Why do i hate SN? (For those coming across this word for the 1st time, its Sarojini Naidu Hall, the only girl's hostel in IIT kharagpur) Good question man!! yet very complicated. One of the major reasons is because i never loved it from the beginning. Why?? Uncountable reasons and this blog describes one of them
Getting through the IIT-JEE exam 2001 was one of the greatest thing that happened in my life. I was very much excited, not because of clearing this toughest exam but because i got to stay away from home on my own which i always wanted to experience. Rank of 1988 was good enough to pursue a bachelor of technology in Civil or Naval architecture department.
Went to kgp for the counselling and a simultaneous admission. My dad accompanied me to help me out. Both of us were sitting in a big hall, which later on i got to know that is a classroom called F-142. Preference sheets were distributed to the candidates where one has to fill his preference of departments which he wanted to join. My preference was 1. Civil kgp(B Tech) 2. Naval kgp(B Tech) 3. Civil kgp(Dual) 4. Naval kgp(Dual). I was very much clear that i would get admission in at least one of these. I was about to write on the sheet, suddenly
"Can i help you, sir?"
Dad and i looked up and saw this not very beatiful lady who was trying to be sexy with a sleeveless top and navel exposing jeans. As always, line of sight turned to the boobs and saw a tag of 'COUNSELLOR'. But they were nice...hehe
Before i could say anything, my dad went "Of course, why not. You are academic counsellor??"
She took the row just in front of us and turned back to face us.
"Yes sir. I am a third year student of Geology dept. We ppl stay here in kgp for project stuffs and help new comers in choosing their careers. We are appointed by this Institute because by this time we know very well about everything that goes on here"
"Whats your name btw" i asked
"So, what do you think our preference should be?" Dad's question over-ruled mine. Damn!!
"Let me see what you have got in your mind first"
I described her everything starting from rank to why i chose the depts in kgp.
"Thank god!! you didnt fill anything. You would have done a big mistake if you did so. Have you heard of a department called Agriculture or something. Its a dept which gives B tech degree only in kgp. None of the other IITs own it." Facing towards my dad she went on "What do u want finally from your son? A good job after he completes his under-graduate.Recently there was a passout from this dept, Vinod Gupta. Now he is in US and is one of the richest persons there. India might not need any research in agriculture but go abroad and it has got a whole lot of scope. This is the dept which opens up the doors to go abroad easily. Look at its placement statistics....100%. What do u want more?"
"Well, all these are okay but never heard of this dept before. Wouldnt that create a problem later on"
"Come on sir, once you are in IIT nobody cares about the dept anymore. Your son would be identified as an iitian and not related to any dept"
I inquired "But my prof told me to join civil or naval. He must have adviced me with some logical reasoning. How come he didnt know about this dept if this is so famous."
"You can know more of the internal things and job placements if you are a student. Professors go according to the traditional conventions. But students are practical"
"Whats wrong with civil and naval? Why rankwise these dept open first and agri opens later"
"Every dept has got some advantages and disadvantages. Look at the placement graph of these dept. None of them has got 100% (apparently civil has got 98% and naval 94%). Civil and naval opens first because of lack of knowledge among the candidates. We are here for that only...to make everybody aware of dept like these."
I said "Yeah very true....but still then, this dept has got no engineering in it. It looks and sounds like m taking a B.Sc course"
"Do you think IIT wouldnt have thought of that. If at all it didnt provide you engineering knowledge then why it is included in B.Tech course. It could have included in M.Sc as my dept is"
My dad and i went like "hmmm....thats correct!!"
She confused us totally. My prof told me something else and here i got to know a totally changed scenario. Dad and i were looking at each other curiously as what to do now.
"C'mon sir. Moreover your son would be one of the 10 B.Techs from iit that India will produce in a year. Demand is so high in market and the supply is so less. So you try to understand what importance your son would have after 4 years. Just keep in mind what Vinod Gupta did"
That was enough to change the mind of my dad and confuse me more. Dad suggested "Son...she is correct. Fill in Agriculture B.Tech First and then Civil B.Tech"
"Why civil Sir....Go for agriculture Dual as the 1st option and B.Tech as 2nd. Can you imagine if doing a B.Tech in agri can gain you so much, what would be the result if you specialize in it."
"But i dont want to read more. 5 years are too much for me to bear"
"Look at it the other way round. You are getting another degree for an extra effort of only one year. Otherwise, if you decide to go for higher studies later on, you ll have to finish this M.Tech course as M.S. that is of 2 years. So try to save one year here coz you never know of the future. You might change this mood and want to read further. That time you will realize what mistake you had done and blame me that i didnt suggested you"
"No miss....i am very clear about that. I wont read anymore at any cost"
"Okay then put agri dual in the 2nd option as you wont be getting the best dept like this"
Dad agreed to her point and me too. So my preference order changed and now its like 1. Agri(B.Tech) 2. Agri (dual) 3. Civil kgp (B.Tech) 4. Naval kgp (B.Tech). As soon as i completed filling the 2nd option, she stood and bid us good bye.
The same day i returned and directly went to my prof. My prof gave me a good dose of scoldings of not sticking to my previous preference. All through-out, i was like "sir....u dont know anything....u had given me traditional suggestions.....iit students know better than outsiders."
Finally i was peacefully admitted in Agriculture B.Tech dept. When i spend few days in kgp during 1st year, got to know about Vinod Gupta. He was 1970 passout and he didnt get any core job. He had a business mind and running software consultancy in US. Ayway, he was a ghasi at least.....that was an assurance. 1st year i hardly had any interaction with the dept. So it went cool. I saw that geophysics lady lot of times while going to the morning classes and thanked her for her help.
Came 2nd year and the placement that yr of my dept was "zero" and that of civil and naval came down to 70%. What the Fuck!! Last yr it was 100%. Now, i was totally furious. I collected funda from my hall seniors and everybody had one thing to say "tereko chutiya bana gayi be woh!!! tum SN pe bharosha kaise kar liya" (you've been cheated dear!! How can you believe SN??) I was so in a disturbed state, i would have killed her if she met me during that time. My hall president, Manish Kumar, was from geophysics also and her batchmate. He advised me to gang rape her in gyan-ghose stadium. But the anger calmed down when i started showing interest in the subjects.
I mean how can she even think of playing with one's career like that. She sat there in the name of counselling and made me fill her options and as soon as i did that, she left. That was the 1st time that i started hating SNites. And now that when i know why they do so, this feeling gets stronger and wild.
recent reasons that add to this hatred and kept on accumulating the anger will be posted soon....
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