Killing the engineers in us

IIT has induced many qualities in me, and one of the rather bad qualities is Slackness. When one clears JEE, the mind automatically switches off for many. And after almost completing 50% of my life here at IITM, I know this is true for me too. One notion gets set in our mindset, "Ab to life set ho gayi meri". This belief has been infused in us by many people- our coaching institute faculty, our parents, relatives, peers and everyone who has an idea what an IIT is.

The root of the problem is here. We don't take the courses in IIT seriously. "Yaar, ho hi jayega" has become our mentality. The enthusiasm to actually do well has vanished. When one compares the amount of hard work we put during our 12th days, it is alarming to see the results drop so low in internal exams. And this is what I am feeling bad about. My end sems start from 26th April and many would rebuke me saying why the hell am I wasting one hour on this post. But, I would just tell that sometimes you need to write something to prove its importance in retrospection. I may again go back to my lax attitude towards academics and this being most probable going by the success record of my innumerable vows to study.

People who just miss by a hair in JEE and end up in other Engineering colleges don't have this slackness. They know that they haven't reached the zenith and hence though they have access to facilities one-tenth of those available in IITs, they strive to do well in their life. Hence, after 4 years of Engineering, people from other engineering colleges do much better than IITians in GATE. IITians lose their edge in 4 years of their engineering. They learn other things, they learn how to mint money, how to manage things, how to get through CAT, but most of them don't learn engineering. When asked about it, we proudly say, "I was never interested in engineering, it was just the best option to take." Even I say that guys, and to be very true, I sometimes feel ashamed and guilty too.

I don't know whether I would myself try to keep my focus on engineering and not venture into other prospects. But, I would like people to actually do justice to what they have taken. Its your responsibility and not your choice to do well here. IITs are even thinking of dividing B.Tech degree into two : B.Tech and B.Tech (Honours). The latter will be more project oriented and will be for the people who want to take up engineering. One can take this up after 4 years of normal underrated B.Tech degree. The former will be for the people who just want the IIT brand and want to opt for other careers. The brand of IIT is not as golden as it was some 10 years before. Companies now have a bad image of IITians. They complain that we have too much attitude. And seeing the attitude of my fellow mates, I won't deny this allegation. The IIT alumni still has deep reverence for these golden institutions and hence backs it up whenever necessary. But, we are too self-centered to realise this. We just want to have loads of fun in our 4 years, get the degree which we haven't worked for and want to get out of here with a decent enough job. I am not lecturing here about not to have fun, I am just telling that we should optimise everything. These are the best 4 years of our life and I want that we make sure that after 4 years, people don't rebuke us saying that we were just plain lucky to clear JEE and that we didn't deserve to be in IIT.

Everything is not well here in IIT and the earlier one gets this point, the better will be the future of IIT.

Be "KINKY" !!!

There are times when one feels lost, one feels cornered or left out. One feels that everything or everyone has changed around him. One realises that nothing is constant around us, everything undergoes change. Sometimes, it happens that you don't know what is wrong but you feel that something is wrong. Sometimes, you don't know the reason but you feel elated. Some days, you are in a jolly mood. Sometimes, there is gloom all around you. You need to experience dejection to know how good one feels when in high spirits.You need to perceive darkness to know the real meaning of light. Remember Shit happens sometimes, but one should try to mould oneself accordingly.

A little story which will make my point crystal clear.

Once upon a time, there lived a kingfisher whose name was 'Kinky'. Kinky was blissfully ignorant. He lived beside a reservoir which had loads of fishes. He never had an off day. There was plenty of food for him in the reservoir. Time flew by and humans started poking their 'thing' even in 'kinky' matters. Fishes reduced due to all the excessive pollution and human intervention. The reservoir was overused and 'Kinky' felt that something was wrong. The number of fishes reduced, but still he didn't care since he was getting plenty. That is our nature, though we feel something is wrong we won't care until the last moment. So, 'kinky' kept procrastinating his endeavours to satisfy his 'carnal' needs. But, Allzzz Not Well always. One day, he dipped his long organ his beak into the water. And, he found a plastic bottle instead of tasty fishes. He searched the waters, but the fishes were gone. Kinky's eyes opened to the naked reality. Kinky dear couldn't dip his beak into the fishes anymore.
He still imagined swarm of fishes playing in the pool. But, he started starving. It was a first for him. He had never thought that this could happen. One fine day, he wakes up and finds no fish to dip his beak in!!! This thought even hadn't formed in the wildest and kinkiest of his dreams. He had dreams earlier in which he would be devouring the fishes in every style possible.
Kinky left the reservoir and started venturing into virgin territories. But these virgin territories didn't have fishes to dig on. In one of these territories, he met Cain. Cain was a long necked crane who lived in marshy areas. He had never ventured into fresh water lakes and hence had to have a diet which ranged from rodents to insects to even plants. He seldom feasted on fishes since it was a scarce commodity there. Kinky now was starving to death. His vibrant colours had become pale and he had become too weak to fly any further.
Kinky now knew the reason of his condition- he was too lazy to think about the disappearing fishes, he wasn't accepting the fact that times have changed. He knew that he should have thought of this earlier. He realised the importance of backups in these crunch situations. He became friends with Cain. Cain taught him how to eat worms. Kinky felt very demeaning at first, but he realised that if he has to survive, he needs other options. He ate worms and then frogs and even plants.
After weeks of this new diet, Kinky wanted to go back to his reservoir. But, he didn't know whether it will be fruitful or not. One day, they saw fishes in the marshy waters. Both, Kinky and Cain made handsome picks and had enough fishes to last the next two days. Kinky, now when he thrusted his beak into the fish felt different. It felt rewarding to gobble up fish. He now actually relished the taste of its meat.
He devoured the fishes taking his own sweet time and savouring each bit of it. He kept his spirits high even when he didn't have fishes to feast on. Since he now understood the actual relish and never complained while eating degraded worms and plants. He felt that its always better to adapt to changes, since you need to evolve into a better being.

This story took its shape in my mind as I started writing this post. One should always adapt to changes however bizarre and unconventional one is. "Kinky", was conventional first, he never tasted anything other than fishes. But, then he was forced to change tastes and Cain helped him in this. The kingfisher finally did justice to his name, "kinky" by trying out different tastes. People should embrace changes and mould themselves according to it. If you are not the one bringing about a change, then you yourself should change with the world.These changes throw you out of your comfort zone and show you the stark reality. If you are conventional, you are like the people who don't have a name. They are just people. They have lost their individuality since they are not different. If one wants to make it big, one has to be 'Kinky'.