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In the 1960s and 70s IIT KGP Campus was a desolate place...sans telephones, sans eateries, sans transport other than the pushbike.
And everyone was bored and hungry for news of all kinds...useful, useless, salacious and malicious.
Most of the ladies were housewives and since there was neither TV nor much of a radio they had to rely on their neighbors who depended on their neighbors who depended on their neighbors...like the Chinese Whispers.
It was then that news used to get among males who spread it in their departments with the inevitable distortion, amplification and attenuation as the case may be.
A good news agent needs lots of qualifications. On the other hand there were a few spies who were soon discouraged. For instance, one day I got terribly bored and spent a lot of money buying a National Panasonic Cassette Recorder-Player, one of the many foolish things I did in my long life. The next day, Prof V of our Department accosted me in the corridor and said:
"I know you bought a Panasonic from Midnapore yesterday"
"Yes" (He expected me to ask, "How did you know?" but I didn't give him that pleasure)
"How much did you pay?"
"Rs 1000"
"I got it from Calcutta for Rs 700"
"Good!"
Then on I cold-shouldered him since I didn't like the way he went about it frontally. He lacked the finesse required to become a popular newscaster.
On the other hand, a good 15 years after I joined IIT KGP, Prof R, a youngster a decade younger to me, joined us. And within a year he became immensely popular with students, teachers and the administration. He had a charming smile and a great good helping heart. He had a nice family with three cute kids who were all likeable. And naturally, I too liked him.
After a few more years, I discovered that Prof R had a weakness for collecting the Campus News and disseminating it among his large circle of friends. He himself was the nicest person and soon became my collaborator and we got to publish a dozen articles here and there and one fat Lecture Notes as well.
I found his news reliable and harmless. By then I was gradually withdrawing from the Departmental Meetings but needed to know what was going on so that I am prepared for any contingency. So, he used to visit my room after everyone left for lunch and we used to discuss some physics and then adjourn to Harry's for a cup of coffee and gossip before dispersing to our homes.
I asked him once why he takes the trouble every morning at 6 in sun, rain, and cold to walk a couple of kilometers to the Khatal (Buffalo-Farm) to collect his milk, while I always depended on my gowala (milkman) to deliver it at my home...infinitely diluted. And he said that collecting milk was secondary to collecting the overnight news....fresh from the Farm. For, a dozen professors and technical people collected their milk there every morning without fail and exchanged the latest news...all of them part of the core Campus News Network (CNN).
He was also a perennial Warden since that entitled him to a telephone at home.
One evening I was sitting, as usual alone, in the Tech Market on the wooden bench of the Lav-Khush Tea Stall sipping my glass of lemon tea. And Prof DPR of Civil Engg came and sat beside me. He was ten years senior to me and the only interaction we had was a decade ago when he arrived in my room and said his son, Ashok, wanted some help in physics. Otherwise we were strangers.
Prof DPR then told me a propos of nothing that my Friend was high up on the panel for appointment as Deputy Director (DD). I nodded my head and asked him how Ashok was doing and where he was employed.
A few days later, a new DD was appointed who was not my Friend DPR cited. And I kept quiet. After less than a month of this, I got an early morning phone call in our drawing room and when I picked it up, it was Prof R (fresh from the Buffalo Farm) informing me that the newly appointed DD had a massive heart attack and passed away the night before. I was sad and was musing:
"Here today, gone tomorrow, all flesh is as grass"
And then I knew that Prof R didn't know what I knew from DPR...obviously.
In a few minutes my wife walked up to me from her kitchen and asked:
"What was that phone call about?"
"My Friend is becoming DD"
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Some time later early one morning, my wife told me that Prof X's house was burgled last night. And I wanted to give Prof R a surprise and called him and told him:
"Prof X's house was burgled last night"
"Is it? None of us in the Buffalo-Farm knew it!"
Later in the day, while Prof R and I were sipping coffee at Harry's, Prof X joined us and told me:
"My house was burgled last night...of course we lost nothing much"
"Yes, I know"
"Who told you? Prof R?"
"No, it was I who told him"
"Then, who told you?"
"Guess again!"
"I give up"
"My wife"
"How did she get to know?
"By the Maid Servants Internet (MSI)"
http://techz4u.webs.com/apps/videos/channels/show/432545
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In the 1960s and 70s IIT KGP Campus was a desolate place...sans telephones, sans eateries, sans transport other than the pushbike.
And everyone was bored and hungry for news of all kinds...useful, useless, salacious and malicious.
Most of the ladies were housewives and since there was neither TV nor much of a radio they had to rely on their neighbors who depended on their neighbors who depended on their neighbors...like the Chinese Whispers.
It was then that news used to get among males who spread it in their departments with the inevitable distortion, amplification and attenuation as the case may be.
A good news agent needs lots of qualifications. On the other hand there were a few spies who were soon discouraged. For instance, one day I got terribly bored and spent a lot of money buying a National Panasonic Cassette Recorder-Player, one of the many foolish things I did in my long life. The next day, Prof V of our Department accosted me in the corridor and said:
"I know you bought a Panasonic from Midnapore yesterday"
"Yes" (He expected me to ask, "How did you know?" but I didn't give him that pleasure)
"How much did you pay?"
"Rs 1000"
"I got it from Calcutta for Rs 700"
"Good!"
Then on I cold-shouldered him since I didn't like the way he went about it frontally. He lacked the finesse required to become a popular newscaster.
On the other hand, a good 15 years after I joined IIT KGP, Prof R, a youngster a decade younger to me, joined us. And within a year he became immensely popular with students, teachers and the administration. He had a charming smile and a great good helping heart. He had a nice family with three cute kids who were all likeable. And naturally, I too liked him.
After a few more years, I discovered that Prof R had a weakness for collecting the Campus News and disseminating it among his large circle of friends. He himself was the nicest person and soon became my collaborator and we got to publish a dozen articles here and there and one fat Lecture Notes as well.
I found his news reliable and harmless. By then I was gradually withdrawing from the Departmental Meetings but needed to know what was going on so that I am prepared for any contingency. So, he used to visit my room after everyone left for lunch and we used to discuss some physics and then adjourn to Harry's for a cup of coffee and gossip before dispersing to our homes.
I asked him once why he takes the trouble every morning at 6 in sun, rain, and cold to walk a couple of kilometers to the Khatal (Buffalo-Farm) to collect his milk, while I always depended on my gowala (milkman) to deliver it at my home...infinitely diluted. And he said that collecting milk was secondary to collecting the overnight news....fresh from the Farm. For, a dozen professors and technical people collected their milk there every morning without fail and exchanged the latest news...all of them part of the core Campus News Network (CNN).
He was also a perennial Warden since that entitled him to a telephone at home.
One evening I was sitting, as usual alone, in the Tech Market on the wooden bench of the Lav-Khush Tea Stall sipping my glass of lemon tea. And Prof DPR of Civil Engg came and sat beside me. He was ten years senior to me and the only interaction we had was a decade ago when he arrived in my room and said his son, Ashok, wanted some help in physics. Otherwise we were strangers.
Prof DPR then told me a propos of nothing that my Friend was high up on the panel for appointment as Deputy Director (DD). I nodded my head and asked him how Ashok was doing and where he was employed.
A few days later, a new DD was appointed who was not my Friend DPR cited. And I kept quiet. After less than a month of this, I got an early morning phone call in our drawing room and when I picked it up, it was Prof R (fresh from the Buffalo Farm) informing me that the newly appointed DD had a massive heart attack and passed away the night before. I was sad and was musing:
"Here today, gone tomorrow, all flesh is as grass"
And then I knew that Prof R didn't know what I knew from DPR...obviously.
In a few minutes my wife walked up to me from her kitchen and asked:
"What was that phone call about?"
"My Friend is becoming DD"
********************************************************************************************************
Some time later early one morning, my wife told me that Prof X's house was burgled last night. And I wanted to give Prof R a surprise and called him and told him:
"Prof X's house was burgled last night"
"Is it? None of us in the Buffalo-Farm knew it!"
Later in the day, while Prof R and I were sipping coffee at Harry's, Prof X joined us and told me:
"My house was burgled last night...of course we lost nothing much"
"Yes, I know"
"Who told you? Prof R?"
"No, it was I who told him"
"Then, who told you?"
"Guess again!"
"I give up"
"My wife"
"How did she get to know?
"By the Maid Servants Internet (MSI)"
http://techz4u.webs.com/apps/videos/channels/show/432545
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