Convocation With A Difference

"No classes. No teachers. You are your own teacher", this is how I described a convocation ten years ago. Even now, isn't it true ? Think.

Convocation is a formal event. Mostly stiff, long drawn and repetitive. Yet, it triggers excitement because it happens once for the graduating students, unless they decide to study further! Am sharing a short picture story of a convocation which I attended recently. This convocation was different for many reasons:

• Convocation of the Founding Class
• Parents of Chancellor's Awardees honoured on stage
• Valedictorian Address by the topper of the Batch
• Recognising the Best all-rounder
• Rewarding the Dean's List on stage
• Designing of the gowns by a student
• Fun moments

Founding Class

It was the founding class (2021-23) of BITS School of Management (BITSoM) at Mumbai which received their degree certificates. The excitement was writ large on the faces of the graduating students. BITS Pilani is Ghumakkad's alma-mater. A globally renowned institution for Science and Technology, it added a new School of Management in Mumbai in 2021. I remember attending the 1st convocation of BITS Pilani in 1964 as a school student. The loudest applause then went to the first PhD from BITS Dr RP Jain, if my memory serves me right! Yes, the founding class has special status as far as institutional memory is concerned.

Mr Uday Kotak was the Chief Guest while Mr Kumar Mangalam Birla delivered the Chancellor's Address. Mr Birla gave out four tips to become a pioneer in your profession. Browse the short clip below inserted with permission:

Mr Kotak recounted his younger days when he wanted to be a cricket player. Do listen to him in this short 40-sec video.

Honoring the Parents

Parents are always invited for the convocation at all the universities. But the parents of Chancellor's Award recipients at BITSoM were invited on stage to receive the Award along with their ward. This innovative gesture by BITSoM honouring the parents goes a long way in inspiring the future batches. It also strengthens the value system taught at the School. I met the mother of Samarth Mishra, the batch topper after the event and congratulated her. It was an overwhelming feeling more so as he had lost his father when he was 18. Similarly, the parents of Ayush Ranjan, the Best All-rounder of the Class were also honoured by inviting them on stage to receive the Chancellor's award alongside.

Valedictorian Address by Batch Topper 

Another innovation which I observed at the convocation. The batch topper was given the privilege to deliver the Valedictorian Address at the convocation. Just listen to the inspiring and touching speech delivered by Samarth Mishra, who topped the Class of 2023 at BITSoM. Look at his self-confidence, composure and delivery- like a seasoned stage speaker! If the YouTube link below doesn't open, you may click here.

The Best All-rounder of the Class, Ayush Ranjan was also given the privilege to share his experiences with the audience. You may click here to view a short video clip of Ayush's Address.

Dean's List

It is a custom in most universities in north America. Dean's list honours those graduating students who achieved a GPA between 3.5 to 3.9 on a scale of 4. Dean's list awardees get a signed certificate of appreciation. BITSoM also honoured the top-10 students of the graduating class. Actually the number was 11 because there was a tie for the 10th position. This reminded me of 20 merit scholarships being awarded every semester by our batch at BITS Pilani. The first cohort had 21 awardees because there was a four way tie for the 17th rank. Talk of coincidences in life!

Designing of the gowns by a student

Another innovation by BITSoM was designing of the convocation gowns by a student of the graduating class. Ms Pallavi Savant felt so elated on her design being selected by the Institute.

Fun Moments

Every convocation the fun moment arrives with the tossing of the hats on completion of the ceremony. The BITSoM graduates also did that. But there were more fun moments like:

• Screening of the Year Book made by the graduating class
• A professional music performance in between

Sharing few pictures of the Convocation to give you a feeling of vibrancy at the venue- National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA), Mumbai.

For two of us from the graduating class of 1973, it was a privilege to attend the convocation of another graduating class 50 years apart! From 1973 to 2023, BITS has been an integral part of our life as BITSians.

Previous Convocations

Ghumakkad has been privileged to have attended many convocations in the past. We are sharing below two of our earlier stories of BITS convocations.

Convocation: A Day To Rejoice

Convocation Excitement: We Have Done It

Hope you liked this short story. It proved that innovations are meant not only for product designs, but it can be applied even in mundane activities like a college convocation. Well done Dr Ranjan Banerjee and his team at BITSoM.

Thanks for browsing.

   -  Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with inputs from Samarth Mishra and the ABG Group/ Secunderabad/ 15th May 2023

Postscript 16th May 2023:

Dr Vijay Vittal of Arizona State University, USA wrote: "At our university's convocation our President asks all parents of graduating students to rise and then asks the graduating students to acknowledge and thank the parents for their sacrifices that helped them achieve their goal." Another noble way of acknowledging the contribution of the parents!

#convocation #foundingclass #BITSoM #BITSPilani #BITSAA #BITSians #innovation #management #education #MBA #chancellor #deanslist #vicechancellor #classof2023 #classof1973

Neem Trees Under Attack

What happens when the doctor falls ill? Who will treat the patients?

Neem- sturdiest of the trees- is wilting and dying! Barely four months after our previous story, the Neem in Secunderabad is under attack again. Neem which has medicinal properties, is itself under threat! Dieback is back again! What will happen to the 'patients' of Neem?

What is Dieback? Please read our earlier story of April-23 below.

Neem trees in Telangana region are under severe attack! Not by unscrupulous builders but by a disease.

Ghumakkad has observed hundreds of large Neem trees in Secunderabad wilting and drying up in the past few days! Otherwise a robust species, it was very distressing to see a healthy Neem tree suddenly drying up. Almost on the verge of dying as if attacked by a cancer! See the picture below. 

Distressing Sight

During my morning golf today, it was very distressing to see tree after tree attacked by dieback disease. The dried up trees stuck out as a sore thumb on an otherwise green tapestry of the golf course! See the pictures below.

Dieback Disease

Google search led me to an earlier report in The Hindu. The trees are under attack by a fungal infection called 'dieback' disease having the scientific name Phomopsis azadirachtae. The disease was first noticed near Dehradun in 1990s. In Telangana it was first reported in 2019. In 2022 it had affected thousands of trees. It has resurfaced this year too. "The dieback disease affects leaves, twigs and the inflorescence of neem trees of all ages and it causes almost 100% loss of fruit production in severely infected trees", says Prof Jagadeesh Batthula in the above report. We have observed 100% loss of the fruit in this season. See the pictures below.

How to Control the Disease

Being large trees, spraying of fungicides is very difficult. The other way is to cut the affected twigs and branches, collect it in a pit and spray the fungicide. Even then it is difficult to control the disease as the fungus is airborne. It is reported that some NGOs have come forward to control the Dieback disease.

We only hope that the affected trees bounce back. Otherwise, it amounts to loosing tens of thousands of healthy Neem trees in one season with no regeneration as the fruits and seeds, have been destroyed by the fungal attack forever!

We also hope some of our plant biologist readers will shed some more light on this phenomenon and suggest what can individual citizens do to control this dreaded disease. And save the environment! Otherwise, the sunrise on the golf course would not be the same again!

Do share your observations in the area around you if the dreaded dieback disease has attacked the Neem trees there!

Thanks for browsing

   - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with Neeta Bhargava/ Secunderabad/ 21st April 2023

Postscript

30th April 2023: Readers from many regions across India responded to this post. Summary of their observations below:

• Northern India, Karnataka, Kerala, coastal Andhra- not affected by the fungal infection on Neem trees
• Telangana and Goa- severely affected.

During last 10 days, Hyderabad/Secunderabad received heavy rains. This unseasonal rain seems to have washed away the fungal infection from many trees. Perhaps, Nature's own way of healing!

12th Nov 23: This is what the Indian Express Hyderabad edition wrote about the Dieback damage to the Neem trees in Telangana.

#neem #dieback #treedisease #twigblight #fungusattack #Phomopsisazadirachtae #telangana #ghumakkadharsh #ghumakkadhb #nature #cancer

CDs On A Mango Tree

What are the CDs doing on a mango tree?

Some weird decoration by tech-gardeners?

Or, some IT nerds gone crazy?

Actually, none of that!

The CDs have been hung on the mango trees to keep the langur away from attacking the mango crop! Simple.

Yes, the idea seems to work. First time Ghumakkad saw it in Uttarakhand while driving to Munsiyari. The house owner was finding it difficult to save the fruits from the marauding monkeys on a forested hillside. The shining CDs did the trick! That was in May-2019. Now four years down the line, it worked again in Secunderabad. Different monkeys, different fruit trees, different climate, yet the concept works! See the pictures and a short video clip below.

Here is a short video clip shot on our terrace showing the CDs protecting the fruits on both the mango and guava trees.

Of course, while driving on highways in India, CDs have a different connotation as seen from the picture below. The picture quizzed the readers in the 18th edition of online contest Kaun Banega Ghumakkad KBG-18 . CDs in road side dhabas ढाबा  (roadside eatery) could contain unwanted stuff. But no, don't be so naughty! See the remarks in the picture below.

More than 100 correct responses were received for KBG-18 Contest. You may browse the story linked below.

CD is Cold Drink - The highway eateries terminology!

So, if you have a home garden and the monkeys are a menace, try hanging some CDs from the branches of the tree. It should be free hanging so that it rotates with wind. It startles the monkeys and keeps them away. 

Requesting our zoologist-readers to educate us how it works? Hope it does not cause any other harm to the marauding monkeys.

More stories from Ghumakkad on the world around us!

Thanks for browsing

    - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with Neeta Bhargava/ 5th April 2023/ Secunderabad

Postscript: Readers from different parts of the world shared their experiences on above story. Excerpts:

5th April: Sujata Das from Canada writes: "We have been doing this CD track for years to protect our cherries, plums, and peaches from long-beak birds. And it works for birds."

5th April: J Ramamoorty from Hyderabad writes:  "In New Delhi's South Block,  two wheeler owners keep bricks on the two seats for the same reason i.e. to protect the seats being torn by the monkeys!"

5th April: Pramod Lakhotia from Germany writes: "In Germany we have no monkeys free jumping around. Hence no problem. But birds do make our Cherries a problem and we are using CDs on the trees effectively."

30th April: It has been close to four weeks since we hung the CDs on our fruit trees in home garden. Apart from the langurs, the CDs have kept the bats and the birds away so far.

#monkeymenace #maraudingmonkeys #langursinthegarden #homegardening #savingthemangoes #homeremedy #CDs #CDsonamnagotree #CDstostartlethelonkeys #ewaste #upcycling #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh

Hindola Toran - Lesser Known India Series

Ever heard of 'Hindola Toran' हिंडोला तोरण ?

Even we hadn't! 

What does it mean?

Is it a monument?

Where is it located?

What is the significance?

This story answers all the above questions. To begin with, here is a present day picture of Hindola Toran.

Compare it with a picture dating back to 1871 taken by Joseph D Beglar and preserved in the British Library, UK. 

We visited Hindola Toran recently and were awed by its beauty. Even though in ruins, the sandstone sculpted structure is a marvel of 9th century AD in Gyaraspur tehsil of Vidisha district Madhya Pradesh India. The above picture taken in 1871 shows a higher ground level compared to the present day. It may be because of later excavation and soil run off over the years.

The historical write up held in the British library reads, "The building called Hindola is an ornamental entrance, or toran, leading to a Brahmanical temple. Hindola means simply a ''swing'', and the toran with its two upright pillars and cross-beams has sufficient resemblance to the common Indian swing to justify the people in calling it by this name. The pillars of the toran are carved on all four faces. In the lower panels are represented the ten incarnations of Vishnu, the tortoise and fish being placed together on one pillar, and Buddha, standing with the right shoulder bare, with a small Kalki Avatar on his horse beside him, on the other pillar. The ends of the bracket capitals are fashioned as lions' and elephants' heads, the former facing outwards and the latter inwards. All the figures which once stood on the brackets are now gone; but there are two projecting stones on each face of the architrave with round holes on the under side, showing how far the figures must have leaned inwards. On the south face of the central pinnacle, which represents a small temple, there is a figure of the boar incarnation of Vishnu in the lower panel."

Let the pictures speak. You may corelate the above historical write up with the pictures below.

Talking about pillars, we have the famous thousand pillar temple in Hanamkonda village near Warangal in Telangana state. We had featured another story of eight pillars also in Gyaraspur called 'Aath Khmba' earlier. 

Over the centuries, the village settlements have moved closer to the monument. See the picture below.

We met a daily wage earner employed by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) for keeping the area clean. He readily shared his knowledge about the 9th century structure. See the video below or click the YouTube link here.

After the hectic hike, it was time for all three generations of the hikers to have a bite. What better place than the dried up lawn in the compound of Hindola Toran!

Hindola Toran and its beauty have attracted many feature film makers. A recent Punjabi film has a song sequence shot around Hindola Toran and Mala Devi Temple (story to follow), both in Gyaraspur. Readers may enjoy the film song by either clicking the thumbnail below or the YouTube link here.

Gyaraspur has numerous monuments dating back to the 9th century AD. We had earlier featured the Aath Khamba Temple in a picture story. More of these lesser-known treasures of India will follow in our future posts.

Location

Hindola Toran is located about 37 kms north-east of Vidisha town. See the maps below courtesy Google Maps.

 

Some of our other stories featuring the lesser-known architectural marvels or tourist spots of India are listed below. Just click to browse the picture story of your choice.

Ruins of Jahazpur Fort in Rajasthan

Devarakonda Fort in Telangana Needs your Support

Gooty Fort in Andhra Pradesh

Kuntala Water Falls in Telangana

There are many more such hidden spots in India. We will share one by one in subsequent stories.
Stay connected and thanks for browsing.

     - Harsh-the-Ghumakkad with Bharat Ladha/ 22nd March 2023

#vidisha #MPTourism #incredibleindia #lesserknownindia #hindolatoran #athkhamba #gyaraspur #9thcenturyAD #redsandstone #sculptures #carvings #lordvishnu #tenavatars #archway #swing #ghumakkadhb #ghumakkadharsh #fourpillars