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Saturday, March 01, 2008
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Of IITians and Hate
I was reading an article online and also many blogs in which I was shocked to see the hate-them attitude towards IITians. I would like to offer a few points.
I do concede that a lot IITians have a so-called attitude problem. But no one is inaccessible. Many of my friends complain that when non-IIT people meet them, they say, oh IIT you're so smart! Firstly, thats not always true. Secondly, see me as a person first and judge my intellect skills later.
It is not true that not a single earth shattering invention from an IIT-ian - Sun MicroSystems was co-founded by an IIT-ian. India's premier software service provider was founded by a group of IIT-ians. In IIT Madras, there are many Multi-crore companies that have spawned out of research projects in the final years in the TeNet group and some of these companies supply products that are unique in the world and only they have the patent rights for. Many of them also work for social benefit. Some of the world's fastest Analog to Digital Converters are made in a lab thats ten feet away from where I work. Hi-speed network protocols with hitherto unseen data rates are made a floor above me. Some of the world's most accurate quantum optics/electromagnetics based devices are produced right next to my work desk. Aren't these achievements? True they are not publicized like an ipod or a sony walkman but they are earth-shattering nonetheless. All these are components of products that shake our world. You must remember that research does not always lead to products immediately and while it is the products that get the limelight, none of them would be possible without all these components. Having said this, there is such tremendous scope to expand in terms of facilities and ideas and we really need an environment conducive for this.
Another point should be noted, as a student preparing for the IIT, I spent two and then three years of my life in social isolation preparing for it. I worked very hard. When others were relaxing in well-established coffee joints, I had to sit and prepare for my coaching class tests and completing both school and coaching class assignments. I studied sometimes 14 hours a day and the best part is I would NOT have been classified as the hardest working even with such numbers! I'm not trying to blow my own horn, but my point is, given I worked so hard and sacrificed a significant portion of my life towards getting in, don't I deserve a pay packet that matches the work I put in? Don't I deserve the 2 lakhs the government spends on me? After all, I worked for it.
I do know that all that hard work definitely raised my analytical skills from an above average level to one slightly higher. That is not to say others are not smart, in fact many non-IITians are much smarter than IITians, but my skills definitely got fine-tuned by all that practice. I can't help but feel that it is these skills that companies want when they hire.
I agree with the fact that as IITians we are respected (I think) for our core skills, in fact we are trained in that area. What comes to my mind is what was discussed in the task force meeting for revising the curriculum, you must remember the overall goal of education, it is not to impart you with expertise in a particular area but to develop you in an all-round manner and to give you a skill-set that will help you to 'get better' in any area you wish to pursue. In that respect if an institution is allowing you do that, to find yourself professionally, thats the best thing that can happen.
Also, in my own personal experience, many students after joining IIT have discovered that their set of skills is more suited to negotiating, organizing, procuring, communicating all the time, all skills that are common traits of management. Why should we as a society prevent them from climbing that ladder? IITians have tech skills, and as a person they might want to develop management skills to complement them as well. I don't see why we should prevent them from doing so. Individual freedom should not be curtailed.
Individually, I am more than willing to contribute to my country in its path to progress. But before that, I need to hone my own skills. In my case, it is to develop research based skills : a strong analytical ability to logically work out a path from the problem statement to a solution, which I hope to achieve through higher studies. In my humble opinion, I would want to work in an environment where there are stringent demands on quality of work done and where I receive exposure to demanding needs. When intellectually mature, I can then impose these same demands on anyone I work with professionally, and this is very important when developing our nation as a whole too! This is most achievable outside my country in my particular area. As you can see, the whole thing is entirely individual and for each person his/her decision will vary as per what they want. I do not think any of my friends would say let's just live out of the country thats better for us. They would only say, let's go where we are respected as individuals, presented with challenging problems to work on and are given the necessary means to work them out as seamlessly as possible. These problems could be solving bottlenecks in management and running of companies or solving equations in quantum mechanics or building up infrastructure for our own country. The ideal case is to provide yourself with the "ability" to solve them and develop yourself accordingly, not to get a B. Tech degree and work only in that area and try to make money out of it.
Its definitely a bit sad that people who do BioTech and Aerospace in IIT end up in generic software companies. True it would be nice if they at least stayed in related areas. But I would also like to know what a person doing his aerospace engineering in IIT Madras would do sitting here, other than a few mid-level companies that do not hire 200 people per year there is hardly anyone who would take them up. The only option if working in their core field is to move where they have jobs and that is outside this country. Again the question arises, wouldn't you as a person want the best environment around you as professionally where you can grow and let others grow with you?
True, money is a driving factor but it is only a means to an end, not the end itself. Money is what enables you to invest in new machines, build new roads, it buys you power, and a lot more. I would like to think that as a professional, I have a certain set of skills attached to me. These may be very good or average or below. If they are exceptional, don't I have the right the charge for them? I guarantee a certain quality of service and a certain advanced skill-set that I provide with the money. Don't I deserve some amount of means to comfort that assuages the stress and strains of my job? That is the whole idea behind paying IIT-ians such salaries I expect. Needless to say, if I were a good manager and I found out that I DON'T get the quality I am paying for, I have every right to remove the concerned party.
It is true that companies with money-muscle power recruit IITians and entice them with high salaries. But these salaries are commensurate with the work they do. In addition, they are not meant to be long term jobs, in the sense that the person concerned will not go far if he/she doesn't take the effort to improve his/her skills further and more importantly shows the willingness to learn and in the short time he does work, he will be subjected to horrible, horrible timings/deadlines. And if someone wants to work in such a place, if he enjoys the thrill of it, then why do you want to stop him?
Lastly, I DON'T think IITians are a waste of taxpayer's money. The 250 billion dollar odd foreign exchange that we have today is in a large part due to sons and daughters sending dollar notes to their parents. The 60,000 jobs a year from Infosys are because of a dozen odd IITians dared to dream and rise against the odds. Even excluding these, IITians contribute tremendously in management circles, Tata,Reliance being cases in point.
For research, you need good infrastructure, talented workers and the ability to spend without expecting anything in return. Our country is only just beginning to support that kind of culture, it is something that has been perfected outside. It will happen but only as we get richer as a nation. Also, it is not easy to perform research after you've just completed your Bachelor's degree, you need expertise, either working in a Core R&D company, which in India is just beginning to show up, or to work with a research group in a university. Also, I do NOT want to do research in a society that awards degrees and accepts people based on what caste they come from. I want to work in a meritocracy. I admit that working abroad will invite racial taunts, but if you have something good to offer, all racial discrimination you'll find will be ignored.
The bottomline is this, if one is going to keep a closed mind, not willing to learn,to not keep his attitude in check, and not keep high standards for himself, he will never grow. That is true whether he is an IITian or not. Such people should not be encouraged. The other side is true as well, I'd like to think that a person who did well and were from IIT would have done well even if they weren't in IIT in the first place. It is the never-say-die-attitude that is very important. You have to be willing to cooperate, accommodate everyone else and communicate yourself well.
Berhael
I do concede that a lot IITians have a so-called attitude problem. But no one is inaccessible. Many of my friends complain that when non-IIT people meet them, they say, oh IIT you're so smart! Firstly, thats not always true. Secondly, see me as a person first and judge my intellect skills later.
It is not true that not a single earth shattering invention from an IIT-ian - Sun MicroSystems was co-founded by an IIT-ian. India's premier software service provider was founded by a group of IIT-ians. In IIT Madras, there are many Multi-crore companies that have spawned out of research projects in the final years in the TeNet group and some of these companies supply products that are unique in the world and only they have the patent rights for. Many of them also work for social benefit. Some of the world's fastest Analog to Digital Converters are made in a lab thats ten feet away from where I work. Hi-speed network protocols with hitherto unseen data rates are made a floor above me. Some of the world's most accurate quantum optics/electromagnetics based devices are produced right next to my work desk. Aren't these achievements? True they are not publicized like an ipod or a sony walkman but they are earth-shattering nonetheless. All these are components of products that shake our world. You must remember that research does not always lead to products immediately and while it is the products that get the limelight, none of them would be possible without all these components. Having said this, there is such tremendous scope to expand in terms of facilities and ideas and we really need an environment conducive for this.
Another point should be noted, as a student preparing for the IIT, I spent two and then three years of my life in social isolation preparing for it. I worked very hard. When others were relaxing in well-established coffee joints, I had to sit and prepare for my coaching class tests and completing both school and coaching class assignments. I studied sometimes 14 hours a day and the best part is I would NOT have been classified as the hardest working even with such numbers! I'm not trying to blow my own horn, but my point is, given I worked so hard and sacrificed a significant portion of my life towards getting in, don't I deserve a pay packet that matches the work I put in? Don't I deserve the 2 lakhs the government spends on me? After all, I worked for it.
I do know that all that hard work definitely raised my analytical skills from an above average level to one slightly higher. That is not to say others are not smart, in fact many non-IITians are much smarter than IITians, but my skills definitely got fine-tuned by all that practice. I can't help but feel that it is these skills that companies want when they hire.
I agree with the fact that as IITians we are respected (I think) for our core skills, in fact we are trained in that area. What comes to my mind is what was discussed in the task force meeting for revising the curriculum, you must remember the overall goal of education, it is not to impart you with expertise in a particular area but to develop you in an all-round manner and to give you a skill-set that will help you to 'get better' in any area you wish to pursue. In that respect if an institution is allowing you do that, to find yourself professionally, thats the best thing that can happen.
Also, in my own personal experience, many students after joining IIT have discovered that their set of skills is more suited to negotiating, organizing, procuring, communicating all the time, all skills that are common traits of management. Why should we as a society prevent them from climbing that ladder? IITians have tech skills, and as a person they might want to develop management skills to complement them as well. I don't see why we should prevent them from doing so. Individual freedom should not be curtailed.
Individually, I am more than willing to contribute to my country in its path to progress. But before that, I need to hone my own skills. In my case, it is to develop research based skills : a strong analytical ability to logically work out a path from the problem statement to a solution, which I hope to achieve through higher studies. In my humble opinion, I would want to work in an environment where there are stringent demands on quality of work done and where I receive exposure to demanding needs. When intellectually mature, I can then impose these same demands on anyone I work with professionally, and this is very important when developing our nation as a whole too! This is most achievable outside my country in my particular area. As you can see, the whole thing is entirely individual and for each person his/her decision will vary as per what they want. I do not think any of my friends would say let's just live out of the country thats better for us. They would only say, let's go where we are respected as individuals, presented with challenging problems to work on and are given the necessary means to work them out as seamlessly as possible. These problems could be solving bottlenecks in management and running of companies or solving equations in quantum mechanics or building up infrastructure for our own country. The ideal case is to provide yourself with the "ability" to solve them and develop yourself accordingly, not to get a B. Tech degree and work only in that area and try to make money out of it.
Its definitely a bit sad that people who do BioTech and Aerospace in IIT end up in generic software companies. True it would be nice if they at least stayed in related areas. But I would also like to know what a person doing his aerospace engineering in IIT Madras would do sitting here, other than a few mid-level companies that do not hire 200 people per year there is hardly anyone who would take them up. The only option if working in their core field is to move where they have jobs and that is outside this country. Again the question arises, wouldn't you as a person want the best environment around you as professionally where you can grow and let others grow with you?
True, money is a driving factor but it is only a means to an end, not the end itself. Money is what enables you to invest in new machines, build new roads, it buys you power, and a lot more. I would like to think that as a professional, I have a certain set of skills attached to me. These may be very good or average or below. If they are exceptional, don't I have the right the charge for them? I guarantee a certain quality of service and a certain advanced skill-set that I provide with the money. Don't I deserve some amount of means to comfort that assuages the stress and strains of my job? That is the whole idea behind paying IIT-ians such salaries I expect. Needless to say, if I were a good manager and I found out that I DON'T get the quality I am paying for, I have every right to remove the concerned party.
It is true that companies with money-muscle power recruit IITians and entice them with high salaries. But these salaries are commensurate with the work they do. In addition, they are not meant to be long term jobs, in the sense that the person concerned will not go far if he/she doesn't take the effort to improve his/her skills further and more importantly shows the willingness to learn and in the short time he does work, he will be subjected to horrible, horrible timings/deadlines. And if someone wants to work in such a place, if he enjoys the thrill of it, then why do you want to stop him?
Lastly, I DON'T think IITians are a waste of taxpayer's money. The 250 billion dollar odd foreign exchange that we have today is in a large part due to sons and daughters sending dollar notes to their parents. The 60,000 jobs a year from Infosys are because of a dozen odd IITians dared to dream and rise against the odds. Even excluding these, IITians contribute tremendously in management circles, Tata,Reliance being cases in point.
For research, you need good infrastructure, talented workers and the ability to spend without expecting anything in return. Our country is only just beginning to support that kind of culture, it is something that has been perfected outside. It will happen but only as we get richer as a nation. Also, it is not easy to perform research after you've just completed your Bachelor's degree, you need expertise, either working in a Core R&D company, which in India is just beginning to show up, or to work with a research group in a university. Also, I do NOT want to do research in a society that awards degrees and accepts people based on what caste they come from. I want to work in a meritocracy. I admit that working abroad will invite racial taunts, but if you have something good to offer, all racial discrimination you'll find will be ignored.
The bottomline is this, if one is going to keep a closed mind, not willing to learn,to not keep his attitude in check, and not keep high standards for himself, he will never grow. That is true whether he is an IITian or not. Such people should not be encouraged. The other side is true as well, I'd like to think that a person who did well and were from IIT would have done well even if they weren't in IIT in the first place. It is the never-say-die-attitude that is very important. You have to be willing to cooperate, accommodate everyone else and communicate yourself well.
Berhael
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