My Harvard Reunion

#76 by delhiwala on July 4, 2005 7:37pm PT


As far as elitism of IIT/IAS is concerned, I observered it by meeting and interacting with them.


You seem to be moving the goalposts..Now you`ve added IAS to the mix...anyway..Did you interact with them before of after they got into the IIT...if they were snobbish SOBs before they got in, you`d have a point...

Fact is, a lot of average middle class students work their tails off to get into the IITs..the IITs are their ticket out of the middle class...

Same thing with the NBA...lots of poor black kids work their tails off to make it in the NBA...does the NBA promote elitism? the NHL sure as heck does...not many kids from the hood who can afford the gear and the facilities....

Re: # 90
You and others have tried to steer the conversation with a twist.
It is obvious that sudents themselves might not be elitist but once they graduate they are called IITians etc. That is where the elitism comes from.

Re: # 91
What an idiot !
So if they should not be called IITians then what else can you call them? And by the way, aren`t harvard graduates are called harvard graduates for rest of their lives? And aren`t yale graduates called yalies? So what is so elite about an IITian being called IITian?

Re: # 92
Either you have ADD or you are just trying to score a point that is not clear to me.

Finale:
In my opinion based on my experiences, an IIT B. Tech graduate in India, when in job can be expected to behave more elitist/snobbish than an American graduate from Harvard or some other so called Ivy leagues. This could be due to cultural differences also. Of course there are exceptions to this statement.

GREAT JOB DILLIDOST!
:)

Re: # 87
You are learning quickly from Salim ;)

i did know one harvard grad..he was even in the crimson crew, who drove a cab. he was an english major, and could only get a secy type job...for wall-street trainees with english major you needed some family influence he claimed. so he was enrolled in big-rig school while driving a cab, since it paid better than secy jobs, and more fun. like all lit majors he was collecting material for his great novel ;-)

#81 hmm i see, no more ``chillians`` to harvard then? heh heh..

This is what a harvard grad has written??.I shall not send my children to harvard.To community college it is.And they are getting their wordly education on the streets of Mumbai.No b*llshit here, people.

Re: # 76
If I remember correctly, percentage of middle class and poor students in IITs is much higher than the same in Harvard/Cambridge etc. (Please compare the tution fees of IITs with Harvard/Cambridge). Do you agree with this fact or not? If you do, then how do IITs become more elitist than Harvard?

Secondly, If YOU THINK that IIT educated students become elitist AFTER they graduate from that institute, that still does NOT make IITs THEMSELVES elitist or promoters of elitism. Please look up the definition of elitism. They may become elitist in their LATER lives, but in no way do you have to have an elite background to get into IITs. In fact, most of the students in IITs are from middle class. The rest are from poor classes. The rich elite kids attend Harvard and Cambridge because their daddies can afford it, whether the kids have brains or not.

MR shobig AKA Khamkhwa:
Even if my English is bad, so who gives a flying ...k.
There are many students at Harvard whose English is not that good, does`nt mean that they will be kicked out or cannot be brilliant.

Your upbringing was probably in a society that has taught you that English is a upper strata language and in order to go to Harvard you have to know very good English. If that were the case Japaneese and South American students would never get good grades.

Do a reality check.

English is very important to know as the medium of instruction is English. Also, I am not going to write novels or be journalist.

Dillidost,
Very well-written and interesting article. I enjoyed your constant questioning of what you observe and how you attempt to provide rational answers.
I found the following very amusing:

{``You could still see some old timers hitting on young girl ushers who did not seem to mind the advances from old men. Frankly I never understood why they had 18 year old girls as ushers for every reunion tent.``}

Good job!

Salim Ahmed Chauhan

``Brazilians and Chilians``.. i see Brazilians everywhere..from basura cleaners to franchise sub-shop owners. But who are these chilians? Are you refering to Mexicans, who eat a lot of chiles?

Hey Delhiwala,
I attended my graduation ceremony on Saturday, so, this feels so apt at the moment :)
Only real annoying part was the guest speaker who spoke on `trade liberalisation-multilateralism V. regionalism`, soo strange!! I missed the shit school speeches where everyone would tell us what strong ladies we could be :)

Romair,

Indeed. :)

Saminashah #: “Community college students KNOW the difference b/n ``there`` and ``their``...lets not drag them into Delheewallah`s atrocious grammar....”

“If you want to work for Steve Jobs, go to college. If you want to be Steve Jobs, drop out.”

“Stanford University graduates were hit with an unlikely commencement message on Sunday. Jobs, founder of both Apple Computer and Pixar Studios, told the nearly 5,000 graduates that dropping out of college was one of his best decisions ever. Jobs said dropping out gave him more time to take courses in things like calligraphy. And to make a bazillion dollars.”

If one carries out a quick analysis of some of the biggest business leaders in the world, one could almost make an argument that the true qualification that is required is to either quit college or go to a community college. There is an interesting book called the Millionaire next door, which highlights some interesting facts about Millionaires, and how many of them are only high-school grads……….

Bill Gates never completed his degree at Harvard. Michael Dell didn’t complete his in Texas. Steve Ballmer dropped out of Stanford Business School. Larry Ellison of Oracle used to be a bum, with no college degree. Steve Jobs dropped out of Reed College…………Ted Turner was expelled from Brown University. Collen Powell, failed in one academic program after another.

Prince Waleed-bin-Talaal, rated the second best investor in the world, and fifth richest man in the world, by Fortune, is a graduate of a community college in San Jose. An Indian entrepreneur, I am subcontracting for right now, has around 50 people deployed on a project. Each one of us is significantly more academically qualified than him. He has a community college degree, yet pays all our salaries !!