IIEST CENTENARY (1856-1956) NEWS

A first hand narrative by Amitabha Ghoshal 57CE

It is exciting- and challenging - to recall pleasant memories of Sixty years yore, and I am really thankful to have this request from the recent acquaintances in our new Facebook group of Alumni.

Sometime in 1955, when we were in 3rd year, the buzz started that our Institution is getting to be respectively old, with 100 years behind it. There was excitement and each one had a view how the event should be celebrated. Amongst students we, being in the  3rd year, were holding all the important posts in Students Institute (as the only representative elected student body) and the Reunion Committee, -the fear was whether we shall be given any responsibility at all.

A committee  was formed from amongst the ex-students, with the Principal ( Atul C. Roy) as coordinator. All the big names like Akshoy Bose, head of Ballardie Thompson and Mathews, Harish Mukherjee, Chief Engineer of Calcutta Improvement Trust, Bhupati Chowdhury,ex Calcutta Corporation and then an individual consultant, Tarapada Marik, very well known technocrat in both Govt and Private sector, Sachin Gupta, Chief Engineer PWD (Roads) and later the first ENC in West Bengal ....were there in the committee. All those names were known to us and recalled with awe-- and we lost hope of being called in to be a part.

But after a few months the committee decided to include student representatives for the floor support and also for controlling and monitoring student involvement during the event. Six of us, the office bearers of the two student bodies, got invited to attend meetings , usually held in the office of Akshoy Bose, located near the Northern Gate of Raj  Bhawan, and more importantly opposite the then famous Spencer Hotel who had an equally well known Bakery shop. Initially our main interest was to keep close watch on the Pastries and Pattishes that were always in surplus supply. We requested on the first day that the meetings be held on Wednesdays, which used to be half day college in those days, and it was granted. Our first victory in our bid to be heard and treated seriously.

Much of the deliberations were beyond us- one of the main concern was how to garner enough fund from Government , State as also Centre. Gradually committees were formed for handling Programme of Events, Cultural, Exhibition, Decoration, Food , Debate, Publication, Documentation etc. As student members our involvement got focused on Exhibition, Debate, Food and Decoration. We got more students co-opted in those committees and were happy to be given Responsibilities.

Venue for Exhibition was fixed in the present Lords, which was uneven, considerably below road level and strewn with construction waste material. The main function was held in the ground enclosed by Heaton,Wolfendon and Pandya Halls. All the planning was, by the then standard, Mega scale, and much upscale than the Reunion functions, that appeared to us grandiose!

Good news was pouring in the form of Bengal government making commitment of one crore for four permanent memento, the Alumni Guest House ( now Univ Guest House), Centenary Gate ( Gate no 1), centenary Professor and  centennial Lecture by eminent persons. Have no idea what has happened to the last two!  We were also enthused that Central government would send Chairman of Newly formed University Grants Commission, C D  Deshmukh, later Finance Minister  and a very respected man of letters, for an assessment of the facilities and the up gradation required. PM Jawaharlal Nehru accepted the invitation to Inaugurate the event.

There was surge of enthusiasm amongst ex students, students and faculty members. We were encouraged to pour all our time after the organisation activities and for us studies became secondary. We were in fourth year and the highly demanding Project Work of those days that needed many nights input was just forgotten with tacit approval of Professors in charge.

Knowing Pt Nehru's priorities, it was decided that the exhibition must be a big affair, enough to bedazzle him and, everyone secretly hoped, that will give BEC a further boost. The zeal for participating in the exhibition with something spectacular went viral and the size of the exhibition compound went on increasing. Myself and three others formed a team and started searching for a theme. Soon it dawned that we Civil Engineers are clearly handicapped as our Electro - mechanical brethren have much better ammunition to bedazzle Nehru with array of moving and lighted parts. We caught hold of Chiranjeevda Sir ( C K Sarkar had just joined and we were his first students and hence the Dada appendage) for guidance to do something moving, something that will attract. After considerable thought we decided to create a model of Hooghly in the Sankrail stretch and the key element was tidal movement with the help of motor pump and effect on sedimentation by installation of a Spur. Sounded very exciting but proved to be very challenging. We were slowly achieving our aim by putting in night hours as there were other errands as organising committee member during day.  Just 48 hours before the Inauguration, hell broke loose in the form of thunder shower and incessant rain - and that in December!! The low lying exhibition ground got flooded and there was knee deep water around our model, it being in a lower level to help in installation of pump.

There was gloom all around, every event location took a hit, but exhibition was the worst hit. After the initial demoralisation came determination to fight back against Nature. It was incredible to see many senior and younger faculty members trying to dry up the mud pool by removing slush with buckets, who knows from where those came, side by side with students and staff members through out the Night. Next morning looked slightly better, with the sky clear and then came the support from ex students from PWD who brought in truck full of sand and saw dust from all the saw mills around BEC, to create a pathway for the dignitaries to come.

That lifted our spirits and every exhibitor student group came back with whatever resource available to make the show credible. As power came back, the electro mechanical models came back to life but our special pump motor arrangement refused to cooperate. We decided to use a hand pump arrangement by hiding one team member under the model ' river ' and pass the ultimate test.

Nehruji arrived with all his paraphernalia, took Guard of Honour from college NCC members and then moved to our exhibition ground. We were taut in our respective posts, ready to somehow make it a show. The dignitary group moved in with Dr B C Roy towering above others and just behind him another person looking like Nehru, but very late I realised he is the double of Nehru moving in front. I was assigned the task for explaining the model and I did my best to the 'double' of Nehru with B C Roy standing by the side, only to realise that the real Nehru moved past us with his tell tale red Rose on lapel. When I was deep in disappointment, Dr Roy asked in his baritone voice " is the real spur doing its function on Hooghly"- I did not know the answer but in desperation told ' yes Sir it is working fine.' He remarked once again in his grave intonation " Tobayi Mangal ". It took some time to sink in, but our moment of glory was gone! We were free for the moment and went back to get immersed in the other activities, the exhibition being closed for the day, and to be opened for others next day. 

The other image that thrives in minds eye is the rendering of Bade Golam Ali Khan Saheb, who had, after completing his "Aye Na Baalam", started singing in Raag Kedara- of course with his large metal spittoon in place and in good use. Suddenly with the midnight hour of the New Year, the ships on Hooghly started hooting their sirens ( there were many ships those days on Hooghly). Khan Saheb stopped in the mid, cleared his throat, used the spittoon and called out " Naya Saal sab koi ka Mubarak HO " - the best New Year wish I can recall.

The festivities were over and very happy with the successful completion of the event that gave us lot of appreciation from the teachers and ex students,I went back to the department expecting more congratulations. Alas, I met our professor Khaunis Ray , a father figure and very encouraging all these days , the reception was with a tart " Ghoshal Mosai ki babake bole elen je. ei bacharta Collegeai theke jaben "---- The hard reality was back and all the euphoria vanished!!!

Sorry for the long nostalgic outpouring that perhaps will be boring to you but I feel very happy to recall the sixty year old memory, which might have somewhat overlapped and may have been incorrect in details-- advance apology!!