“The name is Bolar. shashwath bolar.”€œThe name is Bolar. shashwath bolar. ” definite participation in all cul-tural activities. He also developed the knack to sketch anything

Ashley News / November 20099

he does noTcan easily visualize this suave youngster deftly climbing out of his Aston Martin (which, by the way, he wants to own by the time he is 35) to reel off the iconic Bond line as stylishly as ever.

A “transportation designer”, Shashwath is with the newly instituted ‘Styling’ group at Ashok Leyland’s Technical Centre. An MA in Automotive Design from the renowned Coventry

University, UK, Shashwath has an impressive array of awards that commend his design prowess: he won the third place at Stile Italiano Giovani 2008 – an International Car Design Exhibition held at Turin in 2008, was a finalist in AUTOSTYLE 2008 design competition and was shortlisted for the Interior Motives Design Awards 2008, Paris.

His MA project, based on the research topic “How does a 3-seat car enhance and effect exterior design?”, was published on www.cardesignnews.com and www.carbodydesign.com , not to forget the appreciation he got from Frank Stephenson, the Design Head of Fiat for his “research, presentation, technologies incorporated and interior design” for the Lancia group project, as part of the indus-try exposure the course offered.

“To me, designing is fun! You need to be an adult version of a child … with that immense ability to dream and imagine”, declares this 27-year-old, mak-ing the whole world of catia and wiremesh sound funskoolish. “As a kid, back in my hometown, Mangalore, I used to make toys Mangalore, I used to make toys … wood, scrap - all became raw material for us to create our own playthings”, he recalls. Shash-wath’s schooling years were a mix of academic achievements and

e does noT say that. But one can easily visualize this suave youngster deftly climbing out of his Aston Martin (which, by the way, he wants to own by the time he is 35) to reel off the iconic Bond line as stylishly as ever.

A “transportation designer”, Shashwath is with the newly in-stituted ‘Styling’ group at Ashok Leyland’s Technical Centre. An MA in Automotive Design from the renowned Coventry

University, UK, Shashwath has an impressive array of awards that commend his design prowess: he won the third place at Stile Italiano Giovani 2008 – an International Car Design Exhibition held at Turin in 2008, was a finalist in AUTOSTYLE 2008 design competition and was shortlisted for the Interior Motives Design Awards 2008, Paris.

His MA project, based on the research topic “How does a 3-seat car enhance and effect exterior design?”, was published on www.cardesignnews.com and www.carbodydesign.com , not to forget the appreciation he got from Frank Stephenson, the Design Head of Fiat for his “research, presenta-tion, technologies incorporated and interior design” for the Lancia

“The name is Bolar. shashwath bolar.”

definite participation in all cul-tural activities. He also developed the knack to sketch anything and everything.

After studying BE Mechani-cal at RV College Bangalore, Shashwath joined Delphi as a GET. “That was a sound engi-neering experience”, he says but there remained the craving to do something different. And by

now, Shashwath knew the grand design! He joined Tata Elxsi as a Design Trainee where he worked on interesting projects like a concept SUV and a fuel cell vehicle. And that was when Coventry happened. “It is one of the most coveted of courses for which designers from the world over apply. I am lucky that with just a Mech Engg background, I was selected”, he says.

And from then on, there has been looking west, east and all di-rections! A car project for Western Europe for 2020 (Nissan Micra) and an industry project with Solu-tia Inc, St. Louis, USA for vehicle tia Inc, St. Louis, USA for vehicle interior and infotainment system were all part of the deal. “Meeting experts from the world over and some cranky fellow designers - yes, we have to be that - have

convinced me where I belong!” convinced me where I belong!” Joining Design Storz Gmbh in Joining Design Storz Gmbh in

Sarlsburg, Austria as a TransporSarlsburg, Austria as a Transpor-tation Designer, he participated tation Designer, he participated in a variety of exterior and interior in a variety of exterior and interior design projects for international design projects for international OEMs. And then home called! “I OEMs. And then home called! “I want to see international design want to see international design on Indian roads. For years now, on Indian roads. For years now, we have side-stepped the looks we have side-stepped the looks of a vehicle. Not anymore. With of a vehicle. Not anymore. With

policymakers also stressing on policymakers also stressing on fully built vehicles, I am glad stylfully built vehicles, I am glad styl-ing has finally arrived in India”. ing has finally arrived in India”.

When he heard about the exWhen he heard about the ex-clusive ‘Styling’ group set up by clusive ‘Styling’ group set up by Ashok Leyland, headed by G Ashok Leyland, headed by G Sathiya Seelan, a very popular and Sathiya Seelan, a very popular and accomplished designer, Shash-wath knew where he could trans-late his dreams. “And it has been a dream fit!” he says, referring to his team of young and passionate designers for whom work is so much fun that no one needs to talk to them on work hours.

And when not working, Shash-wath is “travelling, playing football (was Captain of the District and the (was Captain of the District and the College football teams and later the Delphi football team), springboard diving or bungee jumping”.

Because, for this Bolar, The World Is Not Enough …

people

“My parents - mom is a PhD in temple archi-tecture and dad is a mechanical engineer - have always allowed me to take my own decisions and have supported me right through. They say that kids are like seeds. When God hands them over, it is already decided whether they would grow to be a Mango tree or a Papaya. No amount of influencing can change that.”

Ashley News / November 2009 10

peop

le

The incessanT Ringing of my mobile woke me up from my evening reverie. It was the day I had given the last exam of my first year MBA. It was an unknown number. Frustrated, I answered the call and was set to give the caller a piece of my mind when my college Dean’s voice boomed on the other end. Anger quickly dissipated into anxiety. What? Why?

What he said was Awonderfully exciting. I was selected to go to China for a week, as an Indian del-egate on a Cultural Youth Exchange Programme and what more – it was fully sponsored!! 30 of us aged be-tween 14 and 25 were lucky to be given this opportunity.

From Bengaluru to Beijing …I had to leave in a week’s time

and at home, packing was on fifth gear. Dad bought a bunch of MTR ready-to-eat packs (thanks to my granny - the ‘Discovery Channel’ addict. She did not trust Chinese food).We got our tickets and visa on the morning we were sched-uled to leave.

The 30 of us met at the airport. As the plane took off that night, excitement stole my sleep.

I set foot at Beijing the next evening and was awed by the dome-like structure of the T3 ter-minal which was specially con-structed for the 2008 Olympics. As if to enunciate the beauty, it was drizzling and the hazy silhouette

of the dome against the winding flyover and the vast expanse of the road below were amazing.

Day 1: Beijing, often quoted as ‘one of the world’s great cities’First stop: Bird’s Nest. The only thing I knew about the place was that the 2008 Olympics was held here. Lit-tle did I know that the marvel was the world’s largest steel structure and seats 80,000 plus spectators. Revenue is from tourism, but plans are afoot to convert it to a shopping and entertainment center, probably because maintenance costs are a staggering $9Million per year! I was struck by the Chinese’s craving for grandeur.

9 Point something!

When iT coMes to breaking ster-eotypes, K Hariharan of Advanced Engineering hasn’t spared even IIT Madras!

A couple of years ago, Hari was sponsored by the Company to do his MS at IIT. He undertook a six-month on-campus course work, followed by guided research. Soon after his first six months, his course grades were so good that the fac-ulty at IIT felt that the best way to recognize such a talent would be

through direct conversion from MS to PhD. Hari was asked to make a presentation on his proposed doctoral work and the faculty com-mittee unanimously consented for the program conversion. Six more months were spent by Hari on the lush green campus of IIT taking doctoral courses and once again his grades were excellent! In all his course work, Hari has achieved a grade-point average of 9.6, which is outstanding. He is currently pursu-ing his thesis work on ‘sheet metal forming simulation’ under the guid-ance of Prof Raghuprakash of IIT, while internally taking the help of Dr G Balachandran and Dr Sathya Prasad.

Hari, you have sure made us proud!

super singer!

on JUne 3, 2009, when the re-sults of the mega music reality show AIRTEL SUPER SINGER were announced on STAR VIJAY, it heralded a new crown for the Ashok Leyland family!

Yes, the young singer who won the first prize was Ajeesh Ashok, son of O S Ashok (254/ L 639), of Shop 5, Ennore. Ajeesh bagged more than 2.5 lakh sms votes (out of total 5 lakh votes) that won him, apart from the title, a cool Rs 7 lakh worth car! More dear to him would be an autographed guitar from A R Rehman and a keyboard from playback singer Chitra that he won impressing them!

Ajeesh is in his final year at the Loyola College, pursuing a de-gree in Visual Communication.

– Inputs: P Arulmani

Umpire Ravi

R Ravishankar of Stores, En-nore, has qualified to serve as an Umpire in the TNCA league matches. Passionate about cricket right from a young age, Ravi says he finds the role of an Umpire “very inspiring”.

Initially, Ravi started playing in-ter-department cricket tournament representing Stores & PPC team and later represented the Ashok Leyland team in TNCA League matches. He now gets to umpire 3rd, 4th and 5th division league matches conducted by the Tamil-nadu Cricket Association.

Ashley News / November 200911

travelogue

From there we headed off to the Great Wall. One of the Seven Wonders of the World! Wow!! Chi-nese say that one who ascends the Great Wall is a true hero and though we were short of time and energy (you feel like you’ve expended some 100 calories climbing about 10 steps), the view from atop the great wall, the shadows cast by the thick clouds over the dense green mountains, the amount of tourists cramming their way up, offset our exhaustion and made every mo-ment an experience by itself. And the icing – a certificate each, with a group photo taken at the foot of the Great Wall!

That day we had our first taste of the Chinese cuisine. During lunch and dinner, we were served an as-sortment of vegetables coated in oil. We survived, thanks to MTR.

Day 2: Jinan, enchanting welcome reception and Bautu spring park.We travelled to Jinan (aka Spring City, as it has over a 100 natural springs) by train. The train bore a striking resemblance to our very own Shatabdi, which made me a little home sick…

Our day began at Jinan’s Youth Palace with some gala opening ceremony performances, which were a fusion of summer colours, opera and traditional dance and music. The Palace was a workshop for kids and had different after-school classes like carpentry, cal-ligraphy, western dance, tailoring, string instruments and so on. The multifarious talent of the Chinese was a revelation to me.

Next, we went to Bautu Spring Park which houses the most fa-mous natural spring in the city. The area around the spring has been converted to a park to attract tour-ists. As is the custom, we dropped a coin each into the nearest pool for ‘good luck’.

Post dinner, we witnessed a spectacular acrobatic perform-

ance which portrayed the differ-ent dynasties. Again, the exquisite blend of bright colors, string music, fluid movements and the splendid stage setting left me spell-bound.

Day 3: Mt. Qianfoshan (aka 1000 Buddha Hills) The early morning brisk climb up the mountain was nevertheless tir-ing. It made me realize how stam-ina-deprived I am and vowed to work on it soon after my return. The mountain has more than 23,000 statues of Buddha (including a gi-gantic golden laughing Buddha), Bodhisattva, disciples of guardian kings and so on. Around noon we took a bus to Qufu, the birthplace of Confucius.

Day 4: Confucius temple and his cemetery…The oldest and largest temple of Confucius has nine arches in se-ries, built during different dynasties. In between these arches are many stone tablets with inscriptions on Confucian teachings, which were made during different dynasties. The rationale behind the tablets: one should honour the saint’s teaching and not the saint himself. The largest of the tablet weighs about 60 tons while the smallest weighs 3 tons.

The path leading to the cem-etery has souvenir shops on ei-ther side. Inside, one isn’t allowed to walk. Chauffeur-driven elec-tric cars ply at regular intervals. The cemetery houses more than 1,00,000 tombs (some over 2,000 years old!) of Confucius’s decend-ants. The most recent ones belong to the 78th-80th generation con-sidering Confucius died in 479 BC at the age of 72! Adorned with incense sticks of many colours and fragrances, the aura around Confucius’s tomb was majestic.

Day 5: Closing Ceremony inside Liuyi (the six classical arts) town. Back to Jinan. Shopping at last!We had a heavyhearted closing ceremony at Liuyi, a re-created town depicting architectural vari-ances in different dynasties (simi-lar to Dakshin Chitra in Chennai).I delivered the closing speech on behalf of the Indian delegates. With this, our week-long trip came to an end and I realized that we have a lot to learn from the Chi-nese, particularly about preser-vation of ancient monuments and public awareness to keep the country clean.

– Purnima Murali, D/o S Murali, Program manager - NEPTUNE

At the China Wall...