The stalwart of the Department of Electrical Engineering, Professor T K Basu retired recently leaving behind a rich legacy from his time here at Kgp, first as a student and then as a professor. Professor Basu also taught at IIT Bombay and later served as the head of the Center of Educational Technology which was instrumental in developing the video courses for Kgp students. Now busy in another professional sphere at Kolkata, The Scholars’ Avenue managed to catch up with Prof. Basu on his farewell visit to the Institute, unearthing some candid moments and a lot of nostalgia.

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Player of the bansuri, classicist who has gone out of his way to promote Indian classical music, awardee of the Padma Bhushan, the Konarak Samman and the Yash Bharati Samman, music composer for many Indian films, head of the World Music Department at the Rotterdam Music Conservatory, creator of a music style that epitomizes the traditional while flirting with the contemporary – all embodied by the renowned virtuoso, Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia.

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An aggressive corporate – ad guru, gastronome and restaurateur, cigar connoisseur, scuba diver, globe trotter or a celebrity who has become a ‘page three’ phenomenon, call him what you want, but the fact remains that he is the brain behind many of India’s most memorable ad campaigns. Here he is, in candid conversation…

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Krishna Kumar Kunnath grew up listening to Pink Floyd, Guns ‘N’ Roses, Deep Purple and Billy Joel. Spring Fest 2009 saw the DU Commerce graduate and a play-back genius, performing to a packed house, in the Tagore Open Air Theatre. The Scholars’ Avenue caught up with KK for a rendezvous, backstage.

TSA: As a singer you had a modest beginning, and you have come a long way. How do look at your journey to stardom?

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R.K. Misra is a B.Tech graduate of IIT Kanpur. He has an M.S. from Tokyo University. He has been an entrepreneur for most of his professional life, and has founded and acquired three technology businesses. More recently, he was declared the winner of TOI’s ‘Lead India’ campaign.
In an interview with The Scholars’ Avenue, R.K. Misra answered questions relating to politics in general, the role of an IITian in society and more. (more…)

Sramana Mitra has been an entrepreneur and a strategy consultant in Silicon Valley since 1994. Her fields of experience span from hard core technology disciplines like semiconductors to sophisticated consumer marketing industries including fashion and education. Her current focus, however, is primarily in the realms of Web 3.0 and Enterprise 3.0, and related infrastructure. She has a particular interest in Media and Retail companies and their transition to a Web-centric world.

As an entrepreneur CEO, Sramana founded 3 companies: Dais (Off-shore Software Services), Intarka (Sales Lead Generation and Qualification Software; VC: NEA) and Uuma (Online Personalized Store for selling clothes using Expert Systems software; VC: Redwood). Two of these were acquired, while the third received an acquisition offer from Ralph Lauren which the company did not accept.

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Ranbir (Ron) Singh Gupta, B.Arch 1970 IIT-Kharagpur and a top-notch architect in the US with his own company based in New York has given his alma-mater “Ranbir and Chitra Gupta School of Infrastructure Design and Management“, first such school of its kind in the world. His donation of $1 million is the second-highest endowment received by the institute. The Scholars’ Avenue talked to him about the upcoming school, its infrastructure, necessity and focus over a wonderful breakfast at The Tech Guest House. Excerpts from the interview: (more…)