While steadily entering higher echelons in the academic as well as the corporate world, NITIE takes time, every year, to look back at times past and cherish moments that helped build the institute we see today. The event was held on 27th November 2010 at its picturesque campus in Mumbai. There was nostalgia in the air as scores of alumni caught up on old times, reminiscing about the years spent at their alma mater. The evening saw its share of hugs, pats and wilful declarations of ‘those were the days’. This year witnessed the felicitation of the 13th batch of the Post Graduate Programme (1983-1985) in honour of their 25-year strong relationship with the institute as proud alumni. But reminiscing wasn’t all the 25-year strong alumni base had come for. They had come prepared with abundant advice for the students as to what to expect from the corporate world in the next couple of years and more importantly, the steps the students would need to take to keep their careers firmly on course.
The program had awe-inspiring speeches from the Director of the institute, members of NITIE Alumni Association, professors who taught the PGP’13 batch way back in the period 1983-85 and the alumni themselves. In his speech Director, Dr. S.D. Awale mentioned that NITIE owes it reputation to the hard work put in over the years by the professors, alumni and all the stakeholders of the institute. One of the speeches by an alumnus, Mr. T. V. Sheshadri was one that brought forth the need for resurgence of dying respect for the teaching profession. Quoting from his speech, he said that, “Our parents helped us live but our teachers helped us live respectfully.” He also talked about how indebted they all were to their teachers and how their teacher’s undying commitment did not have parallels in any other profession. All in all a bunch of speeches to cherish forever.
The event further saw display of talents by both alumni and the current batch students. It was a moment where boundaries disappeared and all that mattered was sheer talent and a joy of sharing. Melodious songs, impeccable dances, entertaining poems and excellence with musical instruments were the order of the day. The spectators were amazed by the concentration of talent that had assembled in that auditorium to entertain the alumni that had come down from various parts of US, Australia, Europe, Middle East and India.
This year was a year of firsts and revivals as the alumni committee of the institute worked on many new initiatives for a strong institute-alumni relationship. The first alumni magazine was proudly released by the Director of the institute, Dr. S.D. Awale and was cheered by the alumni. The magazine is expected to play a crucial role in getting alumni involved with the institute through their intellectual inputs and also to keep them informed about the happenings in the institute.
This year also saw the establishment of the Distinguished Alumni Award, which was fondly and proudly awarded to Dr. Ganesh Natarajan of the 9th batch of the Post Graduate Programme. Dr. Natarajan is the CEO, Zensar Technologies and is widely regarded for his leadership as the ex-Chairman of NASSCOM. It was a moment when many current students promised to become worthy of this honour one day and make their institute proud in years to come.
Sansmaran ’10 was a resounding success underlining the wealth NITIE possesses in the form of its alumni. The alumni and the students look forward to yet another edition of this enlightening event and can rest assured that the tradition would continue in the years to come.