From the editor's desk ...^§

by Ram V. Kelkar (EE80 H2)

It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to the inaugural issue of "Y-Point", the online newsmagazine of the IIT Bombay Alumni Association and the IIT Bombay Heritage Fund. The editors of "Y-Point" intend to work hard toward ensuring that we begin an initiative that will endure, and I am confident that this webZINE will be of great value in bringing the global community of IIT alumni together.

I hope reading Y-Point motivates more IITians to read about the efforts of the IIT Bombay Heritage Fund in helping our alma mater. Amongst the highlights of the inaugural issue are an interview with Kanwal Rekhi, CEO of Excelan, and one of the most generous contributors to the IIT Bombay cause to date. A regular feature which should be of interest to IITians is "Class Notes" to help them keep up with their classmates. Other articles include one on the 1997 Bay Area picnic and a book review by Madanmohan Rao. The inaugural issue has a letter from Director S.P. Sukhatme, and one from Anil Kshirsagar, President of the IIT Bombay Heritage Fund. Please write in your comments and suggestions on the bulletin board. And last, but not least, we have pictures from IIT Bombay, courtesy of Milind Kamble.

The genesis of "Y-Point" and the IIT Bombay website itself goes back to almost an year ago when Deputy Director Sahasrabudhe was visiting with me on a trading room floor in New York City. We had been debating back and forth on how to get the alumni effort started. In the spirit of the old saying - "Kal kare so aaj kar, aaj kare so ab ...", right there on a surreal trading floor, surrounded by traders and flashing screens of market prices, Dr. Sahasrabudhe and I called up a few ISPs, and decided that we lock up www.iitbombay.org as the name of the website. I volunteered to pay the bills, and thanks to an understanding family and many late nights, Y-Point and the website were under way.

The launch of Y-Point is a matter of great satisfaction for me since I am certain it will help bring IITians back in touch with each other and their alma mater. The Powai days were certainly one of the most important life experiences for me, as they were for most of the fellow alumni I am in touch with. The memories of days of close friendships and camaraderie cushioned what many also found to be an extremely stressful and competitive educational environment.

The magic of the web is evident in the fact that the editorial board is spread out over California, Connecticut, Seattle and India as we put this issue together. Y-Point - the project - has been in the making for many weeks and months, and it took the efforts of many IITians who are busy with their own jobs and families to put this new endeavor together. Like with any start-up, the road will be rocky at first. Please bear with us as we learn from our efforts and gain in experience, and I am hopeful that this issue will become the first of many more issues to come.