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The Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, is gearing up to host the biggest ever gathering of IIT alumni in New York this year to mark the 50th anniversary of its founding.
The July 18 through 20 golden jubilee celebration at Marriott Marquis in Times Square will bring Bombay IIT-ians as well as alumni from other IITs from all over the United States as well as from overseas, including India.
The organisers said that currently they are expecting at least 1,500 people to turn up for the event, including invitees and sponsors, but that the number may substantially go up.
The event is open not just to Bombay-IIT alumni, but to alumni of other IITs as well.
"The details have not yet been completely finalised. I expect them to crystallise in the next few weeks, or so," Uday Nadkarni, President of Infinix Corporation who is also President of the Greater New York Chapter of IITBAA, told rediff.com
"There is an entertainment segment planned throughout the event. Since some scheduling issues are still open, the content and extent of the entertainment segment will be decided in the next few weeks," he said.
Last week, some 20-odd Bombay-IIT alumni, many of them senior executives, or CEOs of companies, including Nadkarni, had a brainstorming session over coffee and pizza at the O'Neill Room of the Marriott Marquis to try and firm up the plans.
Chalk in hand some of them stood near a blackboard in the room to explain ideas and write their suggestions as others seated around a conference table listened with rapt attention before analysing the proposals and concurring with them, or not doing so.
Nandan Nilekarni, Managing Director of Infosys, who is the event co-chair along with Victor Menezes, retired Senior Vice-Chairman, Citigroup, was scheduled to address the meeting via video conference, but he could not do so due to some preoccupation.
"Both Nanadan and Victor have been an integral part of our planning meetings, and will continue to be so. They are on board with all the plans that have so far been made for the event," Nadkarni told this correspondent during a break at the planning meeting March 1.
"Both are extremely enthusiastic about this event and are personally committed to having a very successful event in terms of each one of its objectives," he said.
So, what are the IIT-Bombay's golden jubilee objectives? The organisers said that the primary focus would be on the work that has been done specifically by the alumni of Bombay-IIT, the work that they are doing currently and the potential for the future. But then, the conference will also look at issues relating to the alumni of past 50 years.
Explaining these issues Suresh V Shenoy, Executive Vice-President, Marketing of iMC, said that the Bombay-IIT alumni broadly falls into three segments - those who graduated in the 60s and 70s, those who graduated in the 80s and 90s and those who passed in 2000, or after.
According to Shenoy, those who graduated in the 60s and 70s, people who are ready to retire in the US, are wondering about their options - whether to go back to India or retire here.
"If they retire here what is the future like. There is also another growing problem in the sense that a lot of our parents are dying and people are inheriting wealth in India. The question uppermost in their minds is how they would manage all that. So, people who have graduated in 60s or 70s have certain issues," he told this correspondent.
He also said that many people are thinking about philanthropy and to give back, not only to the IITs but also to the local community in India.
The second group, according to him, represents those who are at the peak of their careers. "They are kind of saying that although their children were born and raised here in the US, many of them want to go back to India because the economy has changed and the prime question is how to handle that situation," Shenoy said.
Lastly there are young IIT-ians, some of whom want to teach and want to find out how in a global environment they can contribute to India's development. "So when we talk about the theme of the conference, 'Past, Present and Future', we talk about these three categories of people. The theme is kind of universal, not specific to Bombay IIT," Shenoy said.
In response to a question, he admitted that these problems are faced by everybody, irrespective of whether they are from the IIT or not. "But for the IIT-ians it is a unique issue because a very high percentage of IIT-ians are in a position of influence, they are wealthy and they are corporate leaders," he said.
"Our goal is to promote thought, how to use these leadership and influence they have to do good for the community, for their country and for IIT. That is why we thought we need to come together and give it a collective thought because we are in position to do a little more. Because we have a little more influence, we have that much responsibility," he said.
"We want to focus on that. So, this is going to be a platform where all these issues would come up, including how better one can contribute," he added.
Nadkarni said that the conference is not going to present a laundry list of issues before the attendees and ask them what s/he could do. "We want to promote thought in those areas so people come to their own conclusions. The conference is not going to be that sort of detail-oriented. Rather, it is going to be thought provoking," he said.
Perhaps, it is with this thought in mind that the organisers are trying to see if people like Milinda Gates, wife of Microsoft chief Bill Gates, House Speaker Nancy Peloci, and Indra Nooyi, CEO of Pepsi-Cola, can be brought as speakers to stir up thoughts in various fiends.
"The programme is now shaping up now in which we would have recognised individuals like Milinda Gates who can talk about philanthropy, and also bring people like Ambassador Frank Wisner, chairman, Indo American Business Council and vice-chairman of AIG," Shenoy said.
Among others expected to attend or address the event include Anand Mahindra, Managing Director of Mahindra & Mahindra, Deepak Vaidya, CEO, Technigraphics, Bharat Desai, CEO, Syntel, Parag Saxena, CEO, Vedanta Capital and Raj Gupta CEO, Rohm and Haas.
The organisers said there would be panel discussion along vertical lines and discussions on issues like opportunities in manufacturing, or rural electrification and even micro-finance, in which a lot of IIT-ians are said to be interested and want to go back to India Each panel is going to be led by a distinguished alumni, not just from Bombay, but any other IITs.
One of the goals of the conference is also to raise money for the IIT-Bombay Heritage Fund that was set up about 15 years ago. Last year Menezes donated $3 million to the fund for building a world class convention center. "The IIT Bombay Heritage fund is the great place to reconnect in our golden jubilee year," he told this correspondent that time during an interview.
Nadkarni said that the conference has some monetary goals. "We want people to understand that there is a vehicle for giving back, there is a channel (which is heritage fund). We want to be able to promote individual giving like in the US where students help their alma mater so IIT-Bombay can have guest lecturers, created new chairs and promote research activities,' he said.
"A lot of our alumni could fund these activities. That is the tangible kind of result we wish to see from the conference. But having said that I must say while the tangible outcome is focused on our alma mater, the content of the conference is designed in a way so it becomes inclusive and appeals to a broader audience," Nadkarni said.