It’s only words

Social, economic and scientific development of human beings can be attributed unarguably to the development of communication methodology by our ancestors. People used to communicate by various means, including body gestures and various pictorial depictions. This lead to the evolution of languages, which have always played a vital role in our progress. Written literature, generally used as a long term communication medium, can still not substitute the spoken words. Many times over, a spoken sentence can have a larger impact than a written one. Today’s generation can understand this in a better manner, after all, we have so many people saying so many things, and those so many things are leading to so many outcomes, but these so many outcomes usually have only one destination, that is “Naught”.
It is only through his speech that Adolf Hitler could gather his army, Mahatma Gandhi could address thousands of Indians, and Martin Luther King Jr could fight for a noble cause. Even Hindu mythology is not aloof from the importance of speech. It is widely believed that Vedas were initially passed orally from one generation to another. This is why they are also known as “Shrutis”. Bhagwat Gita is said to be a verbal communication by Lord Krishna to Arjun. Even Hindu, Islamic, Christian and Sikh prayers often employ our tongues, than just eyes. No wonder, why everybody makes extensive use of this tool to achieve almost every goal. No wonder why Osama bin Laden releases a new audio/video every now and then, giving a new reason for Bollywood, which releases maximum movies every year, to envy him. George Bush gets a spat by media persons in India and China, for his alleged comment on suddenly emerged eating habits of people in these countries, and Parvez Musharraf or Mr. Gilani of Pakistan give all the winners in Laughter Challenge show a run for money, by commenting that cross-border terrorism is not a reality. Speech is a tool that never fails and gives instant result. Consider the statement made by so called “protector” of Maharashtra people and culture, Mr. Raj Thakrey about North Indians, then about Mr. Amitabh Bachchan, then telling North Indian Students to leave Maharashtra and gaining instant popularity (it doesn’t matter how tainted it is in the eyes of rational educated people). Then there was a case of some south Indian actress Khushboo commenting on pre-marital sex (yes, the same so called controversial actress, otherwise I would have never known her like many others). Aamir Khan, L. K. Adwani, Arjun Singh, Bal Thakrey....the list never ends. Everybody has something to say, and a lot many people have got a lot more to do afterwards, from clogging already deadlocked courts to running on the streets with naked swords in their hands.
I so wish that these educated people, who comment without thinking of a consequence, brought to justice by a speedy trial. People who enflame the fire of communal, racial, or religious outbursts be the first ones to face what normal people face in the form of riots. I have a better option for those who file a court case for a petty personal belief of a self proclaimed celebrity..... “mind your own business”, and those who try to defend these comments by pretending to be Dr. B. R. Ambedkar in their statements, “We have Right to Speech”, to learn about the Constitution of India, where Fundamental Rights are not taken for granted. They have a set of conditions attached.
It is a shame that everybody is trying to be God for a small section of people and Demon for others, as in both the cases, his or her statement is going to fetch him or her immense popularity, that is required in order to be a celebrity. Gone are the days of “Panchatantra” and “Hitopadesha”, where it was a basic teaching to think before speaking. Today, you just need to speak, and others have to act. Thinking, if any, is saved for planning on what to speak so as to spread maximum unrest among those whose speeches have never made an impact in recent past. It is really only words that cause infinite damage, in every form.....direct or implied.

Brain (in) Drain

The term “Brain Drain” is not new to IITs. For decades we all have been crying to prevent IITians from leaving the country, but as always, we have only been crying, not doing anything. Thanks to IITs for taking initiative at last. This has not only provided a new ground for the new students, but also thrown open a new dimension for alumni to be explored.
Like any good philanthropist, IITs had kept their efforts under the wrap, unless the Government of India gave green signal to Right to Information Act (RTI). One RTI application was immediately filed for the cut-off marks for IIT-JEE 2006 by someone who had absolutely no idea as to what blunder he is headed to. When the data got public, it was a shock to many as a student scoring very high in two subjects but missed the cut-off by one or two marks in one subject, was not selected, while a student scoring just the minimum marks decided by the divine intervention of a professor in IIT Kharagpur (the IIT which conducted JEE that year), was chosen. The RTI applicant failed to see the God’s grace in the words of the professor and asked for the explanation of the method employed to reach the cut-off. The professor, realising the limitations of a lesser mortal, gave all the statistical tools that he was aware of, thinking that this at least is going to confuse everybody, if not convince any. Alas! Had the professor known that God’s counterpart also has some representation in the world, which would surprisingly know statistics, he would have clearly said that God ordered him to set this cut-off in his dream, but this never happened, and the RTI applicant went to Calcutta High Court against the Prof. This resulted in single digit cut-off marks in JEE 2007. How ignorant was the RTI applicant, but thanks to him, it is only because of him that we are aware of the responsibility IITs have taken to create social “robots” at large. What else can we say to one of the most competitive undergraduate entrance examinations in the world? Is it really about “paas or fail”, the culture heavily criticised by many? IITs have realised that they can show new career doors to the likes of Narayanmurty’s son, who went to Carnegie Mellon because he “could not make it to IIT”. Many people have gone to study at other world’s most reputed colleges. The elder brother of one of my friends went to Dartmouth to study engineering because he was not selected in IIT. After one and a half years of his undergraduate education there, he realised that he fits in journalism, and not in engineering. He changed his major, and is now working in one of the most prestigious newspapers in the world. He is happy and successful, and thanks IITs for not taking him in. “I wouldn’t have been able to do so in IIT, everything is so fixed there”, as he puts it. Yes, everything is fixed here, form cut-offs to CGPAs and CPIs, everything has this fixed tag attached, but still, IITs have made many careers like this. Well, if you belong to a middle class family, if you cannot afford another quality backup, if you fail to get so called “cut-off” marks in any subject (it doesn’t matter if you top in Math and Physics and you intend to study Computer Science and Engineering, but missed the Chemistry cut-off by one mark), then “thou art damned”. You simply don’t deserve it. This is the way social robots are created, not taking humanitarian aspects. Who cares, we breed horses here. Of course there are exceptions, but most of the aberrant handful success stories like writers are of peculiar age group, that may be called ‘old’ by many, save Chetan Bhagat. The person who fails to be a robot or a horse and who fails to compromise on his expectations but have come to IITs just because he heard it to be a “nice place”, commits suicide. Thanks to IITs once again, this person would never have made a good software engineer, or would never have cracked CAT, or would never have gone to US for his MS/PhD and then stayed there.
Since the inception in 1956, IITs have come a long way to one of the brands that India boasts today. Unarguably, they are centres that impart excellent technical education. I have many friends who hold IIT degrees. I have seen a tint of pride in their and their family members’ eyes. A joke at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) says that it (MIT) is run by an IIT Kanpur mafia, which is true to an extent, as it is not astonishing to see around 500 Indians at MIT at any time, including distinguished faculty members. From Narayanmurty to Vinod Khosla, it is brand IIT. No wonder whenever government decides something about this institute, a loud cry follows. But recent events have only given a new definition to the term “Brain-Drain”. It is not just fledging the IITians, it is literally throwing a creative and intelligent human brain to a drain.