Off Topic- Specimen of Brilliance
I thought I have come a long way in ignoring a typical IIT UG rant (let me state at the outset that at IIT I belonged really to the scum of the earth category 'HSS Ph.D.' That is doing a Ph.D. in Humanities and Social Sciences). Most of the times I don't even bat an eyelid when some of them come and leave comments on posts written long back and tell me-
But yesterday was different. I read an article by one of the specimens of brilliance, a Mr. Aditya Jha in Indian Express. For most of the time I was reading what has been said before, if you open too many IITs (as the HRD minister is said to be planning) brand IIT gets diluted. Then Mr. Jha really demonstrates his brilliance when he says-
Mr. Murthi has said in his speeches (I have attended one such speech at IITK myself long back) that he got through JEE but could not study at IIT because of the high costs. Now one also wonders if Mr. Jha thinks just clearing the JEE is the sign of brilliance or actually doing an UG course would also do something to a person? Whatever the likes of Mr Jha think, I think Mr. Murthi did fine for himself even if he just did a PG course from IITK.
Update- After reading Sidhu's comment on this post, I went back to the article and checked the comment section of the article on IITs. Left a comment of my own too. The comments are much more balanced, I have to say.
"Btw its a classic case of UG's not giving two hoots about the PG's whom they consider inferior. I guess some of the blame lies with PGs too. They dont participate in anyway in the institue activities and are generally aloof and tend to keep to themselves thereby promoting stereotypification.I mean I have grown such a thick skin that I don't even reply to such comments anymore.
In case you are curious, I am a second year UG." (Emphasis mine)
But yesterday was different. I read an article by one of the specimens of brilliance, a Mr. Aditya Jha in Indian Express. For most of the time I was reading what has been said before, if you open too many IITs (as the HRD minister is said to be planning) brand IIT gets diluted. Then Mr. Jha really demonstrates his brilliance when he says-
"Brand IIT is not about IITs; it’s about IIT-ians. And, mostly, it is about undergraduate IIT-ians at that. People who have done M-Tech from IITs always feel discriminated against. Since they never cracked the JEE, there’s no way they will be accepted into the tribe."Will someone go and remind Mr. Jha that the company he works for (Infosys) was co-founded by an IIT Kanpur PG. Yes, Mr. Narayan Murthi undoubtedly did a PG course from IITK and still founded a company like Infosys that employs the likes of Mr. Jha. But this could be a little too much for the brilliance of Mr. Jha to comprehend.
Mr. Murthi has said in his speeches (I have attended one such speech at IITK myself long back) that he got through JEE but could not study at IIT because of the high costs. Now one also wonders if Mr. Jha thinks just clearing the JEE is the sign of brilliance or actually doing an UG course would also do something to a person? Whatever the likes of Mr Jha think, I think Mr. Murthi did fine for himself even if he just did a PG course from IITK.
Update- After reading Sidhu's comment on this post, I went back to the article and checked the comment section of the article on IITs. Left a comment of my own too. The comments are much more balanced, I have to say.
Labels: IIT, IIT Kanpur, iitk, Media
posted by Mridula at 1:40 PM
9 Comments:
I think this blog-post ought to be published in the 'letters to the editor' section of the Indian Express, as well. :)
I though this blog was called Travel Tales from India...not IT insider tales hahahaha
Every town has its idiots and thus, it is no surprise that people like Mr. Aditya Jha exist. The surprise is that Indian Express published his article.
Btw, some of the smartest women on campus I met in my IIT Delhi days were HSS Phd students. Unfortunately, they were 10 years older than me.
Mohit
Sidhu thanks for the suggestion, I updated my post after visiting the comment section of the article.
Max, some days I do write off topic stuff :)
Mohit, so who says you can't talk to people 10 years older or is it the unfavorable ratio you are hinting at?
"Brand IIT is not about IITs; it’s about IIT-ians. And, mostly, it is about undergraduate IIT-ians at that. People who have done M-Tech from IITs always feel discriminated against. Since they never cracked the JEE, there’s no way they will be accepted into the tribe."
Unfortunately, most of the UG IITians carry this sentiment. I see it very clearly when I go to those Pan-IIT "bheed" (BTW I am UG). I have many non-IITian friends and I find them smarter and well-read as compared to average UG IITians (esp. I have high regards for my BHU-IT friends).
It really irritates me with how the media talks about 'cracking' the JEE and brand-IIT. Heres an excerpt from an article by an IIT prof familiar with the JEE (full article here : http://www.iitk.ac.in/infocell/Archive/dirnov3/debate.html)
"It is argued that, if the examination were any easier, it would be impossible to discriminate and select students. The fact is that, even now, we are not doing a very good job of discriminating. The examination is so hard and the scores so low, that chance plays a very big part. Who would be so brave as to assert that, of two low-scoring students in a low scoring examination, one is better than the other? Or that the student who just missed the cut is inferior? In my opinion, the successful candidates of JEE can be divided into three groups. These divisions would be, roughly, the first three hundred ranks, then the next five or six hundred ranks and finally all the others who are ranked below, say, nine hundred. On another day, the members of this third group may not make the cut at all."
This article was written at a time when about 3000 students were ranked in the JEE. I fully agree with him based on my personal experience thru my friends and aquaintances.
Well, I certainly did talk and interact with them and had a very positive impression, especially of one particular lady.
I mentioned the age factor as a minor aside since it ruled out any romantic interests.
Mohit
Also, I must mention my pet peeve (although might be a bit off topic). I used to be a regular attendant of science and math competitions in various colleges around Delhi, especially if they mentioned any cash prizes :).
I remember going to one such competition being organized by DCE at their college festival. The event was scheduled at 9:30am in the morning. After changing 3 buses over 2 hrs we reached the place just in time to find nobody there. Nobody except a huge number of chairs and relics of some large music event. A number of events were scheduled hence, we assumed it was only a matter of time before people showed up. At 10:30 , a person came to remove the sound system which had been used for the music event the previous night. He told us not to expect anybody before 12. The whole experience was out of Jaspal Bhatti's Flop Show. Meanwhile, we went to meet an old friend at DCE and to bid our time. When the organizers came, far from being apologetic, they were aggressive and on top of that highly incompetent. We gave up around 3:30 and went back. The whole event left such a bad taste that my friend and I have formed a very bad opinion of DCE.
On the other end, I had a great impression of the events organized by St. Stephens. It used to take a hell of long time getting there but was certainly worth it.
Mohit
Atul, I have met quite a few sensible UGs, thanks for letting me know and sharing your thoughts.
Prashanth, thanks for sharing.
Mohit, you should acquire a blog, you have many things to say, thanks for sharing them on my blog. I have heard of many similar incidents like the DC one.
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