Mech71

MIND WITHOUT FEAR by RAJAT GUPTA I have mentioned in my other blogs that there have been times since childhood that intuitions on various matters, minor or major, have struck me from time to time through life. As a career scientist and a professor of technology I did not discuss the matter much with others because many consider the stuff from the mystic realms strange. However, I have talked more of it since retiring from a scientific career around a decade ago and even given it a name - Himalayas Born Intuition - for perhaps that is where it was born. Moreover, if the leading scientist of humanity- Einstein – could talk of it there is no reason for me not to. Last month, one morning one such intuition struck me at random. It was about a dear old college friend - Rajat Gupta. After leaving college, we have not had much opportunity to meet being in different countries. We have communicated much though, ever since the advent of emails. Rajat Gupta is a well-known consultan

Yesterday Mech71ers met at a club in the South of Delhi. The Bard of Mech71, Vinod Khurana has described the event in his wonderful poetry, We meet and rejoice and renew our friendship every meet brings new color to the wonderful gathering Thirteen of us at Vasant Vihar club fuller than we think we did but sober till the end to have heart to heart talk Good part first no crackers burst brokered peace where it was needed No raw deal no wrong rubbing no leg pulling yet brought down the roof with subtle humor and serious discourse Not all times are the same age and ailments trouble and priorities change friendship means much as we traverse rough terrains As we are aware some of us are fighting serious battles against heavy odds darker the storm sooner it will pass but when innocents suffer it pains a lot why it happens,we don' know it could be anyone of us. Some things have no answer and we have to live with the questions while we pass throu

 Mech 71 continues to roar in Goa and a report has been posted by our enthusiastc friend in another blog while I continue in my cave retreat pursuing a quieter spiritual side looking for gifts of joy for all. One of our much loved members Ramakrishnan Ramanathan, known fondly as Ramu by friends has compiled a series of  posts in his travel and picture blog on this event providing a frank blow by blow account. It has been a huge effort by him. It is efforts such as these from different members at different times for the group as a whole that has kept Mech71 alive for more than half a century, virtually a lifetime. Hope you check out the links below for reports a marvelous series of pictures by him. The links are in reverse order so if you would like to check out from the beginning, read the last first and then move upwards. Carnivale Goa - Finale at Miramar Carnivale Goa Day 5 - Sunset Cruise   GTDC Panjim - Casino Night Carnivale Goa Day 4: Spice

   NOTE:  This blog is mainly confined to posts on doings of mech71 friends, but lest the world gather the impression that all mech71ers do is party, drink and dance, this single post in this blog is an exception on a general topic as an illustration of the fact that mech71ers do other things at times too, often making an importance difference in the world just as this post did in the lives of all on the planet Internet based devices such as smartphones and computers have become part of modern life making it possible for carrying out tasks that were impossible or very difficult in past. But it is has been a mixed blessing and there are aspects of it that are creating misery for humans too. This note touches on just one of them – Frequent Updates As a user, a human attempts to acquire a good device or computer to meet his essential needs. Perhaps it has a windows operating system or a Google android one. He has some preinstalled applications to carry out common task

With age all of us have slowed down but most of us still continue to meet. On the second of November twelve of us gathered  at the residence of Sunil Gupta on the occassion of a rare visit by PK Saxena from Canada. Needless to say it was a joyous occassion full of affectionate interaction between friends for half a century.

T oday, a dear Mech 71 friend, Anand Julka, sent an email about the severe life threatening air pollution of Delhi. He is now a renowned philanthropist who has an entire building and graduate school named after him in a leading US University. He quoted from a report that mentioned, “India’s rapidly worsening air pollution is causing about 1.1 million people to die prematurely each year and is now surpassing China’s as the deadliest in the world.” Needless to say, the air pollution deaths are mostly in polluted cities like New Delhi and not in the vast countryside and smaller towns that still enjoy good quality air. My reply to him had enough useful information on the topic for others too, therefore I am sharing it with a wider online readership here just as I had shared two other email letters earlier in this blog, Dear Julka To get an idea of the gravity of situation, perhaps one need look no further than our own class group that still lives in Delhi, a w