THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: When the College of Engineering Trivandrum (CET) opened its doors to the creme de la creme of the state in 1939, technical education in the country was still in its infancy. Today, when the college is celebrating its Platinum Jubilee with elan, the state rejoices with it. Because it was CET that kick-started the long-standing engineering tradition in Kerala shores 75 years ago. Thus July 3 becomes significant not only for CETians but also for Malayalis across the globe.
When the campus welcomes the President of India Pranab Mukherjee to inaugurate its year-long platinum jubilee celebrations on Friday, the Principal of CET, S Sheela, who has been a part of the college for the past 30 years, says it would be her proudest of moments.
“CET has proven its technical excellence since its inception. But it is the first time we are welcoming the President of India to our campus. Former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao had once graced our grounds but that is about it,’’ says Sheela. According to her, CET, with an enviable tradition to its credit with around 45,000 alumni, who are placed securely, has nothing to be less proud of. “We would like our college to be autonomous just like IIT and we have given the request pertaining to that to the University. Once it happens, nothing can stop CET from becoming the numero uno in the country,” she adds.
Until the 1930s, Guindy Engineering College in Madras was the only other institute in South India that taught engineering. Guindy used to offer a meagre three seats for engineering aspirants in Travancore. Later, when the need for engineers escalated with various departments in the state requiring advice from qualified engineers, University of Travancore opened CET. The College, which started functioning on July 3, 1939 on a 20-acre land in the midst of the city (PMG Junction) was later shifted to Kulathoor in 1962.
“We were the first batch that got the chance to study on the new campus,” says D Babu Paul IAS, who has conquered heights in Indian Administrative Service. Babu Paul, who studied in CET during 1958-62, says those were some of his best years. “We were our teachers’ favourite students. They were so fond of us that two of them married my classmates,” he chuckles. Babu was the college chairman in his final year degree which he spent on the new campus. He has only nice things to say about his alma mater.
J Meera Kumari, one of the oldest faculty in the college, has been serving as the Principal of CET’s evening college for the past 11 years. Meera says the old students make it a point to keep the relationship with the faculty going while the new gen is not that keen. “I have had many students who later on became IAS and IPS officers. So as a teacher I have had many proud moments to recall,” Meera says.
But according to G Madhavan Nair, who has been awarded Padma Bhushan (1998) and Padma Vibhushan (2009) for his contributions to the field of science, CET still has miles to go to reach the top. He was a CETian in the early 1960s.
“The college has a strong tradition and it still reigns on that tradition. If it has to go forward they have to provide the right facilities. I feel that they are running the courses with the minimum resources. And that is not the right way to go about it,” says Madhavan Nair.
But Babu Paul says he would like to thank his juniors and the faculties to keep CET’s name alive. “Had they underperformed, we would not want to be known as CETians,” he says.