posted by Anil Vaidya

To Dear Students

Each specializes in a particular field. This field is the foundation to build upon, in almost all cases it some sort of technical layer. Such a competency provides you an opportunity to raise your dream architecture on top of it. Consider it as a Roman construction with three pillars, a foundation and top sloping triangular roof. The top where you want to be, in any field, social, commercial, political, religious whatever your choice. I have observed people at various levels in last few years, firstly management layer in India, then in region then at global level of a function. Member of each layer is seen performing at the higher and higher capability, truly amazing. Some day I will describe you differences.
 
For the time being I want to make these suggestions:
1. Every time you travel, buy a new book at a shop in airport or at train station - it could be a novel, may be a scientific book, a religious/social/political book or a magazine copy you have not seen before
2. Subscribe to a newspaper - let a hardcopy be delivered to your place every day (even if you get on internet or at office), may be Wall Street Journal, Financial times, Economic Times or whatever is appropriate
3. Subscribe to a magazine like Business Weekly, Time, The Economist
4. Keep a good dictionary handy and refer to it regularly
5. All these that you buy and subscribe keep them visible on your tea table, on your desks, on dinner tables, on beds  - do not keep them neatly stacked in a rack or in a cupboard - let these be spread over all over the house - the only thing that can be untidy in your homes. The utter visibility will force you to pick up and glance thru from time to time.
 
You may read less than 20% of this material and you may retain less that 10%, but this 10% will make a big impact in your attitude and aptitude. Use this material to frame your thoughts, presentations, answers, essays, reports…whatever. Also share your thoughts, ideas with all, talk to anybody and everybody, go on writing spree, respond to every mail you get. Each small activity will help you build yourself.
 
Consider all above purchases as ‘investments’ in your ‘future’. they will yield extreme high returns in times to come.

Anil Vaidya

posted by Anil Vaidya

Some days get etched into memory by sheer magnitude of the events. Saturday, 19 June 2010 was one such day. The institute colleagues had worked diligently for several months and they achieved something special.  Two major events marked the day.

SCIT launched Executive MBA (IT) programme. It got off with a grand start with the first session on Information Security Planning, being spearheaded by highly experienced educationist, a professional from the world of security practice. The launch heralds a new beginning in the educational journey of SCIT. I am sure we look forward to more offerings from SCIT next year.

The same day we had an in-depth interactive session of our illustrious alumni with our junior batch. It was a pleasure to receive our past students back at the institute. The open interaction with the alumni was a treat for our juniors who are paving their way towards their goals. It was a credit to our alumni who participated wholeheartedly without any reservation.

It is rare that an institute gets an opportunity to match and manage such amazing events in a single day. SCIT did it, we have such capabilities and we will prove them again and again.  

posted by Anil Vaidya

June 3, 2010

Education and innovations are two words that ring a bell for me anytime, anywhere. The works of the great always spur me into doing something. Last week’s visit to APS museum displaying Charles Darwin’s notes and his books was an experience I simply cannot keep from sharing. The feelings, the emotions of reading about the ‘Origin of Species’ were beyond words. I was awestruck by his theorization of natural selection.

I went through the brochures at the museum, then read Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Edison. Somewhere, all this reading struck a familiar chord; it seemed to align with the innovative spirit that we want to light at SCIT. Our education rigour, our focus on research, the entrepreneurship drive all provide sparks needed to ignite our young minds. I long to see our students and our alumni following footsteps of the greatest of the scientists, philosophers, management gurus, industrialists, educationists and so on.

I also had the rare opportunity of visiting an exhibition of the Egyptian king Tutankhamen.  It was not the greatness of a king but his work for contemporary Egyptian society and his thought process in the backdrop of philosophical turmoil got me contemplating. In our own land we have many examples of religious and philosophical creations at very tender age.  We draw inspiration from the historical events and the people who made history. I look at them as the guiding lights illuminating my own path, prompting me to march on unhaltingly.     

posted by Anil Vaidya

May 05, 2010

It invariably pains us when a passing out batch steps out of SCIT campus; at the same time it’s a matter of joy and pride to witness yesterday’s students transforming into company executives. Messages from them bearing company seals and signatures make us proud. They also take on new roles of being SCIT alumni and SCIT ambassadors. We depend on them to advise the younger batch and guide them as they coast to their graduation.

We of course will see many of the passing out batch again at the convocation ceremony. They will be immensely pleased to reunite with their friends and reconnect with SCIT memories. Though my association with the passing out batch has been for a shorter duration, I have personally met and discussed something or the other with most of the passing out batch at various stages.

Personally I will miss their daily interaction. We will make up by keeping in touch as we walk into the new academic year. I will even have some of them back at the institute interacting with our new entrants. I am sure they will be happy to participate. 

posted by Anil Vaidya

April 26, 2010

I have been experiencing a lot of enthusiasm from new entrants; it’s a familiar feeling of getting into something new and exciting. I share their eagerness and look forward to meeting them in person. It is always amazing to see new energy filling the college, besides our previous batch returning with renewed vigour after internship. We at the institute have built strong bonds with the returning batch over the last one year. We shared their joy and struggle. I am sure we will do the same with the new entrants.

On our part here at the institute, our preparations for receiving the new young wave are in full swing. Their foundation programme and the first semester plans are under microscope, fine tuning and adjusting to minor detail. The meetings with faculties, internal and external, the thought process that goes on, everything is enjoyable.

It will be a great pleasure to see the new entrants in June; the pleasure will double when our interns return towards July end. For the time being we keep on with preparations and continue working. My good wishes to all SCITians.

posted by Anil Vaidya

We do not seem to keep quiet at SCIT. We had very respectful flag hoisting ceremony on January 26, with entire SIC staff and the students saluting Indian pride on the cool, breezy morning. This was followed by a terrific Techno-entrepreneurship event SPROUT-IT on Sunday, January 31. Then there have been hectic admission activities in progress over last week, with enthusiastic SCIT aspirants bee lining the atrium. As if all this was not enough we also had a heart-warming faculty meet on Saturday evening.

Our students have been the backbone of our activities at campus. Our iTELF cell members delivered Sprout-IT, another fulfilling event. Interesting panel discussion with experts from various fields and the two workshops made up most of the day. It was a pleasure to see the large number of young students from other colleges participating in the sessions.

Currently admission process is in full swing. Our students have been helping the aspirants in every way they can. They even managed to find place to stay for some.

We always witness a great collaborative effort on every front at SCIT, be members of student community or staff or the full-time or visiting faculty. We are all ONE SCIT.

posted by Anil Vaidya

It was a very pleasing sight to see Savitha trying to herd the alumni into the poolside venue for the cake cutting ceremony. We were supposed to finish the cake-cutting function in 10 minutes and start the main programme by 11 AM. It was not to be. We did not gather in the audi for another 45 minutes. And the sweet reason was that the alumni were really really connecting back to the old days and greeting their former fellow students. How much ever Savitha tried, it was just not possible to miss the warmth of those old relations; interruptions were just not worth it.

It turned out to be a grand gathering of our alumni who returned to their home, their alma mater, after a long gap. The pleasure, the smiles, the enthusiasm were unmistakable. They relived their old days, even performing on stage as they had done in their student days. Some brought their spouses who heartily participated in the bonhomie. None forgot to go around the hostels recounting the memories of their rooms and the roomies. And of course Kagal Madam’s presence was the icing on cake. Everyone connected to her, chatted, tried to get her attention. Same was the case with Savitha and certainly they had heartful interactions with their own teacher mams and sirs– Bharathi, Pradya, Sharmili. They still missed Sadhana, Rajul, Sen, Suprika, Vasundhara, Ajey and others.

The clouds that cast long shadows on our campus were responsible for absence of some of these beloved teachers. Despite the shadow our present students assured us that they would do all possible to make the alumni meet happen. And they did commendable job, they were always in the background and still omnipresent. This was another unforgettable event organized by our students on campus. While the event was one more outstanding example of SCIT’s resilience and perseverance, I do not forget the students and faculty members who are still recuperating. I wish them a speedy recovery and I want to see them bouncing around the campus soon.       

posted by Anil Vaidya

Graffiti took off in style in the morning of Jan 9 with number of events lined up for two full days. Right from morning I saw the outstation students streaming in with their trademark haversacks. It was only the next morning that I realized how eager they were to make the presentations and compete wherever possible. Having seen few of them, I invited them all for a quick chat. They were budding engineers, boys and girls, from far off colleges in Maharashtra and were visibly happy to have a free exchange with the institute director. I enjoyed it too.

Graffiti offered many such sweet occasions; I prefer to call them candies. The T-shirts, the music, the games, the business quizzes and competitions kept people engrossed. It was a very satisfying event for receiving our corporate guests. The special coffee corner at the poolside helped to have free dialogue. It was wonderful to see the corporate guests being escorted by our students all around the campus. And of course the very last event of ‘Epiphany’ aptly presented the close of two days of gala time.

The whole of SCIT was proud to participate in the fresh and extraordinary atmosphere. My compliments to the entire student body for showcasing a terrific event. I was happy that they did not forget to include a frontal view of social awareness by setting up stalls of Peta and the SCIT SSR.      

posted by Anil Vaidya

Anil Vaidya, January 7, 2010

The institute appear to be transforming each passing day. Yesterday I entered the academic block I saw a board asking “What next”. Right below that another board announced “3 days” to Graffiti. This looks like altogether different group of students. The enthusiasm (enthu – if I follow them) is simply overwhelming. Yesterday evening two of the students invited me for their online game. I was quite hesitant but then was forced to appear before the computer terminal. I did not understand head or tail of the game while the ‘next gen’ was going whole hog. These guys are energetic, brilliant, have desire to do something and now redefining their spheres of operations.

Graffiti has brought our students together, working towards greater objectives. They have been going out, visiting companies, visiting other campuses, discussing strategies, operations, finance and so on. There is a Graffiti war room in full swing with a three boards full of planned activities and progress. As if all this is not enough, this morning there was another pleasing site. I witnessed our SCIT Student Social Responsibility (SSR) group canvassing for environment at the Hinjwadi Chowk.

I like what I see. The ‘Next gen’ will be our leaders. What they do today will be an indication of how they will function tomorrow. The enthusiasm simply can’t be missed nor can one keep away from it. If you happen to be anywhere on campus I am sure you will be drawn be into the vortex and enjoy it fully.

posted by Shaila Kagal

When you stand outside the boundaries of a playground and watch the play like a spectator, you know whether you kicked the ball in the right direction; or balls were passed skillfully to the right guys; or how far or close is the goalpost. Else you are lost in the melee in that urge to make a goal.

The last month has been something like that for me. While still being in Symbiosis, I have this wonderful view of what is happening with SCIT.  I can only say I am very very proud…  More so because Anil Vaidya is a wonderful coach and guiding so beautifully that SCIT is closing the distance to the goalpost.

Wherever I go, “SCIT Journal” is certainly a talking point. Prof. Ajey is doing such a wonderful job as an Editor.  Same is the case with our case-studies. Prof. Bharathi and all others have published such wonderful cases from which, I am sure, not just our students but all others too will benefit.  SCIT students too are not far behind. If the MRA camp is any indication, we will certainly see more SCITiians blazing the trail on the horizon!

So, kick hard to the goalpost! I am cheering.