Techies Ramp Up For Internet's Next Incarnation

"Honestly, I think it's inevitable" that the switch will be made, Murchison said.

Sitting in the late afternoon sun, Sandeep Muju and Prabhat Kumar lean in close to discuss the impact they -- and the nearly 2,000 other alumni of the Indian Institutes of Technology who gathered in Rockville last weekend -- can have on the world.

That graduates of the intensely selective university, which has campuses across India, will create important technical innovations and build new businesses is almost a given. Absorbing an equal portion of the reunion's conversation, however, was the role IIT alumni should play in U.S., Indian and global politics.

"We have a lot of influence on the Indian side, but what we're finding is that we don't have influence on the American side," said Muju, who lives in California. The first generation of IIT grads and other Indian immigrants focused initially on establishing themselves, Muju said, but are now intent on entering the national dialogue regarding issues like immigration visas and offshore outsourcing.

"The kids of IIT grads are growing up here. We want the U.S. economy to remain as vibrant as it is today," Kumar added.

Another alum, R. Radha Krishnan , traveled from Paris to reconnect with old classmates but also to galvanize their support for his initiative to address the needs of people living in rural India.

"What we want is to have a think tank of IIT grads . . . who will conduct feasibility studies," Krishnan said. "Parliamentarians respect IIT grads."

Porsches and Escalades and BMWs were lined up around the winding neighborhood surrounding Roger Mody 's mansion in McLean on Tuesday night. Inside, Washington's technology elite filed into the marble-lined parlor to fete the publication of Charlie Thomas 's first book, "Entrepreneur: A CEO's Lessons in American Capitalism." The book chronicles the fast rise and eventual fall of his first company, Net2000 Communications , a Herndon broadband provider.

Along with Mody, whose Fairfax government contracting firm, Signal Corp ., was sold to Veridian Corp . for $227 million in 2002, and Thomas, who now holds the top spot at Nisco, a Fairfax software firm, were about 300 of their closest friends. Notables included: John Kealey , chief executive of Herndon-based i Direct Technologies , Matthew Calkins , chief executive of Vienna-based Appian Corp ., angel investor John May , and Gene Riechers , co-founder of Valhalla Partners , a Vienna venture capital firm. More than one guest noted that the gala was sweetly reminiscent of the good ol' boom days -- could be that high times are on the horizon once again.

Ellen McCarthy writes about the local tech scene every Thursday. Her e-mail address ismccarthye@washpost.com.