by Deepak Sabnis

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So how do our hostels look like now, after all these years ? The words that follow can only capture a fraction of the shock that I received on a recent visit to India. Moreover, even a classmate who lives in India - and is therefore not suffering from NRI-itis - was just as shocked, so the crisis is indeed serious for all of us alumni to think about.

“What are you scanning in? Vacation pictures?” asked my colleague Greg.

“Sort of… These are pictures of my dorm back in India”. The hesitation in my voice was clear.

“Seems like it is boarded up. Does anyone still live there?” asked Greg.

This dialogue just about sums up the condition of Hostel 5 - and of other hostels - my home from 1967 through 1973. I have been visiting the IITB  campus regularly all along. I have witnessed the changes in slow motion. There are more buildings housing more departments. There are a few more hostels and the campus is greener than it used to be in my time. This greenery, while soothing to the eyes, also hides a sad fact ... the hostels are in bad shape. To be fair, hostels are not the only buildings in need of repair and paint. The same is true of Department buildings, staff quarters and the Convo Hall. The pictures you see were taken by me in October 1998. These pictures barely show the condition the hostel is in. The interior of the rooms is even worse. The glass window panes are broken. The doors need to be replaced. I can go on and on. However, words cannot even begin to describe the extent of the deterioration. The best I can do is to urge you to go visit your hostel next time you are in Mumbai.

IIT is doing what it can to keep the infrastructure functional with the resources it has. They fixed up the toilet blocks of all hostels some time back. They are focused on keeping the structural integrity of buildings in good repair. They have to stretch their funds to fix not only the hostels but also the departmental buildings and staff quarters. 

Some of you may be aware that the batch of ’72 made a pledge to raise Rs. 5,000,000 to help with the painting of hostels and Convocation Hall. So far they have raised Rs. 2,000,000. Nearly half of this amount has been donated by alumni residing in India. IIT has gone ahead and painted hostel 6 and the Tansa hostel (aka hostel 4.5). They have pledged to paint hostels 2 and 3 this year.  There was another effort by Poorvi Vora which has raised some money to paint Hostel 10.

What can we do? The efforts listed above need a boost from all IITB alumni. The need for on-going maintenance is obvious. We need to raise enough money to make it happen. It is not a new concept. When we lived in these hostels, we did pitch in to make our stay more enjoyable. We pitched in to provide a air compressor for our bikes, we pitched in to add more magazines or to the music library. We did it even when our means were small. We have a commitment from IIT to improve the condition of the hostels. They are going ahead with the repair on our assurance that we will come up with the money. We need to hold our end of the bargain.

Please take this as an urgent call to action for all alumni to get involved. Consider taking Kanwal Rekhi’s challenge and donate 1% of your annual earnings to the cause. For US based alumni, if you donate through the IIT Bombay Heritage Fund, your donation is tax deductible as a charitable donation. The fund is set up to accept cash as well as stock donations.

Checks should be made payable to "IIT Bombay Heritage Fund" and mailed to the following address ... Treasurer, IIT Bombay Heritage Fund, 10489 Rampart Avenue, Cupertino, CA 95014. For information on how to donate stock, click on the "Heritage Fund" button on the home page for the Heritage Fund. The URL is http://www.iitbombay.org.

Deepak Sabnis (deepak_sabnis[!]hp.com)

Editor's Note :