Shouldn’t we be any different?

Getting up at 0530 Hrs in the morning, attending 6 hours classes, coming back home to put in another couple of hours and continuing this routine for almost a year is what it took me to get into IIT (allegedly one of the best institutes in the world). And not only me but almost all the iitians must have put near about same number of hours to crack the coveted JEE. Also for every IITian there are 99 other who follow a similar pattern but do not make it.

During their preparation the (would be) iitians can cough up formulas in sleep, solve equations like a computer and reason anything at the speed of light. So one would expect the same students (read the brightest in India) to respect the institute (for which they had to work so hard) and continue the same way to eventually become overachievers (as they are hyped to be).

But the real question is do they?

I would disagree with anyone who thinks they do. Let me tell you a few anecdotes.

• Just few months into my first year one of the students writes on his door “IIT = Institute of Infinite Tension”. It may seem interesting but the fact is that the guy is making fun of the institute for which many would give their right hand to get into.
• 2^nd year, I enter into a senior hall and we are told that illumination work is important and that classes are not. Another feather in the cap of the student, whom the country is pinning her hopes on (also a lot of money at the same time).
• 3^rd year I came face to face with the stark reality of the number of suicides that’s happening in IITs. Do they ever think of their parents and loved ones but also do they ever think of the person who could not get a seat into because a moron wanted to check the waters first. Of these suicides one was a day before even registering for the first sem. Can’t even contemplate what the guy was thinking.
• 4^th year I see my batch mates wasting themselves in liquor, hash and all sorts of stuffs. There are people who have made wining and dining a daily routine.

The students described above form a considerable part of the IIT system.

Now let us contrast that to one person I know who could not make it to the IIT.

• She knew all about IIT and especially about IIT Kgp by the time she was in 9^th standard. I didn’t know the full form of IIT till well into my 12^th grade.
• For her getting into IIT was an honor, a way to keep up with her IITian brothers who wanted nothing more than to be the little IITian sis to them. Whereas most IITians are here because they want to end up with a high salary job.
• She would write IIT in her notebook and make a heart around it (all this when she was just 16), whereas here in IIT all we do is make caricatures of our professors in class (if we are present and awake that is)

One can argue that whatever her intentions were, there were better students who were able to make the cut and that we have to draw the line somewhere. But that isn’t what I am asking IIT to do. The contrast is to show that people loose motivation and the will to utilize the opportunity that they are given. What I want to ask is “Is one day rather a few hours enough to decide the course of one’s life?” Add to that the reservations that are in place, there are hundreds of deserving students who do not make it. Is this justifiable? Leaving the reservation issue as it has become redundant now, shouldn’t the IIT take some measures to pull out the weeds that are present?

I am not asking to remove reservations (if they can be, no one would be happier than me). But a reality check is necessary. There are less people who apply for quota than there are seats present. Every year many seats are left vacant just because there not enough students. Moreover leaving aside a handful of those quota guys most of them perform too poorly in studies and take years to complete their course. Even many of the non-quota guys aren’t living up to the expectations. Many are busy pumping chemicals (read alcohol and smoke) into their body. Can’t we do something? Now since we can’t stop them from coming in we can at least do the following.

We should be keeping a stricter check on the students’ performance both in and out of the classroom and this goes for all the students. And if a person is too below the par he should be relieved of the pressure of being in IIT. We can do that by having a minimum level of CGPA and extra academic activities to be done. This will ensure that IITians are on their toes always.

Also every seat that is vacated (or left vacant), should be filled with students from other college who are in same year so that more students (even if a handful of them) can be a part of the dream that they saw. This system known as lateral admission is being followed in many institutes including a few in India. Under this a student can get transferred from his current college to a relatively better one by giving a test and can continue his studies from where he leaves them. This would require all the institutes of India to have a similar guideline and structure but that shouldn’t be difficult considering what else we can do when we really want to.

All I hope is that someone who has the power to be reads this and is able to do something about it, so that more number of students can be a part of IIT, a dream that they have cherished since childhood. It may give parents another chance to see their children counted among the best and (most importantly of all) so that no girl ever cries on entering the SN Hall just because she could not be a part of it.