Busting the Brand-IIT Myth 4

First of all, thank you so much for your support & precious feedback that helped me go on.

What I tried in the previous post was basically to clear the illusion, which lingers among thousands of very talented youngsters, who for some reason, couldn't get into these "Champion" institutes. These posts were an attempt to make everyone (Even the IITians) realize, that although IITs are indeed very good when it comes to Undergraduate engineering studies, they are not the greatest thing in the world. There are greener and better avenues that lie beyond the IITs. Ask any working professional and you'll get a unanimous reply that the stamp of IIT, though proving a deciding factor initially, wanes away after some time. You'll then realize that after spending half a decade in the industry. what matters is not the institute that you come from but instead the quality of skills you possess.

I am sure, to many, this all still seems preachy and unconvincing. To them, my advice is-

"Go ahead then. Spend the rest of your life crying while others with a lower calibre move ahead and earn an enviable lifestyle."

This topic is very vast and has many areas which I might not have covered. But you know its very hard to put the entire sea in a bottle. Moreover, this topic is very close to my heart and there was always a danger of adulteration of this piece by some emotionally charged writing. I have restrained myself and have tried to be as much objective as possible by backing everything with logic.
Once again, I request you all to provide me with your valuable feedback.

Just a last word (especially to those who still have a sense of disappointment of not getting into the IITs)-

"सीढीयाँ उनके लिए बनी हैं जिन्हें छत पे जाना है,

जिनकी नज़र आसमान पे हो, उन्हें तो अपना रास्ता खुद बनाना है "

KISS (Keep it simple Silly) ;)

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J

A Topsy Turvy World

(Have been highly prolific this week, 3 posts in 3 days and I feel like more)

You can call this the creation of a queer, slightly off balance yet creative mind.

Human Behaviour is innately ambivalent. Out of the numerous emotions that we experience in our lives, Love & Fear dominate them all. Where there’s love, there’s always a fear of losing it. Love too, is either self-love (which we experience when in danger) or love for others (including but not limited to our family, friends and partner)

The reason why I chose to post this is because right now, I too am experiencing similar feelings. There’s not much evidence of love while I am busy doing my routine work, but when some link to her appears, I suddenly pine for her. Even then I know, this is not love. But its the fear of losing her and that too to someone who is much lower than me when it comes to personality or the virile masculinity that I know I possess, that renders me insecure at times. My heart constantly reminds me that all these fears are baseless and nothing more than apparitions.

I tend to agree, it is nothing but a basic pessimistic mentality deeply entrenched in the human mind that he is not perfect. That there’s a lack of love for him and he shall never be loved. (It stands for women too so, no gender bias here)

I am sure, eventually, as I take my mind off these things, I’ll be back to normal. But this incident, recurring in nature, gives me food for thought.

Maybe, I did succeed in striking a chord with a one of the hearts reading this.

KISS (Keep it simple silly ;) )

--

J

The Litmus Test of Higher Research (Busting the Brand-IIT Myth 3)

The positive feedback over the last two posts of this series just inspired me even more. That's why, it took longer as I poured myself even more carefully on this one to make it even better.

So, back to the task at hand. One of the major criticisms that the IIT is subjected to is in the area of higher research. Despite boasting such an experienced fleet of lecturers and professors, IIT lacks the cutting-edge research that make an institute stand out on the global scale. MIT's Engineering department itself produces more research papers than all IITs combined.. Then how do you expect these institutes to be world class. As per the HEEACT – Performance Ranking of Scientific Papers for World Universities, no Indian university, leave alone the IITs, feature amongst the top 50 Engineering institutes. After all, if the faculties themselves are not the pioneers in their fields of research does it not affect the overall quality of the institute?

However, you cant totally blame the IIT's for this thing. The funding they receive, despite being lavish by indian standards, does not suffice enough to encourage more and more research..

What's the result? The Post Graduate degrees given by the IIT's dont count for that much of a value on a global level. Secondly, leave alone international students, they fail to attract even the brilliant undergraduate brains from the IITs themselves to pursue higher technical studies in the same institutes. Its no wonder that most of them either shift to management field (read IIM) or fly away to earn their fortunes abroad.

(Once again, the social scientists and heralds of "Indianism" jump on the stage and cry over this "Brain Drain". Such people blame the students for 'ditching' their nation. Great!)

Add to this the fact that no Indian ever since C.V Raman in 1930 has ever won the Nobel prize for any of the Sciences.

Those who once again shout their lungs out with the names of Dr. Khurana, S.Chandrashekhar and the newer V.Ramakrishnan should shut up, because all of these did their research work in Foreign universities.. I know it wasnt in Engineering, but IIT also have courses in core sciences.

On the other hand Harvard University and Columbia University boast of 45 and 96 Nobel Laureates which were associated with them, respectively.

It takes nothing but a glance at facts to establish the pathetic state of research in our country.

Even more so, when we observe that the so "prominent" IIT's fare no great deal better.

More to follow..

Waiting for your feedback.

KISS ;)

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J

Busting the Brand-IIT Myth 2

Picking up from where I left.

(For more details, just check out the post below)

So, lets first discuss what this Brand-IIT is made up of. That is , what makes it so formidable?

The Basic foundations of such fame and prestige of IIT lies in its extremely challenging admission process. Lakhs of students compete for roughly 10,000 seats in a tough MCQ(Multiple Choice Questions) format exam, based on class 11-12 syllabus of Physics, Chemistry & Science. This is intended at squeezing out the cream of India's young & raw talent.

The first inherent flaw spawns from this incipient step itself. A student, who has been consistently performing since grade 6 to 12 has no better chances than a mediocre student, who simply studied for 2 years almost like an automaton in some premier coaching institute of India. Moreover, if the former is unable to qualify, the society tags him/her as 'incompetent' and often 'inferior' to the one selected.

I mean, whatever happened to regular schooling, consistent performance and a solid conceptual foundation which forms the base of a sound educational background. The Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) has a figurehead eligibility criteria of 60 % in class XII, does little to incentivize the consistent performer, who obviously performs well in his XII boards as well.

Compare this to the admission system in foreign universities which not only have an aptitude test as the qualifying examination but also lay out several stringent academic criteria, eliminating all one-night bloomers. Their penchant for quality with consistency is obvious. Moreover, they also take into consideration, any Extra-Curricular achievements by the student thus encouraging and admitting a well-rounded student into their institute..

Its left for you to decide, which one's better? The one which admits a student who has studied for 2 years, 20hrs a day, or the one which admits a student who has put in 10 years of his life in consistent academic toil, accompanied by other accomplishments?

Next time we'll talk about a crucial factor regarding why the IITs are just vernacular heroes: The Litmus test of Higher Research..

Once Again, please do leave in your comments and responses on both the posts..

They will help a long way in improving the quality of future ones..

KISS ;)

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J

Busting the Brand-IIT Myth

Indian Institute of Technology - IIT. These words bring a sense of pride and respect amongst most of us. It is considered a prestigious institute and every science student hopes to get in there.

Its more than obvious fact that the hype of IIT's and getting into them has increases manifold in the last decade, more so in the past 4-5 years. And of course, not to forget the hardships or the "Rat-Race" that has expedited to produce human machines that study 15-20 hours a day and crack the world's toughest exam- IIT-JEE. I myself was a part of it a couple of years ago. So, The point which I discuss is simple - "Are the Indian Institutes of Technology worth it?"

Now before even I finish the sentence I'd be flooded by numerous doubts by the cynics who prefer to call themselves "intellectuals" and "preservers of our constitutional fabric" and hence proclaim that everything the govt. does (or has done) is consitutional and hence word of God which cant be challenged. Anyways, I wish to take a couple of FAQs (or FAC, C-Comments)-

1. "You are just a loser and you are writing this simply because you didnt get into the IIT's and hence shouting - 'The Grapes are sour' "

A- Anyone who knows me personally, knows it very well that I don't study for accolades or marks. Though I am not Rancho of 3 idiots but neither am a whiner who scores 98% and still cries that he couldnt do well. I do my studies as per my likeness. So, I am not venting my frustration of not getting into some IIT.

2. "If IIT's are not good then how do you explain the 48L package @ IIT Madras"

A- Just take a break a guys. Not all of the 10000 students have been showered with a 48L package.

Moreover, the salary package is not the sole criterion of quality, even though in our country it may trend in such a way.

So, coming to the point. IITs are (in)arguably the best colleges in India for education in Engineering & technology. But when it comes to the global scale, they lag far behind the premier institutes of the world. IITB ranks 47 followed by IITD ranked 52, in the global ranking for top engineering institutes. The nation which boasts of a rich "demographic dividend", (a euphemism for population explosion) has just 1 university in top 50?

After all, why should such great institutes lag behind when their alumni are placed at the top (regardless of the field they venture into). May it be entrepreneurship, high paying jobs or even research in foreign universities..

This is gonna be long post, so I'll elaborate more in the next installments..

Please Please do lend me your feedback..

It matters a lot :)

KISS ;)

--

J

The Night Walk

It was just another one of my regular night strolls. Not those 'just-after-dinner' ones, but the ones I undertake somewhere around 10-10.30 to take a break from my mundane and hectic life.

But that night it was different. Very beautiful, very lovely. I don't think words could ever portray that feeling but I'll still try & sketch the surroundings that engendered it.

The weather was really lovely. There was a cool tinge to the air accompanied by the cloudy sky. The moon, though partially hidden by the clouds, was radiating a soft luminescence.

My campus (residential) has a lush green flavour to it. It's dotted with numerous trees with the tall eucalyptus dominating them all. And just as I stepped out my house, a lovely song came up on my playlist -"Tu Bin Bataye" from Rang De Basanti. Its a very sweet romantic track. :)

Madhushri's (the female lead) voice was sounding sweet as honey and in such surroundings, it really struck a chord with my soul.

I am not too much into romance but that night what I felt was very close to love. Sheer bliss. The feeling of being united with my beloved. Not in some earthy terms (i.e a crush or gf or something) but something beyond, truly transcendental, Subtler than the subtlest.

Even now, 19 hours later, the very thought of those moments drift me into a surreal state, Yet Again.

Love

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J

Hot N Happening

Just 10 days since I blogged last time and it seems like eternity.. And why not? there has been soo much that has happenned last week, both on personal front as well as around us.

First, some updates about me (of course I am a narcissist ;) ). Got myself a new Dell Inspiron, and obviously I am posting through it. Excessively indulged in it for the past 10 days or so, which is a partial reason for my absence from the bloggers' arena. Its black in color and has a very good configuration (as per my needs)

Another big thing that my 4th sem result was out last week, and that was another reason to smile for :) Am back in business with 84.1% and 5th rank in my branch.. That was a super punch to silence my critics, who thought that I was done.. NO guys, I am not done.. Infact this is just the beginning. But more importantly, I proved it to myself that I still have that potential and capability to perform and to make things happen. That self confidence is something that I was desperately missing.

Coming to the broader scale, even though I so desperately wanted to rant on the ever-changing and political and social scene around the country which has an unprecedented revolutionary and positive tint to it, I restrained myself. Infact, I had to go through some phases of disappointment-oriented depression as well related to it.. The things and the spirit behind them, despite heralding new form of governance and public response had a dampened look mainly 'coz of the so called "Champions of democracy and the INDIAN CONSTITUTION" as they say.. Bah!! Humbug!

Anyways, that was just a brief account of what all had been going on in Life.. Would be posting about something less mundane soon.. ;)
Desperately waiting for your replies and suggestions and views about anything and everything.. :)
Love.
And as I like to say
KISS (Keep it Simple Silly ;) )
--
J

Just Groove It

So, Whats up guys??

Ya, know the summers are quite boring.. Just thought of sharing the songs, that are currently faring on the top of my playlist (on my Nokia X6).. Here they are-

5. Bhaag D.K Bose (Delhi Belly)

Fresh track from the upcoming movie Delhi Belly,

This one's quite a peppy track. The lyrics are nonsense.. But It's got a nice Zing!! Just found that cool. And Ofcourse, Imran Rocks!! \m/

4. Rock God (By Selena Gomez)

Once again, another zippy track.. Selena sounds lovely in this one, with some grey shades.. Lovely... As she says in this one..

"I cant stop my hands from swaying to the sound of the drum"..

3. (i) Crazier (Taylor Swift)

A Not-much-heard of song from the Movie Hannah Montana, this was (until recently) my favorite.. I love Taylor Swift crooning this song, over and over again.. This is one of the top songs of Taylor Swift ever

(ii) Tonight I'm Lovin' you (Enrique Iglesias ft PitBull)

Ok. I agree this one is a bit lascvious ('coz even the soundtrack of this one has a vulgar title) but mind you, take no credit away from Enrique.. The Song is again groovy which you cant listen without shaking a leg or two.. An Ultimate party mix, brings out the Dirty side in you..

After all, its about how you control your grey side ;)

2. Who Says (Selena Gomez)

This one's fresh out of the baker's. Its the sole number released from her upcoming album "Selena Gomez and the Scene" and is LOVELY to say the least.. The ultimate Feel-Good song for all those "beautiful queens" out there :).. Having said, that the audio is very pleasing to hear and a must-hear for a music connoisseur.

And The Numero Uno is...

1. U Smile (Justin Bieber)

You can't have these two love birds apart :) <3. In this case what if this one's a pretty old song (by today's standards atleast) I heard it about a month back and am enamored by it (not to mention also by the one, whom this song reminds me of ;) )

Some very sweet lyrics, set to music on a very fine ballad tune.. This one's arguably the best song by JB (ofcourse alongside 'Baby') I listen to it 10 times a day, and I feel like I am actually on the dance floor, waltzing with My One in my arms and losing self in each other.. If you are romantic.. Then You gotta hear it.. And even if you are not of those mawkish types, this will be a indelible experience for your ears.. Go 4 it.

I am anxiously waiting for your choices and ofcourse, your suggestions :)

Love. KISS (Keep it Simple Silly ;) )

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J