CATegorised in InIMitabIlITy

"The problem with this world is that the stupid are cocksure...and the intelligent full of doubt"

--Bertrand Russell

You know when a post starts off with a two line quote, it sure as hell won't be about the weather, or a five item list in futility. And while these chunky keys on the keyboard of my home desktop(god, its like a derogatory term these days)aren't really suited to typing, this post isn't about that shit either. So, patient reader, you might be tempted to ask, what shit is it about then? And for the smartasses among you who can actually read capitals, you might be wondering, is this another stupid IIT post again?

You would most certainly not be wrong.

Why do people spend most of the formative years pf their lives studying for the JEE and the CAT? Is it because of the bragging rights, the fame, the glory, the cahnce to quantitatively measure the heights of their own intelligence(and ego). I don't know for sure. However, if I may be so insouciant, I DO know one thing for sure... its because of the money. Almost all human actions, save for a few basic ones, are a direct outcome of money.

Hell, if people were paid 10 lacs p.a. to sweep streets they'd have a fucking JEE for that too. Now we all know the education system in our country is vapid waste. What we also know, (in no small part due to my earlier posts) is that it WORKS. Like hell. Its the only thing Indians are world class at. Mindless imitation. And while there is a reverse stigma associated with being an IIT or IIM graduate, it is most definitely, because of the money, and not in spite of it.

We are the people who INVENTED class divisions. We still have slave labour. We are still the only country with a GDP of more than a trillion US dollars...and a per capita income of less than a 1000 USD. or if you fancy the rather meaningless rupee sign(its just an R in Devnagiri..not like the dollar..which is a whole different concept), it means that most people in India suvive below Rs. 20 a day. Which, by the time most people reach the IIT/M that they've been daydreaming about, wouldn't even offend their sensibilities.

However, what they should be doing, is running the country. Education gives you power. And, it should give you courage, and conviction. That's what education used to be, before it was mindlessly perverted by the policy making bureaucrats who run it. Now, its just about pay packages, and cost to company, and enterpreneurship. So, you see, empathy is not rewarded, neither is innovation,neither is conscience. What is advisable, is to make money, save money, and get out..while you have your health intact.

The world rewards selfishness, not to mention corruption, the Commonwealth games are a sad reminder. And you would be moronic to think that there would be any change to that, anytime soon. But, what's really respectable, is someone, who, would be able to look beyond an IIT/M education. And focus on the real issues, and try and create that change. And to remember, the epitome of change is conscience, not a CAT score.

True leadership is not an euphimism for an IIM alumni. Its the ability to create change. No one should be defined by the numbers they generate. Only by the people they influence.