KTWV02-Issue 8: Resilience

Thank you fellow Stephanians for welcoming back Kooler Talk (Web Version) with open arms.

I hope all of you did not mind me sending you the good news about the Cool Site Award given to us for our work on the web, which included this Kooler Talk (Web Version) site.

I promise that these Press Releases, which are usually only for the Press - will not become a habit, but I was so thrilled that I got a bit carried away to get such a solid recognition from SearchPoint, the centre that I personally consider as the most useful to carry out searches on the web.

During the lay-off, several of you have fed me with news and stories which I shall slowly start to unravel and unveil in coming issues.

Please do not stop sending me material for me to keep constructing a readable webletter. Here are a few recent letters - I am working my way backwards.

Subject: Thanks from Rajesh Ranjan
Received: 9/9/97 12:12 pm
From: rajesh ranjan, email address supplied

Dear Mr. Matthan,

I am really touched by your dedication and commitment to the Stepahanian cause (whatever that means).

Sir, you have done a great job by bringing out the Kooler Talk (Web Version).

I joined "College" in 1993 (Economics, presently at IIM-C). I used to write the various "spices" only as Kooler Talk was too much of an "intellectual" affair.

Till 1996, the year I graduated, the "spice" culture was kept alive by few enterprising souls. But I do feel that it is on its way out (they aren't that interesting and exciting anymore).

May be you can think of bringing out one spice (web version, of course). It would be much easier for you to take the initiative as you have data regarding all the Stephanians.

It can cover all the Stephanian glitterati (once agian, whatever that means)!!

Thank you.

Rajesh Ranjan IIM-C

Rajesh assumes that I would know much about Spice - but it happened a long time after my days in college. Being 7000 km away from Delhi makes it also a bit difficult to get hold of the real spicy news!

My knowledge of Spice is limited to what Jhelum Chowdhury wrote in the Kooler Talk Web Version 01 - Issue 5 way back in June 1996, which, to say the truth was very little.

If any one of you would care to send me a few issues (which I agree must be difficult if it was a underground publication) - maybe I can try to parody an issue within this Web Version!!

Subject: Kooler Talk Sent: 31/8/97 9:13 pm
From: Krishan Dhawan email address supplied

I stumbled across the site today and really enjoyed going through it and was disappointed to see that it had been shut down. I will appreciate your letting me know if it resurrects.

I was in college and residence in 1973-76 doing a BA in Economics. I was one of KT's editors in 1974-75. I think it was shut down in 75-76 because of the Emergency.

I currently live in Los Angeles.

Regards,

Krishan Dhawan

KrishD came upon the site a day before it was restarted! He was indeed most happy that he could get to the restarted version.

Maybe Krish should read Kooler Talk Web Version 01 - Issue 2 where Amitabh Dubey, son of a Stephanian of the same era as me, Suman Dubey, told us how Kooler Talk was restarted in 1991 by Vijay Tankha (a philosophy professor) and himself and how he was followed by Siddhartha Sivaramakrishnan as the editor.

It was most interesting to hear that KT was shut down because of the 1975 Emergency. Mrs. Gandhi had a novel way of censorship - she cut the newsprint quota to newspapers that did not toe her line. I did not know that KT had such a wide readership during those days to have been affected by Mrs. G's method!!

Subject: Re: Kooler Talk Web Version Reappears New URL
Sent: 28/8/97 7:33 pm
From: Srikanth Rajagopalan, email address supplied

Hi Mr. Matthan,

Please change my ID on your mailing list to:

email address supplied

Congratulations on your work and resilience!

All the best,

Raja

I must admit my resilience part as whatever the troubles, it is my Stephanian spirit and background that has helped me fight back with double vigour. Anyway, beside the cost of web space, a pretty hefty telephone bill as I am not on a direct conection, and a bit of my time, there is not much to do in putting up this webletter so long as I get such excellent feedback from all you Stephanians out there.

Our web page of well-known Indian authors and personalities already features, what I hope is the complete works of, two Stephanians - Shashi Tharoor and Arun Shourie, who as many of you will remember, was my hockey captain. Shashi, however, was just a 4 year-old todler while Arun and I were fighting Hindu Collegeites with hockey sticks during our heady days in Stephen's.

I used the biodata provided by Srini in his info to New York Stephanians as the intro to the works of Shashi (hope you do not mind Srini).

I hope others will let me know the names of other Stephanian authors so that I can list their books on the pages I have created as a tribute to great Indian writers.

I was pleasantly surprised when I got some mail from a company in Delhi called Info Edge who contacted me about a web page they are running for a company called Sanka India Ltd, which is called naukri - a sort of head hunting and placement service.

When I asked for details I found that two Stephanians were among the enterprising souls behind this company - Sanjeev Bikhchandani 34, BA Eco. St. Stephen's MBA IIM Ahmedabad and Surabhi Motihar 32, BA Eco. St Stephen's MBA IIM Ahmedabad.

Seems quite a few Stephanians are following the route to get MBA's after their stint at Stephen's, a sort of change from the days when everyone headed for the IAS/IFS/IPS exams.

More in a month.

Regards

Jacob Matthan,
Honorary Editor,
Kooler Talk (Web Version),
Oulu, Finland