A few days back ,while returning back home from office in a 2 hour bus journey , a candid conversation with my friends got diverted to an issue."I am not leading the life that I would have liked to" , I said .Much to the astonishment of my friends who started condemning me for being an Idiot who just did not know what to do with his life and just wanted to pass vague remarks about life only for the sake of doing so. I tried hard to explain what I actually was trying to convey but felt that I couldn't drive home the point.I felt like someone who knew that he had a very valid point but could not provide enough or should i say the right arguments to prove his point.
I decided to give up on that topic that day just to be reminded about it once again after watching 3 idiots .If you are stil reading this article for a review then please quit as I am not the right person to do so coz I have been totally floored by this movie.3 Idiots once again raises the question on India's education system which has been so overtaken by the Grading system,competion and race to get to the top that it has left invention,creation,logic,genius all behind.Todays toppers who are celebrated and looked up to(by parents,teachers, others...) are no one but people who spend the better part of their lives memorising text books,reference books etc. written by well know,little known and even unknown authors .The only objective being to score as much marks that they leave behind everyone else and be sucessful in life.
Enter Rancho(Aamir) who believes in learning for the sake of implementing, who believes in challenging the rules of science and ,written by scholars and to validate age old concepts and theories by practically verifying them.Rancho takes a swipe at the teaching methodology used in our universities and the marking system which creates a divide among the student community affecting their morale and self confidence.Also Rancho throws light on the fact that one's financial condition and family pressures determines the amount of risk a person can take in his life.Raju(Sharman) has to do engineering only because he was good at studies in school and worldly wisdom tells that only engineering can help you earn big money in this world(i.e if you cant afford a M.B.B.S degree).Rancho also takes a swipe at this materialistic world where a student does his engineering then does his MBA to end up as a financial consultant in a banking firm in the US.For heavens sake people who take this path have surely not realised their life's motto or may be it was a planned by thier well educated parents who might have devised it as a sure shot recipe of success.May GOD bless all you great peopple.
I was not born to well educated parents who had an MBA or B.Tech degree so engineering was never forced upon me.My father wanted me to do a B.Com degree and get a good job in a banking firm ,something which was considered to be safe during their times.But I was fascinated by science, machines ,physics and other stuff.Like Rancho in the movie I used to engineer and reengineer alarm clocks, old Radios and other electronic equipments that fascinated me.When I first got exposed to computers i was totally amazed by their power and from there was born the passion of becoming a computer engineer.
"What would you want to become in life ?"my secondary school teacher would ask.Some would say Pilot,some would say Doctor,Cricketer,etc.But I would reply with a software engineer not knowing exactly what work it actually involved.But after my H Sc exams I was exposed to the cruel world of competition where your scores and your family's bank balance would decide what future education you would persue.I was lucky as I had my family's financial backing whereas some of my friends had to drop the idea of getting into engineering thanks to low scores and not having the ability to pay huge donations to the greedy Engineering institutes in Mumbai.
When i finally secured my admission in Mumbai University as Computer Engineer I was very excited about the fact that finally I would leave the rat race and start learning concepts rather than mugging text books.The Subjects were fascinating to start with in the first year itself .Mechanics,B.E.E,Engineering Drawing etc. but soon I realised that no matter how much you enjoyed the subjects the final objective was to score good marks and to maintain an overall engineering average of above (60 %) to be eligible for placements with no more than two K.Ts (failures) .It would all still could have made sense if the question papers year after year did not have the same theory questions and even similar problems with certain numbers changed here and there.In order to pass and also to score well all that we needed to do was to go back n get solutions to papers of the last five years and that would more or less make it.After my first year I revisited my strategy towards exams by trying to enjoy myself by learning new concepts just to gain knowedge in the first few months of thesemester and devote the last few weeks when exams came nearby to study only to score marks.I could not afford to score less or fail exams and miss out on a chance of getting a good placement(The final objective at that tym).
Second year passed by nicely with this strategy.By this time I had realised that I was here only to get a degree and was adding little to my technical knowedge.This got more pathetic and appalling in the third year when even practicals were neglected as just 'Time Pass hours'.We (The Bhurjee Club..our enngineering gang of friends)would sit down in lectures with an R.S Agarwal, and a Shakuntala Devi and solve their problems as the wordly wise told us that this was a sure shot way to get to Infosys the haven of IT industry.
In the third year I was kept down and away from college for a month thanks to a bout of Jaundice which meant that I missed my lectures .I felt that I could easily make up by studying in the last month and going through the last few years papers.I failed that year and thats when I reaised that it wasnt last minute studying that helped me pass but the efforts I took in understanding concepts throughout the semester that helped me pass with flying colours.
A Live KT meant that I couldnt appear for placement interviews with TCS ,a heartbreak moment , but till that time I had learnt the funda for surviving Engineering taught by my gang of frinends.We used to fool our hearts ,tell it that ALL IZZ WELL and it worked.I eventually got into LNT Infotech.Got a good pay package(joking ;-p) and enjoyed the remaining months of my engineering.I got my degree but apart from a moment of pride,that degree doesnt make me proud all the tym coz I know that it was not hard earned.Its a degree for our family and relatives but only we know how much that means in the real world, in the IT industry.
Daily I come across many of my colleagues mostly engineers all frustrated ,planning to either switch jobs or go for higher studies.They blame the renumeration for their frustration but the fact is that each one of them is frustrated with life.They are frustrated coz the life they had dreamt about living after getting an engineering degree is not there .It does not exist.Neither the respect for being an engineer nor the excitement of engineering innovation,excellence.Its all missing.We are being treated as slaves.Resources they call us .Some of the best brains of the nation, we are supposed to be but we are treated on par with computers and stationery in the office.
What is the final objective of slogging in the IT industry? Well for most of them its a trip to a foreign country probably the U.S or the U.K .Earn big money in small time and enjoy a cozy life.Well apart from that you also get to go to exotic foreign locations and party out there.Thats it .End of story.If someone had warned me before hand that this is all that you can get from an engineer's degree I would have probably backed out,trodded on a different path,chosen a different destiny for myself.
Few think about fulfilling their dreams and desires .For most making money is the ONLY desire.When I look back at all my friends who had a passion for engineering and couldnt make it there ,I feel bad bcoz everyday I see so many around me who do not deserve to be engineers.Who fear almost everyone n everything and never make use of the knowledge(however little) they gained during a prestigious 4 year course.For whom being in the managers good book is the only goal, even if it means agreeing to vague illogical incorrrect suggestions given by their superiors.Everyone has learnt to keep quiet to compromise to adjust. But I am afraid if that was the objective of educating so many youngsters ,empowering them to question old beliefs and to establish new ideas .
In the final placement scene of 3 idiots the HR guy tells Raju that your frank attitude may not go down well with our clients and you may need to get a bit more diplomatic.Raju shoots back saying that has gone through a lot to get this frank attitude and would rather lose the job than lose the attitude.Its this attitude that needs to be cultivated by every engineer.We need to realize the great power that has come with knowledge and just because your colleague is wiling to folow the traditional path doesnt mean that you follow suit.You have earned a prestigious degree atleast do not belittle that degree by giving to the whims of a senior MBA degree holder.Tell them that you are right with what you say and that you deserve better and if they do not agree be ready to shove it in their face and quit.
Finally if you feel that there is something else to be achieved ,if you feel that this IT industry is not where you belong ,if you think that you have much more to give back to this world ,then dont hesitate to take a step forward,JAAO JEE LO APNI ZINDAGi and if somewhere you feel scared or bobbed down by your family commitments or just by the society, just calm your heart and tell it that BHAIYYA ALL IZZ WELL.
--This article is dedicated to all those engineers who changed the WORLD. :-)
I decided to give up on that topic that day just to be reminded about it once again after watching 3 idiots .If you are stil reading this article for a review then please quit as I am not the right person to do so coz I have been totally floored by this movie.3 Idiots once again raises the question on India's education system which has been so overtaken by the Grading system,competion and race to get to the top that it has left invention,creation,logic,genius all behind.Todays toppers who are celebrated and looked up to(by parents,teachers, others...) are no one but people who spend the better part of their lives memorising text books,reference books etc. written by well know,little known and even unknown authors .The only objective being to score as much marks that they leave behind everyone else and be sucessful in life.
Enter Rancho(Aamir) who believes in learning for the sake of implementing, who believes in challenging the rules of science and ,written by scholars and to validate age old concepts and theories by practically verifying them.Rancho takes a swipe at the teaching methodology used in our universities and the marking system which creates a divide among the student community affecting their morale and self confidence.Also Rancho throws light on the fact that one's financial condition and family pressures determines the amount of risk a person can take in his life.Raju(Sharman) has to do engineering only because he was good at studies in school and worldly wisdom tells that only engineering can help you earn big money in this world(i.e if you cant afford a M.B.B.S degree).Rancho also takes a swipe at this materialistic world where a student does his engineering then does his MBA to end up as a financial consultant in a banking firm in the US.For heavens sake people who take this path have surely not realised their life's motto or may be it was a planned by thier well educated parents who might have devised it as a sure shot recipe of success.May GOD bless all you great peopple.
I was not born to well educated parents who had an MBA or B.Tech degree so engineering was never forced upon me.My father wanted me to do a B.Com degree and get a good job in a banking firm ,something which was considered to be safe during their times.But I was fascinated by science, machines ,physics and other stuff.Like Rancho in the movie I used to engineer and reengineer alarm clocks, old Radios and other electronic equipments that fascinated me.When I first got exposed to computers i was totally amazed by their power and from there was born the passion of becoming a computer engineer.
"What would you want to become in life ?"my secondary school teacher would ask.Some would say Pilot,some would say Doctor,Cricketer,etc.But I would reply with a software engineer not knowing exactly what work it actually involved.But after my H Sc exams I was exposed to the cruel world of competition where your scores and your family's bank balance would decide what future education you would persue.I was lucky as I had my family's financial backing whereas some of my friends had to drop the idea of getting into engineering thanks to low scores and not having the ability to pay huge donations to the greedy Engineering institutes in Mumbai.
When i finally secured my admission in Mumbai University as Computer Engineer I was very excited about the fact that finally I would leave the rat race and start learning concepts rather than mugging text books.The Subjects were fascinating to start with in the first year itself .Mechanics,B.E.E,Engineering Drawing etc. but soon I realised that no matter how much you enjoyed the subjects the final objective was to score good marks and to maintain an overall engineering average of above (60 %) to be eligible for placements with no more than two K.Ts (failures) .It would all still could have made sense if the question papers year after year did not have the same theory questions and even similar problems with certain numbers changed here and there.In order to pass and also to score well all that we needed to do was to go back n get solutions to papers of the last five years and that would more or less make it.After my first year I revisited my strategy towards exams by trying to enjoy myself by learning new concepts just to gain knowedge in the first few months of thesemester and devote the last few weeks when exams came nearby to study only to score marks.I could not afford to score less or fail exams and miss out on a chance of getting a good placement(The final objective at that tym).
Second year passed by nicely with this strategy.By this time I had realised that I was here only to get a degree and was adding little to my technical knowedge.This got more pathetic and appalling in the third year when even practicals were neglected as just 'Time Pass hours'.We (The Bhurjee Club..our enngineering gang of friends)would sit down in lectures with an R.S Agarwal, and a Shakuntala Devi and solve their problems as the wordly wise told us that this was a sure shot way to get to Infosys the haven of IT industry.
In the third year I was kept down and away from college for a month thanks to a bout of Jaundice which meant that I missed my lectures .I felt that I could easily make up by studying in the last month and going through the last few years papers.I failed that year and thats when I reaised that it wasnt last minute studying that helped me pass but the efforts I took in understanding concepts throughout the semester that helped me pass with flying colours.
A Live KT meant that I couldnt appear for placement interviews with TCS ,a heartbreak moment , but till that time I had learnt the funda for surviving Engineering taught by my gang of frinends.We used to fool our hearts ,tell it that ALL IZZ WELL and it worked.I eventually got into LNT Infotech.Got a good pay package(joking ;-p) and enjoyed the remaining months of my engineering.I got my degree but apart from a moment of pride,that degree doesnt make me proud all the tym coz I know that it was not hard earned.Its a degree for our family and relatives but only we know how much that means in the real world, in the IT industry.
Daily I come across many of my colleagues mostly engineers all frustrated ,planning to either switch jobs or go for higher studies.They blame the renumeration for their frustration but the fact is that each one of them is frustrated with life.They are frustrated coz the life they had dreamt about living after getting an engineering degree is not there .It does not exist.Neither the respect for being an engineer nor the excitement of engineering innovation,excellence.Its all missing.We are being treated as slaves.Resources they call us .Some of the best brains of the nation, we are supposed to be but we are treated on par with computers and stationery in the office.
What is the final objective of slogging in the IT industry? Well for most of them its a trip to a foreign country probably the U.S or the U.K .Earn big money in small time and enjoy a cozy life.Well apart from that you also get to go to exotic foreign locations and party out there.Thats it .End of story.If someone had warned me before hand that this is all that you can get from an engineer's degree I would have probably backed out,trodded on a different path,chosen a different destiny for myself.
Few think about fulfilling their dreams and desires .For most making money is the ONLY desire.When I look back at all my friends who had a passion for engineering and couldnt make it there ,I feel bad bcoz everyday I see so many around me who do not deserve to be engineers.Who fear almost everyone n everything and never make use of the knowledge(however little) they gained during a prestigious 4 year course.For whom being in the managers good book is the only goal, even if it means agreeing to vague illogical incorrrect suggestions given by their superiors.Everyone has learnt to keep quiet to compromise to adjust. But I am afraid if that was the objective of educating so many youngsters ,empowering them to question old beliefs and to establish new ideas .
In the final placement scene of 3 idiots the HR guy tells Raju that your frank attitude may not go down well with our clients and you may need to get a bit more diplomatic.Raju shoots back saying that has gone through a lot to get this frank attitude and would rather lose the job than lose the attitude.Its this attitude that needs to be cultivated by every engineer.We need to realize the great power that has come with knowledge and just because your colleague is wiling to folow the traditional path doesnt mean that you follow suit.You have earned a prestigious degree atleast do not belittle that degree by giving to the whims of a senior MBA degree holder.Tell them that you are right with what you say and that you deserve better and if they do not agree be ready to shove it in their face and quit.
Finally if you feel that there is something else to be achieved ,if you feel that this IT industry is not where you belong ,if you think that you have much more to give back to this world ,then dont hesitate to take a step forward,JAAO JEE LO APNI ZINDAGi and if somewhere you feel scared or bobbed down by your family commitments or just by the society, just calm your heart and tell it that BHAIYYA ALL IZZ WELL.
--This article is dedicated to all those engineers who changed the WORLD. :-)
