2010 IIT JEE Qualifiers - Pre Counseling Note

First up, Congratulations to all those brilliant minds who have managed to crack IIT JEE 2010 in spite of all its shortcomings and difficulty. You guys deserve more than a clap on the back and will be duly rewarded with a seat in the top colleges of our country. The time has come for you to decide on what you wish to graduate in. The enormity of the decision may not strike you at the moment, but what you do in college (and what you don't do) will steer the course of the remainder of your life. I urge you to choose wisely and to help you choose (if you are interested) I shall shed some light on a few things about the coveted IITs.

I'm not going to get into the history of IITs as it is retold on all IIT websites, just walk down with me 3 years before this date. 2007.. There were 7 IITs in the country, the oldest being over 50 years of age and the youngest around 13 years. All of them 'established' and having a distinct culture and trend of its own (do note the emphasis on established). Spread over 4000-4500 seats, the system seemed fair on the then brilliant minds who had qualified in IIT JEE 2007. There existed a balance. A year passes, 2008 comes, another batch of qualifiers (myself included :-) ). However, the balance about which I previously elaborated was shattered. 6500+ seats in the offering and 13 IITs to choose from - 6 new IITs. If you are unable to grasp what I just said, grab a cup of coffee/tea (sugarless if you are diabetic) or a soft drink and a bag of pop corn while I spin out another yarn..

6 new IITs - IIT Bhubaneswar, IIT Gandhinagar, IIT Hyderabad, IIT Patna, IIT Rajasthan, IIT Ropar - each offering 120 seats over 3 disciplines were announced by the MHRD. The courses offered were lucrative viz. Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computer Science Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering. The effect it had was similar to opening a Pandora's Box and unleashing the demons. It created a wave of confusion as it put quite a few of us in a tight spot. The situation was further enhanced (or decimated) the following year with 2 more IITs being opened (IIT Indore and IIT Mandi). What the new IITs meant was that even a person with an AIR of 4000 would get a chance to pursue his/her under graduation in Computer Science Engineering which is the most sought after branch and had required an AIR of less than 600 (1000 in IIT Guwahati) until 2007 to get into. Isn't that good? Now that would depend entirely on a per capita basis. There is a downside to this, that being the IIT you join. Let's face it, there are innumerable rankings of the top engineering colleges of our country and you would notice that the top 5 spots are occupied (with a probability 0.999) by 5 of the oldest IITs viz. Bombay, Delhi, Madras, Kanpur, Kharagpur (order mentioned here is purely alphabetical and not on the basis of any ranking). IIT Roorkee and Guwahati fall in the top 10. If lined up with the top colleges where would the new IITs be? Be my guest, take a wild guess! If you expect the top 15 spots to be IITs then you are either daft or have just traveled backward in time by about 50 years. To put it in simpler words, there are better options available at the moment. 15 years ago, students would have had to take a similar leap of faith with IIT Guwahati which is now in the top 10 and what you are going through now is just the same. History has the uncanny habit of repeating itself. Even though doubt is the absence or incongruence of reason at this point the doubt that you are facing is acceptable and more importantly - valid.

Having spent the first year in an established IIT (IIT Kharagpur) and the second year in so called temporary campus of IIT Bhubaneswar, we are more than aware of the glaring differences. Yes, the new IITs are challenging, and very challenging indeed. At the end of the day, when you sit down and recall, I'm not sure whether the challenges were worth leaving the comfort of the 'establish'ment. And I won't be sure till the first batch gets placed (or misplaced). Only time will tell. This post is not meant to deface new IITs but just to shed more light and show you a part of reality that does not meet your eye. It will take the new IITs a few years (5-6) to setup their own campuses at the earliest, following which their development will be in full swing and in fast forward mode. At the moment, the water is murky. To test it or not to test it, now that is your question.. And again, only time will tell.

I hope you have finished your drink and pop corn by now and more importantly I hope you found this post useful. Tune into this web space over the coming weeks as we guide you through the Counseling and Admission processes. If you have any queries, do post them here or shout in the Shout Box or email us! Until next time..

SPIC MACAY Chapter

Fourteenth of November (Children’s day) was aptly chosen for the inauguration of the IIT-BBS chapter of the Society for Promotion of Indian Classical Music And Culture Amongst Youth. The event was held at the auditorium of the institute on Saturday. The event started with a talk by Dr. Kiran Seth, one of SPIC MACAY’s founders on their attempts to encourage young men and women who were more interested in western music to return back to the deep-rooted melodies of their ancestors. Even though their initial achievements were not very encouraging, the organisation blossomed and now stands tall with many branches across the world. The hallmark of the event was most certainly, the concert by Ustad Abdul Rashid Kahn, the 102 year old veteran musician whose presence that day made the event more memorable. His singing created a transcendental atmosphere, while leading the audience through his experience of music as it should be. His expertise in singing dhrupad, dhamar and thumri made the day a truly blessed experience etched permanently in our minds. His troupe, which included his grandson on the tabla, supported him well. The event concluded with a request to the students to attend classical music concerts and imbibe in themselves the good moral values the Indian value system has to offer. Everyone left; feeling contended that their valuable time was invested at the perfect place.

-- Sricharan R

Sufi Concert

On 21 August 2009, The Society for the Promotion of Indian Classical Music and Culture Amongst Youth, often known by its initials (SPIC MACAY) organised a Sufi music performance by the Qutabi brothers in the IIT Bhubaneswar auditorium.

This Friday evening served as a perfect start of the weekend for the hundreds of students and faculty members, who remained hooked to the very beats of Qawwali, throughout the show. The soul stirring music and inspiring lyrics left audience mesmerised and yearning for more. Each one of the artists performed right from their souls making audience a part of their rhythmic journey. And as promised by this 700 year old classical music style, each of the listener was transported to a state of ‘wajad’-a state where one can reach out to Allah and hold on to him for the peace of his mind and soul. The intermittent quick-witted and spontaneous ‘shero-shayari’ made the auditorium to ring out with thunderous laughter and claps. And as the evening proceeded the tempo inside the auditorium shot up, ending with a standing ovation for the incredible performers and also leaving behind the song-‘Dama Dum Mast Kalandar’ on every one's lips.

-- Anurag