# 17 again!

**Source**: https://ge.iitm.ac.in/rendezvous/17-again/
**Parent**: https://ge.iitm.ac.in/rendezvous/page/2/

At
Heritage
Centre,
step
back in
time to
relive
your
favourite
IIT-M
memories,
while
also
grabbing
a quick
selfie
by the
booth
where a
digitised
photo of
your
younger
self
appears.
As we
embark
on this
journey
of
nostalgia,
Prof. R
Nagarajan,
faculty
in
charge
of
Heritage
Centre,
walks us
through
its
evolution,
and the
importance
of
preserving
history

**Srivatsan
S**

“I
don’t
think
any
other
academic
institution
in India
has
anything
comparable
to the
Heritage
Centre,”
says
Prof. R
Nagarajan.
Quite a
tall
claim,
you
wonder.
Unless,
of
course,
he is
right.
Inaugurated
in 2006,
the
Heritage
Centre
was a
pet
project
that was
conceived
by Prof.
R
Natarajan,
former
Director
of the
Institute,
and was
supported
by the
succeeding
Director,
Prof.
M.S.Ananth.
After
several
iterations,
Prof.
Ajit
Kumar
Kolar
took a
personal
interest
in
setting
up the
Centre
and
“championed
it”, as
Nagarajan
puts
it.

Initially,
a much
larger
space
was
chalked
out.
However,
the
Centre
was
eventually
inducted
into the
administration
building,
on the
ground
floor.
And it
oddly
paid
off.
For, as
and when
visitors
— both
from
within
and
outside
the
country
—
dropped
by, the
Heritage
Centre
became
the
starting
point
and a
necessary
pitstop.

“The
smaller
dimension
of space
gave
people
the
feeling
of
intimacy.
For a
space
like
this,
you need
a good
group of
people
doing
actual
work. We
have
Kumaran
Sathasivam
and
Mamata
Dash,
and a
couple
of
youngsters
to drive
the
work,”
adds
Nagarajan.

Step
into the
Heritage
Centre —
or take
a
virtual
tour, if
you may
— and
the
imposing
six-feet
portrait
of Prof.
B
Sengupto
is hard
to miss.
To
celebrate
the
three
creators
— R
Natarajan,
MS
Ananth
and Ajit
Kumar
Kola —
their
portraits
were
unveiled
by the
former
Director
Prof.
Bhaskar
Ramamurthi
during
the
inauguration
of the
Official
Historical
Archive
on the
occasion
of
diamond
jubilee
year in
2019.

The
catch?
The
Centre
was
running
the
danger
of
hitting
a
stagnation
point.
They had
to keep
renewing
it to
make
sure
that the
place is
attractive
enough
for a
revisit.
After
collecting
feedback
from
visitors,
faculty
members,
retired
staff
and
alumni,
what the
advisory
committee
felt was
that,
while
the
Centre
was
providing
a great
facility,
it
lacked
the wow
factor
that
makes
you want
to come
back.
Thus
began a
long
journey
of
digitisation
that
started
just
before
the
pandemic
in 2019.
“The
funding
was
provided
through
a grant
from our
Institute
of
Eminence.
It was a
very
generous
allocation
of funds
by
Director
(then)
Bhaskar
Ramamurthi,”
he says.
The
revamped
Heritage
Centre,
with a
new
facade
and a
character,
was
formally
inaugurated
by
Nirmala
Sitharaman,
Finance
and
Corporate
Affairs
Minister
in
2022.

**Immersive
experience**

In order
to grab
the
attention
of
visitors,
making
sure the
exhibits
were
interactive,
they
came up
with the
concept
of a
dome
right at
the
centre,
which
almost
functions
like a
nucleus
telling
an
immersive
story of
IIT-M’s
achievements,
campus
life and
biodiversity.
The
audience
walks
around
the
dome,
going
through
IIT-M’s
history
and its
historical
relevance
— right
from the
German
phase,
when
technical
and
financial
aid from
Germany
helped
in
establishing
IIT-M,
to a
rich
tapestry
of
photographs
and
artefacts;
academic
and
research
side, as
well as
student
and
campus
life.
The
circle
completes
with the
achievements
of
alumni
and the
“birds
and
bees” of
the
campus.

The
Heritage
Centre
does an
exhibit
every
couple
of
months,
apart
from
organising
walks. A
tastefully-curated
exhibit
on the
days of
yore was
recently
displayed
as part
of the
17th
Heritage
Centre
Day in
March,
and the
64th
Institute
Day in
April.
The next
exhibit,
informs
Nagarajan,
will
have a
combined
theme of
‘convocation
over the
years’
as well
as
‘hostel
days and
hostel
nights’.
The most
popular
exhibit,
however,
has been
the
digitised
ID card
library
where
students
can pull
up their
old
photos.

Visitors
are
screened
a series
of
heritage-related
movies
at the
newly-installed
mini-theatre
that can
house
over 25
people.
Funded
by an
alumnus
of the
1981
batch,
the
theatre
aims to
capture
the look
and feel
of the
institute’s
own Open
Air
Theatre
(OAT),
and has
a Dolby
Atmos
sound
system.

Given
the
attention
and
interest
Heritage
Centre
has been
getting
from
international
delegations
who take
on the
heritage
tour
when
they
visit
the
campus,
the
continued
evolution
of the
Centre
is but
natural.
“Adding
an AR
(augmented
reality)
to the
exhibits,
for
example,
would be
great.
So
people
can walk
around
and
point at
things
and get
animated
stories
or audio
video
recordings
pop up.
This is
probably
one of
the next
steps we
will
take. We
want to
have at
least 20
to 25
such AR
elements,”
he
adds.

Ever
since
its
renovation
and
reopening
in 2022,
the
Heritage
Centre
has
formed a
club
that not
only
includes
IIT-M
alumni
as
members
but also
people
who are
interested
in
heritage
and
history.
Recently,
a gift
shop was
integrated
into the
Centre
offering
a
variety
of
collectables
— from
institute
memorabilia
to
merchandise.

As for
the
future,
plans
are
already
on to
have an
exclusive
VR
Centre
where
people
can walk
in and
experience
for
themselves
certain
parts of
IIT
Madras
that may
not be
accessible
for them
otherwise
— the
scenic
lake,
for
instance.
Employing
a drone
to chart
out the
lake and
its
course
from end
to end
may come
handy in
serving
an
experiential
VR
experiment.

The
Heritage
Centre
is a
self-sufficient
model
whose
laid-back
approach
has so
far
worked
out in
its
favour.
Given
the
highly
competitive
environment
that
IIT-M
has
landed
itself
not just
nationally
but
globally,
the time
has come
for the
Centre
to take
the
gloves
off. “We
have
come to
realise
that it
is not
really
enough
to be
good,
but you
have to
let it
be known
that you
are
good,”
says
Nagarajan.

“All
said and
done, we
are
celebrating
our own
history
because
we are
proud of
the way
this
institution
has
grown.
We want
to share
the joy
with
people;
how far
we have
come and
where we
are
headed.”

“Another
thing we
want to
address
concerns
students.
It has
always
bothered
alumni
that
despite
the NIRF
rankings
for five
consecutive
years,
if you
look at
the JEE
(advanced)
and look
at the
top 100
students,
they
don’t
come to
IIT-M.
They
either
go to
IIT
Delhi or
Bombay;
only a
handful
come to
IIT-M.
And I
think
places
such as
the
Heritage
Centre
can
hopefully
change
the
minds of
some of
these
students,
more
importantly,
their
parents.
So, we
want to
encourage
even
high
school
students
and
their
parents
to come
visit
Heritage
Centre
to see
how
IIT-M
has
grown
over the
years to
become
the top
institution
in
India.”

“A lot
of the
visiting
international
delegates
appreciate
the fact
that we
started
IIT-M
with the
assistance
of
German
universities
and
professors,
and we
have
continued
to
maintain
strong
relations
with
Germany.
We also
have
joint
centres
like the
Indo-German
Centre
for
Sustainability.
It is no
longer a
one-way
relationship
where
they
provide
all the
brains
and
money,
and we
provide
students.
We are
more
equal
partners.
This
does
indicate
our
visitors
from
abroad
that
IIT-M is
welcoming
of
foreign
collaborations.
Because
it’s in
our
blood;
in our
DNA.”

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