Getting into BITS Pilani

Lately, I have read quite a lot of posts written by our batchmates reflecting on their stay at Pilani during the last four years. Reading through them reminded me of the wonderful days that we spent together at our little village. Four years zipped past us before we could realize it. That led me into thinking about the years that eventually led me into getting admission at BITS Pilani.

Well, here is how it goes. By the time I got into 10th grade, I was made to understand by the society in general that performing well in the board exam is a prerequisite for doing well later in life. I was made to believe that one’s percentage in boards forms the basis of comparison in determining how smart one is. And to make things worse, people used phrases like (I’m sure most of us must have heard it) “The first stepping stone” or “The first public examination”. For a normal 10th grader, all this can get quite intimidating. Therefore, I started studying quite a bit. I gave up the tennis that I had started playing a year back to save time to memorize some chemical equations. Reading for pleasure had gradually become a luxury and socializing had been curtailed to a great extent. All this went on for months before before the exams finally got over. When the results came out, I was quite elated to find out that my efforts had been rewarded well and I had crossed the 90% barrier. Not that I cared too much about the percentage but it sure made answering a lot of questions (about results) from officious acquaintances pretty easy.

That was the first turning point. The Indian society has quite a few in-built check points to direct kids towards their pre-determined careers. And the 10th board exam is the first out of those. Those kids who score decently are directed towards science (to pursue engineering/medical later) in their senior secondary and those who did not score that well are directed towards humanities /arts/commerce. (Things have started to change in the last few years though. I’ll admit candidly that Indian parents are less insistent nowadays and are starting to take their children more seriously hence we see a gradual shift towards people choosing streams other than science out of sheer interest.)

A lot of us blame the society in general (and parents in particular) for directing us towards their accepted goals. Kids often blame their parents for being adamant and not letting them choose their intended career paths. But the fault isn’t entirely theirs. How many of us had our career paths charted out right after class XII? Most of us would answer in the negative but of course, for the minority that can, forcing them towards something else should be completely denounced.

Later that year, I took up science+math in 11th grade. When you have taken that combination in higher secondary, preparing for engineering entrances is implicit. And when you are preparing for engineering entrances, you are preparing for the IIT JEE. No one prepares specifically for AIEEE or BITSAT. Those are things that we do in addition to (or not do at all) preparing for the JEE.

So here I was, aiming at the IIT Entrances without ever having a given a thought to the fact whether this is what I wanted to do. I just found solace in the fact that almost everyone around me was doing the same thing. So I thought, when so many people are aiming at it, it must be the right thing to do. The other problem was that at that age, I did not know the kind of options I had or what I really wanted to do. Plus there were many things that favored preparing for the IITs. These were probably the only set of colleges (at the undergrad level) that used to get unparallel coverage by the media and evoked a lot of awe from the society in general. The JEE results were highly publicized and the top rankers almost had a celebrity status for a few days after the results. All this gradually led me into deciding that preparing for the IITs would be the best thing to do at that stage.

Gradually, I got engrossed into the JEE preparations. Life had become far worse than I had ever imagined it to be. I thought class 10th would be the time when I would work the hardest and after that things would ease but it was quite the opposite. Till 10th grade, it had just been school. Now I had to juggle school with FIITJEE 4 to 5 days a week. A normal day for me would be spending 6 hours in school, coming back and having lunch and then spending another 4 hours at the coaching center. A workload of more than 10 hours a day! It’s hard to fathom how I managed to retain energy after all this. Along with this, one had to manage tests in school and test series at coaching. Most of the days, after coming back from coaching, I simply did not have the energy to do anything else. Above all this, free advices were available in plenty. Some kept reminding me how important the year was for my future whereas others reiterated the importance of using every second well in the crucial year. Statements like “ Those who work hard in these two years, enjoy later and those who enjoy now will struggle later” annoyed me the most.

This routine went on for almost two years. As most of you reading this have already gone through the same grind, I'll skip the details. Finally, the D-Day came. All the effort that we had put in for the last two years had to culminate in the 6 hour marathon (the IIT-JEE paper) that we faced. The sheer thought that these are the 6 hours for which we have prepared, for the last 2 years was enough to tense me up totally. When I got the question paper, I was so nervous that I lost the first few minutes just thinking about how important this was for me. And in a competitive examination in India, where seconds can decide whether you get through or not, wasting a few minutes was way too much. I was pretty disappointed with the way I had given the examination. Leaving that aside, I started gearing up for the remaining exams as I knew that I didn’t stand a decent chance at IIT this year. The Sunday on which I gave the IIT JEE was the first in a string of examinations that I was to give in the following weeks. So the weeks ahead saw me giving the AIEEE exam, the VITEEE(officially pronounced “Vity” :D), the BITS Admission Test(BITSAT) and the WBJEE( I have no clue why I gave that!).

The next stage was one filled with a lot of uncertainty about where I would be headed for the next four years. Finally the results started coming out and to my surprise, I did make it through JEE Merit List 2006. The rank that I got was not good enough to get the B.Tech degrees that I wanted to enroll for at the IITs (except for maybe mining and metallurgical engineering which I had no intention of taking up). I got through most of the other examinations as well that I had given earlier. As I had never had a great fascination for engineering, I did not have any preference of the branch of engineering that I wanted to enroll in. I just wanted to get into the best college. Finally after weighing all my options, I decided that the best bet would be taking up admission at BITS Pilani. That’s where this story ends! For those interested in reading a little further, here's the link.

P.S. After four years, I can vouch that I made the right choice. Thanks BITS Pilani!

Bihar : On the Cusp of Change

22nd November, 2005 is a day that people from Bihar around the world would remember for a long time to come. It was on this day that the fifteen year misrule of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) finally came to an end in Bihar. The electoral result came as a shocker to political pundits who had calculated that Laloo would be back with a bang after his successful attempt to dissolve the former State Assembly (the infamous assembly dissolution case involving Buta Singh). Blaming them would not be fair, as nobody thought that a former Union minister not really engaged in state politics would be able to occupy the Chief Minister’s office. The RJD supremo had the caste equation intact and had played all his cards well but as luck would have it, NDA stormed into power.

I still remember the day the NDA government was sworn into power. The election results came had come out in the morning. While returning from school, I saw that Patna was flooded by saffron supporters shouting out the slogan “Naya Bihar, Nitish Kumar." Their excitement was contagious. Despite not being really interested in politics, I was really happy with the outcome of the election as governance in Bihar had reached its nadir and the new government gave its people new hope. A lot of credit for all the positive changes I see in Bihar today goes to the Election Commission for ensuring such a peaceful and fair election.

The elections is 2005 was a story in itself. The Election Commission left no stone unturned in making the huge democratic process a grand success. In the round up to the elections, in a special drive of the state police (under the President’s Rule), about 26,000 people against whom the police had issued non bailable warrants were arrested. About 90,000 police personnel including 72,000 men and officers of the 450 Central Paramilitary Forces were entrusted with the duty of conducting free and fair elections. Armed with shoot at sight orders, they discharged their duties with élan. Not a single election booth was left unguarded. As if this were not enough, the IAF helicopters undertook special aerial surveillance to thwart any untoward incident. The unprecedented security cover gave the state a war zone look but resulted in thousands of people lining up for exercising their fundamental right for the first time.

Three years down the line, I think the paramount effort put in by the Election Commission has not gone waste. Today the state, which is usually seen lagging in all developmental index and parameters, is getting back on track to economic progress and prosperity. The first change that the new government brought in place was instilling a sense of security amongst its people. Before this government took over, anarchy and lawlessness prevailed throughout the state. Not a day passed without some one getting kidnapped or some businessman getting an extortion threat. People almost stopped flaunting any items of wealth for inviting the wrath of extortionists. The fear etched in the minds of the people even translated into declining sales and footfalls across leading stores. Streets were almost deserted by 9 pm and few wanted to venture out at night. The last few years under the RJD rule, the state saw hordes of businessman, traders and industrialists migrating out of the state. Lots of business houses and industries shut down and the economy was almost in shambles. The officials under the former government were helpless as most of the criminal activities had the backing of the ruling party. Every time some policemen or administrator registered a case against a criminal, he would get a phone call from the higher ups and he would have to let the criminal go scot free. The politician-criminal nexus was inescapable. This led to a lot of frustration and angst among the officers and lowered their morale.

If you have been to Bihar in the recent past, what you would find in nothing short of a complete turnaround. The fear etched in the minds of the general public has almost disappeared and has made way for what I would call a “feel good factor.” Kidnapping, once rampant here, has almost been stalled due to the freedom given to the police officers under the present regime. Now even at night, shopping complexes, restaurants and theatres are brimming with activity. The once deserted streets now see vehicles jostling for space. Shops are open till late, sales have gone up and restaurants which were on the verge of closure are going in for expansion plans. Even flaunting wealth is no longer considered a taboo.

After instilling a sense of security among its people, the government is striving to develop all sectors of the economy. The public spending has increased manifold. The amount that the present government spent in its development activities in the last three years is more than entire amount spent in the last decade and a half by the previous regime. The average economic growth rate and its GDP have almost doubled. Ministers can now be seen at their offices and their chief talks of development rather than just about caste. New roads and highways are being built in every part of the state. Spending on building roads has gone up from Rs. 50 crores in 2003-04 to Rs. 2200 crores in 2007-08. The crumbing infrastructure is being redeveloped. Buoyed by the recent initiatives of the Government, major banks such as the World Bank, ADB, DFID and JBIC have shown keen interest in the redevelopment of Bihar.

The state is also getting favorable support from the private players and big business houses have shown great interest in promoting investments in Bihar. In recent years, Patna has seen many major business honchos flowing in to identify business opportunities. These include the likes of Mukesh Ambani, Ratan Tata, Kumar Mangalam Birla, Sunil Bharti Mittal and other corporate heads. Investments proposals worth thousands of crores have been cleared by the government. All major brands have ensured their presence in the state capital during the last few years. Many new shopping malls, multiplexes, hotels, retail majors and international restaurant chains are in the process of setting up shop in the state.

Even the education sector, once in shambles, is undergoing a transition. More than two lakh teachers were appointed recently. The drop out rate at the primary level has decreased to half its number few years back. In the last few years many national level institutes were established such as the Chanakya National Law University (CNLU), Changragupta Institute of Management (CIMP), BIT Mesra Patna campus, a National Institute of Technology (NIT), a National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) and finally an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) at Patna. The process of setting up the Nalanda International University is also being expedited. Once completed, it is slated to attract global scholars for postgraduate and undergraduate academic pursuits in subjects such as Buddhism, philosophy and religion.

Although these institutes have just been setup, it will go a long way in giving a fillip to the academic environment of the state. Establishment of such colleges would also lead to sprouting of private colleges and will increase opportunity for higher studies in the state. More importantly, it will help Bihar immensely in its image makeover. When students from all over India come and study in Bihar, their impression of Bihar would certainly change and that would help improve the general perception of the state. I believe that people’s perception of Bihar has to change first to facilitate its rapid development. It will also help stop the exodus of Bihari students to other states for higher education. You will be startled to find out that until recently, every student with reasonable means took admission in a college outside the state due to dearth of any decent college within Bihar. That explains the huge number of students from Bihar in engineering colleges across Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharastra. Bihar is losing hundreds of crores annually due to the annual migration of students for under graduate and post graduate studies.

Though Bihar is finally back on track, there is still a long way to go. Fifteen years of chaos and mismanagement cannot be undone overnight. Illiteracy and poverty are quite prevalent. The power generated in the state is not even a tenth of what it requires and hence power cuts are rampant. Floods are a recurring problem and the state has a huge debt riding its back. Only a fraction of the investment proposals have translated into industries being setup on the ground. Caste still dictates the terms in politics of Bihar. Though the man at the helm has a clean image, a lot of the ministers are more inclined towards politics rather than development. The huge task in front of administrators and rulers of Bihar would only be over when every person with roots in Bihar would proudly flaunt his origin and its people would venture out of their state only by choice and not by force. I’m eagerly waiting for that day.

Joint Entrance Examination 2k6

I.I.T. Guwahati ( Had my counselling here for JEE 2006 )

HAD RESERVATION WORKED, WE WOULD HAVE SEEN RESULTS AFTER 60 YEARS OF ITS IMPLEMENTATION. THE FACT THE GOVERNMENT STILL USES RESERVATION CLEARLY SHOWS THAT RESERVATIONS HAVE FAILED. THE SUCCESSIVE GOVERNMENTS IMPLEMENT RESERVATIONS WHICH THEY USE AS A MASK TO COVER ITS UTTER FAILURE IN THE EDUCATIONAL SECTOR...

JEE(IIT)- One of the toughest exams one faces. Just looking at sheer numbers will make you shiver. About 300,000 people test their skills on the same day, of which only 5,000 make it to the merit list of JEE. A percentile of above 98 will open your door to get admitted in the most prestigious institute in India.

Well the point is, IIT's are considered to be centres of excellence, but are they??
After the reservations are implemented(which will be pretty soon, the pace of execution of non-developmental plans is very fast in India) one in every 2 student in our "temples of excellence" will be from the reserved category. Do you think the MNC's and the other top-notch companies will still make a beeline during placements in IIT's? The private sector looks for profit on its investment, and if half the students are not upto the mark, why would they do social service and recruit them? I'm not saying the students from the reserved class fare badly, but this is based on the data provided by the IIT's themselves. Most of the students who fail to get the passing grades in semester exams are from the reserved class.

Initially, when the IIT's were established way back in the 1950's, the campus was designed aesthetically ensuring enough greenery. For implementing reservation, the IIT's are building new hostels, classrooms and labs. And ever thought what will be lost in the process? The parks& the greenery the campuses today boast of. These centres will become jungles of concrete(quite like our metropolitan cities) with almost no space for recreational activities.