It was the month of various activities including the Celebration of Teachers Day. The students expressed their respect for the teachers in many ways. Truly, NU depicted the affectionate bond between the teachers and the students. The celebration made us to think that even though the younger generation is obsessed with modern thoughts and advancements, it is still deeply rooted in Indian culture and traditions.

Another example of such social responsibility is an article in this issue – ‘Open Letter to Our MPs & Policymakers: An Appeal to Conscience’- which reminds the politicians and the leaders about their responsibility towards our nation. With such dedicated youth, fascinated with great thoughts, NU will scale the greater heights. NU encourages such transforming ideas which would change the world into the better place to live for the generations to come.

Dr. Vaishali J. Shinde
Editor, NU Monthly Newsletter
Vaishali.Shinde@niituniversity.in

Camera Captures – Mawlynnong, the Cleanest Village in the Whole Asia

• Mawlynnong, a small village located about 90 kilometers, approximately 2.5 hours drive from Shillong (capital of Meghalaya) in East Khasi Hills district, Meghalaya, along the India – Bangladesh international border has in the recent years gained much attention from the tourists and media due to its cleanliness. The drive to Mawlynnong offers magnificent views of the deep valleys, hidden waterfalls, slow moving mists and lush green mountains. At arrival, a sign welcomes you to ‘Mawlynnong – God’s Own Garden’. The members of Khasis, the predominant tribe in this region are warm, hospitable and enterprising.

• Known as the cleanest village in the whole Asia – a title bequeathed by the Discover India Magazine in 2005 and reinforced by the BBC, UNESCO and National Geographic, the people of this locality have taken it upon themselves to make the difference. Away from the chaotic urban jungles and unclean streets, one can find peace and serenity in its vicinity. With average temperatures on the higher 20′s throughout the year the place provides for an ideal attraction for tourists throughout the year. Tourism is the main source of income for the locals here. The village constitutes of around 80 families, the literacy rate of which was recorded to be 100%.

• The village also has a sightseeing point which they have named as Sky view point. This sky view point is a tree – house, built at the apex of the tallest tree. One can get a clear view of the surrounding areas and the adjacent plains of Bangladesh, the border being very close (4 kms).

• The naturally balanced rock adds to the assets of this tiny, but exquisite fairy tale land. The rock balances perfectly on another tiny rock. It may so happen that nature wants to make a statement here, saying that we are not supposed to disturb the balance of nature, the biodiversity, the absolute essence of life towards which we, the so called professionals have had such an indifferent attitude for a very long time.

• About 15 minutes away from Mawlynnong is a village named Riwai which holds another beautiful wonder within its picturesque valleys, a ‘Living Root Bridge. The bridge was formed by training the aerial roots of the Ficus elastic (beetel nut tree) over a period of 15 to 20 years manually. Once formed, the bridge grew stronger over time as the tree grew. The main purpose of this bridge is connectivity for the locals across the river.

Naveed Alam
NU MBA I

Open Letter to Our MPs & Policymakers: An Appeal to Conscience

Dear All,

You cannot imagine the reaction I received when I told few of my friends I was writing this open letter to all of our MPs. Naive, laughable, hare – brained, dumb! Those were some of the reactions I received for my mission. Some told me not to try to be Bao Zheng (999 – 1062), the legendary Chinese magistrate in the Northern Song dynasty, known for his meddling ways to right the wrongs.

But that’s still the milder reactions as compared to what most people in India today – ordinary and not – so – ordinary – said about you politicians. The words they used to describe you are not what you would want to ascribe to the majority of your enemies also. But I still beg to disagree and ergo the epistle. I still want to believe that people are not born innately evil. There is something called conscience in almost all of us.

The stakes for the country with this upcoming UP elections are extremely high. It’s a ‘must win’ for the key players, including India’s two main national parties, who will accept nothing less. Dire consequences have been predicted and forecast, and are actually expected. The majority of us see no way out. In fact, most of us anticipate some kind of dreadful political apocalypse.

On every Election Day, we the people are empowered with the right to determine the course of the country. Ideally, the goal is to exercise that right to choose the best man or woman for the job. During election days, all of you, the politicians, keep professing your love for us. We appear to be the centre of your attention, while in fact, you know that your real attention is on poll numbers and the backroom dealings that will help you earn kudos as our bosses.

After every election, you take on the responsibility of managing the affairs of the country on our behalf. We, the people, go back to ‘no – mention’ status until the next election. We become aggrieved, agitated, disappointed and bitter at the callous and unscrupulous way you handle our affairs. But you all count on the belief that our memories are short. Next time when an election comes around, we will once again misguidedly feel pride at our right as the owners of this country. Man, it is said, is the only creature that stumbles over the same rock twice. We are Sisyphus!!

But this time, our country is at crossroads. Corruption has breached all the boundaries. Economy is down. Investment is falling. Unemployment is at a new peak. A 1991 – payment crisis looks pretty possible again. China’s ever increasing assertiveness is creating troubles at the border areas. Maoism is spreading like cancer. Overall, there is a sense of gloominess across country. A wrong turn will send us down the cliff where avaricious predators are waiting for our fall. We do not wish to go down that path.

For this very reason I am asking you for once to put aside your personal interests and work for the national interest. If the term ‘country’ is too abstract, you can replace it with the livelihood and future of your children, your kin’s children and your loved – one’s children. If that does not sound noble enough, you may replace it with their status and worthiness on the global stage. I do not believe you do not care.

A divided country cannot stand. But all you are doing is dividing her further and further. We already have got divided once 60 years ago! Can you all, just take a pause, think anew? Think of what our country could be, honestly, if you could abstain from the blatant seven deadly sins. For now, the country cannot be further polarized.

Why can’t you all think about a grand coalition government that includes parties of all stripes? Such an inclusive body could then work toward real national integration and development that is just, sustainable and most importantly, inclusive. You will not get much if you loot a store that has gone bankrupt or burned down. The plumb future is awaiting you, if you help put the fire out now, not later.

That’s why, I am appealing with all my might to your conscience – to do genuinely right thing for the country by putting aside selfish considerations, vendettas and irrational phobias.

The nation belongs to all of us. She is our past, present and future!

Thank you
@Ishank sagar

Ishank Sagar,
NU MBA I

NU – A Happening Place!

"Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary,
We at NU adore greenery,
Seamless technology driven we are!
When we decide to achieve,
Nothing seems to be far.
Our green initiatives have stopped illegal mining,
This is the first step to make NU shining!
Day and Night we set our goals
And dare to achieve them,
Overcoming obstacles and jumping hurdles,
We move towards fame!
Trekking, Tennis, Cricket, Football,
Gym, Pool, Planting, Astachal,
We explore them all!
Practical is our approach towards Knowledge,
What we like most is attending college,
We hope NU to grow at a steady pace,
To become the best institution,
And win the race!”

Veeraj Vashishtha
NU MBA II

Celebration of Teachers Day!

Teachers Day was celebrated in NU on 5th September, 2012 with a lot of enthusiasm. Various activities were conducted like Rudra Veena Recital by Pandit Bahauddin Dagar under the auspices of SPIC MACKAY, Students’ Musical Performances and Antakshari among UG students, PG students and Faculty teams.

Community Connect Programme

This unique programme which is a part of B. Tech, Course at NU offers a unique opportunity to the students not only to do something constructive for the society at large, but also to establish a kind of bond or relationship between the Mentor and the Mentee.

As a part of this program, the students are taken to different schools where each of the Mentor is allotted a Mentee whose responsibility he shoulders with great care and confidence. This year, as the strength of the students has increased, we have increased the number of schools where the students will be taken for the purpose. Earlier, we had two schools that is Pratap Singh Pura and Majra Kath. This year we have added two more schools and these are Janak Singh Pura and Mohladia.

In the month of August, we have had two visits to these schools. The students were very excited when asked to narrate their experience of those visits and with great zeal each one of them narrated how they succeeded in making their mentees comfortable with them and how they helped them to gain confidence and learn what they wanted them to learn. Each one of them informed that those children were quite intelligent, and if given an opportunity to develop themselves, they would rise to greater heights in their lives. In fact, their eagerness to learn is very well reflected through their eager await for the arrival of our students every week and the way they greet them with their faces beaming. Each time our students visit their schools, they always want an assurance that they would visit them again soon.

Indeed through this programme, a unique bond is established between the Mentee and the Mentor. The best part is that our students also do their best to contribute in shaping and building of the personality of the children with utmost sincerity.

Soccer Inter – House Match (Orange House Vs White House) was conducted on 26th August, 2012. The winning team is Orange House.

Congratulations, Orange House!

• Dr. S. Ramaswamy was an Invited Speaker in the workshop on ‘Elliptic and Parabolic Differential Equations and Related Topics: Theory and Numerical Methods’ which was held during 16 – 19 August, 2012 at IIT, Gandhi Nagar, Gujarat. He gave two 1 – hour lectures on ‘Basics of Distribution Theory’ on 16th August, 2012.

• Dr Prashant Pillai, Director, Post Graduate Research, School of Engineering, Design and Technology, University of Bradford, UK was invited under ‘NU Distinguished Visitor Lecture Series’. He gave a talk on ‘Wireless Data Management: Security for Wireless Data in Healthcare’ on 6th August, 2012 which was followed by the interaction with the students.

  Dr Prashant Pillai teaches the courses in Mobile Communications, Object Oriented programming languages and Wireless Sensor Networks. He is currently working on the Multicast BGAN Extension project funded by INMARSAT Ltd. and SatNEx – 2. His main areas of work are in Mobile/Wireless Networks like 2G/3G, WLAN, and Bluetooth and Satellite based networks. It was NU’s pleasure to have him to guide the future generation.

• Mr. Rajesh Dahiya, President HR, Axis Bank visited NU on 24th August, 2012. The purpose was to explore the possibility of collaboration with NU.