IIT Kharagpur Alumni – The KGP Chronicle

Happiness Run : The 2.2 Marathon

12^th January 2020, 6:30 AM. Technology Students’ Gymkhana was bubbling with some 100-150 students, both past and present. A very unusual scene, especially on a Sunday morning. Packets of Glucon-D were being constantly poured and mixed into 20-litre water jars. T-shirts were being distributed and students were seen warming themselves up. It was indeed a big day. Each had to complete the 2.2 Marathon beating the rest to win the coveted title of a Marathoner.

The 17^th Annual Alumni Meet of 2020 saw a host of IIT Kharagpur’s ‘young’ bunch, aged 18 years to almost 68 years gear up for their favorite sport – the 2.2 Marathon. The Director, Prof. V.K. Tewari, was also present to encourage the students and participate in the run that was to start and end at Gymkhana with the distribution of prizes and a complimentary snack. By 7:10 AM, the runners had settled themselves on the starting line. The marathon began with the sound of the clapstick.

Prof V. K. Tewari, Director IIT Kharagpur flags off the Marathon

Within 40 minutes, a few contenders, both alumni and current students were back at the Gymkhana. Visibly tired and taking deep breaths, they settled down for others to finish and gather at the venue for prize distribution. “Alumni-students interaction is a big, big thing,” said Prof. Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur, taking to the microphone. “They are a support system for one another. If you do not turn up today for your seniors, you should never complain if your juniors do not turn up years later when you visit the campus,” he added. He himself had completed 4.1 km a couple of years back, and seemed highly enthusiastic about sports. This time again, he made sure to complete 2.2 km without a pause. He thanked the Gymkhana members, its officials and all students who made the initiative possible.

“It is really refreshing. It is bringing back a whole new rush of memories of the place. We used to run loops around Jnan Ghosh Stadium almost every evening. That was a kind of ritual for me from 1991 to 1995. I find the campus beautiful. I came here for the first time in 25 years. I couldn’t resist the temptation of visiting my second home after so many years. I flew down from Atlanta as soon as I received the invitation,” remarked Mr. Kartik Ramakrishnan, Senior Vice President at Capgemini, Atlanta. His fitness quotient was proven when he bagged the second position among the alumni in the 2.2 marathon.

The winner of the marathon among the alumni was Mr. Amitabh Ghule, Director at Thames Capital, London, UK, who “wouldn’t have come had I been a student. Honestly!” he added tongue-in-cheek.

“It is a wonderful initiative. I’m impressed by the number of students and my batchmates who turned up this early, given that we had a blast till the wee hours of the morning,” said Mr. Ramakrishnan who came second, followed by Mr. Praful Agarwal, fondly called ‘Uncleji’ by his batchmates. “My passion for fitness helped me shed 20 extra kilos and follow a healthy lifestyle,” he said.

Among students, Satendra Sangwan a PG student from the Department of Physics took the first place. He was followed by Lt. Col. Ganesh Chawla, a Defence Sponsored UG candidate at the Department of Electrical Engineering, for whom this marathon was “just another morning run”.

The third place was taken by Tushar Kshirsagar, a UG first year student of Aerospace Engineering, who confessed turning up “just for the T-shirt”. His honesty was greeted with loud cheer, whistles and claps from the gathering. Karan Atariya, a post-graduate student of the Electrical Engineering Department bagged the fourth position

“It is extremely inspirational to find the Director participating in the run along with the students. During our time here, we could never expect anything like this. I hope this continues for the coming years. It brings a kind of fluidity and makes things easier between the students and the higher authorities,” said Mr. Ajit Kumar Alok, a 1995 alumnus, and currently a senior official of the Indian Railways.

Talking about the happiness index involved in a marathon, Prof. Saamdu Chhetri of IIT Kharagpur’s Rekhi Centre for the Science of Happiness, said that he feels that a marathon like this should not be competitive, but be “cohesive” instead. “In an event like the Annual Alumni Meet, where the alumni have come together to relive old memories and enjoy to the fullest, instead of competing against one another, it would have been wonderful had they held their hands together and completed this marathon. There’s a beautiful African saying which says, if you want to go far, go together; if you want to go fast, go alone. It is a wonderful initiative by the Institute to bring together the current batches along with their predecessors,” said Prof. Chhetri.

Prof. Priyadarshi Patnaik, Head, Rekhi Centre for the Science of Happiness also spoke on the lines of Prof. Chhetri. He pointed out that the marathon was a good opportunity to discuss with both past and current students and find out how transformation can take place.

The event ended with the past and present students exchanging pleasantries, sharing the morning snack and hooting loudly, “KGP ka tempo high hai”.

Pictures courtesy: Student Alumni Cell

Art of Gift, Gift to Art

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IIT Kharagpur’s Academy of Classical and Folk Arts has roped another key patron with US-based alumnus Mukund Padmanabhan donating ₹52 Lakh to this one of its kind outreach unit in the IIT system. The funding is towards building a music auditorium with a digitally enhanced learning environment, conducting thematic workshops on classical and folk arts and engaging teaching fellows.

Plans have been drawn to set up a digital classroom for music training in proscenium setting as distance mode teaching-learning with aesthetic and acoustically appropriate interiors. Two teaching positions are also being created for providing training on classical music and arts on a regular basis.

The Academy will offer training in music, fine arts and the performing arts, and also introduce credit courses in the forms of electives and micro-specializations. Additionally, it will create national and international outreach programs for dissemination and collaborative research on science and technology interventions in Indian classical music and other classical arts. The Academy will also be a hub to create teaching-learning resources for Indian classical music and other classical arts.

“While the Institute will provide the required space we are thankful to Mukund who has come forward to patronize this initiative. This new pedagogy in teaching and learning these classical and folk art forms will go a long way in preserving the core fundamentals of the traditional art form,’ said Subrata Chattopadhyay, Dean Alumni Affairs and Avinash Gupta Chair Professor.

Students of IIT Kharagpur will get the unique opportunity to explore this transdisciplinary program in classical and folk arts. Prof. Pallab Dasgupta and Prof. Joy Sen who are heading this initiative are enthusiastic about introducing students of engineering and architectural disciplines and encourage them to supplement the highly-competitive technical education through the use of artistic talents.

“Students of IIT Kharagpur constitute a rich talent pool of cultural virtuosity combined with exceptional creative intellect. We believe the Academy will open up new forays for expression of this talent, nurtured through a deeper understanding of our unique cultural heritage, and study through the lens of Science and Technology”, expressed the duo.

An MoU signed recently will also involve Mukund’s non-profit organization Guru Krupa Foundation. Dr. Mukund Padmanabhan is an expert in the domain of finance specializing in statistical financial modeling though he pursued his education in the field of Electronics and Electrical Engineering. After completing his B.Tech. from IIT Kharagpur in 1987 from the Dept. of Electronics and Electrical Engineering, he did Masters and Doctoral degrees from UCLA in electrical engineering. Mukund set up Guru Krupa Foundation, a New York-based charitable foundation to support social, educational and cultural initiatives.

Talking about the Academy Mukund said, “IIT is an institution that is known for hosting the best and brightest technical talent in India. Developing and excelling in a modern scientific approach to all things is required to make practical progress and advance our knowledge about the world we live in. However, traditional art and culture are also very important as it defines our history and represents our roots. From my point of view, the newly formed Academy of Classical and Folk Arts at IIT KGP represents a very creative experiment.”

According to him, the Academy serves three purposes – a non-technical creative outlet for the students and staff, enabling traditional forms of creative expression (music and arts) to be examined through the lens of technology and modern science, and introducing future leaders to these traditional art forms, it helps preserve the art forms for posterity.

Mukund’s philanthropic organization Guru Krupa Foundation will be involved in supporting the activities of the Academy. Guru Krupa Foundation has a charter of promoting the acquisition of knowledge, preservation of knowledge that we have already acquired (in the form of our cultural heritage) and also helping the disadvantaged in society.

“Support for the Academy of Classical and Folk Arts aligns well with this charter. In the near term, GKF will provide financial support, for instance, we are already providing support for Academy workshops that are planned for the 2020 year. Besides IIT KGP is my alma mater and it gives me great satisfaction to be able to give something back to the institution that laid the foundation for my professional life. It is my privilege to be able to give back to the institution that laid the foundation for my career,” he said.

The Academy has had additional contributions and support from other alumni, including Arjun Malhotra and Kiran Seth. Arjun and his associates has also been major contributors to the Academy. The IIT Kharagpur Foundation in the US has been actively working towards bringing forward more alumni towards this initiative.

“We are proud to bring alumnus like Mukund Padmanabhan in active engagement with their alma mater,” said alumnus and President of the Foundation, Ron Gupta.

Attempts are being made to collaborate with corporate houses with CSR goals towards preserving the scientific heritage and culture of India in the lines of IIT Kharagpur’s SANDHI programme funded by the Ministry of Human Resources Development, Govt. of India.

Mukund is optimistic about alumni contributions driving areas that break away from the traditional expertise of the IITs.

“Historically, many advances have been made by cross-pollination of ideas. Enabling additional areas in which the traditional expertise of IITians can be applied could lead to great advances in those areas and also develop new applications for traditional expertise. Hence, support for new areas like the Academy of Arts is a good way of paying our dues forward to our alma mater. Who knows where this cross-pollination may lead!” – remarked Mukund.

Photo Credit: University of California, Los Angeles

The Institute’s Eleven

Forbes India has just published its sixth edition of ‘30 Under 30 list’. The 2019 list features young achievers who are on the top of their game in their chosen fields. Of that list of 30, close to 40 per cent of the winners come from a single institution – IIT Kharagpur – and 50 per cent of them are Economics majors from the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences of the Institute.

The Institute’s 11 are all successful entrepreneurs. Keshav Prawasi (2011/BTech/CS), Nitin Babel (2013/MSc/HS) and Shishir Modi (2012/DD/EE) together run Niki.ai, an artificial intelligence company headquartered in Bangalore that was co-founded by another IIT Kharagpur alumnus, Sachin Jaiswal. Niki is an AI-powered chatbot which works as an intelligent personal assistant, providing a one-stop solution for customers. The clincher for niki.ai is its launch of Hindi voice-command recently.

Kamath Vasanth (2013/MSc/HS), Anugrah Shrivastava (2012/MSc/HS) and Rohan Gupta (2013/DD/CS) are founders of ‘smallcase’, a platform that offers investors the option of creating, or investing in, theme-based portfolios of stocks or exchange-traded funds.

Pushkar Singh (2013/DD/ME), Sudarshan Ravi (2013/MSc/HS) and Ankit Parasher (2012/BTech/EC) run LetsTransport, a Bangalore-based intra-city logistics company that they founded in 2015. Apart from providing round-the-clock service and real-time tracking, its Uber-like app allows customers direct access to drivers.

Pranav Goel (2012/MSc/HS) and Uttam Digga (2012/MSc/HS), both MSc students of Economics of the 2012 Batch, are founders of Resfeber Labs & Porter that provides mini truck services for intra-city pickups and deliveries in India and also provides a platform for logistics support solutions that help clients with relocation, construction supplies, perishable supplies, event management supplies, and e-commerce supplies.

IIT Kharagpur Alumni’s complete dominance of the Forbes 30 Under 30 list has been quite a surprise to the winners themselves. With the sombre level-headedness that follows soon after the elation of success passes, Pushkar Singh of LetsTransport desists from the expected backslapping. He calls it a “proud moment”, but also points out that the fact that so many on the list are from IIT Kharagpur may perhaps be just a coincidence. However, he does not forget to give credit where it is due. He says, “We are all into entrepreneurship and this is also in large part because of the training we received in IIT Kharagpur, its extra-curricular activities and the network we developed in college”.

To be among the like-minded, to be able to tap into a network that would reach deep into its well of experience to come up with the answers is undoubtedly a privilege. Forbes’ account of the inception of ‘smallcase’ in fact talks about how Vasant Kamath, restless after quitting research firm Tracxn in 2015, got things going when he contacted his friend from IIT Kharagpur, Anugrah Shrivastava, who was then creating thematic products for institutional investors at Nomura.

The birth of the other companies would have followed a similar sequence of events – people with similar or diverse skill sets, comfortable in each other’s company, well-acquainted with each other’s strengths given their prior associations, coming together once again to give a shape to an idea or what has been a long-held dream. Not too long ago, another success story from IIT Kharagpur had unfurled in a similar way. While recalling the inception of Capillary Technologies, Aneesh Reddy, co-founder and CEO of India’s largest provider of end-to-end customer engagement solutions for retailers, had said in an interview how he and his co-founders, Krishna Mehra and Ajay Modani, friends since college at IIT Kharagpur and always passionate about starting up a company, had finally taken the plunge two years after college, quitting their jobs that had taken them on different paths.

Ravi Sudarshan, also of LetsTransport, too harks back to his college days, “its diverse mind set and the various programmes to encourage entrepreneurship”. He says, “The college network too was important given that a lot of the seniors were already into Venture Capital start-ups and having advice on how a start-up worked and how to go about things helped us a lot.” Rohan Gupta of ‘smallcase’ also points out that the network serves as a ready reckoner when any entrepreneur decides to take the plunge.

Although upbeat at breaking into the Forbes list, Ravi, like his friend Pushkar, is willing to distance himself from the euphoria and consider things from the wide angle. “We have been lucky,” he says. The timing, according to him, has been right for all of them. As Ravi points out, “When we passed out, Flipkart had been making its presence felt. There was growing investor confidence. The market was booming. Even in college, we were keenly watching what was happening in the corporate world.”

What Sudarshan hints at is what Forbes puts into words. While celebrating the audacity and enterprise of the achievers, Forbes notes that “Entrepreneurs are seeing the impact of India’s growing internet boom and smartphone connectivity in sustainable B2B models.” It goes without saying that the revolution in the virtual world has tremendously helped IIT Kharagpur’s entrepreneurs on the Forbes list to live their dreams. Be it in retail, finance, logistics, or any of their chosen fields, the internet and smartphone connectivity has been a boon. They have given wings to dreams that sometimes began in college.

As Ravi points out, yes, the timing has been right for many of them. But one still needed to be both brave, if not brash, and smart enough to judge the timing and then grab the opportunities that it elicited with both hands. IIT Kharagpur’s Eleven have done precisely that. Congratulations to them!

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