Windmills of the Mind

Atharva College of Engineering, Mumbai, Feb 7

Aamir Khan greeted us at the lobby of Atharva College of Engineering in Malad, with his trademark Ghajini scowl, while flexing his six-pack. The tattoos were all there, and so was the haircut – and I was star-struck!

Okay, fine, I am stretching the facts a little bit. But I swear there was Aamir Khan… well, ahem, almost. Except this one was made of newspapers and Plaster of Paris. But let me confess that I liked this caricature more than his character in Ghajini. Unlike the head knocking character in Ghajini, this Aamir was more mellowed down, promoting sustainability and eco-sensitivity.

A creation of first and second year engineering students, this figurine was definitely an eye catcher. And so were the colourful, and more utilitarian, paper bags and T-shirts that these students had created on the occasion of E Week. But despite the hard work put into the making of Ghajini, the Atharva team feels their bigger achievement lies in the windmill they are building on the terrace of their college complex.

The proposed windmill, whose blades are carved out of PVC pipes and expected to weigh about 120 kgs, will generate enough energy to run two computers. The windmill will be ready by mid-week. “We wanted to create something sustainable this E Week, and a windmill turned out to be a feasible idea, considering our campus is sea-facing. We are happy that we are in some way contributing to harness energy and save electricity. If our pilot is successful, we will construct more of them,” said an excited Amit, one of the organizers at Atharva.

High energy output, that one!