Such romanticisation is routine at a time when American technical education is in crisis and standards are declining. Of the nearly quarter million Indian students who aspire to take IIT'ss gruelling entrance exam, less than 5000 make it. Even the toughest American schools agree that the IIT admission process is one of the most uncorrupted in India. The terrifying ordeal of the IIT exams are legend even on US campuses where awed faculty and students looks upon desi grads as monster brains who have mastered science esoterica like Bernouli's Principles, Kekule's Dream, and Avogadro's Hypothesis before they have learnt to drive. One recent story spoke of how 24 IIT students once shared a single textbook taking two-hour shifts with it over a two day period.
Some teachers rue the loss of such academic skills at the altar of financial success.
Ph.Ds as the entreprenerial world beckons them. But Director Sukhatme is more understanding. There is nothing wrong in being rewarded for idea. Sudhakar Shenoy Information Management Consultants Venky Harinarayan. In India N.R.Narayana Murthy of Infosys Nandan Nilekani of Infosys Rajesh Jain of Indiaworld Off the tech track Victor Menezes of Citibank Rakesh Gangwal of US Airways Yogen Dalal of Mayfield Rajat Gupta of McKinsey Asiaweek's top ten science and technology schools in Asia for 1999.