Flurry of activities...Civil Engineering Department had invited two eminent civil engineers from Salem for the inaugural function of their Society. It was an opportunity for me to get in touch with my last year's set, since they had turned seniors and were in charge of conducting the programme. It was a joy to see how kids who had looked at one with frightened eyes were today confident enough to organise, conduct and present a programme. 
This was followed by Progen-i 10, the annual programme where TCS presents it best student award and where the department releases its souvenir and conducts a symposium. The chief guest from TCS said that as major consumers of GCE's talent pool, they looked forward to employable graduates. He urged students to no longer keep thinking along expected lines. They could not afford to keep believing that the earth was round, when in fact, it is flat, in terms of emerging technologies. Creativity should play a major role in their thoughts, he asserted. He believed that Salem could boast of not only its mangoes and manganese and steel plant, but also of GCE as its treasure. 
ECE celebrated its ComCom10, which I sadly missed due to my absence from college on Friday. 
Festember 10, the annual competitive ground for engineering institutions was attended very eagerly by our students and one can proudly say that they stood 4th in the overall position. Their TLA, HLA and ELA members have again done well, bringing back home their pride and self-esteem. I had seen the kids practising for the drama round and was hopeful of something good. My hopes were not belied. Such competitions expose our students to the best of talents outside their small circle here and get them to appreciate the bigger picture.