Losing my Religion

Losing My Religion

“IIT’s are turning into IIM’s,” said the apparently pessimistic and profound man. Many question the exaggerated thought process behind the increasingly popular viewpoint. I would prefer to reinforce it and attempt to prove that the drastic overhaul of an engineering student’s mentality suggested by the aforementioned prophecy is indeed underestimated.

A simple walk down our hallowed hallways, compels us to observe poster after poster in colored A3’s, depicting some excited 2^nd yearite’s ingenuity (or the lack of it) Each MSWord and Adobe Photoshop creation screaming out the overwhelming need to be different, to stand out. I might be old fashioned but, something new in IIT everyday somehow doesn’t imply that there’s something worthwhile in IIT everyday. Are we lost amongst the plethora of fests and the half a billion posts of responsibility. Each one of the latter hijacked by the desire to prove his teamwork, leadership, innovative approach and open ended problem solving attributes; yet achieving tangible results.

IITians have great analytical abilities especially so when provided with an objective target to achieve, whether its solving last 20 years of JEE papers or replicating hordes of CV’s on the LAN. An IITian’s flexibility is beyond comprehension and so is his naivety. The former proved by how each one of us honestly believes that we can over a period of 4 earnest years compile a list of achievements resembling the past precedent of prerequisites for making it big. The latter proved by how we fail to understand that the diminutive piece of paper reflects who we really are and not what we desperately want to be.

Whether its obscure organizations with social responsibilities organizing pseudo cultural fests or each post holder conceptualizing and organizing a brand new event or coordinators and captains confusing authority for power, this is the age of the self imposed frustu fighters. I remember how “frust” was a term of endearment and not a weird concoction of disgust and admiration. The iconic status thrust upon the “ legendary frustu fighter” and the “lonely gentleman” are tags which have done more harm than good. Perhaps its manifestation in 2^nd and 3^rd yearites attending each and every pre-placement talk (and not only for the free food) is not something they would like for us to accredit them with.

By the end of our tenure each one us will be one of the following; the poltu baaz, the seemingly all knowing attatchee, the exchange frustu fighter, the withdrawn philosopher or the omnipresent cool dude who’s seen it all. With my dedications complete its time to be brutally honest. You could say this Jerry Maguire’esque piece of writing draws from a personal realization or perhaps I’m finally as laid back as I was in my 1^st sem. Maybe this system is perfection at its best, an evolution of an educational system with some of the best minds of the country or maybe I’m the only who finds it appaling when I walk across a chart paper poster which reads “Save a Life … B+ boold needed for platelet count of 1900 … … … … … NSS hours guaranteed.”