kishorebhargava

Friday 9th April 2010 Its 0400 hrs and I am up! Why? In fact, not only am I up I seem to be waiting for a cab only to realise that there is no cab coming, I am supposed to be driving to Ludhiana. Well not driving all the way but at least up to the Delhi-Kundli border where I will join up with Sudev Barar.

The plan was very simple, a few of us were invited by the Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College, Ludhiana to conduct some FOSS awareness. Sudev, Tirveni, Gora and I decided rather than take the train (Shatabdi) to Ludhiana, it would be more fun to drive. Of course, definition of FUN here is subject to interpretation. Everyone I spoke with said that Ludhiana is a seven-hour drive, Sudev insisted it was five! Considering, he is a rally driver, he had us a little worried but then he is an experienced driver and is totally in command of his machine (a Grand Vitara).

The drive was surprisingly smooth, there were a few moments of anxiousness but Sudev is really in complete control on the road and as he promised he had us in Ludhiana before noon.

Poster outside the college

Its funny how some colleges and students have no idea of the FOSS community and start by wanting to formally greet them, and escort them around. We managed to bypass all that and soon found ourselves outside the main auditorium. However, we did have to wait our turn to takeover. But I must say the organisers both students and faculty took good care of us.

I gave about a forty-five minute talk which the students seemed to have enjoyed, several came up to me later to tell me that. Always feels good helping and talking to students. I had a great time.

Next up was Sudev, he gave a very informative talk on FOSS resources. Again highly appreciated by the students.

We broke for a late lunch and post-lunch went straight to the computer labs for some workshops. One room with a programming workshop conducted by Gora and the other room with Tirveni doing a systems administration and some basic command-line stuff on Linux.

Both workshops were well attended and equally enjoyed by presenters and participants.

On the way back from Ludhiana, we were tempted to swing by Chandigarh for OSSCamps, but sadly we could not and headed straight back home. Including our dinner break. back at Kundli border in exactly five and a half hours as promised by Sudev.

In all a great visit and all seemed to have enjoyed it.

Some photos of the event on my flickr gallery. A special thanks to Pushkar, Samir, Prof. HS Rai and all the students who were brave enough to stay with us the whole day and listen to us attentively.

Cheers…Kishore
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