RAIT Alumni Reunion 2008

The 4th RAIT Alumni Reunion took place on the 30th of March, 2008. It was important in the sense that 2008 was RAIT’s 25th year of existence. It was perhaps the first time that the RAA moved out from under the shadow of elder overbearing brothers, the SUC and Horizon.

With a complete lack of resources in terms of databases (which were all presumably lost from the administrative office in crashes and from the RAA room in crashes or stolen HDD's in previous years!), we started our work.

Whilst the RAA was tottering around confused with what to do and more importantly how to do it, the RAIT Alumni Network was created by the Dark Lord at the end of 2007. It was the spark actually and truly required, it was the light bulb over our heads, the Eureka in our mouths. It was an online platform to reach out. A symbiotic association was struck and the RAA began its work in earnest.

Despite the fact that the RAA and SUC were now actually differentiated, most of the people who worked in this country were also residents of the other! I slave labored for Horizon with zero appreciation :-(. Sincere work could only begin once Horizon 2008 got over. Hectic calling began on the 3rd of March, the morning Horizon ended and continued up to the end of the month. The dates were precisely chosen so as to keep some time and also, interference of the SUC away from the event.

More than a 1000 people were personally telephoned, more than 2000 emails sent, many to now dysfunctional email addresses. After a month of hectic spamming and bothering, the reunion day saw a participation of 300+ Alums and students.



The reunion:

It kickstarted off in the Pavilion of the DY Patil stadium, can't remember if it was pavilion A or B, the one to the right side :-). 25 odd people turned up on personal invitations at 5:00 PM to hold perhaps the first official RAA meeting in years. One alum embarrassed me immeasurably by stating that he wasn’t invited, but happened to be in Nerul at the time and saw the huge flex outside the gate. Blimey!

It is great to see some of the luminaries who are working with us now were present on that day. Many issues were raised, many topics covered. E-cell, Udaan, formalization of the RAA, more interaction of the Alumni etc etc. All to the applause and satisfaction of the authorities, all of course to our contentment.

Maybe things would get easier from now on, me thinketh at that time. We forget this is RAIT, takes time to set something rolling, but once rolling, woe betide the moss in its way!

It took a second informal reunion completely financed by Porky aka Protik (we are talking thousands of rupees here) and to an iota of a miniscule, dot of a minor extent by me and current RAA GSec Animesh to put things into motion.

The amount of work done in the past 2 months is unparalleled, more than the RAA has ever achieved in its history. It is momentous to be a part of this happening at the start and I implore everyone to contribute in any way they can.

Getting back to the reunion. It featured,

* Excellent food from Sai Darbar in Nerul, widely acknowledged as the best biryani for miles
* A great performance by the band Colossus which played U2, Coldplay, Floyd etc late into the night and for much longer than they were scheduled to and finally stopped when pleaded to by the organizers about police trouble. It doesn't help that parties on both side were in varying states of liquidated bliss :-)
* A mindblowingly memorable rendition of No Woman, No Cry by alum Kingshuk and some hindi numbers by now famous singer and alum, Sameer
* A lot of networking. The only time I met and talked freely to people from the 2001-02 batches. Amazing experience to debate why our Horizon was the best as compared to theirs
* Listening to tales of bravado and at times, utter foolhardiness in RAIT during those older days
* Lots of white colored RAA T-shirts passed around for free numbering more than 300. Hooo! \m/
* Great combination of spiked coke and chicken lollypops
* 3 student bloggers recording conversations, performances, impromptu stupidities. In another tradition of RAIT, most of these tapes are lost or were mistakenly recorded upon and feature versions of ‘cRapshoddy’ of all the things :-(

Two fluttering heartbeats of a dying Horizon

Three words can succinctly describe Horizon 2007: Jal, Yana Gupta and Channel V.
A short summary of what happened then for those who missed it!

1. Pakistani band Jal performed for the main concert night and the event featured massive participation, or at least the deft work by the Channel V crewmen makes it seem so. In the long living tradition of RAIT mess ups, while they were being chauffeured from the airport a team was scampering around in Navi Mumbai trying to book a hotel for them that would accept Pakistani artistes.
2. A cricket match was also conducted at the stadium (can’t remember whether it was the international one or the practice ground) between the DY Patil/RAIT and Jal team.
3. Yana Gupta finally came to RAIT and people thought it was a hoax like previous years. Despite massive number of posters, we had to make SOS calls to get people roused out of their slumber on the morning of the 3rd day after a total night of DJ chaos. This included kicking many people off from the floors of RAIT at 7 am in the morning. Needless to say, these people were in varying states of inebriation promoted by various alcohols and stimulants/depressants of the natural/artificial etc category.
4. Once she actually arrived in college though, pandemonium broke loose. We had to resort to a literal security circle around here, not that it bothered me…I was in charge! Yana Gupta didn’t arrive for the Fashion Show or something else. She came to award the prize winners for the Online Gaming contest conducted by Indiagames.com, an event that saw an attendance of more than 400 people. This event was conducted at the IT Center and the older SysAdmin Lab which suffered continuous PC crashes. Subsequently, all 20 PC’s were formatted by us on the 2nd night before Yana and the press came in. This was done without the permission of the Lab Admin and left a hundred complaints against us in the next few days. Naturally, they were all water of a duck’s back. A part of her appearance also included a ‘Date Contest’ with her that called for participants to sing/dance/do any foolishness to impress her. The foolish winner turned out to be RAIT SUC GSec 2009 Dhruv Rishi who got a solitary date with her for 2 hours at Bandra Taj Lands End. Lucky bugger.
5. This ‘Horizon’ was perhaps one of the few ones that was telecasted on national television via the grace of Channel V. Deft and undercover work by three student bloggers gave the world many insights about the intricacies of our great festival.
6. Unchained was in a state of decline like previous years with minimal funds. One highlight was the participation of the band ‘Decibel’ which was to gain fame as participants of Channel V’s ‘Launchpad’ programme. They also performed the super-hit ‘Nagin’ before it actually became popular. Emphasizing the cash crunch trend, this band was put up at the house of one of the event heads.
7. In a first, Next Electronics (the Fashion Show sponsor) turned out to be the sponsor for all night events thanks to the lack of any other sponsor!

Horizon 2008:

Few words to describe Horizon 2008: Paintball, Pritam, Times of India, Gary Lawyer and cost cutting
A few one-liners to describe Horizon 2008:
Venky (Cultural Secretary): Paisa nahin milega
Vivek (General Secretary): You are right, and you are also right
Alok (Treasurer): Where am I?
Mohsin (some unknown worker): *%$!*@$#

1. Well, Horizon 2008 featured the very expensive artiste Pritam and his band in one of most touted events in recent times. The event was highly appreciated with VP calling it the best he has seen (big smile there). I had a strong suspicion they were lip-synching since I was up close, but couldn’t prove anything (who would want to?)
2. RAIT also went back to ‘The Rock Age’ (patent mine) with Gary Lawyer performing on the third night to an almost empty arena. Doesn’t matter. It was the highlight of the festival for me.
3. Paintball came to RAIT for the first time after an effort of over 4 years. The very expensive sport was loved by everyone. I almost got gored by the actor Chetan Hansraj (he owned the paintball company) because I inadvertently sprayed the bullets read paintballs in some unmentionable area.
4. Project Udaan saw the light of the day. 3 underprivileged students are being educated by the savings of the organizers in the college. Two of them are performing exceptionally.
5. Perhaps the only ‘Horizon’ that had only 12 people helping with publicity, read poster slapping across New Bombay, two nights prior to Horizon. I did the headcount. This was thanks to Venky’s no free beer policy.
6. The only time that Horizon also got Page 3 coverage in the Times of India main edition. It wasn’t about rave reviews of Pritam or Paintball, rather, the beating up of LT college dance troupe participants who had the audacity of shouting ‘RAIT sucks’ inside the campus!
7. There was a huge fire inside the Dental building while Gary Lawyer was performing. Two fire engines and the entire Nerul police station ensured Gary Lawyer was stopped on time. The interlude between the cop and Gary on stage was hilarious.
8. The only time in recent memory that Unchained organizers actually ended up paying more than the prize money promised thanks to the generosity of the previous Unchained organizers committee.
9. In my opinion, the highest budgeted and cleanest Horizon in a long time. Period.

Brief summary of the last two Horizons' in the maiden RAIT Alumni Magazine (RAM).

A disclaimer I wrote for the Goa trip, just found it funny :-)

INDEMNITY BOND:

I, __________________________, Roll no: _____________, of _____ Year of Ramrao Adik Institute of Technology, Nerul, Navi Mumbai have read the rules and regulations provided forthwith and agree with it completely. I shall take full responsibility for all my actions in Goa and enroute to Goa. In case of any untoward incident, I will not hold the Organizers responsible in any possible manner.

Date:

Signature:

Place:

Rules and Regulations:

· Drunken Driving will not be tolerated and the strictest of action will be taken against the offenders.

· Only valid License Holders will be allowed to drive bikes/ cars. If found otherwise, proper and stern action will be taken against such students.

· The behavior and conduct of the students at all times should be in line with the standards set by the reputation and prestige of the college.

· Students should move around in groups and each group will have a coordinator appointed by the Organization Committee.

· A Bus Service can be provided and recommended for any kind of sightseeing for a group of non-licensees mentioned above.

· Students are asked to hire vehicles with YELLOW number plates and collect the Registration and Insurance papers to avoid any kind of trouble.

The War of the Wills

The 3^rd World War has just begun and it is similar to the second in many ways. On one side of the war is Aryan Singh with his nonsensical agendas and grievous views on the Meritocracy. His policies are simple, eliminating and undermining the superior Meritocracy race. His armies are better; he has the lathi wielding and pot-bellied Gestapolice on his side.

On our side are the elite Medical Corps and the respected and money minting Tech Brigade. With no visible leader amongst us we might dither and disintegrate under the onslaught of the Gestapolice. There is a slightly biased yet neutral Media Corps supporting us by propagating our views and sufferings to other rebels and affected people all over the country. A few weeks ago, the siege of Governor House came to an end under heavy losses. Our forces had to fall back to reinforce and reinvigorate themselves. Like it was in WWII, the Gestapolice will not retreat and will try to spread misinformation about the rebels’ activities. A few of our soldiers were nabbed and taken away to the infamous Police Concentration Camps. There was a statement by the head of the Gestapolice, which said that the rebels had used unconventional warfare and WMD’s (Women of Manic Disposition). The highlight of this war has become the widespread participation of the Lady Regiments. They have fought with unnerving ferocity coming under the blow themselves, several times.

We lost the battle but we will win the war. The country was appalled at the blatant lies on live TV. The Media Corps surely is swaying the tide of the war in our favor. Hitler may have had his Goebbels for propaganda, but we have Rupert Murdoch on our side.

Aryan Singh has been trying desperately to avoid a more than Two-Front War. There seems to be a non- aggression pact between him and the Engineering Army of inferior quality, yet a monstrous force to be reckoned with. It is a slow force to mobilize but they have the numbers: around Two Hundred Thousand including reserves in the state of Maharashtra itself. We are waiting for them to be roused.

Then there are the Pharmaceutical Battalions with their Penicillin, the Alumni Reserve with their Pedigrees, and the Dentists with their teeth-shattering technology. We also have the poorly trained nonetheless respected paratroopers from the BSC’s, BCOM’s and the BA’s armed with their Einsteins and Faradays, spreadsheets and complex accounting practices, and their Shakespeares in respective order.

The Meds have a secret weapon and this may affect the civilians as well. All of them have refused to treat members of the Gestapolice. This is a two-edged sword that may turn the civilian populace against us. But it shall have its desired effects too.

For now, we wait for future battles. A tough road lies ahead. But we shall fight on the streets, in the colleges, and the hostels. We shall never surrender. We proclaim forever our right to a meritorious country, not a divided one.

We are still waiting for reinforcements from the Engineering Army. It seems they have exams going on.

Published in RAIT’s College Magazine, The Wall: Written after the Governor House incident where students were lathi-charged by policemen in broad view of the country.

A crappy article written for DNA NM

Coaching Classes:

Navi Mumbai has become a nucleus for the educational setup in recent years. With the advent of a wave of educational institutions in the fields of Engineering, Medical, Dental and a whole lot of other streams, the number of coaching classes has increased too. The city boasts of a score of eminent coaching classes for all the subjects right from Junior College to Graduation.

The standard of teaching in most colleges in Navi Mumbai has dwindled to lamentable levels despite the spurt in the number of students. As such, students have no alternative but to turn to these reliable saviors- Coaching classes. Private tutors and students alike feel that the concentration level of college teachers is lacking and sometimes appallingly so.

But, are coaching classes so very essential? A year of hard studying on her own didn’t deliver the marks that Shilpi Pathak had hoped for, thus paving the way for enrolling in a coaching class. She believes that the whole system forms a vicious circle. Other students stand by this belief.

Chakravarthy Sridhar, a student of RAIT, who had joined classes for more than half of his subjects in the first year, and stood in the top ten in his college, stresses on the fact that coaching classes are necessary but at the same time detrimental to a student’s education. Some students like Manas Karekar are against the general viewpoint. He believes that coaching classes are like crutches, once students start relying excessively on them, they will never walk on their own.

Prof. Irfan, who teaches Digital Design for technical students, states that students have developed a mindset where they are concerned only with passing and getting marks, hence the obsession with private tuitions. He adds that the coaching classes also conduct their classes in a most unprofessional manner, cramming students in stuffy classrooms.

Prof. Amit Iyer, previously teaching Electronics and now Management related subjects believes that the HSC setup has become a complete rat race to attain the highest marks and thus tuitions are absolutely vital for these students. On being asked who was to be blamed for this ruckus, he said it is the collective fault of the students, their parents and the colleges. He added that the students of today are so used to this system that they are incapable of using reference books on their own.

There is a growing trend nowadays of toddlers hopping onto the bandwagon from their school days. It is alarming as encumbering children at such young ages is the de facto fault of parent’s helplessness and the burgeoning drift towards results and marks. Parents and children have to play an important role to tackle this virus.

Coaching classes can be deleterious to a students overall pragmatic knowledge but have become a necessity now in any field. As long as steps are not taken to improve the standard of teaching in colleges, the classes will stay. Finally, it all boils down to a student.

Some students are consummate in their studies while others are not; most have a laid-back attitude towards education (who can blame them!). But there are things more important than marks or percentages in life.

Think of what William Love Bryan said, ‘Education is...

One of the few things a person is willing to pay for and not get.

DNA NEW MUMBAI