not is as busy as usual. Cold coffee
at Blue Moon now costs Rs.13 and a mango shake Rs.15
(Rs.1.50 & Rs.1.75 or Rs.2.00 in the early /mid
eighties) - they still taste very good. BUT and this is
a BIG BUT, there are NO MOORAS, yes absolutely NO MOORAS
to rest your backside in/on and adjust them to just the
right angle in the sand and enjoy your milk shake.
Changing times (and possibly a ban by the Rajasthan
Govt. - seems to be the 'ecological' issue) and plastic,
not of the magnetic strip but of the chair variety, now
rules the roost. A quizzical "Mooras?" with an
incomprehensible look is what you get from current
BITSians, obviously plastic has been in place for many
years now. The missing mooras were the only
disappointment on this short but hectic trip. A new
super market called Akshay has come up behind the
medical center and runs with student participation.
All
bhawans have grills all around for safety (no more open
arches). New H-wings have been built to enclose the rear
perimeter. The 1st floor common room (I checked out
Gandhi and Ram) had a TV on one side and a network rack
(part of the BITSConnect
Initiative) on the other - looking somewhat incongruous
in the environment but the harbinger of great positive
change. These have slightly larger twin-seater rooms for
first yearites. The H-wing has another smaller common
room with a TV on the 1st floor.
All
hostel bogs have an associated solar heating panel on
the roof and they have been renovated with bright
ceramic tiles. In winter, first one hunted for a bucket,
then an immersion road and then you had to ensure that
no one else in the wing had a bucket
of water getting heated (else the fuse would blow). This
now comes from a tap - but only by afternoon in winter.
The other alternatives were to have a cold-water bath
(rare for most but enjoyed daily by yours truly) or wait
till you got home in first sem or for summer in the 2nd
sem. The number of cycles has gone up significantly. The
Audi is now very effectively air-cooled. More
importantly the blue metal chairs have completely
disappeared and in its place is theatre seating. Even
after so many years, I still think that no atmosphere
has ever matched that of watching a movie in a packed
Audi. Did not get a chance to relive this experience,
maybe another day... The ET also has changed (after the
fire sometime back) and now has seating just like the
Audi.
So
what are BITSians like these days ... different but the
same ... the energy levels are phenomenal especially
very visible during APOGEE. I am sure the velas, the
ghotus, and the rest are very much around but so is this
indefinable energy ... I interacted with many BITSians
from 1st yearites to psentii semites... from guys
playing early AM cricket to those browsing for US univs
or doing mail in the middle of the night, to the psenti
semite from Mal who called 'Papppuuu' at Skylab for a
missing shikangi in a tone that only one who has done so
for many years can do.
Fests are still run by the students, while being
facilitated by the faculty - with great organizational
ability as usual – creating leaders at every stage ...
While I did not get to any of the paper presentations I
did see some of the exhibitions ... work of stellar
quality. Magazine ratings notwithstanding, BITS is ready
to break out into even greater things. One thing is
clear that the energy of students, the outward looking
faculty and the alumni, working together will take BITS
to great new heights.
Junta,
get involved with BITS if you can – PS2, recruitment,
Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership or in any other
way. If you cannot, make a visit, a vacation if you
will. Take your spouse / kids and enjoy good old
fashioned BITSian hospitality for a couple of days.
Either way you will be reenergized. Highly recommended.
