It was exactly 2 years ago in December 2011 that Fundamatics was born. Miraculously, to say the least. This was a baby that would have been stillborn, attempted to be delivered barely a couple of months after conception. Anyway, after a series of flukes, fits and starts, we presented a 200-page issue to you. You all loved it and lapped it up and life at the beehive has never been the same since then. We moved from one issue to another in a never ending stream. We grew, we evolved, we transformed and moved in a direction you steered us into. Thanks to your continuous patronage, we grabbed 3 coveted national ICE awards after just 6 issues under our belt.
As you hold this 9th issue in your hands, one as fat as the inaugural issue, one that’s touted as our bumper anniversary issue, it’s but natural for all the bees to reminiscence and ponder over what got us here. Many of you have confessed to us privately that while you applauded our efforts publicly, you were internally skeptical about whether we would survive beyond a couple of issues. One of you was candid enough to mention that you felt that we were a comet that was shining now, but would disappear without a trace. Yet, you humoured us. Gave us articles, brought in subscribers, and solicited advertisements for us to egg us on. Spoke words of encouragement while crossing your fingers and privately praying that we would live up to your expectations and prove your skepticism wrong.
And then we saw the joy erupt on your faces when we eventually turned out winners. At the beehive, we are constantly in a soul searching mode. Our exploration into the deepest recesses of our mind tells us that the secret of our success is YOU. We started an alumni magazine in a fit of a mad moment and did not have the time to lock ourselves within the confines of guiding principles, model, statement of purpose, core philosophy and the like. We wanted to elicit your participation to help us evolve. After all, we are dealing with very eminent alumni who have a history of running mega and global corporations across the world. If the best minds on the planet contribute material for our magazine and go one step further to guide us, mould us, and encourage us, can we go wrong?
So far, every issue of Fundamatics has been centered around a theme and the theme this time is on Innovation & Entrepreneurship. We feel that Fundamatics is an innovative idea of the IITB alumni community. It is an enterprise that runs on the cooperative principle and despite heavy pressures, pitfalls and occasional setbacks, it is still profitable, notwithstanding its baby phase. How could we think of any other theme to celebrate our birthday?
As you scroll the pages, you will see that we have dispensed with our regular back-page, the thank you section, in this issue. That’s because we believe that all of you viz. our CARS (contributors, advertisers, readers, and subscribers) need to be thanked here, right at the top. Treat this as an editorial-thank you combo. And do read the most thought provoking content from our galaxy of extremely eminent souls that we have lined up here. In a rare and an exclusive interview, HRD Minister Pallam Raju bares his heart and mind to speak on wide ranging issues concerning IIT and IITBAA. Czar of manufacturing Jamshyd Godrej, ISB Dean Ajit Rangnekar, Skill Development Diva Revathi Kasturi, Alumnus Hemant Kanakia, columnists Sudheendra Kulkarni, Beheruz Sethna, Ali Contractor— they’re all there with full guns blazing. We have interesting anecdotal stories from entrepreneurs, poems, trivia, and some attempt (both successful and unsuccessful) at humour in order to bring about a balance. Do not miss the fascinating stories about IITB’s participation in commemorating the memory of the historical Salt March at Dandi, buttressed by an informative column by Ali Baba.
Thanks again and keep us buzzing.
- Newton’s Archimedes - March 18, 2016
