Echoes of Innovation: Nurturing Roots at IIT Kharagpur
IIT Kharagpur was a familiar and respected name for me, right from my school days since my maternal uncle studied there, pursuing his BTech in electrical engineering from 1958 to 62. He subsequently had a distinguished career in the Indian Airforce, retiring as Air Vice Marshal.
In my own case, after graduating in Electronics Engineering from a reputed engineering institute (viz VJTI, Mumbai — that traces its history to 1887!), I wanted to specialize in some of my preferred themes, such as computer vision, video and signal processing, pattern recognition and machine learning. There was an MTech degree course at IIT Kharagpur which offered just that! The years spent at IIT Kharagpur are permanently etched in mind — I was also fortunate to be the chosen student among all the post-graduate students across branches, to be honoured with the Dr Shanker Dayal Sharma Gold Medal during my time there.
My professional fields of work have very closely paralleled the courses and research domains I explored at IIT Kharagpur.
Gurubhyo Namah — Salutations to professors for sowing the seeds of innovation:
This note would be incomplete without remembering some of the professors in the ECE department who taught us.
Prof AK Ray imparted strong conceptual foundations in pattern recognition, machine learning and artificial intelligence. These learnings culminated in a very interesting project which opened my eyes to several dimensions of machine learning, multimedia processing technology as well as research methodology.
Professor Sengupta (SSg) sowed impactful seeds of understanding the fields of image and video processing, including basics of JPEG and MPEG technologies. Things came a full circle some years later during my professional work — I had the opportunity to frequently attend international meetings of the JPEG and MPEG Standards Committees to work on advanced Standards in these fields. Incidentally, a decade after my stint at IIT Kharagpur, I was so happy when Prof SSg visited me (during his trip to Bangalore) at my office to explore collaborations of the nature of university relationships, between IIT and the organization I was working for, then. His visit served as a nostalgic link to my college days at IIT.
Prof PK Biswas unraveled the world of computer vision. Advanced aspects of classical control systems were taught meticulously by Prof BN Chatterjee. Prof Maharaj Mukherjee used to keep us on our toes by conducting very frequent surprise quizzes (literally in every class!) in his courses on advanced data structures and algorithms, and another one on advanced operating systems.
This list of professors mentioned above is by no means exhaustive!
Connecting Generations through History and Education
Our paternal grandfather was a prominent freedom fighter in the early to mid 20th century, who sacrificed everything for the cause of the freedom movement. He was imprisoned multiple times by the British for his peaceful role in our freedom struggle. He passed away a couple of decades before I was even born, but his selfless and principled actions instilled in me a profound appreciation for our nation’s struggle for independence. It fascinated me to discover that IIT Kharagpur had its roots intertwined with our freedom movement. Notably, the site of the Hijli Jail, where freedom fighters were once incarcerated, now stands as the campus of IIT Kharagpur, symbolic of the transformation from colonial oppression to academic excellence in our country. Prof Ak Ray used to debrief the historical importance of such aspects.
Contemplative expanse and sylvan greens:
The extremely large campus (>2000 acres) is far from the madding crowd. During the years I spent there, there were hardly any motorized vehicles seen at campus. Professors and students in campus were seen on cycles. Commuting between the railway station and campus was typically by means of cycle rikshaws then.
Finding myself amidst the serene vastness of IIT Kharagpur, I experienced an ideal setting for pursuing academic endeavours as well as nurturing my creative juices in music (my life’s passion!). Since I was playing classical music on the flute at the professional level, there were a set of music aficionados across various disciplines (BTech, MTech, PhD, defence-sponsored students, staff and their families from the campus) who became friends and used to come to listen to me practise. A violinist used to stay at the same hostel (LLR Hall of residence) and we had many musical sessions.
A music-minded professor in the chemistry department arranged a couple of my full-length concerts at the Institute. During the years I was at IIT, a resonant tambura/tanpura was lent by a kind elderly lady who was a family member of one of the faculty at the campus. The accompanying picture shows me with this instrument at my hostel room.
Shailesh with tambura/tanpura at IIT KGP (details in article)
Select weekend wanderings:
There were a few weekend travels which stay imprinted in my mind. One unforgettable occasion was a travel to Puri and Bhubaneswar with a circle of friends. We missed a train by the skin of our teeth, seeing it depart in front of our eyes, as we hurried through the platform (which was the longest platform then, at over a km!) and caught the next train!
Another memorable trip was with the said violinist friend to a music store in Kolkata to acquire some musical instruments for the Institute. There, at “Mondal and Sons,” the proprietor proudly displayed a certificate from the renowned international virtuoso Lord Yehudi Menuhin. He recounted how the virtuoso entrusted them with repairing a crack in his violin that developed during a tour some decades back, a task they executed flawlessly.
Local outings at campus
When we craved for a change from the vegetarian options within the regular fare at the hostel, we used to visit a local south Indian joint called Super Duper, and relish hot dosas there. There were a few occasions where we undertook an hour-long walk to Gopali Ashram.
Later visits to campus
A few months after completing my studies at IIT Kharagpur, I visited the Institute for the convocation to receive the Dr Shanker Dayal Sharma Gold medal. Subsequently, in 2015, when I came to the Institute to deliver an invited talk at a technical conference held at the Institute, I noticed that many motororized vehicles partly replaced the earlier seen cycles within campus, and cycle-rikshaws in Kharagpur outside the campus. Many newer buildings within campus were also seen. I am sure these modernization trends have continued since.
These visits sent me down memory lane.
My professional work involves research and development in the arena of digital video, signal processing as well as machine learning. Inventions from this work have resulted in many internationally granted patents. I humbly realize that the seeds for innovation were sown in my formative years, mainly including those at IIT Kharagpur.
Shailesh in Geneva ITU building during an MPEG/JVET Standards Committee meeting in 2019
Our alma maters, our professors as well as fellow-students profoundly influence our lives though we may not realize it during our studies. The learnings are not just in terms of our academics but also all-round development. This is now evident to me with specific reference to IIT Kharagpur of which I cherish many enduring memories.
-Shailesh Ramamurthy, MTech (ECE), 1998, LLR
