My B.Tech. Gurus at IIT Bombay, 1968-1973.

My teachers during the B.Tech. Programme : 1968 to 1973, at IIT Bombay

The following teachers are no longer at IIT Bombay. Those marked with an asterisk (*) are no longer with us. They rest in peace.

1. Achuthan M [ME]
   - Thermodynamics.
   "Goofing up is nobody's unique birthright."

2. Batra RL * [MA]
   - Mathematics and Numerical Analysis.

3. Bhargava HD [CH]
   - Inorganic Chemistry.

4. Bhattacharyya SP * [MA]
   - Mathematics.

5. Bose MSC [ME]
   - Experimental Stress Analysis

6. Chakraborti DK [CH]
   - Inorganic Chemistry.

7. Chandrasekharan VS [CE]
   - Applied Mechanics (Engineering Mechanics as it was known then).
   The subject was considered a terror, not the teacher. One of the best teachers of engineering science that I had.

8. Chatterjee A [HSS]
   - English.

9. Chindarkar UN [ME] (aka Powle US)
   - Fluid Mechanics, Fluid Machinery.

10. Dange YK [ME]
    - Theory of Machines, Machine Design.

11. Desai PD [EE]
    - Instrumentation.

12. Deshpande AS * [ME]
    - Production Engineering (Rolling).

13. Dhariwal HC * [ME]
    - Prime Movers.

14. Divekar MV [MA]
    - Mathematics.

15. Ghosh Deb K [PH]
    - Physics (Mechanics). Part of Volume I of Resnick and Halliday.

16. Gopalan MN [MA]
    - Mathematics.

17. Iyer PR * [CH]
    - Organic Chemistry. English and Cassidy was the text.

18. Jagadish BS * [ME]
    - Gas Turbines.
    Founder of the Heat Transfer Laboratory.

19. Jaganmohan A * [ME]
    - Steam Turbines.
    Founder of the Steam Power Laboratory.

20. Jagannnath Rao M * [PH]
    - Physics (Electricity and Magnestism). He completely uncovered the volume II of Resnick and Halliday (or was it Halliday and Resnick?).

21. Jain PC [MA]
    - Mathematics.

22. Jaiswal K [ME]
    - Workshop Technology. I later realised that he was a TTT - Technical Teacher Trainee.

23. Jog DV * [HSS]
    - English.

24. Kamalapurkar DB [ME]
    - Mechanical Engineering Drawing.

25. Kamath MS * [EE]
    - Electric Machines.
    Mine was perhaps the only non-EE batch which faced MSK for three semesters!

26. Khemchandani MV * [ME]
    - Machine Design.

27. Krishnamurthy S [MA]
    - Mathematics.

28. Kulkarni MD [ME]
    - Steam Power.
    Vanished in 1973. Apparently, went to the USofA. Could not be traced.

29. Kumar RD [EE/CSE]
    - Electric Circuits.
    Provided an excellent exposition, using Heyt and Kemmerly. Also, taught us the programming language ACE for MINSK-2 (remember the CNA tapes?, and the HSP output ribbon?).

30. Magal BS [ME]
    - Nuclear Engineering.
    Set up the lab in Room 112.

31. Mahajan AS [PH]
    - Physics.

32. Malvadkar CB * [ME]
    - Machine Design.

33. Mokashi-Punekar MK [HSS]
    - English.

34. Nagachandran A [ME]
    - Casting.

35. Narayankhedkar KG [ME]
    - Airconditioning.

36. Padalia BD * [PH]
    - Physics (Optics).

37. Palekar MG [MA]
    - Mathematics.

38. Parikh PP * [ME]
    - Combustion, IC Engines.

39. Parulekar BB * [ME]
    - Refrigeration.
    Where is Khandu Patil?

40. Patil SH [PH]
    - Modern Physics.

41. Prabhu PH [HSS]
    - Industrial Phychology.

42. Rajan R [PH]
    - Modern Physics.

43. Raju VC [ME]
    - Instrumentation.

44. Ramaswamy N * [ME]
    - He was my seminar guide.

45. Ranga Rao MP [MA]
    - Mathematics.

46. Reddy CT [ME]
    - Production Engineering.

47. Reddy GP [ME]
    - Strength of Materials.

48. Sanyal BS * [HSS]
    - Logic.

49. Sethuraman TV * [HSS]
    - Economics.

50. Shankar K * [EE]
    - Electronics.

51. Soni RY * [CE]
    - Strength of Materials.

52. Srivastava HN [CH]
    - Physical Chemistry.

53. Sukhatme SP [ME]
    - Heat Transfer.
    His textbook was first used by us.
    He was also the guide for my Home Paper (as the BTP was known then).

54. Sundararajan A [PH]
    - Physics (Thermodynamics and Waves). Part of Volume I of Resnick and Halliday.

55. Swaminathan N [HSS]
    - Ethics.

56. Tembe RG [CE]
    - Geometric Drawing, Civil Engineering Drawing.

57. Vartak MN * [MA]
    - Industrial Statistics and SQC, Operational Research.
    What a teacher!

58. Vasudevan P * [ME]
    - Machine Design, Theory of Elasticity.

59. Venkataraman G [MT]
    - Physical Metallurgy.

60. Viladkar BG * [PH]
    - Thermodynamics.

61. Vyas BD * [ME]
    - Fluid Mechanics.

IIT Bombay Campus - Then (1972) and Now (2019)

2019 12 20

[Please click on the photographs to see the full version.]

I have sourced the 'Then (1972)' photos as screenshots of the movie Jawani Diwani, which was, in part, shot on campus.  Since these are screen grabs, the resolution is not that good.
The 'Now (2019)' are shot by yours truly.

So, here we go:

The first location is the East-End of the Corridor:

The second location is ME Lawns, with the Main Building in the background:

The third location is ME Lawns, with the ME Building in the background:

The next three shots are from near the Lecture Theatre.

Fifth:  LT Foyer, seen from the MB side: 

Sixth:  MB Annexe as seen from near the LT:

Seventh, looking North from near the Breznev tree (yes, it is still there):

Finally there is a shot from in front of the Convo Hall towards the Main Building:

Some shamiyana-work was going on today.  Preparations for the Alumni Day, I suppose.

But the Main Building looks very the same:

 And so does its annex, where we had out drawing halls:

Finally, here is a panoramic picture from the West footpath of the Main Road.

The road is our Main Road.  Main Building is towards the left, Main Gate is towards the right.  The left building is the School of Management and IRCC, the centre one is the Computer Centre, and the right one is the Kanwal Rekhi Building.  The 'ghosts' in the picture are people, compressed by the camera software while processing the panorama.

The Deserted Hostel 8. IIT Bombay Campus.

2019 12 19.

Hostel 8 is unlivable.  All students have left (and not just on vacation).  Today morning when I visited, a lonely watchman was on guard.  No one in the corridors, no one in the rooms, no one in the mess.

Hostel 8 is abandoned and will be demolished.  Another version of Hostel 8 will be built in its place.

I have never seen a hostel so deserted.  This reminded me of the poem "The Deserted Village", by Oliver Goldsmith.

I am told the same fate awaits Hostel 4 and Hostel 7.

Some More Pictures of IIT Bombay Academic Area

2019-12-18
[Added one picture on 2019-12-20.]

(Please click on the photographs to see the full version.)

The Civil Engineering Department Building:

The Lecture Theatre and the LT Lawn:
(The LT is now called P C Saxena Auditorium, PCSA.)

The Central Walkway, from Main Building to IDC and beyond:

Remember the open space and gap in the corridor between Maths and Library?
There was a tree there, which died.
We now have a gazebo at that place, with a sculpture "Hands Reaching Out":

Here are the details.

And here is a bottom-up-view:

Coming soon:  Some photos of Hostel 8.

Some Pictures of IIT Bombay Academic Area (Nostalgia, Then-and-Now)

2019-12-17.

(Please click on the photographs to see the full version.)

While going through my old collection, I came across a 1973 photograph of the Mechanical Engineering Department Building:

I walked up the Main Building on 13-Dec-2019 to try the 'now' version of the same photograph.  Unfortunately, we now have so much of greenery, fortunately, that I could see hardly any part of the ME Building.  I tried two different angles:

I think the only common thing in the two photographs is the big palm tree.

Many of us do not realise how green the IIT Bombay campus has become, over the years!

BEST Route 602, Mumbai

Today, I rode BEST route 602 from Hiranandani Bus Station, Powai, to IIT Main Gate.

For Rs 5 I can skip a 1.5 km walk.  

However, I do not save any time - the bus takes a very circuitous route.

Today, sitting up front, I noticed two old things which still remain unchanged on BEST buses:

• Conductor's bell (top left in the picture above).
• The hand-operated horn (seen near the driver).

I think there are advantages in using the manual bell and horn.

• The conductor/driver will not use the bell/horn unnecessarily - operating them requires effort!
• In the cacophony-on-road in Mumbai, the sound made by the bell and horn is soothing.  It almost sounds like music!

Bottle Palms in IIT Bombay Campus

The road from Main Gate to Main Building in the campus of Indian Institute of Technology Bombay was originally lined with bottle palms on either side.  They looked nice, but did not provide much shade.

Over the years, they were almost crowded out by neem, mayflower, and rain trees.

There is a younger generation of bottle palms, but they are not prominent.

Many of the old ones are dead, and I noticed different types of shrubs/trees growing in them:

However, there are some which are left standing as stumps:

I hope these eyesores are removed soon.

My Photographs 9 - Mayflowers

2007 May 19, IIT Bombay Campus

Mayflowers.  I include this photograph, expecting warmer days ahead.
Mayflowers have always fascinated me.  And IIT Bombay Campus is full of them in May.

My Photographs 8 - IIT Bombay Campus - A Dog's-Eye View

2006 September 26, IIT Bombay Campus
Around 22:30

A dog's-eye view of the street in front of my (then) home.  The camera was about 20 cm from the road surface.  This is a 15s exposure.

My Photographs 5 - Main Building, IIT Bombay

2006 September 29, IIT Bombay Campus

This is the Main Building of IIT Bombay.
This photo has an exposure of 4 s.

This was my view often - when I returned home after a late evening session in my office or in a lab.

Next week: One of my best monochromes.

My Photographs 4 - The Lone Sentinel - IIT Bombay Arch

2006 September 29, IIT Bombay Campus

The Arch of IIT Bombay is an icon on its campus.  This photograph was taken after 9 pm, but I had to wait a few minutes for people to go out of view, and attempt a few shots before I was satisfied.  This has an exposure of 1 s.

After I archived the photograph, I noticed the dog sitting in the picture.  That solved my naming problem - I call this picture The Lone Sentinel.

My Photographs 2 - यहां सुबह से खेला करती है शाम! - IIT Bombay Campus

2002 Dec 30 IIT Bombay Campus

A shot from the LT (Lecture Theatre), now named PCSA (P C Saxena Auditorium).
You can see the LT Lawn and part of the Civil Engineering Building.
You may even spy the Mechanical Engineering Building.

This photograph reminds me of "यहां सुबह से खेला करती है शाम", sung by Kishore Kumar, in दो दुनी चार.
I think that movie was based on Shakespeare's A Comedy of Errors.

For the song, see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7qWj3nnwRA

Swami and Mood Indigo (of IIT Bombay, IITB)

I received a call from a Sadhu/Swami (S/S), just as I reached home today evening.  

He was at the IITB Main Gate, wanted to enter the campus, but the sentries at the gate stopped him - he did not have any ID linking him to IITB, nor did he have any appointment in the campus.  

He wanted to drive around the campus, to get a feel of Mood Indigo!

Why would a Sadhu/Swami (S/S) be interested in MI?  

Answer: He is an alumnus, BTech Mech IITB 1973.  

My classmate.  

After a couple of years in a job, he decided to take 'sanyAsa' and became a S/S.  

We traced him in 1998, but I met him in 2002 in London.  

He was the chief of a London Temple then.  

I talked to a security officer, and the S/S was allowed to take a round of the campus.

I think all of us from 1973 onwards will retain nostalgic memories of Mood Indigo - at least of the older kind.  

And that will attract us back to MI on IITB Campus.  

I am sure spirits of some alumni who now RIP wander around the campus during Mood-I.