IIT Bombay Heritage Fund Class of 1980 Reunion

Ram Kelkar sets up Yahoo Groups email account for our batchmates to communicate. He also sends periodic “wake up calls” – that the Silver Jubilee Reunion is only a few years away…… There were few emails sent around in early 2004 regarding potential Legacy Projects – related to cleaning up Powai Lake, and a few other ideas, etc. Followed by silence at all fronts……... till October 2004, when Anil Kumar sends an email to Ram Kelkar and Pratim Biswas – guys, any plans underway for our reunion? Pratim sends an email back --- some of us just got to volunteer and get this going. He volunteers to draft a letter soliciting ideas and volunteers, and decides the email must start by setting firm dates for the Reunion, etc. With lot of discussion (and nudging IITB folks to get a final date) – it is decided to have our Reunion right after Mood I on Dec 24 and 25, 2005. Letter drafted, and Ram with his extensive database networking shoots it out to 280 folks from our batch. It is also decided that a few more from our batch should be coaxed into volunteering…. Jan 23, 2005: Pratim is woken up that Sunday morning – and he participates in a 2 hour long conference call. Efforts to wake up Anil Kumar at the West Coast fail. Anil Kshirsagar, President IITBHF (Class of 1975) joins in and describes what are the elements of a good reunion, etc. After some discussion, it is decided that another Conference Call will be attempted with a few of those who have been coaxed into volunteering. Jan 30, 2005: Pratim and Ram get Sunil Shenoy, Apoorva Patel, Nirmalendu Jajodia (aka Fats) to be on the next call. Efforts to wake up Anil Kumar again fail! Anil Kshirsagar updates all again. Group decides that first efforts should be to spread the word and get people to attend the event in Bombay. Ram, reports that there is a long list of “Lost Souls” who we should try to contact. Fats and Pratim get selected as Volunteers to coordinate the overall planning. Ypoint team sets up Pre-registration website and people are beginning to sign up. Total confirmed attendees: 29 (14 alums); probable attendees 9 (3 alums) Feb 7, 2005: More core group volunteers recruited and participate in a Conference Call – Anil Borwankar, Anil Pal, Avi Rao, and above gang. Rumors are that Anil Kumar does join in for a part of the call (he did wake up!). It is decided that an AGENDA of activities should be set up, and this should be posted. Lead Coordinators should be assigned to help organize the activities. Many excellent ideas heard, etc etc. Apoorva Patel takes the initiative in preparing a Who’s Who in the Class of 1980 – page and this will eventually lead to a Reunion Year Book. Milind Gokhale, IIT BAA, joins in and would be a big resource and provide help with the Logistics etc. A group email set up reunion2005 [AT] iitbombay (dot) org for easy communication. Feb 27, 2005: Things are now rolling – a group of core volunteers has been set up, and things are beginning to roll. Salil Donde, Dushyant Desai join the Conference Call. Anil Kumar joins in and decides to take the lead alongwith Nitin Borwankar and Vinay Somani on the Legacy Project. The pleasure of just talking to class mates, some after 24+ years is a great feeling! Discussions revolve around the Agenda of activities. Lead Coordinators are set for each of the key events. A “operational guidelines” document is also formulated as requested by some. The key is that anyone from the Batch of 1980 can volunteer and be part of the organizing committee. Regisration Fees set for the event. Help with logistics for Lodging will be provided, and set up in IIT B Guest House and nearby Hotels. It is also decided that a website would be set up – so there is upto date information (and interested individuals should look up - http://www.iitbombay.org/alum/reunion/reunion2005.html for details ) Signed up attendees: 66 confirmed (31 Alums); 20 probable (8 alums) Total of 86 – not a bad start. Goal: At least 150 should attend the Reunion! (need to spread the word) Mar 20, 2005: About 10 members of the Core Committee participated in the Conference call. Update on registration - 77 confirmed attendees, 26 probable. Of this, 51 are Alumni. Different activity coordinators provided updates on their activities - Legacy Project, Who's Who Page, Research and Educational Collaborations, Logistics. The key is that individuals should now make plans to be in Bombay - as intl travellers need to make airline reservations, and out of town folks need to make Hotel reservations. Also, individuals who are procrastinating should be urged to register - as the objective is to have as large a group as possible. Broadcast emails will be sent out. Early Bird Rates end on April 15! April 10, 2005: 9 were on the call; the 10th - Fats refused to believe in DST and joined in late (still not aware of the power of IITians to change the clock). Update on registration - 101 confirmed attendees, 26 probable. Of this, 54 are Alumni. Key action item was to get procrastinators and other junta to make their plans and register now. Early bird discounted rate should be told to all. There was discussion around a "Legacy Project" for the Class of 1980 - Anil Kumar suggested that it be to do something around the Lake Front (most agreed that it was a good idea). Salil Donde and Vijay Alreja presented preliminary plans for the Business Networking Session. Apoorva is working hard, with Ram's help to get the Who's Who page - draft version is up and running. Spouses networking has 3 wives signed up now - clearly there is a large activation energy barrier to be overcome. Pratim & Suhas discussed some ideas for the Research and Education session. The group consisting of Sunil Shenoy, Pratim, Suhas Pai, Apoorva Patel will refine this further and circulate to all for comments. Fats and Milind Gokhale updated all on the Logistics. Great moderation by Salil to overcome phone related communication problems. Next call Sunday, May 15, 11 am USA EST - join in to participate. Send an email to reunion2005 [at] iitbombay (dot) org for more details. May 15, 2005: Discussions on the Legacy Project continued. It was decided that a "Lake Project" would be pursued. Broader input from the Class of 1980 will be sought. A budget has been set up for the entire reunion event to support all the Agenda activities. Registration Fees should cover all the expenses. Updates on other Agenda activities. A Reunion Yearbook is in the works - and Apoorva is making efforts to collect all the data - so please update your entries at the iitbombay.org website. Plans are to print and distribute a Yearbook at the event. A T shirt design competition will be held to select the design for the Class of 1980 - details will soon come from Fats. This T shirt will be distributed to all attendees in the Registration bag. Inter Hostel Competition and Pagal Gymkhana events have been finalized - go to Agenda and click on the event to obtain more details. Please register if you have not done so, and help spread the word to other class mates who are not aware of this famous event as yet. And, make your travel arrangements to be in Bombay on Dec 24, 25 - and if you need lodging assistance click on Lodging for details. The Guest House rooms are filling up - so please make your bookings if you would want to stay on campus (unless of course you want to experience the comforts of your Hostel room - it will not cost you anything either). June 5, 2005: Discussions focused on selecting a Legacy Project, and most felt that a Lake Project would provided the biggest bang. Email was sent to the entire Class of 1980 for feedback. Discussions also revolved around agenda items - Business networking, Year book. See Agenda for description on BizNet event. A Year book will be prepared and handed out to all registrants for the Reunion. While a significant number have registered to attend the Reunion, a large number remains elusive and unheard from. Efforts to get more to register to be pursued by all. July 17, 2005: Attendees signed up to date include 70 Alums. We have critical mass. Efforts to sign up others so they do not miss this event will continue. All encouraged to spread the word. Discussions focused on the Legacy Project - Committee decided to focus on a "Powai Lake Re-vitalization" Project. Several ideas were floated - it was decided that a two Track approach would be adopted. As this is a massive project, our batch would help initiate the work - so something gets done. Track A would be related to revitalizing areas surrounding the Lake. Track B would involve developing a Master Plan for the longer term sustainability of the Lake. Other Agenda items also discussed - including identifying a Publisher for our Yearbook. August 28, 2005: Many join in for the Conference Call, including Dr. A. Misra, Director, IIT Bombay. The main topic of discussion was the Legacy Project - and brief historical updates were provided by Dr. Misra. He pledged full support from IIT side for the Project. Excellent discussions ensued, with several positive suggestions. Plans were also laid out to include other stake holders in the Govt. and other agencies. Few discussions also focused on fund raising aspects, and all batchmates should be encouraged to contribute to leave a lasting Legacy on campus. The goal is to deliver funds at the Reunion - in Dec 2005 (rather than just pledges) - so look out for emails coming your way. Other items were briefly discussed - logistics of lodging, evening dinner party, etc. The band that will play at the event will remain a SURPRISE. Yearbook logistics were discussed. Other Agenda items will also be fine tuned in the remaining months. All in all - we are on for one of the greatest Silver Jubilee Reunions at IIT B. September 25, 2005: Another fruitful Conference Call - and the primary item of discussion was our Legacy Project on Revitalization of Powai Lake. The goal was reiterated - to donate whatever funds we raise and handover to IIT B at our Reunion in December; and this should help jump start the Project. An email was circulated to the entire class by the Legacy Project Fund Raising Committee - and the co-Chairs are Sunil Shenoy, Anil Kumar and Umesh Padval. Several individuals from USA and India have decided to contribute - and the total already stands at USD 100,000. The goal is to try and raise $ 500 K - so all are encouraged to donate and send in their checks asap. The other discussion focused on the Agenda - and it was decided to keep all the items as they were of interest - and Ram volunteered to organize the "Meet the UG student" event. Guest House Room requests were discussed - and a list will be posted on the website. The rooms will be assigned on a first come first served basis, and when filled up - others will be directed to other Hotels in the vicinity of campus. Three months and counting to D-Day. October 16, 2005: Several participants both from India and US. We are headed for a great reunion....updates on Agenda Items - such as Research and Ed Collabs - Dean R&D IIT will lead off; Biz Net planning in place, Yearbook printing company identified (Articles and Pictures will be solicited), Meet the UG on its way also. Guest House Room confirmations will appear on the website shortly. Priority based on requests received from paid attendees. Significant progress made on Legacy Project - Sunil making strides in Fund Raising - all urged to donate. Revathi has made great strides in getting Govt machinery moving in India - as this will be essential to eventually get Track B rolling. Letters will go out from several with updates.Two months and counting to D-Day. October 30, 2005: Discussions focused on Legacy Project, and updates by Revathi on meeting with Maharashtra Govt. Importance of Track A Project emphasized - and the need for batchmates to send in their donations by Nov 15, 2005. Other logistics items in place - great job by Fats and Co. BizNet event being organized by Salil Donde and Vijay Alreja, see email sent out for additional details. Agenda items will be shifted around some to ensure there is sufficient time for discussions. Fats will also check to see which Profs who taught us are around - and will invite them for the dinner on Dec 24. Guest House rooms confirmed (see website). Appropriate individuals contacted for Inter Hostel and Pagal Gymkhana activities. One month and counting to D-Day. November 20, 2005: As D-Day is fast approaching, discussions primarily focused on logistics. Detailed Agendas for Biz Net, Research and Ed Collabs Session, Legacy Project Presentation sessions discussed. Yearbook logistics also discussed - and a high quality book will be created. Donations coming in for Legacy Project - and we are off to a great start. Other discussion focused on larger scale Powai Lake Clean Up, etc. Pagal Gymkhana and Inter Hostel events also discussed, and should be fun. As the Class of 1980 had their event well planned (from a long time ago) - it was decided to pass the know how to following batches - and was decided to invite some Class of 1981 folks so that they could get started. Just in case there are last minute items to discuss - next Conference Call scheduled for Dec. 4, 2005 (truly the last one!). Junta - pack your bags and begin your trips for the exhilarating high that we will experience when we meet on campus on December 24, 2005!
Volunteers are always welcome to join in (never too late!). Send your email to reunion2005 [AT] iitbombay (dot) org.