The IIT experience

Yes, that`s the point of these pressure cooker schools. There is something like this in Pakistan, called `IBA`. The ideas were similar--put a lot of pressure, then some more. End result is a very tough cookie. These institutes don`t produce thinkers, they produce `do-ers`, which is fine, except if you think that we have a surfeit of `do-ers` who keep doing the same things, whereas we need some creative thinkers who can brainstorm us out of the issues of this century. If you get to this point, then all hell breaks lose. Seems like you are here...:).

What bothers me most is the values that places like this propound. While the Third World, bends over backwards to mimic the Corporate led success of the First World, the thinkers in the First World are on a different planet all together. Which means, we need thinkers as much as do-ers in India/Pakistan. Excellence in obtaining factual knowledge is great, but true genius lies in creative thought.

Rgds

Saima

Re: # 2
Babbu, i thought you would ignore reading the following response that i posted after your argument with tahmed on ``Indian Scholarships for Outstanding Pakistani Students``

Here it comes:

Re: # 140

Indian Scholarships for Outstanding Pakistani Students

I actually agree with both of u. Ballu and tahmed...First off: this longing friendship has to start in immaturity --turst my guys it takes LONG for someone to heartedly accept eachother even if one is at fault. Secondly, if not in immaturity than the mature minds (many times) take too long to learn. The leftover matures who are capable enough to bring about friendship will not make enough movement; thus, no major influence.

:) Hope this settles the argument.

PS. You guys fight like kids here. Let`s act mature hun. Pakistan/India are comparable only in very few terms > gota look at geographics too (Maturity needed to understand :D)

However, considering the current world-wide-muslim state, Pakistan is not doing too poorly as a developing country.

Overall, I certainly would appreciate some common sense being used.

RB

My understanding was IIT Kharagpur was a notch below the other IITs - Kanpur, Madras, Bombay and Delhi. I was told that the non-teaching staff had a greater say on the campus than the professors.

Back in the 70s, IIT graduates went on to an MBA at IIM and became brand managers at Godrej selling soap.

But then they had sold their souls (and any chance of a normal adolescence) to get into an IIT so selling comes naturally to them.

The food at RK Hall (the graduate student dormitory) was better than at the undergrad cafeterias.

You made the mistake of doing your BTech at IIT-Kharagpur instead of your MTech or PhD.

Quote : ``The classrooms are filthy. There is no projector, no PC, no nothing, just the wooden benches and blackboards that were there over 30 years ago.

The labs have hardly more equipment today than existed at my time.

The engineering facilities are no where near what any International Technology Institute should consider as the bare minimum.``


Inspite of the .001 sucess rate of getting an IIT seat, IITs do not yet produce sufficient graduates who dedicate their lives to India. And it seems to need just about the money to start any engineering college. So why dont we have more IITs, or at least engineering colleges equal to them? Is it the lack of teaching ( since previous graduates have been spirited away abroad? )

#1 by SaimaShah on November 24, 2006 4:59pm PT

The pakis schools produce thinkers of the jihadi sort...

Try going through a list of startups founded by IIT grads...

The two qualities that are instilled in students i.e Humbleness and Hardwork are all they need to be succesful.
But i dont understand why are they denied good food and decent environment. With such a successful alumni base, even if the government is not doing anything, the alumni should do. In my B School in Lahore, there s a strong tradition of alumni classes donating to build a class room or a lab with all amenities and maintaining it. Every class has made a fund of its own. So if you visit the school, u ll see planks outside various labs that this lab was built and eqipped by mba class of 99 etc etc.

PAKISTANI HUMOUR

---

This is a joke which appeared in a blog some years back

In a not-so-significant development, Mr. Pervert Mushrough, the Prime-Sinister of Pakistan, has announced that Pakistan is going to establish Institutes of International excellence in the lines of IITs (Indian Institute of Technology). Lamenting that India has forged far ahead with its core competence in IT (Information Technology), Mr. Mushrough stressed the need to develop Pakistan`s inherent strength in IT (International Terrorism) as well. To be known as PITs (Pakistan Institute of Terrorism), these centers will impart Training in bleeding-edge technologies to brain-washed aspirants. Stressing the need for strict quality control, he said a nation-wide entrance exam. called JEE (Jehadi Entrance Exam.) will be conducted throughout the year to identify school-dropouts for this unique program. Mr. Pervert was hopeful that these Institutes will meet the long-standing demands of domestic IT companies like LeT and JeM.

Interesting that the facilities at IITs are of such pathetic standard. I had thought these IITs would be something like LUMS which is more on the lines of MIT as far as facilities are concerned. But it is indeed commendable in the characteristics these produce in their graduates which appear more geared towards a competetive vocational environment than nurturing creative thought. But still ... quite an achievement.

Re: # 10

Yes, Zeemax. Your question is harder to answer. To answer why IBA couldn`t make me into an Investment banker is: 1. My mother and my father who are very liberal 2. Ready access to Literature 3. Ghalib. Ghalib is a category on his own, apart from other poets. But IBA`s early grounding has supported me through my career and made subsequent academic forays fairly easy. I wish though that they had provided more lifeskills, philosophical grounding and attempted to at least discuss the moral questions and the big quandries facing industrialization. (Yet, business/tech schools seem to be quite afraid of discussing and introducing Ethics and philosophy). And while doing so, I wish they had been just a bit nicer to young people. It isn`t that I believe young people should not face hardship or reality. It is because I believe that when people lose trust in themselves that a crime to humanity is committed. Young people have very tender egos, over criticism damages their spirit and faith in themselves, always making it harder for them to do the right thing or think independently.

Oh ... just saw #1 by SaimaShah. That`s what I mean and she pretty much sums it up. I guess this is why even in the IT field, the creative software designers are all from Eastern Europe, particularly Romania. It must be their educational system which places creativity over competition as priority.

And yes Saima, IBA does NOT produce thinkers. Our current PM is an IBA graduate... so we all know that.

But you`re one too ... isn`t it? Guess they didn`t work hard enough on you ... couldn`t sterilize your `thinking` germ.

#4
[The food at RK Hall (the graduate student dormitory) was better than at the undergrad cafeterias.]

Ama yaar, that`s not a grad student dorm, unless they made it so later!

Darn, darn, darn!

What will they do next?!! Start putting in the women there too?!!!

Darn, darn, darn!

#11 by bjkumar on November 25, 2006 4:57am PT

{#4
[The food at RK Hall (the graduate student dormitory) was better than at the undergrad cafeterias.]

Ama yaar, that`s not a grad student dorm, unless they made it so later!}

Oops, RP Hall! My bad!

{What will they do next?!! Start putting in the women there too?!!!}

Women? I believe the general term of reference is ``she-male``.

Re: # 13

Jang,

That`s hilarious. LOL.

so there were three graduates, one from (harimaus) anna engg college, one from MIT and one from IIT. they were asked the same question..how do you reverse an AC motor. harimaus school chap says, you have to reverse the widings on one phase. the MIT grad says you will need to invert the state-space matrix. the IIT (under)graduate who is too busy reading bihari pondies (porn) says ``ama yar just look at the motor the other way and close the door behind you``.