From: rajesh@quince (Rajesh Raman)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian
Subject: Re: Nobel Prize & IITs
Date: 3 Oct 1992 16:31:44 GMT
Organization: Worcester Polytechnic Institute
NNTP-Posting-Host: quince.wpi.edu
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shubu@cs.wisc.edu (Shubhendu Mukherjee) writes:
: 
: >>>>> In article <1992Oct3.052426.27092@ntuix.ntu.ac.sg>, mmurali@ntuix.ntu.ac.sg (Murali Damodaran) writes:
: 
: MD> That's great news from the IITs.
: MD> This should be a fitting reply to all those SCI sour grapes
: MD> who have been indulging in IIT bashing!
: 
: The fundamental mistake people are making about IITs and Nobel Prize is 
: that the Nobel Prize is given in Basic Sciences and not (in general) in 
: Technical Fields.  If you really want to evaluate the effect of IITs, 
: look around in the industries.  Remember,  IITs primarily produce Engineers
: and not Scientists. 
: 
: And FYI, IIT Kanpur is recognized as having one of the best Physics 
: departments in India.  
: 
: The bottomline is: IIT-ians form a clan by themselves, and they are proud
: of it, and at times arrogant.  And whatever people say, IITs produce 
: most of the smart engineers in India.  Look around in the US.  There are 
: certain departments who have a strong bias towards students from IITs.  
: At least, in CS, Wisconsin-Madison, Stanford, Cornell, Berkeley, Texas-Austin,
: have a strong bias towards IITs.  So Rakesh Patel & non-IITians - don't
: crib.  Face the bitter truth of life.  We know we are the best and we 
: are always going to rightfully claim that.  You guys can eat your hearts out.
: 
: And before trying to put down the IITs, ask yourself this question first: 
: given a chance would you have joined an IIT?
: 
: -Shubu
: 
: P.S.: Try denying this: the 7 premier Engineering Institutes in India are 
:       the 5 IITs, TIFR and IISC Bangalore. 
: 
: --
: -------------------------------------------------------------------------
: Shubhendu Sekhar Mukherjee       University of Wisconsin @ Madison, C.Sc.
: Net:shubu@cs.{wisc,utexas}.edu   [W]:(608) 262-1012   [H]:(608) 255-6322
: -------------------------------------------------------------------------   

  Hi Shubu!

	You're right that in general IIT students have better IQs than 
  students from other engineering colleges in India. As far as IQs go
  they'd rank way up there. But there's another side to it. By concent-
  rating funding in the seven premier institutes you're actually doing
  a disservice to yourself. It's a winner takes all situation. Whether
  this in itself is correct could be the topic of a different discussion
  but the nation that provides the funding should not lose out. It's
  a case of a few people having a monopoly over resources. Like in other
  fields when the field is monopolized, this doesn't work out to the 
  benefit of society in general. 

	Of the people who go abroad after having a subsidised education
  in India the IIT students are the worst offenders. Agreed that they
  go abroad because they're given a good deal like you said in Cornell,
  Berkeley, Austin etc etc but you see the US funds these institutions
  and it makes sure that it gains from this funding. And given a chance
  I bet students from other univs or colleges would also do it, but this
  only goes to show that the field shouldn't be monopolized.

	You IITians are the cream of Indian engineering talent. If you
  go abroad in droves like you're wont to do, what will happen to India?
  It gave you a subsidised education. You say you have no moral obligation
  towards India. That's your motherland man. It's where you were born and
  learnt to play cricket. It's where your parents live. Most importantly,
  you are what you are today, ie a prized catch because it provided the
  means to achieve it. India gave you all this and it needs you now. Won't
  you go back? 

	You say that IITians are proud and sometimes arrogant about their
  being the best. You are the best. Can you take up any challenge? So far
  you have shown that you can't. So much for your pride. You cannot take
  up the challenge of rebuilding India. At least, you have not. An entire
  generation took up a challenge of a similar magnitude not so long ago.
  They suffered for quite a while. They didn't have much in material
  comfort. But they had respect. Do you have respect? Then what do you 
  have? You're a professor of Aeronautical Engineering at MIT. Have you 
  even tried to repay your debts. Your debt is not living India for a 
  few years or remitting $4000 as someone was saying. It is that of re-
  building India.

	If you are the best rise to the occasion. If not quit saying that
  you're the best.

  Flames to rajesh@cs.wpi.edu
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian,alt.culture.us.asian-indian