BITSians of Houston Gather at Axelrad to Celebrate the Annual BITSians Day
By Nikhita Punna
HOUSTON: On the first Friday of August every year BITSians (students and alumni from Birla Institute of Technology, Pilani) around the world gather to celebrate BITSians’ Day -a global gathering of BITS Alumni to reflect, recognize and share those priceless experiences that shaped them into what they are today. Year-after-year, this event enables BITSians to bond and positively enhance each other’s professional and personal lives. This year on August 3, BITSians in Houston chapter gathered together to celebrate BITSians’ Day at Axelrad, a gathering place in downtown Houston, to hang out outdoors with live music, food and drinks. Alumni from class of 1960 through 2016 enjoyed the evening recollecting and exchanging fond memories of those four to five years of fun-filled life spent at BITS campuses.
Birla Institute of Technology and Sciences (BITS) Pilani, Rajasthan has evolved from the Birla College of Engineering, which was established in 1946. The institute was under the private management of Birla Education Trust, headed by late G.D. Birla, a close associate of Mahatma Gandhi. Since then, BITS campuses expanded to other locations including Goa, Hyderabad and Dubai. During the early years of its inception, in 1964 -70, the Institute, with the support of Ford Foundation had collaboration with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In 2018, the government of India declared BITS as one of the six Indian “Institutes of Eminence (IoE)” which is a recognition of its admission standards and academic performance.
BITSian’s Day is a unique initiative taken up by BITSAA International- a 501(c3) non-profit organization registered in USA that represents all BITSians with chapters in Asia, Africa, Australia, Americas, Middle East and Europe. Besides providing a number of communication channels for Alumni members to stay connected with each other, it engages in charitable and educational activities by raising funds for setting up endowments, creating scholarships, rewarding teaching and research and promoting the development of resources at all of its four campuses at Pilani, Dubai, Goa and Hyderabad.
The Houston chapter was initiated by Krishna Vavilala (class of 1955-60) and was formally inaugurated in August 2013, by the Consul General of India, Parvathaneni Harish and his wife Nandita. The Chapter continues to play a role in bringing all members of the group together. The Chapter is open to connecting with similar professional groups in the Houston community.
To join the group visit, https://www.facebook.com/groups/BITSAAHouston/