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Thursday, June 17, 2010

An appeal not to abolish JEE ( Joint Entrance Examination for IITs).

An appeal not to abolish JEE ( Joint Entrance Examination for IITs).

To:  Members of Parliament of India - Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha
Dr Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India,
Mr. Kapil Sibal, Union Minister of Human Resources & Development,
Mrs. Sushma Swaraj, Leader of the Opposition,
Smt. Meira Kumar, Speaker of the House
Members of the Parliament in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha,
State Education Ministers, Chairman of the UGC,
Directors of all IITs and Citizens of India.

Petition Created on 5th April 2010.

Subject : An appeal not to abolish a proven system called JEE (Joint Entrance Examination for IITs).

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, our first Prime Minister and a great visionary, created the five IITs, getting UNESCO, USA, Germany, UK & Russia to fund, furbish, staff and nurture them in the initial years. Pandit Nehru built them on the lines of premier institutions world wide. The dream was to kickstart and accelerate a process that would identify talented high school graduates and provide them a high quality education in engineering.

To qualify for the JEE (Joint Entrance Exam for IITs) every applicant must have passed the final examination of the 10+2 system (or equivalent) with Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. There was no emphasis on overall performance at high school and none on student’s educational background, promoting a level playing field for students from nooks and corners of India.

Over the past 50 years, 175,000 graduates of the IITs have established IIT as a Global Brand, facilitated by the autonomous structure & funds granted to the IITs by the Government of India. This valuable Brand name arose out of the graduates being able to compete in the global market place, where merit and capability are the only measures that matter. The success of IIT alumni who have done the Nation proud belongs to the Indian Government, the IITs themselves and also the Indian Tax Payers, whose money was invested unconditionally by GoI in IITs for five decades.

Whilst all of the above share credit for the success of the IITs, basic marketing principles would say that a Global Brand is created more by its graduates and the benefits that those alumni bring to India and the world at large, than any other single entity; thus, IIT Alumni is a critically important group to consider.

Such excellence and recognition could not have been achieved over a sustained period of 50 years, without the help of the selection process. The key ingredient to the IIT system is the JEE ( Joint Entrance Examination ), that has helped pick truly gifted students for 50 years for a B.Tech Degree. Quality materials are needed to develop a quality product, and JEE does just that, selecting from about 400,000 aspirants annually, the cream of the nation to study at IITs.

Whilst JEE is a key ingredient, the IIT Brand is a recognition of the contribution of IITians to the Global society. IIT Alumni have created many new companies and have served the nation by introducing state of the art technologies. They have helped generate several million jobs over the last 50 years globally, with almost 75% of those jobs being created in India.

Quoting French Nobel Prize winner for literature in 1921, Anatole France “To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.” The IIT Brand has inspired passionate young Indians to dream big, believe in themselves and aspire with confidence.

In accordance with the IIT Act, the President of India initiated a review of the IIT system in 2004 by a Committee consisting of :

Prof. Rama Rao, former Vice Chancellor, University of Hyderabad;
R. Chidambaram, then Principal Scientific Advisor;
Dr G. Mehta, Director Indian Institute of Science;
Dr S.K.Joshi, National Physical Laboratory;
A. Mahindra, Chairman Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd;
and C.K.Birla, Chairman Hindustan Motors

and they had concluded that :

“JEE is singularly responsible for accomplishing the brand image of India” and “the system which has been put into place to conduct the JEE exam should NOT be disturbed and that a group be formed of senior IIT professors who have been associated with the JEE to look into some reforms.”

There has been no review since and nothing could have changed to warrant abolition of JEE by 2013 as reported by the media in recent times.

Any system that has consistently delivered high on career development can be prone to abuse. There have been allegations of some misuse of the JEE too. Private coaching classes have mushroomed around the country to circumvent JEE methodologies used to identify excellence. This needs to be fixed.

However abolishing JEE would be a case of "throwing the baby out with the bath water". We are sure you will see our appeal is fair, in the best interest of the nation and children of the future.

There is a good case for the proposed Common Entrance Test (CET) eliminating the need for one student to take multiple exams for example the CBSE Board 10+2, IIT JEE, BITS Pilani, AIEEE, State Level MH-CET and private college entrance tests and then having to attend in-person interviews for seat allotments for example in Trichy (TN), Warrangal (AP), Pilani ( Rajhastan), Wakaranghat (HP), Delhi, Mumbai and more.

However with hurdles like 18 official languages, many backward class students deserving reservation and a large disparity between rich and poor in terms of opportunities & awareness, implementing CET will be a challenge; it further compounds the risk of placing all eggs in one basket called the CET, eliminating free choice. What happens to a clever student who for reasons beyond his control does badly in the CET or is forced to miss CET. Does he or she not deserve a few more options ?

CET will grade a million students whilst JEE differentiates between the top 10000 students by testing their native intelligence. Even if CET is established, the need for JEE will not diminish as it is a unique high grade filtering process. JEE is unique in testing complex problem solving skills requiring abstract & lateral thinking while other entrance exams test knowledge.

JEE is very different from 10+2 board exams in that JEE tests a students raw intelligence, which is an individual's ability to grasp abstract concepts, recognize patterns plus apply prior knowledge while 10+2 school board exams test knowledge acquired at school. Restricting entry to JEE by raising the qualifying marks from 60% to 85 % in 10+2 exams as is being considered is a retrograde step as it will deny IITs the benefit of selecting some very clever and creative students, favouring those who only excel in examinations. Should such talented students be denied the opportunity of a lifetime for an affordable and superlative education ?.

If the current JEE format allows any form of "beating the system", then what is essential is to plug the loopholes. If, as alleged, JEE standards may have been compromised by the very people meant to guard the system, it is not a system failure, but a violation of ethics that requires eradication. The system needs to be streamlined to plug the loopholes without compromising on any processes which ensure standards.

JEE is the Gold Standard for Engineering entrance exam and should stay. This appeal is for GoI to set up an “ Independent Commission ” to correct the flaws and abuses in the JEE system and not to abolish the methodology.

To abolish the JEE would be tantamount to finding a key ingredient of a winning formula and removing it. There is no scientific basis whatsoever for doing this, no scientific evidence whatsoever that the Global IIT brand would be improved, and no scientific evidence whatsoever that any generally accepted objective would be achieved. Indeed, such a move flies directly in the face of any evidence-based thinking that has been put forward.

The Nation will be indebted to the Ministers of GoI, for making the right decision “Not to Abolish JEE” and that JEE, the Gold Standard, will continue to serve our children of future generations.

We the undersigned "Save JEE Team of Volunteers", offer our services to the nation to help investigate, redesign and develop a fool proof and just "JEE" system.

Ram Krishnaswamy, B.Tech 1970, IIT Madras, M. Bldg. Sc. Sydney University, MIE.Aust., MAAS.,
1990-97 Managing Director- Environmental Noise control Pty Ltd.
1997-2000 Managing Director - Noise Control Australia Pty Ltd.
Currently: Managing Director – NoDesCo, Sydney, Australia.

Arvind Singh, B.Tech 1993, IIT Kanpur
Currently: Software Development Lead and Principal Architect, Marshall Watson , Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA

B.K.Syngal, B.Tech (Hons)1961, M.Tech 1962 IIT Kharagpur, India,
C.Eng (UK), M.I.E.E. (UK), Sr. M.I.E.E.E. (USA), and F.I.ET.E. (India), Member London Court of International Arbitration.
1991-98: Chairman and Managing Director of Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (VSNL), 1998-2001: Chairman, Reliance Telecom,
2001-2007: Vice Chairman, BPL Communications Limited, Currently: Sr. Principal Dua Consulting, India

Barun Kumar, B.Tech 1992, IIT Kanpur, Currently: DGM, Reva Electric Car Company, India

Dr. Beheruz N. Sethna, B.Tech, 1971, IIT Bombay, MBA, 1971, IIM Ahmedabad, M.Phil., Columbia University, Ph.D., Columbia University,
Professor and President of The University of West Georgia, with two terms served as Interim Executive / Senior Vice Chancellor of the University System of Georgia
(Dr. Sethna is the first Indian-born President ever of any U.S. University)

Chidambaram Raghavan, B.Tech. 1974 IIT Madras, M.Sc in Engg 1976 Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland USA
1978-85: Worked in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), 1985-06: Principal Research Engineer at Flow International Corporation, Kent, Washington
Currently: Consultant for Aerospace and Advanced Systems in India to Flow International Corporation, India

Gajendra Sidana, B.Tech 2006, IIT Madras, Currently: Process Safety Engineer, Hazira LNG Pvt. Ltd (a Shell & Total Joint Venture), India

Dr. G.S.Parthasarathy, M.Tech 1969, IIT Madras, Prof in Civil Engineering, M.S.University of Baroda, Gujarat, India

Dr. Harwant Singh Chhabra, B.Tech1969, IIT Madras, MBA, Fellow IIM Ahmedabad, Former Professor, NITIE and IIML, Currently: President, Lemonte Acquisitions Houston, USA

Jairam Sampath, B.Tech 1985 - IIT Madras, PGDM 1989 - IIM Ahmedabad, Currently: CMO - iPath Technologies, India

Dr. Narayana Prakash R.Saligram, B.E 1976 (NITK, Suratkal), M.Tech1980 IIT Bombay, PhD 1993(IISc), Currently: VP (Operations) Plug Power Energy India Pvt. Ltd., India.

Navroze Havewala, B.E, PGDM – IIM Bangalore, Currently: Chief Executive of Mazda Consultants, India.

Padmanabh Sahasrabudhe, B.E 1999 JNEC, M.Tech 2001, IIT Bombay, Currently: Senior Member of Technical Staff in Oracle USA.

Dr. P R Swarup, B.Tech 1975, IIT Kanpur, Ph.D Rajeev Gandhi Technical University, Bhopal, D.Sc. (Honoris Causa)
1975-96 Worked on Physical Infrastructure Construction Projects in India and overseas
Currently: Director General, Construction Industry Development Council, New Delhi, India

Raghav Mittal, M.Tech [Dual Degree] 2004, IIT Kharaghpur, Managing Director Extra Edge Infomedia Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi, Editor UPTU WATCH, Trustee & Chairman Paarth Educational Foundation, Mathura, Mentor Paarth Educational Services, Mathura, Advisor: Braj Chikitsa Sansthan; BSA College of Engineering & Technology, Mathura , Trustee & Project Coordinator, The Braj Foundation , Secretary, Braj Rakshak Dal . Member, District Vigilance Committee Mathura, Coordinator, Students' Forum for India's Heritage [SFIH], Convener, Bharat Bandhu Network [BBN], Member, Bharat Punarnirman Dal [BPD]

Dr. Raj Mutharasan B.Tech 1969, IIT Madras , M.S. Drexel University 1971, Ph.D. Drexel University 1973
Frank A. Fletcher Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Former Dean of Engineering, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Ramanan Ramamurti, B.Tech 1976, IIT Madras, Currently: Director - Nile Ltd., India

Ranjan Pant. IIT Kanpur B.Tech (1973). Currently, Chief Technology Officer at Powermax Global, Maryland, USA.
Involved in organizing IIT alumni activities in the US since 1998; Co-founder of Capital IIT (later Pan IIT association of Washington DC);
Co-chair of world's first major international IIT conference (Washington DC, 2002);
co-author of “IIT India's Intellectual Treasures” and forthcoming book “Global 101“ which features 101 IIT alumni making key global contributions

Sadashiv. K, B.Tech 1977, IIT Madras, MBA IIM Bangalore, Currently: Partner (ASEAN)-Climate Change & Sustainability Services, Ernst & Young, Singapore

Dr. Samir Kelekar, B.Tech 1983, IIT Bombay, MS 1987 Clemson University, USA, Phd 1994 Columbia University, NYC, USA.
Founder- Director of Teknotrends Software Pvt Ltd, Bangalore, India.

Dr. Sanat Agrawal, B.Tech 1988, IIT Kanpur,
Currently: Associate Professor, Mechanical Engg, Jaypee Institute of Engg and Technology (JIET), Madhya Pradesh, India.

Sanjay Jadhav, B.Tech 1989, IIT Bombay, MBA 2003, IIT Kanpur, currently Director on Golden Arch International Ltd., India
Guest faculty at National Power Training Institute , Project Director and Volunteer at Bharatshodh

Selvaraj Israel, B.Tech 1972, IIT Madras. Retd Engineer SG ISRO. Currently Researching Human Posture, India

Somayajula Achuta Ramaiah, B.Tech 1967, IIT Madras. Wing Commander (Retd) Indian Air Force, India

Somnath Bharti, MSc (IITD), LLB (Delhi University), Advocate, Supreme Court of India and Delhi High Court, Partner, Bharti & Associates (Advocates and Corporate Lawyers), India.
Former Secretary, IIT Delhi Alumni Association, Formerly Member, Senate, IIT Delhi, Founder, Save Vikram Buddhi Movement.

Dr. Sriram Parthasarathy, B.Tech 1982, IIT Madras, PhD 1998 Georgia Tech, India

Suresh Adina, B.Tech 1989, IIT Kharaghpur, MS 1992- MIT USA, MS 1998- NEU USA, Currently: MD Quickeagle Networks, USA

Udit Chaudhuri, BSc 1979, Univ of Delhi, Adv Dipl Mgt -Wolfgang Mewes Verlag, Strategy Consultant / Technical Writer / Lead Coordinator (SME Interim Management Program), India

Varada Raju Dharanipragada, B.Tech 1970, M.Tech 1974, IIT Madras
Currently : Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Gayatri Vidya Parishad College of Engineering, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India

Vickram Crishna, B. Tech 1975, IIT Delhi, P.G.D.M. 1977 IIM Calcutta, Chief Executive, Radiophony, India, Currently: Coordinator, Privacy Network in Asia, India.

Vikash Kodati, B.Tech 2002, IIT Guwahati , Currently: Technical Manager at Verasta – a subsidiary of Trilogy, USA.

Vinayak Markande, B.Tech 1980, IIT Bombay; DMS- University of Bombay
1993-96 : Project Manager- National Peroxides Ltd., Kalyan, Mumbai, 1996-05 : Sr. Project Manager- Larsen & Toubro Ltd., Baroda
Currently: Director / Proprietor - Perrin Valves Pvt. Ltd., Baroda, India

Sincerely,



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‘All NRIs aren’t quite as rich as you think we are’

By Ram Krishnaswamy

Editorial By churumuri


Every so often, Indian politicians and organisations call upon Non-Resident Indians and People of Indian Origin to plough their money back home. They are told to use their dollars to adopt villages and take part in social projects so as to make a difference in the land of their birth and origin.

The call presumes that NRIs and PIOs are rolling in cash. But says Ram Krishnaswamy, an IITian, this is a specious premise. NRIs, he says, aren’t as rich as most Indians think they are; the Indian middle-class is richer. And Indians working in lowly jobs in the Gulf are doing far more for the country than Indians in hi-tech jobs in the USA, UK and Australia.

Instead of looking for the greenbacks of the NRIs, India would be better served if it tried to use their grey cells.

***


RAM KRISHNASWAMY writes from Sydney, Australia: 


Two years ago, I attended a reception for a Union Minister who had come to Sydney to make a big speech asking all NRIs to invest big in India and to attend the annual NRI yatra that was to be held at Bombay.

The Minister was expecting NRIs to queue up and pledge millions if not billions as was done by some Indians in Hong Kong and South Africa. He was most disappointed with the NRIs in Australia.

When question time came, the audience were suggesting to the Minister that for them to come to India to attend the meeting, they needed reduced fares in Air-India as well as free accommodation in Bombay!

I just chuckled and left the meeting convinced that the Government had it all wrong. As I was leaving the Intercontinental Hotel, I was confronted by a Group of Sardars who were yelling “XYZ murdabad!”. They asked me why someone like me would attend a meeting and listen to a murderer. (It was a Congress minister, for sure.)


If truth has to be told, my reading is that people living in India, especially the middle class, have a lot more spare cash than Indian NRIs. It is a myth that NRIs have a money tree growing in their back yards.

The majority of recent NRIs came abroad as students and started life with a huge mortgage hanging over their heads to do their undergraduate or masters degree.

As students they work about 20 hours a week, which is legal, in restaurants, car washes, telemarketing companies, petrol stations or as taxi drivers, just making enough to pay rent and food bills. This goes on for three to four years. During this period they feel home sick and visit family at least twice in four years spending whatever funds they have saved or money that they do not have by borrowing from friends.

At age 25, they get their first job, mostly in IT, let us say for a gross annual salary of $30,000 and a net take-home pay of about $2000 per month. All their focus in the next few years is all about getting permanent residence (as in Australia) or a Green Card in USA. Many have a masters in IT and work as tellers in banks or drive taxis as a full time job.

At age 30, the lucky ones get their permanent residence, while the unlucky ones return home broke or go underground, becoming illegal migrants living in fear of being apprehended and deported. Also around age 30, they get married to partners back home as arranged by their parents or find partners locally and live in de facto relationships.

With both partners working the disposable income at home is improved and round $3,000 and $4,000 per month. But then they have to rent a small two bedroom flat at $1,200 a month and the food bill comes to about $800 a month even if they are living frugally.

Then comes the urge to own a car and along with it come car expenses like registration, insurance, repairs and the fuel bills. Plus there are utility bills like gas and electricity, clothing and entertainment to pay.


By the third week in most young NRI households, all funds are gone and they are using their credit cards and waiting anxiously for the next pay packet.

In other words it is hand-to-mouth living for most young couples, in what is basically a Credit Card Society. There is no such thing as savings, especially with low interest rates it is just not worth saving anything in a bank.


At age 35, comes the first child and at 40, most Indians who value education enroll their children in private convent or grammar schools, with annual school fees being at least around $12,000 a year. Imagine having three children and having to fork out $36,000 out of the net income after tax?

At age 40 also comes the dream to own a property and a 25 -year mortgage with interest rates on the rise year after year. A mortgage that will not get paid off even when the man is 65 years of age unless he pumps in a lot more than the minimum required.

In the 1980s, the banks were pretty strict about who they gave out loans to. They looked at the employment record and your savings record and insisted on a minimum 25% as deposit. Today the outlook of banks is different. Banks are queuing up to give massive loans to young couples, knowing pretty well that these youngsters may not be able to discharge the loans.

House loans of the order of $35,000 to $50,000 are very common with minimum monthly repayments of about $1,500 to $2,000 a month. Last financial year alone the banks repossessed as many as 6,000 properties from young couples for defaulting mortgage payments.

At age 50, if one is lucky, he has done well career wise and has gone up the ladder to earn say $100,000 or $150,000 a year. It is only at age 60 that one may get a breather with children completing degrees and also working part time while studying. Mortgage and loans have been discharged.

It all flies so fast that you realise that retirement is staring at you and you have not put aside enough funds in your nest egg for retirement.

Add to this equation the annual or biannual trips back home to India to attend weddings, deaths, etc besides holidays. Let us not forget that 95% of NRIs are employees and mere wage earners. Then there are the unfortunate ones who get sick or lose their partners (mostly divorces) or even lose their jobs.


I am reminded of an NRI who died suddenly of a heart attack leaving behind a wife who had never worked and two young school going children.

The society at large believed the man was a well-to-do businessman living in a two-storey mansion in an upmarket suburb, with his children going to private schools, and he and his wife driving the latest BMWs.

Appearances can be so deceptive at times. Within a week of his death, both cars were leased were repossessed and within a month the house was on the market being auctioned by the bank. As for his flourishing business, well it was running at a loss and had to be wound up totally.


While most friends sympathised, there was nothing any one could do to throw a safety net for this unlucky family. While this was the worst-case scenario, I am sure many are bordering on similar limits.

We then have another category of NRIs. Skilled workers like nurses, masons, carpenters, etc, who go to the Middle East. They earn pathetic wages, live in pigeon holes and live like slaves. They send money home for their wife and children, and save every penny to buy a property in their home town in India.

These are the NRIs who have boosted India’s economy as each and every one remits money on a regular basis. These people do not have an option of becoming citizens in the Middle East and have to return one day when their contract is terminated.

The Dinars and the Dirhams earned in the Middle East are much stronger than the greenback and hence the boom in real estates in States like Kerala.

Most of the NRI revenue to India comes from this group of people in the Middle East as compared to the NRIs in USA, UK, Australia, etc who have migrated for good and taken up citizenships.
All it takes for an NRI to show off in India while on a holiday is an air-ticket charged to the Visa card, one thousand dollars (Rs 45,000) to spend, a few gifts for the family, and a video camera. If this is a family of four it will take them a year to pay off the holiday expense using the credit card.

We also have the oldies like me, professional doctors and engineers who migrated about 30 years or more.

Most of us oldies have spent half our life time in the country we migrated to seeking a better life. Our children were all born here and educated here and settled here for life. To our children India is another holiday destination and not the mother land as it is to first generation migrants.

Even when we retire we will remain where our children are and look forward to the grand children. Some of us may have our feet in both countries and there are others who have adopted the new country as the motherland.

The question is, if the second generation Indians abroad are in fact NRIs. Most young NRIs born and brought up abroad, only associate with India when it comes to cricket but very little else and I do not blame them.

Given all this, now tell me how much money you can expect the million NRIs to plough into the 600,000 Indian villages?

It is unfair to assume that all NRIs are loaded and that they are tight with their money. The truth is that there is no money tree in their back yards. That NRIs are rich and loaded is a myth. Surely a small percentage have made big money but majority are just wage earners working for some one else.

The neo-rich NRIs have to show off to society how well they have done financially. It is a necessity to live in a posh suburb where real estate is expensive and to have an S-Class Merc or a couple of BMWs parked in the garage of a mansion with a swimming pool and a tennis court.

Try getting this class of Indians to adopt an Indian village and see what they have to say.

I believe the 300-million middle class people in India have much more spare cash than an average NRI.

Yes, I agree we need to do something to improve the wretched lives in the villages not by adopting villages or pouring your hard earned funds.

Charity, as we all know begins at home. If I have money to spare, will I give it to family members in India who are in financial strife or adopt some village ?

I do not believe in feeding the hungry fish but would like to teach them how to fish.

It is from this view point my batch mates have taken it upon ourselves to adopt a public high school in Alamathi village in Thiruvallur and teach them computers and graphics and web design. We also organise weekend coaching classes and the benefit is already showing in the school results of these children.

During my visit in 2004 we had these kids visit IIT Madras and I have made a pledge that the first student from this school who gets into IIT will be fully supported by me financially.

Here is a story that moves me and motivates me.

An army jeep driver returns to his village after 30 years in the army and finds that nothing has changed in his village and decides to do something about it. He is most definitely my hero and he is none other than Anna Hazare.

Last year we we had to raise Rs 1.5 lakh from our batch mates for the graduate dinner. Alumni in India were just as happy to donate Rs 5,000 as NRIs who donated US $100 each. Surely giving $100 from a $100,000 annual income (0.001) is much easier than donating Rs 5000 from an annual income of Rs 5 Lakhs ( 0.01)

I believe every individual should do whatever he is happy to and comfortable with. At age 60 most of us support one charity or the other. I am an ardent supporter of Jeevodaya in Madras which is a hospice for terminally ill destitute cancer patients and try to send Rs one lakh a year besides hosting the web site www.jeevodaya.com.

In Australia I support Salvation Army, Royal Blind society, Heart foundation and RSPCA by making a small annual contribution. My son Anand has adopted a child in Africa and sends money every month and this at age 23. I had nothing to do with this and I am most certainly a proud father.

Should I be adopting a village in India especially when I was brought up in the city of Madras ? I am not saying I will not but it seems far fetched.

If we IIT alumni are to give back something to society I do not think it is money but something tangible by using our collective brains.

(Thanks to Bhamy V. Shenoy)

 

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

In Remembrance of my Friend Ramanan IITM


A class apart

For some a stint at the IIT is not the realisation of a dream but the beginning of another, discovers SOUVIK CHOWDHURY




Old pals T. Muralidharan, H. Sitaram and R. Ramanan catch up with each other — Photo: P.V. Sivakumar
THERE ARE three types of engineers coming out of the Indian Institute of Technology. A `natural engineer', also called a blue-blooded one, who are people cut out particularly for engineering. The second category, which the IITs generate in large numbers, is a `research engineer', - these are people who devote their life to research and technological innovation; unfortunately much of it is done abroad. The third and the most interesting category, is an `accidental engineer'. He comes out of IIT to discover that he is a novelist, a vocalist or someone who can run a poultry farm better. H. Sitaram, an IIT Bombay alumnus, does exactly that.

By his own admission, he lost his way and ended up having an innings in IIT. T. Muralidharan, R. Ramanan and B. Vijay Kumar share his story. Chilled out, classical music crazy, multitalented, simply brilliant - the foursome represent a whole constituency, who did engineering to become something else - that, which is utterly divorced from engineering fundas they learnt at IIT.

"To a 15-year old straight out of school, if one says here's a challenge - have a crack at it. What else does he do than be in IIT - the best option after school," says Ramanan, CEO, Astra Microelectronics.

While Sitaram gave up his electrical engineering degree from IIT Bombay to engage in something as remotely related as poultry, Vijay - who loves the chills and thrills of life, changed lanes to become a rally-car driver for sometime. Directionless after completing his engineering, Muralidharan had a stint at IIM-Ahmedabad - the place, which he claims, "resulted in his growth", while Ramanan joined BHEL initially, keeping in mind the sooner he left the public sector the better were his chances of becoming a father.

Brilliant, the buzzword


"Intelligent, we all were," says Sitaram, now Head of Department (Printing) at ICFAI, adding, "but when one enters the IIT, the initial euphoria is so high that there is hardly any clarity on what one would do after four years."

Simply put, it takes extraordinary brilliance to get into IIT, clearing all the hurdles that require backbreaking preparation. Yet there are people who undergo all this to deviate into branches unrelated to engineering and how.

Says Muralidharan, Managing Director & CEO, C&K Management Ltd, "As long as engineering is devalued in our country to management courses there will always exist guys who feel disoriented after engineering and end up being at the IIMs."

Then where do they apply the engineering skills if management skill is what their job demands? "The knowledge from IIT can hardly be put to any practical use," says Sitaram. Seconding him, Ramanan says, "There's no denying the knowledge of engineering equips us to take quick decisions accurately; our analytical and logical skills are enhanced to a considerably degree which helps us solve or fix a problem much faster. But with respect to the technical knowledge, it is unfortunate that unless one is a blue-blooded engineer, there is not much use of that."

Murali, along with a few IIT-Madras alumni is preparing a database of people who passed out from IIT Madras and are engaged in an activity not related to engineering. "There is a sizeable section of such people," he assures.

Denying a chance?


But aren't such people who are on an academic trip, who become IIT engineers to take admission into management courses in IIMs and subsequently sit for their civil services, doing so at the expense of those who are more focussed, who could have possibly made great engineers and contributed proactively to nation building?

Murali attributes it to the "lack of career counselling" that few engineers lose sight after IIT and find themselves at sea as to what to do following the completion of their course. T.V. Ramana Rao, an aerospace engineer from IIT Madras, never got a chance to apply his knowledge in aerospace.

He chose software instead and following a brief stint in the U.S. is now back in town as a project manager with Yasu Technologies. "No regrets," he shrugs off adding, "What can one do when there aren't enough opportunities."

Then, there are IITians like B.V.R. Mohan Reddy, founder, chairman and managing director of Infotech Enterprise, who feel a stint at the IIT improves one's lateral thinking abilities because of the unique delivery mechanism the institute follows.

A 1972-batch of IIT Kanpur, Mohan Reddy says, "Three parameters - faculty, curriculum and infrastructure have earned IITs a formidable reputation worldwide."

Teachers are good at IIT but students are better. "And it is not quite easy to teach math to IIT students," says Ramanan. Many have taught a lesson or two in math to their mathematics professors! One rarely comes across bored engineers coming out of the IITs; only interesting people who are way ahead of others.


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