Friday, May 7, 2010

The Hostel now gets Messy




For last 7 months the kitchen of the mess operated in the Admin Building. The mess brought other forms of mess: flies, occasional dogs and I have spotted a cow once. The mess contractor always complained about the effort required to carry the foot 3 stories up and down. We wanted the mess in the Hostel to be ready ASAP.

In our last Construction Review meeting, the contractor promised to deliver the mess by end of the week. We were earnestly hoping that he will keep his promise. As April was coming to an end, I started querying about the status of the mess. Siddhartha told me it may be delayed by a week. I was a little disappointed. Finally, Siddhartha said he will try to advance the delivery by may be two days. I took his word and announced the mess opening on the 5th May.

The entire team swung into action. On 4th the contractor moved his stuff in to the new kitchen. On 5th May the breakfast was served in the mess. I went to the mess at about 11:30 AM. Some kids were taking breakfast :).

The hostel is partially ready. We have given the target of completing the Hostel by June end.

PS: The foyer of the admin block looks a lot cleaner though a bit bereft of life.

PS: The picture shown above shows mess from the US Navy

Monday, May 3, 2010

Nebula to Nostalgia

Let me say this at the risk of being called a MCP: One of the objectives of any Institute is to make men out of boys. We have been trying hard to create an atmosphere where talent is identified and enhanced. I have been prodding to Under-Grads to take initiatives and organize events which will break monotony and showcase talent of our community.

The first event was Nebula. The kids just organized a welcome party for themselves. The entire gamut of talent was on display. I was pleasantly surprised by the professional presentation. It was d**n good show.

Then the kids went into hibernation. Nothing happened for a long long time. One day Gaurav who belongs to the Post-Grad programme, approached and told me to leave the leadership to the Seniors. We just did that. Again the campus was abuzz with activities: cricket tournament, Debate competition, carrom tournament and many many more.

The climax was Nostalgia which resulted in some memorable performances by the students. The most touching was the skit by the kids from labour camp. My wife Sanjukta was so moved that She took all the money in my pocket and distributed them as prizes (Fortunately I do not carry a lot of money in my purse.).

As the Samsung Ad says Next is What after Nebula and Nostalgia?