Play School I

The Pragati Power Station, New Delhi

It was with great enthusiasm that I boarded the metro from Dwarka towards Indraprasthra on the 22nd morning. It was the first day of our Practice School I (that is the internship we do after the 2nd year). Although it had started raining quite heavily by the time I got down at the I.P. metro station, it failed to dampen my spirits. Few minutes of wading through the waterlogged streets and I was finally at the IPGCL. The sight of some of my PS mates at the gate made me glad. We were not allowed inside by the C.I.S.F. guards as the permission letter was with our instructor who wasn’t there yet. Even his arrival could not ensure our entry as the person who was to accompany us inside had not come yet. It was finally about noon when we finally entered the power house. There was more in store for us even after we entered. The instructor told us that the we would have to wait for a few more minutes as there was no space to accommodate so many of us inside. Finally after wandering for another few minutes, we were finally seated in the “Training Institute,” a room on the 4th floor of the administrative block which had been lying defunct for months. The name gave me some hope that we would get to do something productive here. Here our instructor briefed the official who was accompanying us about our Practice School system. The official was taken by surprise when our instructor showed him a copy of the handout. He had wrongly inferred that the evaluative components were to be taken by the officials of the corporation and hence he was totally freaked out (He said it outright that all this wouldn’t be possible here). After some more deliberations, he summed up the conversation by an important revelation “After all, this is a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) so don’t expect to get much out of it.” This statement gave me a rough indication of what was in store for us for the next seven weeks. Thereafter, he gave us a brief description of the organization. He told us that there were two power generating companies namely the Indraprastha Power Generation Corporation Limited (IPGCL) and the Pragati Power Corporation Limited (PPCL). These companies had four power plants under them. We were given an option to choose where we wanted to work. All of us unanimously chose PPCL as we were apprised of the fact that it was the most modern plant among the four.

Our next stoppage was the Pragati Power Station. The C.I.S.F. guards were here to bug us again as we did not possess valid passes. Getting passes made was the first thing we did after entering the administrative block. Even this task wasn’t as simple as we thought it would be and took us hours. For this, an official memo was created first which required the authorization of five different officials before it could make its way to the Assistant Commandant, CISF. It is due to such useless laws and regulation that the pace of execution of work in the government sector is so slow. After completing these formalities, we were divided into groups according to our branches. An official took us to our reporting officer, the Assistant Manager (Civil). We had quite an amusing interaction with him, on subjects as varied as coaching for engineering entrances to the new 1500 MW power project coming up at Bawana(don’t ask me where that is). Gradually through the conversation, we could decipher that there was almost no work for us here. He told us that there isn’t any ongoing construction work in the power house except for a small fire station and some regular maintenance work. He was quite amused at the fact that we were doing our internship here at IPGCL rather than at some top notch real estate firm (He was unaware of the fact that it was our institute that allotted our PS centers). After a few more minutes, he called in his secretary and told him to show us our cubicle. That is where I have been whiling away afternoons ever since! I forgot to mention the most important benefit of having your PS station at a government or a quasi-government organization : the flexible time schedules. People (that includes us now) start to fill in by about 11: 30 am and within an hour, it is time for lunch (I am still in a fix about when it ends, even people around are not quite sure !) and by the time you feel like working, the clock strikes five. What more could you ask for?

Tests Tuts Etc

That can sum up what I have been busy with for the past month or so. Despite having quite a bit to write about, I couldn’t even manage a single post. Though there are people on campus who keep churning out excellent posts despite all this, it is quite an uphill task for me. I feel like writing only when I am relaxed and don’t have to worry about a tutorial or midsem slated for the following day. And believe me, such days have been quite rare. Thanks to the continuous evaluation system we have here at BITS. It ensures that not a single day (well, Almost!) passes without an evaluative component. Most of us here, have overcome the fear that is generally associated with exams. It seems that the underlying purpose of our system is to ensure our leisure time is maintained at the bare minimum!

While typing this post, I was surprised to find out that the word blog is not recognized by Word 03. It’s quite difficult to digest this, given the millions of bloggers around the world today. The blogging fever has even caught on in our campus and now I don’t have to venture outside the college blogroll to read interesting posts. The number on campus has swollen from just about 50-60 about a year back when I started to about 200 (estimates). These days, I have regularly been reading quite a few blogs daily and they never fail to amuse me. Every blog is unique and provides a different perspective on an issue. Even reading posts on the same topic on different blogs doesn’t get monotonous. It is great way to vent out your feelings, views, beliefs, anger and whatever else you can think of. Keep blogging!

APOGEE 2k8

The Department of Sponsorship at BITS-Pilani is leaving no stone unturned to ensure that APOGEE 2k8 doesn’t fade into oblivion for a very long time. The techfest is poised to break all previous records in terms of the amount of sponsorship received. The budget allocation is about eighteen lakhs which includes more than ten lakhs of sponsorship money. The corresponding figure for last year, about seven lakhs, turns pale in comparison to the amount this year. The phenomenal rise was the result of the untiring efforts put in by the entire department. The publicity brochure that came out this year not just marketed events but also laid special emphasis on the design and project competitions and the categorization of projects. The quantum leap in the amount of sponsorship will translate into even more attractive prize money for the various events.

APOGEE 2k8 also marks the entrance of hordes of new sponsors besides the regular ones. For the first time we will be having an official travel partner, merchandise partner as well as a fashion partner. A substantial amount of money is being pumped in by Gold and Silver sponsors such as SAIL, Netapp, Infosys, Google and Wipro. Texas Instruments is chipping in by donating kits for Digital Signal Processing. The media coverage that APOGEE is and will be getting is also unprecedented. Chip Magazine and PC Quest, the print media partners are coming out with a full page advertisement on APOGEE in their respective magazines. Leading dailies such as Hindustan Times and The Times of India and media channels such as India TV and ETV have agreed to give extensive coverage to the techfest. Online forum Pagalguy.com is helping by putting up an APOGEE advertisement banner on its website. Though we still have a long way to go in attracting more participants, the results this year are quite encouraging. If we continue to put in such efforts, the day is not far when APOGEE will truly become a quality pan-India technical festival.

Politics

There is no denying the fact that politics is a dirty word especially in a country like ours. It is a word that the common man fears and the elite maintain a safe distance from. The political system in our country has gone from bad to worse. Today, we have a dearth of quality leaders. This is in stark contrast to the 1950's when our nation was teeming with leaders who had great patriotic fervor and acumen to lead us forward. The only thing that we find that most of our leaders have in common today is their criminal history. The very thin line that existed between a politician and a criminal is fading today and the criminal-politician nexus is inescapable. Quality governance is still a dream for most of us and it seems that it will remain just that in times to come.

Today, most of the educated youth (even those from the hinterland) would not want to join politics. The reasons are not very difficult to comprehend. The primary reason for this is that for fighting an election these days, huge financial backing is required which most of the people do not have. Here is where the criminals step in. Most political parties throw their doors wide open for these goons as they bring in the right mix of muscle power and money, the prerequisite of fighting any electoral battle. Some of these criminals demand a party ticket (to become an elected representative) and others just want the backing of the party if it comes into power. Political parties generally find it difficult to say no to such "lucrative" offers. A large part of the funding of the various parties is done this way. When a government backed by such unscrupulous elements comes into power, these goons get complete political patronage in return.

Hence our system ensures that the deserving people stay away from politics. A system of public funding of elections like that of the United States would change things for the better. This will pave the way for the honest people to join the electoral fray. The Lead India Campaign is a step in the right direction. What else could be more important for a country than having the right people to lead it? It is not that the country cannot afford to spend such huge sums on public funding but it is general lack of will on the part of the politicians. Why would they scrap a system that has nurtured them?

The Way We Learn

We keep on bloating about the fact that Indian students are among the brightest in the world. But have we ever thought how little our country benefits from that? India’s contribution to the world in terms of innovations & discoveries is miniscule. The sole reason for the above is that we are simply not creative enough. This is not innate in Indians, but the age-old education system here ensures that our creative abilities are put largely to rest. We see that many of our NRI’s are flourishing as leading scientists & research scholars in universities abroad. How is it that the same person does great abroad while in India, he gets nowhere?

Creativity and innovation are regarded today as the most valuable asset that a nation can possess. Despite all this, we are still stuck in the world of cramming and coaching classes. Our education system stifles all our creativity through rote learning. What we are churning out is just a huge workforce and not creative minds. Our education system was modeled on the British system but the British have moved on by introducing huge reforms, partly under the American influence.

If India has to really progress fast, it needs innovation, be it in the sphere of infrastructure, nutrition, education, administration or for that matter any other sector. So if we don’t want to be called a “Call centre Giant” perpetually, we will have to totally overhaul the education sector. Research will have to be promoted because without it no country can progress. Not only does research lead to innovations, but also (though indirectly) to huge investments. Companies pay exorbitant sums as royalties for using patents. Our government has always neglected research. The number of Ph.D.s in our country is insignificant when we compare it the number of engineering graduates. Research is not given much value in institutes across the country. Even premier research labs in the country get paltry sums as research grants. There is no autonomy in the education sector. A college cannot decide what courses to teach, what fees to charge, and what salaries to pay to its teachers, thanks to the various UGC and AICTE norms. Even opening a new college or a technical institution can take more than a few years.

I have been lucky to experience both the systems of education. I’ll describe an anecdote I remember. In 7th grade, when I was in East Lansing (Michigan, USA), we had to do Asian studies. When we moved on to India, our study was not just based on what was given in the books(despite American textbooks being a lot more interesting that the ones you get here with a lot more illustrations than questions at the end !). In addition, we saw movies on India like “Gandhi” (read Gandi) and the “City of Joy” and another documentary on modern-day India. My teacher, Mrs. Marianne Forman had even asked me to get some Indian currency notes and coins to show around to the class. I did bring in some, and explained about the various languages on the notes and the face of Gandhi on the coins. It did not end there; we even had a school trip to the local Indian restaurant in East Lansing. Most of my classmates loved Indian food especially the “curries” (read kureez) .And obviously, in the class tests (there are no examinations till high school in the US) we were definitely not asked when India gained independence or any other rote-learning question. Instead, we were asked to write our views on non-violence. The American system of education nurtures creativity very well, which explains why it is leading the world in innovation and high end technology.

It is not that American system of schooling is all play and no work, as is the common perception here. We had assignments almost everyday and had to put in a decent amount of effort everyday but I never felt that it was a load. I enjoyed every moment of it because I never had to cram even a bit. And for all the advocates of cramming here in India, I beg to differ. I still vividly remember a lot of the American history we were taught in 8th grade (in East Lansing) but I don’t remember most of what I learned about the modern Indian history in 10th grade in India.

I’ll tell you a bit about the schools in the Unites States now. A fact that should surprise most of us here in India is that in the United States 99% of the students attend government schools. In India, even those who can’t afford 2 square meals a day will put their children in private schools. Talk about the quality of government schools! And the states in the US pump in huge funds into the schools and colleges. I remember our school of about 300, had 3 tennis courts, 2 basketball courts, a soccer field besides an indoor gymnasium. Even many colleges in India would not boast of such sports facilities. America gives equal importance to sports and education, which can explain the number of medals it brings home in every Olympics while India struggles to win a single Gold despite having thrice as many people. Ah, something which all of us would loathe is compulsory attendance. In America, unless you really have a big problem (sickness leading to hospitalization-reminds me of the makeup policy here at BITS!), say adios to bunking classes. I did not miss more that 3 days of schools in my entire three years at Michigan. It’s another matter that attending classes nowadays has become a lot more difficult than it was in school!

Psychedelia 2k7

As promised, Oasis 2k7 was truly a psychedelic experience. It kicked off to a spectacular inaug with dazzling fireworks and was able to keep adrenaline levels high throughout the 96 hours. The fest was packed with brilliant events that never failed to enthrall the participants and keep their enthusiasm high. Most people would agree that this Oasis outdid Oasis 2k6, with the increase in sponsorship money being the main factor behind this. Most of it was, as always, was spent on arranging the Prof Shows. Prize money for most of the events saw an upward trend as compared to the last year. Meticulous planning ensured that the prize money was distributed as planned without any major alterations.

Scheduling of events, on the whole, was done quite well by Controlz. There was almost no clash between major events although quite a lot of people were surprised that Axetacy and Oasis Quiz (OQ) were held around the same time. Scheduling of the prof. shows should have been done more efficiently. Set-up and dismantling ate away precious Audi slots. Better co-ordination between departments and clubs would help in making the schedule smoother.

If there is one thing that should be done to make Oasis bigger and better, it would be providing better and increasing the accommodation. A lot of outstation participants were ruing their lot because of the type of accommodation they were provided. Many of those who were putting up at the staff quarters complained of lack of basic amenities. Security was another concern among the outstation participants, especially the girls. Because of limited accommodation available here, PCR had to put a cap on the maximum number of participants from many of the colleges. This led to a lot of disenchantment among the outstis, as at the last moment they had to cut down on the students that were participating in the various events. Despite these constraints, Rec n Acc put up a brave front and ran their show smoothly.

This year also saw the first yearites giving complete thumbs down to their cultural fest. This happens almost every year but the scale on which it happened this year around was quite intriguing. Leading the pack, the otherwise vibrant Ashok Bhawan wore a completely deserted look with most of wings reduced to a series of locked doors. More than 100 of the 146 first yearites that Ashok Bhawan houses had left Pilani during Oasis. Quite a few second and third yearites also headed home during the same time. These are the people who’ll be in charge of the fest in times to come.

The sponsorship reached an all-time high this year. The title sponsors, State Bank of India (SBI) and Vodafone pumped in more than nine lakh rupees (more than 3/4th of the entire sponz money). Other sponsors such as Gazelle, JAM also helped financially. Posters publicizing Oasis 2k7 were put up at all the Café Coffee Day outlets in Delhi and Jaipur. The official website for Oasis 2k7, whose aim was to spread awareness about the fest, was put up quite late this time around and also left out some essential details. Uploading the site a few months before the event kicks off would ensure more publicity and sponsors. Drawing more people to fest would definitely help in fetching more money from sponsors as they are assured of more publicity.

Oasis this time around came of age in terms of getting big names on campus. Brands such as Domino’s and Café Coffee Day set up their stalls here and did brisk business. BITSians, who generally don’t have access such eateries in town, made the most of it. Channel [V] interactive session hosted by VJs Neil and Juhi in Audi saw a huge turnout. VJ Luke Kenny was the judge for Rocktaves. The Paintball Wars, which was sponsored by Mountain Dew, was also a new event, but failed to attract a huge turnout. Big brands making their presence felt during Oasis point to the fact that our cult fest is only going to bigger and better in the years to come.

The Steel Frame of India

The State Secretariat, Patna

I had always been fascinated by the spirits conjured up by the three conjoined letters: I, A & S. The power and prestige associated with it cannot be matched by any other service in the country. One of the reasons might be that my dad is an I.A.S. officer and also another factor is my native state. In the words of Sanjay Singh (42nd rank, UPSC 2006) who hails from Bihar “Bihar has not seen the winds of change that swept through the country from the ‘90s, so we have a relatively older mindset. For us power and prestige still means the civil services, rather than fat salaries of the MNCs. (I don’t totally agree with him, most of the youth in the urban areas (like in the rest of the country) would definitely go for the MNC’s rather than the civil services but yeah to an extent the statement has veracity.)

The bureaucracy is known as the ‘steel frame’ of the country for its role in influencing and implementing government policies and decisions and running the civil administration. From manning the blocks of the districts to the corridors of power in the Central Government, it is the bureaucracy that runs the show. In a developing nation like ours, it is the government who the people look up to for providing development in addition to routine governance. That is why an efficient bureaucracy is the biggest asset a government can possess.

A recent survey by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) shows that despite the higher salaries of the private sector, civil services continue to be the preferred career choice for youth in the country. Many people might find this fact quite intriguing. So what is it that draws our youngsters to these coveted services? A newly inducted IAS officer offers a lucid explanation, “In our country, there are three people who are the most powerful-the PM, the CM and the DM. I wanted to be the DM.” The power and prestige that the service confers upon the individual are the main reasons that attract the youth. A beacon fitted Ambassador with police cover would make anyone jealous! Just three to four years into the service, and you are manning an entire district. Others feel that instead of scoffing at the inadequacies of the system, it is better to join it and power the changes one seeks. An efficient civil servant, with the powers conferred upon him, can change the face of his district be it in the field of education, law and order, health care or infrastructure. The bureaucracy has the power to cleanse the system and free it of its malaise. For the rural folks, the District Magistrate (also the Collector) has a larger than life image. The Collector is no less than a prince in his district, in charge of the administration and indirectly the police. People look up to them in awe as if they are someone different. An honest and efficient administrator gets respect from every section of the society. Some critics say that nothing much has changed since the British left, only the white men have been replaced with brown sahibs. Job security is an added attraction for the aspirants. The experience one gets while in service is simply unmatchable. IAS officers are in charge of departments of varied nature, ranging from Health, Education to Finance and Human Resource.

However not everything is as rosy as it sounds. The bureaucracy is afflicted by a plethora of problems. The most important factor which cripples the bureaucracy is the political intervention. Political intervention creeps in everywhere in the bureaucracy. This is how it works. For the bureaucrats, it is the chief minister at the state level, who decides the transfer and posting of the administrators. Generally the chief minister consults his ministers before transferring an official. Any disgruntled politician, ranging from a people’s representatives (Ministers, MLAs & MLCs) to even influential party workers may register his complaint with the person at helm of the affairs. In the times of coalition government, no sensible Chief can afford to ignore the “complaints”. This rule is misused by the politicians for leveraging their power. If a certain official doesn’t toe the line of a powerful politician, the minister may get him “shunted” (knowing how very sincere our politicians are) unless the chief minister says otherwise. For the uninitiated, shunting is transferring an official to a very insignificant post. Even the Annual Confidential Report (A.C.R.) is written by the Chief Minister and the minister of the department in which the bureaucrat is posted. Our very “sincere” ministers generally get along well with bureaucrats that are “pliable.” On a lighter note, in the bureaucratic circles, it is often said that the frequency of the transfers depicts the efficiency of the bureaucrat. It is the common man who finally has to suffer. Frequent transfers dampen the morale of efficient administrators and in the long run they become disgruntled with the system. It also impedes the rate of developmental activities especially at the district level. I think the system of a minimum tenure (as implemented now in the appointed of top bureaucrats in the Government of India like the Cabinet Secretary) would go a long way in improving administrative efficiency. Another drawback of the bureaucracy is that efficiency is not taken into account anywhere. The government should devise a system to reward to the efficient officers and shunt the inefficient ones. To retain the best in the system, the government should seriously think about revising the pay scales. To this end, the government had appointed The Sixth Pay Commission and the commission had recently submitted its report to the government.


Till the mid-nineties, the civil services (IAS, IPS etc) were the obvious option which attracted the best talent of the nation. At that point of time, private sector companies had not made it big. This was before the era of globalization and the IT boom. Most of those who made it into the civil services were the urban elite who had graduated from the top colleges of the country. Times have changed since then. Today when India is one of fastest growing economies in the world new job options are opening up everyday for the country’s youth.

The UPSC receives 3.5 lakh applications for the preliminary test of the three stage examination every year. Only 55 % actually take the test. The final 450-odd students [half of them from the reserved category again : ( ] actually get into the services. To fill in, if you did not know already, the government has had 50 % reservation in the central sector for long. This includes the much debated 27% for the Other Backward Castes (OBCs). Those who get selected come from all streams of study. Of late engineers have taken the top spot. They got almost one-third of all 450 ranks this year as compared to just 16% in 1985. But the share from the IITs has declined which may be due to the massive expansion of opportunities in the private sector. The average age of successful candidates has undergone a marginal change from 25.4 years in 1985 to 26.4 in 2005. Another paradigm shift is that more no. of women are getting through the civil services from a 10.4 % share in 1985, it has gone up to 20.6% in 2005. Also the age limit has been increased from the previous 24 to 26 to 28 to 30. The increase in educational opportunities has led to the democratization of these once-elite services. Less than 2 in 10 entrants were from a metro or a state capital in 2004 Compare that with the 70’s where two thirds came from the urban areas. The city born and city bred, apparently chasing IIMs, MNCs, foreign universities and a plethora of new economy options, are painting themselves out of the picture. In the 2004-2006 batch, the state wise breakup of those selected shows that Tamil Nadu leads followed by UP, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Bihar

On a closing note, I would like to reiterate that the opportunities one gets in the civil services in innumerous and cannot be matched by any other service in the nation but before stepping in one should also weigh the challenges.

BITS-Pilani

I had never thought that I would get stuck at this tiny hamlet in the middle of nowhere near the sands of Rajasthan but fate had this in store for me. I had never even heard of this place before I landed up here (that is because BITS-Pilani doesn’t sell itself enough unlike many engineering colleges which are not even half its worth and also partly because of the IIT-centric mindset of the city I lived in.) If you are wondering, why the stars were so kind to Pilani, it was because G.D. Birla was born here.

A tiresome five and half hour expedition from New Delhi gets you to Pilani. The first sight of the Pilani campus came as a real shocker (especially cause I had been transferred from the ultra-mod BITS-Pilani Goa campus). The buildings made me wonder if I was in the colonial era. The Pilani campus of BITS was setup way back in the 1950’s and not much has changed since then. The hostels look like pre-independence forts sans the extravagance. Although the institute is a totally privately funded institution, its administration and functioning resembles that of a government college (nominal tuition and hostel fees, comparable to the IITs). I thought I was sacrificing a bit too much for the brand tag of a good college.

After a few initial hiccups and some mild ragging sessions, Pilani started suiting me fine and now I am totally enjoying my 4 year prolonged vacation.

Now I am not going to bore you with stats and facts about Pilani that you’ll inevitably encounter. What really sets the system of education at Pilani apart is the degree of independence that the college confers upon its students. “Freedom of Choice” is implemented in totality at Pilani itself. Right from the first day itself, the system in place lets you make all your decisions right from choosing the people you live with to choosing the courses/electives you opt for. The independence we get from the start of our college lives really helps later on (that is according to the seniors, I am in no position to verify this statement). Doing away with the system of compulsory attendance at the lectures and tutorials is also a first at BITS.

Also the gamut of activities that goes on in BITS-Pilani cannot be easily matched by other institutions. Everyday we have an event or two going on in the Audi or elsewhere which keeps the junta engaged. Here engineering students who share a common interest gather together in forms of clubs/departments and assocs and channel their creativity in a positive manner. The numbers of clubs and departments is about two dozen, which shows the interest of the junta for these societies. These also serve as a good platform for interaction between seniors and juniors of different branches at very close level.

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.