It has been 5 odd semesters since I embarked upon a new life in this endearing insti. I had come from a classy awing Doon with High Hopes and Drooling Desires, as a naïf and squeamish boy of Seventeen. My anticipations from this place were quite idealistic, high-minded and lofty. I had entered into this place because I was one of those many few who were turned on by the catholicity of Newton’s Laws, infinitesimal calculus, lengthy organic reactions during the High school days. The idea of entering into the premier institute of the country and being taught by the holy saints (read: Profs) where learner meant ‘learner for learning’s sake’, were few aspects which gloated me. I had expected people of a similar nature to be my new classmates, neighbors, allies and acquaintances. All this meant a ‘dream come true’ to me. I was on cloud nine!
On the contrary, in all the above respects, the bygone years have been a bitter pill to swallow. This place has dejected me in a lot of ways. From the bureaucratic inactivity to the teaching methodology to the courses offered to the academic curriculum to the relative grading system to the Professors to the Placement scenario to the Companies recruiting to the constant unhygienic mess food and to what-not, everything is in deplorable condition, coming apart and going to pieces.
The best brains in the country are turning into rats and dirty dogs. People have been measured by their grades and CGPAs. A guy with lower CGPA becomes a matter of trifle importance, and the one with a higher is revered by one and all, even if the latter is a big time bozo. The system in this place is not too helpful either. We, as a nation, have always catered to the best among us. If you are a topper, you are a star, if you are not, you are a nobody. This attitude acts as a body-blow to the ego of the "average" student here, who "falls" from being the top dog in school to a nonentity in college. In this rat-race, the average Joe loses his identity and his self-pride, being reduced to being in the peloton, to be in the shadow of the high-flier.
Talking about the holy saints, what else would you call people who are phony, bogus and hypocrites? Probably, ‘Equus asinus’! No one focus or pay attention on what a student likes and what not, what is important and what not, what is recent and of prime importance and what not, how to make lectures interesting and how not. I had expected my degree to be a pursuit of more knowledge from these saints to learn for learning’s sake, and not to learn for marks, grades, CGPAs, DRs (Departmental Ranks), IRs (Institutional Ranks) and all such bummer.
Actually, the flaw lies with the system itself. I personally feel that once the JEE results are out, the IIT Administration need to conduct an Aptitude test (to bestow an appropriate branch to a particular individual) based on which the classification need to be done and not on the basis of mere JEE ranks. Moreover, as far as the pedagogy goes, I sincerely hold the notion that these big time holy saints need to seriously brush up their own concepts before taking up any class/lecture and simultaneously also refer to the videos of their counterparts far away in MITs, Stanford, et al. Moreover, they should focalize on something recent, practical and productive (not outdated theories and laws).
Else (as already seen), it would hardly take any time for this large brain-chunk to stop caring for anything remotely academic and resorting to other career options or draining their brains with a meaningless Er.(Engineer) before their names as a refuge to some distant land far far away ... (Talk about brain drain then?)
On the contrary, in all the above respects, the bygone years have been a bitter pill to swallow. This place has dejected me in a lot of ways. From the bureaucratic inactivity to the teaching methodology to the courses offered to the academic curriculum to the relative grading system to the Professors to the Placement scenario to the Companies recruiting to the constant unhygienic mess food and to what-not, everything is in deplorable condition, coming apart and going to pieces.
The best brains in the country are turning into rats and dirty dogs. People have been measured by their grades and CGPAs. A guy with lower CGPA becomes a matter of trifle importance, and the one with a higher is revered by one and all, even if the latter is a big time bozo. The system in this place is not too helpful either. We, as a nation, have always catered to the best among us. If you are a topper, you are a star, if you are not, you are a nobody. This attitude acts as a body-blow to the ego of the "average" student here, who "falls" from being the top dog in school to a nonentity in college. In this rat-race, the average Joe loses his identity and his self-pride, being reduced to being in the peloton, to be in the shadow of the high-flier.
Talking about the holy saints, what else would you call people who are phony, bogus and hypocrites? Probably, ‘Equus asinus’! No one focus or pay attention on what a student likes and what not, what is important and what not, what is recent and of prime importance and what not, how to make lectures interesting and how not. I had expected my degree to be a pursuit of more knowledge from these saints to learn for learning’s sake, and not to learn for marks, grades, CGPAs, DRs (Departmental Ranks), IRs (Institutional Ranks) and all such bummer.
Actually, the flaw lies with the system itself. I personally feel that once the JEE results are out, the IIT Administration need to conduct an Aptitude test (to bestow an appropriate branch to a particular individual) based on which the classification need to be done and not on the basis of mere JEE ranks. Moreover, as far as the pedagogy goes, I sincerely hold the notion that these big time holy saints need to seriously brush up their own concepts before taking up any class/lecture and simultaneously also refer to the videos of their counterparts far away in MITs, Stanford, et al. Moreover, they should focalize on something recent, practical and productive (not outdated theories and laws).
Else (as already seen), it would hardly take any time for this large brain-chunk to stop caring for anything remotely academic and resorting to other career options or draining their brains with a meaningless Er.(Engineer) before their names as a refuge to some distant land far far away ... (Talk about brain drain then?)
1 comment:
Nice post....straight from the heart.
The situation is same everywhere.Educational institutes,"premier" or not,are turning into mere factories which produce robots,whose thinking has been stifled.The situation should change,yes,but the big business of college education will suffer if there is any change implemented.
Hope to see more posts from you.And a Happy New Year! :-)
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