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The class of 1972, who graduated in 1977, the first IIT-JEE batch, had organized a reunion at our alma mater, ITBHU, Varanasi, in the first week of January 2008. I had planned to go, but couldn't make it, owing to a sudden unexpected job relocation. I'm sure all my classmates who were there revived fond memories of our student life at Banaras, so here is my nostalgic piece on my alma mater.

ITBHU [Erstwhile BENCO - Banaras Engineering College]

Institute of Technology

Banaras Hindu University

Varanasi

India

Let's begin with the college song

IT BHU Chorus

HAND IN HAND WE GO TOGETHER,

HAND IN HAND WE ARE SINGING ALONG.

SIDE BY SIDE WE FACE THE MUSIC,

WIN OR LOSE WE ALWAYS SING A SONG.

WAVE THE FLAG, WE'LL KEEP IT FLYING,

TILL THE SUN SHINES O'ER THE LAND.

IF THE LUCK IS GOOD WE'LL ALWAYS SHARE THE CHEERS,

IF THE LUCK IS BAD, WE'LL GLADLY BEAR THE TEARS.

TILL THE DAY WE TURN THE CORNER,

WE'LL KEEP ON AS LONG AS WE ARE HAND IN HAND.

IF YOU KEEP ON SMILING AT THE RAINBOW,

YOU WILL NEVER MIND A SHOWER OF RAIN.

KEEP YOUR HEAD ON THE CLOUDS,

DON'T GET LOST IN THE CROWDS.

ALWAYS KEEP THE SONG IN YOUR HEART,

AND SHOUT HIP-HIP HURRAH.

Composed by:

Prof. Charles. A. King

The First Principal of the

Banaras Engineering College (BENCO)

On what basis do you judge an educational institution - an Engineering College or a B-School? In today's world there is just one criterion - market value - the starting salaries and campus placement the students get - the more outrageously astronomical the pay packets, and the greater the percentage of lucrative campus placements - the better the institution. And with the increasing commercialization of education, many institutes blatantly compete, advertise, and focus on these materialistic aspects to attract students - it's a rat race.

I feel the cardinal yardstick for appraising the true merit of an educational institution is the value-addition it instills in its alumni - and I'm not talking of utility and materialistic values alone; but more importantly the inculcation and enhancement of intrinsic and intangible higher values. The student should feel he or she has changed for the better, professionally and personally; and so should other stakeholders observing the student from the outside be able to discern the value enhancement.

I studied for my B.Tech. in Electronics Engineering at ITBHU from 1972 to 1977 (first batch IIT JEE) and I experienced the well-rounded value addition I have mentioned above. Later in life, being academically inclined, I continued studying, and have completed many courses, a Post Graduate Diploma in Management, an Engineering and Technology Post Graduation at a premier IIT [M. Tech. - IIT Delhi] and have worked in multifarious capacities and even taught for many years at prestigious academic institutions of higher learning, but I shall always cherish my days at ITBHU the most. I knew I was a better man, in my entirety, having passed through the portals of ITBHU, and I'm sure those scrutinizing me from the outside felt the same way.

ITBHU was amalgamated by integrating three of the country's oldest and best engineering colleges: BENCO (Banaras Engineering College) - the first in the Orient, and certainly in India, to introduce the disciplines of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, MINMET - the pioneer in Mining and Metallurgy in India, and College of Technology - the first to start Chemical and Ceramic Engineering. Indeed these three institutions were the harbingers of industrialization in our country.

In my time ITBHU was indeed a center of excellence, an apt institution to study in, and a lovely place to live in. The vast verdant lush green semi-circular campus at the southern end of Varanasi, the largest university campus I have ever seen, with its pleasant and relaxed atmosphere was ideal for student life. And being a part of a premier university afforded one a consummate multidisciplinary experience.

It was a delightful and fulfilling experience I will always cherish - learning from erudite and totally dedicated Professors, who were authorities in their fields of specialization, amidst excellent academic facilities and ambience, elaborate labs and workshops, lush green campus, well-designed comfortable hostels, delicious food, expansive sports fields and facilities for all types of sports, the beautiful swimming pool, the unique well-stocked and intellectually inspiring Gaekwad library, and the exquisite temple that added a spiritual dimension to the scholarly ambiance.

One could learn heritage and foreign languages, fine arts, music, indology, philosophy, yoga, pursue hobbies like numismatics - the avenues for learning were mind-boggling. Many of us learnt music and foreign languages at this sanctum of learning. We had a truly holistic education and the idyllic environs of BHU helped one develop a philosophical attitude to life.

Like all premier institutes ITBHU was fully residential, which fostered camaraderie and facilitated lifelong friendships amongst the alumni. I can never forget those delightful moments in Dhanrajgiri, Morvi, Vishwakarma, Vishveswarayya and CV Raman hostels, mouthwatering memories of the Lavang Lata and Lassi at Pehelwan's in Lanka, the Lal Peda opposite Sankat Mochan, Chinese at La Bella in Lanka, and the delicious wholesome cuisine of Banaras, watching movies at the quaint and unique cinema halls, strolling on the holy ghats, and the cycle trips all over Varanasi, Sarnath, and even across the holy and sacred Ganga on the pontoon bridge to watch the Ram Lila at Ramnagar.

Way back then, in the 1970s, ITBHU was a wonderful place to study engineering and live one's formative years in. I wonder what my dear alma mater is like now!

VIKRAM KARVE

http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve

http://www.ryze.com/go/karve

http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com

vikramkarve@hotmail.com

vikramkarve@sify.com

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Dear Alumnus,

We would like to thank you for the overwhelming response to participate in launching off the Pune chapter of IT-BHU and registering on the alumni website.
Please encourage anyone and everyone you know to register and participate in this initiative by forwarding this email.

Details of the first meeting to launch this are:
Date/Time: 22nd March (Sunday) 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

Venue: Poona Club Golf Course,
Airport Road, Yerawada,
Pune 411 006, Maharashtra
Tel. 91-020-26694131

We appreciate the response via emails confirming your attendance. Anyone who has not sent their confirmation yet please email at pune@itbhuglobal.org. This would really help in estimating the headcount for the event. Based on current confirmations we are expecting at least 25 alumni to attend.

If anyone is a member of Poona Club or Poona Golf Club, please let us know as that would be helpful in subsidizing the event.

Look forward to meeting everyone.

Thanks and Regards,
Pushpendra Kumar Gupta
Pune Chapter Volunteer

Note: Please try to reach by 7PM so that we can start our activities in a timely manner. Dress code at this location is Collared shirts and trousers - Pune Golf Club is particular about this.

Token Fees: Rs 200 per person (This will cover the cost of the venue and snacks/tea/coffee).

The current event is for alumni only and not for families. We plan to have the next event where families would also be invited.

Name Batch Branch
Ashok Bajaj 1964 MEC
Mukund Aiyyar 1965 EEE
Dhirendra Bihari 1969 EEE
PV Rao 1971 CHE
Anindya K Banerjee 1974 MET
Vikram Karve 1977 ECE
Suhas 1977 CHE
Arvind Gangal 1979 MEC
Nanda Kumar Ghule 1981 MEC
Nagbhushan Gubbi R 1981 MEC
Arun K jha 1982 CIV
Shrikant Ligade 1982 CHE
Makarand 1982 CHE
Dhakephalkar 1982 EEE
Mr. M.S.Deo 1982
Milind Nene 1983 MEC
Ajay Sathe 1983 EEE
Shirish 1983
Anand Kumar 1984 EEE
Milind Khirwadkar 1984
S.K.Dhariwal 1985 CER
Shrihari Gokhale 1985
Satish Gupte 1985 MET
Ajay Chandwani 1986 MIN
Sandeep Sawant 1987 ECE
Shriharsha S. Ingle 1987 MET
COL AK CHAUBE 1987 CIV
Akhilesh Srivastava 1987 CIV
Aniruddha Ulabhaje 1988 MEC
Pankaj Gupta 1988 MEC
Maneesh Chandra 1988 MIN
Ajay Mathur 1990 CHE
Anshu Srivastav 1990 CSE
Ramakrishnan 1990 CHE
Hemant Vasant Gokhale 1991 EEE
Aviral Singh 1991 ECE
Uday Bhaskarwar 1992 ECE
Neeraj Kapoor 1992 EEE
Nitin Kapoor 1994 MET
Gaurav Joshi 1995 MEC
Dr. Sajeev Chandran 1996 PHE
Dr. Archna Roy 1996 PHE
Sanjeev Kumar Pandey 1997 CHE
Sumit Gupta 1997 ECE
Ankur Agarwal 1998 CIV
Swati Agrawal 1998 CIV
Sanjeev Rajput 1998 ECE
Ashish Mudgil 1999 CER
Pranshu GARG 1999 EEE
Raghu N Chakravartula 1999 CIV
Sumit Srivastava 1999 CHE
Anil Kumar Saxena 1999 CHE
Rajesh Raman 2000 CIV
Ashish Jain 2000 MEC
Manabendra Datta 2001 ECE
Vikas Singh 2002 CIV
Sunil Jaiswal 2003 CHE
PRASHANT JOSHI 2003 CSE
Anshul Gupta 2004 CHE
Ashutosh Kumar 2004 MIN
Praveen K Singh 2004 CSE
Vinan 2004 CHE
Umang Gujrati 2005 MEC
Ankur Verma 2005 CIV
Hemanshu Asolia 2005 CIV
Abhay Singhania 2005 CIV
Nikunj Singh 2005 PHE
Anshul Agarwal 2006 MEC
Arpit Gupta 2006 EEE
Rahul Singh 2006 CIV
Piyush kumar Jain 2006 MEC
Varun Wadhwani 2007 MEC
Avanish Kumar 2007 CIV
Rohit Tripathi 2007 MEC
Jitendra jain 2007 CER
Pushpendra kumar Gupta 2007 MEC
Rahul Ravi 2007 MET
Hemant Kr. Vyas 2007 MEC
Sachin Verma 2007 MEC
Ashutosh Chourasia 2007 CIV
Ankit Gupta 2007 CIV
Deepak Kumar 2007 CIV
Kedar Barde 2008 MIN
Raghav 2008 MIN
Daud Husen 2008 CER
Ankesh 2008 PHE

It is with great pleasure that we announce the launch of the Pune chapter of IT-BHU alumni.

We had an initial meeting on 1st March in Pune, of alumni who had graduated in years ranging from 1982 to 2007.

It was an exciting experience discussing our past and everyone was very enthused about this initiative. The initial objectives are two-fold:

1. We want to collate information on alumni who are in and around Pune (excluding Mumbai) and get them to be a member ofpune.members@itbhuglobal.org

2. We also want to get information on alumni/current students who belong to Pune and may be at other locations.

Once we get the Pune Members' list ready then we can start the process of meetings and next steps.

Kindly Note that, In Future, all communications relevant to Pune Alumni Chapter will be forwarded to pune.members@itbhuglobal.org and so, only the registered Alumni will receive the information/mails. You are requested to kindly send the following information and the volunteer team will be pleased to register you with member list of the "Pune Alumni Chapter":

1. Full Name
2. Branch/year
3. Email/Contact phone #
4. Designation/Organization
5. Current address (City, State, Country)
6. Date of Birth/Marital Status

The Pune Chapter Alumni Team has decided to have a small Tea- Meeting on Sunday, 22nd March 2009 at 7:00 p.m. The venue will be decided shortly and will be communicated through http://www.itbhuglobal.org/chapters/geo/pune/ forum. The future plans will be decided in the Tea-Meeting. We would like to have your presence in the little get-together.

Since you may be a member of a number of IT-BHU alumni groups and forums and may be aware of alumni from Pune, we would urge you to forward this and post at all possible IT-BHU related groups/blogs/forums to encourage registration and make this initiative successful.

Please note that this information would be kept confidential. Only your email address would be used for communications.

Thanks for your efforts. Please socialize this as much as possible.

With warm regards,
Pushpendra Kumar Gupta
(Mechanical 2007)
Phone # 91-97666 23320
Pune IT-BHU Alumni Volunteer