This month we present a hobby-themed issue which will be enjoyed by all those who love tinkering in their leisure hours. Meet alumni with unusual interests or rediscover a familiar batch mate in a new light. There are all types of hobbyists – amateurs, experts and those who have taken their hobbies to the next level.
Not very long ago, during my visit to S. Africa, our guide-cum-cabbie surprised us all by a weird but practical gem of advice for protecting big cats. Said he: ‘If you ever want anything to be conserved, link it up to your food/livelihood. So, the best way for mankind to stop worrying about the survival of big cats is by starting to eat them, regularly!’ No need to say, I was simply floored by his logic! (more…)
One of my favorite quotations of all time is by the Chinese philosopher, Lao Tzu. It goes something like this: “A journey of a thousand miles begins with one small step.”
I am an IIT Bombay alumnus from the Energy Science Department. I rode a solar-powered electric bicycle for 7,424 km in 79 days. I started riding from IIT Bombay on 8th May 2016 and, for the next 79 days, rode across Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh to raise solar awareness. I returned to IIT Bombay on the 25th July. (more…)
[Noseybee’s Nosy Note: The Wondering Minstrels was a joyous exploration of poetry that began as a poetry-by-email service and soon morphed into a lively community of poetry lovers. From Feb ’99 till Jan ’07, The Wondering Minstrels were a source of a poem a day, (almost) every day, accompanied by commentary, analysis, criticism, biographical information about the poet, literary anecdotes, historical asides, trivia etc. Eight years, over 1900 poems, and tons of information about most of them; surprisingly, this treasure trove of verse was the handiwork of three geeks from our very own IITB – the poetry-by-email service was started and run by Abraham Thomas and Martin De Mello, with an accompanying archive website created and maintained by Sitaram Iyer. Read more about their motivations and their journey with The Wondering Minstrels in this interview.] (more…)
A few months ago, we received the sad news of the passing away of Prof. MGK Menon, who was one of India’s most gifted scientists and administrators. Prof. Menon was closely associated with IIT Bombay as the Chairman of the Board of Governors of IIT Bombay from 1997 to 2003 and it is a privilege for me to write about him. (more…)
“Hey man, it’s such a long time!”
“Twenty-seven years. Wow!”
“You have not changed a bit. Ditto IIT looks. And you, you are now bald and have, err, gained weight. And you! What happened to your specs? Oh, contact lenses! Hey come in…….”
In many such rendezvous of old IIT friends, the introductions are similar. We get engrossed in our lives, lose touch and then we meet years, decades, nay life time after and feel excited as if we are living those magical IIT days again. (more…)
‘The Internet Changes Everything’ has been extracted from Part 1: The Internet Wave (1994–2002) of the book ©’The Golden Tap: The Inside Story of Hyper Funded Indian Startups’ by Kashyap Deorah. (more…)
Within 50 kilometres from Odisha’s capital, Bhubaneswar, there is the picturesque village of Raghurajpur. The village is just ten kilometres prior to the temple town of Puri, and within a kilometre from NH-316. It is surrounded by tall coconut trees and richly textured paddy fields. (more…)
