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MESSAGE : CONVENOR ,CIVIL ENGINEERING SOCIETY

It�s indeed my great pleasure to note that the CIVILENGINEERING SOCIETY, NIT SILCHAR is keenlylooking for the publication of inaugural issue of itsmagazine, SRISHTEE this year. Being the convener of the society I have been associatedwith this inaugural issue. Being the inaugural issue,the Secretary and all the office bearers especially thepublication team have to go through different hurdles topublish this first issue. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to theSecretary, all the office bearers of the society and all theteam members of SRISHTEE for their endless effort topublish the inaugural issue. I strongly believe this magazine will be a grandsuccess. I wish the CES and the SRISHTEE team a grandsuccess.

Mr. P. RoyConvener

Civil Engineering Society

Editorial

The biggest question we faced is ‘Why SRiSHTEE?’ I would like to quote the greatGeorge Bernard Shaw to give the appropriate answer:

“You see things; and you say, ‘Why?’But I dream things that never were;

And say, ‘Why not?’”To be pragmatic Team SRiSHTEE realized that the ‘literary potential’ of NITS istoo huge and we do too little justice to it. If in spite of the hectic academic schedulein IITs there can be monthly issues of each society magazine, let alone collegemagazine, why should we be satisfied with a lone edition of IGNITS in a whole year?Perhaps this is the might and specialty of civil engineers to dream and realize theunimaginable.

We don’t want to hide our anxiety regarding this inaugural edition of SRiSHTEE,but to our amazement it swiftly took shape into an entity and perhaps the reader isthe best judge of it. Down the line we see SRiSHTEE becoming stronger and closelycompeting with IGNITS, providing an alternative platform to showcase not onlymere literary skills but also the consciousness regarding college affairs.

The inaugural edition of SRiSHTEE shall remain forever indebted to our convenerof CES, Sri Parthojit Roy for his continuous support in all crisis situations. We arethankful to our new Director, Prof. P.K. Bose, for gracing us with his inspiring message.We are also immensely grateful to Dr. A. K. Dey, HOD of Civil EngineeringDepartment for his sagacious views. I congratulate Team SRiSHTEE, which worked24×7 for last few weeks to make this dream a reality. Perhaps I have been a bitluckier than my compatriots to get the cherished tag of Editor-in-chief. This was themaiden effort of CES, which is booming under the inspired leadership of our belovedJyoti Kumar. Like any other society CES laid dormant for years until someone hadthe guts to take the reins and lead from the front. Team SRiSHTEE is a splendidexample of teamwork, transcending the barriers of linguistic, regional and culturaldifference. It’s incredible the way the marketing was done. We shall remain evergrateful to Er. Debasish Dey and Er. T.N. Das of Estate Engineering, NIT Silcharfor arranging funds from a few contractors. Special thanks to Pratabidya Mohantyfor going through manuscript and helping me in proof reading.

Within Team SRiSHTEE the only string that ran common in the seeminglyheterogeneous folks was Civil Engineering. Civil Engineering, apart from a verylucrative career option is a noble profession in regard to its contribution to society.From providing the foundation of civilization in the form of roads, roofs and bridgesto conserving the rich biodiversity of the environment to designing the internationalspace station and constructing breathtaking mega structures, Civil Engineers haveplayed critical role in every aspect of human life. Perhaps here lies the royalty of CivilEngineering!!

I have gone through a few past editions of REXIAN and IGNITS and in each editorialI have found at least one thing in common: Regret and complaint regarding thedearth of articles or contributions for magazines that almost left a bad taste in themouth, our experience being no exception. The foremost reason is the lack of literaryactivities throughout the year. I think it’s absurd to expect a dozen of good write-upsovernight by putting up a notice all of a sudden. The NITS fraternity is not to beblamed for this but I surely believe that the Publications Secretary, Gymkhana caninitiate a lot of things. Perhaps monthly wall magazines, debates, open forumdiscussions, essay competitions or conducting literary workshops by some novelistscould be instrumental in bestowing a proper literary environment here. All otherthan the last option are low cost activities and the ‘Literati’ only needs to take initiativeto get these done. It’s sad we don’t have an archive for REXIAN or IGNITS, noteven with the Central Library, NIT Silchar or Publications for that matter. So haplessguys like me have to take the trouble of going through enormous college stationaryand rubbish to retrieve or rather ‘steal’ some of the priceless editions of REXIAN.

During a pre-placement interactive session by a well-known IT company, the expertlaid great emphasis on ‘documentation skills’, which forms an indispensable part ofcommunications. He cited first hand experience where the green horns had to betrained in this regard separately during induction program. It’s a pity that the inabilityto write a coherent project report makes the way for others to take away the sheen ofhard labour. So candidates with good writing skills remain the obvious choice ofemployers. Hereby one has another reason to venture into writing so that he doesn’tlose the competitive edge over his fellow peers.

Lastly, we wish to express our heartfelt thanks to the Internet and Software giantslike Microsoft, Adobe and Google etc who through their amazing products andinnovative solutions have made writing and editing easier than before. We salute allthose computer wizards of NIT Silchar who through their nocturnal endeavorsdownload software and make them readily usable by sharing over the LAN, all forfree.

I hereby thank teachers of my alma mater St. Xavier’s School, Durgapur at large andMr. Suvro Chatterjee in particular from whom I learnt the early lessons of languageand literature. I would like to pay homage not only to my parents but also to all thoseparents who throughout their lives take the pain to up bring their kids yet so rarelyget acknowledged for their efforts.

We beg pardon being unable to include a few entries in this edition but we remaineternally thankful to all contributors. Hope you enjoy reading this inaugural editionof SRiSHTEE and we expect some constructive feedback to improve upon our quality.

Happy reading!!!

Aniruddha GhoshEditor-in-chiefSRiSHTEE’09

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PERSPECTIVE OF GENERAL SECRETARY

I am pretty confident in claiming that the Civil Engineering Society (CES) has been themost vibrant society in NITS campus over the last few years. The various events organizedby CES have not only focussed on constructive discussions and interactions but also hasgiven an opportunity to the students to showcase their hidden talents or to have sheerfun in some informal events. The publication of SRiSHTEE is one of the milestones inthe journey of CES.

The concept of having a magazine from CES was my dream project since the time Iassumed charge as the GS of CES. That the magazine is going to be published is like adream come true for me. I take this opportunity to congratulate the entire team ofSRiSHTEE whose consistent efforts went on to shape SRiSHTEE, as it is in front ofyou. SRiSHTEE is one of the finest examples of team effort where each and everymember has worked with complete dedication.

The existence of a separate magazine from the CES is always questioned by some of myfriends, but I personally feel that efforts like publication of a magazine from CES, areextremely valuable in a huge academic campus in addition to playing the role of mirrorto the past and the possible future that holds great importance for the students. So Ihope that the magazine will be welcomed by the student fraternity of NITS.

I would like to discuss about less attendance during the events of CES.As the GS ofCES I enjoyed my responsibilities to motivate and help students in organizing variousevents in the department of Civil Engineering of NITS. I have always tried my best tomake every event a success. But still I feel that it would have been even better if theparticipation of members was more encouraging. Here I would like to cite that thepurpose of CES basically is to provide opportunities where students and faculty memberscan interact on common platform, which was unfortunately not seen due to poorparticipation from both the ends. So I am expecting a healthy attendance from bothends in further events. I always aspired support from my batchmets but unfortunatelymost of them have shown their unwillingness in the events of CES, which was verydiscouraging for me. PG students generally remain reluctant in the events of CES. Iwould like to say that they are also integral part of CES and invite them to be a part inthe events of CES.

I am thankful to all those who have contributed for SRiSHTEE in any form, theenthusiasm shown by the junior batches (especially 2k6 batch) in all the events of CESwas always encouraging and inspired me to work even harder than earlier CES Teams.I am also thankful to all the faculty members specially Mr. P. Roy sir, for their valuablesuggestions during the materialization of magazine. Finally I am thankful to all thesponsors for showing great interest in this project and helping us financially, and wish allthe best to the incoming team of CES for carrying forward the hard work done by usand move ahead smoothly.

Due to restrictions of both space and resources we were unable to include articles inlanguages other than Hindi and English. Inconvenience caused due to this is deeplyregretted. Being the inaugural edition of SRiSHTEE, there is always room for furtherimprovement. All types of creative suggestions and criticism will always be welcomed.

CHEERS TO CES !!!!!JYOTI KUMAR

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INDEX Page no.

IMAGINATIONS SUBLIME

A Dying Wish 3All Roads Lead to Rome 4BERMUDA TRIANGLE-The Mystery continues 5Delhi Express on a Roll 6Knowledge Is Power 7Parents a decade From Now 8Right Here waiting 9Tired Of Chasing Love 10To Do Or Not To Do 11Heavyweight Civil Engineering 12In Life And After death 13The art of Writing�..Deciphered 16A glance.. 17Modern life-A Question to be solved by you 18Vaastu Shastra 19Brain Drain 20The ravages Of violence 21Survey Camp-A demand Of Time 22Absurdity Personified 23Luck favours Perfect Manipulation 25

HIS MASTERS� VOICE

REC-At Our Time 29An Interview with Inspiration-Padmashree E. Shreedharan 30An Exclusive Interview with Dr. A.K. Dey 31About Tsunami 32Romancing with Civil Engineering 33Performance Based Design 36John Smeaton-the Father of Civil Engineering 45

GUEST CLOUMN

Reluctant Bros 48Shakespere�s soul in Despair 49Am I Capable enough 50PAIN(dedicated To Albus Dumbledore) 51Seasons 52Falling in Love 53The River 54Estate engineering Branch, NIT Silchar 55

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HAVE YOUR SAYIs The Present Model Of TNP Working 59Remembering a �friend� 61One Man�s Terrorist and Another�s Freedom Fighter 63CS-The Gaming Zone 64Should VALENTINE�S DAY be Declared as a Gazzete holiday 65NIT Silchar a Deemed University-a BOON or A BANE 67Civil Engineering marvels 68

BRANCH DIARY

Down The memory Lane 73The Journey so far 75Half Way Through 76Stepping into Tech-World 77

WINGS OF POESY

A Message to Moon 81Aah! Taj 82The Sacrophagus 82Alone 83Engineers 83Bereft soul 84Forseeable future 84I Laugh only to hide my Tears 85Our parents� Sacrifices 85Interminable Love 86A Liar 86The Road ahead 87Difference Of our Ambigous feelings Between Like and love 87Greatest 88Failure 88We Civilians 89Don�t ask me not to Love You 90Hope 90

SIR M. VISVESVARAYA-THE FATHER OF CIVIL ENGINEERING 95

HINDI SECTION 97 - 105

MIRROR OF THE PAST

Be a Woman Gals, It�s Worth It 107On Peeping into those eyes 108The truth Of being a Civil Engineer 109Love Unconditioned 110

7 COLOURS OF ROYAL CIVIL ENGINEERS �2009� BATCH 111 - 115Event Diary 116 - 117

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A Dying Wish

The still of the night was shattered bythe clamour of echoing bullets, stridentexplosions and flying shrapnel as the warraged on. Trees burned to ashes and smokeclouded the dead grasses, ripping away thepulchritude and serenity that once used topersist and turning the land into an infernalmess. Far away in an abandoned corner,behind a burning vehicle lay the lone soldier,breathing in the fetid dust as his life oozedaway through the bullet holes riveted into hisbody. Tears of pain and desolation streakeddown his face as infected blood, stained blackby a burnt heart flowed out to make a poolaround his limp body. He watched the brokenplace he once used to call home burn insmouldering flames. Dread and dismay tookover as futility of the juncture dawned uponhim. Every passing second was a mentalreflection- pasts cowled with ineffectuality,lives spent in wasteful servitude, of dreamsand ambitions left unrealized and the presentthat nurtures a decadent world, a worldwhere cruelty persists and morality loses itssignificance as humanity, left stranded in agory maze of lies and betrayals is faced withan atrocious choice: survival or extinction.

Bound by pain and choked byregrets, he lay there clinging on to memories,trying desperately to re-live the short lifefaced with an end so tragic. Delirious imagesof bygone times flashed by as he laysuspended on the brink of consciousness: aninnocent childhood spent in ignorance anduntouched by cruelty, the taste of affectionand memories of enrapturing moments andsmaller pleasures that make a life worth living

in a world enshrouded in avarice, materialismand complexity beyond humancomprehension. As he opened his face to thedarkened sky and tried to probe theinexplicable, he drifted away for whatseemed like an eternity.

It was one of those rare momentswhen he felt free of limitations andinadequacies. Remorse and grievances werewashed away into oblivion as relativity andtime seemed to lose their significance. Therewas neither evolution nor destiny, onlyexistence-unfathomable yet pure. And thuscame hope. He imagined himself high up inthe sky looking down at a world that was theculmination of everything good that wentbefore it, where humanity was governed byvalues and not by desires, where peacereigned over brutality. He wished he couldlive for just one more day to be a part of anawakening that would breathe redemptioninto this world pierced with a broken shardof dark and cancerous morality and thus pavethe way to a new reckoning. And as he willedthe darkness to go away, he hoped that it wasall a dream and that he would wake up againin the morning to a warm sunshine and agentle breeze...

The phantasmagoria ended abruptlyas the last sparks of his consciousness ebbedaway. With his fantasy etched into a smilespread wide across his dying face, he fadedaway into the darkness. And with him wenta vision that once was and might never be.

PRATABIDYA MOHANTY Civil, Batch of 2010

The means by which we live has outdistanced the ends for which we live. Ourscientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missilesand misguided men. - Martin Luther King Jr, Strength to Love, 1963

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All Roads Lead To Rome

The network of roads built by the Romans played a significant role in the development ofthe Western Civilization.

Not until modern times, where the system of roads the Romans built to connect theirempire surpassed. They were the best roads in the world for at least a millennia. In fact, theywere so well built that many of their bridges and few of the actual roads are still in use today.Connecting to the �silk road �at their eastern extreme these roads connected the Romans to atrading network that spanned the known world, bringing goods from the far reaches ofCathay(China).

The Roman road system grew with their empire. Roads were a key part of their militaryphilosophy, and were the way Roman legions prefer to reach their destinations. Besides usingthe roads the legion were also often the constructors of roads. At the head of the empire itwas commonly said that �all roads lead to Rome�. In all, the Romans built about 53000 miles ofroads. As their civilization spread , the roads initially built by military for military purposesbecame trade routes for people and goods to travel over .They were the also the key methodfor carrying communication within the empire. Imperial messengers in small carriages similarto chariots carried official messages through out the empire with exceptional speed for thetime. A few private mail carrier business also existed that carried private mails a bit slowly.

In Latin road is via, and roads is termed viae. They were �viae publicae� (public roads),�viae militares �(military roads), and �actus�(local roads). There were also toll roads.

As the road system and the Empire�s bureaucracy both became larger , regulation statedthat milestones should be placed every one thousand paces (1620 yards,1480 meters ) alongroads .All milestones were reference to the � milarium aurum � (golden milestone) erected in20 b.c. near the temple of Saturn in Rome . All milestones gave the distance to this central landmark. The inscriptions cut into this stones have been collected in the �Corpus InscriptionumLatinarum�. The emperor Constantine once referred to the golden milestone as �umbilicusRoamae� (the naval of Rome).

Pacing the milestones would have been tedious and likely to produce significant errorover long distances, so the Romans employed a machine probably first built by the Greekinventor and mathematician Archimedes . It was a chariot with a wheel that revolved 400times in travelling one mile. There is a peg on the inside rim of the wheel tied to a gear with400 teeth. On the 400th revolution of the wheel the machine would drop a pebble in to a cupindicating that a mile had been travelled. This was the first odometer.

Roman roads were usually straight lines that ignored grades and other oracles makingangular turns into another straight stretch rather than curving. Thus, gradients can be extremein mountaineous country and some have found this to be the worst fault of roman roadtechnology. The viae were usually paved with gravel between curb stones over a complex layerbed ,or in high traffic areas with stones .

Such a well developed road system is a definite landmark in the history of transportation,and was of great importance to the development of western Europe even after Rome fell.

RANGAN MITRA (Source: Internet) Civil, Batch of 2009

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BERMUDA TRIANGLE - The mystery continues...

Bermuda triangle also known as the Devil�s triangle and Hoodo Sea birthed its legend onSeptember 09, 1950 in a strange AP dispatch. You all might know that it has gained so muchimportance in the past because of disappearance of unusual number of planes and ships in theocean between Florida and Bermuda. The anguishing fact was that none of thosedisappearances left any traces in the Bermuda triangle which is bounded roughly by Florida,Bermuda and Puerto Rico.

Obviously the mystery behind these disappearance still continues .The past reveals that ithas been a vicious triangle of Devil�s Shrek and over 200 separate mysterious disappearanceshave been attributed to the devils triangle, including the massive vessels such as the Cyclopsand the SS Marine Sulpue Queen .In 1492, Christopher Columbus made several interestingrecordings in his log during his journey through the devils triangle. He told of some strangemagnetic deviances in his navigation instrument. Strange lights were seen on the distant horizonand in the sky. He even recorded in his log of a �great flame of fire� that crashed into theocean.

The disappearance of Flight 19 ranks at the top of the Bermuda triangle lore, In December5, 1945.five Navy avengers vanished while on a routine training mission over the Atlantic.Patrol leader Lt. Charles Taylor (an experienced pilot who was familiar with that area) hadradioed Florida with the bizarre message, �Control tower this is an emergency� .We seem tobe off course. We seem to be lost. �We can�t make out where we are�. When told to go duewest, they replied �Everything looks wrong, even the ocean looks strange� .A Navy search wasinitiated that lasted for weeks, but no trace was ever found of the aircraft or crew.

On December 27, 1948, a commercial flight traveling from Puerto Rico to Florida, met asimilar fate. NC-16002 DC-3 radioed Miami that they were 50 miles out and ready to receivelanding instructions. Miami radioed back the instructions and awaited a reply of confirmation.None was ever received. After 3 hours, a search and rescue team was sent out to find themissing aircraft. In calm seas and clear weather, no trace was found of the craft or its passengers.

But since this issue has turned so timid varied explanations have also turned from variedsources. Some of the esoteric theories include alien abductions, time warps, strange magneticfields and black holes. Some have even theorized that the ancient city of Atlantis existed in thisarea.

But what if these mysteries have been misinterpreted with every possible explanationbehind it, imprudently we are missing some real counterparts of the whole eradication. Whatif for an instance, could the flame of fire that Columbus saw been a more sensible meteor?How about the fact that the flight 19 leader�s craft had a malfunctioning compass? Could Lt,Charles Taylor simply have missed Florida and sailed his crew straight off into the Gulf of Mexiconever to be seen again? Could the extreme depths of the Atlantic or its strong current explainthe lack of physical evidence being found after these disasters? Or do marine disasters thatoccur in other parts of the world simply merit less media attention than the legendry Devil�striangle???

At most whatever it might be, more anguishing to rather solve the mystery which remainedunsolved for more than 60 years but to pay sole tribute to those men who lost their livesamidst this vicious BERMUDA TRIANGLE.

PRATIK BHATTACHARYYACivil, Batch of 2011

At the centre of non-violence stands the principle of love. � Martin Luther King Jr

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DELHI EXPRESS ON A ROLL

Just a year ago, nobody knew who Ishant Sharma was. But today, when the topic of fastbowlers comes up, we are reminded of him. Complemented with Zaheer Khan, they probablyform the most lethal bowling attack of the world. He has been the key to many Indian Victoriesin recent history.

He was a student of Ganga International School and a batch-mate of mine. The basics ofthe game were taught to him by the school coach Mr. Sarwan. Often I saw him thrown out ofthe class. He wasn�t the best in academics but certainly one of the best in his business.

He got his first break against Bangladesh but came to light in Bengaluru, after dismissingfive batsmen of Pakistan. He then went on to be proclaimed as the find of India�s tour toAustralia. He also clocked the fastest bowl ever by an Indian. He guided India to the historictest victory at Perth and also the ODI series Down Under.

He visited our school after returning from Australia. There were many people there towelcome him and also cameramen who provided media spotlight. He addressed the gatheringand in return we wished him a glorious future ahead.

He was the highest paid bowler in the first edition of IPL. He is the brand ambassador of�FLY�. He also campaigns for Nokia, Pepsi, etc.

Despite his success as a man in the �Blue Cap� he is still very down-to-earth and simple.We wish him all the best for his career.

PIYUSH BHARDWAJCivil, Batch of 2012

For any type of criticism, creative suggestions andyour contributions for the next edition of

SRiSHTEE, editors can be contacted via mail at:srishtee_09@yahoo.co.in

Phases of a Project:1 � Exultation2 � Disenchantment3 � Search for the Guilty4 � Punishment of the Innocent5 � Praise for the Uninvolved

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KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

Man is a rational and has the ability to think. He wants to gain superiority overothers and flaunts his knowledge to dominate over everything. He thinks of himself asthe master of his own fate. What he does, is right and should be right for everybody.

Everybody in the world wants to have a command over great power and authority.The real power lies in knowledge. One who is educated and learned always has anadvantage over others, who are ignorant.

What distinguishes man from animals is his brain power. It is the brain power thatenables man to acquire knowledge and rule over the world. When we talk about physicalstrength, beasts and animals are much superior to man, yet they are his slaves. It isbecause man has superior intelligence and knowledge which make him the master ofall creations of God.

In ancient times, priests and Brahmins commanded great respect and power. Theywere held in high esteem and were appointed to the highest posts by the kings. Theywere the leaders of the society and nobody dared to go against their wishes. This wasbecause most of the people in those days were ignorant. All the knowledge waspossessed by the priests and Brahmins. Their knowledge gave them power over thewhole society.

A soldier may feel proud by portraying himself as a man of great strength andpower. He can wield the sword but seldom does he realise that he is merely a tool in thehands of his commander. The commander himself has to obey the commands of somehigher authority with superior knowledge and intelligence. Thus, we see that higher thedegree of knowledge a man possesses, the greater power and influence does hecommand.

Even today advanced nations exercise great influence over the developing nationsof the world. It is because of their superior scientific knowledge and technologies thatthey possess greater power than other countries.

ANURAG SHARMACivil, Batch of 2010

Architects and engineers are among the most fortunate of men sincethey build their own monuments with public consent, public approvaland often public money. -John Prebble

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Parents a decade from now!

A teacher called Charles Sykes has written some wonderful advice for youngstersgraduating from high school these days. It gives me nightmares to think they will startbecoming parents within a decade from now! He had American kids in mind, but I amsure it applies equally well to the ‘smart set’ of the same age group in India (somepeople were passing it off as a spoof on the Net, claiming it was a speech that Bill Gateshas recently made. It wasn’t Bill, but that doesn’t take away one whit from the truth andimportance of what is being said):

Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it!

Rule 2: The world won’t care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you toaccomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won’t be avice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

Rule 5:  Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a differentword for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.

Rule 6: If you mess up, it�s not your parents� fault, so don�t whine about your mistakes, learnfrom them.

Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren�t as boring as they are now. Theygot that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talkabout how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from theparasites of your parents� generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT.In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they’ll give you as MANYTIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn’t bear the slightest resemblanceto ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don�t get summers off and very fewemployers are interested in helping you �FIND YOURSELF�. Do that on your own time.

Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffeeshop and go to jobs.

Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you�ll end up working for one!             

(From Mr. Suvro Chatterjee�s blog: http://suvrobemused.blogspot.com/. Mr. Chatterjee happens to be the beloved school teacher of Mr.Aniruddha Ghosh, Editor-in-chief of SRiSHTEE)

Time you enjoy wasting was not wasted. - John Lennon

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Right Here Waiting

Oceans apart, day after dayAnd slowly go insane;I hear your voice on the lineBut it doesn’t stop the pain…

11 o’clock was the worst time of his day, when he had to leave his cricket batand go to the sixth floor of MBE to respond to his father’s call, who was busy in takinginterviews of engineering trainees. He hated to enter in such situations, not because hehated people but he too was among the category of people facing interviews. He hatedthe monotonous chatter, the rat race to shatter the glass ceiling. All he wanted was tofeal was the soft air flowing in from the Ganges, standing on the sixth floor. But being ason he had to respond to his father’s call at 11 a.m. and that was precisely what he wasdoing.

A soft knock announced that the first candidate had arrived, his father answered,“Come in, please.” He was looking down at his father’s desk. When he finally did lookup, he saw a sixteen year old girl with a shock of curly hair on her forehead , with deeppiercing eyes , the eyes he had looked into - eyes that he had seen a long time ago, ina disco full of delirious hooting guys. Those eyes belonged to a girl who had bumpedinto him with two food packets in hand, five years ago; he had offered her to buy adinner. That dinner was the most amazing dinner of his life. He had talked with her forhours and seemed like an eternity compressed into a zip folder of his life! He didn’thave much in common with her. He was a fan of item songs and she was fanatic aboutKishore. He loved South Indian dishes while she devoured fish cutlet whenever shecould. He haunted Hog markets whereas she went to the Oxford book stall. He wantedto see ‘Benhur’ while she had seen ‘Guide’ 11 times! She wanted to be an engineer andat that time he had no clue about his life but most importantly both loved each other’scompany and for the next two years she was his life. At the airport, as he was leavingto do his engineering, she had come to bid him goodbye. When he looked into thoseeyes, she said, “I will miss you.”

Back from the flash back, nothing had changed. She looked as beautiful as shehad at that time, and perhaps she had become even more adorable. He walked out ofhis father’s chamber. After twenty five minutes the deep black piercing eyes came outof the chamber, the girl stood in front of him. He heard the girl speak, “I missed you. It’sbeen long and I really missed you”. Those moments were enough to swell out hisemotions. He wanted to gather every moment of his last five years. He wanted to holdher; take her into his arms and rest his head on her shoulders. He wanted to beg her tostay. He walked towards her, looked into her sparkling eyes and said, “Let’s go for a walk.”

RANGAN MITRACivil, Batch of 2009

He may look like an idiot and talk like an idiot, but don�t let that foolyou. He is an idiot. � Groucho Marx

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Tired Of Chasing Love???

Valentine’s Day is around the corner! But let’s face reality. In an age when

internet dating, singles’ clubs and personal ads are booming, seeking true love could

be really disappointing; it’s more rewarding to focus on self-improvement. Abandon the

chase and in its place shape your persona so as to attract attention. Here’s how:

Live in the present: - Let go of the thought that everything could be better if only you

had someone to share it with. And when you meet someone, don’t start dreaming

about the possible outcomes.

Be honest: - Know what you want in the partner and say so, as you get closer. This

empowers you as well as prospective partner.

Think of your needs: - It is not an admission of weakness to have needs; we all have

them and deserve to satisfy them. Address those needs yourself, in positive ways, so

that you are not misunderstood or else you might scare off your would-be partners.

AAMIR FAROOQ Civil, Batch of 2011

MATHEMATICAL GAME OF NINE12345679 x 9 = 111 111 111

12345679 x 18 = 222 222 222

12345679 x 27 = 333 333 333

12345679 x 36 = 444 444 444

12345679 x 45 = 555 555 555

12345679 x 54 = 666 666 666

12345679 x 63 = 777 777 777

12345679 x 72 = 888 888 888

12345679 x 81 = 999 999 999

Compiled by � Ramesh Kumar, Civil, Batch of 2010

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To Do or NoT To DoSince my childhood, there were situationswhen I was not able to choose from theoptions for the next course of action. Tobe a doctor or engineer, the two highschool crushes, the choice of the collegeand the choice of the PG specialisation/job are amongst the few to name. Todaywhen I find myself in a generally termed�elite� institution, the situation repeatsitself. The dilemma has raised its headagain. Life is again at crossroads.Internet, a tool initially developed by thedepartment of defence in USA, took alarger leap by the end of past century, andas expected, the audience was appalledwith a continuously growing repositoryof information and otherwise. Terms like�information superhighway�, �distributeddatabases�, �digital library andcataloguing�, all came up with a boom,and courses in various universities werestarted. The concept of globalisation,which was the keyword in the nineties ofthe past century, was beginning to takeshape. The progressive members of thepast generation, who were often wistfulabout having only 24 hours during theday, were now enabled and enthralledwith a tool for their day to day activities.Unfortunately enough, the fantasy of thecommon youth caught up with�undesirable information� which was alsoavailable for free, and it felt that it wasmuch easier to please its senses ratherthan stimulate the intellectual within. Theevening cricket match, gym session,football matches etc which werecommon scenes earlier, and also a meansfor socialising, were replaced by the long�Orkutting� hours. Socialising thereforerestricted itself within small chat roomswhere college students met while typingon the keyboard. Socialisation therefore,turned global wherein the internet chat

room was a playground, where peoplestarted seeking net partners and even netspouses.The popularity of net based socialisationcaught up with sites like Orkut, Hi5,Facebook etc. where the fantasy ofseeking photographs of pretty girls andhandsome hunks caught up fast. Sixmonths after I had signed up in Orkut, Iwas often asked by peers as to why myscrapbook was vacant and as to why I haddeleted their scraps. People then seemedto get closer to those who wrote atestimonial for them or became theirfans. The testimonial might just beanything. Even the most disastrousgrammar or SMS lingo would do. I recallone my friends had oti jalli mall (extremefraud) written on his testimonial and hewas proudly showing it off! One of myfriends asked me to write a testimonialfor her that would be pretty long andshould gratify her desire to be flattered,instead of that, a little meaningful andnicer one line testimonial I had scribbledafter a lot of thinking for 7 long hours;but she was not gratified and deleted mefrom her friend list. Politics based onscraps had already begun and I had toface it hard. I of course resorted toGandhigiri.The above paragraph however presentsa negative aspect of the picture. I havebeen able to connect with many friendsfrom college and those of my period ofstruggle for IITJEE. Although I have beenvery choosy about selecting friends onsocial networking websites, there wereoccasions when people unknown to mehave become very good friends sharingtheir happiness and sorrows with equalfervour.Google has its own share of implications.The recent addition of soft copies of

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books at Google has also given rise to thepleasure of finding free educationalmaterial for browsing. The pleasure oftaking short cuts to life also comes inhere. People freely pick up material or�plagiarise� from the internet and createtheir own material without the courtesyof acknowledgement.We can see here that the internet withits fair and unfair implications hasbecome an important component in thedaily lives of the students and faculty.Accept it or not, the internet tools have

made us do a lot of work which were notpossible earlier in a span of 24 hours. Thedaily life and productivity have changedtheir ways.But in spite of these, I am still in adilemma. Should I stop surfing net and�Orkutting�? Life is at crossroads again.And I have to choose the right way, thehard way, to use the facilities responsibly,to become the best and to remain thebest.

JYOTI KUMARCivil, Batch of 2009

HEAVYWEIGHT CIVIL ENGINEERING

Civil Engineering is indeed the oldest branch in Engineering. It emerges whenmankind seeks technology for the first time during the dawn of civilization and itkeeps on evolving generations after generations. Whenever we consider HumanCivilization anywhere, Civil Engineering comes into the picture as a frontier. One of its die-hard concepts is to compromise with the nature for the sake ofhuman’s basic operations, or in other words to fight with the nature for the same. Some might say that it is impossible to fight or compromise with the nature. Yes,it is true. Here, the target or the bull’s eye is almost at an infinite distance fromreality. So, the effort of trying and hitting such a target will definitely be more thanthat of some near distance or known target. The effort is definitely massive withoutany comparison. But, there is no other option left. We cannot give up. We should keep on fightinguntil the end, if we are to survive with prosperity. This makes Civil Engineering “TheNumber One Engineering Branch of All Times”. My envy and admiration goes to the budding civil engineers who are yet toexperience such a challenging task; how they struggle shaping up their knowledge,enjoying every moment of their hard working hours and how the excitation explodeswhile achieving each milestones of their career.

SUNIL MAYENGBAM

M. Tech, Batch of 2009, Earthquake Engineering

Go for civil engineering, because civil engineering is the branch ofengineering which teaches you the most about managing people.Managing people is a skill which is very, very useful and applies almostregardless of what you do. � Sir John Harvey Jones

qqqqqqqqqqqqqq

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“ IN LIFE AND AFTER DEATH...�

He loved her. For Diya, it wasn�tlove at first sight. Rather it was the trustand bond built over a period of time. It wasquite the opposite for Arjun though. Thefirst time he saw her, Cupid had struck.Something told him at that very instant thatshe was the one for him.

But professing love was no meanthing for Arjun. He had studied in an eliteboys� school in Nainital, all throughout hislife and even in college he had paid moreattention to extra-curricular stuff ratherthan spending time with members of thefairer sex. He was smart; courteous in hisdemeanour and blatantly altruistic. Thejourney of his life was punctuated with justone romantic interlude which had failedmiserably. That episode had left himimmensely hurt and with the passage oftime he went into a cocoon. The feeling wasso deep seated that he would try and avoidpossible confrontation with women; hewould feel jumpy speaking to a lady. Hedidn�t believe in vengeance, and so heremained that same helpful guy thoughnow he had stopped expecting anythingfrom others. Anwesha, a college mate whowas now a colleague had a thing for him.She knew Arjun�s past but that onlyimpressed her more. She was simplyspellbound by his genuineness. She hadsince college days tried to work out arelation with him but to no avail. Arjun likedher as a person and friend but entering intoa relation or committing was justsomething he wanted to avoid. Thingscontinued to be the same; until the day hesaw Diya. It was his third day at BIZCORPRealtors Inc., a real estate developer inDelhi, where he had joined as Manager, HRwhen for the first time he saw her.

Diya, was a free-spirited girl. Shehad grown up in an affluent family ofKashmiri pundits consisting of doctors and

lawyers. She had always been an achiever,and was often proclaimed by her friendsas unparalleled. Rooted with a deep senseof attachment to traditional values she wasthe epitome of �Beauty with brains�. Truelove was something she hadn�t yet foundwhich led her to believe that there probablywas nothing called love; relationshipsrather being a kind of submissionaccentuated by mutual compromises.Having graduated in journalism she hadjoined an NGO to cater to humanitarianneeds.

At first, he never believed that hecould actually feel for a woman again buthe was wrong. The feeling in him persisted.Ah, only if she had been working as acolleague, things could have been different.He was lost in thought when the intercombeeped. It was from the MD, whosummoned Arjun to his cabin. There he washanded out a file and assigned the task ofproviding real estate solutions to a firmcalled �Aastha�. He dialled the number onthe business card which belonged to ladycalled Ms. Diya Sapru. As the phone startedringing, beads of sweat formed on hisforehead. He was nervous as hell. Even thethought of speaking to any woman gavehim jitters. The phone though, as if toincrease his agony kept on ringing andfinally got disconnected. Had he dialled awrong number? He tried again. This time itwas answered. The tone was calm, soft-spoken which helped him get rid of thegoose-bumps. They scheduled a lunch todiscuss the business proposition.

Arjun, as punctual as he was,reached The Hyátt Regency five minutesbefore. He didn�t want to leave a bad firstimpression. Though always suave &urbane, he was under-confident of hislooks. He knew he wasn�t �Adonis�personified. That was probably the only

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lethal weapon missing in his armoury.Though, with time he had learnt to take itin his stride. Diya arrived on time. He wasastonished when he saw her for she wasthe same girl he had set his eyes upon, inhis office that day. Life did have surprisesin store for him. God had the presented himwith a golden opportunity. Theconversation that followed was completelyof professional nature. Now, this wassomething he hadn�t thought of. How onearth would he be able to broach on non-business related topics? The meeting wasover and they scheduled another meetinga week later. His best friend and guru hadalways advised never to fuse personal &professional bonds, which he had heededso far, but this time it was different. Thistime he had to do something. How hewould do it was too convoluted for him tofigure out.

Diya was kind of surprised whenshe saw Arjun. She had imagined him tobe in the range of fifty something. But, in away she felt happier as communicating withsomeone her age made her feel at ease.She liked Arjun�s ideas and design planswhich led her to believe that she hadapproached the right firm to get the jobdone.

For women falling in love wasdifferent. For majority, they eitherdeveloped an immediate liking for ahandsome guy which later withered or theytook time to weigh all the pros and cons,for a guy like Arjun. Arjun did have a faintprojection of this, so he planned toconverse with Diya in a professional waypunched indirectly with friendlyinterjections. The next time they met, themeeting wasn�t all that formal; rather Arjunwas pleasantly surprised with himself. Hemanaged to be humorous, managing tolighten the mood of the conversationumpteen number of times. Diya also wasmildly taken aback; the same guy who wasthoroughly professional and serious in thefirst meeting seemed like a different person

altogether. This was no less than a battlewon for Arjun. As days passed, they openedup and conversed on stuffs other thanwork. Diya was now a good friend and forher, Arjun was someone she could bankupon. Arjun had now completely immersedhimself working on the project and also ina way started to outgrow the cocoon hehad kept himself isolated in. He enjoyedDiya�s company and he hoped it to bemutual. But he always had this in the backof his mind; how long would things be likethis? The project planning was at its fag endand bound to get over within a week ortwo. And once it was over it might well turnout to be the end of things. And also thelingering thought that they were fromdifferent cultural backgrounds. Even ifthings worked out smoothly, marriage wassomething which wasn�t entirely in theirhands. He shuddered even at the thoughtof this. He had to act fast.

It hadn�t occurred to Diya how fondshe had grown of Arjun, lately. She was inCostà café with her friends, when one ofthem pointed this out. Of late, Arjun hadbeen there in all her conversations. Diyacaught unawares actually blushed. She hadnever given it a thought, but yeah she wasgrowing fond of Arjun by the day. She likedhis company and sub-consciously wouldalways wait for his call or message. Was itjust infatuation? She decided to give it time.

The project was now over. Themeetings had stopped. The phone callsweren�t regular anymore. Arjun missed herlike anything. He felt terribly lonely. Allthese days he had found someone he couldconfide in. He decided to apprise her abouthis feelings; there was no other way out. Itwasn�t anymore about being street-smart.It was about professing love to the girl headored so much. There was no ego involvedhere. Diya, too was in a perplexed state ofmind. She didn�t know for sure if Arjunharboured any kind of feelings for her atall. There were subtle hints from himalright, but nothing concrete. And to add

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to this, she knew about Anwesha too. Allthis befuddled her to no less extent. It hadbeen quite a long time since she had lastmet Arjun. She planned to call him laterthat day.

Incidentally, it was the same dayArjun had scheduled to let Diya know abouthis feelings for her. Arjun mustered all thecourage he could and visited herapartment. He was in the same state as hewas when he had called her for the firsttime. When he reached, as luck would haveit, he found Diya wasn�t home. Hepondered for a while what he should do.Finally, he resolved that if he didn�t oweup that day possibly he never would. Hewrote out a note, slipped it under the doorand left. He had done whatever he could.Rest was destiny.

The sky wore a crimson hue. It wassymbolic as if to pronounce Arjun�s love forDiya. Arjun smiled at this thought. Onreaching his flat he found a note fromAnwesha. Anwesha actually, had beentransferred to another city and since sheresided in the BIZCORP Realtors Inc.complex as Arjun did, she had requestedhim to help her with the packing. Arjun,without a second thought went overdirectly to Anwesha�s flat. There he startedhelping her out with the packing.

After Diya called him, she realizedhow much she too had missed him and thatshe actually felt genuinely for him. Diyathen thought of surprising Arjun by visitinghim at his place. The servant at Arjun�splace informed her that he was atAnwesha�s flat. Outside it had startedpouring heavily. She for a momentcontemplated what she should do and thendecided to visit Anwesha�s place. Andanyway she had to wait till the rain stopped.She rung Anwesha�s doorbell nervously, stillsceptical in her mind if she had done theright thing. Arjun opened the door and infront of her. He was shocked to see her, fora minute his mind wandering what mighther reaction have been after reading the

note. What he didn�t know was that shehad gone over to his flat directly from heroffice, so she hadn�t read that note so farwhich Arjun had left at her place.

He was looking shabby andexhausted after the work he had put in. Onthe hindsight Diya spotted Anwesha, whotoo was looking droopy and fatigued. Shewas dressed in a gown. Diya stood theremortified for moment, her mind registeringthe situation. Then, all Arjun saw were tearswelling up from her eyes as she franticallyran out of the building. Arjun stoodbewildered for a moment, not being ableto picture what she had conjured. Whenhe did realize, he too ran after her, callingout her name. The rain had stopped; butthere was a chill in the wind. As soon as hestepped out of the apartment compoundhe let out a shriek in agony. It was so loudthat Diya who was way ahead stopped deadin her tracks and turned back. She sawArjun lying on the ground on a puddle ofmuddy water. Not understanding what hadhappened and fearing the worst she ranback; it was too late though. Arjun hadstepped on an electric wire which hadsnapped during the heavy showers. He hadbeen electrocuted.

Anwesha had also come out by thistime. She gazed at the ghastly scene beforeblurting out to Diya the true sequence ofevents. Diya, was shattered. She feared shewould lose sanity. After the officialprotocols that followed, she trudged backhome. On reaching, she found a note whichshe recognized as Arjun�s. On it was written,�It�s been a while that I have been thinkingof telling you something. It�s been very hardfor me to decide to express my feelings foryou but I also realize that if I don�t say ittoday I�ll probably never be able to do so. Idon�t know how you feel about me but Ilove you. I always have and I always will loveyou in life and after death�.�

SiFar

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Disclaimer: Nah, this article won�t paveyour way to the hall of fame of Booker,Pulitzer or even the Orange award, forthat matter. This article is just a humbleeffort to explore the subtle joys ofwriting.

Umm�actually most of us havethis innate thirst to express our thoughtsbut in a strange way the intricacies of ourmind often don�t allow that. We remainundecided on the medium using whichwe can let our feelings flow.

Authors and poets of past andpresent have used writing as a mediumto let the world know about theirthoughts and expressions. Why justauthors and poets; writing was used as atool by all to put across their emotions.Though, of late people have been writingless. No, this factor isn�t attributedcompletely to the advent of computer

THE ART OF WRITING....DeCiPhErED!!!

A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will diewithout putting a word to paper - E.B.White

games. But yeah, life has becomemechanical and in the presence of somany alternate options to kill time, weseldom find enough time to write. Veryfew of us actually maintain diaries. It�s notthat everyone finds writing to be aparticularly enjoyable habit. For peoplewho are introvert by nature, writingprobably is the only way to unravel thosehidden desires.

Often it happens that we tend towrite something but do not end upwriting it in a way as we would havewanted. But then, if we don�t startpenning down we would probably neverknow what could have been theoutcome. Another problem that oneencounters is the topic on which heshould write. Well, that is then somethingthat the writer needs to fathom.

Some suggestions for novice writers and also for those who find it difficult to write:

• Start writing � you�ll end up deriving lots of knowledge.• Get a topic - Check the literature and the research that has been done so far on

that topic.• When you have an idea just note it down, and later you can work on it.• Get a style and stick to it � it�ll help you not losing track.• Every article has a central theme and every paragraph a supporting theme.• In a paragraph, the supporting theme should be the culmination of the thoughts

expressed in that paragraph.• Likewise, all paragraphs should finally hint towards the central theme of the

article.• Well, you might just realise that writing is your forte by the time you conclude your

article

EdCrew

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A Glance�

Politicians and politics haveruined India in black and white. Evenbeing aware of their game-plan,common people have just become amere spectator of these livehappenings. Investigation into anycriminal act or act of violence ends upwith the names of politicians. Thesepoliticians are in greed of more andmore money and they forget about theirmain task; they forget about theirassigned responsibility. Is this the natureof politics which make people forgetfulabout their responsibility and carefulabout their own gain? Or is it already inthe nature of people which is onlyinduced by the security related withpolitical positions? What India needs isthe efficient, the elegant, the true leaderwho will lead India in the global race.Democracy is the govt. formed by thepeople ….so we people are responsiblefor opting such people who can’t evenread out the oath .This politicians sittingin their ac chamber just go on makingbig big deals promising to do somethingdifferent but gradually they tend to bedifferent .We can see these changes inthem before and after election. Thesepoliticians wanting to be in focus haven’teven left the martyrs of 26/11, makinga political issue of their death. Hats offto the people who risked their lives/ losttheir lives in rescuing people trappedduring 26/11. They are the true heroes

of our country. The recent killing of aPWD engineer and the involvement ofthe politicians have proved how politicsand terrorisms go hand in hand.

The 26/11 Mumbai event andblasts in different parts of country haveshown where security of the lives ofcommon men lies. Only some newrules and laws cannot be the ultimatesolution. Even thorough remodeling ofthe security system cannot help much.Rather the system which runs thesecurity system is to be thoroughlychecked up and remodeled. At thesame time our politicians have tounderstand that they are given theconstitutional power to fight againsteach other during elections for thebetterment of our country. So whensituation demands they must be unitedand fight against any external forces thatstand in the path of our country’sdevelopment. In medical terms it’s akind of cure. But prevention is betterthan cure. Within our country there areseveral terrorist groups. Their numberis increasing day by day. So ouradministrators and policymakers haveto seek out the causes which make onego against his own country. I think herelies the real solution.

AJAY DAYAL MALICivil, Batch of 2010

Energy is the essence of life. Every day you decide how you�re goingto use it by knowing what you want and what it takes to reach thatgoal, and by maintaining focus.

- Oprah Winfrey

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Modern life �A question to be solved by you

In this modern world of science andtechnology everything is changing veryfast . This rapid change is beingobserved in economic, political, andsocial aspect of our life. As we are socialbeing we are bound to adjust ourselveswith the change. But when we are tryingto cope with the change we are killingour inner feeling, emotions andsentiments and becoming a machine.Though we are doing so , we don’tspend enough time or we don’t evendare to think regarding this . Fortunatelyor unfortunately we are well aware ofthis crisis. Still I sometimes think of thisand it hurts me a lot. When I realize that,I myself don’t know what the thing that Iam running after is. Is getting a goodjob and making money is the ultimategoal of my life? Is conforming to thewhimsical wishes of my parents is theultimate goal of my life? Is establishingmyself in the society is the ultimate goalof my life? Sometimes I think” yes “thisis the goal of my life, but when I see thepresent condition of the world my heartssays “no”. Getting a good job, makingmoney, establishing oneself in thesociety is all materialistic, and this is thedeterioration of the modern worldscenario. But if I don’t think the waythe whole world does, then I can’t adoptwith the society and I am going to belonely which is the most pathetic phasein a persons life. In order to adjust with

this I am disguising myself. Today I haveobserved that most of the people areliving a life of conflict between their innerdesires and the desires of the modernworld. It is believed that true love whichis regarded as strong feeling ofattraction can give some satisfaction tothe dissatisfied soul, but in this worldwe even don’t find love in itsunconditional form. In such a world howcan we think of spiritualism? Most of themodern people are putting deliberateeffort to control their emotions, desires,feelings and sometimes they are noteven aware of their real needs. Sofeelings like happiness ,satisfaction,love etc are not spontaneous and as aresult dissatisfaction ,frustration aregrowing very fast resulting infaithlessness, disturbance, wildness,confusion, addiction. My main purposebehind this article is to end the conflictbetween my inner feelings and the lifestyle of the modern society. So I am indilemma. I would like to request myreaders to kindly help me so that I cancome out of this conflict .If I have tofollow my inner feelings it will graduallyresult in my seclusion from the societyand if I continue adopting with thepresent situation then I have to kill myinner desires ,feelings.

SATYAJIT ROY CHOUDHURY,Civil, Batch of 2011

Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocreminds. ~ Albert Einstein

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VAASTU SHASTRAThe physical manifestation of dwelling is called “ Vaastu”. It has four categories; Bhoomi

(the Earth), Parsada (the structure of the Earth), Yaana (the movable objects) and Sayana(furniture). These categories suggest Vaastushastra extends from micro to macro levels of siteselection, site planning and orientation.

Vaastu considers interplay of the various forces of nature; involving the five elements –Earth, Water, Wind, Fire and Ether. It strives to maintain equilibrium, as these elements influencethe lifestyles of all living beings on the Earth. Thus, they influence our deeds, luck, behaviour etc.Vaastushastra includes the sciences of astronomy and astrology.

There are three forces in action to create harmony viz., Wind, Water and Fire. If theseare kept at appropriate places, these would create no disturbance. But if water is placed at theplaces where fire is supposed to be or vice-versa; the forces would start acting accordingly andwould create disharmony and unrest.

Aspects of Environment and Energy

Energy is primarily considered from the corners. Many characteristics of sites andbuildings are derived from this. The south sloping towards north or the east from higher levels ofsouth or west are considered to be good.

Vaastu tips for your house

• The direction axis of the plot should be properly aligned with the Earth’s magnetic field.• The north-eastern part of a building should be kept free from all obstacles.• The main gate of the building should be in the centre of the northern part, as it promotes

all gains.• There should be no pillar, beam or staircase in the central part of the building

(Brahmasthana).• The staircase should always be in the western or northern side of the building. Also, on

reaching the upper floors they should face towards the south or east.• Toilets should not be in the north-eastern, central or south-western zones.• Position of the boys’ room should be in the northern or eastern side while the girl’ and

guest room are to be in the north-western direction.

Vaastu tips for you at NIT, Silchar

• Always try to have a room which has the opening to its windows in the eastern directionand always avoid the rooms with southern windows as the evening sunrays contain veryharmful radiation while the morning ones are refreshing.

• In your hostel room, always place the bed in the southerly or easterly direction.• Try no using the bathrooms or toilets in the northern or eastern parts of the hostel.• Place the study table such that when you sit in front of the table your back is towards the

door. Always try to have an open space in front of your table as it helps to keep the mindunblocked.

• You are always going to feel sleepy in galleries and classrooms as the height ofthe ceiling is more, which forces you to sleep. There is no way to cope with thisproblem.

SAURABH KUMAR SINGHCivil, Batch of 2011

�A liberal is a man too broadminded to take his own side in a quarrel.�] - Robert Frost

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BRAIN DRAIN

In one of the popular TV showMTV Roadies, many participantsclaim, “I love my country. I can doanything for my country.” Theinterviewer, Raghu asks, “What haveyou done for your country till now?”The participants regret, “I have not gotany chance till now.”

Leaving behind the show somehigh voltage questions still strike,“What about those talented youthswho got chance to develop theirnation and still leave the country andbecome NRI- Non Residential Indianor Non Reliable Indian ?” “Is it theheavy dollar package which is pushingour talents towards the west?” Or “ isit the political instability , lack ofopportunity , Low infrastructure ,conflict, etc etc….. Which frustrate ourtalented youths? ”

The process of drain of superbrain is not new. BRAIN DRAIN is aterm coined by royal society todescribe the emigration of scientistand technologists to North Americafrom post world war 11 Europe. It isalso called human capital flight. Itinvolves large emigration of individualswith technical skills or knowledge. Itis a total economic loss of agovernment or more widely loss of anation. Because a huge amount of

money is spent to build a technicallyexpert personnel from primaryeducation to post graduate level. Braindrain is common amongst developingnations like India.

Some major steps must bedevised to minimize brain drain.Students should strive to make thecountry a major power house ofknowledge, economy, andinfrastructure with an inclusive andinnovative approach. Government canalso minimize this process of braindrain by providing proper careeropportunities not on the basis of bribesbut on the basis of talents. At the sametime those talented youths have tounderstand that their poor mother landneeds them most. It is possible onlywhen they really love their country.Then they will not try to find anyexcuse for doing nothing for theircountry. Then they themselves willcreate opportunities to do somethingfor their country.

If Japanese can develop theirnation despite the ruin of majoreconomic centers, Hiroshima andNagasaki in World War 2, why can’twe?

ABDULLAHCivil, Batch of 2010

He who doesn�t fear death dies only once. - Giovanni Falco

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Patwant Singh described in his book aboutviolence as, � violence in any form ofhuman endeavour seems fully globalized(and) evidence of its destructivecapabilities in every conceivable form canbe seen in the world over. � Violence,terrorism, insurgency, freedom fighting hasbecome so common internationalterminology that one is confused of theother. Is violence or rather killing in anyform is justified? Mahatma Gandhi wouldsay a big no. Ask Naxalites, they callthemselves freedom fighters to justify theirviolent propositions. Ask Pakistan�s ISI, theyblantly supports insurgency in Kashmir onthe grounds of freeing Kashmir from Indianclutches.

Killing each other has become socommon phenomenon now a days that thegreatest danger that mankind faces fromextinctions is from man himself. Everyoneseems to be ready always to take up arevenge or the other on almost every littlematter, which rather than solvingpeacefully , we tend to make it so big thatit often results in violence and killing of theother. Gandhian principles has long beenlost . People now a days find it hard tounderstand Gandhi , but it is lot easier tounderstand Pidel Castel, Che Guevara, Titoetc. They are our new leaders who lead ustowards our new goals . Well if you take a toll of violence, thesecurity forces or rather the govt. also comeunder jurisdiction . The terrorist kills 10, wekill 20 ,they kill 20 , we kill 40 and theprocess continues. But the end result is thesame, killing of the one or the other.If weblame the terrorist , the govt must also beblamed for spreading violence ,though both

The Ravages of Violence

supports the killing on the other on diff.grounds. George Wilhelm Hegol once wrote�people have never learned anything fromhistory or acted on principles deduced fromit� so true. Well America has never learntthe limits of political influence in anindependent state, despite so many lossesover the years. Vietnam , Iraq and now Iranand all other different wars across thesanctuaries acries out loudly what WilliamPolk once beautifully described �no matterhow many soldiers and civilians were killed,how much money was spent, how powerfuland sophisticated were the arms employedforeigners cannot defeat a determinedinsurgency except by virtual genocide� The Americans dropped as much bombsin Vietnam as the total no. of bombsdropped by the armed forces during theworld war 2 . About 1 million Vietnamesepeople died during the war and as many as20 thousand Americans died. More than20000 died when they were returning back.But they didn�t learnt a lesson and repeatedthe same in Iraq. More than 250 milliondollars were spent everyday to support ofthe army in Iraq and Afganisthan and thetotal amount far exceeded 1 trillion. Whatthis amount could have done if spentjudiciously for the upliftment of the pooror for containing the economic turmoil isanyone�s guess. Well, as the year ends, we can only hopethat violence around us ends and peaceprevails among the mankind. Let�s make abetter, safer tomorrow free from violence,hatred, revenge etc.

ARNAB KUMAR ROYCivil, Batch of 2010

�A jury consists of twelve persons chosen to decide who has the better lawyer.� - Robert Frost

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Survey Camp - A Demand of TimeSurvey camp is first experience of field work for Civil engineering 3rd year students. The campis held in all the IITs and almost all the NITs during winter or summer break, but unfortunatelyit has not been held since long in our institute. Through this article I want to seek the attentionof department in general and our HOD sir in particular, such that survey camp can be organisedregularly for upcoming batches.In this camp, students are exposed to three Survey techniques Triangulation, total station andGlobal Positioning System (GPS). Work also includes adjustment of a Braced Quadrilateralformed by the four Control Stations set up at approx 1 km distance from each other and differentelevations .The four stations are properly named. The different paths to reach the four stationsare also marked. The students visit all the stations to set up control by clearing up the area andchecking for visibility during the Reconnaissance (Reccy) in the beginning of camp. The co-ordinates of the four stations are calculated by Triangulation, Total station and GPS observationsand then the geometry of braced quadrilateral is used to compare the results of the threesurvey techniques. These things take approximately four days.The plane table is used to plot map of the area showing all the necessary features like trees,houses, lamp posts, bridge, road and contours. Using the appropriate symbols and coloursthese are plotted on the map. The map has to be properly scaled to accommodate entire area.These things take about two days.Report writingReport writing is another essential part of camp. The report needs to be in a proper formatstarting from title page , then the contents , abstracts, then introduction to the report, followedby description of work done in the camp, the description of instruments used, and a detailprocedure of all the activities carried during the camp. Then comes the calculations andobservation part of the individuals followed by group calculations and finally all calculations.In the end considering the results of total station as most accurate, the accuracies of results ofTriangulation and GPS are determined and compared such that we are able to know whichmethod is most appropriate for specified jobs in the field.During the camp, students have to form their own groups of 5-6 students. Then a schedule ismade for each group according to which they have to perform the different camp activities.Co-ordination among groups is a must for smooth functioning of camp. One group per day willbe serving food to the other groups and faculty during the mess timings at breakfast, lunchand dinner. So the time can be saved if different groups work in co-ordination and such timemanagement gives better results.Some Do�s & Don�ts

1. Take utmost care of the various instruments from the moment you issue them tillthey are returned.

2. Don�t forget to bring your calculators & laptops; you will be requiring these for thecalculations during report writing.

3. Try to have basic idea of MS � Excel and MATLAB programmes, so that you can be atadvantageous position.

And last but not the least don�t forget to have fun, because you will hardly get such timeoutside the campus with your batch mates!!!!!

Compiled byJyoti Kumar

Inputs: � Abhinav Garg (IIT Kanpur)Amarendra Kumar( MNNIT Allahabad)

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Absurdity Personified

This article portrays the scenario of a hypothetical future wherefew of our class mates go on to become great philosophers, researchersand scientists...What follows is a collection of media reviews serving ascover illustrations for a few of their widely acclaimed works.

Anger Management:By Govind P. Verma

A must read. The contents, despite their gruesome absurdity, almost provide alife changing experience by giving a new meaning to factual interpretation and werethe only things that stopped me from tearing out the pages, ripping apart the indicesand sticking the hard bound leather cover up the author�s........oops...calm down...calmdown...

-Christopher Lee Hopkins, New York Times

Concrete and Steel: Nucleophillic Substitution Reactions.By Dr. Daya Shankar Choudhary

Aromatic Chemistry reaches the pinnacle of evolution as Nobel laureate, Dr.Daya Shankar Choudhary accidentally manages to catalyse a substitution reactionbetween silica and tor-steel while trying to prepare beef stew for his beloved wife inhis unfrequented kitchen-cum-laboratory......

-The New Yorker

Remembering the good old days: An AutobiographyBy Er. Rajdeep Borthakur

Yet another masterpiece by Mr. Borthakur. This somnolent (supposedlyenthralling) work takes us back to the much eventful graduation days of the author ashe recounts the happier days spent with friends, the small time controversies, thetyrannical professors, the long and secret telephone conversations under a blanketand occasional gastric convulsions before the examinations. Popularity ratings havesoared up as doctors have started prescribing this book, instead of pharmaceuticalsedatives, as a remedy for sleeplessness and hypertension.

-Sunday Telegraph

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Electro-Magnetic Concrete TheoryBy Subhrojit Dutta

This thesis revolutionizes the mode of highway design and building constructionsas Mr. Dutta, through eerie (yet ostentatious) implementations of Biot-Savart�s lawand Gaussian theory shows how a greater degree of magnetic adhesion can be achievedif a concrete mix is made to conduct electricity. The author also lays down the principleof magnetic suspension highways and fluorescent buildings that make use of radioactiveconcrete and bioluminescent plasters...

-The Statesman

[Here I felt inclined to mention a special friend of mine- one whose intenselyludicrous mind surpasses all. I had a casual talk with him once about the proposedtheories concerning the origin of matter and the evolution of universe. According tohim, all the scientists were gaudy SOB�s who were so obsessed with their fantasiesthat they forgot that something called a �practical bent of mind� existed. He believedthat some alien from outer space might disprove all of our theories...Maybe big bangnever did really happen..Maybe our universe was hatched from an ostrich�s egg...If sothen this is how he would formulate his own Theory...]

The Absolute Negative Dimension: Theory of Micro-gravityBy Dr. N. Mukund Reddy

A spectacular piece of work that defies the M-theory and challenges Einstein�sconcept of space, time and relativity. Mystries are unravelled and darkest facts aboutunexplored corners of the universe are disclosed as the author, through bizarreimplementations of Boolean algebra and Copernican calculus in the Schrodinger�s waveequation, goes on to prove that Stephen Hawking was a cross between a Neanderthaland an extra terrestrial centipod, and that black holes can induce testicular cancer...

-Chicago Tribune

PRATABIDYA MOHANTYCivil, Batch of 2010

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you,then you win. - Mahatma Gandhi

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LUCK FAVOURS PERFECT MANIPULATION

Christopher Columbus was not an aristocrat as was advocated by him for venturing on tovoyages to new lands .In any case he found the Americas which also bore the same selfconfidence which the discoverer did. In fact, Christopher Columbus was the son of a cheesevendor with an enthusiasm and self confidence which reflected his vision for larger thingsthan just selling cheese.Here goes the story of perfect manipulation when he was a young lad; his father went intoselling cheese as a small business. Columbus took off and extended himself as nobility,pedigree of some royal blood which was only the figment of his imagination. He took a jobas a merchant and started trading. Realising that this will not get him anywhere, Columbusshifted to Lisbon and got married into the rich nobility. The family had some great linkswith the Portuguese royalty. The women he embraced in matrimony, open doors to manyother Kings and Queens of Europe.In Lisbon, his self confidence exhilarated to new levels. He made a proposal to the kingand got it accepted after bragging a lot about the fruitful consequences while mentioninga little about the technology to be involved in finding new lands. Actually, he didn�t haveany. He did a perfect job disguising his true identity to the king of Portugal, Joan II. Hemanaged it quite well and the king accepted the credentials as well as the possibility offinding new lands. Though he manipulated it, he established that he was Royal blood andsomeone with a conviction to get things done.As a matter of fact he neither read the Latitude and Longitude with accuracy, nor possessedthe basic sailing skills. But he hired the best navigator, was ruthless and bad-mouthed withhis crew and above all mishandled most of the affairs in the voyage. What Christopher wasgreat at was selling himself to the nobility and vigorously putting across his point withconviction. See! Even the King himself and his court of finest minds of his country aren�tinfallible. Christopher walked in exuberance and extended himself out with an uncannyself confidence in himself and the ventures.A few years later, he got introduced to the court of the Spanish Queen Isabella where hisPortuguese connections came into handy. As was expected, Christopher presented hiscase for finding new lands and sponsorship for three ships plus money to remain afloat forthree years at sea. Amazingly, he had no experience of being a sea-worthy sailor. But Spainwas still burdened with war losses and the treasury was sort of empty. But to keep theeconomy running the Queen had to find new avenues for resources and nascent lands tobe added to her Kingdom after having lost a large bit of the Kingdom in the war. Timepassed and the financial situation got better with the friendship between the SpanishQueen and Christopher. All these factors went into getting the proposal sponsored.Considering the original proposal of exploration, the Queen made only one alteration tothe contract where he had asked for ten percent of all the revenues generated from thelands discovered to go to him and his family, generation after generation. The Queen deletedthis fine print, which Columbus never read. Had that been the case, for about 500 oddyears with all the revenues generated from discovered lands his family would have beenrichest on the planet.Surprisingly, Columbus couldn�t even distinguish from the discovery of small islands fromthe large continents. It was only his crew and navigators, who told him about it. But he led

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the way and thought that there was much to be discovered. Soon, his reputation was atstake as he failed to discover new lands and a part of Asia according to the proposal.Though Columbus hired the best of the beat navigators and sailors voyages �findings werehuddled aside. But by then Queen Isabella had recognised that Christopher Columbus wasdestined to greater things and she willingly financed one more ambitious voyage thefollowing year.He might appear to be a Hero at first look but true insight will divulge him to be a perfectmanipulator and luck happened to favoured him a lot. I have had a firsthand experiencegetting manipulated but i managed to reserve my pride to retaliate. Unfortunately manyjust fail to even recognise that they are being deceived. And even if they do realise it, it�salready harvest time by then. If there is something to achieve don�t wait for the opportunity,rather make one by manipulating the situation, surroundings, peers and all that to youradvantage. Even luck will favour the one who is likely to succeed, but always remember tokeep it innocuous.

EZEKIEL KOM Civil, Batch of 2009

Let�s test your G. K.Q. Who is Robert Legget?Q. Who is Leopold Calvo Stoleo?Q. Who was Marcus Agrippa?Scratching your head? Let�s have something from sports and mathematics!Q. What was the invention of John Alexander Brodie?Q. Who is Augustin Calvo Cauchy?Still scratching? Then try this-Q. Who is Hans Albert Einstein?Are you clueless? Let�s have something easier �Q. Which are the respective States of the following leaders- Yasser Arafat, MahmoudAhmadinejad, Suleyman Demirel and Turgut Ozal?Q. What are the highest positions held by the following in their political career �H. D. Deve Gowda and Nitish Kumar?Still guessing???What about the name of the terrorist organization related to Osama Bin Laden foran answer?OK. In any case, let me give you the answers respectively.The answers are Canadian non-fiction writer, Spanish PM, Ancient Roman General,Football goal net, French Mathematician, son of Albert Einstein and notedHydraulics Engineer, Palestine, Iran, Turkey, Turkey, Indian PM, Railway ministerof India and CM of Bihar. The fun is that they have a common connection amongstthem. Bamboozled? Need not be, they were all Civil Engineers even including OsamaBin Laden.

EdCrewThe best thing with human beings is that they can change. If youwake up every morning, stay optimistic and believe the future is betterthan the past, those few things get you through a lot. - JEFF IMMELT

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REC � AT OUR TIME

Ashim Kanti DeyHOD Deptt.of Civil Engg.

NIT Silchar

Regional Engineering College was the nameof this premier Institute when we first sawthe blue coloured College bus being parkednear G.C. College, Silchar in 1978. The buswas attractive to most of us who wereaspirants to become Engineers. We used tosee the movements, gestures and postures ofthe REC jewels. At last I came to REC byhiring a rickshaw from Medical College (citybus was up to SMC) to get admission in 2nd

year B.E. in July, 1978. The land was totallybarren without a tree, the road was rough, but,the landscape was very beautiful. The mainoffice including Principal’s chamber, StateBank, Accounts office, admission office, etc.was located within the present Estate section.Class rooms, Professors’ chambers andLibrary were housed in Old LTD Building.Hostel 1 was half completed and Gr-IIIquarters were being used as temporaryaccommodations for new comers. We used tocome to Hostel 1 for food. My seniors warnedme in the very first night that there were a lotof ghosts within the campus and they used tosuck human blood in the dark. Unfortunatelyno ghost said “Hello” to me, but I realised theghost terrain of the campus.We had very few teachers at that time. Prof.G.C. Debnath was the only faculty in CivilEngineering and he used to teach us SurveyingI. He was a very sincere teacher and made usrealize that Surveying I is nothing but additionand subtraction of some engineering terms.Prof. A. K. Sil joined within a few days andstarted teaching us Chemistry. The Collegewas affiliated to Gauhati University and weappeared the yearly University Examination.Prof Debnath expressed his satisfaction whenour college bagged first position in both 2nd

yr and 3rd yr. B.E. examinations.There were only two modes of amusement atthat time, to go to town and to play games.Some used to go to town daily, particularlyon Friday afternoon, to enjoy the first show

of a new movie. Two of my classmates werenamed as ‘Bhaja’ and ‘Ghaja’ because of theirregular combined visit to cinema halls. Someof us including me were named as ‘Kabiraj’.I had one more name in my bag, which was‘Colgate’. Others had names like ‘Aristotle’,‘Patal’, ‘Denchu’, ‘34 all out’ (because of twoprojected teeth), ‘Jhethu’, ‘Mummi’, etc. etc.Two of my classmates, namely, Amit Biswasand Pannalal Choudhury are now mycolleague. The rest are now well placed insociety at different levels.Common outdoor games were hockey,football, cricket and volleyball. The unevenfield could not deter us from playing. Westarted table tennis on a big table kept in thedining hall. Some of us started smoking as apart of enjoyment and to relieve tension ( ? ).Shouting was very common in the hostel. Itwas being intensified due to frequent cut ofwater supply, power cut, bad food, too muchhome tasks, frequent class tests, etc. I stillremember our bathing scene when the pumpwent out of order. All of us had been on theunderground reservoir slab, drawing waterfrom the sump with buckets, pouring wateron head and watching a part of the waterentering into the sump again. Obviously, onthe very next day the mixed water wasswallowed. However, I can not recollect anycase of jaundice or typhoid in that time. Atotally different picture was noticed duringthe exam time. All boys were used to studyingin total silence completing the entire syllabusand fearing for tough questions. The syllabushad been completed hurriedly within a weekby some visiting faculty and was almostforgotten before exam. Own hand writingappeared to be illegible!However, we had a very good relationshipwith our seniors. Dr. Satyabrata Choudhury,my esteemed colleague, used to call me everyyear to hand over all his notes, old questionpapers, and other readable stuff which helpedme a lot. All his papers I used to hand over tomy junior Dr. Anjan Dutta.The scenery has changed now. New buildingshave been erected, plantation has been done,fields have been made, road has been laid,life has been improved but, still, ‘memoriesare always sweet’.

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An Interview with Inspiration- Padmshree E. Shreedharan

Padmshree E. Sridharan is regarded as oneof those few engineering gems India has evergiven to this world. After holding a numberof important assignments with IndianRailways, on retirement in June 1990, Mr.Shreedharan was put in charge of theprestigious and most challenging engineeringproject in India i.e in Konkan Railway as itschairman and MD. On completion of theKonkan Railway project, he joined DMRCLtd on Nov 5, 1997 as its first MD. Hereceived many awards and honours in his lifeamong which some important ones being theBest Design Engineer Award, 1999 given bythe Institution of Engineers, India andPadmshri Award in 2001 for NationBuilding. He was also honoured withFrance’s highest honour- Chevalier d’OdreNational de la legion d’ Honour i.e Knight ofthe Legion of Honour on 22nd November,2005 in New Delhi.JK : What made you take Civil Engineering asa profession and then continue as a manager?Er. Sir : Civil Engineering as a profession isevergreen, full of opportunities and challenges.There is a terrible shortage of good CivilEngineers in the society. Actually any civilengineer would start his profession as anengineer and ends as a manager. This is anautomatic transition and he is not responsiblefor this! These are the skills which you gainthrough experience.JK : Something about your initial days aftergraduation...Er. Sir : During my time there were only fourengineering colleges in the whole Madraspresidency (Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and most of

Andhra). We were in high demand and didn’teven need to apply for any postings. Posts wereoffered to us by the Government. But I didn’twant to join any of them as I was interested tojoin Railways. This was because of one of myprofessors who inspired me. He used to guideus and direct us towards making the societybetter. I took teaching for a while until it helpedme pass Railway exam.JK : What are the changes do we need to bringinto curriculum to make it more solutionoriented?Er. Sir : Most of the companies these days havetheir own training programs and the people whohave even a minute prior knowledge in thoseareas have an upper hand. B. Tech level coursesare not enough for the students to becomesuccessful these days. One needs specialisation.You should stick to engineering sevices. I wouldnever suggest any engineering students to gotowards Civil services or Management.JK : Sir, Something about DMRC......Er. Sir : DMRC stands as a role model to variousengineering projects in the country. Work herefinishes before specified time and withinestimated budget and with maximum accuracy.Public safety is the main motto here. Anexcellent work culture is maintained here. Wehave reverse clocks in our offices, whichreminds us of the time left to finish our work.The noble work culture of DMRC can beextended to other sectors too to improve thesituation there. Proper regulatory mechanismsshould be developed and private sectororganizations should be included in the work.JK : Your message to the youth........Er.Sir: Develop a good character, punctuality,never speak ill of others and try being the best.That would bring you all you need in your life.Ingredients of inter personal skills which arerequired to succeed in any sphere of life areintegrity, professional competence, robusthealth, communication skills and sterlingcharacter; you try to inculcate all these in yourdaily routine. I wish you a very good luck foryour future.Thank you very much sir.

Compiled by �Jyoti Kumar (Through mail)

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An Exclusive Interview with Dr. A. K .DeyDr. A.K. Dey is the HOD of Department ofCivil Engineering, NIT Silchar. He is not onlyan esteemed faculty of this institute but alsoalumni of this institute. Coincidently hehappens to be the editor of first edition of ourcollege magazine. The reason for which wethought of interviewing him not only his lucidand majestic lectures but the person Dr. Deyhimself is. He has always been kind tostudents (irrespective of academic profile of

students), very punctual (often takes 5 lectures classes of a subject in a week) and hadundying efforts to make us clear the basics of whatever topics he teaches us. Often heencourages us for solving field problems and rewards us for our efforts. He personallytakes us to various sites to have a sneak –peak of real life problems. We always get a gladsmile when we approached him for any kind of help and this interview was no different.TS: Sir, being gold medalist from REC Silchar (presently NIT Silchar), how do you feelbeing HOD here?SIR: I feel proud for getting a chance to serve my Institute.TS: Would you please brief us about your academic life?SIR: I did my B.E. from this Institute, M.C.E. from Jadavpur University and Ph.D. from IITMadras.TS: Sir please tells us about your initial days after passing out from this institute?SIR: Govt. job in Civil Engineering was easily available in our time and all of us fromAssam quota got Govt. jobs without any formal application. However, I tried my luck as astranger in Kolkata and started my career as a consulting engineer in a reputed firm.TS: Sir, how did you come to be associated with teaching profession?SIR: By destiny, since I was not interested in teaching.TS: Sir, what are the changes you are feeling between your college days and our collegedays?SIR: I think, student life is becoming more and more complicated now than before.TS: Are the changes positive?SIR: Yes, considering the changes in society.TS: Sir how is the academic environment here now-a-days?SIR: Most of the students are confined to class notes.TS: What are your expectations from the students?SIR: I expect my students to be adaptable, kind hearted and helpful but very strict to theirobligation to society.TS: What are your expectations from your colleagues?SIR: To elevate the department to the highest level in teaching and research.TS: Sir, being a specialist in the field of Geotechnical engineering could you please tell usabout the career prospects in this field?SIR: Geotechnical Engineering is one of the most challenging branches in Civil Engineeringand I think a geotechnical expert need not search for a job.

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TS: Sir, how much NIT Silchar has progressed in academic area after being conferred asDeemed university status?SIR: NITS has progressed a lot.TS: Sir, for the first time two student from this institute got selected for 2008 SURGEProgramme at IIT Kanpur and those two happen from Civil Engineering Department. Whatis your take on it?SIR: I feel extremely proud of my students and I feel they deserve it.TS: Sir, being the editor of inaugural edition of magazine of REC Silchar, what is youropinion about inaugural edition of magazine from CES, i.e SRiSHTEE?SIR: SRiSHTEE shall have better appearance and contents than REXIAN-82 had.TS: Your message for SRiSHTEE Team.SIR: I am sure that the SRiSHTEE Team will work marvelously well to materialize thelong desire of the Department to publish one magazine. It is a very good and bold start andwith time the magazine will prove highly worthy covering various aspects of CivilEngineering. I am sure, the present team will generate another stronger and better team forthe next year and the process will continue forever.TS: Sir, your message for the students of this department (especially 2009 passing outbatch).SIR: I expect my 2009 batch students will glorify our Institute to the highest level throughtheir intellect, hard work and dedication.

Compiled by - Jyoti KumarAniruddha Ghosh

ABOUT TSUNAMITsunami is a Japanese term and means sea-waves. These are big sea waves

that cause huge floods in coastal areas. Tsunamis are generally caused due to earth-quakes originating from rock displacement at sea bottoms, but may also be originatedby huge landslides from the hills and islands within the ocean or due to huge meteoritefalling on sea waters.

During 26th Dec, 2004 Tsunami at the Indian Ocean there was huge loss of lifein Indonesia, India and Sri Lanka. Since there was no system of warning in this area ofthe Indian Ocean loss of life was more. But in the Pacific Ocean area, there is a Warn-ing system which is saving lives during Tsunamis.

In the Indian Ocean we have buoys floating on the sea waters which can givewarning for cyclones but since they are not connected with ground sensors at the seabottom they could not give warning for the Tsunami of 26th Dec, 2004. Now India istaking steps to place ground sensors at the sea bottom in its part of the Indian Oceanand to connect these sensors with the floating buoys. Therefore, in the near futureTsunami warning can be made in this area and will save huge loss of lives.

Dr. A. K. DasNIT Silchar

Adapt or perish, now as ever, is Nature�s inexorable imperative-H. G. Wells (1866 � 1946)

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Romancing With Civil EngineeringPresented here are the views of faculty members of IIT Kanpur and current trendsupon the various specializations in Civil Engineering. The intention of this effort is toput before the students the opportunities and the actual need of the correspondingspecialisation. A team of professors of IIT Kanpur were interviewed by my friends AbhinavGupta ,Ravi Goyal, Sahil Singhla (all final year civil engineering students of IITK) andthe same is presented here.

Engineering Geosciences Dr. Rajiv Sinha

Q : How did geology studies enter into ouracademic system?Sir : The Geosciences initially evolved tofacilitate resource exploitation. It graduallyencompassed other aspects of the Earthincluding the earth’s environment and theimpact of resource exploitation on theenvironment. The Indian subcontinent isgeologically very diverse and also very rich interms of mineral resources. Further, we alsohave a diverse geomorphologic setting rangingfrom large rivers, deltas, deserts, and glaciersto a vast expanse of oceans surrounding thecountry. The sub-continent is widely seen as acomplex but interesting ‘geological laboratory’by the global community.Q : Where do we stands in terms of globaladvances in this field?Sir : India offers a unique opportunity to studyvarious aspects of geosciences which haveattracted enormous amount of internationalattraction over the years. However, due to lackof appropriate manpower and inadequateresources, the scientific advances by the Indiangeoscientists have not been as it should havebeen. The geosciences research has latelybecome highly qualitative and this requireshigh-end analytical facilities. Very fewinstitutions, including IIT’s have been able toprocure such facilities although things arechanging now. Now we have many facilitiesrequired to carry out climate related researchand natural hazards studies.Q : How are the career opportunities in thisfield?Sir : There has been a slight job crunch ingeosciences since the downfall of the miningindustries and a brief lull in the sector.However, things are looking good once again.

The energy sector is on a boom and newerstrategies for resource management usingmodern tools such as remote sensing, GIS andsub surface investigation requires well-trainedgeoscientists across the country and abroad.The infrastructure industry is also re-inventingitself and would surely require a large numberof geoscientists.

Environmental Engineering Dr. Tarun Gupta

Q : What is the importance of environmentalengineering to the society?Sir : Environmental pollution has been a majorproblem keeping in view of the growing Indianeconomy which has lead to an increase in jobsand migration of huge population to urbansector that has lead to damage the environmentby increasing the burden on existing urbanrecourses. These days people don’t take thingsin the right perspective, technology needs to bedesigned so as to stop degradation ofenvironment. Methods need to be found for safedisposal of waste. Use of the Sun as source ofenergy should be highlighted as we have spaceas well as technology of solar panels to harnessthis valuable source of energy for a moresustainable environment.Q : What are the global advances in this field?Sir : Studies are being carried out across theglobe on subjects like aerosol circulation, studyof monsoon patterns, ozone layer depletion,polar ice changing and melting, EI Nino effectson the global environment, changes in the polarand marine ecosystem and related patterns etc.NASA is also taking advances with satellites,meteorological cloud modelling, study of healtheffects from accidents involving nano particles,future human health consequences of mass useof nano particles on human health incombination with the health effects of existingnano particles from various combustion sources

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need to be fully assessed and several studiesare ongoing, as still safer ways are needed tofind to dispose of these nano particles after theycomplete their lifetime.Q : What is the position of India?Sir : Lots of steps are being taken in theautomobile industry like implementation ofautomobile standards for vehicles in line withthe Euro standards for vehicles. But overallIndia is lagging behind five years inimplementing latest pro-environmental policies.Methods are being devised in the country forsafe lead disposal and vehicles on CNG havealso been implemented in many cities whichhave helped in checking pollution.Q : How are the career opportunities in thisfield?Sir : These days’ people are finding this fieldvery interesting, even now I have these peoplein front of me who had to start their project inJuly but they have started it in March itself! M.Tech grads are now mostly going to the corejobs and are getting good salary (some of themare getting even more than 10 lacs per annum).As the economy is growing so is the need forhealthy environment. There are manyconsultancy companies like RIL, Maruti,Biotech, Mecon, EIL etc. which are offeringvery good packages to the environmentalists.NERI, IITK,IITB are developing newdepartment for this field. IITD already has aseparate department for atmospheric studies.ISRO is also working in this field and they alsohave some jobs to offer. Several MNC’s arepushing to maintain the same environmentprotecting standards that they have to follow inthe West when they bring their business here.So there is an upbeat mood to embrace the newstandards in India and the gap is slowly butsteadily being reduced.

Geoinformatics Engineering Dr. Onkar Dixit

Q : Sir, a brief introduction of Geoinformatics.Sir : Geoinformatics was initially restricted toland surveying. However, with the advancementof technology and the facilities, it has spreadits wings to Aero- spatial surveying (Remotesensing, Aerial Photography and LiDAR),Photogrammetry, Global PositioningSystem(GPS),Digital image processing(DIP)and Geographic Information systems(GIS).Very recently, the Indian government has taken

an initiative to map major cities of India at ahigher scale. Decision making and supportsystems, and vehicle monitoring are currentlyburning issues which are catching up largeamounts of development in terms ofdevelopment of technology and algorithms. Insuch scenario, the need of trained and qualitycivil engineers in the field of Geoinformaticshas arisen.Q : Sir, the opportunities for students in thisfield!Sir : I am happy to see that the students havegone into higher studies and also joinedpioneering organisations like ISRO and theNational Remote Sensing Agency of thegovernment of India. Survey of India is apremier institute for mapping the country andit has opened up avenues for privateorganisations with the vision of mapping thecountry on a larger scale. Apart from this,geoinformatics has a strong presence in privatesector. It is important to mention here that dueto restriction in the access to data, the progresshas been rather slow. However, the ministry ofInformation Technology has recently announcedits intensions of mapping many cities at a higherscale and the development of large scalegeodatabases and hence the market holdsenormous opportunities for our students. Someof the students have made initiative with thehelp of SIDBI Incubation centre to open up theirown companies.

Geotechnical Engineering Dr. Sarvesh Chandra

Q : Sir according to you what is theimportance of Geotechnical Engineering tothe society?Sir : Geotechnical Engineering is anextremely important branch as all thestructures have to rest on ground or below theground. The performance of all structures willdepend on how strong the foundation is andhow well it can withstand the forces of nature.Q : Sir, What are the latest global advancesin this field?Sir : These days the construction industry isbooming and the industry is booming and theindustry is using advanced constructionmethods and using materials likeGeosynthetics on a large scale. The use ofreinforced earth walls for embankments is

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very common now. In the Kanpur itself wecan see that it has the largest elevated four-lane stretch of 22 km which is a part of goldenquadrangle. It is using mostly reinforced earthwall (RE walls) with fly ash. A decade backIndia was not so advanced in this field butthese days RE walls are used extensively andthe railways freight corridor is proposed onthis. We can see DMRC using advancedtunnelling technology and using boringmachines for several lines in New Delhi. Wehave advanced a lot since its inception.Q : Sir, What do the students feel about thisfield? What are the career prospects in thisfield?Sir : Well, the students find this field quiteinteresting as there are opportunities of gettinginvolved in lot of field problems, laboratorywork, inventing new instruments/technologies. They find a lot of newopportunities to work with variety of problemswhich makes this more interesting. Forresearch, we have a lot of institutes in ourcountry like the Central Soil and MaterialResearch Station in New Delhi under thewater resource ministry. We have institutionslike Central Mining Research Institute atDhanbad and National Institute of RockMechanics at Kolar specializes in RockMechanics. We have institutions like CBRIand CRRI which carry out research in all themajor constructions like dams, roads,buildings, highways etc. These days thestudents get a lot of opportunities in corecompanies which are involved in soil testing,piling, providing support for undergroundtunnelling etc. Students after going throughtheir bachelors degree in Civil Engineeringcan take up this field for higher studies in largenumbers. Now days they find so many goodopportunities that they are giving morepreference to core jobs than software whichis a very good sign for today’s society.

Water Resource Engineering Dr Rajesh Srivastva

Q : Sir what is the importance of thisdiscipline in the society?Sir : Water is the most important commodity.In our discipline, we lay emphasis on the

quality as well as the quantity of water.Techniques like artificial recharge, waterharvesting are very much practised. It is saidthat the third world war will be water basedand not oil- based.Q : What are the advancements which havetaken place on a global scale in this area?Sir : Well.....there is nothing which hasfundamentally advanced a lot, though a lot ofresearch is going on. Mostly, there have beendevelopments in the computation aspects.Earlier, the governing equations were solvedusing physical models, which were found tobe much more expensive. But now, they canbe computed using various software, thussaving time and money.Q : What is India’s position on a global scale,in this field?Sir : In terms of experimental analysis, weare much ahead, but not in computational. Weare also lagging behind in field practices. Wehave designs which are safe, but noteconomical. Government doesn’t want toexperiment with new design. Mindset ofpeople needs to be changed. Working in a labcan’t convinces how will be the performancein the field. Bridges, dams etc are not shortterm projects, they may be safe for 10 years,but we mayn’t conclude the same for 100years. We need to design structuressustainable for longer period with appropriatefactor of safety to make it economicallysuitable.Q : What is the scope of this field in corecompanies or research? What is the trendprevalent in student community?Sir : Its scope in the core companies is verybright. In water pollution, it is still improving.In irrigation also, its scope is improving. But,new innovations are in demand in the world.No one would like to keep you for designingtraditional canals. As far as research isconcerned, there is tremendous scope in allthe disciplines of Civil Engineering in generaland water resource in particular. Thetechniques available to us have been derivedfrom data that is very old. There is a lot ofscope for collecting new data and its analysis.

Compiled by- Jyoti KumarFinal Year Civil.

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Performance-Based Design

Dr. Satyabrata Choudhury Prof. in Civil Engg., NIT Silchar

Design of structures has traditionally beenForce-Based. We compute the force thatmay come over the structure from variouscombinations of loads and design themembers for the critical combination ofloads. This is the design methodsprescribed in the national codes of variouscountries. A severe load combination isgenerally that involves seismic load. Whiledesigning a structure, we desire that undera certain level of earthquake hazard thestructure performs in an intended way. Forexample, under small earthquake level, thestructure should not suffer any damage andat moderate earthquake level there may bedamage but life should not be threatened.In Codal design it is assumed that if thedesign force is taken higher, the structurewill perform in a better way under seismicactions. But in reality the damage sufferedby a structure can be better understood interm of its displacements, rather than theforces. Displacements include translation,rotation, shearing, twisting etc. The damagesuffered by the structure is due to the plasticdeformation of the structure. Thus, force isnot a good indicator of damage; rather, thedisplacement can quantify the damage ina better way. Hence comes the concept ofdisplacement-based design. Indisplacement-based design thedisplacement is the main design parameterand force comes afterwards as a by-product. When displacement-based designaddresses the performance of the elementsof the structure, we get the Performance-Based Design (PBD).

In PBD the designer has the choice inselecting the target of performance of thestructure. The target performance dependson the earthquake shaking level (known ashazard level) too. Thus the performance of

structure is set a priori and the designerapplies suitable displacement-baseddesign philosophy to achieve the targetperformance. If the performance of thestructure is such that the building suffersonly minor damage so that the building canbe immediately occupied after the seismicevent, then the performance level of thebuilding is said to be Immediate Occupancy(IO) performance level. If the damage ishigher but life is not threatened, theperformance level is termed as Life safety(LS) performance level. If the damage isvery severe and the structure barely standsand does not collapse, the correspondingperformance level is called CollapsePrevention (CP) Performance level. FEMA(Federal Emergency Management Agency,US) has published many documents whichgive the numerical values of nonlineardeformations to define the performancelevels of members.

An optimum solution in design is obtainedif the capacity of the structure is equal tothe demand imposed on the structure undergiven hazard level. The displacement atwhich the capacity equalizes the current(reduced) demand in the structure is calledPerformance Point (PP). It may be notedthat the initial elastic demand on thebuilding as given by design spectra ofSeismic Codes get reduced due to damagesuffered by the structure. This is thereduced demand on the structure.

If you want to design an IO building, thedisplacement corresponding to IOperformance level should be less than thedisplacement at Performance Point (Fig. 1).In important buildings and in buildings withgreat post-earthquake importance (e.g.hospitals), the operations should go

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uninterrupted even during a seismic event.Such buildings should satisfy what is knownas Operational Level of performance. Theperformance of a building depends on theperformance of the building structure andthe performance of its nonstructuralcomponents (also known as Operationaland Functional Components). The designphilosophy should address the safety of the

CES TEAM 2008-09Convenor: Mr. P RoyGeneral Secretary : JYOTI KUMARAstt. General Secretary : DEEPESH SINGH

CLASS REPRESENTATIVES :EZEKIEL KOM (Final Year), ABDULLA (3rd Year)

SAUVIK SARKAR (2nd Year), JUBARAJ JNANBIKASH BARUAH (1st Year)

EXECUTIVE COMITEE MEMBERS :JUKTI PRATIM SAIKIA & NILOMONI DAO (Final Year)

PRITAM DAS, ANURAG SHARMA & KARTIKAY GUPTA (3rd Year)

IDRIS, MONTOSH KR. PANDEY & N.V.Sreecharan(2nd Year)

GAURAV KUMAR DAS, MONOJIT DEBNATH & NAIRWITA DUTTA (1st Year)

structure and the non-structuralcomponents.

There are many limitations of the Codalmethod of Force-oriented design. Theselimitations can be overcome through PBD.It is felt that the next generation of Codesshall be based on PBD. Before such switchover takes place, we need to train theacademic circle and filed engineers in PBD.

Fig. 1 Superimposed capacity curve and reduced demand curve

Further reading

1. ATC-40 (1996), “Seismic Evaluation and Retrofit of Existing Concrete Buildings”, AppliedGeochronology Council.

2. FEMA-273 (1996), “NEHRP Guidelines for the Seismic Rehabilitation of Buildings”, USFederal Emergency Management Agency, Building Seismic Safety Council, WashingtonDC.

3. FEMA-356 (2000), “Prestandard and Commentary for the Seismic Rehabilitation ofBuildings”, US Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Roof Spectral displacement

Sp

ect

ral a

cce

lera

tion Capacity curve

Elastic demand curve

Reduced demand curve

IO PP

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Know our Faculties

Dr Ashim Kanti DeyProfessor(HOD)P.hd. : IIT Madras.M.Tech: Jadavpur University.B.Tech : REC Silchar (Gold medalist).Specialization: Geotechnical Engineering.Area of Interest: Geotechnical Engg. , Geotechnical EarthquakeEngg. , Ground Improvement.E-Mail ID: ashim_kanti@yahoo.co.in .

Dr. D. N. BhattacharjeeProfessor.P.hd. : IIT Kharagpur.M.Tech: M.E ( Hydrology) Roorkee University.B.Tech : B.C.E ( Jadavpur University)Specialization : Water Resources.Area of Interest: Water Resorces.

Dr. Satyabrata ChoudhuryProfessorSPECIALISATION: Structural EngineeringAREA OF INTEREST : Performance based seismic Design, Earthquake Resistant Design.QUALIFICATION: Phd: IIT Rourkee M.tech: IIT kharagpur B. Tech: REC SilcharE-Mail ID: chou_s@rediffmail.comOthers: Dr. Jai Krishna Gold medal award

Dr. Asit Kumar DasAssistant professorSPECIALISATION: GeologyAREA OF INTEREST : GeologyQUALIFICATION: Phd: Gauhati University M.Sc: Gauhati University(Geology)

Dr A.K. BarbhuiyaAssistant ProfessorP.hd: IIT Kharagapur.M.Tech: Guahati University.B.Tech : REC Silchar.Specialization: Water Resource Engineering.Area of Interest: Fluvial Hydraulics, Open Channel Flow, SedimentTransport.

Roorkee

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Dr. Amimul Islam LaskarAssistant ProfessorSPECIALISATION: Building Technology.AREA OF INTEREST : Civil Engineering MaterialsQUALIFICATION: Phd: IIT Guwahati M.tech: IIT Delhi B. Tech: REC SilcharE-Mail ID: amimul@nits.ac.in

Dr. Mokaddas Ali Ahmed.Assistant Proffessor.P.hd. : IIT Kharagpur.M.Tech: IIT Kharagpur.B.Tech : REC Silchar.Specialization :Transportation Planning/InfrastructurePlanning.Area of Interest: Transportation Planning/ Engineering,Infrastructure Planning.E-Mail ID: maa@nits.ac.in , ali.mokaddas@gmail.com .

Dr. Upendra KumarAssistant ProfessorSPECIALISATION: Environmental EngineeringAREA OF INTEREST: Environmental Engineering, PollutionControl and AdsorptionQUALIFICATION: Phd: IIT Kharagpur M.tech: Jadavpur University B. Tech: Bhagalpur UniversityE-Mail ID: upendra@nits.ac.in

PICTURE NOTAVAILABLE

Dr. Dibakar ChakrabortyAssistant ProfessorP.hd: IIT Kanpur.M.Tech: Gauhati University.B.Tech: REC Silchar.Specialisation : Hydraulics and Water Resource EngineeringE-Mail ID – dibakar@nits.ac.in.

Dr. T. RahmanAssistant ProfessorPhd: Indian Institute of Science, BangaloreM.E: MNNIT Allahabad( Structural Engg)B.Tech: NIT Hamirpur.Area of Interest: Earthquake resistant design of Structures.Specialisation: Earthquake Engineering, Structural Design.E-Mail ID: tauhid_srm@yahoo.com

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PICTURE NOTAVAILABLE

Dr. Parthasarathi Choudhary Assistant ProfessorSPECIALISATION: Water ResourcesAREA OF INTEREST : Water ResourceQUALIFICATION: Phd: YES M.Tech: YES B. Tech: YESE-Mail ID: ps_chou@yahoo.com

Mr. Parthajit Roy.Lecturer (SS).M.Tech: IIT Kharagpur.B.Tech : REC Silchar.Specialization : Water Resource Engineering.Area of Interest: Study of Flood propagation.E-Mail ID : proy@nits.ac.in .

Dr. Pabitra RajbongshiLecturer (SS)SPECIALISATION: Transportation EngineeringAREA OF INTEREST : Pavement EngineeringQUALIFICATION: Phd: IIT Kanpur M.tech: IIT Roorkee B. Tech: JEC,(D.U)E-Mail ID: pabitra@nits.ac.in prajbongshi@yahoo.com

Ms. Nirmali BorthakurLecturerSPECIALISATION: Soil MechanicsAREA OF INTEREST : Soil MechanicsQUALIFICATION: M.tech: Assam Engineering College,Guwahati B. Tech: Jorhat Engineering College, Jorhat.E-Mail ID: borthakur_nirmali@rediffmail.com

Mr. Pallab DasLecturerSPECIALISATION: Structural EngineeringAREA OF INTEREST: Earthquake Engineering, Finite ElementMethod, Structural Design.QUALIFICATION: M.Tech: IIT Guwahati B. Tech: REC SilcharE-Mail ID: pallab@nits.ac.in

(The above profile is prepared as per the information provided by the respective faculty members)

Compiled by - Jyoti Kumar, Ajay Dayal Mali, Annaya Ghosh & Abdullah.

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JOHN SMEATON � THE FATHER OF CIVIL ENGINEERING

Portrait of John Smeaton, with the Eddystone Lighthouse in the background

John Smeaton, Fellow of Royal Society, (June 8, 1724 – October 28, 1792) was a civilengineer – often regarded as the “father of civil engineering” – responsible for the design ofbridges, canals, harbours and lighthouses. He was also a more than capable mechanicalengineer and an eminent physicist. He was associated with the Lunar Society. He was thefirst self-proclaimed civil engineer.

He was born in Austhorpe, Leeds, England. After studying at Leeds Grammar School, hejoined his father’s law firm, but then left to become a mathematical instrument maker(working with Henry Hindley), developing, among other instruments, a pyrometer to studymaterial expansion and a whirling speculum or horizontal top (a maritime navigation aid).

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1753, and in 1759 won the Copley Medalfor his research into the mechanics of waterwheels and windmills. His 1759 paper “AnExperimental Enquiry Concerning the Natural Powers of Water and Wind to Turn Millsand Other Machines Depending on Circular Motion” addressed the relationship betweenpressure and velocity for objects moving in air, and his concepts were subsequently developedto devise the ‘Smeaton Coefficient’.

However, over the period 1759-1782, he performed a series of further experiments andmeasurements on waterwheels that led him to support and champion the vis viva theory ofGerman Gottfried Leibniz, an early formulation of conservation of energy. This led himinto conflict with members of the academic establishment who rejected Leibniz’s theory,believing it inconsistent with Sir Isaac Newton’s conservation of momentum. The debatewas sadly marred by unfortunate nationalistic sentiments on the establishment’s part. He

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was also responsible for “Smeaton’s Harbour” Rye East Sussex. This was designed to keepRye as a sea going port after the river Rother was silted up.

Recommended by the Royal Society, Smeaton designed the third Eddystone Lighthouse(1755-59). He pioneered the use of ‘hydraulic lime’ (a form of mortar which will set underwater) and developed a technique involving dovetailed blocks of granite in the building ofthe lighthouse. His lighthouse remained in use until 1877 when - with the rock underlyingthe structure’s foundations beginning to erode - it was dismantled and partially rebuilt atPlymouth Hoe. He is important in the history, rediscovery of, and development of moderncement, because he identified the compositional requirements needed to obtain “hydraulicity”in lime; work which led ultimately to the invention of Portland cement.

Deciding that he wanted to focus on the lucrative field of civil engineering, he commencedan extensive series of commissions, including:

• the Calder and Hebble Navigation (1758-70)• Coldstream Bridge over the River Tweed (1762-67)• Improvements to the River Lee Navigation (1765-70)• Perth Bridge over the River Tay in Perth (1766-71)• Ripon Canal (1766-1773)• the Newark Viaduct over the River Trent in Nottinghamshire (1768-70)• the Forth and Clyde Canal from Grangemouth to Glasgow (1768-77)• Banff harbour (1770-75)• Aberdeen bridge (1775-80)• Peterhead harbour (1775)• Harbour works at Ramsgate (retention basin 1776-83; jetty 1788-1792)• Hexham bridge (1777-90)• the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal (1782-89)• St Austell’s Charlestown harbour in Cornwall (1792)

Because of his expertise in engineering, Smeaton was called to testify in a court for a caserelated to the silting-up of the harbour at Wells-next-the-Sea in Norfolk in 1782. He isconsidered to be the first expert witness to appear in an English court.Highly regarded by other engineers, he contributed to the Lunar Society and founded theSociety of Civil Engineers in 1771. He coined the term civil engineers to distinguish themfrom military engineers graduating from the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich. Afterhis death, the Society was renamed the Smeatonian Society, and was a forerunner of theInstitution of Civil Engineers, established in 1818.His pupils included canal engineer William Jessop and architect and engineer BenjaminLatrobe.John Smeaton lends his name to a high school in the suburbs of Leeds, adjacent to thePendas Fields estate near Austhorpe. He is also mentioned in the song I Predict a Riot (as asymbol of a more dignified and peaceful epoch in Leeds history; and in reference to aJunior School House at Leeds Grammar School, which lead singer Ricky Wilson attended)by the indie rock band Kaiser Chiefs, who are natives of Leeds.He also has a viaduct named after him, which forms an important piece of Leeds new £50minner ring road.He died after suffering a stroke while walking in the garden of his family home at Austhorpe,and was buried in the parish church at Whitkirk, West Yorkshire.Source : Internet

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RELUCTANT BROS.

There are brothers and there are RAKHI brothers – brothers with adifference. Rakhi Brothers can be anybody – from someone who has been jiltedin love to somebody who is called a “Bhaiya” by each and every girl in theschool, college or town.

Praveen an ex-student of Don-Bosco school was madly in love with a girlof his school. But as fate would have it, the girl was in love with someone else.One fine day, she accosted Praveen and with all innocence, tied a Rakhi. PoorPraveen was left with no option but to respect the sacred thread!

Then, there are others like Sumit, who was made “Bakra Bhaiya” MTVstyle. He recounts, “One day, three girls came up to me and told me since, theydidn’t have a brother; they wanted me to fill in the emotional gap. I never knewthat I would end up being a Bakra.”

For Rajeev, a graduate from Cotton College, the word “Bhaiya” is veryirritating to his ears and not without reasons. He was the “Universal Bhaiya” ofhis college. “The girls would love to make me their “Rakhi Bhaiya”. I don’t knowwhat was there in me but, none of the girls would look up to me as a boyfriend.”he laments.

But the best of all are the “Zabardasti ka Bhaiya” . These are some ofthose unsuspecting souls who are thought of as dangerous, by their friends.“My friend was in love with a girl who was a close friend of mine. He thought Itoo was in love with the girl though he never asked me about it. One fine day hemade the girl tie me Rakhi. In this way I was made Bhaiya forcefully”, tellsAkshay.

Although this article, is all about reluctant bros. But, have you ever heardabout reluctant sisters? Rachna, who couldn’t win the heart of her school headboy, started calling him Bhaiya. For Rachna, Bhaiya stands for “Bada HandsomeAur Intelligent Yaar Apna.”

HIMANSHU SHEKHAR Electrical, Batch of 2010

A family is a unit composed not only of children but of men,women, an occasional animal, and the common cold. - Ogden Nash

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SHAKESPEAR�S SOUL IN DESPAIR

Ever thought of men getting pregnant? No, I am not trying to fool you (April Fool�s dayis more than two months away). I am going to tell you the pain of Shakespear�s soulbecause of the present day usage of English language.

Here it goes. There was a boy who went to his father and apprised himof his weakness in English vocabulary. The father advised his son to first look at themeaning of a word in the dictionary and then constructs the sentence immediately.�In this way, you won�t forget the meaning ever,� said the father to the son. The sonbeing obedient, decided to follow his father�s advice with every difficult word he cameacross.

Unfortunately, the first unfamiliar word he confronted was �pregnant” .Quickly he turned over the pages of dictionary and found the meaning as �carrying ababy” . Now he made a deliberate sentence from the word ���Three firemen wentinside the building and came back pregnant�. I laughed but his soul cried. The fatherof English, Shekespear was so sad, so I tried to help him recover from the sadness ofhis soul.

But alas! In the meantime there happened yet another accident in theEnglish language when a mathematics teacher instructs his pupil, �Open the windowand let the climate come in�. And anyway, what can I do if another physics teacher tellshis students,� Meet me behind the class when I am empty�.

Shakespeare is now helpless, powerless. He is inconsolably sad. Can

you help him anyway?

HIMANSHU SHEKHARElectrical, Batch of 2010

Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired - Robert Frost

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Am I Capable Enough

A question that always lingers inmy subconscious mind, “Am I capableenough?” Well, I may sound suspiciouslyweird, but does “CAPABLE” basically rep-resent making it through to a college; acollege of “Excellence”, with a rank whichstudents of other states envy (AHEM!!!),I sometimes feel that, “The job is welldone or at least half done or is it that I amcapable of doing something which maytake me to newer heights?” Answers tothe questions are a frank “NO”. “NO” thatmost of my batch-mates will consider tobe a “YES”, if it is totally up to one andeveryone’s self conscience to discoverwhether he is “capable” . By no stretch ofimagination should you even dare to thinkthat I am drawing conclusion to a muchawaited opportunity to write “a guest col-umn”. No “adnominens”. I am jotting downmy own feelings which may eventuallysound a bit boring and sarcastic at theend, but my dear friends, “It is a muchcherished opportunity and am not goingto miss out at any cost”.

Let me start with a very simpleobservation, when I accidentally met myfriend at ”Hans Raj College”. Being a gen-eral graduate and that too of a reservedcategory leaves a feeling that he is amediocre guy and actually he is. But asimple conversation left me feeling that I

am as worthless as nothing. Most of uswould feel that being an NITian puts a tagbut to be very honest the NITS tag is of-ten confused as an NIT Suratkal tag.

In the last three years I haveenough of life to sat that there is indeed alack of scope to breath unless you are acricketer (not very exceptional) or have agood eye to shoot at others forehead .How many of our recent senior havecracked IIMs or have done exceptionallygood to register a name in a foreign Uni-versity. The number may be handful oreven lesser. Scopes are meant to bematerialized and scopes here are a farcry. Some blame it on the professors;some on opportunities (including me) butreally a few dare say that they are inca-pable.

A little fag or booze eases frus-tration, but they are simply not enough.It’s much better that we cherish theseopportunities and start living in our ownabilities because it’s not the brand namewhich exactly sees a brand off, but it’sthe quality that does the magic.

SAMRAT SEKHAR SAHAMechanical, Batch of 2010

The highest result of education is tolerance. - Hellen Keller

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PAIN (dedicated to Albus Dumbledore)

I watch the tomb erupt in flamesI look at my brothertears are trickling down his faceI feel something hot in my lipsI realise it’s bloodmy bloodthe result of my brother’s rageI do not attempt to mend my noseI let the blood flowI wish it would wash away the guiltoddly enough the tears don’t come

Two months of insanityof cruel dreamsTwo months of neglectand she was no more

Ah! what could have I donehis ideas inflamed meit was for the greater goodBut is this the price I had to pay?Is this what I had dreamed of?

I look up at the skyI see her faceshe looks sadI try to say somethingbut nothing comes outShe smiles at meIt was not your fault albusI shake my headI long for her punishmentbut again she smilesit’s not your fault Albusit’s not your fault....

My vision gets blurredSomething very painful is stuck on my throatI raise my hand to my facethe tears finally comeand I find myself whisperingI am sorry ArianaI am sorry....

Sailen Dutta Mechanical, Batch of 2009

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S E A S O N S

Part 1- WINTER

————————

He was always dressed in black,

She was in her past fatalities,

So devious were her thoughts,

Of innocence subliminal yet fragile...

With climatic hands that pierced his heart,

His voice in echoes of regretful... path...

She was everything and more...

The solemn hypnotic,

A pheromone cult to hypnotise like never before,

Of tranquillity recollected in her memories...

He was bathed in an aphid attraction,

Lost in thoughts...

Nothing to his attention...

So nervous, perverse, when he sees her— it gets worse,

In stammering lines, a fault brings a curse...

“Where art thou oh faithful master??”

Stooped so low!!! A slave!!! A disaster!!!

Not to her, but to himself, to his feelings,

So blinded by his faith...

His trials were many, his faults left alone,

His mind -an abattoir,

With everything in pieces where a heart once lived,

An unrequited dream...

His face now wears a scar,

A torment that cloaks his fears,

His scar a proclamation of his name,

In hopes of her recognition... stretched across his shame...

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Part2- SPRING

————————She was dressed in all his ways,

A constitution of grace;With torment and pain out of place!!!

Leaked through..... She covered him...

In profanity once he lied, but now is he redeemed???He now perceives a noble cause...

An abomination to her was he,Yet an abomination still to her-

His abasement now that sleeps;Takes that onto her heart-

For his insanity, she bleeds.

A “shooting star” was she, the unattainable,A myth that keeps him standing, a reason to believe in;

With “butterflies” in his belly and birds that sing...

She was his First, his Last, his Everything...

BANJOP KUPAR NONGBRIElectrical, Batch of 2010

Falling in LoveI am moving far from you,

Even though I don’t want to.I think of only you and where you are,You have said that you are worried tooThat I’ll never get a chance to see you.And even though that’s how it’s been

You still manage to manage to keep that beautiful grin.So, please keep that wonderful smile,Cause I know I’ll see you in a while.

You know you are almost like aLittle angle sent from above

To prove to me how quickly someoneCan really fall in love.

Sudeep Kr. Batha Mechanical, batch of�09

Perhaps the feelings that we experience when we are in love represent anormal state. Being in love shows a person who he should be.

-Anton Chekhov

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THE RIVER

The boy has come againHe often does in the eveningwith a song on his lipsA song which echoes his feelingsHe comes and waits by my sideAnd when the sun touches meon the horizon, his eyes lights upHe tells me of his day....his tribulations....his triumphsFew years backhe had lost his motherHe had told me about it..He had wept like a babyI had tried to console him,like I have been doing for centuries,to countless others.

Today he looks very happyHis eyes say it allI wait for the sun to set‘cause he tells me only whenI seem to swallow the sun

At last the moment comesHe speaks of a girlA girl like no other...A girl who makes him forgethis struggles and sadnessI feel happy for him

Under the influence of the moonI dance and sway andI tell the wind to carry his newsto some far-off land.

Sailen DuttaMechanical, Batch of 2009

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ESTATE ENGINEERING BRANCH,NIT SILCHAR

Introduction: In the year 1977 – The Estate Engg. Branch of Regional Engg. Collegewas formed which was headed by Er. Mohan Ch. Saikia. The branch usually deals withconstruction and maintenance of the Institute.

Description of Earlier Status of Estate Engg. Branch:The technical manpower of the branch was only one A.E.E, Mr. Debashis Dey andMr. S. Chauhan,J.E (Elecrical) Most of all construction work was carried by A.P.W.D.and N.B.C.C. During the year 1996, due to poor consruction quality and high constructioncost, the Institute administration decided to withraw the balance work from APWD andNBCC and entrusted the job to Estate Engg. Branch of the Institute. The Electronicsdeptt. Building and Institute dispensary alongwith other capital work worth about onecrore was taken up by the Estate Engg. Branch alongwith Institute maintenance work.The REC was transformed to national Institute of Technology – a Deemed University-a University of National imporatance under the supervisory role of this branch.Since then the NIT Silchar is being developed as the state- of –the art campus. On thepattern of prestigious Institutes like IITs.

Present Status of Estate Engg. Branch :The technical manpower of the Estate Engg. Branch was improved in year 2004 byincluding one J.E(Civil), Mr. Anjan Das. Later on The Branch improved its technicalmanpower in the year 2008 with three J.E.- Mr. Sudhir Das( Civil),Mr. A.M.Barlaskar(Elecrical), Miss pompia Sharma (Civil) and one A.E.,Mr. Debanon DeyPurkayasta headed by S.E., Mr. T.N. DasThe branch has taken up and successfully completed the following work alongwith themaintance work of the Institute:-

2004-05 – Boy,s Hostel No. 6- 8 crore

2005-06i. Boy,s Hostel No.7 – 10 croreii. Security wall which cover 6300m – 2.9 crore

2006- 07i. Construction of CEC building – 9 croreii. Vertical expansion of Girl’s Hostel – 1.1 croreiii. Class room expansion – 2.30 croreiv. Vertical expansion of Mechanical Engg. Department – 0.54 crorev. Horizontal expansion of Administratrive building- 0.70 crore

After improvement of manpower this branch has taken up the following work :-

2007- 08i. Improvent of Internal road under Phase I – 1.60 croreii. Standby power supply proving D.G Set of 500 KVA(2 nos)- 0.8 croreiii. Improvement of street light Networking ground Electrical cable- 1.50 crore

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2008-09( ongoing works)i. Classroom expansion part II – Rs 7.96 croreii. CEC building – Rs 6.56 croreiii. Girls Hostel – Rs 6.17 croreiv. Type VI(E1)(Professor Qtr)- Rs 6.8 crorev. Type V (E) (Asst. Professor qtr) – Rs 7.31 crorevi. Type IV (Lect. Qtr) – Rs 5.58 crore

Under Planning Structures:i. Boy,s Hostel No. 8 – Rs 29.0 croreii. Water – Supply Network of the campus – Rs- 2.5 croreiii. Dept. Of Production Engg. Dept under mech. Engg. Deptt- Rs 7.0 croreiv. Sports Complex and Swimming pool – 10.0 crore

Till now ,the branch is completing the projects successfully however thereis a great support contribution from the various faculty members of the Instituteincluding HOD and various faculty members of the Civil Engg.Deptt .

So, last but not the least we are very thankful to the AdministrativeAuthority of this Institute for their great support in the proper functioning andexecution of works by the Estate branch.

So we from the Estate Engg. Branch request all of you to co-operate usin our work, because we are here for the student and NITS. We are still for theInstitute and in future also will remain so.

THANK YOUPompia Sharma

J.E.( Civil)For Estate Engg. Branch, NIT Silchar.

A policeman saw a man speed past, pulled him over and asked for his drivinglicence and registration. �I lost my licence after my fifth traffic violation,�the guy replied calmly. �I�ll give you the registration, but don�t freak outwhen you see the guns in my glove compartment. And if you search the car,don�t be surprised if you find some drugs in the boot.�

Alarmed, the policeman went back to his car and called for backup. Momentslater a special team swept down on the car. The driver was handcuffed as theteam searched the vehicle.

“ There are no drugs or guns in this car,� they said to the driver. �Of coursethere aren�t,� the driver replied. �And I suppose that cop told you I was speeding,too.�

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SELECTION OR ELECTION

“WOW” said a “5 pointer wiseguy” (5PWG), “It is great thatGymkhana elections are going to beheld”. “Do we really stand a chance tocrack it?” replied another 5PWG.“Yeah, this year it is going to be se-lected.” “Get your names in and whoknows you may be the next one whoconducts the INCAND,” replied an-other 5PWG. “Really!”, “It is better tothink, than to stand in the line of fine.”Well the conversation might seemsomewhat baseless but, just tofreshen up the minds of those who aregoing to read this article, most of ushave seen or perhaps know what a“Gymkhana” election looks like.Seems like a misnomer to someonebut, who have special lines on thepalms or try to achieve some Napole-onic feat, it is the crown which alwaysbears the thorn.

I am a staunch supporter of the“Gymkhana” being selected. I am try-ing to put forward some reasons whichmay be acceptable to all.

A “Nine pointer celebrity”(NPC) has seen much of the worldround him or otherwise it may berather difficult for him get the magicfigure every year. A general trendshows why they are selected.

Obviously the panel which de-cides that is much more talented thanwhat we are. Call it democracy or bu-reaucracy; it is the students who arebenefitted, because the selected

members are indeed the sole harbin-gers to our happy moments in our “soboring life”.

A 5PWG has to watch movies,play CS, cricket & for God’s sake, howcan he takes time out for college?Ponder!!!

A 5PWG has so many prob-lems including a job crisis that makesit better to get the “better perimeter”guys selected than to elect thosefishes in troubled waters. A girlfriend(rare for 5PWGs) may sometimes addto the problem.

How on Earth is a guy who isan engineer, but poor in academicssupposed to be good at arts or litera-ture. Again misnomers but very sig-nificantly think about it.

A 4 year span is short enoughto enjoy all the luxuries of hostel life.So, friends enjoy the Incand andTecnoesis and don’t think about whois organising it.

Lastly, I am going out of pointsand may be losing track, so it is betterto conclude. So, a word of advice formy fellow 5PWGs, “Gymkhana” is nota piece of cake for us. Hopefully thisissue of the Civil Magazine will resolvethis debate. A selected “Gymkhana”is always better than an elected one,because bureaucracy has ruled overthe world for more than 2000 yearswhile democracy has seen 50 years.

Samrat Shekhar Saha6th Sem, Mechanical

Democracy substitutes election by the incompetent many forappointment by the corrupt few. - George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)

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Is the present model of TNP working???

Of course it is!!! But it is the wrongquestion to be asked. Our model of TNPis no different from that of any other NITor IIT. And I don’t see their placementsstruggling at least in stable times. Nowwhen we talk of placements, there arethree situations to be considered withoutwhich any evaluation will not be realisticor meaningful.

1. Placements in a boomingmarket.

2. Placements during recession.3. Placement in ordinary times.

We have all witnessed of theecstatic placements of the 2008 batch.Those were probably the best days ofNIT Silchar. Companies recruitedpassionately in an unrestrained manner.And there was a deluge of companies.It was practically raining jobs. It feltgood; the entire campus was rejoicing,some at the joy of their success andothers at the possibility of a similar fate.Our feet were in the clouds.100%placements, 450 jobs created and astaggering 7 jobs conveted by a student(a national record). That is in brief aboom time placement. But too muchprosperity in too less time has thecapacity to spoil one’s habits .Too manyrewards for too less work, that’s whencomplacency creeps in.

And the economy struck us justwhen we were least prepared. Batch Of2009 faced it. It is difficult to imaginehow things unfolded. Expectations weresky high, but reality was miles below.Each passing company was adisappointment. Occasionally, thoughthere were jubilant days also .But therace for a job got tougher .We wereinexperienced and under the delusion

that just good things happen in NITSilchar. But the magic spell was gone,yet we were not ready to accept thetruth. It was like the stubbornness of achild. I don’t blame anybody, even to mebeing closest to the placement affairs ithardly occurred that that the economywasn’t placement friendly anymore andwe were underprepared, reeling underassumptions that were dangerous.Many of our previous recruiters refusedto visit citing vague reasons and somejust kept deferring the visits untileventually scrapping them. To name afew Accenture, Tata Elxsi, Aricent, HCL,Tech Mahindra eventually did not turnup. Adding to our misery, companies likeALSTOM, NRL refused to visit due tothe high drop-out rate of 2008 recruitsfrom our institute. The scenario was tightand we had to be satisfied with fewerand less paying jobs. I can understandthe transition was not easy rather afrustrating one. But I will always say thatwe did miss a lot of opportunities due tolack of preparation especially in the ITcompanies. That was something aboutrecession time placements. It was alesson to be learnt.

But the silver lining is that thisjob drought will bring out the best in us.Folks are now mentally prepared to facethe challenge I think. In addition, acorrective shift in placement policy thathas come about will bring a change inattitude. “One job policy” is a paradigmshift at least in our institute. The batchsize having increased, it is undoubtedlythe only and best available solution. Tomention a few positive repercussions itwill compel us to choose and not justtake a job, because you don’t have a

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second chance. Folks therefore, mustbe clear and focused on what they wantfrom campus placements. Any blindshots may be dangerous .One mustknow where he/she belongs. Landing inthe wrong company will eventually leadto having a tough time. The one jobpolicy will ensure that we retain ourrecruiters and their trust .A healthyreputation in corporate circles reallyhelps in ways more than one.

Speaking about the model ofTNP there is nothing wrong with it.However we are always allowed toexplore better solutions, but I can’t thinkof any. Branch wise representation andthe combined council be led by a mentor(T.P.O), is the model everywhere. Ithelps if the T.P.O is active and has adeep understanding of the intricacies ofCampus Placement, economy and thecorporate market. What our instituteneeds at this moment is promotion, ina very large scale. And the job has tobe taken up by the students .Wheneveryou go for summer training/projects ina new organization, whenever youparticipate in national level competitionsorganized by companies, whenever youparticipate in technical and culturalevents, whenever you write a researchpaper and submit it in conferences youare all promoting your institute. Andreturns are lucrative. Imagine how itwould make you feel 5 years down theline to boast about being from the 15th

best institute in the country. It will alltake conscious efforts from our end. Itis to be noted that to attract recruitersto the remotest part of the country weneed to add value to our existingcredentials and market our brandeffectively.

A lot has to be done at the top ofthe pyramid so that the change trickles

down to the base i.e. the students. I feelthe departments and the managementshould embrace change and innovation.In order to stay ahead the generalphilosophy in decision making has to beindustry oriented. Departments haveinadequate exposure to industry. Topmanagement has to take care of that.Teachers here are still reluctant toaccept summer projects/internships inplace of simple training. I faced a toughtime debating this issue with some ofmy branch teachers. Again some verybasic subjects like I.C engine inMechanical and EarthquakeEngineering and Concrete Technologyin Civil are kept as optional subjects.Due to such flaws companies haveraised questions regarding the structureof our curriculum. The decision makersmust be made aware of suchshortcomings. Maybe I have taken toomuch liberty to comment on theseissues, but I had to.

A brief mention must be madeabout the plight of Training andPlacement cell members. It has to beunderstood that they sacrifice a lot. Alot of time, energy and peace of mindare put at stake to mitigate the risk ofbeing subject to criticism, rebuke,isolation and academic decay. A batchhas to be mature enough to cooperatewith them in all circumstances. After allthey do not have a magic wand. In turnT&P guys should be transparent and dojustice to the noble job they areentrusted with.Wishing the coming batches all the verybest in life. May NIT Silchar exceed ourexpectations!!!

RISHIRAJ KASHYAPMechanical, Batch of 2009

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Remembering a 'friend' �

It’s really disheartening that after hopingfor an article on this topic to pour in, it’sfinally me who’s having to pen down myviews on what I think has been the mosttragic incident during our 4 years stay inNIT Silchar. We had a forum inSRiSHTEE regarding “How far have thethings improved since the serious medi-cal lapse in 2007? ”, where we expectedthe near and dear ones of our belovedfriend Late Nipjyoti Kalita to write theirviews regarding his sad demise. Whenthere were no entries, it was left to me.The logical brain can deduce these con-clusions out of this:-

1. People to who Nip really mattersare still in a state of shock, suchthat they couldn’t write anything.But my gut feeling is that, thechances of this being true are veryless. I had written blatantly on thistopic in IGNITS’2007, Life inCampus: Ugly, but perhaps I needto write more. The day after thetragedy, in the wee hours a crowdgathered (mostly batch mates) inthe field. Notably the ‘endangeredspecies’ turned up in whites,mostly ‘salwar’ suits, perhaps tomake the occasion more solemnas if it would have really matteredto Nip, if they had come in mini-skirts! The same evening, some ofthe ‘endangered species’ and theirpatrons, were found cheering in‘all casuals’- among whom a fewof them even happened to be Nip’s‘school friends’ and were in a stateof shock a few hours back!

2. Perhaps we don’t have a proper

‘writing culture’ here. May be weconsider writing a ‘not-so-cool’thing in the age of SMS, low waistdesigner jeans and ‘counter strike’.Or may be the habit original writ-ing and documentation is long for-gotten- thanks to ‘copy and paste’-ing of mundane assignments.

3. May be we are so busy now thatNip no longer matters. No, I amnot over reacting just speaking myheart out. Period. The advent of‘Bhogali bihu’ gave me a coldshudder down the spine remind-ing the tragedy of 2007. Some daywe would die, rot in the ground orburn to ashes and there would beno one to cry for us.

Thanks to my friends in the 5th hostel,they have been arranging a ‘havan’ in theremembrance of Nip. I did feel guilty thatI couldn’t go and pray there this time. Laterthough I learnt that it was no different thanthe last time, being an event or excuse tobring girls to hostel and have a merry get-together. Or was it to make the soul of Niphappier by showing that his near and dearones have coped up with the disaster?

It feels sad that that one of ourbatch mates (a good rank holder inAIEEE) will not be having his graduationdegree with us. A few years back Nip’sparents were perhaps looking forward tothe day when their son would be graduat-ing from NIT Silchar. It still horrifies meto even think how they would be feelingnow!!! I express my deepest condolences.

Some images still horrify me andprobably they always will. The way Nip’s

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body was wrapped in a cloth and tied to avan and carried away still send shudders.Perhaps even our pets deserve better treat-ment!! Memories do fade and the traumasof wound do pacify, that’s but natural. Buthow could I forget the callousness of someguys the day after the tragedy. Some wentto the field to play and their lazier coun-terparts played loud music or enjoyedLAN games to make the fool out of theunexpected and extended holiday!! Withour batch passing out in 2009, the entireepisode will be wiped out of the memoryof the student community! Though, I dohope that this humble endeavour wouldalert the students in the coming years tobe a bit more cautious about their health& stop them from meeting any medicalurgency.

I must admit that I was no friendof Nip. May be Nip never knew me as wewere from different hostel and branch. Isomehow knew him, may be for hischarismatic smile or his football skills. Iwas hopeful that some of his school mateswho are here in campus would expresstheir opinion in due time so that we couldknow more of him. Sad it never happened!

I have always believed that we areresponsible for our own fate. But whatabout them whose ‘responsibility’ and‘duty’ is to ‘ignite the mind and soul ofstudents- to improve the quality of life in

campus- to support students careerdevelopment and livelihood- to helpstudents excel in all spheres of life’? Howfar have things improved since then? Iretain crystal clear images of the series ofevents that followed the tragedy. Roundsof meetings were held between collegeauthorities and student representatives anda bunch of promises were made. Howmany of those promises have fructified,or even pursued with commitment? Whereis the ‘selected’ Gymkhana now? Whereis Mr. Devaprasad Paul now? Or shouldthe T&P guys have to take responsibilityfor this too? I don’t see any kind ofimprovement in the clinic here. I still don’tfind a well equipped ambulance here!

Where is the proposed medicalinsurance cover? What correctivemeasures have been taken to stop anotherNip dying out of suffocation from anasthma attack today in the 21st century?

Oh yeah…now I remember, onestep was, in fact taken. I must congratulateNITS authority in their endeavour to givethe ambulance driver a mobile connection,so that any student could call him up & ifthe dilapidated car is not in the garage itwould come to his rescue, Kudos!

ANIRUDDHA GHOSHCivil, Batch of 2009

�If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are dead and rotten,either write things worth reading, or do things worth the writing.�

- Benjamin Franklin

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ONE MAN'S TERRORIST IS ANOTHER'SFREEDOM FIGHTER

At first glance there’s nothing thatmakes him distinctive in the bustlinganonymity of a metropolitan street. Nothingexcept that gun of disproportionate size-an AK-47-he carries in his right hand andwields it to cause wide bloodshed. He isno longer confined to the front pages orthe small screens; he has migrated to theconsciousness of a nation savaged. Hisactivities are no longer limited to theKashmir valley or to the North easternstates, it has come into our neighbourhoodand nobody is left out to face his wrath. Heis the perpetrator of terror, spreading it fromstreets to railway station, from hotel roomsto Jewish quarters, from the frozen gazeof the dead to the feared sighs of the living,leaving behind fear and anger. We haveseen him, we seem to know him. For ushe is the cold blooded “Terrorist “, but inthe eyes of the ideological Islamic gurusand his group he is none the less a“Freedom fighter” who has committed hislife to what they call JIHAD .

He pictures himself as a warrior offreedom, guided by gods and ideology, withterror as his ultimate weapon. His definitionof freedom though excludes the essentialdignity of what he calls the enemy and whatthe rest of us see as humanity. Theyconsider him to be a revolutionary or acrusader neglecting the fact that a terroristis a rebel with no other motive but to causefear in the minds of the innocent. His visionof liberation and his methods to achieve itis hell for the others. The terrorists are nolonger the ones who are impoverished andjoin terror outfits to get some quick moneybut also include the highly educated peopleof the society who are counselled intojoining radical terror groups as a serviceto Allah. For them it is a war againstmodernity and the unjust meted out to theMuslims around the world. Their ideological

gurus want Islam to be the only religion andfor them to be the world rulers. Theyconsider it as a holy war, JIHAD againstthe non-believers, under the name of whichthey only cause misery and anguish. Theirrage reached its zenith on 9/11 when thetwin towers of the World Trade Centre werebrought down like a pack of cards; itshowed that not even America was spared.Osama bin Laden, the Saudi billionaireturned Islamic liberator became the mostwanted and feared terrorist but for themhe was a demigod declaring war againstinfidels. Al Qaeda may not be theoperational base of terror any longer andOsama may be withering away somewherein the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, thoughthe idea continues to kill and the datelineof death keeps changing and the killernever stops updating the technology tomake every strike as spectacular as 9/11.

Only the naive and the politicallydishonest would argue that the terrorist hasno religion. The ideology of jihad is as oldas Islam. With the exception of Malegaonattacks which hint at the possibility of“saffron terror”, every attack on India andthe rest of the world bears the imprint of aJIHADI . Today terrorist has become ahousehold name in the Indian society. It allbegan with the Mumbai bomb blasts of1993, carried out in revenge for thecommunal riots in the aftermath of theBabri Masjid demolition. As earlier it wasmainly anger and vengeance, the biggestMuslim complaint today is that they are notintegrated into the India rising story.Muslims are asking the Government morethan one question. Why do othercommunities, like backward castes, getreservations and why do Muslims only getenquiry commissions? The quiet burial ofthe Sachar Report and the stalling of theSri Krishna Commission Report by the

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Government has become furtherconfirmation of betrayal. Is anger also tobe denied to them? As an outcome of thisinjustice and ignorance more number ofIndian Muslims are involving themselvesin terrorist activities. So the Terroristdoesn’t always cross the sea to reach thetarget, and his nationality is not necessarilyPakistani. He could very well be the boy inthe next classroom who had come to thebig city from his home town of Azamgarhin eastern Uttar Pradesh. The modernJIHADI could be the product andbeneficiary of a liberal democracy likeIndia. He would use every aspect offreedom it has to offer for the perpetuationof hate. His allegiance is not to the flag ofhis country; his identity is not defined byhis nationality. He is the citizen of a

scriptural make believe, he is here on asacred assignment.

But, whatever be the grounds onwhich Terrorists carry out their heinous actsof terror, it can never be justified. They needto understand that by causing pain andsuffering to the helpless they can nevermeet their ends. Islam also doesn’tapprove of their acts and for a handful ofextremists the entire community has tobear the brunt of public anger. Terroristsare nothing but the perpetrators of hatredwho have been misguided byfundamentalists to adopt this path ofviolence. Their undying hatred and pursuitof paradise has made this earth a hell.

KARTIK PARMESHWARCivil, Batch of 2010

CS - THE GAMING ZONE.

The evolution of life, formation of reptiles and its consequent transformationinto mammals and then formation of mankind has shown how important life is!!!!!! i.e.one life to live

But in the virtual world, the computer world, it doesn’t matter how long you cango on counting your nos. of life. Yes its CS—the regal gaming zone as defined .onceyou get into it it’s really hard to get out of it. The revolution of CS has started a fewyears back and in this small period it has got countless number of die hard fans. Startingas a normal game it becomes an adjuration for them. The late night stand with fingerson the keyboard conveying message for every next action and on the mouse Evereadyto click on the enemy’s head, with eyes fixed wide on the screen as if they have neverblinked and body moving in response to every action as if they are physically presentshows how CS gets over them. This is the spirit of these gamers.

Bunking classes for playing cs , planning strategies whole night as if they areon high time demand for Kargil war , marking out positions , discussing throughout theday either it be classroom or mess have become their nature .The recent invention inthe cricket world has marked its influence on the cs team . The IPL of NITS or theRPCL (rollicksome premiere counter strike league of hostel -6 ) has shown that thesefever is never going to end up . It will be on its highest degree with fresh new souls andfresh new lives.

AJAY DAYAL MALICivil, Batch of 2010

To do nothing is sometimes a good remedy. � Hippocrates

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Should VALENTINE'S DAY bedeclared as a Gazette Holiday??

The origin of Valentine’s Day dates backto the 16th century. Historians have doubtswhether the 14th of February is thecommemoration day of, which of the twoearly Italian martyrs, both of whom wereSt. Valentine. One of them was a Romanpriest and the other was a Bishop of Terni.Though it is not yet clear, for whomValentine’s Day is actually celebrated, butSt. Valentine is regarded as the patron oflovers. Along with the origin of theValentine’s Day, terms such as “Valentine”were also coined. “Valentine” means acard sent on Valentine’s Day to a personone loves or is attracted to.

In the 21st century, Valentine’sDay has taken a completely newdimension. Today, there’s much hypeabout the 14th of February especiallyamong the youth. The influence ofcelebrating this day has gradually shiftedfrom the west to the east. It is a dayactually meant for expressing one’s lovefor his or her loved one, like lovers,parents, friends, siblings. It does notnecessarily have to be related to the lovethat a boy has for a girl or vice-versa.

In India, which is in the pace ofjoining the list of developed countries, theprominence of Valentine’s Day is felt,especially in metro cities. It is also a hightime for commercial prospects along withthe advancements in education, scienceand technology, the hug of extravaganceand modernization has bitten the younggeneration of India too, so the questionsarises whether ‘Valentine’s Day’ shouldbe declared as a gazette holiday? Coming to the discourse aboutgazette holidays ,these are the holidaysannounced by the government of the state, or in short these are the official holidays,like in our country, we have Independence

Day, Republic Day etc. as gazetteholidays,

Hence plenty of disputes standregarding the concerned topic. IsValentine’s Day a really a relevant day?

Does it really deserve to be agazette holiday? Is it not a part of westernculture which we are blindly aping? Theseare mere questions which are critical andneed to the answered.

In a country like ours, where somuch of student and youth unrest, isprevalent, western fashion have alwaysbeen a matter of violence, vandalism andrampage even last year, the activities ofyouth association such as VHP, BajrangDal etc boycotted the carouse of 14th

February in the whole of Maharashtra.Incidents such as these reflect the socialsituation in India. The socio-economicbackground of our country is not strongenough to support such outbursts ofmodernization and westernization. Therefore, it can be imagined whatan outrage this declaration can cause.Another concern is regarding theimportance of this day, expression of loveis not limited to just one special day, andit is meant for each and every day so it isnot at all necessary to mark a separateday for this. What really matter is thegrimace and not the time or date. It isreally a matter of thought as to howsignificant is ‘Valentine’s Day’ in our lives?

In India, in spite of alladvancements there prevails blind faithirrational ignorance etc. so it is leastexpected among the lower stratum ofsociety to accept 14th of February as trulyequivalent to other gazette holidays. Hereeven public display of affection is a tabooto some extent, so how is it possible togive a gazette status to Valentine’s Day?

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Till date, the relevance of this day hasmostly been exerted on the educated andupper stratum of the society, in thisrespect, giving it a deserving gazetteholiday holds no ground, as majority ofIndians do not even know what it actuallysignifies.

Another very important issue is,why do we have to follow each and everytrend that the west practices? With theadvent of globalization and liberalization,so much of western culture has beenabsorbed by us that we value theirtraditions more than ours. Have we beenspoilt by their outer appearance?Celebrating Valentine’s Day is also a partof western culture which too we haveaped from them. By nature, man isfashion-loving. But aping others, withoutconsideration of our age old healthytraditions, cultural roots and heritage isnot desirable. We should not rejectanything new and novel in the name ofthe tradition nor should we accept itblindly. A certain trend may be posh, butnot necessarily always acceptable,appreciable or affordable.

St. Valentine is remembered onthe 14th February because of the eternaland undying love he had for a blind girl,but do we really find such people today?Today Valentine’s Day has merelybecome a reason to spend, enjoy, lazearound and do other unnecessaryactivities. In this content, it is not at allessential to have a public holiday on thisday.

We can by no means, comparethe emphasis of Valentine’s day to gazetteholidays, because it does not hold anyweight in regarding to the rich history ofboth the political and social streams ofIndia. We cannot consider it to be a day

of social or political interest and, declaringit as a gazette holiday will only sparkviolence and unrest in many parts of India.In most of the cities, moral policing isworking on a high note, and Valentine’sDay only intensifies the rage of the moralpolice.

It is not that Valentine’s Day hasgot only negative aspects. In fact, it is abeautiful and wonderful manner to showthat we really care for our loved ones, andto exaggerate their presence in our life. Itis also an opportunity for people who arein love and find it difficult to reveal theirfeelings to the person they are attractedto. It is a joyous time for all, the youngand the old alike. Everyone would like tospend some quality time with the personthey adore. In today’s life, where workroutines are so heavy that we can hardlyfind time to think about anything else. Itis a nice chance to relax and do what onereally enjoys doing-be with the personthey care for the most.

Just like a coin which has twosides, the significance of Valentine’s Dayalso has positive as well as negativeaspects. But it is required to havemoderation in everything one does.Indulging heavily into something can onlybe a wastage of time and can harm us.We can no doubt; relish the enticing spiritof the Valentine’s reason, but it does nothave to be the only concern. Likewise,the vivacity of Valentine’s Day should notbe damped totally, but also, it is not arequisite to declare it as a gazette holiday,because the terminology gazette holidayhas a vast and marked bearing.

MEHZEBIN SULTANAComputer Science, Batch of 2012

A good scientist is a person with original ideas. A good engineer is aperson who makes a design that works with as few original ideas aspossible. - Freeman Dyson

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NIT SILCHAR A DEEMED UNIVERSITY : ABOON OR A BANE

Our very own college is now an“Institute of National Importance ”. Addto this the fact that it is a DeemedUniversity and you realize that we thestudents of this prestigious institution arecrème-de-la-crème among the engineeringstudents passing out each year fromvarious technical colleges in India.

Students put in a lot of effort everyyear to crack AIEEE and get into thiscollege. Some get through while theunlucky ones try again the next year andso forth. While preparing for theexamination the students feel that thesyllabus is an abyss of knowledge. Theyput in all efforts and time to just get intothis academy.

But what happens after that? Howdoes it feel being a student in such a fineinstitute? Well, to be honest. In thebeginning it feels great. We feel we are atthe top of the world. But slowly reality setsin. We dread our seniors and then are afraidof the teachers who are all powerful in adeemed university. During the REC days astudent might have gotten away with theirnaughtiness and could have polished theirtroublemaking nature with practice. But notanymore, a student causing the least bit oftrouble is dealt with the stringiest rules andpunished heavily.

I do not support the fact thatstudents cause nuisance in the class. I alsodo not support the fact that a student shouldsuffer in his academics just because he wasmischievous in a class of some specificteacher. I do not say that the teachersshould not exercise their power; I too knowthat it is important to put some rein overthe students; but not in a way to ruin astudent’s career.

We the students of such anesteemed college are always hankeringabout the lean net hours which are beingcurtailed even further. If there are otherDeemed Universities which can providenet for additional hours; why are thestudents of our college deprived?

These are the few downsides of aDeemed University . Don’t get me wrong.I am not saying that studying in a DeemedUniversity is like living a curse. It has somegreat advantages as well.

Our college gets lots of funds fordevelopment and research. Since comingto this college I have seen an entire newdepartmental building being built. Similarly,new hostels were built; a lot of equipmentsare being bought for the laboratories andloads and loads of other stuff as well.

It can be attributed all to the factthat our college being a DeemedUniversity , we can participate in nationallevel inter-college sports meets which helpsus derive pleasure and experience (and notto forget, important certificates for oursCV’s) in our so mundane lives.

It might be that we enjoy a technicalfest and a cultural fest only because we arestudents of such a great institute, whichwould have been only a dream had we beenin some college of lesser repute.With this I would like to state that like everycoin has two sides; studying in NIT, Silchar,a Deemed University, too has someadvantages and a few disadvantages. Lifehere might seem to be gray but it is all upto us make it colourful.

ANANYA GHOSHCivil, Batch of 2010

�It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are afool than to open it and remove all doub

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CIVIL ENGINEERING MARVELS

Channel Tunnel ( England and France)

The 31-mile Channel Tunnel (Chunnel) fulfilled a centuries-old dream by linking Britainand the rest of Europe. More than a tunnel, it combines infrastructure and immensemachinery in an underwater system of unprecedented ambition. Three 5-feet thick concretetubes plunge into the earth at Coquelles, France, and burrow through the chalky basementof the English Channel. They re-emerge behind the white cliffs of Dover at Folkstone.Through two of the tubes rush the broadest trains ever built. The double decker behemoths,which span 14-feet across, traverse the tunnel at close to 100 mph. Passengers board noton foot, but in automobiles and buses. Maintenance and emergency vehicles utilize thethird tunnel, located between the rail tubes. Huge pistons open and close ducts, relievingthe pressure that builds ahead of the trains� noses. Some 300 miles of cold water pipingrun alongside the rail tracks to drain off the heat raised by the air friction.

CN Tower (Toronto)

The world�s tallest free-standing structure soars 1,815-feetabove the sidewalks of Toronto, three times the height ofits better-known cousin, the Seattle Space Needle. The CNTower, as heavy as 23,214 large elephants, was erected atan amazing rate of 18-feet per day. During construction,concrete flowed from the bottom of the tower as itascended, while aircraft-type bombsights kept the towerplumb as it went up. Today the tower is off by a mere 1.1-inch. Designed with the aid of a wind tunnel, the CN Tower can withstand 260-mph gusts.The SkyPod, a seven-story structure, 1,100-feet high, was built around the base of thetower and jacked into place as one unit. A pair of 10-ton counterweights is attached to themast to keep the tower from swaying too much. A Sikorsky helicopter hoisted the crowningantenna, for which the tower was originally erected. Radio signals are broadcast from thebase of the antenna, while television signals are sent from the top. Presently, 16 of Toronto�smedia signals are transmitted from the tower.

Empire State Building ( New York)

Measuring 1,250-feet high, the Empire State Building is thebest-known skyscraper in the world, and was by far thetallest building in the world for more than 40 years. Thebuilding�s most astonishing feat however, was the speed inwhich it rose into the New York City skyline. Constructionwas completed in only a year and 45 days, without requiringovertime. Ironworkers set a fervent pace, riveting the58,000-ton frame together in 23 weeks. Just below them,

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plumbers laid 51 miles of pipe, electricians installed 17-million ft. of telephone wire andmasons finished the exterior in only eight months. The building was so well engineeredthat, in 1945, it was easily repaired after a B-25 twin-engine bomber plane crashed into itin the dense fog. The precise choreography of the project revolutionized the tall buildingconstruction industry. Although it has been surpassed as the world�s tallest building, theEmpire State Building remains the standard against which all other skyscrapers have beenjudged for the last 65 years.

Golden Gate Bridge(San Francisco)

More than 66 years after its completion, the GoldenGate Bridge, once the world�s longest and tallestsuspension bridge, stands at the entrance of the SanFrancisco Bay as a beloved international icon. Hangingfrom two 746-foot-high towers, the bridge is suspendedby two massive main cables that contain 80,000 milesof wire and measure one yard in diameter. In fact, theGolden Gate Bridge cables contain enough wire to encircle the earth three times. To leapacross the mouth of an ocean harbor, something never before accomplished, civil engineersplanted one pier in the open sea, 1,100-feet from the shore. Construction crews bravedbiting cold, 70-mph gusts and dizzying heights to complete the bridge in only four years.The bridge combines engineering strength and beauty. It survived the 1989 Loma Prietaearthquake suffering no damage, and in 66 years the bridge has only been shut briefly(longest closure was 3 hours and 27 minutes) to traffic three times due to periods of highsustaining winds. A $400 million seismic retrofit, which will allow the bridge to withstanda nearby earthquake that measures 8.3 on the Richter scale, began in August 1997. Today,the Golden Gate Bridge remains one of the world�s most revered and photographed bridges.

ItaipuDam(Brazil)

Five-miles-wide and requiring enough concrete to build five Hoover Dams, the Itaipu Damspans the Parana River at the Brazil/Paraguay border. During its construction, workers shiftedthe course of the seventh largest river in the world by digging a 1.3-mile bypass. Toaccomplish this they had to remove 50 million tons of earth and rock. The main dam, ashigh as a 65-story building, is composed of hollow concrete segments; while the flankingwings are earth and rock fill. Enough iron and steel was used at Itaipu to build 300 Eiffel

Towers. Another marvel of Itaipu is its powerhouse.Measuring one-half-mile long, it is partially submergedand contains 18 hydroelectric generators, each 53-feetacross. Some 160-tons of water-per-second pour ontoeach turbine, generating 12,600-megawatts, enough topower most of California. Itaipu supplies 28 percent of allthe electric energy in Brazil�s south, southeast and central-west regions, and 72 percent of Paraguay�s total energyconsumption.

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Netherlands North Sea Protection Works(Netherlands)

This singularly unique, vast and complex system of dams,floodgates, storm surge barriers and other engineered worksliterally allows the Netherlands to exist. For centuries, thepeople of the Netherlands have repeatedly attempted to pushback the sea, only to watch brutal storm surges flood theirefforts, since the nation sits below sea level and its land massis still sinking. The North Sea Protection Works consists oftwo monumental steps the Dutch took to win their struggleto hold back the sea. Step one, a 19-mile-long enclosure dam,was built between 1927 and 1932. The immense dike, 100-yards thick at the waterline,collars the neck of the estuary once known as Zuiderzee. Step two, the Delta Project, wasintended to control the treacherous area where the mouths of the Meuse and Rhine Riversbreak into a delta. The project�s crowning touch was the Eastern Schelde Barrier, a two-mile barrier of tell gates slung between massive concrete piers, which fall only when storm-waters threaten. The North Sea Protection Works exemplifies the ability of humanity toexist side-by-side with the forces of nature.

Panama Canal( Panama)

The dream of Spanish conquistadors and the failed ambitionof famed French canal builder Ferdinand de Lesseps, thePanama Canal is one of civil engineering�s greatest triumphs.Under the direction of U.S. Col. George WashingtonGoethals, 42,000 workers dredged, blasted and excavatedthe path stretching from Colon to Balboa. They movedenough earth and rubble to bury the island of Manhattanto a depth of 12-feet, or enough to open a 16-foot-widetunnel to the center of the Earth. The canal was finished on time and within budget. Despitethis, after completion a challenge remained: How to tame the flood waters of the ChagresRiver, known to rise 25-feet in a single day during monsoon season? The engineers� solutionwas to erect a dam that, at the time, formed the world�s largest man-made lake. The Canaloperates as regularly today as it did in 1914. In each transit, 52 million gallons of freshwater is lost, but quickly replaced by Panama�s heavy rainfall. The canal remains a testamentto the combined skills of structural, geotechnical, hydraulic and sanitary engineers.

Engineers ... are not superhuman. They make mistakes in their assumptions, intheir calculations, in their conclusions. That they make mistakes is forgivable;that they catch them is imperative. Thus it is the essence of modern engineeringnot only to be able to check one�s own work but also to have one�s work checkedand to be able to check the work of others.- Henry Petroski

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Down the Memory Lane I had an inauspicious start at NITS as Ialong with some ill-fated guys like me got alate summon from NIT Silchar. I startedclasses almost 15 days late being not verysure of my branch, attending lectures with theElectrical Batch. Finally we the ‘outsiders’ gota call for a ‘Fresher welcome’ at CET. I remindthat I refer to a time when the Supreme Courtdid ‘not’ ban Ragging specifically and anythingthat brought relief from the suffocating routinegave us great relief and delight. There for thefirst time I could see my branch mates withwhom I was destined to do my B-tech. Therewe saw our seniors including some whochanged the way NIT Silchar thought. At thattime we were referred to as Royal civilengineers and we were quite oblivious of thereason, Civil being reckoned as one of thelesser branches. To be specific Civil was thelast choice amongst all branches. As a proofthose with better grades from Civil switchedto the branches that they thought to be morepromising and offered white colored jobs. Irecon it was a time when the IT balloonseemed as if it could only grow bigger. The start of the 3rd semester wasinteresting as a heterogeneous group were tostudy together. We got our first lessons of coresubjects. Mr. PJ Roy was trying his best tomake us understand the basic equationsdescribing the elastic behaviour of materials.PJ Roy Sir was not only lucid in his approachbut was also quick to make friends with us.It’s easier said about Civil than done, that Civilstands for Corruption Is Vital In L ife. Ourevergreen Dibakar Sir made us realize thisconcept pretty fast. I wouldn’t say the semesterworkload was hectic then but still most of ourbatch mates took the ‘survey labs’ rathercasually, ignorant to its importance in a Civilengineers life. We don’t have survey campsunlike many leading institutes, perhaps dueto the vast expanse of explicit landscape andits varied features at our disposal in thecampus itself. It’s a rule here in our branchthat times only become tougher, with theworkload designed to increase gradually from3rd semester up to 7th semester or 8th semester. It was 4th sem and Civil was unfurling its

beauty like a peacock during rains. Surveyingtook the next level and Fluid Mechanics‘flowed’ into our course. But what gave realpanic was Geology with all its intricacies. Thememory of the eve of Geology Lab still givesus a cold shudder. If the best thing of thissemester was Dr. M. Ali’s lectures onTransportation then I must admit the worstthing that happened was the fuss centering alady teacher. I remember it was a time whenthere was severe scarcity of water in thecampus and the new water supply schemewasn’t commissioned. There was generalrestlessness in the classroom and the teacherconcerned was struggling to maintain thedecorum. To make things worse the mid-semmarks of the concerned course were belowpar and so were the attendances. All of asudden she spotted a guy who was sniggering(not a guffaw) and copying down notes fromsome others copy of a different subject. Hewas asked to leave the class and after beggingmercy he followed suit. Even after that thecrowd didn’t keep quiet and the teacher quittedthe class and reported the HOD. To makethings worse some ‘wise’ guys named a fewof the ‘good’ students and they volunteered toclaim responsibility for all the chaos. The ‘wise’guys showed enormous character but theshow didn’t run long and the next day the‘good’ boys aptly removed their names. Finallythree guys were made scapegoats. Thisincident had a lasting impact and we as a batchfailed to unite after that. Perhaps I am toocandid to accept the truth in writing but hardlyanyone can disagree with this.But that didn’t stop any one from doinganything. Like a few of us chose ‘life partners’.Others were happy to make friends, in termsof preferences like- those who had shortattendance, similar grades, same hostel, orwish to bunk classes. Thus, formed the ‘proxy’syndicate which dared to operate in almost allempty classrooms. This allowed its membersto take more and longer naps in hostels andthe choice of lectures. Now we were in thirdyear and as said earlier the workloadincreased. Structural Analysis and StructuralDesign entered our course and it was real

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testing time for the blossoming techies. Wewere the last batch to have Rajib Sir’s lecturesbefore he switched to IIT Guwahati. The wholebatch would remain indebted to him not onlyfor his concise and meticulous lectures onStructural Analysis and Hydraulics but also thediscipline that he inculcated. Lectures becameexhaustive, assignments became harder andthe semester exams gave sleepless nights. Irecon the system of continuous exams withouta day’s gap unless it’s a lucky Sunday made ittougher. There is an uncanny coincidence ofexaminations and power cuts. Just imagineour condition, as generator sets weren’tinstalled by that time and the searing Silcharsummers took toll on our lives.What added spice to our sordid existenceduring 3rd year was the selection of T&P cellof our batch. From student perspectivePlacement cell selection is the mostcontentious issue in our institute if not the mostimportant. It decides our fate as professionalsand there is huge expectations regarding itsperformance. Traditionally its selectioninvolves wide speculation regarding theprocedure itself, let alone nominations ofcandidates. Three rounds of eliminations wereheld. First one round of informal electionswithin the class for representatives was held.Second was the selection on the basis of ashort address by the nominated candidatesin front of the whole batch in the presence ofthe faculty-in-charge. Lastly there was a voteout within the class of the selected candidates.This is the time when the whole batch remainsvery busy discussing the aforesaid thing, inhostels, college or co-op. The enthusiasmsoon dies when the T&P ‘volunteers’ are finallyselected and after that each action, step ordecision of the cell is put under the scannerand seldom praised. Whatever be the case,given the current market conditions the T&Pcell of our batch has done a commendablejob in case of both training and placements.In the final year we were having the best

teachers of the Department taking our classes.The course became very practical withPowerPoint presentations and projects.Whatever limited scope we have in Silchar ourHOD, Dr. AK Dey made full use of it. We wentfor Industrial visits to the local Paper Mill andCement Factory. We went for a spectacularsite visit in the neighboring landslide proneSonapur area where Border RoadsOrganization has constructed a tunnel. Wewere the first batch of NITS to host tecNOESIS– the first-ever technical fest, which was agrand success. The fest had a separatechapter for Civil and there should be specialmention for the laudable effort the Civil guyshad put in.Finally if I am asked that whether I am happyor not being a final year student of CivilEngineering, NIT Silchar, with only days leftto pass out from this place, I won’t waste timeto say YES I AM GLAD. This is not only for ajob like most of us has but also the kind ofinteraction we had with our faculty, those whowere kind and compassionate and treated usrespectfully. For also the kind of richexperience we had interacting with studentsfrom various corners of India and the beautifullandscapes of our campus. I remember whenwe were in the first year the institute didn’t evenhad a complete boundary wall. The water crisisused to be severe and the power conditionwas worse. There used to be no Internetconnection in the hostels and the hostels wereitself in a mendicant condition. Things havechanged by leaps and bounds, but the processhas been at times painfully slow. TheDepartment and the Institute has a long wayto go to be reckoned as centers of technicalexcellence and one cannot rule out the activeinvolvement of the student fraternity (both thecurrent and alumni) for realizing the same.

“VIVE-LA –NIT SILCHAR”

ANIRUDDHA GHOSHCivil, Batch of 2009

Engineering is the art of modelling materials we do not wholly understand,into shapes we cannot precisely analyse so as to withstand forces we cannotproperly assess, in such a way that the public has no reason to suspect theextent of our ignorance. - Dr AR Dykes, British Institution of StructuralEngineers, 1976

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The Journey So Far�

I had always been told that ambitionslead people to great heights. But as a child Ihad always been caught by different fantasiesand had so many desires that I lost myself.As far as I remember my first aim was to be asoldier, after seeing one of my elder brothers.From there it went through different fields as,doctor, engineer, businessman, fashiondesigner blah blah.... Now I am here at NITSilchar studying Civil Engineering, which Inever dreamt of. Whatsoever, destiny takesus to such places which we never thought.

I managed to get a seat in CivilEngineering department after the muchdreaded entrance exams. After travelling for12 hrs by bus in the midst of picturesqueenvironment surrounded by beautiful hills,covered with white clouds, lash greenpastures, trees, tea gardens, huge coalreserves and many other things capable ofmaking the journey a memorable one forwhole life (of course, if we keep aside the dailytraffic jams and accidents aside). We arrivedat our campus and boarded our hostels. Herewe met many new students coming fromalmost every parts of the country giving aperfect feeling of national integrity. We werebeaming with joy about thinking that we wouldstay together for at least four years of studentlife in gorgeous hostels.

From next day our 1st semester classesstarted. Though the fear of ragging alwayshaunted us, we were determined to go throughevery obstacle to materialize our dreams. Thefirst semester went on understanding theprinciples of Lasers, the boring long theoriesof Hamiltonian, working of different chemicalreactions etc. Mathematics gave us somerelief from these freaking theories. Butprogramming took the toll on all of us. Thoughmost of the topics were familiar we wererequired to just brush up our knowledge. Thesemester went on smoothly being familiar with

new boys and girls, getting prepared forsemester exams etc.

With the start of the second semesterthere was the excitement of college festival‘Incandescence’. KK’s performance and therock show rocked every music lover of ourcollege. Nothing great happened for the restof the semester and life continued as usual.After the semester some of our batch mateschanged their branches. Also some studentsfrom other branches joined us. As the third sem. came we got to studyour branch subjects like Structural Analysis,and Building Materials which though wereboring but of tremendous value. We gotfamiliar with our new branch teachers and gotto learn a lot. By this time a new LAN gamecalled counter strike attracted the attention ofalmost all of us. In the C.S. tournament almostevery one tried to show their skill.

Fourth semester went on as like the third,with usual classes. C.S, INCANDESCENCE,all kept us busy and the semester went onwith a flash. The fifth semester came withclasses like Structural Design and Analysis,Planning, and we got to do the real jobs whichof a Civil Engineer and it gave moreconfidence and equipped us with advancedknowledge so that we do well in the long run.

Now we are in the sixth semester and lifewill go on as usual. I would like to describe mylife here as a journey by train in which we wereto cover eight stations. We already reachedsix stations and two more to go. After that weshall go on in different directions and pursuedifferent careers. But the six stations whichwe went through taught us many things andgave us rich collections of some beautifulmoments which we shall take with us to ourgraves.

ARNAB KUMAR ROYCivil, Batch of 2010

The joy of engineering is to find a straight line on a double logarithmicdiagram.

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HALF WAY THROUGH

The natural scenic beautyinvolving cows, goats, sheep &sophisticated architectural structuresblend in perfectly to provide the right mix,which is pleasing to the eye. The gentlewarmth in summer and serene cold inwinter bring with them a perennial breezeof cheer and content. Tolerant teachers,manageable workload and well-equippedlabs would enthrall any aspiringengineering student. But the underliningfactors in this institute which can really liftmy spirits and take them to a new highare my friends. Be it leisure time or examgloom, my colleagues are always there tohelp me through thick and thin.

Cliché though it may sound, I amtruly fortunate to be a part of my civilengineering batch. The unbound vitalityand spirit of adventure among us isamazing and infectious. I can confidentlystate that no other batch in our year hasventured into as many mass-bunks. Thenthere are those tutorial classes when someof us politely enter through the front doorand twenty minutes later, sign on theattendance sheet and stealthily slip out ofthrough the back door. Survey lab is mypersonal favourite – the only practical thingi have learned is that offset rods are greatfor practicing javelin throw. We get into the‘picnic mode’, setting ourselvescomfortably on the grass while exchangingany noteworthy incidents that occurredduring the week and planning the comingweekend. Getting into the bad books ofthe teacher is second nature to us. But itdoesn’t bother us to the slightest. At leastwe are better off than those nerds who askthe same doubts twice, hoping to hit the

jackpot with the lecturer by procuring anartificial aura of sincerity around them –“Sir, can you explain this topic again?”. “Sir,can I polish your shoes?” Now please donot misunderstand me. I too have doubtsand I too get them cleared by my mosthonourable teachers though in a lesspeculiar fashion. The above mentioned areextreme oddballs who stick likewallpapers.

Though you may label us a bunchof hedonists, we too have our own set ofprinciples on which we will never back out.Unity in adversity is our fundamental codeof law. When one of us gets caught whilesneaking a proxy, we never divulge thename of the culprit in spite of the teacher’scontinual insistence and threatening andthreatening demeanour. Selling out ourcomrade is considered an atrocious crime.

What is our ambition in life then?What do we aspire to accomplish? Life isviewed differently depending on theindividual’s personality. Some view life asa game of cards, you have to play bestthe hand you are dealt. Others think of lifeas a circus and treat every circumstanceas a joke. As for me, a phrase I picked upduring our civil fresher bash willpermanently be etched in my memory –“Life is a cup of ice-cream. Lick it before itmelts.” A similar line would be – ‘Make haywhile the sun shines.’ Most of us followthis philosophy seriously. And so we studyless and party hard, for these are the bestdays of our lives.

ZEESHAN MARTINCivil, Batch of 2011

Whilst surveying what do you think I did? - only what others havedone - fell in love! - Letter from Joseph Locke to Robert Stephenson

Quoted in A. Burton (1992) �The Railway Builders�

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Stepping into Tech world

The night seemed darker and thestars appeared so heavy that theyseemed a burden to the sky. Fitting myheadphones in the most convenient way,I grooved on to the music of my choiceon my brand new bed in a completely newenvironment. This very exercise was quitea measure to keep at bay some disturbinginfluences and evolving doubts. As somereliable sources had earlier specificallypointed out that music was life out here, Itoo followed suit. According to them, therewas nothing except movies and music thatcould make this place interesting orexciting. The faded paint of the academicbuilding, the fissures and cracks on theworn walls of the same had a similar storyto tell. I was about to start on anabsolutely new journey but the absenceof a proper entrance gate made it difficultfor me to see and tell where exactly mystart line was. The run for another fouryears was about to begin but suchconfirmatory details of the vividdrawbacks were enough to make merethink on my decision of joining agovernment college. This was never whatI had expected from a premier institutelike NIT Silchar.

The road to my new home, theRollicksome aka Hostel 6 rightly depictedthat life here was lived off the edge. Thewhole atmosphere seemed coherent to amilitary training program where resilienceand toughness were tested. On this veryfirst night, when I had been distanced frommy dear parents for the first time by anelement called engineering and anunstoppable entity called time, I foundmyself as the owner of a lonely heartseeking for consolation who wasdesperate for someone to calm him down.I was looking out for an answer in everypossible direction which could ensure me

that the choice of NIT Silchar was not theoutcome of a wrong decision of myeighteen years of life. Increasing thevolume of my Ipod did not help and newercrazy thoughts leaped into my mind as Ilied restless on my bed. These nascentthoughts reminded me of the road I hadjust traveled by. With approximations anderror corrections, it was nothing more thana patch of land augmented by stones andpebbles and sheltered by the dust bornewind. It took quite an effort for evenpedestrians to find their way. Justbecause motor vehicles could ply overthat barren piece of land, it was acceptedin public as a ‘ROAD’. The irony was thatI was here to become a civil engineer inthe next four years and such a badexperience of countless free jerks mademe seriously doubt on the integrity of theCivil Engineering Department and thestudents. With every tick of the clock, thenight turned scary with doubts shootingtheir arrows aimlessly. I now increasedthe volume to maximum, believing that itcould switch me to a new mood. Findingthis attempt unsuccessful to control mynerves, I switched off the lights and closedmy eyes firmly believing I could sleepdespite of the voluntary functioning of thedisturbed mind. And in the end thankfullyI could doze off.

At the very first ring of the alarm,I woke up. It was a new day, a newbeginning. I couldn’t have managedthings more quickly but I was sure that Iwould be running late. From the emotionalpoint of view, I was happy, really veryhappy with a slight fear running down myspine. After all there were evident reasonsfor my happiness. It was the last day ofmy exam, the last day of my life as a firstsemester engineering student. In the blinkof an eye, six long months had passed

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away. The six long months were just likea night’s sleep - You would have missedwatching your dreams, had you missedthe chance of spending these six monthsin NIT Silchar. These days in my calendarwere peaceful like mom’s lullaby and easygoing like the impulsive shutting of youreyes to blank out your tiredness andworries. I could not look back for glory orpride out in these six lost months. I mayhave not achieved anything huge in thesedays but I found home in NIT Silchar. Timedeveloped in me the greatest attachmentwith this institute. I could connect to whatmy teachers wanted from us and thehealthy interaction has made me growintellectually. I learnt the aspect ofpatience when I waited for the extremelyslow internet connection to help me

browse pages of knowledge and wisdom.Today, when I walk upon the same patchof land, I don’t curse my fate but I ratherdevelop in myself the faith that if I wantchanges, then I will have to take theresponsibility to bring in changes. Thefaded paint doesn’t disturb me anymorebut instills in me a belief that the upcomingengineer in me will be able to reform thesame. Life hasn’t quite changed. It is asit was before. Just one thing has changed.In the diary of my life, I can now proudlyscribble – I am an NITian, who has, in thewalk of his first semester, learnt to acceptthe bitter truths as challenges toovercome.

JUBARAJ JNANBIKASH BARUAH Civil, Batch of 2012

DID YOU KNOW

• The muscles in your heart have the strength to shoot your blood 10m in air.• Elephants are the only mammal that can�t jump.• The body�s strongest muscle is our tongue.• Statically people are more afraid of spiders than they are of dying.• All polar bears are left handed.• Crocodile can�t stick out their tongue.• Butterfly tastes with their feet.• A cockroach can live 9 days without its head. It only dies because it cannot

eat.• Each king on playing cards represent a Kings real story

Spades � King David.Clubs - Alexander the great.Hearts - Chalemagne.Diamonds � Julias Ceaser.

• Starfish have no brains• Thomas edition was afraid of dark.• It is impossible to suck your elbow.• During Historic civil wars when troops returned without any causalities a

writing was put up so all can see which read � 0 Killed�. From here we getthe expression �O.K� which means all is good.

qqqqqqqqqqqqqq

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A MESSAGE to MOONAlas the deciding final semester is nearing its end

Ironically my heart has started falling againSo I’ve got one last message to sendWhen for the first time I saw u last fall

I never knew loosing your sight would cost me a heavy tollThough unexpected, I was met with a mockWhen all I wanted to do was to have a talk

My deeds seem to have already decided the fate of mineBut I’ll wait, for my star is yet to shine

And I’ll wait till say butterfly hatches out of its cocoonTill then I’ll resist myself from yielding anytime soon

With every night ending with your thoughtsIt’s very little that I want from the day then

Since hoping is all I can doIt would be a great deal for me

If by any luck I could have a mere glance of youYou know I need timeTo get you off my mind

And I may sometime bother youTry to be in touch with youEven ask too much of you

From time to timeEvery now and then

You know I need a friendTill I get used to loosing youLet me keep on ringing youTill I can make it on my own

But no matter how I tryCertain times, to you when I try to call

Chances are my tears will fallAnd I have no pride at all

From time to timeAs they say, there will be a brighter day

But till then I keep on ringing youThat’s all I mean to do

Till I can make it on my ownSavouring every moment of the meeting we last had

For me the consequences turned out be more like sadEven though my heart got locked in GRAN TORINO just like that

When I think of calmness of a shimmering nightWith you I feel like having a dinner in candle light

And I don’t know why you feel kind of shyWhenever I happen to pass you by

For anything, it might have gotten quite lateEven then, with you

I will always look forward for a perfect date

Showing my contemptEach day I say to my doomed fate

Seems like it ain’t happening anytime soonBut I’ll wait

I will wait till it happensThat’s all I wanted you to know. MOON

EZEKIEL KOMCivil, Batch of 2009

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Aah! TajThe disastrous evening of WednesdayWhen the world was going on as usual,

Suddenly something happened unbelievableWhich made this Wednesday very terrible.

The people of India were plunged into terrorEveryone’s face showed a sign of horror.

The terrorists attacked the Taj hotelsEverybody prayed “Oh God, bless the mortals”.

The trident also was not sparedThe hue and cry rented the air.

Hundreds were trapped inside the building,The death toll was also rapidly mounting.

We should pray to God all the timeThe history should not repeat the same.

It is high time to get united andMake society free from this insane.

MANTOSH KUMAR PANDEY Civil, Batch of 2011

The SarcophagusEnduring like the sesame blossomsAre yellow stars upon the lifeless sky

The broken sarcophagus-No tears no prayers

Just lifeless those yearning eyes.The shards of life scattered awayThe withered leaves blown astray

Points of light burning from their sockets.

The joyless eyes desolate and crumblingThe very heart is decaying, buried

In the gauzy veil of feeble wanderingsA lonely moon in the murky skies

Mourning its doleful tollLamenting its widowed soul

RAJESH MISRA Civil, Batch of 2009

If you think education is expensive, try ignorance!-Andy McIntyre

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AloneI stand here; it’s a bridge of love

You’ve left me wondering in this desert stormI still think you’ll be here someday

To rub the illusions off my face!

I wonder how it’ll taste,When I’ll drink the truth full of tears!

Not a sign, not a single dropTo crop hatred into my fear!

Each pearl of sweat falling from my cheek,Each night that I cried all alone,How could be so deaf-eared?

After all the rivers dried, the moon has shown.

This heart knew how to breathe.It had a soul that was crushed and burnt!

The rotten smell of emptiness kills,Crying estranged, but no one feels…..

RANGAN MITRACivil, Batch of 2009

EngineersWe have sacrificed our sleep, our food; still people call us rude;

Our family and friends; who screw us in the end;No laughter, no joy; the world treats us like a toy;

Only sorrow and pains; is what we ever gain.

Girls think we are too complex, compared to the restBut when they are shown the money, we become the best;

For four years we have suffered, the torture proofs;Ask us his name and what he taught, and we go “Cough, cough”.

But there is more to us than the obvious, than what you have ever seen;I bet you ain’t lived the life, that we’ve seen;

Hostel life has been amazing, a complete roller coaster ride;A group of friends and four pegs of Vodka, is all it takes to go wild.

Mass bunking classes and playing CS till 4 in the morning;Running after the girls to flirt, will we ever stop trying?!!

Whatever one may say, we will never forget these wonderful years,‘coz after all, we are ENGINEERS!

RATISH RAMACHANDRANCivil, Batch of 2012

�A poem begins in delight and ends in wisdom.�

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Bereft SoulYour moist eyes clearly reveal

The pain you feelBuried deep in your heart

The enigma you quietly conceal.I can hardly tolerate

The lonesomeness youencounter.

My heart wailsTo see you wandering

In the wilderness ofAbandoned souls,

To see you loiteringThrough lonely lanes

Your tranquility speaksAway your grief

And it hurts me, hurts meDeep down my heart.Oh! I would better die

Than hear your aggrieved cries.Pray, tell me,

Why did you desert me?I could neither die nor live,

Please help me out,Out of the well of accursed souls.

I want to be yours, only yoursAnd get lost

In your world of love,Serene love…..

DIPANKAR DAS Civil, Batch of 2010

Foreseeable FutureReckoning the future ahead

While lying on my bedI know the future is unpredictable.

But I need to be stable.Got to turn my own dream

Into a real bright beamFor the beaming future to flourish

I need myself to nourish.So hold on…….

I know I am in the raceAnd hurdles I have to face.

No matter what I have to payI am on my own way.

With my own planTo be a perfect man

I know I have to travel the mileBut, in my own style

So, don’t wanna brood about the future much‘Coz life is such…

That’s to be peppered with prudenceMoulded with confidence

Embraced with a great zealSo make if a handsome dear

‘Coz I know the victory is mine.Ensuring that I will shine.

ALEKHJIT HAZARIKA Civil, Batch of 2010

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I Laugh Only to Hide My TearsStanding in the mid of crowd,

You see me, laughing out loud…People around are having fun and fair

And ‘m sure, you think ‘m too involved over there…

You look at me with those gloomy eyesAnd I don’t ever give a response to youBut please don’t turn and move away,

‘Coz I want you here, no matter how I behave…

Oh, I want you to know, ‘m not what it appears…Of course baby, I laugh to hide my tears…

May be, what I do is not a thing you expect,‘Coz the time we spend together, is not a thing to forget,And now, don’t say my act leaves down on the floor….

‘Coz the situations are really not under my control.

I never thought I would feel the way I doBut I confess, I can’t really live without you

Just come to me and hold my hand….Oh please! Listen to me for the last time…

Oh! I want you to know, ‘m not what it appears…‘Coz baby, I laugh to hide my tears…….

DURGESH SINGH Civil, Batch of 2012

Our Parents SacrificesMother is the oneWho gives us birth

Cares for us, love us muchHungry she remains, feeds us but.

Father is one, who thinks for us,Toils hard and earns for us,Works for us day and night,

To make our future glittering bright.

How much they do, we can’t count,Gratitude should match Everest mount,

When they are old, infirm and lone,Serve them, love them, return the loan.

AJAY KUMARCivil, Batch of 2012

A poem begins as a lump in the throat, a sense of wrong, a homesickness,a lovesickness. It finds the thought and the thought finds the words.�

- Robert Frost

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Interminable LoveBloweth a gust of wind over my head

And bloweth my hat with it.My hair to stand erect it made,

Refreshing my mind and physique.

A wave of satisfaction runs through my body,Filling my heart with passion.

The world seems a world of ingenuityWith my heart singing in infatuation.

My heart flies in intense loveBeing ablaze with excitement.Love seems to be my life’s hub

With me longing for the beatitude, scant.

The breeze doth carry with itSpiritual gaiety and fancied thoughts adequate.

Love’s candle in the heart it lit,Trapping everybody in its messy bait.

Ineffable feelings subjugate my heartAnd make me a slave forever.

Love only quenches my soul’s thirst.Love, love for who I revere.

My love’s no infatuation but devotion,Without love I seem to lose all existence.

I seem to break all oppositionAnd vault all fence.

Charged with passion, I reach a landWhere love’s all around.

And there get reduced to sand.To perceive leaving no sound.

DIPANKAR DAS Civil, Batch of 2010

A Liar

Obelisk of your pride glows nowhere,Because you live as a liar;Lie, Lie, Lie is everywhere,

As human knowledge isn’t pure.What he knows as familiar,There is wrong somewhere.

All of those he is taught,Are not real but human brought.

As his own scholar teacher,Himself as a child as a learner,

He is in the universe a little creature,Can’t find the truth hidden under.No one knows who is the creator?

And the real meaning of this empire.

RUPAM RAYCivil, Batch of 2010

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The Road AheadWhen everything is dark and gloomy

And all you feel is pending doomWhen your bones are racked with grim despair

When every breath is a gasp for airKeep on going, though you need to take count of your wary footsteps

For around the bend is a dint of light, a ray of hopeA modicum of hope that’s all left

As your will to live has been bereftYou’ve lost it all, it’s just no use!

You can end it all, you need no excuseLife’s meaningless now yet,

Why not give yourself a chance of hope?Brushing aside what thoughts might question

You can leave behind the past to give it a new startAnd every passing minute stands for a new hope

Build your dreams with hopesThough the road be rocky and hard to climb.

KALYANI SINGH SEJWARCivil, Batch of 2012

DIFFERENCE OF OUR AMBIGIOUSFEELINGS BETWEEN LIKE & LOVE

In the presence of the one we like, we feel happy,But in the presence of the one we love, our heart beats faster.In the presence of the one we like, winter is like a loving winter,But in the presence of the one we love, winter looks like spring.

If we look into the eyes of one we like, we simply smile.But if we look into the eyes of one we love, we glow.

In front of the person we like, we can express ourselves.But in front of the person we love, we can’t.

The one we like is just present for us,But the one we love comes into our mind every second

When the one we like cries before us, we give them moral strengthBut when the one we love cries before us, we also cry with them .

The feeling of like can be describe,But the feeling of love is inexpressible.

ROHAN KARCivil, Batch of 2010

�A poet never takes notes. You never take notes in a love affair.� - Robert Frost

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GreatestThe greatest need is common sense.The greatest blessing is good health.

The greatest mistake is giving up.The greatest joy is being needed.

The victory is victory over self.The greatest loss is loss of self confidence.

The greatest fool is the man who lies to himself.

SNEHAKANTA Civil, Batch of 2012

FailureFailure doesn’t mean you are a failure,

It means you did not succeed.Failure doesn’t mean you accomplished nothing,

It means you have learned something.Failure doesn’t mean you are inferior,It means you haven’t given your best.

Failure doesn’t mean you have wasted your life,It means you have a reason to start afresh.Failure doesn’t mean you have to give up,

It means you have to try harder.Failure doesn’t mean you will never get it,

It means it will take a little longer.Failure doesn’t mean God has abandoned,

It means God has a better way for you. SUDHA KESHRI

Civil, Batch of 2010.

�Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought hasfound words.�

In Belgium, Civil Engineer (abbreviated Ir) (Ingénieur Civil in French,Burgerlijk Ingenieur in Dutch) is a legally protected title applicable tograduates of the five-year engineering course of one of the sixuniversities and the Royal Military Academy. Their specialty can beall fields of engineering: civil, structural, electrical, mechanical,chemical. This use of the title may cause confusion to the Englishspeaker as the Belgian �Civil� engineer can have a specialty other thancivil engineering. In fact, Belgians use the adjective �Civil� as anopposition to military engineers. � EdCrew

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We Civilians

Brick, concrete and layers of stones.

Large sometimes rusted-the iron bones.

Building large, and buildings small.

Shady alleys and the odd faded wall.

Dusty roads and the wide straight streets.

Aggregates on roads, dancing to civilian beats.

Working hands and shuffling feet…

Tired minds, rested in hollow meet.

Blood, chains and shades of grey

A shadow of utopia? Perhaps, but not today.

Shadows of failure in hopeful eyes,

With broken, beaten and painful smiles.

Twisted trees and wilted flowers

Frozen dead in times past wasted hours.

Sorrow, joy and screams of pain

Sold off for some fateful gain.

RANGAN MITRA

Civil, Batch of 2009

Civil Engineering is the art of directing the great sources of Power in Nature forthe use and convenience of man; being that practical application of the mostimportant principles of natural Philosophy which has in a considerable degreerealized the anticipations of Bacon, and changed the aspect and state of affairs inthe whole world. The most important object of Civil Engineering is to improve themeans of production and of traffic in states, both for external and internal Trade.This applied in the construction and management of Roads - Bridges - Rail Roads- Aqueducts - Canals - river navigation - Docks, and storehouses for the convenienceof internal intercourse and exchange; - and in the construction of Ports - Harbours- Moles - Breakwaters - and Lighthouses, and in the navigation by artificial Powerfor the purposes of commerce.

- Thomas Tredgold Charter of the British Institution of Civil Engineers

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Don�t Ask Me Not To Love UI m not really begging u to love me,

I am not really asking u.But isn’t it alright,

If I cherish that hope in my heart.If I dream of holding your hand,

It will hurt me,Not u.

I will keep my eyes from smiling,When they see u.And I PROMISE,

I will not smile a special smile,When u say hello.

But plz,Don’t ask Me,

Not to LOVE U. BABLA ROY

Civil, Batch of 2010

HOPEAs the darkness lightly descend,

Dim shadows of memories haunt me,The past resurfaces as the grey cloud,

Float past the pale green moon,Golden flames lick my skin,

Enveloping me in a careless embrace,As the scarlet flesh withers cold,

The soul flower blooms pure as gold.Gone are the lonely days,

When I sat solitary by the lake,Hand in hand with you,

I know I’ll learn to dream again. ANINDITA TAMULI

Civil , Batch of 2012

While on holiday in South Africa, my parents befriended a local fisherman. Oneof his big concerns in life was that wild baboons kept ripping the mirrors andwipers off his car while he was at work.Then he thought of a solution.Baboons were scared of snakes, he reasoned, so why not put rubber replicas on hiscar to warn them off? Next morning, he parked his car and arranged 12 large fakesnakes on the bonnet and roof.There was a flaw in his cunning plan, however. When he returned to his vehicleseveral hours later, he found it badly dented and battered�and a crowd of angrybaboons throwing rocks at the snakes. - Ian Evans

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Sir M. Visvesvaraya �the father of Civil Engineering in India

Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya, popularly andaffectionately known as Sir M.V., was born onSeptember 15, 1860 in a village known asMuddenahalli in Chikballapur Taluk, Kolar District.His father died in Kurnool when Visvesvaraya wasjust 15 years old. Visvevaraya completed his lowersecondary schooling in Chikballapur. After schoolinghe joined Central College in Bangalore for hisgraduation. He lead a very simple life. He was a strictvegetarian and a teetotaler. He would go to sleep by10 P.M. and wake up at 6 A.M. His diet included avery light breakfast, two slices of bread or chappatis,vegetables without spices, rasam, curds, Nanjangudbananas for lunch. He was known for his honestyand integrity. Before accepting the position of Dewanof Mysore, he invited all his relatives for dinner. Hetold them very clearly that he would accept theprestigious office on the condition that none of themwould approach him for favours. Such things areunheard of these days.

Some of the job positions he held were

1. Assistant Engineer, Bombay Government Service [in 1884]2. Chief Engineer, Hyderabad State [he served only for 7 months starting April 15, 1909]3. Chief Engineer in Mysore State [Nov 15, 1909]. He was also Secretary to the Railways.4. President of Education and Industrial Development committees in Mysore State5. Dewan of Mysore. [for six years starting 1912]6. Chairman, Bhadravati Iron Works7. Member of the Governing Council of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore8. Member of the Governing Council of Tata Iron and Steel Company [TISCO]9. Member of Back Bay enquiry committee, London.10. Member of a committee constituted in 1917 to make recommendations regarding the

future of Indian States.

Sir M.V. retired in 1908 and Sri Krishnarajendra Wodeyar, Maharaja of Mysore, was eager tosecure the services of Visvesvaraya to serve Mysore. He joined as Chief Engineer in Mysorebecause he wanted challenging opportunities. Sir M.V. had earned a reputation for his honesty,integrity, ability and intelligence. He had introduced compulsory education in the State whichlater was embodied as a fundamental right in the Constitution of independent India.

To name few of the many things he was responsible for:

1. Architect of the Krishnarajasagara dam - or KRS or Brindavan gardens (PS:Unfortunately the Government officials of today are busy swallowing money anddefaming the beautiful gardens) One of the biggest dams in India which irrigates ahundred and twenty thousand acres of land.

2. Bhadravati Iron and Steel Works - as its Chairman he rescued it from becoming extinct.3. Mysore Sandal Oil Factory and the Mysore soap factory

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4. Mysore University - Sir M.V.’s question was “If Australia and Canada could haveuniversities of their own for less than a million population, cannot Mysore with apopulation of not less that 60 lakhs have a University of its own?” (PS: Today more andmore colleges are being started, but for a different reason - to make MONEY!)

5. State Bank of Mysore (it was first named The Bank of Mysore)6. Public libraries in Mysore and Bangalore7. Encouraging girls to attend school.8. Mysore Chamber of Commerce9. Kannada Sahitya Parishad or the Kannada Literary Academy10. Sri Jayachamarajendra Occupational Institute, Bangalore - funded by the ENTIRE money

[Rs 2 lakhs] he earned from rescuing Bhadravati Iron Works (Modern Politicians -please learn something from Sir M.V.)

Sir M.V. was never interested in fame or publicity. But they came to him on their own. Everyuniversity in India sought him out to confer HONORIS CAUSA like the universities ofAllahabad, Andhra, Bombay, Calcutta, Jadhavpur, Mysore, Patna and Varanasi.

Some of the honours and laurels conferred on Sir M.V.,

1904 Honorary Membership of London Institution of Civil Engineers for an unbroken period of 50 years

1906 "Kaisar-i-Hind" in recognition of his services

1911 C.I.E. (Companion of the Indian Empire) at the Delhi Darbar

1915 K.C.I.E. (Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire)

1921 D.Sc. - Calcutta University

1931 LLD - Bombay University

1937 D. Lit - Benaras Hindu University

1943 Elected as an Honorary Life Member of the Institution of Engineers (India)

1944 D.Sc. - Allahabad University

1948 Doctorate - LLD., Mysore University

1953 D. Lit - Andhra University

1953 Awarded the Honorary Fellowship of the Institute of Town Planners, India

1955 Conferred ' BHARATHA RATNA '(The gem of India), the highest distinction of the country

1958 'Durga Prasad Khaitan Memorial Gold Medal' by the Royal Asiatic Society Council of Bengal

1959 Fellowship of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore

Sir M.V. belongs to that small band of eminent Indians whose ideas and achievements havebeen among the truly creative and formative force of modern India. Sir M.V.’s slogan wasIndustrialize or Perish and Mahatama Gandhiji’s view was Industrialize and Perish. In 1921Gandhiji launched his non-cooperation movement which Sir M.V. did not agree with. Sir M.V.wrote to Gandhiji urging him to be dressed well in view of the upcoming Round Table Conference.Sir M.V. used to be immaculately dressed.

The centenary of the birth of Sir M.V. was celebrated in Lal Bagh in Bangalore. Prime MinisterNehru flew down to Bangalore by a special plane to honour the greatest son of India. SriJayachamaraja Wodiyar presided over the function.

Sir. M.V. died on April 12, 1962 at the age of 102 years, 6 months and 8 days. As per his wish,he was cremated in his birth place, Muddanahalli.

Collected and edited byAniruddha Ghosh (Reference:-Wikipedia � the free encyclopedia)

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¡’ Ãã„UÊ ⁄U„UŸ ∑§Ê ÁŒ‹ øÊ„UÃÊ „ÒU,¡’ ‚ÊflŸ ÷Ë L§‹Ê ¡ÊÃÊ „ÒU–

¡’ ∑ȧ¿U ∑§„UŸ ∑§Ê ÁŒ‹ ∑§⁄UÃÊ „ÒU,¡’ ÁŒ‹ ¬⁄U ∑ȧ¿U ’‚ Ÿ„UË¥ ø‹ÃÊ „ÒU–

Ã’ ÁŒ‹ ◊¥ ’‚ ∞∑§ „UË ‚flÊ‹ •ÊÃÊ „ÒU,•ÊÁπ⁄U ÄÿÊ¥ ¬„U‹Ê åÿÊ⁄U ¬È⁄UÊ Ÿ„UË¥ „UÊ ¬ÊÃÊ „ÒU–

ÖÿÊÁà ∑ȧ◊Ê⁄U•c≈U◊ •œ¸flÊÁ·¸∑§Ë, ŸÊª⁄U •Á÷ÿ¢òÊáÊ

‚ÿʟʇʄU⁄UÊ¥ ◊¥ ∑§Ê⁄UπÊŸ „UÊ ªÿ,ªÊ¢fl ◊¥ Ÿÿ ¡◊ÊŸ „UÊ ªÿ,Á¡¢ŒªË ∑§ ‚»§‹ ◊¥ ¬ÃÊ Ÿ„UË¥ ø‹Ê,„U◊ ∑§’ ‚ÿÊŸ „UÊ ªÿ?

•÷Ë ÃÊ ÁªÀ‹Ë-«¢U«UÊ π‹Ã Õ,•÷Ë ÃÊ ÃÊ‚-¬ûÊ π‹Ã Õ,¬⁄U •’ ‚Ê⁄U •»§‚ÊŸÊ¥ ∑§ Ã⁄UÊŸ „UÊ ªÿ,Á¡¢ŒªË ∑§ ‚»§⁄U ◊¥ ¬ÃÊ Ÿ„UË¥ ø‹Ê,„U◊ ∑§’ ‚ÿÊŸ „UÊ ªÿ?

flÊ ŸflÊŒÿ ∑§Ë ◊SÃË, •ÊÒ⁄U •◊Ÿ ∑§Ê ¡Ê◊,flÊ ‡ÊÊÁ∑§⁄U ∑§Ë ‡ÊÊÿ⁄UË •ÊÒ⁄U ‡ÊÁ‡Ê ∑§Ë ‡ÊÊ◊,‚’ ∑§ ‚’ ’ªÊŸ „UÊ ªÿ,Á¡¢ŒªË ∑§ ‚»§⁄U ◊¥ ¬ÃÊ Ÿ„UË¥ ø‹Ê,„U◊ ∑§’ ‚ÿÊŸ „UÊ ªÿ?

‡Ê„U⁄UÊ¥ ◊¥ ∑§Ê⁄UπÊŸ „UÊ ªÿ,ªÊ¢fl ◊¥ Ÿÿ ¡◊ÊŸ „UÊ ªÿ,Á¡¢ŒªË ∑§ ‚»§‹ ◊¥ ¬ÃÊ Ÿ„UË¥ ø‹Ê,„U◊ ∑§’ ‚ÿÊŸ „UÊ ªÿ?

‚¢¡ÿ ∑ȧ◊Ê⁄UøÃÈÕ¸ •œ¸’ÊÁ·¸∑§Ë, ŸÊª⁄U •Á÷ÿ¢òÊáÊ

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‡ÊÊÿ⁄UËÅflÊ’ ß‚ Ã⁄U„U •¬Ÿ Á’π⁄U ¡Êÿ¥ª,∑§÷Ë ‚ÊøÊ Ÿ ÕÊ, flÊ ◊È∑§⁄U ¡Êÿ¥ª–............................................Ÿ„UË¥ ©Uê◊ËŒ ÕË ©UŸ‚ ∞‚Ë „U◊¥,‚ÊÕ ªÒ⁄UÊ¥ ∑§ flÊ ÿÍ¢ Ÿ¡⁄U •Êÿ¥ª–............................................„U◊∑§Ê ø‹ŸÊ ¬«∏UªÊ ÿÍ¢ ©UŸ∑§ ’ªÒ⁄U,ÄÿÊ π’⁄U ÕË ∞‚ ‚»§⁄U •Êÿ¥ª–............................................•ÊÁ‡ÊÿÊ ∞∑§ ’ŸÊà •ª⁄U „UÊÃË π’⁄U,ª◊ ∑§ ’ÊŒ‹ ∑§÷Ë ß‚ ∑§Œ⁄U ¿UÊÿ¥ª–............................................©UŸ∑§ ÉÊ⁄U ‚ ¡Ê Á◊‹ flÊ «Uª⁄U ¿UÊ«∏U ŒË,¡ÊŸ ÷≈U∑§ ∑§Œ◊ •’ Á∑§œ⁄U ¡Êÿ¥ª–............................................‚ÊÕ Á◊‹ ¡Êÿ ©UŸ∑§Ê •’ ÷Ë •ª⁄U,„U⁄U ÃÍ»§Ê¢ ‚ „U◊ ªÈ¡⁄U ¡Êÿ¥ª–

•◊Îà ∑ȧ◊Ê⁄U Á‚¢„U,·c∆U◊ •œ¸flÊÁ·¸∑§Ë, ÿÊ¢ÁòÊ∑§Ë •Á÷ÿ¢òÊáÊ

∞∑§ •◊Ë⁄U ‹«∏U∑§Ë ∑§Ê School ◊¥ ª⁄UË’ ¬Á⁄UflÊ⁄U pe Essay Á‹πŸ ∑§Ê ∑§„UÊ ªÿÊ–Essay :∞∑§ ª⁄UË’ ¬Á⁄UflÊ⁄U ÕÊ, Á¬ÃÊ ª⁄UË’, ◊Ê° ª⁄UË’, ’ìÊ ª⁄UË’.¬Á⁄UflÊ⁄U ◊¥ 4 ŸÊÒ∑§⁄U Õ, flÊ ÷Ë ª⁄UË’.Car ÷Ë ≈ÍU≈UÃË „ÈUß Scorpio ÕË.©UŸ∑§Ê ª⁄UË’ «UÊßfl⁄U ’ìÊÊ¥ ∑§Ê ©U‚Ë ≈ÍU≈UÃË Car ◊¥ School ¿UÊ«∏U ∑§ •ÊÃÊ ÕÊ.’ìÊÊ¥ ∑§ ¬Ê‚ ¬È⁄UÊŸ N95 Mobile Õ.’ìÊ „Uçà ◊ Á‚»§ 3 ’Ê⁄U „UË Hotel ◊¥ πÊà Õ.ÉÊ⁄U ◊¥ ∑§fl‹ 4, 2nd Hand A.C. Õ.‚Ê⁄UÊ ¬Á⁄UflÊ⁄U ’«∏UË ◊ÈÁ‡∑§‹ ‚ ∞‡Ê ∑§⁄U ⁄U„UÊ ÕÊH

‹Ê∑§‡Ê ∑ȧ◊ÊflÃ,ÁmÃËÿ •œ¸flÊÁ·¸∑§Ë, ‚¢ªáÊ∑§ •Á÷ÿ¢òÊáÊ

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Ãã„UÊ߸ÿÊ∞‚Ë ‡ÊÊ◊ …U‹ÃË ÕË, ÿÊŒ Ã⁄UË •Êß,πÈ‡Ê’È Ã⁄UË „UflÊ•Ê¥ ◊¥, ⁄UÊ‡ÊŸË •Ê‚◊Ê ◊¥ ¿UÊß,‹Á∑§Ÿ ÿ ÅflÊ’ ÕÊ,ß‚◊¥ ◊Ò¥ ÕÊ •ÊÒ⁄U ◊⁄UË Ãã„UÊß

ŒπÃÊ ⁄U„UÊ ÃSflË⁄U ∑§Ê Ã⁄U,¡Ê ÃÈŸ ß‚ ÁŒ‹ ◊¥ ’ŸÊß,øÊ⁄UÊ Ã⁄U»§ ©U¡Ê‹ Õ,◊ª⁄U ß‚ ÁŒ‹ ◊¥ •¢œ⁄UÊ ¿UÊß–

πȇÊË ∞‚Ë L§Ä‡Êà „ÈUß „U◊‚,‹ÊÒ≈U ∑§ ŸÊ ∑§÷Ë flʬ‚ •Êß,ÿÊŒ •Ê ªÿÊ ◊È¤Ê flÊ ÁŒŸ,

¡’ ÃÈ◊ „U⁄U ª◊ ‹ ‹ÃË ÕË,•ÊÒ⁄U ’Œ‹ ◊¥ πÈÁ‡ÊÿÊ¢ ŒÃË ÕË,‹Á∑§Ÿ •Ê¡ ¡Ê™¢§ ÃÊ Á∑§‚∑§ ¬Ê‚,◊ÒŸ „U⁄U Œ⁄UflÊ¡Ê ’㌠¬Êß

◊Ò¥ „Í¢U •ÊÒ⁄U ◊⁄UË Ãã„UÊß–’ŒÁ∑§S◊ÃË ‚ „UË ‚„UˇÊÈ∑§ªÈ¡Ê⁄U „Í¢U Ã⁄UË ¡Ê ÃÈŸ •ÊßŸÊ ÁŒπ‹Ê߸πÈŒ ∑§Ë Ÿ¡⁄UÊ¥ ◊¥ ÃÊ Áª⁄UÊ „UË, „UÊ ªß ◊⁄UË ¡ª „¢U‚Ê߸ÿ ∑§„UÊŸË Á∑§‚Ë •ÊÒ⁄U ∑§Ë Ÿ„UË,ß‚◊¥ ◊Ò¥ „Í¢U •ÊÒ⁄U ◊⁄UË Ãã„UÊß–

‚¢ÃÊ· ∑ȧ◊Ê⁄U,•c≈U◊ •œ¸flÊÁ·¸∑§Ë, ÿÊ®òÊ∑§Ë •Á÷ÿ¢òÊáÊ

❉ Á∑§‚Ë ÷Ë ’Êà ∑§Ê ¡ÀŒË Á∑§‚Ë ŒÍ‚⁄U Ã∑§ ¬„ÈUøÊŸ ∑§ ÃËŸ Ã⁄UË∑§—Telephone; Television; Tell a woman;

•ª⁄U ß‚‚ ÷Ë Ã¡ Á∑§‚Ë ’Êà ∑§Ê ∑§„UË¥ ¬„È¢UøÊŸÊ „UÊ ÃÊ“Tell her not to tell anyone.”

❉ ‚⁄U∑§Ê⁄U Á∑§‚Ë •ÊŒ◊Ë ∑§Ê ŒÊ •ÊÒ⁄UÃÊ ‚ ‡ÊÊŒË ∑§⁄UŸ ∑§Ë ßîÊÊà Ÿ„UË¥ ŒÃË–ó ÄÿÊÁ∑§ ‚¢ÁflœÊŸ Á∑§‚Ë •ÊŒ◊Ë ∑§Ê ∞∑§ ª‹ÃË ∑§Ë ‚¡Ê ŒÊ ’Ê⁄U ŒŸ ∑§Ë ß¡Ê¡Ã Ÿ„UË¥ ŒÃÊ–

⁄U◊‡Ê ∑ȧ◊Ê⁄U,·c∆U◊ •œ¸flÊÁ·¸∑§Ë, ŸÊª⁄U •Á÷ÿ¢òÊáÊ

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ÿÊŒ¥ÿÊŒ¥ •ÊÁπ⁄U ÄÿÊ, Á’Ÿ ’È‹Êÿ ÿÍ¢ „UË ø‹Ë •ÊÃË „ÒU,ŒÈÁŸÿÊ ◊¥ ‹ÊªÊ ∑§ ÷Ë«∏U ◊¥ ÷Ë ÿ ÿÊŒ „U◊ Ãã„UÊ ∑§⁄U ¡ÊÃË „ÒU–

„UÊà „ÒU ∑ȧ¿U ‹Êª ∞‚ ÷Ë ¡Ê ÁŒ‹ ∑§ ßß ∑§⁄UË’ •Ê ¡Êà „ÒU,flÊ ¬„U‹ ÃÊ πÈ’ „U‚Êà „ÒU •ÊÒ⁄U Á»§⁄U •øÊŸ∑§ ÿÊŒ ’Ÿ ∑§⁄U ⁄U„U ¡Êà „ÒU–

ªÈ¡⁄U „ÈU∞ ¬‹ ∑§÷Ë flʬ‚ Ÿ„UË¥ •ÊÃ,¬⁄U ßã„UË ÿʌʥ ∑§ ‚„UÊ⁄U „U◊ ©UŸ ªÈ¡⁄U „ÈU∞ ‹ê„UÊ ∑§Ê Á»§⁄U ‚ Ÿ„UË ¡Ë ¬ÊÖ

’fl¡„U „UË ‹ •ÊÃË „ÒU ÿ •Ê¢πÊ ◊¥ Ÿ◊Ë,ÃÊ ∑§÷Ë÷⁄U ŒÃË „ÒU „UÊ∆UÊ ◊¥ …U⁄U ‚Ê⁄UË „U‚Ë–

ÿ fl¡„U „ÒU ©U‚ ŒÈπà ÁŒ‹ ∑§Ë, Á¡‚◊¥ ’‚Ê „ÒU Á∑§‚Ë ∑§Ê åÿÊ⁄U,ÿ fl¡„U „ÒU ©UŸ •ÊπÊ¥ ∑§Ë, Á¡‚◊ ’‚Ê „ÒU ©U‚ ø„U⁄U ∑§Ê ߢáÊ⁄U–

ÄÿÊ¥ ⁄UÊà „UÊ ÃÈ◊ Á∑§‚Ë •¬Ÿ ∑§Ë •Ê‚ ◊¥,’ŸÊ ‹Ê ©UŸ ÿÊŒÊ ∑§Ê •¬ŸÊ åÿÊ⁄U, ÄÿÊÁ∑§ ÿ „UÊà „U◊‡ÊÊ •¬Ÿ ¬Ê‚ ◊¥–

ß‚Á‹∞ ÿ ÿÊŒ Á’Ÿ ’È‹Ê∞ ÿÍ¢ „UË ø‹Ë •ÊÃË „ÒU,ŒÈÁŸÿÊ¢ ∑§ ß‚ Ãã„UÊß ◊¥ ÷Ë ∞∑§ åÿÊ⁄UÊ-‚Ê ∞„U‚Ê‚ ÁŒ‹Ê ¡ÊÃË „ÒU–

ªÊÒ⁄Ufl ’Ÿ¡Ë¸ÁmÃËÿ •œ¸flÊÁ·¸∑§Ë, flÒlÈÁÃ∑§Ë •Á÷ÿ¢òÊáÊ

•¬ ÊÊ•Ê ‡Ê·‡ÊÊÿË!

•Ê¢π πÊ‹Ê-á∑§⁄U •¬ŸË ÿÊÒÁª∑§ ÁŸºÊ,

‹ê„U ÃÊ‹Ê!∑§⁄Ufl≈U ‹Ÿ ‚ ∑§Ê◊ Ÿ„UË ø‹Ÿ flÊ‹Ê–

ÃÈ◊ ¬⁄U „ÒU ÷Ê⁄U,¡ªÃ ∑§Ê ¬Ê‹Ÿ ∑§⁄UŸ ∑§Ê-

◊ÊŸfl-◊ÊŸfl ∑§ ’Ëø¬◊ ‚¢’¢œ ’ŸÊ, ‚¢’hŸ ∑§Ê;

¬Á⁄U¬Ê·áÊ ∑§Ê, ¬Á⁄U◊Ê¡Ÿ ∑§Ê–Á∑§ Á¡‚‚ ◊ÍÀÿ •ˇÊÈááÊ ⁄U„¥U

◊ÊŸflÃÊ ∑§,•ÊÒ⁄U ’Ë¡ Á◊≈¥U, ‡Êʇfl⁄U „UÊ øÈ∑§Ë

ŒŸÈ¡ÃÊ ∑§–„U⁄U •Ê⁄U ÉÊÊ⁄U •Êâ∑§flÊŒ;

∑§ÊÁ‹◊Ê œŸË, •Ê‡ÊÊ œÍÁ◊‹H•Ê ‡Ê·‡ÊÊÿË!

•Ê¢π πÊ‹ÊH

⁄U◊‡Ê ∑ȧ◊Ê⁄U,·c∆U◊ •œ¸flÊÁ·¸∑§Ë, ŸÊª⁄U •Á÷ÿ¢òÊáÊ

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ŒÊSÃπȇÊË ÷Ë ŒÊSÃÊ¥ ‚ „ÒUª◊ ÷Ë ŒÊSÃÊ¥ ‚ „ÒUÃ∑§⁄UÊ⁄U ÷Ë ŒÊSÃÊ¥ ‚ „ÒUåÿÊ⁄U ÷Ë ŒÊSÃÊ¥ ‚ „ÒU

M§∆UŸÊ ÷Ë ŒÊSÃÊ¥ ‚ „ÒU◊ÊŸŸÊ ÷Ë ŒÊSÃÊ¥ ‚ „ÒU’Êà ÷Ë ŒÊSÃÊ¥ ‚ „ÒUÁ◊‚Ê‹ ÷Ë ŒÊSÃÊ¥ ‚ „ÒU

Ÿ‡ÊÊ ÷Ë ŒÊSÃÊ¥ ‚ „ÒU‡ÊÊ◊ ÷Ë ŒÊSÃÊ¥ ‚ „ÒUÁ¡ãŒªË ∑§Ë ‡ÊÈM§•Êà ÷Ë ŒÊSÃÊ¥ ‚ „ÒUÁ¡ãŒªË ◊¥ ◊È‹Ê∑§Êà ÷Ë ŒÊSÃÊ¥ ‚ „ÒU

◊Ê„Ué’à ÷Ë ŒÊSÃÊ¥ ‚ „ÒUߟÊÿà ÷Ë ŒÊSÃÊ¥ ‚ „ÒU∑§Ê◊ ÷Ë ŒÊSÃÊ¥ ‚ „ÒUŸÊ◊ ÷Ë ŒÊSÃÊ¥ ‚ „ÒU

ÅÿÊ‹ ÷Ë ŒÊSÃÊ¥ ‚ „ÒU•⁄U◊ÊŸ ÷Ë ŒÊSÃÊ¥ ‚ „ÒUÅflÊ’ ÷Ë ŒÊSÃÊ¥ ‚ „ÒU◊Ê„UÊÒ‹ ÷Ë ŒÊSÃÊ¥ ‚ „ÒU

ÿÊŒ¥ ÷Ë ŒÊSÃÊ¥ ‚ „ÒU◊È‹Ê∑§Êà ÷Ë ŒÊSÃÊ¥ ‚ „ÒU‚¬Ÿ ÷Ë ŒÊSÃÊ¥ ‚ „ÒU•¬Ÿ ÷Ë ŒÊSÃÊ¥ ‚ „ÒU

ÿÊ ÿÍ° ∑§„Í°U ÿÊ⁄UÊ•¬ŸË ÃÊ ŒÈÁŸÿÊ „UË ŒÊSÃÊ¥ ‚ „ÒU ....

‹Ê∑§‡Ê ∑ȧ◊ÊflÃ,ÁmÃËÿ •œ¸flÊÁ·¸∑§Ë‚¢ªáÊ∑§ •Á÷ÿ¢òÊáÊ

∑§Ê‡Ê! •ª⁄U „UÊÃË ÃÈ◊∑§Ê‡Ê! •ª⁄U „UÊÃË ÃÈ◊,Á»§⁄U •ÊÃË ◊⁄U ÅÿÊ‹Ê ◊¥,•¬Ÿ Á’π⁄U ’Ê‹Ê¥ ◊¥,¡’ «ÍU’Ê „UÊÃÊ ‚flÊ‹Ê¥ ◊¥,©Uã„¥U •Ê∑§⁄U ‚È‹¤ÊÊÃË ÃÈ◊,∑§Ê‡Ê! •ª⁄U „UÊÃË ÃÈ◊–

„¢U‚ÃË ÃÈ◊, „U‚ÊÃË ÃÈ◊,◊È¤Ê Œπ ’‹πÊÃË ÃÈ◊,åÿÊ⁄U ∑§⁄UÃÊ ÃÈê„U,•ÊÒ⁄U ◊È¤Ê ¬⁄U åÿÊ⁄U ’⁄U‚ÊÃË ÃÈ◊,¡ÊªÃË ÃÈ◊, ÁŸ¢Œ øÈ⁄UÊÃË ÃÈ◊,•ÊœË ⁄UÊà ¡’ ’Ê‹∑§ŸË ‚ ŒπÊ ∑§⁄UÃÊ,ÃÊ ÃÊ⁄UÊ¥ ◊¥ Ÿ¡⁄U •ÊÃË ÃË◊,∑§Ê‡Ê! •ª⁄U „UÊÃË ÃÈ◊–

¡’ ∑§÷Ë ◊Ò¥ ÃÈ◊‚ ŒÍ⁄U ¡ÊÃÊ,ÃÈê„¥U ÿÊŒ ∑§⁄U •Ê„¥U ÷⁄UÃÊ,•ÊÒ⁄U ◊È¤Ê ÿÊŒ ∑§⁄U •Ê¢‚Í ’„UÊÃË ÃÈ◊,¡’ ◊Ò¥ ‚Ê◊Ÿ „UÊÃÊ,åÿÊ⁄U ∑§⁄UÃÊ ÃÈê„¥U,•ÊÒ⁄U ◊È¤Ê ¬⁄U åÿÊ⁄U ’⁄U‚ÊÃË ÃÈ◊,∑§Ê‡Ê! ߟ ‚¬ŸÊ¥ ‚ ’Ê„U⁄U •ÊÃË ÃÈ◊,∑§Ê‡Ê! ∑§Ê‡Ê! „U∑§Ë∑§Ã ◊¥ „UÊÃË ÃÈ◊–

ŒË¬∑§ •ªflÊ‹,·c∆U◊ •œ¸flÊÁ·¸∑§Ë,ÿÊÁòÊ¢∑§Ë •Á÷ÿ¢òÊáÊ

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BE A WOMAN GALS, IT'S WORTH IT..Naomi Judd remarked once, .A dead end isjust a good place to turn around..Centuries have gone by in anonymity and ignorance as to recognize the dubiouspedigree of a woman -is it in the stringent environs of a family, in her chauffeurdriven official SKODA or in the dingy lanes of brothels?

Well, do not mistake this for a column from a rebellious and unsuccessfulwomens’ Rights activist.It is but a self-assessment of womankind presentlysurviving in the unquestionable “MAN’S” WORLD. The grotesque dowry assaultsflashed out in the eight we read every morning speak volumes about the plightof woman, yet in darkness. Women who have been relentlessly subjected tomale chauvinism, egotism and sexualsegregation, can assuage their searing pain in the niche they have carved outfor themselves in the society today. Notwithstanding the fact that girls haveoutnumbered their male counterparts in intelligence and versatility, their credibilityis always questioned, but why? It is really surprising how these brainless beautiesget through IIT Entrance by simply cramming up books! (Am I right guys?) Arewe justified in demanding equality of status when the legislative coterie of thesex would not evenoblige us with a mere 33% reservation in Lok Sabha? Be it financial independenceor social acclamation, women have attained it all but never neglected socialand moralresponsibilities. It is ironic that professional qualifications whatever may havebeen, PALLU is what matters the most! The lady’s character is alwayssensationalized in the office blues (The lewd boss is always behind thepurdah).Perhaps the sheepish attitude of women, incumbent masculine fervour,a dubious concept of freedom has reduced womanhood to artificiality andsensuality.Womanhood presently shrouded in obscurity and often idealized intelevision soaps is existent only in its silhouette. The femme fatales and celebshave not beauty but have compromised with chastity to get themselves on PAGETHREE - it.s the same old vicious and sordid struggle again! It is but true thattheir zircon’s cheap dazzle can never outshine a genuine diamond. These jet-age gals for whom manners, style and virtuousness volatilize in the discos asthe night wears on seldom realize.they are searching their Phantom figurines intheir own make-believe world.The essence of a woman is in her simplicity, epitome of beauty and sanctity oflove. She can be an endearing MOTHER, A loving JULIET and a rebelliousRADICAL at the same time. Hence why should men alone define our rules offreedom and confine our lives in the scary dungeons of the past? In spite ofphysical hindrances and lack of audacious psychological set up which has beenthe badge of our tribe for eons together, we have won immense accolades,examples of which would undermine their credibility once more. Ages of

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oppression and ignorance have but added to a cynical attitude which has loweredtheir self esteem considerably. It is high time the males realizeinsolent attitudeand muscle flexing might not be able to camouflage the agonies of the weakersex for long. The Bard of Avon once quoted .There was never yet philosopherthat could endure awareness and sound cultural ethos can always breathe anew life in the plebian masses. Women must realize their unrevealedpsychological strength rather than getting lost in the shadows of wannabes inthe search of solace.

THE TREE ON THE MOUNTAIN HAS NO CHOICE .IT HAS TO TAKE INWHATEVER THE WEATHER BRINGS ... .THE ONLY WAY TO SURVIVE ISIN PUTTING ITS ROOTS AS DEEPLY AS IT CAN..... Today as the dead end isnear.Let us ask ourselves have we really meted justice to our tribe or for thatmatter ourselves. It connotes the turnaround of our very outlook, the beginningof an ever metamorphosing and bewildering revelation of womankind both inthoughts and words...

Never mind, it is just the wine after Hemlock.gentleness, chastity andpersona. She is thethe toothache patiently.. Complete self!!!

Ronita Bose, VI Sem. ELE.Courtesy – UNPRINTED EDITION OF IGNITS 2003-2004

ON PEEPING INTO THOSE EYES

What to talk of those eyes bottomless?Those caverns amidst the milk-oceans,Those beauties from the heavens,They have rendered me thoughtless.They take me into a wilderness,A wilderness with a difference,One with unseen magnificence,All as if I.m before a sorceress.Peeped into them e.er since I haveI find myself in a cage of ice,Her eyes being my sunshine.They have taken me captiveI do not know by what artifice.All I wish is they become mine

AbhiranjanMechanical batch. of 2005

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THE TRUTH OF BEING A CIVIL ENGINEER

It�s always a nice feeling when you sit down and start recollecting bits and piecesof a journey that began few years back. The journey of becoming an Engineer...�..thejourney that had friendship, love (sometimes lust), passion and yes fights, hate andtears�..a journey that was never short of any emotions ever known to the history ofmankind. But the journey was never smooth�..thanks to our teachers who alwayssucceeded to make it difficult with mid sems, end sems and class tests. But �Engineers�as we are, never short of ideas to outwit them and yet it�s only them who�s relentlesseffort has made us who we are today.

Well for the people who don�t know me, I�m Saptadeep Basu, a patented backbencher of the class of 2007, a dreaded enemy of �Steel� and �Concrete� design, who�slife was always held at ransom by the ever threatening �death sentence� (read questionpapers) set by Mr. A.K. Dey & Co., and now the most ironical part, is working as a �DesignEngineer� for NTPC Ltd. Life has taken a 360o turn for me. During my seventh semesterproject, I was often angered and frustrated seeing my grand copied design (I promise youcopying is a much more difficult task then doing it yourself, for you land up with the samething as your topper and then explain how different it is infront of the Prof�s) riddled withred circles all around, but then, now when I do it myself to my contractor�s design, wellthe pleasure is immense (so please don�t blame the teacher�s to be too harsh, they justprepare you to make the right dimensional circles later on in the future).

Life always seemed much colourful from the back benches for me, as you alwaysused to see more�..much more then the self obsessed prof and the blackboard�..ratherwhite board. Infact that is when my creativity just started to flourish, with my mind takingme to faraway lands but very often to be brutally butchered by a sudden question like�What is the reinforcement to be put Mr. Basu?����Ugh! Is my life all about steel andconcrete?���.�Why can�t the Profs see the beauty that I see?� Friends the bitter truthis, the day we had chosen (or rather forced) to be Civil Enggs, our lives became onlyconcrete and steel and for people with bad luck like me, well surveying and railway willalso haunt you and our Mentors know this fact well. In fact if you had always hatedstudies then better gear yourself for it now; for later on you got to do it all by yourselfwell not for marks, not even money but for proving your existence.

Life beyond the boundary walls of the college is hard for a Civil Engg. If we sharethe same destiny, then you got to give night shifts at 10o Celsius in hydro projects inHimachal Pradesh and day shifts at 40o Celsius in thermal projects in Bihar, you got tomove around in JCB�s and concrete mixers and have your evening tea sharing your thoughtswith labours flocking around you, you got to work with CISF men guarding you and villagersready to pounce on you and if you get to be in Design (as I got the chance recently) youland up becoming �Shantanu Da� designing less and Xeroxing and faxing more. But thenthere�s also a brighter side to it��you don�t get to eat �Bijoy Da�s� half burnt �ParanthaGhugni� or our grand delicacies of the mess, you get used to being called �Sir/Saab� andbully your contractor having �Chai-Nasta� at his own cabin with his own money.

So friends, it�s quite a roller coaster ride you see and so you need to be geared upfor your safety first. When I landed up on my first job in L&T ECC, well I even forgot theroute to our class but then from the place where I stand today, I miss being in thosebenches (maybe in the first ones), not for mere nostalgia but because I had to burn the

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midnight oil and scratch the old head to study the whole of my Civil Engineering backagain. And with all the expert guidance of the �self obsessed prof� (well I later learnedthat they are real obsessed to make a civil engineer out of the back benchers), I expectyou to take this little piece of my advice with a huge chunk of humour and rather notfollow my footsteps but create your own to leave a mark behind.

Wishing you all the very best for your future.Saptadeep Basu.

Senior Design EngineerNTPC Ltd.

(2003-2007 Batch)

LOVE UNCONDITIONED…

It was love at first sight.

The first time we saw each other, we just couldn�t keep our eyes off one another as wetried to take in as much as we could, and as he smiled that innocent smile of his, all Icould manage to mumble were those beautiful words, �I love you�.

But today was different. He was getting married.As everyone else was showering flowers, for the first time in my life I was afraid ofsaying those very words to him.Tears rolled down my eyes as I remembered the days when I would be the first personto get news of the exact no. of runs made by him or how he scored that all importantgoal to win the football match. And when he got his first bike, it was me who had thehonour to be the first to go on a ride with him. I was the only woman in his life.But my envious heart was betraying me as I saw him glancing furtively at the girl sittingnext to him who would soon be known as his wife.From being the priority in his life I had become only an option now.Oh! How lucky she is��I saw him making the seven promises around the sacrosanct fire and exchanging vows;he was more handsome than ever.Finally it was over. Whatever little hopes my heart had harboured were dashed.As they both came forward to touch my feet, I blessed them. And my son said, �Ma! Ilove you�As I hugged him, all I could manage to mumble were those beautiful words, �I love youtoo�.

RudraBatch of 2007

It�s all right letting yourself go as long as you can let yourself back.- Mick Jagger

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7 COLOURS OF ROYAL CIVILIANS �2009 BATCH�Arindam Deb Purkayastha (05-1-1-002)- Nicknamed as ‘Purki’,who is freakish regarding electronic gadgets. Known as the masterof end-sems. Yet critics believe the real reason for his miraculousgrades is his delayed departure from NIT even after final examsare over and frequent visit to Profs.

Masum Yousuf Ahhmed (05-1-1-003) - A smart guy withdeceiving looks. Pretends to be the nice guy but has a cunningmind in operation all the time. He is an important member of theinfamous ‘Proxy’ syndicate. He is generally late for lectures anddilemmatic before entering late into the class.

Pankaj Jain (05-1-1-005)- The most ‘good looking’ guy of thebatch with a typical walking style, dragging his feet all over.Considered as the Guru of any ‘water- related’ subjects. For anykind of recharge vouchers for your cell phone, please contact him.

Purbali Das (05-1-1-006): A friendly, audacious, energeticpersonality, who would do anything but study, and is a talenteddancer and singer with the ability to crack up anybody withlaughter.

Priyanka Surana(05-1-1-009): A helpful, bold and daring girland an expert chef in the making with great culinary skills.

Mrinal Bhattacharjee(05-1-1-010) - Often mistaken for a schoolkid, he is the most popular guy of the batch, for his benevolent andamiable nature. Some one has aptly said that the softwaredeveloped by ‘Minni’ must be great but never the bridges designedby him.

Abhisekh Chowdhury(05-1-1-011)- The guy from Tinsukia whorocked NITS with three mind-boggling jobs. He has gentlemanlylooks and a shrewd mind. More often found in the Co-op than inthe class.

Arnab Chatterjee (05-1-1-013)– A nice, well-behaved guy withgentlemanly looks. He has interest in modelling and walked theramp in Incand’07. Usually a backbencher and member of ‘Proxy’syndicate.

Renu Rani(05-1-1-014): Lighter than a feather with her head inthe clouds most of the time, displays right emotions at all thewrong times and innocence in its prime.

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Alakh Abhishek(05-1-1-027) - Certainly amongst themeritorious students of the batch. When it came to scoring he didit at will and happily descended from the zenith once reaching it.Amiable, yet at times detestable for his lacklustre company andtrite talk.

Bipul Tiwari(05-1-1-029) - Rather ‘The legend of Bipul Tiwari’;remained almost absent from most of the classes throughout fouryears and cleared record number of ‘written tests’ for jobs.

Samiran Kumar Das(05-1-1-019)- He has a whole fleet ofnicknames that gives deep insight into his personality. ‘Psycho’for his irrational character, ‘Langda Tyagi’ for his vulpine featuresand ‘H*m*’- for which explanation is not called for!! Jokes apart avery serious student, in terms of attendance or maintaining verywell recorded class notes.

Birjit Sinha(05-1-1-020)- A soft-spoken guy and who is a happybackbencher. Elusive from class, another patron of ‘Sikhar’ andoperator of the infamous ‘Proxy’ syndicate.

Jyoti Chaubey(05-1-1-021): Innocence and ignorance go hand inhand for her, but her intelligence and memory surpass the rest.

Sudhiranjan Panigrahi (05-1-1-022)– The ‘dark knight’ of ourbatch, nicknamed ‘Papa’ and had the luck of having the best ladyin the very first day at NITS as partner for the dark roomexperiment in Physics Lab. He mistook the Fourth Hostel forGirl’s hostel during 1st year. Revered as the Guru of SOM but losthis sublime touch while taking up the job of a Telephone Operator.Generally absent for lectures but recorded 100% attendance inNirmali madam’s class.

Abhisekh Bose(05-1-1-024) – A handsome guy, famous andenvied for his intimacy with the ‘endangered species’ of thecampus.

Nayan Jyoti Patgiri(05-1-1-025) - Nicknamed ‘Paati’, hetroubled even the best teachers with his ‘empirical’ questions. Henever hesitates from voicing his opinions, of course politely,disregarding the reaction of the audience. He is another fan of‘Sikhar’.

Chumbit Prakash Mahanta(05-1-1-026) - He is the ‘coolcustomer’ of our batch, be it scoring in exams or bagging the bestjob. He is fondly called ‘Arnold’ which is more ironic thanpragmatic as he is nicknamed ‘Baccha’ too. Recently found usingthe costliest hair oil in the market for preventing his rapid hair fall.

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Vikas Prawal(05-1-1-032) – A flamboyant guy with acharismatic baritone. Elusive from class he is mostly spottedconsorting with his loved ones.

Amol W. Bhosale(05-1-1-033) - The best comic personality of theclass. Member of the infamous ‘Proxy’ syndicate that eludes eventhe most vigil eyes and dares to operate in the thinnest attendance.A wholehearted gamer and excels in Computer Aided Drawing.

Sachin Rathore(05-1-1-034) – He might not be exactly famousas his namesakes but he is a decent guy with a great attitude.

Sandip Kr Bidaliya(05-1-1-035) - Known as Dadduji, is arevered personality when it comes to studies, labs and projects.Used to be a good pace bowler in his adulthood (late 80’s), patronof ghazals and a brand ambassador (read victim) of the popularhealth drink, Protinex.

Dimpi Das(05-1-1-039): More emotionally charged than most,with a beautiful heart and voice and bountiful gray matter, whichmost friends are highly grateful for the night before the exams.

Sumit Das(05-1-1-040) - None other than DNB Sir hails him asthe ‘Prince’ of our class. Remains almost absent from class yetcould frustrate the toppers with scores better than them in a fewclass tests or mid-sems. A master when it came to ‘Counter-Strike’or drafting the toughest engineering drawing. Last but not the leasta bona fide patron of popular mouth freshener ‘ Sikhar’.

Nilomani Dao(05-1-1-041) - The innocent little child rather the‘special child’ (Taare Zameen Par) with wild dreams and thewildest desires yet did little to realize them. He is amongst themost fashionable guys of the class.

Aniruddha Ghosh(05-1-1-044) - Nicknamed ‘Ghosh Babu’ he isthe typical Bengali guy. He has varied interests from writing,debating, yoga and newly found interest in sports. He hogs thelimelight not only for the ‘good things’ but also for his mischieftoo. Sly isn’t it. Has the ability to make you laugh anytimre.Usedto arrange coaching classes in front of GH.

Narendra Bhaskar (05-1-1-045) – the ‘Jat’ of our batch, whobecame overnight rich by giving tuitions to plus two guys of Silcharaspiring for AIEEE and IITJEE. The kind of guy you would like totake advice from; one who has a cool head over his shoulders. He isthe only guy in our class who can be quoted as “FUNDOO”.

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Jukti Pratim Saikia (05-1-1-047) - He is nicknamed ‘Frankie’ forhis masculine built and tough looks. He has enchanted girls bothin(?) and out of the campus not only by looks but his flute too. Hishobbies are sleeping and mobile-talking, but when it comes tobusiness he is the best designer. Be it posters, wallpapers orwebsites he has the ability to add speech to colours.

Ezekiel Kom(05-1-1-050) - Nicknamed ‘Komie’ and infamous forhis huge appetite. Apart from a ‘topper’ he is good at free handsketching virtually recreates or photocopies objects on canvass.Recently found to have some genetic problem during the medicaltest of IOCL. He is a complete gun aficionado, sketching one orthe other model in every nook and corner of his note copy.

Rangan Mitra(05-1-1-051) - Fondly known as ‘Muchad’apparently for his pair of masculine moustaches. Famous for beingthe fastest sprinter of our batch, well known for his meteoric risefrom a 5 pointer to a 9 pointer and hailed as father of bodypainting when it comes to writing down ‘foot notes’ forexaminations.

Jyoti Kumar(05-1-1-052) – The only IIT-ian from our batch(stillunable to accept that he has not qualified IITJEE mains), epitomeof dedication and nihilist when it comes to his opinions regardingcollege affairs. He is a leader from the core, a meritorious student(read Prof.) and a staunch critic of ‘Mass bunking’.

Jonantik Chowdhury(05-1-1-046) - The ‘local hero’ of our class.The most persuasive personality when it came to organizing ‘massbunks’ or postponing class tests. The best vocalist in the campusand specialized to cajole profs before exams regarding ‘shortattendance’.

Rajesh Mishra(04-1-1-011) - Hailed as ‘Mishra Ji’, he is wellknown for his management skills. He enjoys great rapport withfaculty members and more often found riding bike of his favouriteteacher.

Kuldeep Singh Sewariya (04-1-1-18) – The lone guy fromGujarat who travelled down from the far west to far east here.Usually shy, but a well-behaved person and quite regular in class.

Dipankar Dutta (04-1-1-006) – Well behaved guy from Silchar.Mostly absent from class but busy in Hostel, as he is the top seedplayer in ‘Counter Strike’.

(Volunteers wrote the testimonials on the promise of anonymity. These opinionsare personal and the Editorial Board doesn’t take any responsibility for these).

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Event DiaryThe society lay dormant for years and its activities limited only to the annual Fresherand Farewell programs. Last year there were only a few activities like Antakshari andIndoor cricket. The later created a lot of enthusiasm with its venue being the SAC, andplayed under floodlights. The rules were new and teams even from nearby villages tookpart in the tournament. Still the kind of technical outlook was missing until our batch,when the Civil Engineering Department and the Civil Engineering Society organizedthe following events.

1. Visit of 3rd Year, Civil Engineering, NIT Jamshedpur – The whole batch of 3rd

Year, Civil Engineering, NIT Jamshedpur visited our campus. They attended lecturesspecially designed for the visiting students and visited our Labs too. There was ajoint visit to the nearby Hindustan Paper Corp., Cachar Mill and the Barak ValleyCement Factory. It culminated to great interaction of the two batches and theexperience enriched not only the students of NIT Jamshedpur but NIT Silchar too.The program was funded by TEQIP.

2. Sonapur Tunnel Visit – Located at Km 141.80 on NH-44 in Meghalaya state. TheSonapur Cut and Cover structure is a unique structure and has been constructed forthe first time and is first of its kind in our country across an active rock-cum-debrisslide to provide safe passage to traffic. This tunnel will mitigate the 20year oldperpetual problem of Sonapur land slide for more than 10 million population ofBarak Valley of Assam, Tripura, Mizoram and part of Meghalaya and Manipur.The Sonapur Cut and Cover structure is 123 m long, 8m wide and 9 m verticalclearance at centre. Two-lane traffic can ply in this tunnel. The State of Art SonapurTunnel is a landmark achievement, constructed by Project Setuk of Border RoadsOrganisation.We visited the place during 7th sem on a weekend. We left for Sonapur early in themorning by our college bus and it took around four hours reaching the site. Thehilly route was exciting and the place was exquisite. We had a warm reception atthe BRO camp and the executive engineer explained us the various features of thetunnel with detailed engineering drawing, model and pictures taken during theconstruction phases. Later we took lunch with them and left the place by evening.The experience gave us real life exposure to various field problems and providedan interface between theory and practice.

3. National Seminar on ‘Earthquake hazard and disaster management of North EasternStates of India (October 18th -20th, 2008). The key note speakers were as follows:-1. Prof. R. N. Iyengar, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.2. Prof. B K. Raghuprasad, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.3. Prof. S. K. Nag, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur.4. Prof. S.T.G. Raghukanth, Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati.5. Prof. Sudip Talukdar, Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati.6. Prof. A.K. Gosain, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.

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Asst. Prof. Tauhidur Rahman was the secretary and Prof. D.N.Bhattacharjee wasconvener of the event. The whole department along with active participation of thestudents made this event a grand success. The students looked into the hospitalityof the guests and the close association with these great minds left them enrichedwith knowledge.

4. Badminton Tournament - This was the latest event of the society in the field ofsports, which is an indispensable part of student life. This event took place duringthe final semester and organised by CES at the SAC under floodlights. It providedthe students to showcase their sporting skills and enjoy the Badminton mania duringthe winters. The program was very successful as shown by a huge turnout.

5. Fresher welcome and farewell: - These two obligatory functions are still celebratedwith much passion. The students remain waiting yearlong to meet their new juniorsand interact on this occasion of Fresher Welcome. CES allocates ample resourcesto make this event successful.

The Farewell is a sober occasion and the outgoing batch is given a warm send-off. The juniors are interested in knowing the various facets of their favourite senior’spersonality. Farewell remains the last opportunity for the junior batches and thebatch mates too to divulge some long kept secret about some funny incidents intheir four years existence in the campus. This time was no exception.

6. Trip to Institute of Engineers (Silchar Local Centre) - With the activecollaboration of CES this hilarious trip was arranged upon invitation from theaforesaid on their Golden Jubilee celebration. The students had a great opportunityto interact with many dignitaries and the field engineers of the valley. Special mentionshould be made about the warm hospitality and scrumptious food.

7. Industrial tour to Punj Lloyd construction site – This was a trip to the East-Westcorridor project of NHAI to connect Silchar to Porbander, Gujrat. This was intendedprimarily for the 3rd year students to have a sneak-peak into field engineering.Feedback from the students after the trip was really encouraging.

8. Essay Competition- Someone said, ‘Engineers are reluctant writers’- to prove thisnotion wrong we ventured into the maiden effort to organise this. Though theparticipation wasn’t truly sweeping still it gave an alternative forum to the studentfraternity to express their opinion. Eventually it inspired us to give it the shape of amagazine- thus SRiSHTEE came into being.

As there is still a couple of months to go before the new CES team takes charge, we areplanning some more events. A complete mock Campus recruitment process includingAptitude test, written Technical paper, GD, PI and career counselling is on the cards.Workshops on AUTOCAD and STAADPRO are in the pipeline.

Compiled by- Aniruddha Ghosh & Jyoti Kumar

Espees CentreN.S. Avenue, Near Greenview Nursing Home

Silchar - 788 005, Ph. : 221584

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