An update on the IIT Bombay Heritage Fund

by Anil Kshirsagar

Hello everyone! On behalf of the IIT Bombay Alumni Organization, I wish you a very happy Diwali and a prosperous New Year! This is the first "webzine" put together by Ram Kelkar and his enthusiastic team. This will be a great forum for all of us to be in touch with IIT and each other. Your comments and active participation in making this a success will be greatly appreciated by not only the team here, but also by all the alumni and IIT.

Let me give a brief overview of the Heritage Fund and its activities so far. The Fund was established last year as an official entity recognized by the US Government. Even though the organization is called a Fund, it really is the Alumni Organization with the focus to conduct activities that will help IIT achieve its goals. One of the goals of course is to assist its alumni - you - in furthering your own careers. Some of the information about the Fund is detailed on the website. More detailed information can be requested by writing to us.

The major highlight of this year was the visit by the Director, Prof. S. P. Sukhatme. His main purpose of the visit was to make the alumni around the country aware of changes in IIT, its charter and how we can help achieve its objectives. He was enthusiastically received by alumni in the country. As a result of this trip, he has established a permanent Alumni office in IIT to deal with issues related to us.

Here is the progress made by the Fund so far.

  • We have established the website that is diligently managed by Ram Kelkar. The website provides information about IIT, alumni organization activities. Several hundred have so far registered their email addresses. Plans are under way to create a central database where all our vital contact information can be updated and found on the website. This should help us network amongst each other tremendously.
  • An Advisory Board is being formed by Raj Mashruwala. The Board will be made up of alumni who are very successful in their fields and can guide the organization to become viable and vibrant. If you would like to nominate anyone to this board, please do so by contacting Raj. Currently, due to proximity, he has several alums from the Bay Area, but even they feel there is a need to involve others from across the country. The Advisory Board members have pledged and contributed a significant amount for beginning the operation of the Fund.
  • Several batches are sponsoring special projects at IIT. They each have a project in mind :

    Batch of '72: They are preparing their silver jubilee celebration. Their goal is to raise funds for painting the hostels. The target is to raise $25,000 from the US and $25,000 in India. So far, they have raised $8,500 in the US. Contact: Deepak Sabnis.

    Batch of '75: The goal is to provide better Internet access to students in the hostels. The target is to raise $50,000 for extending the campus LAN to hostels, and for additional bandwidth to VSNL. So far, $13,000 have been raised in the US. Contact: Pari Choksi. (Incidentally, Pari would also like to hear from you if you have fund raising ideas for the organization. So far, we have raised a total of $100,000.)

    Batch of '87: The goal is being discussed among the batchmates. So far they have raised $4,000. Contact: Dushyant Pandya.

  • The alumni organization work has begun on two coasts - San Francisco and New York. We need to expand the network to other cities in the US. The Heritage Fund can provide assistance in forming local chapters and in helping coordinate activities. Please contact Subhash Tantry if you would like assistance in this regard.
  • We are approaching the end of the year. It is time to review our finances at this time to see the tax impact of our earnings. It is an opportune time to donate to IIT Bombay Heritage Fund. Please contact Sandeep Pandya if you have questions regarding donations.
  • Last, but not the least, Mahesh Krishnamurthy is taking charge of the "outreach" program -- traditionally known as marketing. Please do not hesitate to contact him with your own ideas and if you need help in extending your local chapter.

In conclusion, let me thank the editors of "Y-Point" for putting out a terrific webzine with a great purpose. Wish you all the best and hope to be in touch.