The Irony.

As usual, I was trying to zero in on a topic that would be my next piece in this blog. The choices ranged from a simple documentary of one of my experiences to an emotional retort upon the peshawar attack. My flatmate laughed off at my latter choice. So I chose the happening topic-resolutions on new year's eve, to begin with.

We are at the beginning of another year and it is time for those long list of resolutions that are forgotten in less than a fortnight. One of the common ironical resolutions is pledging to quit drinking while taking a shot on New year's eve. The reason is logical too, "its my last shot, before I quit" except that it is not as one can't be expected to pledge other resolutions without a shot each :P.

I am no exception but on this day, I would like to ponder upon a thought that has been growing within since the last few days, the politics on social divisions.

The recently concluded elections in Jharkhand resulted in a non-tribal chief minister for a tribal majority state and the winning party is the one accused of being communal. Many adversaries of the same accused it of playing divisive and communal politics by placing a non-tribal at top and many more learned folks have shared their opinion through various media. This is just my interpretation and understanding of the same with the preconceived notions that I have developed throughout my life.

Not just because I used to admire the leadership of the winning party but I can't digest the irony in opponents claiming it to be communal for placing a non-tribal as the head of a state. As for as I know, there is no say in the constitution that states the head of a region should be from the majority caste, then how is it communal or against the minority in a person from minority wielding power. This is another irony in this entire political game of our country. Many an organisations that claim to support the minorities actually raise their voice in places where the 'minorities' are actually the majority in that region and are economically weak as well, for that is the demographic that exercises the fundamental right of casting their votes, probably because that is their only right that hasn't been exploited, well atleast not denied.

One thing I am happy and proud of being a Tamilian is the fact that the then leaders of the Dravidian movement took steps to eliminate the significance of castes by advocating the exclusion of surnames that reflect the lineage. Wish more was done in that front before they got fixated on political gains and started vote bank politics, another feature left behind by the British ideology of divide and rule.

Although we claim to be a secular nation with no disparity on the basis of caste or creed, it is one of the first things asked in our life right from kindergarten to college and at every scratch with the government proceedings. That's an irony we have grown accustomed to since we are toddlers. Well, I guess even a 100 'PK's on caste (instead of religion) wouldn't help the next lot escape from these questions, if we don't resolute to avoid asking or answering these and doom the political masters who try to pull out this wildcard whenever they require.

I guess, that makes for one solid resolution this year. Happy new year folks.! Have a great year ahead..:)

Looking back

       Less than half a decade back, I thought I had found the genesis of my career with my admission into one of the prestigious institutions in the country to pursue under graduation in mechanical engineering but even now after an exponential learning and exploration curve in the past four years, I feel incomplete in identifying my dream. Before I ponder over the failure of exploring my dream, I am obliged to mention the success of exploring myself which by far is the best learning experience I could ever have dreamed of.

It all began when my studious sister failed to make it into the jee exam and and kept going on about the perks of being an IITian. I had no clue about what an engineer actually does, except that they build things. Even when I was determined to choose nothing but the mechanical stream that took me further away from home, I didn't realise it was very much short of building sports cars and humanoids. But like most stereotypical youths in the country, I assured myself that it is my ambition to get into IIT and become a scientist(only if I had known what it takes to be one..:P) and embarked on a two year strenuous coaching exercise after my secondary education, leaving a well endowed boarding school for a cramped multi-storey building with the soul motto of manufacturing IITians. It was indeed worth the workouts, if I wanted to be an engineer as all said and done IITs are still the best colleges in the country. Unlike popular perception, there is very less or no pressure on academics and it feels like a freedom from slavery after the two year(for a few,it's much longer) exercise. As always, freedom without restrictions could prove detrimental to many and so it happens for most of the brightest minds(at least believed to be so) of the country after enlisting into IIT. We still try to keep ourselves worthwhile by engaging in various extracurricular and club activities but in the process get obsessed with filling our resume, neglecting the topmost column that caters to the academic score. The major fault is listening to the hearsay advices that float around preaching academics is not very much important and it is sufficient to have a threshold cgpa to get a decent job placement, which happens to be a non-core industry for all but the computer science graduates. I wouldn't say it is false but the regret one(I speak for myself) has at the end of the course isn't less either.

During my years at college, I wanted to build my career in many a paths like a trader, a consultant, an entrepreneur and so on like a kid who wants to be a doctor,engineer,artist all at once. I understood that I am another proof to the meme 'In India, people become engineers before they decide what to do in life'. As we realise that it is too late to change tracks now, we try to pick the best option available which incidentally turn out to be management profiles and not engineering ones. This draws the ire of public who accuse the IITians of using the taxpayers' money without returning anything to the nation. Of course, one can't blame the common man for being misguided by the media that tend to blow up the packages and shrink the achievements and contributions of IITians. But the opportunities to payback to the society right from the beginning of career is close to nil. I recollect one of the IIT alumni from the early '60s saying 'brain drain is better than brain in the drain' was the justification during their time(he returned to donate millions to his alma matter). Certainly the situation has altered significantly since then but only the location of work preference has been modified and not the nature of roles sought or the companies preferred. I do believe that citing folks who make up fake documents to claim public funds through different avenues is a justification for us taking care of ourselves but there is nothing wrong in living by the quote 'Charity begins at home' either. Well there is a limit to this charity and most of us realise this sooner than the rest. The many budding entrepreneurs and social activists/entrepreneurs from IITs are the living proof for that.

I guess I have gone off the track from what I set out to write today and it is pretty long already. I wouldn't wanna bore the few readers(friends who don't have a choice) by extending it any further.

I wouldn't do what I have done if I had another run at it but there is no saying whether I would be satiated with a different set of choices/decisions. Nevertheless I am proud of the learnings and friendships I garnered on the way. In short, I went in with great desires of building the gen-next devices and earn millions but came out with the dream of starting up(and earn millions too- well, there are few things that don't change easily). Hoping to realise it sooner than writing my next 'look back'..:P