Two days earlier I wandered though the throng known as Shastraa 2008, one of the more well known technology festivals at IIT-M. The first thing that struck me was the apparent absence of eateries. It seemed all work and no play. It turned out to be quite the opposite. I could see people lazing around with no evidence of organisation. But it was all happening silently, thanks to the ubiquitous use of mobile phones and internet; not as fast as the ‘speed of thought’ but nearly so.
The teen and teen++ are a very serious lot. Probably more serious than what I and my batch mates were in our teens. Focus is the first priority. Food naturally comes after Focus – both in the book of Webster’s and also theirs. Multiple programs, multiple locations forced clear selections of what one wanted to participate and attend. It was simply not possible to have the cake and eat it.
Apart from events on Robotics, puzzles, VC lectures, talks and lectures, Rubik’s cube extravaganza and 1001 things to try the mind, one event that was interesting was the one sponsored by Ex-IITians - The Water Filter Challenge. It had an attractive prize of Rs. 3 Lakhs! However robotics was the centre piece and the crowd seemed to have only that event in mind.
All in all a good weekend at IIT-M.
