You must be somewhat surprised to receive this missive from (probably) such an unexpected source. Fact is, Nehru hall has finally managed to do something concrete in setting up an alumni movement. This newsletter is the first tentative step along that path and hopefully, with your response and positive feedback, we'll soon have the most active alumni movement on any IIT campus.

What we plan to do is set up a comprehensive alumni database. To begin with it will be paper and snail-mail but we plan to put it on the Internet soon. We will have a Nehru Hall home page on the net where the alumni can write in and access any data about their old hall-mates, chat with current Nehruites and generally get info on anything about the hall.

Along with this, we would like to propose an Alumni Day which will be an annual affair and will provide an opportunity for you not only to relive those whirlwind Nehru days but also to rekindle Nehru spirit. Without your ideas and suggestions all the above remain as just plans and proposals.

This includes everybody who responded to the first newsletter is in. We are also putting in all the names which have been given to us by you in your replies.

A small section containing only the names, year of passing and departments has been included in this newsletter. We cannot give you a more complete record simply because we don't have the data. So we are including a printed proforma for the database with this letter. Do fill it in and mail it back to us. We want to reach out to more people, so if you find that any of your ex-Nehruite friends are not in this list, do send us his name and address. Or better still, give him a copy of the proforma. Then we can have his complete record immediately. If you want any information on your friends on the list just tell us, we'll mail it to you.

If you check the ol' grey cells you'll remember that we had asked for your views on holding an Alumni Day. From your enthusiastic replies it appears that the old flame for the Hall still burns true. So we have decided to have an Alumni Day in the third week of March, 1997. It will probably coincide with the Hall Day, our first after 4 years(!), so you can have a real walk down memory lane.

Don't wait! We've added a reply form behind the proforma, tick YES and send it back to us so we can begin work for the event. Any ideas or suggestions you might have are very welcome.

I guess many of you saw this coming, any IITian and that too a Nehruite surely would. Yes, we are desperately in need of funds - even running this newsletter has become tough. If we are to hold an Alumni Day we would need some concrete help from your side in the form of greenbacks. Just to show you how despo we are - guess why we haven't had a Hall day in four years? Yes, you got it right, the Hall is as broke as a broken tumbler.

The Hall is in a pretty rundown condition now. The funds have dried up and the consequent resource crunch has hit us very badly. We are trying to manage under the new circumstances - getting hold of a few ads for the hall mag or a sponsor for the cricket tournament last year, etc. But our efforts are far outstripped by the needs. It would be a great impetus if you could send us some kind of assistance. You could sponsor any of the items in the wish-list. Most of the items are needed urgently. We would love to hear from you regarding any method to mobilise resources.

Any contribution should be sent to the Nehruites' Fund. This is a managed jointly by the Warden and the President of the Hall. So don't worry - your money will be in safe hands. All contributions will be acknowledged in this newsletter and the hall mag 'Nehru Reporter'. We have put in a form behind the proforma where you can fill in details regarding your cheque / draft, etc.