Past students jog down memory lane at VNIT

NAGPUR: CEOs of companies like Boeing India, Tata Motors, Thermax and Microland got together in the city on Saturday. They did not get together for any serious business meet but were here to jog their college memories.
The Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology campus was abuzz with activity as past students gathered to celebrate 50 years of the institution.CEOs of listed companies were seen in suits, slapping the backs of their old friends and laughing heartily like youngsters.
People coming in from other cities were given a grand welcome as they rode around the campus in a regally decorated buggy. Around a thousand people turned up to attend the function and reminisce about old times.
Ten distinguished alumni from the college were formally felicitated at the hands of acting director of VNIT CS Moghe. "VNIT gave me something invaluable," says Dinesh Keskar, president of Boeing India who was one of the past students to be felicitated.
He fondly remembers his college days. As he looks back, he feels grateful that those days have enabled him to climb the ladder of success. "The quality of education, the knowledge of the professors and the wisdom to face challenges; these valuable pearls have made me and my fellow VNITians so successful today."
Architect of Param 2 Supercomputer, Vijay Bhatkar fondly recalls the day he saw a transistor in a VNIT lab. "I was able to see the transistor just 18 years after it was invented at the Bell Labs in 1947. It was back in 1964 that I had this wonderful experience. I did not realize that one day electronics will play such an important role in India's development. Also I never realized that someday I will get an opportunity to develop India's first VLSI chip.
"A chip with million transistors within, like the transistor I could not even touch in our electronics lab at VRCE. Over and above that, I never thought one day I will have to serve on the governing council of the VNIT and that I will be bestowed with a distinguished alumni title," said Bhatkar who passed out in 1965.
Bhatkar recalls that he was barely 17, perhaps one of the youngest graduating engineers of all time. "We did not have hostel and ragging was rampant. I hope all that has changed now," he said.
Indian Idol star Geetesh Iyer passed out in 2009. He was seen hanging around with his batch-mates at the campus. "I am so happy to be here," he said. "I don't know how this day passed so fast. One minute I entered the campus, admiring this brilliant set-up and now its already evening. When I am with friends time passes so fast!"
Geetesh gave a performance at the cultural event in the evening at VCA, Jamtha. The meet involved some formal and informal events.