Am returning from a 2pm - 5pm extra class in Dynamics of Machinery (DOM)... The post-lunch drowsiness, the arrangement by the helpful professor to have the class air-conditioned for the lecture, and, invariably, the 'dynamic' nature of the subject, combined to create an atmosphere in which even the most hardened insomniac would fall face-first in an instant. I watched helplessly as my friends fell all around me, quicker than US soldiers on Omaha beach. I strove, I persevered, I fought back the demon who was trying so desperately to close my eyes and get me thrown out of class. A shot of caffeine during a 10-minute break did more than its part in keeping me up. The professor, bless him, did everything he could to keep the students' attention on himself than on blurred images of their own desks. He showed videos, animations, and even cracked jokes. Still men fell everywhere... good men... valorous men. Finally, he decided to stop the carnage at 4:20, and we were let out. I am a survivor... yeah!!

The past weekend marked the culmination of months of effort, to organise and execute the fourth largest FOSS community event in India: FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) Meet @ NITC 2007. Being a part of the coreTeam, I was there.. all the slogging, all the sleepless nights, and all the excitement. The event featured more than 40 speakers from across the country, speaking on such varied topics as 'FOSS in Life: How to get a girlfriend through FOSS' to 'Read copy update mutual exclusion locking in Linux' (??) .. Featured were heavyweights such as Atul Chitnis (VP, Geodesic) (no pun intended) and Dr. CN Krishnan, Project Manager, NRCFOSS, Anna University, Chennai.

All in all, it ended up being not just an expression of the open source software community, but of the much more general community who believe that all information, whether programs, science, technology or knowledge must be made free and available to all. To that end, we had a workshop on wiki editing, and unconferences by the most powerful names in blogging in India, Kiruba Shankar, and Kiran Jace.

Above everything, it was a fun-filled atmosphere, where each person who attended the event felt that he/she could achieve anything. Just watching these amazing people, and what they have been able to accomplish so far, is truly inspiring.

For details of the individual talks, speakers and schedule, visit http://foss.nitc.ac.in/