Tuesday 9 August 2011

IITs and the rest :

It was not quite long ago when I took admission in the National Institute of Technology, Bhopal, an institute governed by the central Government. But it was obvious that I did attempt for getting admitted in the apex institutes of the country- The Indian Institutes of Technology. Who doesn't want to? It is an immaculate desire of each and every Science-Maths student to get into them, but not everyone gets through their Entrance examinations.
                 First of all, what impression does one make of a Government college when he or she hears the name? "That is one good college where I can pursue Engineering" or "I will get a very good Education over there" and the best "Oh!! Pursuing engineering has never been so cheap!!". Some even think of making an impression on their Competitors in the pre-Engineering years. Again, What image does an Engineer form in the mind of public?- "An Engineer is a Person who is free from any work during his college days and then after it, he gets loads and loads of Handsome Job offers". But, let me tell you- Engineering is not like running a hot knife over the butter frozen by your mom, and what makes it worse is the present education system in India.
                                So, back in 2008, when I first attempted for the IIT-JEE, I was quite sure that I would not make it through this time, although my position in the other attempted examinations was fair enough to take admissions in some of the good engineering colleges, my father even went for it, and I was taken to one of the counselling. But I had other plans. I wanted something else, something Beautiful... I wanted One More Chance, because I knew that I had it in me. Friends, this is the lust of the IITs, you cannot run away from it. I turned my father's mind there itself in the counselling hall and I was back... Yes! I got a chance now. Until that time, I had fell in love with Physics, and just wanted to study it all the time. I joined a coaching class, that would train me for a complete year just to get through the IIT-JEE. I enjoyed studying all the three subjects that complete year. That year- the DROP year, changed me, my mental state, my attitude towards studies, and changed my life as a student. I just wanted to study all the time... New books, new questions, new concepts, as if I wanted to learn, expertise, and master every topic I could, and then came the time, when I was needed to show my knowledge, pour out my concepts, and I was quite confident of cracking the JEE. On the examination day- woke up early, donated all the books to my neighbour, had a light breakfast, got up ready, reached my test centre... and now- comes the feeling, the frenzy feeling that starts from the end of your spine, and then grooves in your head round and round... But as soon as I saw the paper, Ha! What a relief, It was like I found the Gold. What an easy paper the first one was, I was sure of scoring well in that. During the break before second paper, I had already dreamt of riding a cycle in the green fields of IIT-K, playing badminton with my cousin, and then returning hostel together... But, it was yet very far away, and I was well aware of that. Now, this time, without any nervousness, confidence that was overflowing of my mind, and the feeling of being in the first quadrant, I thought- "Oh what an easy paper this will be.. hahaha... fuck IIT-G, do they have any sense of testing a genius like me??". I went into the exam hall... and three hours later when I came out... it seemed that the whole world has moved upside down, every feeling reversed its gear, and went back into the third quadrant. Then I realized that it was not the confidence that was overflowing... It was the Overconfidence that flew... I felt shameful, pity, helpless... and I felt as if that fucking IIT-G kicked my ass as hard as it could. Everything was finished, my goal wasn't reached and It was visible from my body language, and hence I did not need to tell my parents what happened in the Hall. Everything was over, finished... my dream, my cycle, my badminton, those green fields at IIT-K... everything. I was so hurt that I never even looked at my dearest friends- my books until all the other entrance examinations were over. All of them went pretty good and I was sure of securing a very good rank in the others, and It was pretty obvious that my failure in the IIT-JEE gave me the confidence of succeeding in others, but I Was Still Unhappy... reason- The same Lust... And that is the reason I have never been content.
                          Now, A New Beginning-
I learned a lesson- Failures are the pillars to success, and I looked forward to the NITs. A respectable rank in the AIEEE helped me secure a seat in Chemical Engineering at Maulana Azad NIT, Bhopal. I felt nice, but unsatisfied. You can't get what you want every time, and you can't love what you live, but this is Life... isn't it?
So, It was a Government college, where I stepped in, and not the IIT. I thought I would have wonderful, kind, intelligent, helping, caring, and friendly lecturers and professors. But the equation here was completely on a different track.
It did not take many hours before I came to know about the surprisingly bad standards of the complete system of the college. Right from the administration to the faculty, everyone is corrupt, blank, and not to say- idiots… although anybody could hint that from the “never updated” website of the college. As I proceed further in this blog, I remind you that it is not just one college that has been affected by the corrupt education system of India, in fact each and every college apart from the IITs has been unfair and I do feel that they can never ever recover. Just look around yourself, and then you’ll see what is famously called- “Mushrooming” of the Engineering colleges. Friends, I say it again; Engineering is not as easy as you say it. So, let us continue, The Chemical Engineering Department was a new one in the college, but we didn’t have even a single Faculty that held the degree of Chemical Engineering in his or her lifetime. Although it was a new department, but you cannot sustain it without its proper faculty, even for an hour, but that’s the way things are carried out since last three to four years. Can we do something about it??... Not in my opinion.
                        Even if you try to forget about the faculty for some time, the very next lecture would change your mind once again. I went to Chemical Engineering classes for about 50 days, but what I found was that you have to mug up each and everything, nothing goes along with concepts, you are forced to learn whatever the Lecturer has told you. And if you dare to go for some other resource apart from the teacher’s source of learning, then you have to pay for it in the examinations. The 50th night in my College, Somebody told that the branches have been reshuffled without prior notice to anybody. I tried my luck and found that I was transferred to Electrical Engineering department, one of the oldest departments of the college. I was Happy again. Straight From the depressing effects of Chemical Engineering to the best department of the college, as the students here called it.
                                    But as soon as I stepped into the Electrical Classroom, and the first lecture went off, I realized that even the presence of experienced faculty can’t help. Now I knew that this college will destruct me, my mental state, my confidence, and my learning style… oh! Not the learning style, because you still don’t have to learn, you have to RECTIFY. I never thought this would happen, I thought that a centrally governed college would surely enhance my learning skills, but now I am in the third year and have been broken up 4 times already in the end semesters, mostly because the teachers don’t like my conceptual answers. They want what they say, If things aren’t going their way, they aren’t going your way. Many Professors I found here have a tendency to examine the copy on their own mood.
                                    Well, now I have given up, Marks don’t matter, at least for me. I am here for Engineering, and that’s what I’ll do. These Rascals can take their balls and go home and do whatever they like. It is not going to affect me. I can’t mug up things and vomit them on the paper, and hence, I am satisfied with my performance over here. Today itself, I was talking to a junior, and he said- “The people here have made my life a living hell”. It is rightly said that the environment you live in, affects your personality and thoughts adversely, and this can be noticed from the learning style of the students here. But, I have not changed, probably because that one change in the DROP year was enough for me. I once talked about it with my cousin at IIT-K, and he told me what he was told over there at the time of his orientation that, “The IIT-JEE is a test that separates Engineers from the crowd”. Well this harsh statement is really true. I have talked to many of my friends in state technical university colleges, and they too have the same system. What is the need of a government college if it is “Government” by name only??
So, guys, this Engineering world is not as it looks like, If you want to go for it then there is no alternative to the best. It is only your demand for pursuing this course that has caused the mushrooming of the Engineering colleges.
It is not the view of a pessimistic person, it is the view of an optimist turned into pessimist by the education system
Gary Kirsten once said – “There are two categories of batsmen, one contains Sachin Tendulkar, and the other category contains the rest”, and I feel like saying it like this – “There are two categories of institutes, one contains the IITs and the other contains the rest”.

4 comments:

  1. ok...so you have written on the educational system(INDIA) and you are the CASE STUDY!!! Nice...but the IIT-K thing was very emotional!!

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  2. bahut sahi likha hai... book likhna bhi ek option hai, jise tum try kar sakte ho :D

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  3. NID, NIFT, NIT rest in oblivion because of the over-rated IIT.
    Just as the Indian Cricket Madness has overshadowed all other sports.

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  4. hey really nice effort..kp it up :))

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