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Some facts about IIT-R that you probably didn't know (PAN IIT Newsletter Feb 2014)

posted May 29, 2014, 11:40 AM by Iitraana Sysadmin   [ updated May 29, 2014, 11:59 AM ]
[Article 1 of 3 from PAN IIT Newsletter Feb 2014 - Highlight on IIT Roorkee / Contributed by Sanjiv Sinha BE '98 EC]
Some facts about IIT-R that you probably didn't know / Compiled by Sanjay Keswani (IITR -'87)
  1. IIT Roorkee is the oldest engineering college in India; it started in 1847 and was named Thomason College of College of Civil Engineering in 1853 after the founder Sir James Thomason(College of Engineering, Guindy is older but it did not become a college till 1859).
  2. The institute has a history of being a family affair with many generations having attended it. In fact, having the grandfather, father and the son(daughter) celebrating their 75th, 50th and 25th graduation anniversary is not unheard of.
  3. The India Army Corps of Engineers received training at Roorkee between 1934 and 1943 before relocating to its current location as School of Military Engineering in Dapodi near Pune.
  4. Student dining messes had butlers till the early 1990s - they were referred to as "Butlet-Ji".
  5. As part of student initiation a.k.a ragging, proper dining etiquette was imparted including the ability to put the bowl into a plate with a fork!!
  6. Roorkee students were familiar with Lattes and Cappuccinos much before it was the fad - coffee paste (Nescafe with Sugar) with milk was served in every breakfast.
  7. The Beatles have stayed off-campus twice (at Motel Polaris - 1970 and 1972) on their way to Hardwar.
  8. The Convocation Hall was a Second World War Hangar.
  9. The Main Building has been in at least two Bollywood movies - Satyakam - where it was supposedly the Medical College Dharmendra's character went to, and more recently Paan Singh Tomar, where it was supposed to be the Army command of the contingent Paan Singh was a part of.
  10. On clear days you can see the snow-capped Himalayas from the campus.
  11. Only campus that offers rowing (in the Ganga canal) as an extra-curricular activity.
  12. It has over 13 Billiards tables on campus (part of the British heritage).
  13. A copy of the First Folio of Shakespeare's plays printed in 1623 of which there were only 250 copies made, was discovered in the IITR library by its chief librarian M.S. Rana.
  14. Vinita Gupta, a 1974 University of Roorkee alum, is one of the woman Distinguished Alumni (DS) among all IITs.