TCE 50 Years Alumni Meet - US West

Date: Sep. 3rd, 2006
Venue: Santa Clara Hilton, California
Occasion: Madurai Thiagarajar College of Engineering's (TCE) 50 Years celebration - Alumni meet.

"Bum bum bum... dham dhum...Abdul ameed...bum bum bum... Rangachari... bum bum bum..."

To start the event, in place of a usual prayer song, as an anti-climax, the above chorus was played. Naturally, this made the mood quite informal to start with and made us to go back in time! (Courtesy: Mr. Solai, 1992)

Tidbit 1: Several elderly alumni were wondering what this is about. It is believed that this became a de-facto "song" for TCE in the late 80's.

Mr. T. Kannan, the Correspondent, then gave a well-articulated speech, peppered with humor. In it, he covered the institution's history, alumni's participation, its ups-downs, and why they are rejuvenating it now, the institution's vision etc. Being a leader in the CII and in the State planning, he quoted several facts, so effortlessly, to back the vision.

Tidbit 3: Mr. Seshagiri happens to be the son of our college's very first principal, Prof. Natesan. He was gracious to bring our first principal's photo to share with us all. It was a moment of moments!

He promised that the institution would do anything and everything at its disposal to facilitate various forms of the business ventures by alumni, from technology incubation, business environment, partnership, R&D support, etc. For both the institution and for the alumni, this is a win-win proposition (In my opinion, it appears more for alumni!)


I believe, based on the recent press about India, Inc. in the west, it may be a nice opportunity for us to spread our entrepreneurial wings and, at the same time, most of us being in the US for quite sometime possibly with a "reasonable" amount of savings (a big assumption on my part!), it will be like as Tiruvalluvar says:

குன்றேறி யானைப் போர்கண்டற்றால் தன்கைத்தொன்று
உண்டாகச் செய்வான் வினை.
Rajaji says, in his commentary on Kural, “The chief advantage of wealth is the security it gives. A man of wealth may venture on any action, in that splendid security with which a man looks on an elephants’ battle from the top of a hill. He enjoys all the pleasures of adventure and of triumph without anxiety as to possible reverses. (758)

Tidbit 4: Mr. T. Kannan was quite generous for spending $20,000 to sponsor the entire alumni event in US, at both the coasts, without expecting any monetary support, whatsoever, from the attendees.

Dr. V. Abhai kumar, the Principal, then gave a detailed presentation on the "Past, Present, and Future of TCE". He reeled of a daunting list of accomplishments and that too happened in a very short span, with in less than a decade. He had to breeze through several slides as the list of accomplishments was numerous... I am glad he did so; otherwise we would probably have sat through overnight! He mentioned that he will share the Powerpoint slides with us once they get back to India.

Main highlights (the ones I could remember!):

• Research orientation as a foundation
• Industry partnership
• Encouraging Entrepreneurial spirit
• Better Infrastructure (several new buildings & labs came up in the campus)
• Placement "miracle" (~ 600 people, more than 90%, got the job offers this year!)
• Reviving the alumni's interaction
• Building the image for the institution
• Make it to Top 20-30 list in India
• College Management Decentralization (e.g. 5 deans with a different portfolios, rotating HODs every 2 years, etc)

Tidbit 5: The room temperature was kept so cold; I was even afraid that some penguins might show up. Later, based on our request, it got adjusted to a livable atmosphere.

Following Dr. Abhai Kumar's presentation, Mr. Murugan made the most-awaited announcement, by quoting Tiruvalluvar:

செவிக்குண வில்லாத போழ்து சிறிது
வயிற்றுக்கும் ஈயப் படும்.
Some food for the stomach is brought
When the ear gets no food for thought. (412)

(for the appetizer!) and, as “there is no free lunch!" in this country, he prepared the participants for the next agenda item: Breakout sessions. There were 5 groups, covering the following areas:

• Networking
• Matchmaking (Young alumni were disappointed as it is not for brides & grooms; but for the alumni & the college!)
• Placement
• Technology Incubation
• Curriculum & Top 50

The leads: Mr. Ravishankar, 1999, Mr. Jeyakumar, 1984 , Mr. Kannan, 1988, Mr. Murugan, 1987, and Mr. Gopi, 1992, respectively, shared the findings of their groups to the rest. Please note that the list of items will be published by the leads.

There were a bunch of smart and willing people in the room. To name a few: one gave a mini-lecture on how-to-lecture, another suggested an idea on water treatment, yet another gave cost-models of Indian operations, etc…

In an amazingly short duration, each of these groups came up with an excellent list of things to-do and it was duly acknowledged and thanked by Mr. T. Kannan.

Tidbit 6: Some item(s) in the appetizer was extremely hot (could be podi idli, chutneys, cutlet or whatever!). In a short interval, it was announced that the dinner was going to be served in a short interval. The dinner was sumptuous and I am sure it might have rescued many burning tongues as it did to me.

Later we went for a photo session...

The event concluded with a traditional... No!!! It is again similar to the opening,

"Inta podai podumaa... TCEnna chummaava..."

Overall the session was quite a success, given that this was planned in a very amateurish manner, solely depending on volunteer effort. But the organizers deserve every bit of credit to make it a grand and memorable event. Kudos!!!

Tidbit 7: One Mr. Jeyakumar, 1984, was showing some wooden planks to the Principal and couple of other folks, after the event. To all of their astonishment, those planks were nothing but the US patents on his name. That too they are not just 1 or 2, but a whopping number of 19 patents!!! He happens to work for Intel corp. and he did not mention it even when specifically asked for alumni achievements during the session. In my opinion, he is the Personification of Modesty!!!

Overall, one striking aspect came out like a "வெள்ளிடை மலை (a mountain in an open space)"; that is the leadership of Mr. T. Kannan and Dr. V. Abhaikumar. Both of them are a rare breed in India, as they have the best combination of heart & head! I am so glad to see the institution under their progressive leadership and I am sure all of you would agree with me. So far, the college appears to have already gained the required core competencies and moving in a right direction! The only remaining thing is to get the recognition. And, I believe, it is just a matter of time...

I feel, our TCE family will surely shine as பொய்யாமொழிப் புலவர், Tiruvalluvar says:

அன்பும் அறனும் உடைத்தாயின் இல்வாழ்க்கை
பண்பும் பயனும் அது.
In grace and gain the home excels,
Where love with virtue sweetly dwells. (45)

I am very glad to be part of this family and to attend this family reunion!

May God bless us all!!!

D.L. Sivakumar, 1990

PS: I hope and wish, this blog may serve some purpose towards image building & communication for the institution. I would be highly pleased if this gives impetus to my fellow alumni to share their experiences, achievements, success-stories, etc.

Disclaimer: It is just my personal view of the event and I thought of sharing that with rest of the TCE family. For any omissions or commissions were made, the fault is mine. Do notify me if there is any pertinent information missing.

Credits:

• I have used Kaviyogi Suddhananda Bharati’s translation of Tirukkural in the above quotations. Everything about and what is in Tirukkural is great. Its applicability is so fascinating, from a book as old as this, and I do enjoy comparing the management aspects covered in it to real-life scenarios.
  

# posted by Siva @ 9:25 PM