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 Goa Institute of Management
A building four hundred years old, set opposite Mandvi river. A chapel. Just
across the road a small open air bar with a few chairs facing the river,
where a large rum costs Rs.20/-. That's Goa Institute of Management for you.
Our tour guide through this institute was Vivek Chaturvedi. I sat in his
room charging the batteries of my camera while Rashmi was chatting with
Rohan Saraf, another GIM student. The institute was once a hospital where
war soldiers were treated. While walking through the corridors of this
place, history seems to whisper from a window here or a wall there. No, I'm
not starting to with a ghost story. But the place *is* damn intriguing.
 The Institute has both Girls and Boys hostels. The girls are allowed to
enter the boys hostel but the guys have to pay a fine if they’re seen at the
Girls hostel (though a few lucky first years get to share the ground floor
of the girls hostel). The unlucky ones have to make do with playing outside
the girls hostel.
The boys hostel is rather interesting. It's divided into three sections:-
O.T.:- Cool atmosphere. Music playing in most of the rooms. Girls all
around. But what's with the traffic cones outside the rooms? The Morgue:-
This is for more studious types. Maybe they are scared if they don't study
the ghosts might get offended. The Hill Top:- For the peaceful party
animals. The music lovers. The crowd.
Then there's the Admin department and a canteen and lecture halls.
I can't describe the place with wisely chosen words. So watch the tour on
Jam TV and you'll know what I'm talking about. I personally want to change
my field and study there, if only I would get admission!
As we left, we saw a couple of students walking by with freshly stitched
suits on hangars. Placement season is coming up and GIM is expecting a
bumper crop of jobs. After that, it's one last semester of chill. In Goa!
"After IIMs... we think this is the best place to do management," say our
tour guides. |
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 National Institute of Oceanography
You could bump into a Bengali anywhere, anytime. For a change I mean that in
a good way. Sunset time, ‘Chapora (the ‘Dil Chahta Hai’ fort). Right on top,
we spotted four guys with a guitar. Their songs putting the sun to sleep...
(just kidding they were good!) Amit Sarkar and his friends happened to be
from National Institute of Oceanography. So we took his number and landed at
his institute the next day.
Amit completed his graduation in Microbiology, and is now doing his Phd.,
with
 a specialisation in Ecotoxicology. He will eventually get a job as a
research scientist (jobs like that exist beyond movies?) He gave us the
lowdown on the kind of work he does. Frankly, it was Latin and Greek to me. Rashmi understood more ‘coz I think you need scientific brains or something
for that. The Institute is huge and clean. Yes, I thought of taking off my
shoes and walking around.
Amit then took us for a tour to his hostel. The hostel compound is huge, a
colony by itself. Log on to www.jammag.com/jamtv and check it out for
yourself. Also log on to www.nio.org. |
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 Goa College of Arts
I’d visited Goa College of Art a year back with a friend who’s an alumnus
there. GCA’s located at one shore of Miramar beach at Altino Hill. It’s much
easier to craft your dreams in a place like this, where you can gaze out the
window at approaching monsoon clouds, or watch waves crashing on to rocks
that are as much a part of the campus as the buildings themselves. I wanna
kill myself for having studied Art in Delhi !
Apart from the location, the college offers a five year course in Bachelor
of Fine Arts (Painting) and Bachelor of Fine Arts (Applied Art). Providing a
sound base in design, the BFA degree course begins with one year foundation
followed by four years of specialization in the chosen stream. |
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 BITS-Pilani
and Goa
- An ideal match, says third year student Akash Raman.
2004. National University of Singapore, Nayang Technological University,
some NIT in some corner of India, BITS-Pilani, Goa campus, etc. Not a tough
choice! The moment the news came of my admission in BITS, my parents and I
forgot about all the other colleges and I came here! It couldn't have been
better. 'BITS', the name was big enough!
I do not know what came in the minds of the Birlas when they woke up one day
and decided to make another BITS-Pilani, right here in Goa. But whoa! What a
change. From Oasis to Waves! (Incidentally these are the names of the
cultural fests of both the campuses too!).
Over the years BITS-Pilani has provided the highest quality of technical
education to students from all over India admitted on the basis of merit.
Its graduates can be found all over the world in various areas of
engineering, science, arts and commerce. BITS has been known to create
complete individuals. I'd personally say that the students pay equal
attention to managing and cultural skills as well as studies. We are keeping
up with the tradition in Goa Campus too.
As far as infrastructure and facilities go, it would suffice to say that my
first words in this campus were, "Dad! I am going to study here? WOW!"
What's more, life at BITS is not just about studies. All the way from Waves
(the annual cultural fest) to Zephyr (inter-hostel competitions) to Quark
(tech fest) to all the societies and clubs which exist (The Forum for
Cultural Studies to the Dramatics club), life is fun! Waves was an all Goa
event last year and is all set to go national this year - all in 3 years!
Personally, I have been involved with various clubs and societies - NSS,
Bits and Bytes (The official campus hub), Center for Software Development (CSD),
Astro-club, Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership (CEL) and saying that the
experience so far has been amazing would be an understatement. This is one
place where you get to do what you want! Interested in any new venture?
Start it here (of course after due reviewing by the faculty and concerned
people!). Right from the first year, we started forming societies like the
dramatics club, music club etc. We worked really hard to make them a success
and are still continuing to do so.
2005. My second year. Things changed now. We got even more enthu people.
(One change which also occurred was the entrance exam, BITSAT, and somehow
the percentage of girls went down from 48% to 15%! Sad!) I started the Astro
club back then and worked hard for it that year.
2006. My third year. I set out on an amazing adventure, which I am still on!
CEL- Centre for Entrepreneurial Leadership! Eight of us landed in Pilani
with little or no experience for a Convention on Entrepreneurship! We had
amazing marathon sessions 9pm- 4am on CEL. We came back charged up and
immediately formed CEL in the campus. We have not looked back since then.
This is the advantage. We get to be the root, the foundation of the college.
Nothing else can be bigger than this!
People often ask me, "You are studying in Goa? Wow! That must be loads of
fun". And it sure has been. This is the place where people come for 365 days
on a holiday! We sure can’t do that, but many holidays of ours are spent
playing and lying lazily on the sands. Talking about movies, I bet at any
time on a Sunday or Saturday Inox is full of BITSians! Groups of people go
for mountain climbing, go-carting etc. often. Vasco is like a 2nd home to
us. Catch a bus, pay 5 Rs. and u are there!
However, it’s a pity that we cannot enjoy the famous nightlife of Goa. The
college gates close at 10 p.m. and we are locked in our hostels at 11.
I would surely recommend coming to BITS-P, Goa. If not as a student,
definitely a visit to the campus. This is the place where you get to compete
and interact with the best minds in India in the best environment possible.
We don’t make just engineers, we make individuals! |
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Behind the Booze
Goa is more than just a holiday land, says Goa College of Engineering grad
Ashish Kolvalker
Goa - the land of beaches, sunsets and funky happy-go-lucky people. A place
where life is ‘susegaad’. As a native of Goa I would say all this is true,
but there's more to the place than what the tourist experiences!
I work in Bangalore now. Friends and colleagues have a certain view about
Goa. For starters, most of pals would go holidaying to Goa with the sole
purpose of bingeing on alcohol. Numerous jokes are made about how I must be
a person who has alcohol running in his blood. Few believe that I do not
drink at all!
I feel availablity of alcohol at cheap rates hastarnished Goa’s image. It’s
the tourists themselves who create this drunken reality by getting sozzled,
sometimes to the extent that they create unnecessary issues in hotels.
Another important fact is that a major chunk of Goans are Hindus, yet it is
only the churches which get higlighted. What I want to point out here is
that while the beauty of the churches and the Catholic religion is very
pristine and rich, so is the vast spectrum of Goan Hindu culture.
Another misconception is that most Goans are 'non-residents'. People believe
that the Hindus of Goa are either people from Maharashtra or Karnataka
settled in Goa. This is wrong - a majority of Goans are natives of Goa
itself.
Another observation is that the English standard in Goa is the one of the
highest in India. I have noticed that in most of the other states in India,
the regional language on the spoken English.
Where Goan education might take a beating is the study atmosphere and the
ability to attract the cream of students. The curriculum at Goa College of
Engineering was of a high-level, and on par with most of the NITs. But the
atmosphere for study was more languid, and few students had a burning desire
to reach great heights.
There are also fewer extra-curricular activities and major events of
institute meets, fests etc in Goa. Only in recent times is there more
interest in competitive exams like IITs and IIMs. But resources to study for
them are relatively meagre. In fact, two years ago, Goa was dropped by the
IIMs as a CAT centre!
Now, there are more engineering colleges in Goa, including BITS which is of
national standards. So there are many more engineers but there is little Goa
offers to core electronic or computer engineers in terms of career
opportunities. Hence most people pursue their work life outside Goa like me
in Bangalore.
Although I would always want to further my career in my own native land I
know for sure that the beauty and the status that Goa enjoys now would be
destroyed if software and other industries start entering Goa on a large
scale. Hence according to me, Goa is better off without these. Probably its
just the task of the Goans to make it big themselves, and then make their
own state reach great heights.
Goa is also on the forefront as far as the film industry is concerned. Goa
has also earned its position in international cinema too, with the advent of
festivals like IFFI.
In conclusion I would say that it is definitely upto each person to see
beyond Goa 'the holiday destination'. That would make for a richer and truer
experience of my native land.
Ashish is currently working with Oracle in Bangalore. |
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