From a recent CBC get-together in Bangalore (I missed - was out of town) in April 2006...

Pastu had come visiting with his family... a big reason to celebrate in itself.










Nilesh (our Pastu) with lil' Khushi...

Khushi is the eldest of CBC kids...

From Suppy's wedding reception

aah...who cut me out in this photo... :-(
(L->R/Front:Vishakha,Sonika,Meena,Supratim,Dipanwita,Mridula,Ananya(with baby Arna),Roopa,Anand,Ananth(cut) )
(L->R/back:me(cut),Praful, Amit,Deepa, Ashok (the tower), Kuldeep (with baby Arundhati), Sambuddha, Sandipan)

From a recent visit to SJC

Finally we managed to meet... even though still without Nipun...

Down the memory lane...

First CBC get together in 1998...
(Dated: April 1998)


The trip to GOA was a really fabulous one... and shall be cherished by all those who participated in it for a long time to come... Maybe, till they go for their honeymoon trip's ... or till CBC'ians meet once again...

I reached GOA on 11th April 1998 (Saturday) morning at about 10:00am by bus from Chennai, via Banglore along with Rajneesh. Rohit Pathak, Mandeep Singh and Sandipan Dutta (Uddi) had already reached there a day before from Banglore, and so had Neeraj Nayak and Nilesh Pastagia from Pune. We had 2 double bedroom flats with Cable TV and furnished kitchen (though we didn't use it !) for ourselves, in the Army Holiday Home, courtesy Pathak.

Day 1 (for me and Rajju... It was Day 2 for others) :- ----------------------------------------------------

I and Rajjo arrived at 10 and we hired 3 bikes(yamaha's) and one kinetic. The fellow left it at our place and we went to Panaji and filled up petrol. As soon as we started off from there towards old Goa, the traffic cops stopped us for licenses. Rajjo who was riding didn't have one and neither did Pastagia . So, we finally ended up paying a FINE !!! (Well begun!!!)

Thereafter, we went and saw some of the oldest Churches in India, St. Xavier's Church in Old Goa and the faous Cathedral there. The architecturea and the size of those structures is simply amazing. There also rests the body of St.Xavier, which has been lying there for centuries without use of any preservatives etc. Thereafter, we went to a famous Shiva temple in Old Goa, one of the few places where you see Lord Shiva with a Beard and whiskers. Well, that was a pretty spiritual beginning of my trip to GOA. Had a great time riding around Goa on the bikes !

Then, at around 4:30pm, went to Dona Paula, a really romantic place to be in. The place is surrounded by sea on three sides and the wind at the top of the mound reminded people of a scene from Titanic. Rides on Water-Bikes were close to those you would have seen in Baywatch.

Rode back to Panaji, and went for a night cruise on-board Santa-Monica, on Mandovi river. The boat was nice decent crowd and lots of live-music from a band which was performing there, singing and dance. This was followed by a lovely dinner and then went to Miramar beach, where we stayed till mid-night. The beach was really fabulous in the moon-light, with a light-house from Aquada beaming reminder's at you from across the bay.
Finally came back to the rooms at around 12:30am !! and still sat down to chat.

Day 2:-
------
Gave up the bikes and went to Anjuna beach . Reached there by around 11am. Anjuna beach was the best of them all... secluded, calm and serene environment. Had a memorable time in water for a couple of hours and then decided to try a trek. So all of us took a round trek from Anjuna beach over a small ridge and in about 45 minutes reached Bagga beach. Bagga was much more lively, crowded and full of holidaying people. Had a nice lunch in one of beach-barn restuarants, after which Rajju,I and Pathak chose to walk down along the sea to Calungute beach, while others opted to take a bus back to Panaji. So, three of us tredded the sands of Bagga and reached Calungute beach in about an hour. That walk was really something...;-))...
It was close to evening and rushed back to the Holiday home as others apart from me and Sandipan had to leave that evening at 7pm.

So, bid a farewell to Nayak & Pastagia, who were going to Pune and Mandeep,Pathak and Rajju who went to Banglore by bus. So now two of us, Sandipan and me, went to the Panjim city, hired a Kinetic for the next 24 hours that we had in GOA. Went to Miramar beach to see the live music and games show etc happening there... After spending a couple of hours on the Miramar beach, went for a great dinner. I burnt a finger trying to see how hot the sizzler plate was!!!! It was close 11pm and two of us rode to Dona Paula, to see the light of Vasco-da-Gama in the night. Vasco looks so beautiful from here in the night and so do all those small and bigs ships in the sea... (Amit..remember the sight of Mussoorie from our balcony in Doon..)
Cool breeze and the calm humm of the sea were a real medicine for the soul. Were back in the room, at about 1:00am.

Day 3 :
-------

Sandipan and I, decided to try out some thing new on the last day of our stay in GOA. So, early morning we walked into the GOA Tourism office and collected a few maps and guide books. After doing a close study of what all was possible in one day, we decided to get going.

We decided to go to the Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary. We first drove to Ribandhar, a small place on the Old Goa highway, from where a ferry took us across the Mandovi river to the CHODAN island. The great thing was that we were able to take the bike along in the ferry. So, once on the Chodan island, we had a great inner-Goa bike safari, riding through those inner part's of GOA was a great experience... Were rode through the island, only to realise that hiring Canoe's etc for a trip to the sanctuary was beyond our budget. So, we rode to the other side of the island, took another ferry to reach BARDEZ mainland, and went to the POMBURPA springs... I had a cool bath in the spring.
Around noon, we were heading for Aquada Fort. Since the fort is a prison now, we went the fort from outside only and also saw the Aquada light house. From there we went to the Candolin beach, where we spent the afternoon. Uddi had his fill of sea-food there, besides we also saw some para-sailing stunts etc. Rode back to Panjim at around 5:30pm, packed bags and said Good-Bye to Goa at 7:00pm. That was my GOA dairy..... Good Bye Ma maa maayyayayaa yaa... maa maaama mayyayaya...

EEE Batch of 93...

(Sitting R->L: Sidharth Bhan, Prof. Raghurama, Prof. C Bhattacharya,Prof. TSKV Iyer, Prof. S.N Sharan, Prof. S.K. Sharma, Dr. R.C.Jain, ?, S.K. Jayanth)

[CBC] 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY...

Some open thinking by Matroo...


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Vikram KAUL
Date: May 19, 2006 9:00 PM
Subject: RE: [CBC] 10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY...
To: CBCNET

Apologies, in advance, for a relatively long email

anand.>Yes, you could call it as one of the most memorable times of your life.

Come to think of it, there is hardly anyone I know who went to college
in India (and stayed in an on campus hostel, not a day-scholar, or
off-campus hosteler) and did not think as that period as one of the most
memorable of their life. I think it comes naturally. You are away from
home for the first time, you meet so many good friends for the first time,
and if you are lucky, get to not have compulsary attendance !! Man, I
wonder what would have happened if we had to attend 75% of the classes for
all 3.5 years.

I think the course structure in BITS offered some advantages to make it
more enjoyable for us. Who the hell wanted to make a friggin percentage.
All everyone wanted was a decent or semi-decent grade.

And the regular city-like distractions were not there. If our college
were in a decent city, I bet most evenings folks would have been missing
out in off campus. No curfews, no riots, no water shortages, no rolling
blackouts, no cineplexes, no 'happening-places', no pubs !! All that
augmented our friendships and whatever bonds we have amongst us now.

The only thing I wish is that all of us could have been on campus at the
same time in the 4th year. It would have been fun. Less courses, nothing
to do, and the last sem we would all be together.

anand.>Am sure everybody would have gained an immense experience that would
anand.>help us in facing and standing up to the life's ups and downs. Probably
anand.>we may not have realized then. I think, BITS also gave us some very good

Now, I will have to disagree here. Life's up and downs have nothing to do
with getting educated in a college. At least that is what I think. Having
an emotional response to a situation has nothing to do with whether you
studied at BITS or in a small relatively unknown college or had no college
education at all. Making 2 out of 15 in a EDIC test (I made that in the first
one) did not make me strong or weak. It just made me sad for some
time. Making an A in Linear Algebra after doing badly on two makeup tests
also did not make me weak or strong or better prepared in life. It just
made me happy for some time.

What helps me from my experience in BITS is a sense that I know good
people because I went to that particular college. I might have known other
good people if I went to some other school.. I know that I can tell Preeti
stories from our time in BITS and laugh with her. I can show her
photographs (the DOPY ones are getting discolored, and I need to scan them
BTW) and she knows quite a few names. I can remember the times at ANC, at
Khetri fort, cricket, elections, holi, c'not, sky, photocopying notes...
and I feel when I meet some of you and your families, I will be accepted
as family, as a brother, an uncle or even a distant relative... but as
someone who is part of your family !!!


anand.>quality when we look back and think of the commendable progress each one
anand.>of us made, brings a humble but proud smile on our faces ! On bonus, we

Progress is a relative term. A few of us did well after BITS, both
career wise and setting up a secure stable family. Some did OK and
others are still trying to get started. For sure, all of us have made
progress from where we were when we left school to come to BITS.

The one thing that is absolute is that all of us are trying to do decent
enough at our jobs (to either rise, or just to keep the job, if you look
at the entire spectrum), trying to take care of our families (young ones
as well as elders) and make sure all are healthy and happy. That in itself
is progress and should bring smiles to our faces !


anand.>gave made real good friends and a small world where you could share your
anand.>positives and frustrations ! I'm quite sure the BITS experience is
anand.>rewarding.

That we all agree. Well, at least I agree.
I am happy I left the counselling line at PEC Chandigarh after standing
in the line for hours, immediately took a bus from Chandigarh to Delhi,
and was barely able to catch the last night bus from ISBT to Pilani to
arrive early in the morning on 29th.

matroo

CBCNet Mailing Patterns

An analysis by Supratim Deb
Dated: March 2006

1 Prelude

As we celebrate glorius 8 years (plastic jubilee) of the birth of CBCnet, its time to look back and ponder over the how our mailing patternss have been touched by different Gods. One of the avatars of this God is cricket, but there are other avatars as well that influenced our minds. The goal of this writeup is to understand some of these Gods by dissecting the mailing data. Before we get started, a big thanks to the efforts and continued support of Bhanudev, alias, Sidharth Bhan for keeping this forum alive. This report is dedicated to him.

2 Mailing Patterns

The first interesting plot is the way number of mails has come down over the last few years. This is shown in Figure 1. We started by averaging almost 150 mails per month in the initial years. This boom period of CBCNet continued up-to 2001 or 2002, i.e., till the time CBCNet was dominated by bachelors. Since then, the number of mails have have gone down and have finally stabilised in the region of 50-60 mails per month. We are seeing this for almost 4 years in a row now. One can predict this trend to continue till CBCians start retiring in another 30-35 years time. The idle life of retired might increase the mail count back to where it was during the boom time. The next plot in Figure 2 shows the number of mails exchanged in the different months. The numbers are averaged over the years 1999-2006. Not much there, except for a couple of things. The first is the zigzag pattern which indicate that a month of energetic exchanges of mails are followed by months of spirited exchanges of silences (typically broken by motivational speech on the utility of mail exchanges by Bhanudev). The second remarkable trend is the impact of temperature on the mails exchanged. A careful look suggests how the number of mails goes down in the October to March

period when the temperature is low, thus making CBCians feeling lazy and lethargic. A possible exception in these cold months is January when the the new years wishes changes the pattern somewhat.

An article on CBC mailing pattern would be incomplete without a discussion on how the cricketing events have shaped the curves we see. The Table following says it all, no further elaboration is required on this.

3 Moral

The CBCNet mailing pattern is impacted primarily by four things, two of which were far from obvious.

1. Cricket, more cricket, and more More (read Kiran More) cricket.

2. The low temperature during the winter months.

3. Sidharth Bhan's "koi hai?" mails.

4. Happy* mails (happy birthday, happy ugadi, happy rajyotsava day, happy diwali, hapy holi etc. etc.)

10 YEAR ANNIVERSARY...

Surprised at the subject line...

Well... I am sure few of you would be wondering what the subject line really means....

Most folks like...Tyagi, Nayak, Kak, Matru, Sambhu, Mandu, Pathak, Parikh, Thakur, Ash, Uddi wouldnt ever know ... for they dont read the CBC net mails anymore....

For others... its just a reminder....that it was probably some days back 10 years ago when all of us were together in one place as a group for the last time.
Yeah...sometime in end of 3rd year - just before half of us went off campus for the first sem PS2....sometime in May 1996...just went the 3rd year compre's were ending....

Its been 10 years...

My Friends..."The CBC'ians"

Wingies and Co...

---

For the uninitiated, CBC stands for Chi-bhai-Chi. And that is what too much of fish and rice does to fecund minds - Suppy in question here! As if to survive against the onslaught of people like Sharam at B.I.T.S., Suppy came up with a new therapy - the CBC therapy for mood up-liftment. Consider this -

• You've just come back from an E. Mech. test where SSR managed to push in the whole of the Tower, and then you come across something like : " Why was a movie called 'Gavaskar' screened in Australia? ..... Give up!...... -simple : because 'Border' was screened in India!" - then would you really thirst for SSR's blood or Suppy's!

Or sometimes it was a method of research... Research on new theories and redefinition of what was predefined and accepted... Questioning, why the Sun chose to Rise in the East... What would happen if it had been west or North,... The ultimate research was conducted on the concept of State of Sleeping Awaken-ess,...
Or if it's not clear even now, try this one...

• This is how Nippo defines his state : "Every minute spent wasted is another ounce of energy well-not-spent. Well, nice logic right ? I agree. Wrong ? Well... I still agree. Because, I am too vela (means jobless or free) to disagree. Then comes the question .... am I not using my time by telling you guys how Vela I am ... so am I not disagreeing to the logic I told earlier , by NOT being vela after-all... ? What do you guys think ? Or are you also feeling vela .... if you think you are then actually you are not vela ... because you think that you are vela and that makes you un-vela. For those who think I am stupid..... and feel that I could have told you something better ... here's something for you to solve..... "What came first the chicken or the egg?" "

The simple therapy spread like wildfire and led to a closely knit group called the CBC. (Incidentally, CBC or Chi-bhai-Chi, is an antonym to Wah-bhai-Wah). The words CBC coined sometime in our second year in BITS and the initial members were the wingies of Front Wing Upstairs of Shankar Bhawan. As of today, CBC is a closed group of about 20 members who have shared and lived a common life during their four years in BITS-Pilani, and continue to share their joys and sorrows till date. Friends for Ever, you could say. The members of CBC group today live all over the world, most of them being in USA, apart from India, UK, Cypress. Even though these proud CBCians are separated by vast physical distances, we remain in touch through what we lovingly call "The CBC-Net".

Come Meet the CBCian's...

---

Anand Savla

I.D. no : 93A3PS030
Nick Name's : Littu, Savli, Bhowmiya Patti, Modern Gandhi
B'Day : 23 November
In Bitsian days, Savla - the modern Gandhi, always amused his wingies with his antics, arguements and peculiar arc like movements especially when moving in the wing corridor, from his room to his sidies room. This 4ft something man has tremendous bundle of energy hidden in him, which he unleashes selectively. Till Uddi Baba baptised him one day, he held the flag of his ideals high in the wing. Another mystery which hounded the wingies was that for four years no one had ever seen him in the wing bogs... After designing IC Chips in SGS Thompson for a year, and spending a splendid six months roaming all over Europe on SGS sponsored trips, he is now a Manager himself. In 2000, he completed his MBA from Management Institute of IIT Delhi. He went on to work for Trigyn Technologies (formerly eCapital Solutions) in Banglore, India's Silicon Valley, but then joined Wipro Technologies as a business manager – spending years along east coast in US building business relations for Premji!!!

Vikram Kaul

I.D. no : 93A3PS370
Nick Name's : Mercurial Matroo, King Kaul, Raja, Crib Kaul
B'Day : 27th July
While in BITS, Matroo kept declaring that he rulz....thats why all knew that `Woh yahan ka Raja hai'... and came to be known as King Kaul. He is also a member of that rare breed of Indian's - the Kashmiri Pandit, to which I too belong. Matroo is the sort who'll order a Masala Dosa at a Wimpy's outlet or the one who'll cry not over spilt milk but over milk which might spill. Matroo was also in the BITS Hockey Team, same time when I was keeping goals in that team. After spending a year in HUGHES Software Systems, in Gurgaon and Germantown-USA, Kaul flew off to New Jersey for his MS at Rutgers, doing some secret work at WINLAB. Kaul is a die-hard fan of Madhubala and Amitabh Bachchan. Having completed his MS, Kaul is now working for Telecordia research lab in New Jersey. My association with Matroo began way back in 1983-84, when he joined Tyndale Biscoe School in 4th standard. We continued together through Model Academy and BITS later on... He's also one of the many Chi-bhai-chi shayar's:
"Lal, lal, lal, lal....
lal, lal, lal, lal !" - is just a sample.

Neeraj P. Nayak

I.D. no: 93A3PS011
Nick Name’s: Neena, NPN, Nalayak, Khalnayak
B'Day : 20th August
Nayak, as he was always called from the very day he joined BITS, is a methodilcal man, who runs his routine come what may. Whether it is the neat stack of hanky's in his wardrobe or his notes, things are neatly placed. This prankster would never tire of bugging folks around him, and more than often, Pastu would have to bear his urge for pranks. Nayak got bored of scoring perfect GPA's of 10 for seven consecutive semester's, that he finally thought of gifting away grades. In the same mood of boredom, he opted for a change to the Cassanova image in his psenti-sem, and continued the same in Pune and Iowa... After designing IC's and chips in CG Correl for a year, Nayak went on to doing his MS in Electronics in IOWA, and learning the ways of attending classes in US. Nayak however spent as much time discovering his hidden talents on the greens in Iowa, and is seen more often on the golf Course than in his lab. Warning** Never dare go near him if he's had a drink just now... You will either hear a sermon on how important it is to have breakfast daily or get slapped and smashed…Neeraj spent a few years in a few startups in Texas before joining Texas Instruments in Dallas...

Nilesh Pastagia

I.D. no : 93A3PS028
Nick Name's : Pastu, Gulbadan GuloRani, Pondy, DharamPaji
B'Day : 3rd Dec
Pastu or Pondy as we call him is from Surat(Gujrat). Pastu was the central character of all wing pranks, often at the receiving end of Nayak's antics. A true Gujju when it came to acads, Pastu never let off a course easily. After passing out from BITS, Pondy started with CG Correl too, but soon decided to test the knowledge of all those Profs in IISc. Pastu is as sweet as any of the sweets which he used to bring from Surat in full supply after each holiday. Though he looks lazy, Pastu is very adventurous at heart. He always remained in demand, for his bagfuls of sweets which he brought from home and also otherwise. His room was always the central Chat Room of the Wing, much to his distress. Unfortunately, Nayak would always attract a wing debate on any CBC topic in his room, especially when Pondy wanted to start doing problems for the test next morning. Pastu remained the source of solutions for all numerical problems and all details one would need to know for the next days test.His neatly catalouged solutions to all questions were much sought after before each test. While one cannot doubt his sincerities at work, his methods did mystify - why does a candle get twisted when Pastu's around! I always considered Pastu as the epitome of hard work...

After completing his Masters from IISc., Banglore - Pastu worked in the IBM Research Labs in IIT Delhi. He is currently in Pune, at Paxonet. And having led the scores of many courses in BITS, Pastu also led the way in an altogether different direction. Pastu was among the first few CBCians to get into marital life and fatherhood.

Rohit Pathak

I.D. no : 93A3PS337
Nick Name's : Fathak, Zattack, Dopy Kanahaya
B'Day : 7th July
Pathak, though not a part of the founder CBC wing, did become a regular member in his third year, like Matroo and Amit Kaul, and cemented this bond by his presence on the CBC-Net. After BITS, Pathak worked in Analog Devices for two years, where he spent more time in company sponsored parties and paid vacations at home and Texas,US, than actually designing those IC's - for which he was paid. It seemed like that he had been hired out as Food Taster, considering the number of 5-star dinners he was having those days. He was the most vela of us all - with girlfriend(s), motorcycle to take the girlfriend(s) out for drive(s) and lots of free time for movies, e-mailing etc. But, then suddenly some misfortune struck him, when he just out of fun wrote CAT and was punished with a sentence of MBA in IIM-Ahemdabad. Last heard, he was busy making best of his time between taking classes for his babes and cracking tests in IIM-A. At B.I.T.S. he had got interested in Photography not because of a Canon or a Konica but because of the very "colourful" work it entailed. He also Captained the BITS Squash team... Currently, he is busy telling corporate’s of the world things they already know and getting a fat cheque for it – while at McKinsey.

Karthik Kuppusamy

I.D. no : 93A3PS139
Nick Name's : Kakaus, LoudSpeaker
Kakus, is the "loud"-man out - his resonant voice suggests that he must have swallowed a microphone when he was small. Kakus, a chess, old Hindi music and quiz enthusiast could be heard anywhere in the wing, especially when dictating solutions to Pratap from his room. (I suffered him that way..!!) After cracking courses in BITS, Kakus went to relax in IIM,Calcutta, and try to teach the faculty there his version of Mathematics and Systems. Also, the first practical demo. of his managerial abilities came when he went home for his first vacation - he successfully managed to lose his wallet, belongings etc. Kakus spent next few years as a Consultant all over India, going on paid trips everywhere on behalf of Anderson Consulting. The rumours of his marriage forced him to go underground, and so we never got to hear from him on the CBC-Net for a long time, till finally in summer of 2000 he surfaced with an invitation for all... Yes! Kakus did get married. (I immediately sent some ear-plugs to his wife - Ranjani). He is now holed somewhere in Florida, battling hurricanes and executives at some retail chains – selling them services on behalf of Infosys – and giving Management funda's to the business guru's. Wonder what he learnt about it in IIM-Cal.. coz all I heard from him was his cribbing...

Satrajit Gupta

I.D. no : 93A3PS009
Nick Name's : Satg, CrackJit
Satg came to be known as Crackojit, when in the very first semester on campus, he showed his wizardy at Mathematics by beating all records in AdCal. He ended up with a 108 out of 100 marks...Sounds weird... But its true...!!! Satg went on to become the source of funda's for the whole wing... especially the one's which would fail to be answered by the other Guru's in the wing. He usually started a book from the last chapter backwards, and thats how he beat all those ME Micro guys by topping the courses while he was only a BE student himself. This now "Guru of VLSI" enjoyed reaching out into future and doing it in present...!!! God save the Scientists...many of them are in for a shock soon, when he will rewrite many of their theories... From BITS, Satg went directly to IISc Banglore for a Masters in MicroElectronics. After breaking several records in academics in IISc, he went on to break a few more at CMU for his PhD degree. Satg is a typical Scientist type. But what surprised people was when he started getting romantic, thanks to some Chinese project-mate in CMU. Now, I ought to delete that reference soon – since he’s happily married now. Currently, Satg is busy designing stuff at some start up in Bay Area and getting speeding tickets in his BMW SUV. Satg is also a fabulous singer, though he limits his lyrics to those previously sung by Bengali singers only...esp. Kishore...

Satg's laugh, Satg's tickle and Satg's accent, are a CBCian heritage.

Supratim Deb

I.D. no : 93A3PS063
Nick Name's : Suppy, Prabhu Ji, Warne
B'Day : 27th July
Suppy, the second of the two Bongs who went to the IISc, Bangalore from BITS, to reach heights of C.V.Raman and others. Suppy was the other God of the wing, who would answer all your queries, especially one's related to mathematical issues. And thats why he was called PRABHU Ji. Often, he would use air as his black board and his hand as the chalk to explain the concept... rest depended on you ... How much of it you could grasp!!! Suppy is adept in explaining mathematicals funda's involved in the most intricate of problems in your CDC courses and he never spared such a course himself. Suppy came to be known as Prabhu Ji, for his mastery with numbers. But, Suppy needs to be mentioned here for coining the term Chi-bhai-Chi, which became the mantra of the wing. Suppy's style of CBC humour is inimitable, and so was his style of spin bowling, in the Wing-cricket matches. He propagates the essence of Chi-bhai-Chi. At present he is trying to develop solutions for ninth-order solutions based on the Kramer rule for non-determinant equations!!! Well, after having been the Batch Topper in IISc during his Masters there and breaking some of the past records of performances, Prabhu Ji spent a brief time working in Silicon Automation Systems (Banglore) and later at the IBM Research Lab in Delhi. But the crystal ball never said a job for him. So in summer of 2000, Suppy headed to US for a PhD at the University of Illinos, Urbana Champagne. Dr Supratim spent time also at MIT on a research assignment before returning to Bangalore in early 2005, to join Bell Labs research centre.

Sandipan Dutta

I.D. no : 93A3PS595
Nick Name's : Uddi Baba (ki Jai)
B'Day : 23rd September
Uddi baba, came to be when Matroo saw a sudden light - a la Phenomenon style. And Sandipan became Uddi - the Baba. Uddi, the name became so popular soon, that many forgot his actual name too. Uddi, the person was popular always, being the center of all CBC debates and issues. Uddi shall always be remembered for his easy-go-lucky attitude, who believed in taking the life at it came... Uddi never cried over spilt milk, as long as there was scope of more milk to come... Not even if there was none... Uddi's beliefs were tremendously inspiring at times... Like other three Bongs, Uddi never believed in going to the classroom or the knowledge of the book... He was undoubtedly the most enthued person in the wing, when it came to outings, trekking, swimming, gymming,... You name it... he was ready to do it...as long as it did not involve going to the class... Lately, Uddi has taken up body-building to develop a physique but the mental aspect remains largely ignored. Uddi's speciality is to think the wrong way out of a situation. Uddi is one of the few folks in the batch (or maybe whole industry) who still is with his first job - in Wipro!!! Basically, Uddi is so forgetful and lazy that he never even bothered to change his job once he joined Wipro.

Mandeep Singh

I.D. no: 93A3PS010
Nick Name's: Mandu, Sardar
B'Day:
Mandu, the melodious Sardar, was a great sidey..espcially much in demand for his music system... Mandu represented INDIA in International Students Science Convention in UK, - so he's no less a scientist... But, maybe his laziness will marr his chances... He is so lazy that he won't even check his mails. Mandeep looks less the Sher-e-Punjab that he is more so, because of the Santa-Claus type of laughter he has. Mandu became the center of attraction of CBC meets, when he suddenly found his poetic genius... Spontaneous sher's were his forte...especially in those ANC treats...Mandu spent two years after BITS, admiring the sights and sounds of Bangalore city, while he was working as a HARDWARE Engineer with Wipro... But, then came the CALL.. from the Land of Promises which saw Mandu pack his bags and head for a degree in VLSI in University of Chicago. But, the FBI reported that the real reason behind his desire to be in Chicago was the fact that there was an ALL-Sardar University somewhere close-by, where Mandu hoped of finding his soni-sardar-kuddi. But after spending a year in Chicago without even meeting a Sardaarni, Mandu bade farewell to Chicago and moved to UMASS, Amherst for completion of his MS.
Mandu joined Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) in Austin Texas, in Sept 2001. Mandu created the CBCian record of having failed in a US Driving License test. Mandu recently moved to Bay area AMD centre.

Amit Kak

I.D. no : 93A3PS079
Nick Name's : Kock, Maharaj, Savla Patti
B'Day : 16th Jan
Kock... as his name was often (mis)-pronounced is the King of Melodies of CBC... Gifted with a voice that has been the mode of entertainment for us, on many of those psenti evenings... Kak is presently riding high ever since the TOI review showed his photo alongside Annu Kapoor and Pallavi Joshi. His rendition of Jagjit Singh's ghazals and full-enthu CBC wing songs (Yeh Ishq Ishq Hai..) used to culminate many of the CBC gatherings... on Birthdays and in C'not... Kak, seldom seen in the wing, unless in Savla's room, was busy always... with GOD knows what!!! Kak is deep into Micro-Processors... So deep that he is unable to see his mails... Only Savla can pull him out now... Well, Kak has recently shifted his residence to Pune from J&K, to be closer to the huge number of his girl-friends there... I face a problem keeping this page upto date because, everytime I see this page, I realise that Kak has changed his job. Well, he started with Wipro, then went to Tektronix and then SAS, in just over two years. However, a terrible bike-accident in late 1999 prevented Kak from making any more jumps for a while. However, this melodious Kashmiri always stayed in good touch with all his fan-females from Wipro and Tektronix. Interestingly, almost all the flames had a name starting with letter "N". Kak moved to US in 2001 and after working with Ericsson – works now for Qualcomm in San Diego, CA

Praful Mattoo

I.D. no : 93A3PS004
Nick Name's : Sarkar, Zoji, Mats
B'Day : 6th September
Sarkar... This was how he came to be known from second year onwards... Mattoo remained a heart-throb for all the girls on-campus...not sure what helped it most - his Kashmiri looks, his cutie-pie image or the beauty spot on his face... Tough to decide who has had a bigger fan-following in MB - Mattoo, Nipun, Kak or A Kaul... My guess is - Mats. While in BITS, one could easily make him blush... You could always count on Mats to say yes to a cricket match... he still believes in cricket like religion... And yeah, Mats and Malik, together could beat FBI to extracting secrets and spying for gossip... After BITS, Mattoo worked in Banglore for a while for Wipro, before moving to Stamford, US to work with GE. And from there to Univ of Louisiana for an MS. And yeah, got married to his lady-luck Sonica in 2002 and is proud father today. Praful is currently a senior manager with i2 Technologies in Bangalore - and still as active in cricket.

Sambuddha Bhattacharya

I.D. no : 93A3PS001
Nick Name's : Sam, Zook Zook One, Sambhu, Bambu
B'Day : 13th November
Sambhu was 'the 001' of the batch... This first man of 93 batch was also the first CBCian to get settled in life. Sambhu, a silent worker, would spend much of his time lost in the thoughts of his Madam X. ahh... what love can do to you... Anyway, Sambhu is quite secretive at it too... And never let any of the wingies trip him on it... I wonder what he would have gone through if the CBC'ians had ever decided to take his trip on Ms. X... Sambhu, you should thank us for letting you off. Sambhu was working for a while with Synopsis, after having worked as a Hardware Engg in Tata Elsxi for a year. He too packed his bags in 1999, and headed for a Masters in VLSI, in Univ. of Washington, USA. Sambhu deserves respect on this page... for he is not like others. He was the first and for a long time, the only well-settled family man. Lucky man!! But if you ask him, he will tell you the list of negatives associated with it, like your commitments and huge telephone bills. He finally married his doctor and moved back to Synopsys, Bangalore in 2005.

Nipun Nair

I.D. no : 93A3PS114
Nick Name's : Nippo
Nippo, deserves the title of the "Joker of the CBC Gang". He had the ' Bad Taste' for four years in a row at B.I.T.S. - only he can tell you how tasty vomit is or how fragrant his socks smell. Incidentally, it's not only his mind that can run - it's also his body : Nippo's a class athlete as well. Nippo, a regular gymmer, would exercise often by lifting you onto his shoulders instead of iron... Nippo's expertise was in speaking and acting dumb, and would make irritatingly humourous situations. This hair-less wonder loved making you feel his muscles or see his shedding nails... Really Mr. Unpredictable. Nippo started his career with IMR, Banglore working in Mainframes. Simultaneously, Nippo continued to work on building his females fan-circle, which grew even more rapidly when he was in Stamford working as a Consultant for GE Capital, along with Mattoo. Early 2000, Nippo moved to West Coast and joined Computer Associates in the Silicon Valley. He still retains his job as Romance consultant with Love Thy Neighbours Inc. Nippo often goes underground for long durations, and any number of attempts to reach him at work, through his email, or cell phone will not succeed. Your only sure way of getting his attention will be sending a message through some girl, or leaving a voice mail in a feminine tone. I wonder why he ever bought a Cell phone. It remains switched off for 23 hrs and 59 mins a day. Anyway, that feminine tone trick may not work anymore – he finally got married to Ying and the two have settled down in a beautiful seaside home.

Dinesh P.Singh

I.D. no : 93A3PS039
Nick Name's : Gucchi, DP, Teen-Ball
B'Day : 19th May
I salute DP... this 5ft 4inch man has n-miles of mental strength and patience. Gucchiya lives on the dreams of tomorrow, and what a way it is... Believe me, try it... It gives you tremendous courage, unlimited hope, a sea of patience... Yeah, I have seen this from close quaters. DP was my sidey in BITS and we shared many tough times too... Gucchi, was the darling of the wing and would often suffer due to this, if the junta wanted a change from Pastu... DP was an ace wing cricketer too... I always loved the way his room looked in BITS... neat and bright, with those nice skecthings of his decorating the walls... Yeah, he's an ace artist too... These days, he's developed into an ace cook too... Gucchi is presently holidaying in Cypress, Isreal, Ireland, UK, USA etc, trying out various experiments in the Red Sea, roaming around Europe and Silicon Valley. No.. He is not there just for a holiday... He sometimes works for Amdocs International too... Gucchi, the junior Thakur of the CBC wing, started his career as a Customer Support Engg. in Chennai with Tata Elxsi. We spent some memorable time together in Chennai along with Amit and Rajneesh in the by-lanes of Padavattan Street. Gucchi left Chennai and India in early 1998 for Cypress... Chennai was never the same again. DP has since moved to Amdocs in US.

Rahul Malik

I.D. no : 93A3PS013
Nick Name's : Malikka Rani, Gaenni
B'Day :
Malikka, and her ..err sorry "his" rose-red lips.... The story of red-shirt... His unbeaten records of non-stop ghoting for the yet-far-away test... his 12th revision of the test course, when I was struggling to get started,... his role in all those gossip sessions... his zeal for wing cricket... his love for Ghazals... those lonely evenings when we would sit in Mattoo's dimly lit room...singing those sad romantic songs with the pain of a Devdas... Those numerous classes which he never stepped into... His expertise at making you cough up the deepest of secrets... and mastery at words when it came to doing a critical analysis of things... ( especially in Kashmiri..) His carelessness... which almost led to a fire calamity in the wing... His laziness for somethings... his enthu for the few others... I miss all that... Malik spent his initial years after BITS in Hyderabad, before making London his abode. So he is currently holidaying around Europe as a Senior Enggineer for Citicorp Overseas Software Limited. Malik, a true Kashmiri in his looks, had the same zeal for gossip and cricket as Mattoo. After the Red-shirt story of BITS, apparantly the colours have changed a bit now... things have gone Pink. Malik Wala Pink!!! Malik spends his time in London either roaming the Desi neighborhoods of London or playing county cricket, badminton, tennis, watching all Desi movies, listening to every new Desi music release. His marriage to Dr. Mona has not changed this much either. I wonder what Citibank pays him for out there... No doubt he never thought of changing his job...Yeah, he is the only other guy who is still with his first job.

Durgesh Singh

I.D. no: 93A3PS006
Nick Name’s: Thakur, Takkar
B'Day : 26th Jan
Thakur...say that with reverance,... for he is the most respected man in the wing...Afterall, He is a Thakur!!! He and his ID No-6 remained a topic of numerable disscusions in the wing. Thakur was always enthued about things... and a hard-liner to core when it came to arguements on matters of principle... Thakkur could take on a million people alone in an arguement, how so ever unreasonable his arguements may have been... Afterall, how could a Thakur accept defeat... Thakur often remained in demand (like his cycle...) during wing disscusions... for supplying such topics... Thakur's marriage, his home town, his ideas on all issues of national importance, his views on various scientific, biological and philosophical thoeries were always hot topics... He was awarded a Doctrate for his research on Sleeping State of Consciousness...whatever that means... Unfortunately, this guy could never pronounce his own name... Thakur is presently trying to help India get self-reliance in energy... Thats why he has put all his energy in working as Telecom Engg. for Gas Authority of India..He is a Govt. Official… So Beware… Thakur spends much of his time and our tax money going all over the world on official tours. Last time, he went to Europe - he came back a profoundly learned man from Amerstdam. Thakkar may have been beaten in the "first CBCian to get Engaged" race, but he was confident that he will win the "First CBCian to get Married" title. Afterall, Thakur's don't Lose!!!

Ok… Thakur too is still with his first job.

Deepak Tyagi

I.D. no : 93A3PS003
Nick Name's : Deta, Lambu, Lamba Aadmi, Surangi
B'Day : 6th December
Deta...always had a secretive smile or a look of tiredness, whenever he came out of his dimly-lit room... A "secretive smile" when he had just completed the course for the test still four days away...(while others in the wing were playing cricket or memory..) or a "look of tiredness" when he was bored because the course was too short and simple and he had already finished... So what next to do... Deta, was a meticulous worker, who believed in his goals and set out his path from the beginning... Thats how he worked... With a dictionary one side, a low table-lamp providing just enough light for the note book to be lit... and his mind constantly re-analysing whatever was disscussed that day in the class... Deta, would easily qualify as "the Ideal Student"...But, unfortunately this made him pull out of many enthued expeditions of the wing and he would be absconding from most of the wing meetings, discussions. Now, as a total contrast, his place in San Jose is the hub of CBC get-togthers in US. Deta started his career with SGS Thompson, Delhi and spent more time in France. Finally, when he got tired of the French women and wine, he decided to give West a try, and stopped over in the West Coast of USA. He started working as a Consultant with GDA Technologies in Silicon Valley. Take my word for it; he was the most prized employee that the company had. Who else could work for them on 4-5 different projects simultaneously? No wonder he was in great demand out there. GDA's loss was Broadcom's gain and Tyagi joined Broadcom Systems, San Jose in Oct 2000. He is currently a Senior Manager with Broadcom.

Ashok RadhaKrishnan

I.D. no :93A3PS112
Nick Name's : Ash, Long John, Crotchie
B'Day : 9th Feb
Ashok... or Ash... at 6ft 2inches was almost like having an extra pillar in the wing corridor...He knew exactly who was getting bald in the head...for he could see the scalp of most of us... Unfortunately, he is suffering due to the fact that his head too stands closer to the sun... and thats why he praises his balding head by "God made a few perfect heads.. rest HE covered with hair." Ash is a master with words, colours and his brush... Eversince he took fancy to working on Multi-Media in CSD, I would seldom see him in the wing... and would get to know of his presence in the wing only when he was heading to the BOGS in the early mornings... or to Insti, swinging his long key chain... Ash worked with Lucent (God only knows doing what!!) for a while, before he took a north-ward jump again. He went onto do an MBA in IIM, Lucknow and then joined Mindtree Consulting – selling funda’s to German clients for a few years. He came back to Bangalore to join Intel in 2005. Ash also married his BITS time sweetheart...

Kuldeep Parikh

I.D. no :93A3PS349
Nick Name's : Phodu, Polo Parikh
B'Day :2nd September
Well,.. if there were any records left to be broken in History of BITS,Pilani... Parikh smashed them all... Scoring CGPA of 10 in eight successive semester's speaks volume's about this Gujju,.. I have no words for him...He himself was a God with words. I must add, though, that academics was not the only field where he excells.... Football, painting, writing, humour, sketching, administrative skills... You name it... he's good at it... The Mr. Genious.. Undoubtedly!!! After making all IIM-Banglore guys fret the same way he made us fret in EEE courses in BITS by scoring awesome grades without a break, he is now making his skills as a Manager known to the world. Once he became a Consultant with KPMG, Parikh went off CBCnet. Of course, he's not made to waste time with lesser mortals. Among the toppers of his batch at IIM, Parikh spent his summers in Swiss Alps, just by writing an award winning essay... He is really a Master with words... So I better keep my mouth shut. He is now part of strategy team at HP, setting up their shared services division in Bangalore.

Amit Kaul

Nick Name's : Mukri, Sunny,...
B'Day :7th November
Well, couldn't have completed this page without a note on this Guy. One of the few non-EEE guys in the CBC gang, he was a late-entrant. But, he learnt fast and is one of the leading CBC-Shayar's now. Kaul and I moved together from BITS to 7-Tech to HCL-Cisco together, spending a longer than bargained for time in Chennai. Thats where poor chap was subjected to various tortures, in the form of having to live with me. But, I tell you, having had a long association with him has done me more harm... with a charmer like him around, you don't stand a chance with the fairer ones. Kaul is always a great company... especially when he is in his "socho - ek situation hai" moods...

He spent his latter years in Chennai, doing a study on "Solution to all Problems of Life: Marriage" and submitted a thesis to Meena, whom he got married to in 2002. But before that he spent a year in LA working for Trillium/Intel, moved back to Intel Bangalore.

Vishal Gupta

Nick Name's :Vigu
Vigu is the only other non-EEE member of the CBCnet. He resurfaced and reentered this group recently after a looooong absence. Vigu though a late entrant to CBC, spent much of his later years in BITS as one. A Civil Engineer by degree, he started his career building dams, bridges and flyovers. But, cement and sun did not suit him for long and the IT bug caught him and he moved to Delhi. He has been spending some silent years in Chandigarh now…

S Ananth

Nick Name's : SANA

What comes promptly to my mind when I think "S Ananth" is the 3rd year experience in VK when Ananth was my backie... especially those audio tapes Shakespearean plays. Thats probably when I have interacted most with Ananth, whether as a backie or in his role as Editor of Current Trends. Ananth was always far more mature and composed than the rest of the wing... No one ever saw him goof around when others played 'wing box cricket' or 'memory' or created ruckus in any other form. He would rather spend his time wisely in the Robotics lab. As Ash aptly said, when Ananth spoke, junta listened - only that you wouldn't see him speak too often though. His words of wisdom, articulated in the well modulated tone often made one wonder if he was born with the wisdom tooth.

Sana has spent his time since BITS at Motorola, Bangalore and is still single and looking.

S K Jayanth

Nick Name's : Jetty Jayanth

"Innocent and shweet", Jetty had a way with the ladies on campus- he is accused of knowing the layout of Meera Bhawan better than that of VK! . His more serious hobbies include listening to Carnatic music, photography & learning languages. Co-ord Jetty is seen with cameras during outsti season and with books at insti- (the Refli was a favourite hangout) and had people queuing up for his multi-colored notes before tests. His notes, by far must have been the most referred to documents in our batch - and a great revenue source for the photo-copier kiosks in C'not. I wonder if he ever managed to get a cut from those kiosk owners.
Jayanth is currently working for Cadence after completing his MS in Microelectronics.

Prasanth Rao

Nick Name's : Metal

Metal - one of those names which became so popular that people often forgot his real one... (much like what happened with Uddi). And yeah, not really difficult to guess where it came from... Rock music used to be more than a passion for him. A perfectly lovable wingie - until his music system let loose at full blast on lazy afternoons or silent nights. Metal was also blessed with a sharp brain that has made him a good quizzer and was seen on stage during OHT and BOB.
Currently working in San Diego for Qualcomm, after completing his MS in Iowa.

Rizwaan Ameer

Nick Name's : Riz, Ritchie-riz, Sheikh Riz, Studwan

You may see him in a pair of Levi's or Nike's sporting Eternity but don't miss his heart. Sweet and rich, Riz (Richie Riz?) was always there to bail his friends out of a financial crisis. He liked keeping cycle bells for ash trays, believing he's from Bombay and thinking high. He's ambitious, and really perseveres to achieve the things he wants. One of the most popular guys on campus, Biba (Birayani baba) was Stuccan Stage Control. His room was always a storehouse of gizmo's...
Last heard, he was making big waves in Infy...

Pratap Arangil

Nick Name's : Crotchie, Chotu

Jovial, creative, shrewd, secretive and ambitious, Chhotu had a complex mind and a simple heart. A true entertainer, Chhotu had a vast repertoire of risque jokes for all occasions. He managed to cloak his true feelings with his acidic wit, but won a lot of friends because having him around meant a lot of fun. Captain BITS TT team, he was also a core member in the Department of Controls.
Pratap married his Sonali in 2003.

V R Sundar

Nick Name's : Virus

Virus was definitely striken by the love disease! He was knownfor the number of crushes he had and all the things he tried out to woo his girls. Few people have totted up as many make-ups in BITS as the happy-go-lucky Virus. A slightly short temper adds colour to this sensitive and helpful guy. Virus believes in thinking positive. After his planned M.S. in Computer Science, he plans to be yet another `computer virus'.

(-some writeups are copyright owned by Parikh/Ash...)

Welcome to the CBC Net Blog...

Welcome..

For years, your truely has been trying to manage the CBCNET home page

With changing times, I guess its only logical to move to a blog now...

Welcoming you all to this blog... Hope to keep posting regularly and include all the CBCians as blogging members here soon.

Also, I will try to migrate most stuff from the CBCNet page to this blog in a few posts...

Regards,

Sidharth Bhan