Anarchic Analogy

Why do IITians poke their nose into everything? Do they think that they are the best that the country has to offer? Or is it that the rest of us are totally worthless? Now before you ask, why am I ranting and panting, this is about a book that I recently read... Its called Above Average, which if anything, is way below average. Probably, it’s not the author’s (Amitabha Bagchi) fault; he was just emulating what his fellow mate, Chetan Bhagat did. (He not only got away but also made tons of money with it.)

Probably, its not even Chetan’s fault that the book did well (commercially, I mean)... Probably, it’s our fault. Yes, our collective fault. The importance that we have accorded to technical education, especially engineering, is absolute madness. Just take a trip down, Hauz Khas in Delhi, and you’ll find scores of youngsters, with here- and-there moustaches with a bag carelessly slung across their shoulders, entering the numerous FIITJEEs that throng the area. Go to any school, and you’ll find half the class missing...Why? Well, they are all preparing for the entrance exams, and school studies are just not worth it!

Catch hold of one, and ask him. Why?

Just why does want to be an engineer? 6 out of ten would say, they don’t have an idea. Three would say their parents asked them do so, and one smarty-pants would push his spectacles up, look at you with an air of superiority, and would say, ‘I just love computers. So I wanna be one a Software Engineer.’ Ask him, why IIT? The answer, ‘Oh its the best...that is why.’ And what’s so good about it? They would ramble something about professors and the curriculum, and before you can ask a counter question, they would quietly slip away, making some excuse about getting late for a class or something like that.

The truth is, that none of them actually have a reason. All they know is that, IIT is the first step to a commercially successful career. IITs, IIMs, and then a plush job with Goldnam Sachs or a Lehman Bros. (Hmmm.... Wonder, if its still at the top of the list!!) Probably, their thought about the ladder is not completely wrong. But then, have we ever wondered why has success been reduced to mere numbers, and even it has been, then why all the zeroes get added only to a specific sector/profession? ( Zero...Ask Fuld!!) Why is a course that teaches you to crunch numbers being accorded a higher status than any other form of education? And is education worthwhile only if it translates into numbers? And why, only certain degrees are able to make that transition, while others are stuck at the doldrums?

These are some of the questions, that we need to think about...consciously, collectively. And if we don’t arrive at the answers soon, than probably we’ll have to live through the ignominy of reading/listening trash from people like Chetan & Amitabha, bragging...and adding to the myth.