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.