The Purpose of the IIT Bombay Forum

by Pradeep Anand _______________________________________________________________

The IIT Bombay Forum's goal is to:

1. Assist in the IITian's professional growth
2. Provide a resource base to IIT Bombay
3. Provide an social environment for bonding between IITians' families

Professional growth

The major dimensions to professional growth are:

1. Creating awareness and image (branding of the IITian) in the local community
2. Providing the alumnus access to career opportunities and resources
3. Assist the IITians personal growth by providing networking and mentoring environments

The IIT Bombay Forum should go a long way in promoting the IITian in the Houston environment. Regular meetings by prominent alumni, visiting professors and local luminaries will provide the forum to meet these objectives.

Resource to IIT Bombay

By making available several resources at one's disposal to IIT Bombay, the alumnus can be of great assistance to the alma mater. These resources are money, time, and knowledge.

Money

IIT Bombay faces a very serious challenge to its very existence. Government funding to the institute has plateaued and the decrepit condition of the campus is but a symptom of the decay that has set in. Educational institutions' reputations do not decline very quickly, like in the commercial world (Prof. Khargonekar). So, for some time, IIT Bombay's reputation will not decline in a precipitous manner. However, if the alumni do not respond to IIT B's call for resources, the very element that defined our personal psyche and professional careers will be meaningless. We will be condemned to repeat, like our ancestors, and talk of the great glorious past of our educational institutions without real, tangible remnants, besides edifices and buildings.

IIT Bombay needs to raise $100 Million to sustain itself, and to continue on its path of excellence. The urgency and the immediacy of the issue cannot be understated because without the present there is no future. This issue will be a hurdle for a long time till we create an endowment that is self-sustaining.

Besides direct contribution of money, alumni can help in sponsoring research at IIT Bombay and help it to transform itself from an internally focused institute to one that becomes a critical technological hub on a national and global basis.

The first steps have been taken. The creation of the IIT Bombay Heritage Fund, leadership and donations from Kanwal Rekhi and Nandan Nilekani for the school of Information Technology, renovation of hostels and Chairs. The Information Technology revolution has created unprecedented wealth for IITians and most are plowing back in to their alma maters.

But, that is not adequate. The rank and file IITian, at various stages of their career, must be made aware of the "social contract" or an unwritten obligation that we all have for our alma mater. Yes, education at IIT was cheap, and we are basking in the phenomenal returns of miniscule investments made in India. At this time, we must accept reciprocity as a fundamental social value, and do our part for IIT Bombay.

Knowledge

The purpose of a university is to conserve, transmit, and create knowledge (Prof. Khargonekar). The knowledge base of the IITian is an immense asset that needs to be harnessed to the benefit of IIT Bombay. Corporations talk about knowledge management, but it is equally applicable to Universities and IIT B is no different. Like money, knowledge is also a critical fuel for excellence at Universities.

The knowledge base of the IITian is so immense that it boggles the imagination. The challenge will be to capture the collective and individual, accumulated knowledge and wisdom to the benefit of IIT Bombay. Interestingly enough, this knowledge and wisdom goes beyond technology into finance, management, strategy, politics, and other realms of human existence. There are laudable, individual efforts to create exchanges between US universities and IIT Bombay that need to be duplicated around the country (a la Sudhakar Shenoy).

In addition, we should devise methods by which local alumni make it a point to share their knowledge with IIT Bombay. Powai should become a point of pilgrimage for all visiting IITians, to establish and re-establish relationships with faculty, with the aim of mutual knowledge sharing.

Time

The Forbes ASAP issue of November 30, 1999 was dedicated to "Time". One of the many insightful articles was by Daniel Schorr who urged the reader to "stop bragging about how busy you are, and start thinking about giving time away." He continues, "If time scarcity confers a certain status, is there another way of gaining that status? Yes, it is what I call the Gift of Time- donating some of that scarce commodity to a worthy cause".

It is an honor and privilege to donate time to a worthy cause. Even the smallest unit can make a difference of a lifetime to each recipient. The alumnus can contribute their time as resources at the local, national and global levels.

Social Environment for Bonding between IITians' Families

The IITians family is as much a part of the alumni organization as the alumnus. We should promote social interactions between the families so that the bonding takes place at multiple levels. We share a common heritage and background, and to a great degree, even common social and economic similarities. The alumni organization can create a basis for a strong support structure, from the moment a student comes into the system through all stages of professional and personal lives.

Yes, the alumnus has several alternatives to create their own support structures but this would create one more avenue of options before settling into ruts of familiar friends and environments.

Local events, targeted at families, are ideal for this purpose. Not all will participate but those who do will have a need satisfied.