DCE => DTU => IIT. How Justified?

I was a DCEite once. That was 2 years ago before I cleared JEE and made my way to IIT. That was when DCE was the college where nothing ever happened. Except mass bunks. You could graduate out of DCE and yet you wouldn’t know that you had an engineering degree under your belt. It was all calm out there. But then this happened some time back. DCE got converted into DTU: Delhi Technology University.

Small Fish in A Big Pond

It didn’t sound very good. But well, I thought: it must be for the better. If not, it was possibly a publicity gimmick before the Commonwealth Games. That is all. After all, Indians have an affliction towards changing names. Bombay –> Mumbai, Calcutta –> Kolkata, Madras –> Chennai… the list goes on. If this could be the fate of 3 of the 4 metro cities of India (and that of DIT NSIT too!), then I guess DCE is just a small fish in a big pond. And how did it matter anyway?

A Reason To Protest

There was a catch though. When DCE got upgraded(?) to DTU, the fees got hiked and the student intake increased. Now, disturbing as it may sound, I am sure this wasn’t the only reason for the disturbance. Such events always build up. I could draw an analogy with the Rohit Kumar case. Although everyone at IIT knew of the poor state of affairs of B.C. Roy, nobody really cared as much till the incident. The incident gave them a reason to protest.

The Events

What followed (in fact what generally follows) is a string of protests in support of their cause: candlelight marches, rallies, exam-bunks (as a mark of protest!) and the demands. As an outsider now, all of this seemed a little irrational to me. Why did they want themselves to upgraded to IITs? Didn’t we have 14 IITs already which were struggling to cope up with the existing infrastructure. (Ever tried sharing a room meant for a single person?) If they thought becoming IITs would alleviate their condition, couldn’t they be more mistaken. (And yeah, IITs have proposed a fee hike to Rs 4 lakh a year. Beat that.)

A Pattern

You could protest against the administration in DCE/DTU. Try that in IIT. And IIT without JEE? It may sound very romantic. But let me tell you my dear friends, JEE exists for a reason. And CGPA? Hah! as if it is going to really make a difference. Why decorate the demands with all these when all you want is better infrastructure? Oh, this might also be a nice chance to settle a few personal scores: The Director, the Sports Director and the rest of them. Didn’t we do that in Kgp as well? Who is the present Director of IITKgp now?

Coming to a Consensus

I could really see frightening parallels. This was how students protested the world over. And this was how the administration reacted: almost always. It is almost a pattern. And yet those protesting failed to see it.

I have been a part of DCE. And possibly a part of me is still in DCE yearning for the college life that I had there. But possibly my experience at IIT has made me look at things from a slightly different perspective. And as I write this post, I wonder if the protests could serve their purpose without drowning in the irrational? Could there be a genuine attempt to come to a consensus rather than just being a part of the mob? Could DCEites display a certain amount of maturity in dealing with such matters. After all, they consider themselves the crown in the crown of Delhi.

P.S.1: I am aware that this post might draw some sharp reactions from certain corners. However, I would ask you to ponder on what I have written above before jumping to conclusions.

P.S.2: I changed over from DCE to IIT. Mixed feelings. DCE becomes IIT. Feels a little strange.

Why I Hate Telephonic Interviews

It is not just the weather, but the atmosphere in general. With constant urging from all directions to fix something for the summer so that things can be finalised and the end-semester exam (almost) knocking on the doors, the heat surely is getting to me.

To make matters worse, I have had to deal with this (new to me) format of interviews – telephonic interviews. And I have started to hate telephonic interviews. Here are my reasons:

#1. You’re Immersed in A Movie and the protagonist is going to kill the antagonist when the mobile rings. Tidi-Tidi-ti-ti-Tidi-Tidi-ti-ti. And then the caller-id shows an unknown number. You wonder if it is worth it pausing the movie at the climax and receiving the call. You hope it is not one of those “useless kind of calls which you really regret receiving” and press the green button.

#2. It happens All of A Sudden. A booming voice ready to take an interview informs you that he is going to have a little tete-a- tete with you for 10-15 minutes and that’ll be about it.

#3. Having Taken It For Granted That You Had been Rejected you had completely forgotten about it. Now as the questions start bombing in, you wonder what to do.

#4. You Weren’t Ready For It

#5. A Silence Is a Silence on A Telephone. You can’t show the interviewer that you are thinking. So, you start drawling out answers slowly and (almost as if) from memory. The interviewer listens calmly. Then you feel you are too slow and then you mess up further. You are almost feeling like a helpless lamb being slaughtered not because the interviewer was saying anything but because the silence was killing you.

#6. There Is no Eye Contact. So there is no way for you to tell the interviewer: Hey look at me. Look at the gleam in my eyes. Look at the enthusiasm in me. Can’t you see kitna tempo hai mujhme.

#7. It isn’t as Long as You Think It is. You look at the watch. You have been 5 minutes into the interview and you’re already saying your goodbyes. That sure isn’t 10-15 minutes!

You know that your fate is sealed. You give in to your fate, set a status message on GTalk: “Why do I suck at interviews?” and decide that it is going to be your next blog post. And then you hit the spacebar.