Mid-Sem. Exam. Week

Rest is making a shift to another work. - Swami Swarupananda (Babamoni - Link of pics)

Visiting Pondicherry and not having a glimpse of sea or Auroville or museum! The morning at Chennai, afternoon at Delhi and evening at Kolkata - well, this is when we are enjoying a break :-) when the students are occupied with mid-sem. exam.

Day long meeting, hectic schedule, long hours on travel from one part of the country to the other part, sleep deprivation - all take back seat when you find that your work, the effort you have put behind in the preparation, getting appreciated....and you get opportunities to contribute more.

The Dreamliner flight on AI 430 from Chennai to Delhi was of course a sweet surprise. The look and feel was world class. More surprise was on store to find a four year old wonder at Delhi airport. I knew the father, an ex-student, an IIT-IIM, would be there in spite of my advice not to take trouble during his office hour. He is in-charge of supply-chain management of a big MNC food chain, reminded him of his responsibility and asked him not to get emotional. But I failed! Didn't expect the kid there who looked and talked like the mother. The mother too had been an ex-student, an HR professional now, was at Mumbai during the day for delivering a talk at TISS. Previous evening, it was she who called to thank for the little help I could offer on her preparation of this talk. And they found that I was paying a short visit to Delhi.

Invigilation duty for the exam., discharging administrative responsibilities of various kind, getting feedback from publisher at India as well as USA (looking for simultaneous launch by both US and Indian arm) on sample chapter of the new text book, single authored - both inspiration and perspiration :-), receiving the proofs of all the chapters for newer edition of an earlier title .... eventful week.

Conducted a mid-sem feedback exercise from students for the theory course following standard procedure. A total of 102 students participated. Ninety percent of them were appreciative of the effort. About 10 percent did not find it that useful. At places, the weakness pointed out by this 10 percent was termed as strength by members of the other group!!! Much to the disappointment of those who discourages students from attending classes and enjoy their college life :-) more than ninety percent opined that attending the class was essential. Half of this population (> 45 %) told that it is 'highly essential'.

I end this post with what I wanted to be when I stand between young students and a subject. The following was written by few students in the feedback. The day when I shall be able to present myself as both friendly and strict / serious (strictness for the benefit of the students and the academic environment / ecosystem; being talented is not enough, discipline and purpose are key), to all and not just a few, I can consider myself worthy enough to be called a teacher and not one who is making a career out of academic engagement.

"Highly interactive, .... who is really friendly with students, yet strict when it comes to academics, relevance and good examples to recent technologies. / Strong background in subject, interactive, respects student idea and thoughts / Stimulating, stress on self-thinking, real-life examples / Teacher is highly motivated, his motivation is reflected in the way he teaches. Encourages students, involves. / Competitive environment in class, students are encouraged to ask questions / The teaching method encourages us to think and explore more. / Friendly environment, helpful, forwards academic and non-academic matters, good subject knowledge, excellent teacher."

Three students in the feedback asked for break / rest when there is a double lecture (110 minutes). While discussing this feedback in the class and how I am going to address the suggestions offered by the students, in rest of the semester, I used the quote of Swami Swarupananda given in the beginning of the post. He, a Karmayogi, (check picks here) told in Bengali - Karyantare jaoai Bishram. That our students are up to the task can be seen from mail given below. The work was completely optional at student end, given that it is exam. week. In fact, I told them not to worry about this when exam. for theory subjects are going on.

From: XYZ
Date: Wed, Sep 26, 2012 at 6:47 PM
Subject: [NSS] Monthly Report - September
To: nsscentralteam@googlegroups.com

Dear Sir,

The last of the 4 back-to-back exams I have this week will be tomorrow (i.e. THU). My next and last exam will be on Monday. In the interim would it be possible to collect the material for the monthly report sometime on Thursday or Friday so I may complete it before the weekend, thus ensuring neither a delay nor hampering of my studies? I can bring a pen drive or my laptop any time.

Yours respectfully,

XYZ

Though I was out of station, thanks to my research students in the lab., the material was handed over. The report was prepared and mailed to ministry officials this morning before the month-end, as desired.

Proud to be a part of this team! Thank you all.

Nine Eleven

In my school days or studentship at IIT Kharagpur, we used to celebrate 11th September as Chicago Day, the day Vivekananda delivered his first address in the Parliament of Religion at Columbus hall, Chicago, America in 1893. The world heard, "we accept all religions as true", the triumph of human quest  and character beyond borders and beliefs. 

We heard or did we? "Sectarianism, bigotry, and its horrible descendant, fanaticism, have long possessed this beautiful earth. They have filled the earth with violence, drenched it often and often with human blood, destroyed civilization and sent whole nations to despair. Had it not been for these horrible demons, human society would be far more advanced than it is now. But their time is come; and I fervently hope that the bell that tolled this morning in honor of this convention may be the death-knell of all fanaticism, of all persecutions with the sword or with the pen, and of all uncharitable feelings between persons wending their way to the same goal."

In the concluding session of this Parliament of Religion, we heard, "Much has been said of the common ground of religious unity. I am not going just now to venture my own theory. But if any one here hopes that this unity will come by the triumph of any one of the religions and the destruction of the others, to him I say, "Brother, yours is an impossible hope." Do I wish that the Christian would become Hindu? God forbid. Do I wish that the Hindu or Buddhist would become Christian? God forbid.

The seed is put in the ground, and earth and air and water are placed around it. Does the seed become the earth, or the air, or the water? No. It becomes a plant. It develops after the law of its own growth, assimilates the air, the earth, and the water, converts them into plant substance, and grows into a plant.

Similar is the case with religion. The Christian is not to become a Hindu or a Buddhist, nor a Hindu or a Buddhist to become a Christian. But each must assimilate the spirit of the others and yet preserve his individuality and grow according to his own law of growth."

And there cannot be greater truth than this. "If the Parliament of Religions has shown anything to the world, it is this: It has proved to the world that holiness, purity and charity are not the exclusive possessions of any church in the world, and that every system has produced men and women of the most exalted character. In the face of this evidence, if anybody dreams of the exclusive survival of his own religion and the destruction of the others, I pity him from the bottom of my heart, and point out to him that upon the banner of every religion will soon be written in spite of resistance: "Help and not fight," "Assimilation and not Destruction," "Harmony and Peace and not Dissension.""

Reproduced below these two lectures in full.

Sept., 11, 1893

Sisters and Brothers of America, 

It fills my heart with joy unspeakable to rise in response to the warm and cordial welcome which you have given us. I thank you in the name of the most ancient order of monks in the world; I thank you in the name of the mother of religions, and I thank you in the name of millions and millions of Hindu people of all classes and sects.

My thanks, also, to some of the speakers on this platform who, referring to the delegates from the Orient, have told you that these men from far-off nations may well claim the honor of bearing to different lands the idea of toleration. I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance. We believe not only in universal toleration, but we accept all religions as true. I am proud to belong to a nation which has sheltered the persecuted and the refugees of all religions and all nations of the earth. I am proud to tell you that we have gathered in our bosom the purest remnant of the Israelites, who came to Southern India and took refuge with us in the very year in which their holy temple was shattered to pieces by Roman tyranny. I am proud to belong to the religion which has sheltered and is still fostering the remnant of the grand Zoroastrian nation. I will quote to you, brethren, a few lines from a hymn which I remember to have repeated from my earliest boyhood, which is every day repeated by millions of human beings: "As the different streams having their sources in different paths which men take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee." 

The present convention, which is one of the most august assemblies ever held, is in itself a vindication, a declaration to the world of the wonderful doctrine preached in the Gita: "Whosoever comes to Me, through whatsoever form, I reach him; all men are struggling through paths which in the end lead to me." Sectarianism, bigotry, and its horrible descendant, fanaticism, have long possessed this beautiful earth. They have filled the earth with violence, drenched it often and often with human blood, destroyed civilization and sent whole nations to despair. Had it not been for these horrible demons, human society would be far more advanced than it is now. But their time is come; and I fervently hope that the bell that tolled this morning in honor of this convention may be the death-knell of all fanaticism, of all persecutions with the sword or with the pen, and of all uncharitable feelings between persons wending their way to the same goal.

Sept. 27, 1893

The World's Parliament of Religions has become an accomplished fact, and the merciful Father has helped those who laboured to bring it into existence, and crowned with success their most unselfish labour.

My thanks to those noble souls whose large hearts and love of truth first dreamed this wonderful dream and then realized it. My thanks to the shower of liberal sentiments that has overflowed this platform. My thanks to this enlightened audience for their uniform kindness to me and for their appreciation of every thought that tends to smooth the friction of religions. A few jarring notes were heard from time to time in this harmony. 

My special thanks to them, for they have, by their striking contrast, made general harmony the sweeter. Much has been said of the common ground of religious unity. I am not going just now to venture my own theory. But if any one here hopes that this unity will come by the triumph of any one of the religions and the destruction of the others, to him I say, "Brother, yours is an impossible hope." Do I wish that the Christian would become Hindu? God forbid. Do I wish that the Hindu or Buddhist would become Christian? God forbid.

The seed is put in the ground, and earth and air and water are placed around it. Does the seed become the earth, or the air, or the water? No. It becomes a plant. It develops after the law of its own growth, assimilates the air, the earth, and the water, converts them into plant substance, and grows into a plant.

Similar is the case with religion. The Christian is not to become a Hindu or a Buddhist, nor a Hindu or a Buddhist to become a Christian. But each must assimilate the spirit of the others and yet preserve his individuality and grow according to his own law of growth.

If the Parliament of Religions has shown anything to the world, it is this: It has proved to the world that holiness, purity and charity are not the exclusive possessions of any church in the world, and that every system has produced men and women of the most exalted character. In the face of this evidence, if anybody dreams of the exclusive survival of his own religion and the destruction of the others, I pity him from the bottom of my heart, and point out to him that upon the banner of every religion will soon be written in spite of resistance: "Help and not fight," "Assimilation and not Destruction," "Harmony and Peace and not Dissension."

Inheritance

Today is the death anniversary of my father. A 2010 post on Baba appears here (Link). Every time I think of him, the responsibility he carried on his shoulder and made his service available to our extended family and beyond family and  even under difficult times, I get to hear that I must do much, much, more to be considered a worthy son. One of my friend from those days, a JNU PhD, now a faculty member in a college under Calcutta University and doing wonderful work there in NSS, was accompanying me today in my car. He saw father's picture in photo stand there. And told that Baba must have felt proud for me as he could see that I had completed IIT education though he missed seeing me an IIT faculty member.
My friend expressed happiness that my mother is around. What my friend did not know that Baba was more concerned with development as a whole and he was among the first few guardian who patronized the start of Kharagpur unit of Akhil Bharat Vivekananda Yuva Mahamandal (Link) in the seventies. I remember him speaking in some of the functions of the Unit in those days. If I behaved wayward anytime, the medicine that always worked :-),  him saying, "This is what you are learning visiting Mahamandal (its children unit)." The child in me used to retreat by saying, "Tell me whatever you want to say. Don't say anything bad about Mahamandal." And he used to smile at that. In academics, he always believed in putting the best effort and never bothered about my ranking, final performance. Not only me, all who came in contact with him, miss this reassuring personality. He had been an inspiration, a source of strength for people of different ages and background. He always had something to encourage people to go forward and do better.

Youth Training Camp

The major part of the day was spent in a training camp of young people on the occasion of 150th birth anniversary of Vivekananda. It was held in Traffic Ramakrishna Vivekananda Society, Kharagpur, organized by Kharagpur unit of Akhil Bharat Vivekananda Yuva Mahamandal. About 170 young people from schools and colleges of Kharagpur as well as neighbourhood places like Jharagram, Khakurda, Lalat etc. participated. Ranjitda took 4:15 AM from Naihati in the morning to reach camp at 9:30 AM. He was the main speaker. I spoke little towards the end in the 3:30 PM question-answer session.

Unselfishness is God

Ranjitda was saying that there is debate on existence of God. But we see God everyday whenever we see an act of unselfishness. Vivekananda said, "Unselfishness is God." And this we see when we see our parents. We just think of the sacrifice they make for our well-being with always prayer for us in lips - if we cannot see them as god, there must be a problem with our vision.

Subhash Chandra Bose of 14 years

Ranjitda talked about 14 year old (Netaji) Subhash Chandra Bose. Subhash was writing letters to his mother. In one he expressed anxiety on academic issues as he was loosing focus due to issues associated with adolescence (In Bengali, "Bayaser dharma peye bosechhe"). And in that letter he is asking mother to give him strength.

Good Student or Good Boy?

The letter of this 14 year lad had something which only can come from someone who the country will call "Netaji" soon. On receiving scholarship after doing well in a competitive exam., he visualizes happy faces of parents, the celebration at home and in the locality. But Subhash writes that he himself is not happy. He says that his life will be successful when the mother will say, "Subhash is just not a good student but a good boy. (In Bengali, Subhash shudhu bhalo chhatro noi, bhalo chhele.)" A 14 year lad making the distinction between 'good student' and 'good boy' after doing well in an competitive exam. A campus that houses thousands of good students may do well to listen to young Subhash, his aspiration, what means success for him, the mother's 'good boy' certificate, the 'good student' certificate is not enough!

Life is a mission, a duty : 
Distinction between happiness and enjoyment

Subhas Chandra asked mother what sort of career for her children would please her most?-whether she would be the happiest if her children in later life became the judges, magistrates, barristers
or high-placed officials and came to be admired for wealth and fortune by the men of the world, or if they could earn the respect of the learned and the virtuous for having grown up to be 'real men' even though they might be poor. At the same age in a letter to one of his classmates, Subhas Chandra wrote: 'My life is not for my own enjoyment. My life is of course not devoid of happiness but is not for enjoyment-my life is a mission-a duty.'

Finding a son at pension office

Ranjitda talked about one Kallol, a dedicated Govt. worker for whom work is truly service. Before joining once Kallol happened to see old people waiting for long hours for disbursal of pension at the beginning of every month. Instead of 10 AM, the counter used to open at 12:30 PM and that too for a short period, with lot of harassment to senior citizens. Interestingly, he got a job in pension office after 5 years and even if it meant working extra hours in the evening, he always completed the job so that the pension can be disbursed in time. The first day when he assumed office and started disbursal, hours before the late 12:30 PM schedule maintained earlier, the elderly people were not believing. And they tried to reach out to Kallol's head with their feeble hand offering blessings, the iron grill of the counter coming in between. Be it a family function like marriage or disease like fever, Kallol was never absent during pension days so that the elderly disabled people get their dues in time.

Mind and its control

Jagadishda who came from Narayangarh beautifully explained "Mind and its control." How difficult is to control mind so that we can put it into something at our will as well as take it off!.  Mind is compared with a monkey who as such is restless, in addition it is intoxicated (by desire, lust), bitten by a scorpion (by envy), on whom a demon sits (which is ego). Arjun, the great warrior too said that the mind is too strong to be controlled, it is easier to hold air in one's fist. However, Krishna acknowledged the same but assured that there is a way. What is it? Abhyas and Bairagya. Abhyas is striving, doing it again and again. Bairagya is disenchantment with whatever is bad. Vyasa says that mind as a river that can flow in both the directions. If one goes by the current of Viveka, the conscience, the flow is in the direction of virtue. Then he talked about Yam, Niyam, Asana, Pratyahar and Dharana (Link) as a proven method of control of mind and making the most of this tool.

100 Days 100 Patents

Left the camp little early to attend patent workshop at S. N. Bose Auditorium which is a part of ambitious "100 Days 100 Patents" drive by the institute (Link). Seeing the enthusiasm, our Director said that he had been skeptic at the beginning but feels confident now. On 7th Sept., there was a curtain raiser in which Dean, Sponsored Research told an anecdote that he heard. The moral had been : We spend 25% our effort in constructive things and 75% of mind remains in some state of agitation for problems within or outside. If we can inverse this ratio, we can do much better, given the capacity we have. Team effort as it has been, even for our small contribution, we had been called on stage to light up the lamp. Feel honoured. The workshop had talk from patent controller, patent attorney, case studies, The Q & A session was very live. About 30 abstracts were submitted today itself. Expect that the momentum will continue. One faculty colleague who is an expert in patent law was crisp in his observation to explain the potential loss for innovations being published in non-patentable documents. He was worried about IP rights not being vested properly to institute, the opportunities missed and came up with, "The previous century said - Publish or perish. The current century says - Publish and perish."

Father of PGM holder

Remembering father reminds me the visit of one father on 5th of Sept., the Teacher's Day. I was in a lab. taking viva. HoD called me on phone. Father of one student wants to meet me! Enters the father, one of the simplest person I have ever seen, with only a polythene carry bag in hand which shows the sign of being used many times before. Beard in his face. And none can miss that smile. He is the father of President Gold Medal (PGM) winner of the institute this year, the topper among dual degree students. The son is the only one to get selected in prestigious MIT (Link) for higher studies in the Electronics discipline. The child who intentionally performed poorly to avoid going to a reputed hostel leaving the loving parents, is now at the other side of the globe. Twice a day video talk closes the distance a lot. We wish like his father that the son comes back to serve the country. Then I introduced the father to all lab. students, about eighty of them and they were in awe to meet the father of PGM holder and gave him a huge ovation. [Photo added on 16.9.2012 where proud father receives award from President of India during convocation on behalf of his son.]

Teacher's Day

The Teacher's Day was a rainy day. The soccer match between the students and the teachers were postponed. However, the inauguration of the "Electronics Hobby Hub" went well. The senior most but evergreen Prof. N. B. Chakraborti, with his insatiable quest for knowledge, not only inaugurated the hub but also made the staff explain different experiments, student project materials. The lab. students beautifully decorated the lab. and organized a beautiful function. I had NSS faculty meeting in the evening. Had a call where after a discussion, I was asked to give consent to a nation wide technology development initiative with deep social implication. The answer was obvious and I hope and pray that I can make those proud who placed / place a lot of faith in me.

A conversation

Student: Respected Sir, First of all wish you a very very Happy Teachers day on this auspicious day. Sir, as I am in teaching profession I always see you as my  ideal teacher. The way you speak to us, the way you behave, everything I like very much and try to reflect these things in my life. I specially enjoy the discussion in the lab. Specially your suggestion in handling a big problem by spliting it into smaller ones, I mean how it behave in smaller data helps me a lot in my research and also in real life. In short you are my true ideal teacher and the year I spent with you will be a memorable year in my life. Sir, I always need your blessing through out my life.  

Teacher: Thanks student. I don't know if I deserve these kind words. We see in others what we have in ourselves. It was all within you. My best wishes.

More Pics

Counselling

"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me." - D. F. Malone

I borrow this quote from the website of Student Welfare Group, IIT Kharagpur (Link). It is another matter to consider if agreement reinforces learning and clears self-doubt, if any. The message conveyed by the quote cannot be lost in a campus which houses thousands of stimulated-intellect, immensely potent individuals, the would be leaders. Ability to accept opinion of others, feedback obtained from various interactions in a healthy manner and working on them is more than a virtue, a recipe for success.

We can and we do live with some amount of inability in almost every parameter that defines us as human. Imperfections are not uncommon. Some of us work on these deficiencies. Some do not. We are not that sensitive till it crosses the threshold. When it crosses, there can be two extreme scenarios. In one, the person tries to harm himself. In the other, the person tries to harm others. The little I wanted to share on the first count appears in this post (Link). The current post is to share few of my thoughts on the other extreme which starts with building up of anger within, one of the six ripus, the seers say, one must not allow to dominate. My mother often recites a Bengali poem which she studied in her school and remembers even now - "Krodh samo pap ar nahi e bhubane" (Anger is the worst malaise on the earth) and then the poem lists the ill-effects of Krodh, the anger.

XLRI experience

The one month training I had at XLRI, Jamshedpur about twenty years back makes me miss the faculty, the ambiance of that place even today. I remember that there was a photo frame on a wall there on which most important one word sentence, most important two word sentence, .... most important six word sentence were written. What I can gather from memory and search is the following.

Most important one word sentence: Sorry!
Most important two word sentence: Thank you!
Most important three word sentence: May I help?
Most important four word sentence: What is your opinion?
Most important five word sentence: You did a good job.
Most important six word sentence: I admit I made a mistake.

All of us may appreciate the above. But if we try to adopt it in our life the "I" factor comes in between. This in some places has been termed as 'rascal ego' (Link), which is an impediment in our effort to reach our higher self.

A friend indeed

The company we choose has a lot to do in how we grow up, how we respond to situation. The 'ego' may tell that 'I am in control of myself' and thus make me feel secured, insulated. This underestimates the effect of the company I keep. It is true that one has immense power within oneself to overcome whatever be the influence of that company. More often than not, we are not aware of that power and do not exercise that power. We should strive to increase our strength and at the same time be responsible for our act. Till we reach even a moderate level of self-confidence, we should exercise our option and caution to select our friends. We may ask ourselves - Does the company I keep gives me strength and happiness, makes me feel positive and good about life?

We look for a company who is in agreement with my view of life. The more is our association with certain assertion, the more we feel attached to it. A rejection of that assertion or a counter view appears to counter me or reject me. I feel repulsive about the proposer of the counter view. I get angry. I cannot treat him as friend. I forget that I miss an opportunity to learn. I forget that only a friend can take the pain of a potential rejection but can show the courage and strength required to present a counter view. The people who agree to whatever I say, may be my ego booster but not necessarily my friend.

Sympathy vs. Empathy

Even the best of the buddies may feel jealous at times. The '3 Idiots' movie has message for teachers as well as student communities. May be the message for the teaching community was more loud to make it a film for the youth. However one cannot miss quotes like, "Jab dost fail karta hai to dukh hota hai. Jab o top karta hai to bahut dukh hota hai." A weak translation would be, "It hurts if a friend fails. It hurts more if he tops." In a competitive environment, professional jealousy, envy cannot be ruled out. Sportsman spirit, like other character qualities, need cultivation. It is easy to sympathize - treat pain of others as my own. It is not so easy to empathize - treat both pain and joy of others as my own pain and joy.

Facebook anecdote : "Why do we shout in anger?" 

I often am in two minds to accept facebook friend requests. For students sending friend request, the policy I followed is to wait till I am done with my role to apprise them. The small facebook friend circle I have, comprises of my batch mates, relatives, ex-students and people befriended through professional acquaintance. And I must say that this is another very important source for me to get educated and updated. The following anecdote was shared by one friend in facebook with whom I studied together during my BTech days at IIT Kharagpur.  

A saint who was visiting river Ganges to take bath found a group of family members on the banks, shouting in anger at each other. He turned to his disciples smiled 'n asked.

'Why do people shout in anger shout at each other?'

Disciples thought for a while, one of them said, 'Because we lose our calm, we shout.'

'But, why should you shout when the other person is just next to you? You can as well tell him what you have to say in a soft manner.' asked the saint

Disciples gave some other answers but none satisfied the other disciples.
Finally the saint explained, .

'When two people are angry at each other, their hearts distance a lot. To cover that distance they must shout to be able to hear each other. The angrier they are, the stronger they will have to shout to hear each other to cover that great distance.

What happens when two people fall in love? They don't shout at each other but talk softly, Because their hearts are very close. The distance between them is either nonexistent or very small...'

The saint continued, 'When they love each other even more, what happens? They do not speak, only whisper 'n they get even closer to each other in their love. Finally they even need not whisper, they only look at each other 'n that's all. That is how close two people are when they love each other.'

He looked at his disciples and said. 'So when you argue do not let your hearts get distant, Do not say words that distance each other more, Or else there will come a day when the distance is so great that you will not find the path to return.'

The story of three samurai

One of my senior student heard it from his friend of Vivekananda Study Circle (Link). The story is simple but profound.

It is said that Japan prospered under first samurai who believed in, "If a cuckoo does not sing, remove it." It prospered even more under second samurai who believed in, "If a cuckoo does not sing, force it." It prospered the most under third samurai who believed in, "If a cuckoo does not sing, wait. If it is a cuckoo and if there is spring, it will sing".

In my theory class of 120+ students I found that a large no. of students were having 100 percent attendance. There are always some such students. But this semester the proportion was much higher. In IIT, there are so many different societies and activities and there are medical and family issues - it is not easy to find full attendance for a large population. On a lighter thread, I asked this community to start a facebook page and let me be the first to 'like' it. However, there were few who had poor attendance. The threat of 'deregistration' brought them back in the class. Given the time is short, and we ourselves need to work more to motivate students to attend class, and hold them there with inspiring lectures, a combination of three samurai approach may help the student community as a whole. Also we don't know what would have happened if the sequence was different for three Samurais. The first two may have prepared the ground for the third. Also, the tutorial, class test, mid-sem. exam., end-sem exam.  - we just cannot wait for spring to come and cuckoo to sing, more so if it is autumn semester :-)

All the students will perform well if they are serious about themselves; little bit of disciplined life and there is no reason why they cannot reach milestones as per the timelines with ease. There will be no frustration, no jealousy. The problem comes when one tends to relax, feels complacent. My little experience is that this is where IIT system leaves no room, so packed is the program. Two-three fun-filled weeks during the semester, one keeps searching for clues what is happening in the class. There are no holidays before class test, lab-test, mid-sem, end-sem exam.s. Therefore, we try to make students aware all the time through interactions in the class, through emails, thorough posts such as these (Link). The students / parents can say if these are of any help or not.

No injury to others

A question may come in the mind, "Shall I remain quiet if somebody tries to harm me?" It is true that we come across both good and wicked people in our life. Wherever possible we avoid the company of the wicked but there may be situations where we need to confront them. Sri Ramakrishna gives a nice solution of this through one of his parable (Translated in original, suggested  Link1 : abridged :  Link2, All tales and parables : Link3)

There lived a poisonous snake in a thinly populated jungle region.  It was so poisonous and it would attack people at the least provocation resulting in the death of victims.  One day a Brahmachari happened to pass that way and the snake was about to attack the holy man.  He uttered a mantra and immediately the snake was subdued.  Then the Brahmachari told the snake that it should give up its harmful nature.  He initiated the snake with a mantra and asked it to repeat that mantra regularly.  After the initiation, the snake completely changed its way of life and started living only on grass and fruits.  It would not harm anybody.  Once the boys of that area went near the snake and were surprised to find that the snake was not reacting angrily.  They lifted it by the tail, thrashed it on the ground and left it there thinking that it was dead.  The snake was hurt seriously but not dead.  Slowly it went into its hole and would come out only during the night.  After some months, the Brahmachari again came to that area and enquired about that snake.  He started calling aloud for the snake which came out after great difficulty.  Seeing its condition, the Brahmachari asked as to what had really happened.  The snake had become so Sattwik that it was not even able to recollect that the boys had thrashed him.  But, after several promptings by the Brahmachari it was able to recollect and narrated its tale of woe.  Then the Brahmachari admonished the snake saying that, “I told you not to harm people, which means that you should not bite anybody, but I didn’t prevent you from hissing so as to protect yourself.” 

One can protect oneself like this without injuring others. A soldier in army injures enemy as a part of his duty*. The civil society need not consider a fellow being as an enemy. Neither it can be called a duty to harm another person. Any attempt to do that will bring agitation within which will harm me more than anybody else in the long run. Avoiding such a company / situation, hissing as told in the parable (pretending to harm to scare away - since it is pretension and not actual, no harm to others or self) are useful. Also, the power of organization, as told by Vivekananda is helpful. He observed that the secret to have a great future of India lies in organization, accumulation of power, co-ordination of wills. He talked about all the powers of good against all the power of evil. However, we must not forget "Hate the sin, not the sinners." Wicked self of one is an aberration. If one is capable and confident, one can try to make such a person familiar with his nobler self.

[*Told by a research student of another Dept. during recess of an interview. We had some time before the start of the interview and started chit-chatting. The student told that he attended one study circle previous Saturday in his native place called Narayangarh (about 30 KM from campus). The topic of their discussion was : What is duty and how to perform it.]

[Update on 05.9.2012 : Today's Times of India, Kolkata edition reports famous Kolkata premier league footballer Tolgay saying "Everything is forgiven but nothing is forgotten,” on his spat with former club East Bengal as he switches over to their arch rival Mohanbagan this season. Without going into the merit of this particular case, we can ask ourselves in the context of this post, when we say the same - what is not forgotten when we forgive someone. Is it the lesson learnt or something else? The first sentence in wiki (Link) says, "Forgiveness is the renunciation or cessation of resentment, indignation or anger as a result of a perceived offense, disagreement, or mistake, or ceasing to demand punishment or restitution."]

Anger and family life

Last THU evening got a call from a place about 10 KM from a campus where I stayed during student days. My father was in railway service (Link) there. An appointment was requested from me. The nature of my responsibility here needs interaction of many, many people which are not always predictable. The WED evening went in an impromptu meeting with two students of Robotix society. They were looking for a solution to a drift problem where an accelerometer and a gyro are put together. Also there were visits of NSS program officers. There is a meeting with Technology Transfer Group students on FRI evening for 100 days, 100 patents campaign. The SAT is dedicated to NSS activity (Link). And there are few thesis to complete before convocation. Therefore, decided to set off then and there.

Reached the origin of call at about 6:30 PM. Here is a mother who cannot sleep anytime during day and night, keeps standing at the 1st floor balcony holding iron grills at hand, looking at the entrance of the house, waiting for son to come. She visited CMC hospital, Vellore five times and has many different diseases. Her entire thought process revolves around the only son. The son, highly educated and in a high paying job, has distanced himself since marriage and abuses if any effort is made to contact. Even a phone call at home is not made which is the only thing the mother asks for. However, money is sent regularly. I was not in a position to get into compulsion, if any, the son faces, what enrages him so much and the family issues, what happened in the past etc. The little I could do is to counsel the mother with what people taught me, not sure how well I understood them. The essence had been to draw attention to things that she has with her as support system (and not the ones she is not having), the reality of life as prevalent in modern society on service rendered to ageing parents (more among the educated and elite) and lessons conveyed in parables of various holy books. Spent about 2 hours. The lady who cocooned herself in a room upstairs for long, came downstairs to say bye. Assured to visit again. The other day I was wondering if NSS volunteers (Link) can reach out to this section of the community who served the society when they were able and are now abandoned in some sense (social, emotional need).

[The attached pic is shared by a friend in facebook. The narration says : I clicked this picture at Chennai interstate bus terminal. The weight of this boy is around 90 KG,he is mentally and physically ill. He even can’t walk. You can see how his mother is carrying him…???? Can you believe this!!! ……we salutes all mothers in this world!!!! Mom you are great!!!!!

I remember a play that I witnessed in the stage of Durga Mandir, Golebazar, Kharagpur during my student days, most probably enacted by Shaonli Mitra group. A son, who had lost his good sense, decided to oblige a demand that asks him to give his mother's heart as present to someone. He tip-toes to find mother sleeping, with no fear in her face, lest from her son. The son flashes his knife, takes out the heart, stained in blood. As he hurries to offer his present, different kind of feelings descending on him, he takes a miss-step and falls on the ground. The mother's heart in his hand gets an anxious voice, "My child, hope you are not hurt!" It was in Bengali, "Bachha, la ge ni to!"

There are stories of other extreme where possessiveness manifests in another manner. I shall be exceeding the brief of this post to dwell on this complex issue - how much space an individual requires for oneself. May take up in future. ]

Relocation of friend

Received an SMS two days back. Somebody from Civil Service background, who I came to know in course of my professional responsibility and was delighted to receive a 'friend' request in facebook, is leaving Kharagpur and is relocated in Chief Miniser's Office at Kolkata with a higher responsibility. Shall miss him here very much. Our best wishes for the new assignment.

Endnote

Distance does not matter. Let our friend circle continue to grow. Let us always find a friend when we need  - true friend, not necessarily someone who agrees with me whatever I say and dumps on me negative thoughts and ideas. Let us never think of extremes of any kind, that can harm me or harm others. Let us help each other and together the society that we all serve.

For professional counselling service which assures confidentiality, one is suggested to take help of institute counselling centre, the details of which can be found here (Link).

In retrospect

Prof. M. N. Faruqui (1952 -56 IIT Kharagpur student; 1958 – 1990 Faculty at IIT Kharagpur) left his mortal frame yesterday (24.8.2012) at about 11:40 AM. SMS, Email, Telephone, Meeting at the corridor - the message got spread. The Dept. gathered in the afternoon to pay homage. Senior faculty members remembered him as one of the second generation leaders who led the Dept., specially in the field of communication engineering. His students, drawn from teachers and visitors to the institute, remembered the teaching style he introduced for new PG programs. He used to give currently published good journal papers as text material, asked students to study that for few days and then involved them into discussion on that topic. Prof. S. L. Maskara, a close associate of Prof, Faruqui wrote in his message, "All those who ever came in contact with him immediately bonded with him. He had a towering and charming personality with a generous heart and ever smiling face. He embodied Wisdom, Vision, Compassion, Courage, Patience and Confidence. His breadth of knowledge in various subjects and analytical skills to go in depth with strong reasoning power displayed on all occasions of crisis. People rushed to him for solutions to their problems. He could easily win over even his opponents."


During my B.Tech. days, I found him as Deputy Director here. I studied the book, 'Basic Electronics' authored by him but did not have any opportunity for class room interaction. 

The Prof. Faruqui I know is a thinker, a person candid with his expression, with immense love and zeal for education sector in India and he is an IITian by core. A prolific writer that he was, we can find his wisdom, his IIT experience in various articles he left behind. Excerpts from some of his write-ups are presented below. Section heading added by me to improve readability. The mortal frame is no longer there but he continues to live through what he left behind in our mind space.

The following is from 'Down Memory Lane' published by  Nehru Museum of Science and Technology, IIT Kharagpur in 2001.

Arrival at IIT Kharagpur as student (Year 1952)

It can easily be said that if the Indian society was undeveloped, the opportunities open to a young man in a small mofussil town like Ballia of UP in the l950 were also extremely limited. Obtaining a First Class with distinctions in two subjects and 75% marks in science subjects in the Intermediate Science examination of the UP Board that year did not open any doors. Engineering degree options available were at BHU, AMU and the College at Roorkee. BHU won't have me and my father was against AMU for reasons I will not go in here. Roorkee was beyond his means -- the monthly charges alone being Rs 260 per month. B.Sc at Allahabad was very attractive and there I spent two years of my life. Here it was that we heard of a new engineering college being opened by the central government at some place called Kharagpur in West Bengal. I applied for admissions here, was interviewed in the office of the Vice-Chancellor of Allahabad University and was selected.

I joined the Higher Institute of Technology, Hijli, Kharagpur in August 1952 The authorities wanted that we must have six half-sleeve shirts and six pair of khaki trousers and one mosquito net when we arrive here.

IIT Kharagpur, The melting pot : Another First (very important but not much talked about)

I believe that Kharagpur was the first educational Institution in India where 300 boys stayed together and ate in a common mess -- disregarding the caste considerations, vegetarian and non-vegetarian issues, religious issues and finally distinctive tastes and eating habits of people coming from all corners of the country and assembled in one place and under one roof. It was remarkable to say the least. I had some experience of other cosmopolitan universities like the Benaras Hindu University and Allahabad where number of messes were established and one could join any one of those. Brahmins, Chhatriyas, Vaishyas and others had naturally segregated into homogenous groups of their own. For example Brahmins and Chhatriyas from Ballia had separate messes. The students would hire a cook who would prepare the food of their liking and taste.

The Building of IIT Culture:

The independence, the camaraderie, the mixing of people from all over the country, the responsive and supportive Faculty and Staff and the opportunity of developing an individual's talent and character was unique at Kharagpur. The other IlTs copied it and the products coming out of these portals have made India proud. The shaping of the destiny of this IIT owes much to Sir J.C. Ghosh the founding Director and Dr S.R. Sengupta who followed in his footsteps.

Examination (Open Book, Closed Book):

The number of experiments in the academic and administrative processes that Sir JC tried is amazing in retrospect. We had then a yearly system with two terminal examinations in between and a final examination that theoretically covered the whole year's teaching. In the second year we had 23 examination papers in the terminal examination. In 11 subjects we had a 2-hour closed book examination [7 to 9 AM] followed immediately by a 2-hour [10 AM to 12 noon] open book examination. Only the English language paper had no open book component. In another terminal examination no dates for the examinations were given and the teacher could, after entering the class, declare that that day he was going to have a 1-hour examination instead of the lecture. These unannounced 1-hour examinations were the toughest since we all were totally unprepared, so much so that a student could be casually absent and miss that examination altogether. I suppose the scheme finally did not work and was abandoned. Short tests of 15 to 20 minutes were a different kind of thing. I suppose we lost the fear of examinations altogether. In my first year the Tutorials in Physics and Mathematics were held in the Hall after 7 PM and each tutorial class consisted of 8 students only.

Was it mandatory to pass all subjects?

To be promoted from one year to the next and to get a degree from this Institute one did not have to pass in all subjects. There was a Results Review Committee that decided the maximum number of subjects that a student could fail and the aggregate marks that he must have to be promoted to the next higher class. Naturally in such a system no grade cards were issued and one would only obtain a certificate indicating that such and such had passed with Honours in First or Second division. The trouble started when the American universities insisted on getting a grade card with letter grades. Of course students who were promoted despite failure in subjects were not the ones applying for studies abroad. I feel that the system was quite okay since the opinions have now changed and even Secondary schools are not insisting that a student must pass in all subjects in order to pass out of the school system.

The following is from the article "Failure in in Engineering : Remarkable Success Elsewhere" (Link) where we see the teacher-administrator in him in his dealing with a student of special kind. Also, this shows how one can never be a loser if he / she is sincere in his / her pursuit of dream and does not give up. Finally, how compassion and soft core of a teacher leave behind apparently harsh and duty-bound self of an administrator - with no love lost between him and the student. A lesson for all!

Not his cup of tea!

Tejinder Singh got into Engineering at IIT Kharagpur through the toughest Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) and showed that he was, that year, amongst top 2000 students in India. His career started well and was noticed in Hall activities like Dramatics, Music and other activities. But by the time he came to second year he was in the wrong company. I was Dean of Students and his problems landed on my table. His father was employed in Railways and posted at Kharagpur. By and by his plus points were getting lost into failure in examinations and numerous ‘reported’ troubles. He had to repeat the year. Naturally his parents were very upset and his mother met my wife and me repeatedly. I tried my level best to get him to perform but it did not help him much. He could not go beyond the third year and had to leave the IIT as a failure. I used to tell him that unless he studied and got out of the company of his ‘friends’ he would be good for nothing. He would be found selling peanuts at the Kharagpur railway station.

In front of me he was always very polite and submissive, though he admitted once that he was not finding interest in Engineering. He always promised dutifully that he would make all efforts and would do well next time. That next time never came and he had to say goodbye to Kharagpur.

Journalism, Not Engineering

A few years later I came across him at Howrah station concourse at 12.30 in the night. People who have been to Howrah station beyond midnight may be knowing that once the local trains have left the station concourse is taken over by thousands of large size rats. It is quite a sight. They even jump over people sleeping on the floor. I was waiting for my wife whose train from Lucknow was 2 hours late. I was surprised to see him and asked him about what were his current activities and what was he doing at this time of the night at Howrah station. He said he was working in the well known Telegraph newspaper in Calcutta in the editorial department. I asked him whether he liked what he was doing and he said that he has now found out that journalism was his actual interest. We sat down on a bench amongst the rats all around and chit chatted about his job and about IIT.

The tea available at the station is undrinkable because it is prepared from the Hooghly water that is salty. I said as much but he said that he knows a tea stall outside the station that serves tea made from good well water. Despite my protests he went out and brought two cups of good quality tea. I felt happy that he was enjoying his work at last. It was really a chance meeting and completely out of the way.

Getting Settled!

Last year,  I was at Lucknow when I got a call from a student at IIT Kanpur that a gentleman named Tejinder wants to meet me and wants to know whether he can come and meet me at Lucknow. I was overjoyed to hear him and he did drive down from Kanpur to Lucknow – a drive of two hours. He is a Sikh but now he had lost all his hairs and is bald. He was now in Brussels and Chief Editor of an International magazine. He could hardly stay for an hour because he had to drive back.He was still the same Tejinder but now was a European boss of an organisation.

Failure vs. Success

Boys at IIT Kanpur had compiled a list of IIT students who could not complete their studies at their Institution but had done well in later life. These boys had hit on his name and had invited him to Kanpur. He jokingly said that my prophecy about selling peanuts was wrong. He always felt obligated to me though I really could not do anything for him finally. I remarked as such but then he said that out of the whole lot of people at Kharagpur I was the only person who listened and even sympathised with him though I fired him many times. From another angle through his struggles and hard work he succeeded in a career of his choice. I will call him a ‘Success’ story though he gave lot of worries and heart burn to his parents and well wishers in the beginning. Finally he made us proud of his exploits.

I shall conclude this post with excerpts from his article titled "Lament for IITs" (Link) published on June 06, 2011 where we see an educationist, an analytic IITian and a visionary who projects past to future. Also, we find here one whose heart bleeds for his beloved institute.

IIT and World Class

The lament that the IITs, IIMs and the Universities are not world class is not justified when one measures the low output, of at least the five original IITs, in terms of Research and Development over the past six decades or so. I joined IIT Kharagpur in 1952 as a student when that first IIT was only one year old and was functioning from an abandoned jail building. The WWII had ended a few years back and even the mighty American Universities and Colleges did not have much of engineering research. 

Around the same time India became independent and looking around our political leadership found that the country needs ‘world class’ engineering colleges to produce Engineers that would drive the country forward.  .. There was no emphasis on research and all the effort was to teach things that would be useful to the industries. In the initial stages teachers were recruited from the industries and there were practically no Doctorates in engineering departments at Kharagpur. We had Professors from UK, Germany, Russia, France and USA in engineering departments but all the research was confined to the Science Departments. Things started changing from 1964 onwards when the first Indian PhD in Civil Engineering was awarded by IIT Kharagpur.

Benchmark was acceptance by “our industries” and not research

It is possibly forgotten that in the decades of 1960-80 there was no Internet, no Xeroxing facility and only a very cumbersome cyclostyling facility was available in offices. Very few journals existed and even in IITs there was no funding for research by the Government till 1970-1 when the first good research grant was given by the Ministry of Defense to all the five IITs . The IITs and the government expected that the IITs would produce B Tech graduates comparable to the best in the world and everybody was proud of our product all around. From personal experience I can say that whenever we reviewed our performance the benchmark was acceptance by “our industries” – a fiction no doubt. Our students were highly successful in research and development orqanisations world over, something that made all of us Indians happy. We were blamed off and on for “brain drain” and that we were producing graduates that did extremely well in the USA and UK. Teaching and curricula had to suit the requirements of the Indian industries there. Despite all of this the faculty at the IITs did commendable research and we did exceedingly well there. In certain areas the publications in esteemed foreign journals from the IITs was higher than those produced by MIT, UCLA and Stanford. The Indian industry by and large was NOT interested in these research outcomes.

The blunder it was and the lack of  industry support 

If the requirement was research then we did a colossal blunder in concentrating on Under Graduate education  and that is persisting even today. The industry said we are good and the measure used for judging was “placement”.  Do we serve the industry or do some “not wanted” research. Our industry-controlled and run for the profit motif is full of “so called” industrialists who buy CKD and SKD goods from abroad and sell it in India. Where were the famous “industrialists” who are interested in any technical development? Research had become purely abstract like in science research and no industry was wanting it or bothered about it and actually had any use for it. It is easier to import the product and sell it rather spend money on developing it where the success rate of 10 percent return on investment is extremely good. Even if we take mass produced and consumed items like cell phone, fridge, refrigerators television sets, computers, laptops etc. we find that they are all foreign make. It appears that we have taken a vow and resolved that we will never produce mass consumption items like the ones cited above in our country. Naturally there is no need to do any research in items where major profits are made by Europeans, Americans, Koreans, Japanese, and lately Chinese. Maybe the Swiss Bank odyssey of our people is kept alive by such policies.

AND now suddenly we discover that we are nowhere in the Industrial development scene in the world and that IITs should have been doing industrial R &D but pray for whom.

The Malaise within

I hope it is understood that large number of B Tech would never take us forward in R & D.  We were busy getting our children admissions in IIT failing that in other look- alike and sending them abroad later if possible.  More than one hundred thousand students go abroad for education and not brain drain. ‘Satyanas’ of education was written when “Coaching” stopped all creativity avenues for a 14 year old Indian. His Nose to the grind of 4 hours coaching over and above the school hours and learning by mugging has taken away fun from school. His total focus is in getting admission into IIT or a good Medical College – failing that in a good engineering college. Again despite this urge the ordinary Indian family dreams of Indian Administrative Service because of “power”, money and prestige it gives to a society accustomed to a “ruler”.

Suggestion for future

An out of the box suggestion for making major changes in the IIT system is as follows.

1. We change our system and make IITs to offer a 5 year M Tech (no B Tech) and an option of 7 year PhD programme for students who qualify in JEE. It should be attractive enough to get the best into it by offering good scholarships and freeships. If a student chooses the 7 year programme his entire 7 years should be tuition free plus a good fellowship. The IITs do not offer a B Tech programme but other colleges are free to do so. They could offer a five year M Tech plus PhD programme after the B Tech with attractive fellowships and freeships.
2. Good number students getting in this IIT system should be given free tuition for all the seven years. Scholarship / fellowships of say 25,000 rupees or better to start with. (Medical education in USA follows this pattern) .
3. Teachers in the IITs should have no fixed pay scale. Salaries to depend on his total commitment to research, publications, teaching ability, projects handled and consultancy. Such a Professor is treated as an asset.
4. All industries are forced by legislation to spend 2 percent of their profit on relevant R and D.  Tax relief be built in the legislation. They be asked to fund for research in R & D areas of their activities.
5. Like most of the countries that have a ‘certification for engineers’ we should have a compulsory legislation for certification of our B Tech qualified engineers. M Tech may be exempt.