Insti Politics and the country..

Hostel elections, Insti elections..... Two guys contesting for gen sec( probably one gult and another northie as I've seen)(For non- IITM junta.... all students from central and North India are called Northies, from south, we have Gults(Telugu), Tams(Tamil), Digs(Kannada) and Mallus(Malayalam speakers)...). Before nominations are filed, the aspiring guys talk to each other... Two Northies won't contest, coz that'll split Northie votes they say. Two Gults won't contest for the same reason. And then there is something I heard recently, the worst that could be. A guy who was just too enthued to contest for some sec in a hostel (I guess it was Ganga, may be Godav also.. one of the two) had to drop out because some senior didn't like it. And that senior wants some other guy to contest. And this first guy knows the second guy is too dumb and that he'll have no support at all but still he drops out. I'd love to speak a lot on this issue, but because it was a senior involved, I dare not comment on it.

Now, nominations filed. Campaigning starts. No one says in his campaigning that he should get vote because he's a gult or a non-gult. But then there are his friends... They spread this talk.. "Dude, he's a gult. Vote for him and we'll get hazzaar benefits." "Dude, don't vote for that gult guy. All gults will get coordships n coreships. We'll get screwed. If you vote to this guy, I'll get you a coordship." That's how it happens. Most people don't even look at the manifestos. They vote because they fear they and their friends won't get any coordships and if their candidate wins, they can peacefully get a coordship even if they cup with their application.

Then, there are soap boxes. In our hostel we had these secretaries(seriously, I still don't know how they've become secretaries. Except this sports-sec, I felt all others just didn't deserve to be). When they're expected to moderate the soapbox, they start favoring the guy they support. They answer questions this guy was asked and they ask those who ask questions to stop asking crappy questions. Then comes the guy who's against the guy they support. Now they don't answer any questions directed at him, but instead say none of his friends should answer questions directed at him. All you see in a soap box is some shit, partly due to those arbit secretaries and partly do to arbit questions asked and the bulbing of the contestants completes it.

Scene shifts to the hostel computer rooms. There's a queue and you see these arbit guys standing there telling junta whom to vote for. Now, there are a lot of guys who have no idea about the guys contesting. These guys are told in the last minute that some contestant is good or that he's gult or non-gult or some crap and obviously that contestant gets the vote. But officially, no such thing should be happening from 24 hours before the election time. Now there are these "politicians" in the insti, who I think are totally jobless and have no work other than screwing things up. These guys direct people to vote for one guy or the other. There are these famous guys who are said to be responsible for a group of voters who were supposed to vote for one guy but voted for the other in the last moment. And then you also hear that most of these political meetings happen in tifanys and outside Sharav(girls' hostel in insti) and that the expected result may change overnight if someone has very good contis in sharav...

Then elections are done. Some win, and that implies some lose. There are treats. All guys who supported this candidate get some nice treat somewhere. Winners do spend quite a fortune I heard, some 10k or more... The question now is, why all this pain for elections? Is it out of enthu that a guy contests in elections? Or is it to get something nice in his resume? For fame? Or for the money?

After a couple of months, probably after a sem,  we have these allegations that some particular secretary has kulted a lot of cash from hostel funds, that some sec has done nothing except going around with girls and all this crap. How many secretaries do we have who've done their work properly-whatever they've mentioned and without kulting cash?
Well, forget all this.. Shit happens. Nobody's perfect.....

Now, look at the politics in the country. IIT junta are supposedly more 'educated' the others and one expects that elections here and the candidates would be proper and there won't be all this arbit campaigning, kulting and all. But that's not happening. We know that the guy who's going to win isn't going to work properly. Still, these guys are elected and then the same guys who voted for him some months back start complaining this guys isn't doing any good.

We cannot stop a sec in a hostel from kulting some 10k from hostel funds and we talk about the country. A lot of us attend these EMLs(Extra Mural Lectures) when its by some well known Indian Civil Service guy or when its on politics or something like this... But we do nothing in our own insti. And outside, in the 'real' world, its not some 21 year olds who're running for these elections. It's not just something beside a bullet in your resume when you're talking about elections for assembly or parliament. And there, they go as far as killing people if absolutely necessary. Looking at elections in insti, isn't it very obvious that politics in the country is bound to be much worse. Before coming here, I thought politics are the worst and could be a lot better than it is right now. Now, after witnessing what happens in insti, I feel that we're very lucky, that our political leaders are very good and this is the best we can get.

Where is the problem? Is it the system? Well, democracy is the best they say, or they say it's the worst but we know nothing better.
Is it the leaders? I don't think so. Each year, here in insti, we have new guys contesting and everytime it looks the same.
Is it the voters? What else do you expect when all these "clever", "educated" guys act like a bunch of fools when it comes to elections?
Is it with the law that doesn't punish these crappy practices? No way, our insti can't stop a simple guy from going to a hostel and asking them to vote for some guy, right in front of the hostel warden, during the election, in the queue. How can something happen in a country as big as this?
Maybe these are more questions that don't have an answer....

And I'd love to see comments from my readers. These thoughts I present here keep bugging me and I find no solution to many of them...  would love to see some comments

The lab report, the quiz and the assignment

My third entry for the day... And a lot more to come very soon....

We have a lab this sem. A single credit lab, with some 10 experiments. I'm not sure about the percentage of marks for the experiments, but let's say it's 50%. That makes it 5 marks for each experiment, i.e. for each report. Usually, very good reports get a 8.5 or 9 out of ten while give up reports get around 5-6. The difference is at max 4 marks, and just 2 marks in the total weightage for the course. This is some background info...

Almost 50% of the people in the class copy someone else's report. The need to copy a report arises only when you're afraid you're not going to score good marks and u'll end up putting a bad grade ( since it's a lab, the worst may be a C). So, it just means, there are a lot of students here who are scared of losing two marks- who would do any damn thing, almost beg their friends to give their report, just for two marks. And being a friend or a batchmate or a hostel mate or whatever, people, out of courtesy hand over their reports when asked.

So then, in one of the best institutes in the country, there are people who are scared to death for just 2 marks, who are too lazy to write it in the week's time between the experiment and report submission and who really don't mind begging their friends to do a favor, just to get a good grade. And everyone expects these "bright minds" to help develop the country. Bullshit.

The same in an exam. In the worst case, that guy's going to cup in the exam. And when it comes to assignments, everyone knows it's just 2-3 people who do it and everyone else just copies. What's the whole point in having quizzes, assignments and lab reports? Can't a guy clever enough to clear the JEE write a simple lab report- he knows what he did, he just needs to explain that. A small effort before the exam can get him a good grade..

Now the bigger question- Why do junta join IITs? There are too many people who hate going to classes and who learn a topic just because they have to pass the course. The pride that a guy took when he cleared the JEE to come to an IIT, what's it all about? Just clearing an exam? When he always wanted to get the best education in the country, why's he running away from it when he's got the chance? I belong to one of the worst batches at IITM... in this semester, 3 out of 4 professors in our department said our batch is the worst, hopeless... Why is it that a guy who took n pain to clear the JEE doesn't even care to do what he wanted to do? May be some questions aren't supposed to be asked.........

For Co-ordships...

10 days back, there was this "Placement coordinator" thingy going on. There was a questionnaire that interested junta were supposed to answer. It had three questions, each asking "how would you do this....". I thought that directly implies I should sit down for a while or probably go for a cup of coffee, think over the questions, answer them and upload my answers. Then junta started talking about fundaes from seniors and all. Do you really need to ask someone what you would do given a situation. A convincing reply- 'well, you should know what was done previously before you can decide'. And that's how it happens, or atleast they say so. I have this strong feeling that while "taking fundaes", what actually happens is

Senior: Yeah, tell da
Aspiring coord: I need fundaes on ____
Senior: Why are you putting so much enthu in this?
AC: I want to do 'something'. And it'll also help in my resume.. so, if you can help in getting this...
Senior: Okay dude... fine. Just write some proper answers in the application and I'll ask the related guy to take you.
AC: Thanks


The above process is repeated n number of times and the questionnaire is answered. The guy who selects the coords knows some guys very well, and most probably they are selected, unless there is extreme pressure from another stud applicant.......
Now this is where this small fight starts within myself-
"Dude, why didn't you take fundaes? You could have asked some senior"
"Why should I? The question was about what I would do, not what my senior would do"
"So? If you are really interested in something, your should worry about getting it done and put these things aside"
"Oh! Really? Then how would I be different from some other guy who took fundaes from another senior?"
"Cut the crap. You wanted to do something and now you're screwed up"
"No way. I did what I must have done. They asked me something, I answered them. Why should I worry if he didn't pick me despite my answers? I didn't take fundaes because I thought I deserved it. If I knew I don't deserve this, I won't apply at all"
"Whatever... All this is taking you nowhere"
"See, if I were to do it like everyone else, I'd probably not be who I am. I really don't care if some ass doesn't select my application, I was honest and "I" answered the questions... That's enough"
"Yeah dude.. the guy who picked 'em is a jerk.. He doesn't take honest people"

And I'm convinced completely that it was those guys who didn't get a guy who's really enthued to work. Then I go to these guys who are supposedly my friends and tell them I wasn't shortlisted for the group discussions. A little surprised. I tell them I didn't take any fundaes. And they say I'm crazy and I was supposed to do whatever I should to get what I want. So this question always stays. But I've decided, I do whatever I feel like doing and I'm really not going to bother about the consequences. One example- my choice after JEE. I chose aerospace. 99% of the guys who got my rank would have taken elec or compsci... Now, I feel too happy for making that choice.
I want the readers to think about this- If you don't make those decisions that matter the most in your life and somebody else makes them for you, what's the whole point of your life? If you are the greatest man(or woman), that guy who made that decision for you is responsible for you, same is the case if you're life is completely screwed up. If you cannot say what you really feel when you are being tested and you have to speak the words of someone else, what sense does it make if you get through it or you lose?

The interview...

This keeps bugging me.. always... Consider two cases involving two different people, Mr. A and Mr. B

Interview is 3 days away. Mr. A is just too desperate to get a job. He contacts all the seniors he knows and takes fundaes. He now knows everything about the kind of questions that will be asked in the interview and knows exactly what answer he should give. He'll say he's good at programming, sports and all crap when he cupped in "Introduction to C" and can't kick a football properly. He assumes he can handle everything later and he getting the job is most important at that point of time. Enter the interview room.. He bulbs a lot, but ends up answering all questions in the exact way his seniors told him.

Interview is tomorrow. Mr. B gets a nice dress ready. He collects all his certificates. He knows he deserves the job more than anyone else. He has a nice breakfast. He looks at the call letter again to make sure he missed nothing. During the interview, he gives his best.He's very confident. He gives out some 'unchecked' answers that make his case a little weak. When asked some arbit question, he just says "How is this related" instead of giving some crappy answer. He cups when he's asked some silly questions. He gives his opinions, doesn't bother about what the interviewer might think.The interviewer asks him what he thinks about the company, he says it's pretty good but has a lot of negatives and speaks them out.

Now, if you were the interviewer, who would you give the job to? I observe, in most cases, it's Mr. A who gets the job, because he was "prepared" while Mr. B really doesn't bother. Now, I have some doubts here. Sometimes it is very obvious that the guy who's being interviewed was just putting pseud. When a guy speaks honestly without worrying about the result, they don't take him. When a guy just flatters you without any self-respect, says he's just a dork and that job is the greatest thing for his life, says he's been dreaming to get that job and all, he gets it. The guy's homework and cautiosness gains more weightage than his intellect and honesty.

I always thought getting a job is only a small thing and actually working properly to keep the job is more painful. If a guy has to meet a lot of his seniors, tell infinite lies, forget what he is and what he really likes and finally, agrees to become an ass and accepts whatever his boss says, at this small thing, i.e. getting the job, how can he handle the bigger problems? Considering that all his qualifications already speak about him, the interview still gets the best part of people. And people go so far as to get 'trained' to do well in an interview. In one way, I feel that what is seen in an interview is never the personality of the applicant( atleast in most cases) and it is just the talent of some other guy, under whom this guy trained or took fundaes from, that is being shown. If someone really deserves a job, why should he go through all the preparation? Can't he just go there and speak whatever he has in mind and still get the job?