Ten Ted Talks

1- Adam Savage: How simple ideas lead to scientific discoveries.



2- Larry Smith: Why you will fail to have a great career



3- Brené Brown: The power of vulnerability



4- Brené Brown: Listening to shame



5- Hans Rosling: Religions and babies



6- William Noel: Revealing the lost codex of Archimedes



7- Clay Shirky: Why SOPA is a bad idea



8- Bryan Stevenson: We need to talk about an injustice



9- Tony Robbins: Why we do what we do, and how we can do it better



10- Daniel Pink on the surprising science of motivation



Quote of the Day : “As a teacher and a writer, I'm not interested in just producing books, and I'm not interested in just reproducing class after class of people who will get out, become successful, and take their obedient places in slots that society has prepared for them. What most of us must be involved in—whether we teach or write, make films, play music, act, whatever we do—has to not only make people feel good and inspired and at one with other people around them, but also has to educate a new generation to do this very modest thing: change the world.”— Howard Zinn

IITBHU : Such a long journey

Vide Notification no. F.No.8-5/2008-TS.I (Vol.-IV) from Ministry of Human Resource Development, Govt. of India, the Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Act, 2012 (No.34 of 2012) has come into force on 29th day of June 2012 and consequently, the erstwhile Institute of Technology, BHU has become Indian Institute of Technology (Banaras Hindu University), Varanasi w.e.f. June 29, 2012.

IT-BHU had always trait of becoming independent and autonomous. Now, that goal had been achieved. Speech given by Jawaharlal Nehru on 15th August 1947 : 'Tryst with Destiny' is coming in back of my mind. In 2009, IT-BHU was slated for conversion into an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) by amending the Institutes of Technology Act 1961 through The Institutes of Technology (Amendment) Act, 2011 which was passed by the Lok Sabha on 24 March 2011 and by the Rajya Sabha on April 30, 2012. The institute is now officially known as IIT-BHU.

To once visit in Varanasi is a very desirable fate and one accepts the fact that nothing is outside the realm of possibility in India. Irrespective of this, I don't know why I despise Varanasi while loving the college in equal proportion. The river Ganga that flows through Varanasi is a reservoir of filth, chaos and poverty, but also a meeting place for memories and belonging. I had expressed much anger in Banaras: A Bitter Memoir. Holy City of Kashi is the most sacred place for millions but mine love is limited to my college only.

An average ITian is a self contained creature and sometime desiring for an extra 'I'. However, an ITian richly deserve more than the quasi-IIT status. It is true that we all have walked on the roads of IT-BHU with a question in our hearts. Why is there so much bureaucratic and political hurdles in one small conversion ? May be Indian state can bear anything from corruption to nepotism, but an 'autonomy' to make its own decision is blasphemous !

There is always a pivotal moment of self awareness in a society that is held together for so long by the belief of superiority. We all know thoroughly about rise of new IITs and the gradual fall of ITBHU from its peak position. The fall was initiated long ago with internal politics, low funding and shoddy appointments. Even ITBHU introduced entrance pattern of IIT-JEE in 1971 only, it could not update itself with the changing times so quickly. However, much deserved yet over-hyped IIT brand continues to elude the institute. Administration, Faculty and Students of IITBHU need more interaction with the honest, progressive, modern and reasonable world outside of its own citadel.

Imminent effect of IIT Status is already visible through an upward movement in JEE ranks for IIT BHU. [Quick Analysis Here]. It appears to be name change for many but the first step towards great change has already been taken. There were few questions raised previously about future of ITBHU. See the winds of change has already started flowing among the faculty, alumnus, students and administration. After IIT, What Next?

'The Old order changeth, yielding place to New'

I cherish 'IIT tag' for ITBHU not because of the 'brand value' but because of the wide spectrum of 'autonomy' enjoyed by them. The tag will naturally attract higher ranked JEE candidates and procure high funding levels for faculty. I dreamed of college who should be identified with the liberty and opportunity. I dreamt once ITBHU such a place for me. I no longer cherish the dream and am driven by different ideology. Yet, this was a cause close to my heart. Opening of new IITs and up-gradation of old Institutions is a slow step towards reform in the higher technical education. I was personaly much against people who were opposing opening of new IITs as this may dilute the 'IIT' brand. This is much shameful that our best minds were more concerned about brand than scarcity of good institutions. Only under umbrella of IIT, the autonomy could have been achieved and now had been achieved.

“The job of the university is to not give society what it wants, but what it needs.”

A good way of spreading brand awareness and also making the best out of the time in the institute is to try to do something out of the box such as travel abroad for internships, leverage the IT-BHU network in securing jobs etc. The journey to this red letter day for IT BHU fraternity has been long and full of roadblocks. This could not have been possible without countless& well-wishers, proud alumnus, ITBHU administration, esteemed Professors and current students. They protested, lobbied and even gone public with their demand of the conversion. Kudos to all of them. There were opposition and blocks from the section inside BHU that were seeing threat to the heritage of Madan Mohan Malviya. With persistence, the milestone for upcoming glorious years had been achieved.

I am not yet convinced about how this move will benefit thousands of poor students. To be poor is to be without any entrance exam coaching or good schools. Already, there is a huge information gap between middle class and lowers class. People with good information and money set are less dependent on government spending and public goods. They are in much better situation to get an admission in any IITs at the end of school education. I hope that IITs should make reservation of seats for a youth from BPL card holder family. That will be a good initiative from such an old and prestigious Institute.

Changes are slow but inevitable. As time passes either we adapt or get left behind. The widespread serenity of VT has taught us to endure and have a patience for the cherished moment. I am happy to be a tiny part of heritage of both BHU and IIT system. Yet a question remains unanswered in my mind at this happy hour. Do the best students need the IIM or IIT stamp to be seen as special ?

Ten Issues - 23

1- Retuning Alha Udal : The lustrous versatility of film music, and change wrought by time. Gulzar knows our culture more than anybody in music industry.

2- Evaluating responses to India's macroeconomic crisis by Shubho Roy and Ajay Shah.

3- Not an April Fool: We are encouraged to over-share, for commercial reasons (just as we are encouraged to over-consume, but that's an issue for another time).

4- वक्‍त की छलनी में चेहरे गुम हो जाते हैं, गीत अमर रहता है ♦ जावेद अख्‍तर - पिछले दिनों जावेद अख्‍तर को राष्‍ट्रपति ने राज्‍यसभा की सदस्‍यता दी। 17 मई 2012 को जावेद साहब ने संसद में अपना पहला भाषण दिया।

5- Sheryl Sandberg’s Inspiring Speech At Harvard Business School. Sandberg urged the new graduates to think of their careers as a “jungle gym,” jumping around instead of following a preordained progression. She urged her listeners to take similar leaps, perhaps accepting a job that’s a step down from what one is currently doing if it offers the chance to learn something new. “If you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship,” she said, “don’t ask what seat—just get on.”

6- Graduate Student: To Be or Not To Be by Karthik Shekhar who is a graduate student at MIT. He earned a Dual Degree in Chemical Engineering in 2008 from IITB.

7- An Open Letter to India’s Graduating Classes - The author is a partner with KPMG.

8- We are now going to uncloak the anonymous man and tell the story of Stephen Ridley. Life is short - you're young, you're old, you're dead. React to that knowledge. You have nothing to lose.

9- Why People Should Not Be Poor by Neera Chandhoke - Can we reflect on the right not to be poor without taking on these background inequalities? Arguably, the right not to be poor is best articulated as a subset of the generic right to equality. The concept of equality is, however, not self-explanatory. In many circles, redistributive justice has replaced equality. It is therefore time to ask the question – equality for what? Unless we are careful about the way we approach the poverty debate, we will land up not with equality, but with “sufficientarianism”.

10- ARTICLE 17 is a campaign launched by Video Volunteers on April 14th, 2012, to urge the National Commission for Schedule Castes, (the government body that is constitutionally appointed to direct and implement the safeguards against untouchability), to prosecute cases of untouchability.

Thought of the Day : - “The worst illiterate is the political illiterate, he doesn’t hear, doesn’t speak, nor participates in the political events. He doesn’t know the cost of life, the price of the bean, of the fish, of the flour, of the rent, of the shoes and of the medicine, all depends on political decisions. The political illiterate is so stupid that he is proud and swells his chest saying that he hates politics. The imbecile doesn’t know that, from his political ignorance is born the prostitute, the abandoned child, and the worst thieves of all, the bad politician, corrupted and flunky of the national and multinational companies.” ― Bertolt Brecht