Not in Syllabus

PART I

I was sitting at the back among freshly inducted students in the 'unreserved' seats of Netaji Auditorium. Tried but could not ignore when a hand waved at me from the first row. Got introduced to Samarth and Ashay with once held NSS (National Service Scheme) identity of mine. Samarth asked if I could recognize him. He was from Mechanical Engg. dept., graduated in 2014 and was an NSS volunteer. Ashay was shyer of the two. We two managed a gentle nod. The stage was up for the screening of 'UNRESERVED', an award winning documentary, directed by Samarth and produced by Ashay.

The occasion was freshers' induction program. On 23rd July, the UG 1st year joined the institute and a week long induction program was arranged for them to get acclimatised to the environment; before the rigour of the academic work starts. Samarth and Ashay got introduced to the audience. Both spoke briefly in the beginning and the interactive session was reserved after the screening of the film.

The one hour documentary has eleven segments interwoven in such a manner that one would remain riveted to it. The segments were picked up from their 17 day long train journey in unreserved compartments throughout India. The Rs. 1 Lakh budget asked for a minimalist approach -  only a DSLR camera and a microphone to shoot. No retake, no rehearsal - documentary it is, yet it has the ingredients of many full length feature films - the ones that make you smile, that make you cry, that make you think. The film shows things as they are and never sounds preachy. At the same time, the characters in the unreserved compartments appear more qualified than many a experts who occupy prime time television space to speak on important issues faced by the country. One would vouch that the  greatest of the actors cannot match their expressions whatever be the number of takes because it was effortless real. Needless to say, the audience was deeply moved by the movie and a standing ovation was more than due at the end of the screening (Link).

I shall refrain from sharing the actual content of the movie rather, would urge everybody to spare one hour to watch the movie, available for free in youtube (Link). Assured that it would be a revelation of a different kind and our love for the country and its people would make a quantum leap after seeing the movie. It is not sympathy but empathy which will overpower us, we shall cry when they cry and we shall laugh when they laugh. We shall feel a kind of oneness and an urge to be by their side and gently ask, "How do you feel now?" Of all the questions that were asked at the end by the freshers, there was one which could be there with many of us. While Samarth worked in an MNC for six months after graduation from Mechanical Engg. Dept. before making the plunge, Ashay moved into film-making immediately after graduation from Industrial & Systems Engineering. The question asked was why they did the Engg. if they were to go into film-making. And, Samarth answered smilingly, "Engineering is the new plus two (i.e. Higher Secondary) of current times." Both of them went through a discovery phase during their engineering days here. Both were into short-film making which was a part of their extra-curricular activities and were competing for Hall Championship (they were from different Halls) which helped them identify what they were up to.

They told that film making has three different elements in it - script, camera, editing. One may not be good in all and thus, needs to team up. They are ready to help current students in any of their projects. They particularly mentioned of the opportunities lying ahead for NSS volunteers among them who would be working among underprivileged in adjoining villages and slums. Presented below are two videos from NSS Camp 2016 (students speaking) and 2017 (faculty members speaking).

PART II

There was an interactive session arranged in the Dept. for UG freshers and their guardians on 23rd July evening. With 100+ students joining, there was not a big enough room in the Dept. to address all of them together and we had two separate sessions - one with the students and one with the guardians. The students were in a very happy mood to join a premier dept. of a premier institute. While few, only a few, seemed little nervous, the rest appeared very confident while introducing themselves. Next, we interacted with the guardians who understandably, was anxious to get separated from their wards. We assured them and also made them aware of issues in general faced by the students and how the guardians can keep a tab if there is any slippage and also, how we all can work together - that stepping into an IIT for them is an important step but it is only a step (a 2012 Freshers' Intro. Link). Some of the guardians said if we shared the same with the students in the earlier session. Did we? :-)

The last two Sunday study circles had members uttering the words "Not in Syllabus" in the context of what we need to be taught in our formative years. We leave certain important learning outcomes to learning by default and wonder if we fall short when those outcomes matter. Yes, those are "Not in Syllabus."

Few days back, I was listening to an interactive session of Swami Sarvapriyananda of Ramakrishna order with young students of Shilpamandir, Belur, a Polytechnic college. It was partly in English and partly in Bengali. The discussion was on the topic, "Personal habits for higher work efficiency." Presented below a summary of this discourse in which he is asking all students to understand the significance of five key points to make the best of their student days. Incidentally, Swami Sarvapriyananda got his Business Management degree from XIMB (Bhubaneswar) and delivered series of lecture before IIT Kanpur students and many places abroad. His TEDx talk can be found here (Link).

Point 1: Have self-confidence.
And he quotes Vivekananda. “He is an atheist who does not believe in himself. The old religions said that he was an atheist who did not believe in God. The new religion says that he is an atheist who does not believe in himself.” No matter how talented one is, lack of confidence in oneself would put one's foot in the brake pedal and would not let one accelerate or move forward. The one having self-confidence does not feel shy of trying and thus, has higher probability to succeed. We need to remember, if another person could do, with effort I can do the same and can even surpass.

Point 2: Have a high goal in life.
It helps in channelising one's energy in a particular direction which helps in achieving excellence. There is no place for mediocrity if one wishes to reach the pinnacle of success. In any journey we undertake, when we board a vehicle, we do tell the driver where we want to go. Where would we like to go in our life's journey? Not having a purpose - random frittering would lead to a void and frustration would engulf us in time to come.

Point 3: Learn concentration.
Swami Vivekananda said that the difference between an ordinary person and an extraordinary person lies in the degree of concentration. Practise of concentration goes through three phases - focusing on something, cutting out rest of the world, holding that focus. He gives an example from the life of his brother disciple Swami Ramananda (IIT JEE All India Rank 2, CGPA near 10 when graduated, now a faculty member of Ramakrishna Vivekananda University, Link) where after study hours, drum playing started but Swami was so engrossed in study that he did not recognize it. Somebody tried to converse, gently pulled his feet but he had no sense of it. Only when someone pulled the book, he got startled and started making a meaning of the surroundings. Yes, the concentration can be so deep!

Point 4: Learn time-management.
Greatest resource of life is time and each is bestowed with same amount of this important resource, while other resources may differ. How we utilize 24 hours of a day in life makes the difference. One can divide what we take up in four categories: (i)Urgent and important, (ii)Urgent but not important, (iii)Not urgent but important, (iv)not urgent and not important. Many things that are important for our life do not get the priority (urgency) it deserves (Category (iii)) and we keep it postponing. We find ourselves looping between (ii) and (iv) only to find it is too late 10-20 years down the life. Swami visited two institutes with almost similar infrastructure. One of them was rated much higher. In it, students were using the lab., library etc. while they were empty in the other institute.

Point 5: Be unselfish.
This is the secret of success which often illudes us. Selfishness comes from poverty mentality. Unselfishness comes from prosperity mentality. We human or so rich - we have time, energy, knowledge, intellect, money - if we give, what we get back in return is many times more. It may take time to understand this - the earlier one understands this, the luckier is the person. Swamy gives an example from a US university. A Psychology Professor one day didn't take the class and spent his earning to take the students to a popular movie. The students were very happy. Week later, he again called off the class but this time took the students to a slum where they gave various toys, gifts to underprivileged children. The students enjoyed that visit and was happy, too. Both occasions, students gave a rating of 3 to 5 in a scale of 1 to 5 on how happy / satisfied they were. Six months down the line, when these students were asked to recollect these two visits and how happy they felt now, in the former the rating came down to 1-2 while the later maintained the same 3-5 level. To be effective, one needs to work with others and cannot afford to be self-centred. Unselfish people are more effective, successful and happier.

The video of Swami Sarvapriyananda talking to students follows. The sticker in this Part II showing the difference between successful and unsuccessful people was sent yesterday by a friend who graduated from here with us. After completing B.Tech. in Computer Science & Engg., he did his Masters in a reputed US University, provided consultancy to many Fortune 500 companies etc.. But, wait! There comes something which was not in syllabus!! His current interests lie in bringing out the original spirit of ancient Sanskrit wisdom to modern times.