Caste and Education

Caste is so complex matter that it is constantly changing and adjusting to new circumstances. This poses a great challenge for all of us because it is deeply embedded in the mind of India and caste attitudes are not fading away even after so much education. Today, Indian society still retains part of the age old caste system and that Dalits still face social stigma even in urban circles. The manners and food habits of those from the lower section of the social ladder are still laughed at by the so-called upper class who are unwilling to let them enter their world unless it is for their benefit.

1- 26th January is approaching near, still a question arises in my mind. Why eminent persons like Dr. Ambedkar, Sardar Patel and Ram Manohar Lohia are reduced and viewed as caste representative leaders in political circles ? 'Blowin' in the Hind' is an article exploring about Dr. Ambedkar on the eve of the Great Indian Republic day.

2- A special report from the 2nd day of Jaipur Literature Festival :

The session on Dalit literature, titled, Outcaste: The Search for Public Conscience was the most provocative of the festival so far, with the panel of Dalit writers, Kancha Illaiah, OP Valmiki and P Sivakami making a passionate case for why the caste system will not go unless Hinduism goes.

“The reason most Hindus don't get worked up enough about atrocities against Dalits is that their conscience is not a public conscience but a caste conscience, imbued with values derived from caste,” said P Sivakami, the Tamil novelist.

Kancha Illaiah, author of Why I am Not A Hindu, turned up the heat further, by stating, “Hinduism is spiritual fascism.”

3- I love my Alma mater very much. But, often it comes in negative light unconsciously.
Now , Banaras Hindu University has picked K.P. Singh as director of its engineering wing. He is accused by the Uttar Pradesh government in a 2007 state medical examination scam , which is set to become India’s newest IIT. As this archival news item show:

Bahujan Samaj Party Government on Thursday recommended the dismissal of the Vice Chancellor of Vir Bahadur Singh Poorvanchal University, Jaunpur, K.P. Singh. The examinations were conducted by Poorvanchal University and Prof. Singh was the Chairman of UPCPMT, 2007.

The Government’s decision to sack Prof. Singh was based on the findings of the nine-member high-power committee. The panel was constituted by the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Mayawati, on June 15 following large-scale violence by students in the aftermath of the results announced on June 14.

Few days ago, The Telegraph breaks out the news that caste is given priority over merit in the picking of the director of IT-BHU.

BHU vice-chancellor D.P. Singh insisted that all norms had been followed in the selection. He told The Telegraph: “The executive council has picked K.P. Singh on my recommendation because he presents us with the best balance between seniority and time left before retirement. I don’t pick people on the basis of their caste.”

Traditionally, BHU picks the senior-most available faculty member to head its institutes. Critics of K.P. Singh’s selection say civil engineer and dean Virendra Singh, senior-most after outgoing IT-BHU director Upadhyay, was ignored.

K.P. Singh and D.P. Singh are both Thakurs, as are six of the 10 BHU executive council members, the critics said. Upadhyay, who has a year before retirement, is a Brahmin.

Still, I have doubt on Mayawati's honest stance of sacking K. P. Singh in 2007 due to her sheer corruption prone nature and dictator style governance. Charu Sudan Kasturi has covered this story in an honest way. But, we are at the peak moment of conversion of ITBHU to IIT. I don't know the truth but caste, corruption and education are intermingled with each other to deepest fathom in our Indian society.

Footnotes: Subhas Chandra Bose, only leader hailed as 'Netaji' (no other leader was called with respect by this title in our Indian history) born today on 23rd Jan; was a leader in the Indian independence movement. Its sad but ours has great history of forgotten heroes...

IT Yeah hai IT - Vish Nite 1992

Info provided by User: This is the "IT Yeh hai IT" song..wrote and composed in 1989 ..but only sang first time to bunch of classmates in 1991..it became " IT anthem" in no time..and this is the last time we sang it together ...with last stanza written a few minutes before the VishNite ..sitting at Mochu's ...I hope junta at IT still know this song :)..if not here it is with a old recording...Have fun!!! Always!!! classmates in 1991..it became " IT anthem" in no time..and this is the last time we sang it together...

3 Idiots and ITBHU Days

The success of 3 idiots lies in reflecting its unusual and strong under layer of moral anger against educational system. I have so much anger or affection for ITBHU that it flows in my several writeups. 3 Idiots bring some fine memories back in my mind. No one in mech08 batch would ever forget the opening lecture given by B.N. Diwedi 'on IT-BHU' in one of the first sessions of Applied Physics Lab. Sripati Sah, Ankit Gopal Pandey, Vikramraj Naidu, Abhishek Khanna, Suryakant Gupta, Abhishek Arora, Shashank Jain are just few names of persons who were similar to character Rancho. The bondage of friends like Hathi, Srikant Bhaiya, Agp, Chandan, Bond, Chandu, Shukla & Chammo boosting each other even at the darkest hours is unforgettable. I missed my college days most in all of them...

Like other good Engineering College in India, I was surrounded by guys discussing Playboy, Deboniar and even Mallu cinema in classroom. Illegal download has flooded pornography, movies, documentaries, TV serials, cartoons, LAN games, software and even study material. That the world of college and sharing, basically was ours utopia.

Our Bakchodi starts through lengthy discussions on pending state of ITBHU conversion to IIT. Add to that the amazing series of sessions, we went through about Share Market, Cinema and Cricket with ripping apart both fiction and non fiction literature. Swades, Matrix Triology, change in Indian Cricket under Ganguly leadership,etc. Few even know about the foreign language movies, and lots of it.

The campus did give me a tremendous dose of education in each and every aspect of my life in every conceivable way. It taught me to respect, to fear, to understand, to empathize, to look up to not only to great but also too good students, alumnus and teachers. Few times, I feel guilty about me not being one of them.

I was a bad student in academics. Somewhat, I doubt that I did not deserve to be a part of that campus as I failed to grab spirit of engineering in me. I ended up in IT company with mechanical background and interest in development issues.

I began to wonder now on the laws designed by me years back for college days. Much has changed since college to corporate and I have to revise all of them to settle in corporate environment. Probably this is what they call change, the laws that were so instrumental years back then are obsolete now. Still, I have kept my passion alive for out of course studies and get me driven...

I hereby declare in full awareness that I detest my job from bottom of the heart. So I was sitting in my cubicle today, and I realized, ever since I started working, every single day of my life has been worse than the day before it. So that means that every single day that you see me, that's on the worst day of my life. (rip off from a movie, but true !!!)

I am still in the process of figuring out what I want to do with career/ life etc. I always think on the humiliations of living a life you don’t want, regret for the unlived life, and the empowering potency of being shown you can choose otherwise. I guess that my friends who are in different parts of the world and each of them in a different phase of life can understand my feelings. I always assume that once you realise that it’s your job and happiness inherent is unleashed. If, it is your dream to be an actor, you automatically start performing with the best of your abilities, not really worrying about who you are working with. Currently, I am happy with my present transient state as I am also an Idiot; 'Idiot' really means 'I did it on my own terms'. Cheers for 3 Idiots!!!