gosh, this IIT!
It does not rain but it pours. That is what happened to me when I read this at phoenix blog and the rest of the links, bombarded with the news of the suicide of an IIT guy. I am too lazy to link upto all of them but I think phoenix does a pretty good job. I feel sorry for the IIT guy though, ending his life when it could have begin in another year atmost.I can not tell about all IIT so everything I say will be my exeprience at IITD and of other IITs generally. The point is there are some over-hyped notions prevailing of IIT(s) in this world. And we IITians ( did I mention how it pains me every time I use this word) are partly responsible for it. Do not we sometimes use the name to our advantage even though we know that we have nothing special except doing well for a change in one stupid test. The problem is always the same , demand and supply, if you have little of some product the prices go up. So is the case with IITs. Have more institutes of the same quality and then the stress would certainly go out.
Second thing is that people(IITians) do not know which branch they really want to do except for a few. The answer is still the same that if you had to stand in a queue to get a bowl of rice in a time of famine , you do not complain if it is basmati or not. You just eat . The thing is that most of us give up on a few things we like to do for a matter of 2 years to get into this institutes and then we want to do them again when we finally enter them.
But i was startled at reading this at varun's post
"The stress on an IITian can get even worse. Back at home they are hailed as if they came down from planet Krypton. Parents, relatives & peers expect them to keep outperforming just as they did in school or in IIT-JEE exam, what they don't consider that here the competition is many times tougher. Such expectations put a student under immense stress. For most of the students in IITs, IIT is the first place where they are challenged academically. Till then, during school, they were among the toppers - without breaking a sweat"
The thing that bugs me is that we do not stop competing with others once we get into IIT. Should not these institutes cultivate an environment in which emphasis is on majority of people doing something good instead of some people doing something exceptional. It is the system that claims to select only the exceptional people RIGHT? So should not we be helping each other out and trying to learn in a group. The thing I have seen here and realized is that we Indians are always trying to prove ourselves all the time, showing that we are better than the rest around us . Asking a question to which you already know the answer to!! We are not taught how to work together in a group. We may be better individually, but always remember that sum can be greater than its parts.
This is the primary reason that Indian companies are not doing stupendous jobs, cause we keep the ideas to our selves in the fear that our colleagues may take credit for it. In IIT , you do not have to be challenged academically, you have to be stimulated academically. We get into this trap of scoring a GPA that we forget that sometimes it is more important to learn that to score.
Regarding the attendance thing, I can not comment cause my department never has any attendance requirements so I am not entitled to comment. But there is one thing an IIT prof told me in my first year, (paraphrasing ofcourse) "If I teach something in 14 weeks and you claim that you can learn all of it in a day, then that does not speak highly of the way I teach. So learning is a continuous process "
There are some people who are great teachers even if they know do not know everything and there are people who can not be great teachers no matter how much they know. We always complain that we do not have great teachers, but how many of us think of becoming teachers/professors as a profession. You can miss a class but can a teacher miss preparing for a class?? One of the problems is that professors have their own research to carry on, teaching is a demanding and time comsuming profession. So respect it.
There is a thing that we regard medicine and engineering as only professions worth going to (the old indian mentality some people call it). You have to be stable first in life, have roti, kapda and makaan. Will somebody who makes ends meet with difficulty try to make a living by being a swimmer or a tennis player. These professions of medicine and engineering are our symbols of stability and respect. That is the thing. Do not complain about them just coz you are more privileged than your previous generation. Think about it, how many of us would be where we are if our parents were not in the position they are now? Yes some of our next generation may surely take deep sea diving as a way of living, but then we have to pass them the baton in the reac of life where they can run this distance.
Always remeber, there is something good going for you even if you do not know it.
posted by inhas @ 4:25 PM
7 Comments:
Hey, thanx for the mention. i'm glad atleast someone thinks I've raised an imp issue...
As I said even in my looooong reply to ur comment at my post, I wa hoping u said more abt IIT system ki advantages..I am desperately lookin for something to be glad abt!
You're right in saying IIT is a tag we use...if ever u have time, try reading this. Similar sentiment...
Look the confusion is always there..and why just talk of IITs..even in life we never know wat we want. and we are a perpetually complaining species...
Varun's post is so true....
and see, competition in itself is not a bad thing..it ensures that the good doesnt rust...if there were no competition, all the god part wd be lost. to some extent, it is healthy...the only thing, is that the non-exceptional ppl are NOT losers...that we shdnt forget...it's only a winners game. but the game has to be played.
ur point abt teaching is very tru..and thats wat i said in one of my comments too..
see the thing is that 'teaching' is an art different from knowledge...nt everyone can impart knowledge..and yes, education stands trivialised in our country. tis is a very serious problem.
i like ur optimism..yes there is some good in everything, but it's also true that things can be better..if only we ry..
it wont take much effort if we have just the will!!
@ phoenix hey.. i think i did not make it clear in the post but the part that really saddened me was varun's post and your comment on competetion, who are you competing against and what for?? Have you thought about that?? What does the winner take home?? Have you experience d joys of working in a team and succeeding?? You could choose that to be a way of learning but this individualistic streak in IITians is that makes you go crazy in a competetion. I may have been a bit harsh right now a cause the optimist within me is really sad right now. and remeber diamond never rust, it is iron that does.
1.) while one extreme end is giving iitians too much praise, the other equally misleading description is people who did well in a stupid test.. i am sure we arent that worthless.
2.) I think the point about competition is spot on. IIT puts together a set of people who have almost never faced failure and then fails a few of them. Why do we need to be ranked so strictly amongst ourselves. Why does someone amongst us have to be last as a rule.
Hi,
I am not sure if the issues you talked about were from my post or phoenix's. But there is a 'clarification' from my side.
See the problem is still 'indian mentality'. First of all, parents and family have a BIG say if what a teenager chooses to study. Secondly, they somehow have a 'herd mentality'. If engineering gives you the best bucks - then parents/relatives will ask you to do engineering. In engineering, if computers is nowadays on top - they will ask you to get into computers. Right? And the 17-18 yr old kids just out from school - most of the times follow their advice.
Where is the kid and his interest coming into play here?
And its not like you will starve if you choose a field of your interest. Think about a guy who just finished his 12th in science and actually wants to become a 'teacher'. How many families will let their children do this? Do teachers starve? If he becomes a teacher, atleast he will do something that he likes to do. Doing something that you spend 8 hours everyday of your life - shouldn't you like doing it? I know so many of my friends who are not from Comp sci background but are doing coding - and they hate it. Isn't it stupid?
I am doing PhD now. When I told my family - they couldnt believe it. Their argument (and many of relatives' too) is that when after MS you can start earning right away (that too big bucks), then why do PhD? I tried explaining them about my interest and all - but in vain.
When I don't really need to earn money right away (yes, I am privileged) - whats the hurry of getting 'settled' (as our elders call it). Why shouldn't I explore my interests when I have the option?
I feel almost embarrassed to say nothing....:P
@ shivam I am not saying that we are worthless but we are not that special too. The person who got JEE as 5000 is he worthless cause he did not make it then cause you are worthy of being in IIT??
Apparently, rest of the people do not agree with me cause they like competetion.
@ ritesh thanx for dropping by and for your 'calrification' though i was resonpding to what I had written every where and some of my thoughts. And i think you answered yourself the question that If i am priveileged then why should not you explore your options? I agree with your 'herd' mentality but I think I will not agree with your 'indian mentality' thing. We are taught to do something for our next generation and that is true i think every where in the world but only some of us know the right balance of. I agree being a teacher will not starve you, but will it give you the lifestyle (not life) of an engineer. If you join the herd just cause you want a better standard of living ( i know some people who need to start working immediately afterwards cause they feel that it is their responsisbilty) so that you can give your children a better option. My point is think about it, Could your father exercise your option of goin for PHD if he needed to earn right away?? More or less the problem is population in one word .
@ bofi I am beginning to love your laconic/ one liners.
Hi,
Thanks for linking to my post. One thing, the competition is thrust on the students. There's no running away from it, you get the grades at the end of the semester - 2 AA, 5 AB.. so on. Slotting everyone. Half the guys are under the avg, which is perhaps the first time in there life. What should be done is different issue, but this is how it happens now. Its only natural that the confidence of the guys belonging to the lower half takes a beating.
Then there is clash of interests. Guys are forced to go through courses which neither interest them, nor will be useful later (major part end up doing coding anyway).
Things keep piling up. If you don't know how to deal with this, it can kill (as we saw).
Most disgusting thing is what IIT authorities are doing - turning away from the issue. The issue is serious enough to call for serious debate.
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