Vivekananda : A Tribute

It was an honour and privilege to participate in many functions to commemorate 150th birth anniversary of Vivekananda. These were functions hosted by local people, the institute and of course, NSS, IIT Kharagpur.  Articles were sought in a few places and I tried to write something. One English article recently came online. This was published earlier in print volume of Vivek-Jivan in its anniversary issue. This monthly is published by Akhil Bharat Vivekananda Yuva Mahamandal (Link) who have taken up the primary task of 'man-making, character-building' that Vivekananda prescribed for all and before any other thing. With this primary education in us, a doctor becomes a better doctor, a teacher becomes a better teacher, a shop-keeper becomes a better shop-keeper, a manager becomes a better manager, a social servant becomes a better social servant etc. and thereby can lead a life of full and take the nation / civilization forward in the right direction. It is a win-win for all but requires no-deficit in attention and engagement.

I grew up (Link) participating in study-circles where one week's discussion used to be an article from this monthly, Vivek-Jivan. The short and simple articles by respected Shri Nabaniharan Mukhopadhyaya, poupular as Nabani-da, in more than one ways cleared many a doubts of our young mind. There are several small booklets written by him on this central theme of Vivekananda. Many of them are available online now (link). Mahamandal works at grassroots in villages, towns, cities among 'ordinary' youth who embrace Vivekananda to garner confidence and build their own life. It apparently works below perceptible level and is thus not noticed by media. Even its annual camps during every Dec. 25-30 which is attended by over 1500 young man from all over the country under extreme hardship are not a news (Link). May be Mahamandal wants it that way, not to make flash-news but do the ground work that involves day to day grinding of building-up oneself and not to brag about it. I could find only two videos Nabanida in youtube which some camper recorded during Bengali Q & A session (Link1, Link2). With younger team taking over, now there is a facebook page (Link). However, since it is mostly rooted in villages and small cities working among struggling youths, the activity in facebook is mostly from city units and is thus less.

When Vivek-Jivan editorial team asked one article from me in the anniversary issue, I tried to avoid as much as possible. I know the quality of the articles published there and the life and toil of the people who write them. I am no match. But soon the wish became a kind of order! And the following is the start of the article that I wrote. To read it in full, please visit this (Link). Thanks to Arunavada for necessary help. There is an error in my affiliation there. I am not 'Vice-President' :-) but a member of Kharagpur unit of Mahamandal.

Vivekananda and Science : Some Observations

We associate childhood with innocence and a make-believe world. We cannot but be surprised when a child experiments with what his innocence asks him to believe. Let us begin with what a child showed us. 

One day, his mother arranged a congregation where a priest narrated the story of the mythological god, Hanuman, who was a close confidant of Lord Rama. The child heard that Hanuman conquered death and is also fond of banana. It did not take much time to establish a cause-effect relationship and the child was there in a banana garden and waited hours there to come face-to-face with immortal Hanuman. The elders in the family had a tough time to bring the child home. The argument that worked was – Lord Rama might have sent Hanuman to some other place for some important work. 

There were several hookahs, a kind of Indian smoking pipe, in their house. Each hookah was meant for people of a particular caste. Why so? The child was given the simple explanation that a person’s caste is lost if he smokes from the hookah of another caste. What happened next? The child tried all the hookahs by himself but could not find how his caste got lost. It was not so simple for the father to explain to the child about social stratification. No surprise that any round-about or evasive answer would not satisfy this child, Biley, when he attains youth as Narendra. His approach was straight and direct. ‘Have you seen God? Can you show me God?’ .... (continue)

New Flyover

The fun of waiting for long in two railway-crossings at the entrance of IIT Kharagpur campus is over ... with it a credible excuse of being late by 30-45 minutes ... and the thrill of sudden acceleration to scrape past the descending barriers :-)  All social gatherings where IITKGP has a representation are to miss the topic if we ever will have this flyover. If we miss all those, this is what we got!

Kharagpur will never be same again! 'Puri Gate' will be part of our folklore!

Hiring and ...

[ Pls. refer to links USG1, USG2, USG3 for the context of the Job Advt. posted here. ]

There was a soft complaint from a student for not contributing to this blog for long. Yesterday, Head of the Dept. who is aware of and encourages my association with students for social cause (Link1, Link2), had something to tell me. Yes, we do visit villages / slums in our attempt to get our students acquainted with how
majority of Indians live. Thereby, we gather some first hand experience on various issues. This includes the financial inclusion - how people save money and how they borrow money, the level of functional literacy and awareness, possibility of use of I.T. backbone (reaching up to Panchayet Office for sure) and telecommunication network etc. Head was asking me to write a post on this in my blog being moved by the recent 'chit fund' issue. I did not know that what I write primarily to address young population, was noted by seniors and they consider my writing worthy enough. I shall try to put my thoughts together on that issue and shall try to write down something. However, this post is to publicize three vacancies in our lab. for project positions which we want to fill quickly. The tenure of the project is two years. We have lost about three weeks of precious time in the project and walk-in-interview is considered the preferred way to fill at least some of the vacancies and get started with the project.

We are hiring like this after two years. We consciously took a decision to go slow in taking responsibility of new projects till we serve our commitments to the existing projects to the satisfaction of the sponsors. Even then we are currently serving three plus one projects where I have major responsibilities. The plus-one is an inter-department project.

The currently advertized project that attempts to reduce misuse of ultrasonography (USG) machines in sex-determination by tracking, is a big responsibility - not in terms of monetary value of the project but in terms of its direct social impact (besides NSS and NSO involvement). Besides the meeting I had with domain experts, the formulation of the project involved discussion with past and current students - the deficiencies of the solutions proposed so far, what we can do etc.. They will also contribute to the project in addition to the project staffs that we are hiring through this advertizement.

We are looking for the right people to fill-up the vacancies.

Some of the NSS (National Service Scheme), IIT Kharagpur students wanted to contribute. The following was observed in our discussion. The community service work IIT students perform through NSS helps them find their relation with the society. The benefit accrued to the society is mostly long-term and indirect in nature. The impression that is etched in the mind of the students as they perform their NSS service will have a bearing in whatever they do as they grow up in ladder and acquire higher positions of influence. A technology institute of higher learning like ours also gives opportunity to come up with solutions that can directly benefit the society now and here.

Endnote

We are happy to share that one of our recently developed prototype was considered among the 'Top 100' innovations by DST-Lockheed Martin India Innovation Growth Program 2013 (Link). This got a good review from international reviewers but could not make it to 'Top 50'. Our congratulations to 'Top 50' innovators and wish them our very best. We shall try to do better when we are ready with our next innovation. We see ourselves as serial innovator. We are clear in our mind not to form a start-up company or require funding as such  as our solution space is simple and low cost. But it is important for us to participate and get valuable feedback. We are good at algorithms, data crunching and interpretation. If we can harness that strength in any system level development by overcoming data acquisition related weakness, we can contribute more quantitatively and qualitatively.

The Writing

This year is celebrated as 150th birth anniversary of Vivekananda. Throughout the year there are various programs at IIT Kharagpur and in its different wings. I have some opportunity to engage in some of the activities related to youth and children. One such activity is school level competitions among various age groups in nearby villages / slums. I was going through the writing of Vivekananda, the prose and poetry, the biography to select competition materials. And what has been the experience? To pick up something for the children and youth becomes an exercise where I see plenty for grown-ups, facing life's competitions!

What did we select for the schools? Make a guess.
Or please wait till it gets posted in a different blog :-)

Excerpts of a letter written to Sister Nivedita:

One idea that I see clear as daylight is that misery is caused by ignorance and nothing else. Who will give the world light? Sacrifice in the past has been the Law, it will be, alas, for ages to come. The earth's bravest and best will have to sacrifice themselves for the good of many, for the welfare of all. Buddhas by the hundred are necessary with eternal love and pity.

Religions of the world have become lifeless mockeries. What the world wants is character. The world is in need of those whose life is one burning love, selfless. That love will make every word tell like thunderbolt.

It is no superstition with you, I am sure, you have the making in you of a world-mover, and others will also come. Bold words and bolder deeds are what we want. Awake, awake, great ones! The world is burning with misery. Can you sleep? Let us call and call till the sleeping gods awake, till the god within answers to the call. What more is in life? What greater work?

The poem titled 'Hold on yet a while brave heart' (I remember that I memorized this poem for some competition when I was half this age and when somebody picked up this for us, at college level.)

If the sun by the cloud is hidden a bit,
If the welkin shows but gloom,
Still hold on yet a while, brave heart,
       The victory is sure to come.

No winter was but summer came behind,
Each hollow crests the wave,
They push each other in light and shade;
       Be steady then and brave.

The duties of life are sore indeed,
And its pleasures fleeting, vain,
The goal so shadowy seems and dim,
Yet plod on through the dark, brave heart,
      With all thy might and main.

Not a work will be lost, no struggle vain, 
Though hopes be blighted, powers gone;
Of thy loins shall come the heirs to all,
Then hold on yet a while, brave soul,
      No good is e'er undone.

Though the good and the wise in life are few,
Yet theirs are the reins to lead,
The masses know but late the worth;
     Heed none and gently guide.

With thee are those who see afar,
With thee is the Lord of might,
All blessings pour on thee, great soul,
     To thee may all come right!

A small poem:

I look behind and after
And find that all is right,
In my deepest sorrows
There is a soul of light.

Finally, excerpts from the poem, "Quest for God"

O'ver hill and dale and mountain range,

In temple, church, and mosque,
In Vedas, Bible, Al Koran
I had searched for Thee in vain.

Like a child in the wildest forest lost
I have cried and cried alone,
"Where art Thou gone, my God, my love?
The echo answered, "gone."

Years then passed in bitter cry,
Each moment seemed an age,
Till one day midst my cries and groans
Some one seemed calling me.

When dire calamity seizes me,
The heart seems weak and faint,
All nature seems to crush me down,
With laws that never bend.
Meseems I hear Thee whispering sweet
My love, "I am near", "I am near".
My heart gets strong. With thee, my love,
A thousand deaths no fear.
Thou speakest in the mother's lay
Thou shuts the babies eye,
When innocent children laugh and play,
I see Thee standing by.

When holy friendship shakes the hand,
He stands between them too;
He pours the nectar in mother's kiss
And the baby's sweet "mama".
Thou wert my God with prophets old,
All creeds do come from Thee,
The Vedas, Bible, and Koran bold
Sing Thee in Harmony.

"Thou art," Thou art" the Soul of souls
In the rushing stream of life.
"Om tat sat om." Thou art my God,
My love, I am thine, I am thine.

P.S.: Liked the movie, "The Tourist". Liked its lack of excesses and calm resolute intelligence; the poise. Also, because it made me remember Venice, Venezia.

At Home

Examination Season

We had a leisurely Sunday morning today. Daughter's exam. ends tomorrow. The only subject left belongs to mine! Yes, we have a division of labour at home. Half of the subjects are my responsibility. Her Highness was thus relieved since Saturday afternoon when the last exam. in her responsibility was over.

Ignorance is bliss!

As we parents struggle, the daughter is having a great fun. She read or heard somewhere that up to Class VI there is no 'pass' or 'fail' in school. Therefore, why worry about academics now? Knowledge gives power. Power to whom? Which knowledge? And the contradiction - knowledge of no pass / fail impeding persuasion of knowledge itself! Hope that we grown-ups do not succumb to this childish logic where we ourselves have a role of seekers.

Fortune Teller

Yes, I was talking about Sunday morning! At home, people can find out when I have relatively more work pressure. The leisurely newspaper reading while sipping morning tea becomes the first casualty when under pressure. There is no prize for guessing the second casualty. It is shaving of beard. Such has been the case for past few weeks now. Even otherwise I do not have interest in the fortune-teller section of the newspaper. However, Her Highness reads newspaper in entirety that includes sections like advt., lost and found, anniversary, birth and death, lawyer's notice - what not. There are no less news in these if we are looking for a reflection of the society in our news basket from a newspaper. She was going through the astrology section and smilingly pronounced that I have a fortuitous week ahead.

Extra Academic 

I don't know what fortune teller told about last week. Rewinding I find the following. On Monday, BSNL restored the broadband connection in a village high school where NSS, IIT Kharagpur works. This is a part of our prestigious project where RKMVU's VIVEKDISHA (Link) is getting implemented. On Tuesday, our alumni who are providing 50 scholarships to village / slum school students confirmed supporting 60 percent of the recurring cost. On Thursday, one colleague here assured support of another 20 percent. On Friday, could not turn down the request of another neighbourhood village high school. Spent an hour and had lunch with them on their picnic that involved 1200 students and teachers. The Wednesdays and Saturdays are special now for the Health and Fitness (NSO) program. Need to put some extra effort as it is a new launch. The NSS activities took some extra effort this week for the preparatory work of intra and inter-village school competitions to be held in this month with final winner declaration on 6th April, 2013, in the NSS Annual Day function.

Academic

On Wednesday, learnt that ours is the project selected from the institute for the First SIG meeting on "VAS and its policies" at New Delhi in the Technology Innovation segment. On Thursday, the reviewer of ISRO asked us to go ahead with the project proposal submitted to them. The same day we heard that fund for a no ordinary project (Link) is released. This project is one where we can see social impact almost immediately and each day counts. Immediately alerted people who will be joining our team when fund comes. Coming Wednesday we have an important technical session on this. On Friday, the senior PhD student told that our paper is accepted for presentation in the most prestigious conference in our domain ICASSP 2013. The same day got another invitation with subject line, "Entrepreneurial Event of National Innovation Foundation at Rashtrapati Bhavan". This was for another technology innovation of our lab. which was a winner at national level. And on Thursday royalty for the books coauthored was received, not princely but not insignificant too, compared to our annual salary! I need to do something to accelerate the next single authored book project which is supposed to have two editions, one in India and the other in another country; the publisher is asking about the progress beyond first chapter : - ( Yes, we are eligible for sabbatical for projects like this but ... well, politely refused a request received on Monday from outside that would have taken some time from summer vacation; on Tuesday requested one administrative head of the institute not to take the proposal further for a large institute level admin. responsibility.

Future Career

As it happens every week, attended many meetings as a part of administrative responsibility at institute and dept. level. Conducted important study and prepared comparative statement on purchase matters. Helped correcting errors. Discussed results with three research students whose work is ripe for communication to journals. Provided research material / slides to institute representative for institute level presentation at another IIT, meeting students outside classroom and guardians.... and the list goes on. However, if my daughter wants to take faculty position like me as her future career, it is not the excitement associated with the job. She thinks that it is always party time for us! We go to institute, take ten classes a week i.e. ten hours and rest of our time goes into gossip with friends in tea shop. In campus socials, she has seen that we colleagues are good friends and having fun among ourselves. And it got extrapolated!

Overwhelmed

I was honoured to have an invitation from a very senior faculty member of the Management Dept. this week. He was not only inquisitive but also heard with rapt attention for hours how we work as a team  in NSS (Link) and NSO (Link) program that now cater to 1850 undergraduate students of 1st and 2nd year. He asked me to write a paper to a prestigious journal as the management philosophy employed has lots of novelty. To have an appreciation from a senior management faculty like him was enough for me! He understood my weakness and affectionately told that he would write it for me. I was overwhelmed.

Humbled

The Shcholars' Avenue (Link), the campus newspaper run by the students, conducted an interview some days back. This was published online on Saturday. I am humbled, was speechless for sometime, reading the title they have given for the interview (Link). I don't know if there can be any greater honour, greater humbling experience than an association with "Dedicated to the service of the nation", the red neon light in institute main building that beckons all of us.

Pray that I be worthy of all these.

The Hypothesis

It is very simple. Vivekananda says, "When Adam fell, he fell from Purity. Thus, Purity is our real nature." or "Each person is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest that divinity in every walk of life." Divinity is not anything complex or high philosophy stuff. A person who thinks of his/her own due and does not bother for the due of others is animalistic in character. A person who thinks of his/her own due as well as that of others is human in character. A person who does not worry about his/her own due and think of due of others is divine in character. We believe it or not, our selfish skin is to adapt to the nature and deficiencies. Beneath it rests our unselfish self and how true is this, "You show me an unselfish person and I will show you God." We remain selfish due to our over-dependence or over-emphasis on nature and lack of confidence in our own self, our inability to listen to our own voice.

By nature, our students here are disciplined, hard working, focused, full of concentration, intelligent, talented. Without that they would not have made their entry into IIT Kharagpur. It is already in them. The effort is to make them not forget that and build further, so that they feel stronger, happier and do good to themselves, their family, the society.

It is Sunday!

Too much of serious stuff for a holiday post! Unpardonable! Let's come back to the leisurely tea session of Sunday morning and the fortune-teller column. Once I thought of telling Her Highness the detail of the previous week and if she had an inkling of it from last Sunday's fortune column of newspaper. Then thought why ruin the holiday morning! A 'good-for-nothing' husband role suits the best at home : - )

Endnote

This week got confirmation from two hotels of Haridwar and Rishikesh where one week of summer vacation is planned. This is the 3rd, 2nd and 1st visit to these places for us in decreasing order of age. Train reservation was confirmed earlier. There was another good thing about this week compared to previous week. There was no mopping job at home as our domestic help was available all seven days!!!

Looking Back

'Backlog' is a dreaded word. But many of us prefer to read a novel at one go or at least by chapters and not by pages or paragraphs. And this keeps asking for a space. Things start piling up. Dots in this leg of the journey do not add up. Let me scribble something here which I can quickly recollect.

NSS Annual Camp

The seven day long NSS Camp (Start link) experience was something I wanted to write about. Young first year students UG students, 500+ of them spending 7 days in countryside doing activities like widening of road, bush-cleaning, filling-up of potholes, organizing cloth distribution to needy, conducting awareness rally, cultural program, learning team work, plain living. It was great to spend 7 days with the students and was happy to see the smile, the joy in their faces. The feedback received (Link) from young campers show why we should be believing.

RGUKT IIIT Basara visit

I am not doing justice by not writing a separate post on this visit, so overwhleming was the experience! There was an official work. But visiting an engineering college campus and not interacting with students - nay, it cannot made to happen! The 8:30 PM full-house student interaction was more than interesting. The emails received from some of those students post-visit are thought provoking, serious and sincere. No praise is enough for the excellent discipline in 7000 strong campus where devotion to academics is integrated with life and culture. The college is the first of its kind in admitting meritorious, rural youth after Class X Board examination. The teaching and hostel is completely free. Not only that, dress is also provided by Andhra Pradesh Government. More of this college can be found here (Link).

The Call

We usually call SDO, BDO in our effort to enrich young IIT Kharagpur students with community service experience. They often grace our functions where local village community and our students perform together (Link1, Link2). And the call came. First from SDO and then from BDO of Kharagpur-II block. There was an issue with a tribal village where scientific investigation was needed, besides assuring tribal community who can be superstitious on the issue related. And they thought of us. It was an honour and privilege. We rushed to the spot with BDO office staff and interacted with the community, explained them and gave our recommendation to the district authority. It was first such experience and thus very special (Link).

ABVYM Annual Camp

After IIIT Basara visit, was occupied with answer-script checking and other admin. responsibilities. Then came ABVYM Annual Camp (Link) during Dec. 25-30, 2013. This time it was held in Basantapur Jhareshwar School, Sabong, abut 40 KM from here. Young men from all over India, about 1600 in number, poured into the village school. The six day camp dwelt on man-making, character-building ideas of Vivekananda whose birthday is observed as National Youth Day. The campers had to bring their own bedding, lie on floor of school building, take food which is the simplest possible, manage in an infrastructure with limited no. of toilets and other amenities, follow strict discipline - compulsorily get up by 4:50 AM (flag-hoisting everyday at 5:40 AM), participate in all camp activities that include guard duty at night when mercury was at its lowest in the season. No travel allowance or daily allowance is paid. Instead a camp fee (Rs. 150-200 per camper) is charged. "Why take so much hardship? What do you gain from it?" A group of IIT Kharagpur students asked some of the campers when they paid a brief visit to the camp site. And the answers from a beaming 3rd Year Chemical Engineering student from Vizag or a young school teacher of a Bankura village told the same - such a camp recharges them, re-energizes them in increasing their resolve to be a better human being for a better society. The motto is "Be and Make" where the word "Be" comes first and that is the most important. National Service Scheme (NSS) motto, "Not Me, But You" was discussed with the campers.

Five in context

There are people for whom if you do five and not the rest ninety five, they remember the five you have done. I cannot but feel embarrassed when local village high schools conduct annual function and print invitation card with my name as chief guest. I have already attended two such this year. Today, the headmaster of another high school called and told about their annual function. I try to attend as it develops bonding and our students can engage themselves in community service work and benefit from the experience. Many of our students are very popular among village school students for the Saturday classes they held. In two high schools we are trying to launch Vivek Disha, an online class, with the help of RKMVU (Link). We shall link this experience later once it goes through.

Lift and Push

To get it back in to track, a carriage has to be lifted. Once it is on track, push is enough unless it gets derailed. It had been very satisfying to get something into track and leave it at a stage when it seems that push is enough. Am always around if it gets derailed for some reason. And the time and energy can be utilized in any other job that requires a lift. And the time has come.

What else?

The Tata Steel slogan of yesteryear can be remembered, "We also make steel." It is life as usual. Notable is to file three IPs in last month. They were nearly ready. It needed the '100 Days, 100 Patents' drive to complete the documentation process and subsequent filing by patent attorney. We have shared the details with one Hyderabad based company who were talking to us since PanIIT meet. Yes, completed proof-checking and indexing of new edition of one of the title. It was a laborious job but a textbook always needs care in preparation. Two sponsored projects ended with nice remarks from funding agencies. Two big projects of national importance are in the pipeline. Delhi, Bangalore - one has a big societal impact, the other is to serve those who serve us without caring for their own life - lots of responsibility, but as some of my colleagues say, I am blessed with research students who are serious and sincere. What more does one want? 

Switching Task

I wished to continue with the fun spirit of earlier post or wait for a sunny day that would have brightened the spirit (switch to last segment to see why I say this). Wished to tell in the same non-serious tone that the worst I feared as outcome of 'Mission Independence' (Link) had happened; after cooking food and eating the same for one week. I gained one kilogram of weight. Yes, there used to be wrong estimate on quantity of rice. But, more important reason had been, couldn't throw away any food even if it was in excess and swallowed the same. Can do that easily when someone else puts her effort in cooking, to set aside excess food-stuff when I am full. Which part of our brain plays the trick, fools us ... develops attachment for own doings even when it is beyond proportion defying all logic?

We three colleagues were on our way to Kolkata. How to handle work pressure, various expectations was one of the topic in our journey. The wonderful teacher-student relationship, the respect IIT teachers command from students are largely due to devotion the students see among teachers, the amount of effort, the hours they put in, the multitudes of responsibilities they handle.

IITs started with an aim of providing right manpower to industries in post-independence era. UG teaching was the focus. The brand it created asks not to disown this family jewel. But the world has moved on. UG engineering teaching is taken care of by many. The focus is getting shifted to PG students (Masters and PhD guidance other than their coursework). But we do not have postdocs in our research lab.s. Thus, the canvas of the role of a teacher is huge (UG to PhD, taking care of academic and psychological needs of students from 18 year old to 30 year old in a walled campus). It encompasses interaction within and outside classroom, assignments, answer-script checking and other evaluations, minor and major projects ...

Getting funded projects and servicing them as per timeline and to the satisfaction of sponsors through project staffs coming from Tier-2 engineering colleges is a challenge. IIT faculty are supposed to serve various national level responsibilities by conducting various training programs for others, setting question papers of various kinds, serving various committees, evaluating and guiding funded projects conducted by others, establishing lab.s, setting curriculum etc.

There are review work for thesis, journal, conference articles, patent documents. There are recommendations to be given to current as well as ex-students applying to various places. There are research collaboration at national and international level and one needs to interact with collaborators, visit their places, host them.  There are large no. of administrative responsibilities at Dept., Institute level and beyond. Some faculty members contribute by writing text/research books for which they have commitment to publishers and need to adhere to publication timeline. For IPs filed, one needs to explore commercialization opportunities.

Besides, in a rapidly changing technology space one needs to study oneself to keep one updated as regard to UG/PG courses being taught, the research work carried out by leading universities / lab.s / industry in his area of interest and the broad area.

Finally, they have a family to take care. They have passion for extra-curricular and society at large. They cannot take their health for granted. And they have 24 hours in a day, 7 days in a week like everybody else :-)

How to switch from one task to another? Remember, you are handling youth, the best and brightest of the country, and the nation banks on them. One cannot be casual in one's approach. An insincere job will be hugely costly for the nation. Standing by each other, encouraging / motivating each other, sharing the vision and experience, building team spirit, excellence in work environment and the highly sought after freedom, friendly and supportive atmosphere are behind whatever little that could be done to face these challenges.

Thanks to all. The first and foremost is of course our excellent student community. No amount of praise is enough. If there is any aberration, it has more to do with inability to set a new goal once they enter IIT. Cracking IIT-JEE was dream from childhood. What next? Faculty, Parents, Alumni, Senior students, all need to work together to help the young 18 year old set the next goal, the next dream, and how to achieve it; switching to a new role and task. Next, parents / guardians have great respect for IIT system which helps. But there is more scope for them to engage with faculty advisor and monitor progress from 1st semester itself. Call it parent-teacher meeting akin to schools, call it any other thing - but they are important stake holders and are in a position to influence. We can sow dreams in them too, how much their ward can do and they can inspire / motivate in turn. The faculty and non-faculty colleagues are excellent. If someone does not feel the pressure, it is because of them. There is always a helping hand. People who are part of the support system who are drawn from neighbourhood - shopkeepers, maids, service staffs from electrical maintenance to sanitary have such a pleasing personality; it makes our job easier. No amount of 'Thanks' is sufficient for family members. They understand, appreciate our responsibilities. Rarely you will hear, "You have time to take care of others but your own kid."

On individual plane, I find that the lessons on Pratyhara and Dharana from study circles are helpful. An excellent article of Vivekananda can be found here (Link). The article is useful for everyone who wants mastery over mind and its various tricks.

For quite sometime I wanted to write something on changing social structure, family values ... desire for personal space, better things in life ... losing grip over of patience, tolerance .... the idea of 'self before everything else' ... till sometime back separated parents fought each other over custody of child, the other day the newspaper reported a case where none of the parents wants custody of the child as they separate (Link1, Link2)... it started with nuclear family concept which kept uncles, aunt out; then ageing father / mother were kept out; then husband wife stopped seeing each other, and now off-springs are obstacles to have 'good times' in life  ... it appears that, the younger a person, the more is the ease and pace to disown a relationship and disregard advice / suggestion / feedback, the ego is higher ... it is so sad, it is so painful in the land where 'sacrifice' and 'service' were the twin pillars which held the society together ... need to ask, what we are getting educated at, are we not ignoring those family jewels ... can we call ourselves educated ... Education is not the amount of information that is put into your brain and runs riot there .... The training by which the current and expression of will is brought under control and become fruitful is called education ... says Vivekananda. 



My elder sister says that there were always challenges. But tolerance level was higher to tide over a crisis phase which is cyclic in nature. Now we have become more fragile. The relationships are casualty. We have breadth, but we lack in depth. We have knowledge, we lack wisdom. We are after Preya (pleasure driven) and not Shreya (welfare driven). We look for maximizing today, we do not care for investing in tomorrow. We care for matter, we do not care for spirit.

May we develop the strength of character which stands the trials of life, the test of time. May we all be blessed to overcome challenges being humane in our approach. May we be at peace with ourselves and society around.