Life in IITM
I joined IITM in 1960 and left IITM in 2008 after 48 years.I was lucky to be selected in 1960, owing to my good performance in PUC. I was offered a seat in Mech Engg, but I chose civil Engg.
I joined IITM in the Dept of Applied Mechanics in Oct 1966 as an STA and continued until my retirement in 2008. I was their HOD and the head of Biomedical Engg. I was the first faculty to join the BIOMEDICAL ENGG DIVISION and completed my PhD in Biomechanics in 1981 on a part-time basis.
Life at IITM was the most enjoyable, with friends from all over India speaking different languages. Student days at IITM is an unforgettable experience. Although student academic life was tough with several German profs, workshops and drawing, it was still worth it. We had five years of physics and maths and alternate weeks of workshops and drawing. The teachers were very good. We had occasional surprise periodicals and open-book tests. Holi was celebrated in a grand style with lots of colours sprinkled on you forcibly and pushed into a pond in the Hostel. We then marched to our prof’s house and had sweets from them and later went by bicycle to Elliot's beach for a dip.
Diwali, too, was celebrated in a grand manner with the firing of crackers and sharing of sweets. Some students locked themselves in their rooms and were mugging; crackers were lit and thrown in their rooms to force them to come out. The OAT experience was grand. Come Rain or Shine, films would go on, and everyone enjoyed. There were other language films, too, now and then.
Most of my classmates went abroad for further studies and work, but I preferred to stay. Teaching BTech students was a Herculean task. But not so in M.tech and PhD classes. They were more docile and accepted whatever you said.
Attendance was strictly enforced, and students were prevented from appearing for exams for lack of attendance. Failures were common even in the final year. Still no regrets. If you stayed longer, you learnt more!
We used to go to late-night shows in Velachery and Mount Road. For something like eight annas, we could see two movies of MGR and Sivaji Ganesan. We used to return to the hostel after 3 am after a cup of Tea in Velachery. Once when I went to a movie on Mt Road, it was past midnight, and no Bus was available beyond Saidapet. I walked from Saidapet to Krishna Hostel in fear and anxiety.
Later on, too, as faculty, we had a group of 5 or 6 who walked into IITM from 5.45 am to 6.45 am for more than 20 years!
BIO:
Radhakrishnan Swaminathan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/radhakrishnan-swaminathan-6017621a0/
