Department of CSE organised its Progen -i, 8.2 today. Shri. P.Vasudevan, Senior Manager, HR, TCS was the chief guest. He was there to award the Best Student Award instituted by TCS last year. This year, Anjana Devi with 88% was chosen to receive the award.

At the inaugural function, the chief guest gave a rousing speech to the students on the need to be industry ready, to have good communication skills and to desire perfection in all tasks.

He highlighted the fact that in today's competitive and recession hit IT industry, the need of the hour was to be ready for the industry, in terms of its requirements and work environment. He said animals survived because they lived for the moment, the moment of kill, the moment of survival. The next day was immaterial. The present trend in industries is to survive and survive they will because they are able to diversify and branch out. He asked students to find out what platforms were being used in projects and to equip themselves with good knowledge of the organisational and client needs.

Next, he stressed the need for good communication skills, not just in English, but now that the IT industry had to look elsewhere than just US for its markets, to also learn atleast one foreign language - Japanese, French, Portuguese, German to name a few. He also pointed out that memorising atleast five new words from the dictionary and using them during the course of the day and reading and watching news channels including business news channels would go a long way in mastering vocabulary and speaking skills. He mentioned his teacher from Loyola who taught him this mantra.

He wondered aloud why three precious months should be spent on training when students should come well equipped to them.

Thirdly, he unequivocally called for a spirit of quest in students.

He narrated the story of how Japanese fishermen on finding that the yield of fish for their sushi was falling due to fish that were brought dead thought of a plan to bring them fresh to the market. They constructed tanks in the boats that kept fish alive and fresh till they were brought to the market. There was still no market as people were dissatisfied with the fish - they claimed that the fish were lethargic and dull. That spoilt the taste.The poser he had was, what do you think the Japanese did to bring active and super fresh fish. The audience didn't have an answer to that. He informed us that the Japanese added a shark to the tank of fish and in that struggle for survival and strategies that the fish had to adopt to keep alive they were active, smart and fresh. The sushi was absolutely divine. He wanted students to be able to keep themselves abreast of the industry's needs and be able to serve their employers well.

He appreciated students of GCE for their hard work, intelligence and commitment and assured students that TCS would surely be recruiting students from GCE just for these fine qualities and had only one request to make - to remember the three guidelines he had just given. I liked the speech for the clarity, organisation and power packed in it. He had the audience listening to him in rapt silence.

There were more surprises - he had already refused the hotel accommodation. He stayed at the college guest house. He just joined the faculty and students in the simple buffet lunch served under the shamiana and spent a leisurely half an hour chatting with the staff and students. I know Indian industry , especially the Tatas is headed in the right direction with the right values. This young man was prime example of this.

There were events like paper presentation, quiz and Mad Ad for the participants along with a host of other technical events like debugging and a few other names that I am not able to recall now.

The first years have started their final series test and soon it will be time for them to give their exams. 2009 is at the doorstep and what an eventful year has 2008 been. 2009 promises to be as chocabloc with activities and plans as 2008, what with autnomy that may come through. God Bless GCE.

I saw the most incredible sight this morning in the campus...two snowy white egrets were walking alongside two of the stray cattle. (I believe that these birds share a symbiotic relationship with cattle picking ticks off them).The moment they flew up, spreading their long wings, they were truly beautiful. I hope, after the butterflies, birds will now find a haven in the campus. It is surprising that birds have not made GCE their home in spite of the many trees here.

Anna University, CBE has now introduced the Examination Management System to administer examinations online. As with any innovation, there are teething problems...hopefully they should disappear soon.

The first years are finally getting ready to face the last two or three weeks of their semester...we've never had classes for this long a time for the first years. And, their Innovative Work which forms a part of their internal assessment is showing us yet another facet of students - they are creative when they go beyond their texts.

Am very excited about the call from Ebek who conducted the BULAT examination for our students last semester.

Two of our students, T.M.Aravindhan and Ajay Paul of the Mechanical Engineering branch have qualified for a competition conducted by Ebek, Anna University, CBE and the University of Cambridge.

If they win the competition against the 68 others, they get to visit London and the University of Cambridge free of all costs.

They were shortlisted on the basis of their marks in the BULAT international certification examination which our first year students take up under Anna University, CBE.

Congratulations to our two boys...they are winners already, since from among the 6000 odd students they have found a place among the top 70.

They have scored an 'O' with 97 marks. The competition is on Sunday and the winners are going to be selected by Cambridge representatives. This is wonderful news for the Department of English. I would also attribute it to the natural talent of the boys in language learning.

It's raining cats and dogs from Cyclone Nisha. There is a steady drizzle that has not let up since yesterday. The University examinations sheduled for yesterday and today are cancelled due to the rains. Yesterday, the college wore a deserted look with only the first years braving the downpour to sit in the dark and damp classrooms...well, atleast for the morning. The district authorities declared a holiday and so students went back to the hostels and homes in the rain.

How beautiful it is to see trees dripping drops of rainwater in silvery thin cascades. The looming Yercaud hills are shrouded in clouds and one cannot even see the Perumal temple on that hillock near Kuruguchavadi.

The canteen sold some delicious sapottas. They were definitely a better sight than the oil-shiny samosas kept on the tray. Why cannot they open up a fruits counter? Children might have healthier snacks that way.

I also wish they sold lemon tea, that refreshing and glittering ,golden yellow nectar that refreshes the mind and body like nothing else. But then, in the midst of coffee and tea lovers that might be asking for too much.

New proposals have been submitted for consideration under TEQIP-Phase II.

Students are seen with their noses buried in books and notes. It really is a pleasure sometimes to see students evince such tangible interest in their books. Teachers, perhaps, are the only ones happy that the books are being put to such good use by their students, though they all know it is but a flash in the pan kinda happiness.

Seriously, the halls are overflowing with students everywhere, in most departments and the poor first years trot from one block to another every other day to find their classroom allotted for the day.

Video conferencing with GCT, Coimbatore was facilitated at our campus. The Principals and the Heads of Departments conferred with one another on the use of video conferencing in teaching our students. It was mututally agreed upon by the departments to fix certain days to deliver lectures and talks to students on appointed days.

For me, personally, this marks the slow but steady pace at which technology is catching up with GCE.

The first year classes are all shifted to the different corners of the campus...one here and another there, in a manner of speaking, due to the higher semester examinations to be held in the various halls. It means long helathy morning walks from the admin block to the farthest corners of the campus, like the Mechanical block. The students are happy, because their walks are cut short by a kilometre or so...

Anand, an old student of the Metallurgy department came to say hi to me...was thrilled to learn that the boy has done his M.E. in IIT, Kharagpur and is taking up research in a Canadian University. The number of boys going abroad seems to be on the increase.

Department of Computer Science is holding training programmes in C and C++ in the evenings for 62 students, including some who have registered from the neighbouring Karuppur village. This is encouraging news because otherwise students go out and spend more than four thousand bucks for such trainings. And, knowing the department of Computer Science, students can be assured of quality training. Such endeavours are of mutual benefit...

Everyone is busy these days preparing documents for many panels and committees from univeristies and TEQIP and college. All this means more and more book-keeping and documentation work. Perhaps, all benefits come at a cost.

The Autonomous Status Committee visited the college today in an effort to assess if the college has the necessary credentials to be granted autonomy. It is yet another step forward for the institution.

The panel interacted with the faculty and elucidated on the advantages and disadvantages of the autonomous status from the faculty's point of view. They sounded the warning bell that while a lot of freedom may come in the academic organisation, it may also entail more work, longer work hours and more effort from teachers...are we ready for the transition.

Well, having been through the long and arduous process of TEQIP, it was felt by all that this was a challenge that teachers could accept, albeit with a little hesitation and reservation.

However, there under TEQIP if the effort was more to improve the infrastructure, here the effort would be to learn to be dynamic leaders, administrators and constantly learning teachers.

Teachers here are the focus of attention, since on their shoulders rests the success of the autonomy status which offers students more flexibility and choice.

I feel that everything has to be given time to be assessed. Will autonomy be good? Or better still, effective? Time alone can be the best judge. In the meantime should I remember Tennyson's 'Ours is not to reason why, But to do and die? '

I keep telling this, but I cannot tell it but once more...the rainwashed campus is one of the most serene sights I have ever seen in Salem...and sometime back, one of the trees in the large open space between the admin block and the computer science block had bloomed and the fragrance of the flower laden tree made me think that there were some trees that were trying to commune through their fragrance. The fragrance on this tree was light, subtle and yet lingering...The road near the Metallurgy department was laid afresh. It looked so neat and clean.

I do believe the canteen fare is sometimes quite bland...this, in spite of the fact that at times, it offers delicious food ...sometimes...I think, the quality is compromised when quantity demands it.

The college is awash with drenched trees and open grounds. The damp smell and wetness is so refreshing, considering the fact that I live in an urban jungle.
The online examination went off with considerable comfort for the third year students. The exams were conducted from 7 to 10 for the lab sessions, owing to the power crunch faced by Salemites.
All practical examinations are going on in all departments. So, the campus is silent for the most part.

This Saturday has been a wonderful experience for me...I listened to one of the distinguished speakers in English - Dr. Noel Irudhyaraj of Bharathidasan University. He is a walking encyclopedia of English Language Theories. He took us through the entire gamut of syntax, pragmatics, competence, skills with respect to the reading skills. It was a revelation as to how knowledge gives a speaker the power to convince people. He knew etymologies like the lines on his palms; he knew the theorists as if they were reared in his home; he knew theories as if they were learnt at his mother's knee. Academics like these are a rarity and should be cherished for their knowledge.

All said and done, at the end of the day, the teacher depends on her/his own strengths and resources considered as best suited for the class he/she handles.

As for the campus, everything is quietening down for the exams. One sees students in droves running arund tying up all the loose ends of class work.

What one does not see this time of the year are the butterflies which used to move in thousands across the vast spaces of the college. What is happening? I hope some naturalist has an answer to this question. I really do miss this sight this year.

It is with sadness that I write this to tell all the readers about a young man Gopi, a student of the ECE department who passed away after a long and cruel battle with leukemia. About a fortnight ago, this student had visited Dr.Wahida Banu, his HOD, to tell her that he was getting admitted in the hospital and would be hospitalised for sometime. He also met Mr.SenthilMurugan, his Advisor and broke out into heart-wrenching sobs because he was scared. Mr. Senthil Murugan had offered him encouraging words and sent him home. Just two days later, the boy passed away.

My prayers for the young man and his family.

I am really sad that many times I do not know if someone needs comfort and if I can brighten up the child's day in some way or the other.

I am sleeping, dreaming, eating and drinking 'quotations', 'proposals' ,'comparative statements', 'assignments', 'record note books', attendance statements, 'Lab based exams', 'online tests', 'patch cords' etc for the past three weeks. Work is proceeding at a feversih pitch for the Language Resource Centre. For all this, maybe, I may not roast in Hell after all.

To top it all, I have been asked to prepare a 'Diagonostic Test' to test the proficiency level of our students in English. Am trying my best to first of all understand the dynamics of the test and the methodology to be followed in the design of such a test. However, with all the background study of it, I see a ray of light and hopefully, the task should be over by mid October.

Once again, students of the third year surprise us with their hard work for the Communication Skills Lab. The long hours of classes, the entire afternoon sometimes, seem to have paid off, as we hear of more students participating in paper presentations and winning prizes. And, their presentations on general topics are amazing...all very interesting and visually enriched. How well they present their ideas! Well, there may be one or two who may not be entirely good, but then, I feel teachers should be tolerant of students and not always expect the best. Sometimes, it is just not their day and everything goes wrong, including at the presentation in the English class. That's O.K. There should not be only X Men in a class... there may be a few slow takers.

Department of ECE celebrated "World Web Day" by inviting school students and teachers to an introduction to the world of Web. I was asked to give a short talk on Blogs (to my delight) and did so willingly. This was followed by talks by students and faculty. I believe that this was a good introduction, but due to internet failure there could be no live demo. That would have made it so interesting.
Exams are drawing close and I am on tenterhooks. How can life be so cruel...I mean, the semester started just now, seems like yesterday, and it is already time for exams! Instructions and more instructions from us must be making students' lives more and more misreable...I am sure we teachers will roast in the flames of Hell for such unkind acts!

Days are flying by in a flurry...the third year students are being groomed for their placement cum communication skills lab by the seniors who are holding mock interviews..believe me when I say they put the fear of God into the hearts of the juniors. The department is glad that the students have taken a lot of effort to give the students their first taste of interviews. They also wanted to give them some input on G.Ds. However, our biggest worry right now is holding the English lab component of the examination which requires LAN connections. Every year this poses a problem, because only now we find that systems have to be loaded with suitable software for the conduct of the exams. I, for one, will really be grateful to the merciful God when the Language Resource Centre (Language Lab) is completed. That might solve some of our misery...

Did I hear somebody say that interviews can be a breezy experience if you are well prepared and are calm? Ha...what an understatement, as I found out yesterday. As part of the Career Advancement scheme, as one moves to another scale or whatever, one faces a panel which decides if the employee is worthy of the upward movement. So, the TRB recruits of 2001 faced the experts' panel and the Commissioner on the 11th and the 12th. Mine was slotted for the 12th morning at GCT, Coimbatore.

The shock of seeing other colleagues emerge from the room is by itself unnerving. I thought I was handling it quite well by indulging in small talk and shop talk with friends. However, Vijay Anbalagan refused to talk or sing as is his wont and preferred to wander about. I was the second last to be called in. The shock hit me hard. There was the Commissioner himself and the ten other panel members to make the room smaller. No walls or windows are visible. The eyes play tricks and only these people fill one's vision. It looks like they are all waiting to ask questions and as one turns around ( the turnable computer chair made it seem like one was on a merry-go-round), the mouth turns dry and the lips seem to stick to one another. The heart is heard thudding...you wonder if the others can hear it...for the first few questions you only hear yourself as if from an echoing room. Then slowly sanity prevails and you begin to notice that everyone is trying their best to put you at ease. It seems easier to answer questions, if one is courteous, open and smiling.

After one has finished the interview, one savours every moment and tries very hard to recall every single moment...hard though it is. To admit, I shall never tell my students that interviews only require good preparation. Having expereinced it all first hand, I now empathise with my students who face these hard nosed campus interviewers in order to nail that job. Hats off to my students. They are brave, soldierly and can be called the courageous knights of the present day. And, if you dont agree with me, face an interview board and you will certainly know that I speak nothing but the truth. It is always easier to be the interviewer than the interviewed.

ECE had a gala valediction of the year long Embedded Design Contest conducted with Frontline, an Indo-Japanese Microcontroller company. There were students from far flung colleges and Mr.Kirowasaki, the Japanese CEO of the company was very happy with the enthusiastic participation from the colleges. Mr.Elwin Chandra Moni, AD, DOTE was also there. The department of ECE keeps involving students in several such projects.

By the way, Shri.Vijay Sharma, CEO, JSW, Salem distributed the JSW-GCE Scholarships to 6 meritorious students at SFAME at the annual inaugural function. As usual, it was a pleasure to listen to Shri Vijay Sharma...he narrated how he had started very humbly in life with the help of a scholarship at one point during his studies. He exhorted students to realise that when they earn in lakhs, they must remember that somewhere students might need financial support and at that time, they must extend a helping hand. It was leading by example...

And ah, the high point of this week for me has been the visit by one of our alumnae. The tall, lanky, stubble cheeked, unkempt and hollow-cheeked youngster who had seemed anxious, worried and undecided had gone. There he was - confident, cheerful and truly humbled by the experiences he had had at college.

"I am glad college taught me a few precious lessons...some very bitter ones. I loved a friend and lost her friendship, because I couldn't accept the fact that I had insulted friendship by imagining that I loved the girl. I was not a very sociable person then...I wanted friends to accept me as I was... and I learnt that one has to also accept the others as they are. I learnt that by judging my friends, I had lost them. The job has given me confidence that I can do something in life, as I was selected at a training session to become a Management trainee...I have decided to learn one good thing from someone around me everyday..." and this outpouring of emotions and pent-up thoughts came like a torrent. I could only gape in open-mouthed awe at this immense transformation...what is life at college not possible of?

Nasence 08, the ELA inauguration got off to a great start with an inaugural function. The present secretary Imtiaz Sheriff must be congratulated for the team that he co-ordinated - for, it wasn't just the Secretary who spearheaded the effort to introduce the first year students to ELA as part of their contribution to the personality development of our freshers. Student power was at its most visible strength today, as they all got together to delegate responsibilities, share work and contribute to the successful fruition of the programme. Five boys showed us what a team could do. For the first time in all these years, the ELA had its own inauguration. That itself was a laudable effort. They also have a number of plans to work with the department and on their own to help students realise their language power. The quiz organised by them for the occasion was quite interesting - neither too difficult, nor too easy. There is a plan afoot to upload the report on to the college website. I believe that these small efforts will go a long way in strengthening the student community's effort to give the institution a persona of its own. After all, a college is what its students are.

Department of ECE is conducting a three day training programme on VLSI for students. Department of English also organised a workshop on 'CV Writing and Interview Techniques' with the British Council of India and TEQIP, sponsoring the programme. The students enjoyed the presentation and responded well to the speaker. Mr.Ralph, the professional trainer and facilitator of the British Council was welcomed by the III Year students for whom the programme was conducted. They say they have picked up a few useful tips. However, they have to begin theri preparations in earnest to make a mark in the next academic year.

Prof.S.R.Damodarasamy was promoted as Principal, GCE, Salem 11 and Prof.Kavimani as Principal, GEC, Bargur on Monday by the Directorate.
A common syllabus for all the Anna Universities has come through this semester. However, there seem to be some bottlenecks, since the English syllabus is different in the university at Chennai and Coimbatore. Everything should be clear in a week, else teachers are going to meander around without clear directions from the University.
However, teachers are always resourceful, so they are sure to find ways and means to handle the challenge.

I am literally bursting with information - the NBA panel comprising senior academicians from IITs, NITs and Universities was at college for the last two days. Two days of strenuous activity, a little stressful too, since the panel had hundreds of questions and also had to be taken around on a whirlwind tour of the college. One could not guess what their reaction was. Well, I can only sigh; I am also keeping my fingers crossed, because as an insider, I know the amount of hard work, sweat and hopes that have gone into the preparation for the past two months. All this, for the sake of our students.

The Alumni can take pride in the fact that they contributed in no small measure to the success of the feedback they gave to the panel, during the interaction that the panel had with the alumni and the industry. There were star guests and alumni who included Dr.Annamalai, Director of SAIL, Salem and first HOD of Metallurgy , and also an alumnae, Shri.Vijai Sharma, CEO, Jindal Steels, GM of Burn Standard, Paul of CTS and Simon of CSC, Noel of ISRO and a number of other notable members of the GCE alumni and Industry. The feedback given by Shri Vijai Sharma was the most appreciated for the comprehensiveness, completeness and effectiveness in terms of the expectations of the Panel about the role of industry. The alumni were also most sincere and appreciative in their assessment of the college. Mr. Pandian, Asst.GM, marketing (Exports) had gone that extra mile to ensure the success of the meet. The Panel wholeheartedly appreciated the feedback given at the meet.

I only wish they give a favourable confirmation and that formal accreditation is given to the college from the AICTE based on their overview.

The first year classes began yesterday. I went to the EEE classes and found that even with my laryngitis, I managed to chat with students via the old and trusted blackboard. Students were so good to me, because I found that they were responding very well to their dumb (!) teacher with deep understanding, spontaneity and sympathy writ large on their faces. In fact, there were more students talking to me than in normal times - perhaps, I speak more then or perhaps, the exhortations that we make to students to speak only ensure silence!When the bell went off (five minutes earlier due to the department clock running five minutes earlier than the rest of the clocks in the college), I was happy to have had a different kind of teaching experience. Makes one appreciate the little voice box. Wonder if classes would be more interesting to students if teachers talked less!!!

The last piece of good news that came just as I was leaving college for the day was that Zinnov, the company run by three of our alumni - Pari, who has written in earlier and is one of the directors of Zinnov, was visiting the college to recruit our students. It was one of the most uplifting news for me. I do believe that the alumni is so deeply involved in the welfare of its juniors that such motivating and inspiring gestures come spontaneously. Good for you Pari and co. God bless you boys. (However, I am sad that I will not be meeting your HRs to extend my personal greetings to you all - am on leave today).

The NBA fever is on. Everybody is in a tizzy preparing files and documents and records. The panel is visiting the college on the 8th,9th and 10th of this month.

Change is the law of nature. How true this is of GCE, Salem, which sees changes every year, with new batches of freshers for the various departments, with new challenging tasks every semester, perhaps, I should also add, new approaches to teaching and learning too. We have the admission process for the first year students and it should be one big fiesta, as always. Fear, anxiety, excitement, pride and joy can all be seen in their gamut tomorrow. What a moment it is for many families...as a beloved son or daughter is sent away from the home environs into a new place of professional studies. I share in the joy of all.

I've discovered the most amazing use of the net...the availability of free course materials for engineering offered by the IITs. I checked the web page and wow...it is something similar to the MIT venture. Our students can immensely benefit from this.

-Good Initiative taken by IIT's & IISc (This is really useful for continuous learners) The IITs have taken up an initiative of starting online teaching and thus have started offering course materials online for every engineering stream.Many professors from all the IITs have provided course materials for each chapter and each subject.One has to register at the link provided below and can access the course material free of cost.Every Chapter has been described with diagrams and charts. Please spread this message to everyone, as many can benefit from this program taken up by the government and IIT.This is just a trial period going on and hence i request everyone to register at the link given.1] Type the following address on internet explorer http://www.nptel.iitm.ac.in/ 2] Click on Courses 3] Sign up as a NEW USER 4] And one can access any course material.Please spread the word, so that this initiative benefits as many students as possible.

I do not know how else I can spread this information...so this is one of my efforts. Shall try other means too.

Principal Ebenezer Jeyakumar retires from service today. However, the farewells were hosted yesterday. It was quite strange actually - there was more a sense of intense pride in having been a part of the Principal's achievements in everyone of us than an acute feeling of sadness that such a fine man was leaving us. It is my fervent hope and prayer that the next principal will carry on with the momentum created by him. In the farewell speech, he highlighted what he hadn't done or was leaving incomplete and attributed the success of the college's performance to his team of professors, teachers and other supporting staff. The placement officer, Mr. Rajkumar offered the best piece of news for the Principal - that Appollo Tyres had taken in 5 of our students and with that the placement figures for the year stands at 98.5%. All GCEians can take pride in this, immense pride!

Professor Damodarsamy assumes charge as Principal-in-charge.

For the first time, I visited the quarters to invite friends and others in the B,C and D type quarters. Was amazed at the size of each of the houses. Spacious, airy and opening on to huge open spaces outside ...birds of various kinds chirping, fluting and cawing...everything was so serene, calm and peaceful. I then heard that all this would be razed down by Periyar University to house its departments and that the housing quarters for GCE would be moved closer to the IOC filling and storage station..to inhale its pure fumes and breathe in its gassy fragrance. How could life be so cruel?

But then, as with everything else, life must go on...

Vacation starts for me from today. However, I must confess it is to be utilised more for my son's wedding preparations than any serious academic pursuit or professional updation. But, nothing shall deter me from enjoying my son's wedding, not the exams, not the valuations , not journal deadlines, not article writing.

I must share the latest whisper doing the rounds in the college...the government seems to have given its NOC for granting autonomy to GCE. It will be a milestone in the annals of the college...the transition from a dependent infant to an independent toddler. Since the actual mechanism of autonomy and what it means for the department of English is still not clear to me, I hope that it will bring about some changes in tune with the needs of the day in technical education.

This set me thinking...it looks like the government has given GCE all it needs by way of infrastructure and is now ready to let it go in its own way... the way a mother lets go off her children once they grow up so that they can fight, lose, survive, win and make their own lives. The law of nature works everywhere.

Even as teachers and students prepare for the vacation and study holidays respectively, one finds hundred and one tasks to be completed before one can really sit back and sigh and say, "Ah, the work for the year is over!' AU, Coimbatore had online examination application forms for the students...and paucity of staff led to students themselves going online at the college, downloading the forms and filling them online...something that one could not have imagined earlier.

The canteen nowadays has more customers from the nearby Periyar University, since theirs is of the stuff shoe leather and reindeer horns are made of - tough on the teeth and bad for digestion. Or so, some of them have confessed. Good to know that the GCE canteen is appreciated. I'm sure all GCEians will be happy to hear this. The vadai is great stuff...the thattapayir kolambu is ...slurppp...the rasam , watery but tasty...the poriyal oniony and coconutty...it is not blameless, but it is not poor either. And oh, the rosemilk and badam kheer...served in tall plastic tumblers, is chill, sweet and satisfying these hot summer days. Chappathis are served on special request too...

I attended a one-day training programme on the Cambridge certificate exam to be taken up by the II semester students in accordance with Anna University's decision on the curriculum for them. E-Bek to whom this has been outsourced arranged for the training. The resource person was Professor Robert Bellarmine, an expert in training trainers.

What a revelation the experience was! At 67 years of age, this professor retains his intuition for teaching and is able to sensitively understand the mood of the class, in this case, an 80 odd group of recalcitrant teachers, including me who has unreservedly accepted the challenge of the BEC module as trainer and examiner, unable to accept the change in the classroom.

I say this, because to most of us used to the regularity in teaching English - traditional, technical and communicative, the challenge to train students for an international certification was difficult. Teachers were apprehensive since they had no idea what exams they were preparing students for and what role they had to play in the present semester; they were in the dark about the certificate and the methodology of training students for the certificate course.

Though the whole training has come in late for all of us, Professor Bellarmine was outstanding as a trainer. His class did not have not one boring moment, as he took us through the various stages of preparing and training our students for BULATS, the certificate examination to be taken up by our second semester students. His impassive face cracks up into a smile when he notices his trainees enjoying the logic and mischief in his games, stories and activities. He is professional yet retains a humorous touch. He is so tuned to the intricacies of the trainees' responses that it was a joy to observe the manner in which he dealt with the questions, answers, ' worries and queries' (as he put it).

Now we can go ahead with our next batch of students with a sense of direction, purpose and particiaption.

As for the students, they love this pattern of examination. I also personally support this move by the University because the certificate examination has global acceptance and validity. It also assesses the level of language competence through well researched question papers in a manner that is much better than the subjective evaluation that is done in valuation camps.

However, several bottlenecks have to be removed to make it a more student friendly credit. If it can be done, nothing more revolutionary than this could come about in making students industry prepared from the communication and language skills perspective. From here, students can move on to other advanced certificates offered by Cambridge University. The opportunities are endless.

Everyone's getting busy with exams, practicals, internal assessments, bullying children into submission of records, revaluations, farewells and studies. It is as if the summer heat is catching up in academic work also. Salem is unbearably hot. I wish there were juice dispensers instead of water in the departments. And, oh, the external examiners for English Communication Skills Lab for the third years were taken aback by the seminar halls in the departments. The swanky furniture and air-conditioned halls really hit them hard. Tee..hee.. A strange silence has already fallen upon the corridors...senior students have taken seriously to their studies...the theory exams begin on May 3rd. Only the first years have their classes and they are a noisy lot..they are.
A student was remarking the other day that farewells give you a hard knock since you realise that your happy and carefree days are drawing to a close. They are well aware that hard and harsh realities of life await them. WIPRO has given the recruits CDs to prepare for the entry examination which has to be cleared by the recruits in order to be absorbed or confirmed. I understand their feelings. The days of pure living-for-oneself and friends will come to a gradual close and they will slowly become used to carving professional careers for themselves. I pray that our children go out into this world armed with intelligence and values.

I feel like jumping vigorously, shaking a leg or two, doing a jig and yipeeing to the open skies...Kamaraj, an old student of the college from the 1970 batch, based in Dubai was in college today and he has short listed 8 students - 1 from Mechanical, 6 from EEE and 1 from Civil.

My extreme reaction stems from the fact that these shortlisted children had been facing pangs of anxiety and dips in their self-esteem level,, cos they hadn't been selected due to some reason or the other by the corporate giants of India and here comes their saviour holding out his hands to his juniors, all becase he has implicit and unshakeable faith in the ability of a GCEian.

As the Principal, Dr. Ebenezer Jeyakumar remarked, ' Intha mathiri veri varanum...namma college paiyyan place aganum enra veri varanum ovoru old studentukkum- PSG placement intha mathiri thaan aguthu' (All old students must have this ferocious desire to see his college students placed in good jobs. PSG placements are largely due to loyalty to the alma mater and wholehearted effort by PSG alumni).

Kamaraj, God bless you and all the GCEian alumni who are taking efforts in their own ways to put GCE on the global map. You do not know how much joy you have put in an old woman's heart, since I have seen these children start their professional studies from really challenged backgrounds and seen them also rise to perfect their technical skills and communication skills. The world is still alright.

Just imagine...the English test for the first years was held in the auditorium to the full strength of 370 students. The superb audio system made it possible to play the CD for the listening task to the entire group. Anyways, am glad the task is over. And, I do think education is getting more sophisticated. The series test for the first years was an OMR based test.

As confessed earlier in one of the blogs, I am an inveterate GECOFEST lover. This year was scintillating too...SaravanaKumar, the dancer who made his mark even in his first year as a performer par excellence was the Arts Secretary and he had gone to great lengths to make it a memorable one. As has become the practice, the final years hosted the events and competitions and gave guest performances.

Our new audio system is awesome...the POPE speakers boom out the music and the speeches are crystal clear. It was a joy to listen to the system. There are now two speakers on the stage to enable speakers and performers on the dais to listen to the audio. (Once again, we can thank TEQIP and the Principal for all this).

The ear-piercing whistles, the guttural screams and mind blowing screeches , I am sure, are an eternal feature and as old as colleges all over the world, and though there were some attempts to silence the boys, I am glad to say, the noise added to the atmosphere. I mean, how can GECOFEST be GECOFEST without all these? And, I've always wondered from where their energy comes? The audience electrify the hall with their sense of participation. The Art Gallery put up some of my favourite paintings and pencil drawings from our artists. There's Gopi, Sowmiya Narayan, Murugan, Sherine and so many others who had so delicately and beautifully drawn and painted their pictures. The pots acquired a beauty of their own with the paintings on them. The Rangolis were a little disappointing.

Some of us teachers were glued to the seats from morning till evening except for the lunch breaks. Our children made us laugh so much that one was glad for the gift of students in a teacher's life.

All together, a very happy two-day affair.

What a month of celebrations and achievements! Tamil Mandram brought out 'Agaram', a Tamil Literary magazine commemorating the Golden Jubilee Year. A Professor of Tamil, from the Periyar University was the Chief Guest. He decided wisely to talk of love as a theme of poems, since that would engage the attention of students. He pointed out how some of the good poems in the magazine related to the theme of love and co-related them with Mu.Mehtha's poems. I was grinning to myself, 'cos there we were, talking to our first years in class about the wisdom of not engaging their attention in matters of the heart till they were about 27 years old and here they were being told that love seemed to be one of the chief areas of interest. More on that later.

Just the other day, a student, who is auditorily and orally challenged, approached me with the father and some friends. He had failed in English and two more papers and the parent wanted to know why he had failed and what could be done. I have observed this student ...he is so cheerful that he makes you give him a happy smile in return, is attentive and even tries to repsond orally when I forgetfully ask him a question or two. I told the parent that he needed his friends ' help in understanding the quantum of work done and work alloted in class and suggested that they request the Principal to allow him to take up a hostel room. Believe me, the Principal once again showed the generous side and not only allotted him a room, but also awarded him the SISCOL scholarship of Rs.20,000/. I was taken aback when I heard about this...understanding the need of a student and responding sympathetically makes a bureaucrat a good leader.

The Hostel Day of the Boys is celebrated as usual with grand preparations and co-ordinated team work from boys. The invitation was tastefully selelcted...the name of the Day even more so..it was "Lion's Den, 2008'. Oh, our boys really do have a way with words.

A scientist and Advisor, Dr.G.J.Samathanam, Dept. of S&T, Government of India, visited the college for a special faculty interaction meet. Dr.G.J.Samathanam elaborated on the funding agencies in India and enlightened the faculty on the various sources available for funds for projects, etc.

In the present scenario, I feel that the visit was timely and necessary. Time has come when government funding will soon dry up, leaving institutions to generate funds for their academic activities. Young teachers should learn to tap sources for research and projects. There are talks about six new technical affiliating universites and everything is in a state of flux in the six government colleges. Young teachers must be ready for every eventuality and be prepared to face academic reforms and challenges. They will have to shoulder the responsibility of identifying funding agencies and partners.

The Principal must be lauded for his foresight and vision in inviting Dr.G.J.Samathanam, even as he is preparing to lay down his mantle as principal this year. His dynamism is good for technical education.

Reproduced below is the report found in The Hindu Online of Dr.Samathanam's visit.

Online edition of India's National NewspaperMonday, Mar 03, 2008ePaper Mobile/PDA Version

Tamil Nadu Come up with cutting edge, competitive research proposals, academics told
Staff Reporter
Union Government keen on encouraging students with exceptional talent
Photo: E. Lakshmi Narayanan Sharing his views: Department of Science and Technology Advisor G.J. Samathanam addressing the faculty members of Government College of Engineering in Salem on Saturday. —
SALEM: Department of Science and Technology (DST) Advisor G.J. Samathanam called upon the academic community to come up with cutting edge and competitive research proposals.
Interacting with the faculty members of Government College of Engineering here on Saturday, Mr. Samathanam expressed serious concern over the lack of high-profile research proposals from the universities and colleges.
The academicians should have the vision to come up with proposals of great scientific importance, which would ensure knowledge addition.
Many academicians, he said, still approached DST just to seek travel grant for attending seminars abroad. We had a number of programmes to support them to carry out research. They should make full use of these programmes, he said.
Mr. Samathanam regretted that a majority of the projects submitted by the PhD and M. Tech students did not carry any significant value.
Faculty members should encourage PhD students with an orientation for research to do good projects and apply for funding to DST or other agencies.
Explaining various funding programmes of DST, Mr. Samathanam said the Union Government was very keen on catching students with exceptional talents at the young age and extending scholarships to them.
This would enable the country to get leaders to implement large research and development projects in the future.
Even PhD holders in chemical engineering from premier institutions too were going for jobs in software engineering. This would give a huge setback to core engineering fields in the near future. The department was hardly receiving research proposals in the field of mathematics.
While other countries were appreciating the mathematical knowledge of Indians, people here seemed to show very little interest in carrying out research in that field, he said.
College Principal A. Ebenezer Jeyakumar highlighted the achievements of the college in academic and research activities.

It has been a fantastic week of discoveries for me...I discovered my favourite author in Gokulam, a magazine for children which I read decades back .I also discovered truths about eyes as cues to the thought process. If I had not entered the world of blogging through this blog, I would never have discovered the immensely funny and satirically humorous J.Vasanthan, a retired Professor of American College who wrote the famous King Jayabalan stories.
As for the next discovery, it was through an In-House NLP Training Programme for the Faculty of GCE to Improve Professional Efficiency, convened by the Department of English on 28.2.2008. Mr.Aravinda Krishnan, a former GCEian and an active and well known HR trainer and consultant taught us techniques to effectively use visual, auditory and kinesthetic cues to become more acutely aware of the person on the other side trying to communicate with us. That was followed by a very interesting session on scanning eye movements to understand the reality of the thought process in the other person's mind. So, one learnt that the visual rememberance, visual construction, auditory remembrance, auditory construction, auditory internalisation and kinesthetic cues help us find where we stand in our unconscious thought processes. The tests we did under the guidance of Mr.Aravinda Krishnan were interesting and stimulating exercises.
And before I forget, on 26.2.08, there was a grand function to present the Memorial Awards for the years 2002,2003,2004 and 2005 to the college toppers and class toppers. It was called 'Achievements Award Ceremony, 2008'. Ms. Ramya was the overall college topper for 2002. Mmm..I wish I had brought the list of sixteen names to give you all the others' names.
It was a joy to see past students, and if they were not there, their parents, proudly receiving the awards. Dr. K. Arthanari, Managing Director, Sri Gokulam Hospital was the Guest of Honour. In addition to these academic awards, there were Accident Insurance Policies presented to 31 of our regular blood donors of GCE at Sri Gokulam Hospital.
I am so glad that the one precious gift that we can all give so freely, without having to think too deeply, was given by our students in selfless gestures of service. Believe me, as someone who had her brother given back to her through anoymous blood donors following a terrible accident that he had, I was touched to see that so many of our students had in some way given families some loved one, somewhere....through their blood donation.

I am feeling all feisty; I would love to shout, laugh and, if possible, hug this huge, wide world. Civil work has started on the language laboratory and it is a pleasure to see it taking shape under the Principal's personal monitoring. The guys at work said that they want to do the work perfectly, as the Principal, otherwise, demands that they tear down imperfect work and begin from scratch. The huge, cavernous room (which combines rooms 102 and 103 in the ground floor of the Admin block) has had its dividing wall torn down...the false ceiling is getting ready...beautiful peach pink tiles have been stacked...electrical fittings are getting ready...ooh...it is a wonderful feeling to see something taking shape under one's own eyes.

Brindha, our new guest lecturer, came storming into the department barely ten minutes after classes. A boy had given proxy attendance for his friend and this was noticed by her. She was enraged that such a thing had taken place, marked all boys absent and came back to the department. A few minutes later, the class rep came in and apologised for the same. I asked for the boy who had done this, since I didn't want to reprimand the rep for what his mates had done, though he could've just informed the teacher that there had been a mistake.

The boy came in and I braced myself for a good shout at him, when he just said, " I am sorry. I've done a wrong thing. I shall never repeat it'. My heart just melted, because here was someone who had done something wrong and had the grace to accept it without anybody prompting him to do it. The boy must surely have his heart in the right place, thought I. I just told him that giving proxy attendance might be fun in movies, but as engineers there are certain values and principles that we must stand for. After all, attendance shortage is something that a faculty advisor and the student can look into. I know the act of giving proxy is not a crime, but it is not right either. Were there tears in the boy's eyes? I suspect so, though I don't really know, but I do know that there are sometimes when a teacher cannot be harsh and when an apology given in goodness must be accepted without reservations. I may be looked on as an inept teacher, but I draw my line between strictness and acceptance of a person as he/she is.

It seems to be my week of guidance and counselling...there was a final year student who needed to just talk to me regarding his 27 paper- arrears. He wanted to quit his studies and take up a BPO job to stop being a burden on his parents. It was obvious from what he said that he did not have the support of his parents...mother unable to help her son as the father is a disciplinarian and threatens to wash his hands off his son if he doesnt mend his ways and studies well. What was I to tell him ... that parents need to support and accept a child's failures and give him his self-esteem or that children need to seek professional help when they notice that their life is getting derailed for one reason or the other.

My sympathies were with the student, since it was very clear that his will to fight had gone and if pressed to continue doing something which his heart was no longer in, he might just lose interest in life. After all, life is something more than studies and knowledge. The only thing I could tell him was that his parents must be informed by him about his results which he was dreading since that was atleast part of his duty as a son and that loved ones need to be told of failures as well as successes. Never mind the repurcussions which were bound to happen...All of last week I have been troubled by the thought that young people go through their life with their own problems of having to grow and take decisions, sometimes painful ones.

Department of Computer Science and Engineering held the inaugural function of the 2 day National Conference called Codeclave 8.1. Smt.Hema Gopal, Vice President, Banking, TCS was the chief guest. The Principal gave a rousing speech on the college and proudly informed the guest about TCS' role in recruiting 154 students this year.

Smt. Hema Gopal appreciated the enthusiasm of the college and promised more academic-industry interaction. The Proceedings of the conference were released by her. More importantly, TCS instituted the 'Best Project Award' for the final year students. Uthaya Kumar of the 2007 batch won the much coveted award. The citation read that in consonance with the policy of TCS to give back to the society what it has received, projects with vision and commitment to society would be assessed by reviewers and the short listed candidates interviewed and questioned extensively on their projects before deciding on the year's winner.
She then had an open house interaction with the audience.

Three questions were asked - one pertaining to how else codification is done by TCS other than codification of texts. The next question came from a student who wanted to know the R&D activities of TCS. The last one was from me. I wondered if TCS could've been TCS only because of a value system and asked her to explain the value system of the company. Hema answered that there is an ethical code of conduct signed by all employees and while the stress was on honesty, the most important value they cherished was one of loyalty. She attributed the negligible attrition rate in the company to this.

I wish all students were aware that along with their technical skills they would also have to train their hearts and go out to serve their employers with a strong value base. I consider the education of the heart to be as important as the education of the mind.

Teaching English as a language for engineers is not an easy task. Over the years, educators have evolved different methodologies, approaches and techniques.

A.J.Herbert considered an authority on 'Technical English' was once the guru for all teachers of technical English. It was then realised that in the purely technical context in which Herbert's exercises are based, young learners were finding it difficult to relate to the global demands for professionals strong in communication skills. Attention then moved on to 'Communicative English'.

Anna University, Chennai had a wonderful text from Oxford University Press which had a mix of all the four skills of communication - listening, speaking, reading and writing based on the context, the lessons and topics dealt with in the text. In the face of lack of adequate training to teachers of English who had to handle a fresh new challenge of teaching tasks that could not depend on examination oriented pattern of lessons or tasks, there has been dilution of standard in the handling of communicative tasks. Teachers began to depend on Dr.Sumant's exercise based worksheets in order to strengthen the students' grammar skills as they would help the student procure a pass, which seemed to be the only expectation of managements. If the syllabus was cleverly used to improve results, it seemed to be nobody's business. If the intention of the syllabus was to significantly improve the speaking or listening skills of students, that did not really happen.

Realising the need to improve the speaking skills of our engineering students, technology was then brought in. Language laboratories became the buzz word and language laboratories were established at immense costs in colleges. In the absence of adequate technical manpower and training from experts to teachers on how to scientifically and objectively use the technologies, there is no denying the fact that there have been searches for other methodologies.

Anna University, Coimbatore seems to have made a fresh attempt using the expertise of Cambridge University's proven record of ESOL training. Materials are specially developed for students of the Coimbatore zone of Anna University. For the past five days, training has been going on in Salem to orient the teachers to the teaching of the LSRW skills. The first session has focussed on the listening tasks. We have been taught how to use pre-listening and post-listening activities in order to move teaching towards a more student centric one. There is some clarity now in the minds of teachers as how the Cambridge materials ought to be completed in order to prepare students for a standardised ESOL examination to be conducted by Cambridge University.

Change is an indication of growth and language learning must constantly evolve and tailor itself to meet the global spurt in demand for technical manpower that is absolutely strong in communication skills.

College wears a deserted look since children have all gone away on Pongal holidays. The messes are closed and only the North-eastern students are there. Sometimes, I wonder why they are not invited over to their friends' homes. Could it be because they speak very heavily accented English? Could it be because of their food habits? Whatever, I really feel sorry that they are so far away from home and left to fend for themselves. However, they seem to be having good fun on their own.
There was a get together of the alumni of 1984 organised by Mrs. Vimala Rosaline of Civil Engineering at Hotel Star Holidays, Yercaud, last Saturday and Sunday. I believe there was a good turnout and everyone enjoyed the get together. Sometimes, it is nice to gather around a table or sit together and just chat about old times, I guess.
Sometime back, two or three weeks back, there was a Sanjay Kumarkayani of 1994 batch and I saw him proudly showing his friends who were with him, his name on the merit list of toppers displayed in the landing of the stircase from the main lounge in the admin block. Heard him tell the Principal that he was Vice President of Merryl and Lynch in US. Made one feel proud of the college.

Computer Science Department is organising the annual national conference and is very busy with preparations for it in the midst of TEQIP audit visits and meetings. A team of comperes came to the department seeking help in preparing themselves to be good MCs for the inaugural ceremony.
They need training in modulation, clarity and practised scripts. We do have some very good students, good at communication and at expressing themselves quite fluently. However, they let loose some awful mistakes when they say something spontaneously...we've heard them say, 'And now we invite our princiapl to give away the speech', or something like that and then the English teachers squirm a bit.
I always believe that when acting as master of ceremony, something that I love doing, there must be no mistakes. I still have scripts before me which I follow to the T... sometimes, I do adlib, but that comes with the confidence of maybe many many MC jobs...I would love to have my children have that technique with them when they take up an MCs job at formal functions. Of course, I love listening to them in informal contexts, such as GECOFEST or other fun days, when they comeout with some youthful and enthusiastic comments.
I love it that whenever there is an important department function, children descend in hordes and start cleaning up the space before the department and even come up with some instant plants and green cover. :))

When it rains, it pours! It looks like a cascade of proposals are being submitted by the college. Today, it was a proposal for new P.G.courses. I realise that introduction of new courses definitely means that GCE Salem is going to offer more students the benefit of technical education, but the preparatory paper work can be killing. On the other hand, it does look like proposals are my piece of cake. :))
The first years are under a lot of stress due to the exams that are going on...I hope that they stand the pressure well.
The ECE third years seem relaxed, cool and unperturbed by the placement activties. I told them that if they expected starting salaries that would effectively be the sum total of the earnings of their great grandparent, grandparent and parents put together, they would have to work for it. I believe that I have put the fear of God in their hearts....but, I do think that they will be preparing for it all secretely and quietly.
The rumour-mill has it that three more government colleges are to be started at Villupuram, Dindivanam and Panruti in the coming academic year.
Salem is ready with another engineering college called 'Narasus Sarathi Engineering College' near Omalur.
All this bodes well for the state of Tamil Nadu and if the quality of engineers coming out is ensured, then I think Tamil Nadu can offer to the world the best engineers possible.

Happy New Year to all our children. Funnily enough, one of the questions asked at my viva was whether the words 'children' and 'students' are interchangeable. I had replied that all adults retain a bit of the child and that students as adults retain that child in them and therefore it was not wrong to equate one with the other. The professor replied with a smile that it was a generalisation, a rather sweeping statement, too broad in its perspective. But, you know, for a teacher a student is always a child. Therefore, once again, Happy New Year to all.

A rather quiet beginning to the new year. Classes for the higher semesters are beginning tomorrow. We have Communications Skills Lab, a practical paper for 100 marks. I look forward to it.

Today, we had to send the internal marks and attendance details to Anna University, Coimbatore. This university does everything over the net. It is amazing how technology has revolutionised the way teaching and learning are carried out. Time was when the teacher would struggle over the percentages and marks and averages. Today, it is so easy, well maybe not too easy, since the entry of data is rather tedious and cumbersome. However, the fact remains that book-keeping is simple.

Proposals for increased intake are being prepared by the departments. This proposal if accepted should give more students the opportunity to study in government engineering colleges.