As written by Usha Rajagopal

The successful IIT London Chapter Summer Luncheon attended by over 100 people at the Bombay Palace Restaurant on the 26th of June, 2005 was an event the alumni don’t stop talking about. We were honoured by the presence of Sir Michael Arthur, the British High Commissioner to India who addressed the gathering. The Chief Guest and other guests were welcomed by the Chairman Dr. R. K. Jain

Sir Michael’s thought provoking speech on “Britain’s Role in Modern India” highlighted many aspects of India/UK co-operation in the areas of biotech, pharmaceuticals, Nanotechnology, Civil engineering, Nuclear Physics, ICT and Material Science. He emphasised the need for Britain to “reinvest in top level educational links particularly between the IIT’s and their world class counterparts in the UK”. The special partnership between India and the UK was further emphasised by the presence of India for the first time at the G8 summit held at Gleneagles. The demand for crossover films, the presence of major Indian investments in the UK and vice versa— Britain as the second biggest investor in India and the number of British companies having a business critical function in India are some distinctive examples of UK/India cooperation He felt that India and Britain need to draw on each other’s strengths and capabilities, and learn to understand each other better. The UK economy needs to be repositioned if it is to meet the challenges of India emerging as” a knowledge superpower”. There had been extensive campaigning in India by the High Commission and others to project‘Britain at its best’, he explained.

The morning ended with a question and answer session with Peter Chan as the moderator and a vote of thanks by the Chairman followed by an excellent lunch. There was an opportunity for the High Commissioner to mingle and also for the alumni to network. The IIT alumni certainly echoed the words of the High Commissioner — “although not entirely rosy” , certainly an exciting and challenging time ahead of us to foster better relations between Britain and the UK whether it be in business, government, cultural or social. The High Commissioner couldn’t have found a better place for his target audience to spread the message across to other IITians, emerging from the IIT’s in India.

Joe Verghese showed his talents as an excellent Master of Ceremonies. Satish Arora, RK Jain, BK Gurtu, PK Agrawala, Rajeev Benodekar, Ramesh Kaushal and other members, and their families worked hard in putting together such a great event.

The luncheon was sponsored by ICICI Bank whose Poonam Agarwal helped the Gulati sisters in manning the reception desk.

Usha Rajagopal