My reflection – ACCET87 SJC – 11Aug2012

ACCET87 talks ” Turn a new leaf” while mayan calendar says the “End of times”. So for sure we set motion the beginning of new times on 11 August 2012.

There was a common thread of humbleness prevailed in the gathering while each one of our batch mates are in their top notch career profile.

Rajesh, Bobby, Saravanan, Sivanandha, Krishnamoorthy. Manickavasagar, Sebastian have set the Eco system so inviting and created invigorating experience.

The hospitality team of current final year students were awesome.

Spontaneous honouring of Mech professor KRV was an heart warming experience. Evening, we got a light  down pour in Karaikudi and I thought that was a sign of blessing to our ACCET87 batch.

Two final year Mech students met me and expressed their profound thanks for ASSET87 initiative of our batch. That confirmed that we have done the right thing and this is much much better than building a structure.

Sincere thanks to every one who travelled from far and near to make this event grand sucess.

With all my best wishes and friendship,

Joseph Sahayaraja

Rajesh has done a M.S.Dhoni…!!

Dear Rajesh & Team,

Fantastic, Marvelous, Kudos to every one’s effort in meticulous planning to see this function as a grand success.

First let me start with thanking the noble hearts A.Murali and R.S.Srinivasan for their generous contributions of Rs. 4 / Rs. 2 lacs the highest contributions. Both ECE guys. Sincere thanks on behalf of everyone. Last but not the least, money too matters in delivering goods. Thanks for your generosity.

If Bobby set the stage ablaze with the inaugural speech, momentum was carried on by all team members and off-stage Saravanan did the art of initiating the dancing power from within all to come out. Guys, from the time of landing at KKDI, a warm welcome, pleasant stay arrangements, wonderful photo banners (Only Mechanical guys were missing in action – only we were to blame in not preserving and providing the same in time to organisers) on the way to Murugappa Hall.

Guys, barring may be 15 of us I met our friends after 25 years and was a great feeling. We had a variety – Hostel trips / College trips / Web telecast / Late night chat and endless chat with guys in hotel and in Murugappa Hall.

Guys, I must frankly say coming all the way from Dubai was worth it and I got much more than what can be expected. The Nostalgic experience is intangible but invaluable. Thanks to Rajesh / VP / Bobby / Vilva / Sudsi / Manickavasagar / Devasenathipathy. I may miss names by mistake, apologies, but in short for the whole lot of Core team sincere thanks message flows from the bottom of heart for giving us a memorable occasion.

I just recall a statement even Heaven is boring without friends, that said even Hell is funfilled with friends. Best thing was to see all our friends some with family. Yes we missed three of us there – Palanikumar / Mohan / Thiruchelvam. Others who missed are to blame themselves in not planning out properly their schedule. We also missed them.

No doubt Rajeshwar has done a M.S.Dhoni but must equally appreciate all his loyal lieutenants who delivered the goods for him as a team. Hats off guys!

 

Feedback Time

On behalf of the Core Committee, I thank you all for your support, encouragement and enthusiastic response to whatever we attempted.  The event went off well and was widely appreciated. You were all generous in your praise.

Notwithstanding the accolades, I think we could have conducted several things better. There is always room for improvement. I have already made a list of things I messed up and though the list is small now, I am sure it will grow. I am highly self-critical.

Your feedback is important to understand what went right and what did not, what worked and what did not, what was liked and what was not. The past few days would have helped you reflect on the event. So, please take a few minutes and provide your feedback by filling the SJC Feedback Form.

The summary of the feedback will be published after all feedback is received. The Core Committee will be meeting for an analysis in 2-3 weeks time. So, please submit your feedback as soon as possible.

Click here now and give your feedback.

A reflection on our long overdue fee to ACCET…

Dear ACCET87 friends:

I along with my family had a memorable time participating on our SJC; many, many thanks to the tireless work of the organizers – planning every small detail, engaging the right people to manage certain aspects of the events like the Master of the Ceremony, orchestra, etc. Rajeshwar, VP, Vilva,  Boby, Sivanantha Raja and team– Kudos to you! We are blessed to have leaders and volunteers like you in our midst.

As I was reflecting on the commitment and responsibility that we have undertaken in ASSET87, it is evident that we are going to need an ongoing monetary contribution commitment in addition to the volunteer and time commitments.

Well, first let me firmly state that the soft skills enhancement is a worthy cause. In fact, after many discussions leading to SJC, listening to all of the presentations on August 11th and talking to a few people on the engineering campus recruitment side after the SJC event (people who had nothing to do with our college), I am convinced that ASSET87 is a precedent/best practice that other colleges will eventually embrace.

Coming back to the topic of our commitment to ASSET87 and the funds that will be required to sustain it; I wanted to share my thought process when I made my first pledge and a few other things I realized as I continue to reflect about our college…

If I rewind a few months back, I was confident that we’d do a splendid job of organizing the SJC and do a sizable contribution similar to our seniors. I had the privilege of being inspired by one of our seniors who had a moving experience of participating in their golden jubilee event at Karaikudi two years back. Right then, I had made a commitment to attend ours in person and make a contribution. I am happy I was able to do both!

As I reflected sitting at the SJC and later, I realize that it has still not quite dawned on us as to how blessed we are to have been awarded this opportunity in 1983 to be a student of this college. So, I started thinking a few “what if”s – they always help me put things in a better perspective…

  • What if the ACCET fee had been Rs. 25,000 per semester – instead of the “close to nothing” that we eventually paid; could my parents have afforded to have me study at ACCET? What would have been the student loan when I graduated, if we had to take a loan?
  • What if like most other colleges started in mid-80s, there had been a “capitation fee” to get admission to the college? Could my parents have paid it? Probably not; I would have studied in an Arts college for a three year science or a commerce undergraduate degree; how different my life might have turned out?
  • What if I had to spend in $s for my college education? I already know the answer – not a hypothetical answer but a real one: I could not do my post-graduate studies after ACCET in USA; it was too expensive and we could not afford it. In US, majority of the people graduating have huge student loans that they end up paying along with their car and house loans for many, many years.
  • What if every college today was like our ACCET! As a parent today, how much do  I actually need to plan to save to get a college education for my children… To put this question in perspective, when we had our third child when I was 41 years old, my financially savvy friend commented that I should forget about retiring and work until and perhaps after my last one graduated to pay for upbringing and college.

Reflecting on these, I can’t but wonder what a blessing and gift ACCET has been to my life. Yes, I work hard, to be where I am today and trying to stay there and improve; but ACCET was the foundation that even made any of this possible.  Meena and my children are strong supporters of my contributions to the college now and am sure in future; particularly, after seeing the college in person, what it needs today to deliver the kind of education that we received, and the camaraderie and commitment of all of our batch mates!

Friends, it is time to reach in to our pockets and bank accounts and pay our college fee that have been due for the past 25 years! The beauty of this fee is that it is only due in our minds and hence the amount, late fee, interest and inflation adjustment – everything is up to each of us to determine. Even if you have made your contributions already, consider doing your own analysis and add to the contribution and make it an ongoing commitment, until we believe that our ACCET dues have been paid! I commit to doing my own analysis. Please share it with your family – you need their support and encouragement as well.

I am sorry for the long winded message, but this is an important topic deserves your time, attention and consideration.

Cheers,

Srinivasan R.S. ECE

 

End of a great event SJC

Dear friends,

With the participation of over 100 of our classmates, the SJC was over in a successful manner. For a while, I became a student once again. We sat once again in our class room along with our classmates and remembered our college days. Oh…….”Kankalin oram ..Kanneer varuthe…”Thanks to Rajeshwar, Bobby, Saravanan and Vilva for arranging such a wonderful SJC. I should not forget Nandhini, Vasagar and Deva for their tireless involvement in the successful conduct of the SJC. Really we missed Chitra.