Mr. George Verghese receiving the Governor’s Prize for the year 1968 from Dr. Vikram A. Sarabhai

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Institute Events , Convocations , Students

George Verghese was a student of the 5-Year B. Tech. programme of the Chemical Engineering Department. Dr. Vikram A. Sarabhai was the chief guest at this convocation. He was also Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission.

The Governor’s Prize was awarded for all-round proficiency in the B. Tech. degree course. In the ‘Caricature’ column of Campastimes (Vol. VI, No. 6), M. K. writes that George Verghese was a sports and adventure enthusiast. M. K. writes, “On his (Verghese’s) first outing in the Himalayas, he did so well that he was judged best in his group. The next time together with Jarikumar, he made headlines when they climbed Mt. Shila- a hitherto unconquered peak”. Along with a team of students, Verghese climbed the 20,000+ foot peak in 1966. The average age of the students, according to an article in the Deccan Chronicle, was 22. The article was titled “Madras Students Scale Mt. Shilla”.

In the picture given above, we can see a number of photographers. As the number of graduands and audience grew through the years (as is evident from the records of photographic albums), it became a necessity for the institute to hire more photographers for important events, such as the convocation. The cameraman behind George Verghese seems to be using either a Yashica or Rolleiflex twin-lens reflex camera (TLR). The TLR cameras, as opposed to the SLR (single-lens reflex) cameras, were less bulky and mechanically simple. The cameraman to the extreme left in the photograph seems to be using either an SLR or rangefinder camera.

An identical photograph can be found in the Gourishankar Collection in Album 0306 under the ID: 001/0306/IMG_0355

Collection:

Central Photographic Section Collection

Album Name:

Fifth Convocation, 1968

Photograph ID:

001/0028/IMG_0827_1

Album ID:

0028

Date:

1 August 1968

Photographer:

C. Gourishankar (1936-2002). A geologist by qualification, Gourishankar started his career as a photographer after working for many years with the Geological Survey of India. In everything that he did, Gourishankar strove to achieve flawlessness and impeccable quality. Thus his photography too was characterised by this drive for perfection. Every photograph that Gourishankar took was meticulously planned and shot and printed with diligence and patience. Gourishankar carried out most of the official photography at IIT Madras in the 1960s.

Event:

Fifth Convocation

Place:

Open Air Theatre (OAT)