Saturday, October 28, 2006

Being an IITian....

"Don't judge others too quickly.I thought my son was useless because he didn't get into IIT.I tell you what,I was a useless father.It is great to get into IIT,but it is not the end of the world if you don't.All of you should be proud to have the IIT tag, but never ever judge anyone who is not from this institute- that alone can define the greatness of this institute."

This excerpt is from the best seller "Five Point Someone" by Chetan Bhagat and I quote it here because being an IITian,I firmly believe in the spirit embodied in the lines of the quote. Being humble and courteous with a sense of pride is what has been my learning.

How does it feel to be one of them?How high are the expectations of others ? or rather does the IIT tag make one to raise one's expectation from himself/herself? Myriad of questions and varying answers we might have.But whatever one has to say , this breed is undoubtedly a revered one.Exceptions surely abound when u can find people scornful about them.Reasons I could never find out.IITians are the confident lot and know for sure that the world is watching them.They are idiolized and that always instills a sense of pride in them.

But being an IITian, in my opinion, shouldn't be reflective of possessing certain common traits.Afterall it's just about graduating from one of the seven IITs.Undoubtedly they represent the elite guys of our country.And so they are expected to dream bigger and climb higher.But at the end of the day, it all boils down to the individual.And that makes each one of them different from the other.One shouldn't harbour a generic opinion about them.They span all the characters present on the earth- from being the stupdiest to the smartest, from the not-versatile to very-versatile, from very carefree to very responsible and so on.

I have many times experienced my faliures being linked to that of an IITian.Something I have always hated to hear.I would love to contribute to the glory of the IITs but it hurts to hear happening otherwise.An IITian is taught to be an achiever.If he achieves,hats off to IIT.If he fails, the failure is his and not that of an IIT.

Thinking on a different line, IITians are just a few among the vast lot of equally smart and brilliant engineers. Many are far better also.One way of looking at them is they got lucky on the crucial day and had a journey of privileged what many ud say.I guess it's all about knowing the oppurtunities and striving to grab them.Rest should be left to Lady Luck and to HIM.

The world-wide fame and brand equity that IITs have acquired in years is the contribution primarily of its alumni and that makes every IIT graduate feel as his duty to contribute to building up of the brand IIT.It has not just made IITians gain recognition world wide.Rather, the Indian Talent has got marketed on the World Stage.

I personally feel proud of the tag IIT and want to live by the high expectations of my own.It's all about enjoying the life to the fullest and striving to be a nice person.It's about being humble and courteous and inspiring others to be the same.It's about being honest to yourself and avoiding being hypocritical.

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