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http://gymkhana.iitb.ac.

in/~insight August 22, 2006*

*Volume IX Issue I Students’ Gymkhana IIT Bombay

T he reservation issue raised its head


again, in April this year, with the
government’s proposal to implement
The Reservations Saga the next academic year? Prof. Ghosh
offers reasons why it is not. The cur-
rent campus at Powai cannot expand
Siddarth Madhav and Vikranth Audi analyse the effect that to accommodate more than a total of
27% reservation for students belonging
to Other Backward Castes (OBCs) in
t h e p ro p o s e d re s e r v a t i o n s w i l l h a v e o n I I T B o m b a y. 6000 students, due to the lack of free
institutes of higher education including nouncing its decision to implement instructional area and 150,000 sq. ft. of building space. Even this increase
IITs and IIMs. This issue has received OBC reservations from the next aca- academic infrastructural area, for labs, would need to be done gradually in a
wide coverage in the print media, in demic year. computer rooms, office space etc.” phased manner; else, the entire system
the tele media and in the weblogs of
people. In this article, we recap the We talked to the Deputy Director, Prof. Population Increase
events of the summer and analyse the Dipan K. Ghosh and he had this to say
effect that the proposed reservations about the issue. “The current strength Also, there
will have on IIT Bombay. Is IIT-B ca- of students, undergraduates as well as is a se-
pable of handling the swelling num- postgraduates, in IIT Bombay is ap- vere space

01
bers of students when there is already proximately 5000, and this number is crunch in
a shortage of space in the hostels? Is going to increase every year, until after the hostels.
there enough teaching faculty to cater five years, the strength will even out to The first and
to the needs of the increased number 7700. This will lead to serious infra- second year
of students without compromising the structure issues.” undergradu-
quality of education provided? ate students
One important cause for concern is the are being
This summer, IIT Bombay witnessed shortage of faculty. The ideal faculty doubled up,
its own share of drama with both anti- to student ratio is 1:9, which the insti- while the Projected growth in the strength of students in IIT Bombay
reservation and pro-reservation pro- tute currently falls well short of. There new post-
tests. are, at present, around 400 faculty (a graduate students in Hostel 11 have at IIT would collapse. And finding the
teacher-student ratio of 1:12) against to share their room with two others. required faculty to maintain current
On 19th May, anti-reservation protes- the sanctioned strength of 550. Taking Indeed, the current capacity of our 13 standards would be extremely chal-
tors demonstrated outside the IIT Main into account the fact that over 50 mem- hostels is merely 4000, which is short lenging.
Gate, forming a human chain, display- bers of the teaching staff would retire by 1000. “With the extra load of stu-
ing placards and distributing leaflets. over the next five years, IIT-Bombay dents, we need to build hostels to ac- What are the alternatives? A possible
On 22nd May, over 20 protestors carried would need a total of 850 faculty mem- commodate a further 4000 students, 8 solution would be to build a satellite
out a chain hunger strike in batches campus. “We are looking at the op-
of 24 hours. This was covered exten- Program Duration Present Proposed Addition Net addition tion of setting up a campus either in
sively by news channels like AajTak, intake intake per year (over 4-5 yrs) Navi Mumbai or Gujarat or Goa. So
NDTV and Sahara. There was also a far, Gujarat seems to be the most vi-
strong alumni presence in the anti- Undergraduate 4-5 yrs 574 884 310 1376 able option. During our meeting with
reservation camp, with prominent so- the Gujarat authorities last month, the
Masters’ 2 yrs 774 1197 423 846
cial activists like Mr. Shailesh Gandhi Chief Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi ex-
speaking to the students about the is- Ph.D. ~5 yrs 167 257 90 450 pressed keen interest in our plan.”
sue. In the wake of the government’s
decision to implement reservations in Course-wise break-up of the increase in the strength of students The Satellite Campus
IITs and IIMs, IIT-B students partici- bers- an increase of 450. To maintain boys’ hostels and 1 girls’ hostel. And A satellite campus of IIT Bombay is
pated in the ‘Maha Rally’organized by the faculty to non-teaching staff ratio there is absolutely no space on our all set to come up in Gandhinagar, Gu-
the Youth For Equality (YFE) on 28th of 1:2, 1000 additional staff members campus to build them,” concludes jarat. The campus is expected to come
May in Azad Maidan, which was at- need to be hired. Prof. Ghosh. up by July 2007, housed initially either
tended by over 4000 people. in the LD Engineering College or RC
“Even at present, instructional areas How expensive will these additional Technical Institute, till the new cam-
There were also pro-reservation pro- are inadequate,” says Prof. Ghosh, requirements prove? The extra hostels pus comes up. A high level delegation
tests organized by a small group of “We do not have enough classrooms to for students and staff quarters, and their led by Director Prof. Ashok Misra met
related facilities, the seed grant for the the Gujarat authorities this July. IIT
Reservations Issue: A Timeline additional faculty, the extra academic Powai had asked for 300 acres of land
April’06: HRD minister Arjun Singh announces the proposal to reserve 27% instructional area plus the labs, library to start the satellite campus. The Gu-
of the seats in all central universities including IITs and IIMs. etc. carry a price tag of Rs. 615 crores, jarat government will provide the land
April-May’06: Widespread protests across the nation in many colleges and or Rs. 21 lakh for each additional and infrastructure, while the union
universities including IIT Bombay. student. Also, there is a projected re- HRD ministry is expected to provide
May’06: Govt announces a 13-man oversight committee headed by Veerappa curring cost of Rs. 3 lakh per student construction funding.
per year, based on faculty salary and
Moily to look into the issue of implementation of 27% reservation for OBCs
maintenance costs. “But money is not When we asked Prof. Dipan Ghosh
in higher education institutions.
the issue here,” Prof. Ghosh maintains, whether the setting up of the satellite
August’06: Moily committee submits its report. Two draft bills (one for aided
“The central government has promised campus was a direct result of the pro-
and one for unaided universities) have been prepared by the ministry of HRD
to allocate enough money to meet the posed reservation, he said, “Both yes
and are set to be introduced in the ongoing monsoon session of the parlia-
increased expenses.” and no! The plan to set up a satellite
ment.
campus was conceived before the res-
And finally, the million dollar ques- ervation issue came up. But now that it
people. But their hunger strike was handle the additional load. We would tion: Is it feasible to implement all this has, the second campus would be
discontinued with the government an- need an additional 100,000 sq. ft. of and is it possible to implement it by (continued on page 2...)

> InsIghT is the students’ newsletter of IIT Bombay. The views expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of Students’ Gymkhana, IIT Bombay. Any reproduction of these contents must include proper attribu-
tion and a link back to the InsIghT website.
http://gymkhana.iitb.ac.in/~insight
August 22, 2006
2
The very concept of a summer intern-
ship can assume two mutually exclusive
meanings – a compulsory requirement
Summer Internship employ interns to infuse a fresh perspec-
tive into their existing system. Depend-
ing on the company, you may get to
or an opportunity to gain firsthand expe- Kartik Shekhar and Sriram Emani share their experiences of choose if you want to do a core technical
rience of how life might be like after you their respective practical trainings. project or a statistics-related project. The
graduate. This article is for those who former would require application of core
attach significant importance to the lat- I would now like to share some com- Industrial Internship - Sriram engineering concepts whereas the latter
ter. Though most students instinctively monplace notions and experiences. It would be more inclined towards logical
As the name suggests, these internships
choose between an industrial and a re- is very wrong to presume that your su- thinking and data analysis; both would
are inclined towards application of sci-
search internship fairly early, specific pervisor expects an accomplishment of have scope for innovation and creativ-
ence in industry and not so much towards
questions on what to expect from either Herculean proportion from you and feel ity. You’ll be evaluated on your ability
fundamental research. Most industrial
of these choices still rage on. Some of intimidated by the same. In all likeli- to think differently, take independent de-
internships are based in India, the major
us end up taking ‘fundae’ from too many hood, your topic of work will be one cisions and put in hard work while also
recruiters being market leaders such as
seniors and confuse ourselves complete- where three years wouldn’t have suf- gelling well with your colleagues. In
ITC, HLL, P&G, GE, Schlumberger and
ly because frankly speaking, there is no ficiently armed you with a background most cases, candidates fulfilling all these
so on. Many of these come for campus
defined algorithm to go about it. This ar- sufficient to comprehend the intricacies criteria are given Pre-Placement Offers.
placements from August. They first con-
ticle endeavours to give a bird’s eye yet of the project. It is advisable to read up
duct a PPT (Pre-Placement Talk) where Most industrial PTs would require you
holistic view of both the experiences. a little on the subject so as to develop a
they tell you what their company does, to be formal and professional in all as-
basic understanding. My work involved
what they expect from the interns and pects; long-forgotten things like formal
mathematical modeling and opti-
Academic Internship - Kartik what the interns can expect clothes, polished shoes, daily baths and
mal control of met-
from the internship. Based shaves, decent vocabulary, waking up
Though a research internship may as abolic networks
on the profile, core com- early will have to get back into the scene.
well be done in a good Indian institute and their stability
petency and skill sets This sounds scary at first but trust me,
like IISc, there seems to be an unstated analysis. I used to
they are looking for, you’ll start liking it soon; it feels good
convention of applying abroad as the report to my profes-
the companies shortlist to not look like a filthy sleep-deprived
default first option. I have classmates sor twice a week

02
some students who may go animal for once.
who have had an equally rich experi- but my immedi-
through a GD+PI process
ence working in Indian labs as I had in ate instructions were Industrial PTs are definitely not beds
before the final selection.
the USA. So let me assert that there is given to me by a gradu- of roses. New concepts will have to be
no paradigm shift in the value addition ate student of his, whom I was work- I decided to go in for an industrial in- learnt and applied on your own. People
on the student’s merit while comparing ing with. The point I want to drive home ternship simply because I wanted to at work, including your guide, will al-
local and foreign internships. On a more is that there would be an initial gestation experience how working in the indus- ways be too busy to give you time, but
personal level, I was excited with the period in any project where things may try actually feels like. I had heard about you will still be held responsible for
idea of doing an internship in a foreign seem a little incomprehensible; some the corporate world and its various as- your project. In short, you will mostly
place from the perspective of experi- may find the work clerical and monoto- pects from friends, but I wasn’t sure be on your own and will end up learning
ence but had consciously decided to go nous. It is important to be patient and if I wanted to believe all that without more through a series of failures rather
to NCBS, Bangalore in the event that a work your way through. The atmosphere having seen for it myself. I applied and than any sort of guidance or spoonfeed-
good opportunity of my choice did not in most places is very congenial and got into ITC Limited and was placed in ing. But this very attribute of industrial
come through from abroad. At the end, your hosts would go out of their way to their tobacco factory in Bangalore. My PTs is what makes them challenging,
I secured an opportunity to visit Pur- help you settle down. All they expect is project was titled ‘Technology Innova- interesting and an unparalleled learn-
due University as a summer intern. My that you show the sincerity and integrity tion Center Design’. It was a slightly ab- ing experience. You will learn to adopt a
work was to be in an area of “systems from 9 am to 5 pm on something that is stract project that involved preparing a more organized approach to everything.
biology”, which was something I had certainly accessible to the acumen of a conceptual framework for setting up an You will develop a knack for convinc-
learnt a little about while working on my senior undergraduate from an IIT. ideation and innovation center for ITC ing people, thinking logically and cov-
B.Tech seminar. Topic area and interest based on benchmark ideation centers ering up glitches effectively. The overall
The problem of locating the roots of
must clearly be the top parameters while setup by leading companies worldwide. experience can also be amazing fun as
one’s desire to go abroad is a toughie -
choosing an option for the summer. It also involved studying the existing most companies would expose you to a
good recommendation letters, bullet on
setup of ITC, their current capabilities, luxurious lifestyle. Apart from the rec-
The second parameter that decides an the resume or a paid holiday. I would be
future plans and estimating the compo- reational facilities, you can unwind after
applicant’s fate is the availability of utterly unequipped to pass a moral judge-
nents required for the innovation center. work hours with other interns.
funds. Clearly, a three month stay in Eu- ment on this question but experiences
Each intern is given his own project and
rope or USA cannot be sustained with suggest that each of these three can be Many of us make statements about tak-
other interns working there had projects
one’s own money and let me go one step satisfied if one takes a balanced outlook ing up a job after graduation, for what-
involving design of layouts of the manu-
ahead and assert that the opportunity is towards the internship. If one works dili- ever reason. However, almost all of us
facturing setup, studying alternate meth-
really not worth it if you are contemplat- gently on weekdays, weekends can be have no clue what we are talking about
ods for processing tobacco and so on.
ing on paying a substantial amount from used to visit places around. Almost 80% because the experience is completely
These required knowledge of concepts
your own pocket. Fortunately, most of us of students receive an offer for enroll- different from what we have as students
such as manufacturing principles used
applying abroad do get sufficient fund- ment into the PhD program in the same right now. If taken seriously, an indus-
worldwide and their analysis, design of
ing. One would also do well to gather university. From the point of view of a trial internship can give you the perfect
experiments, regression techniques and
information about living cost and travel student who is contemplating on pursu- insight into the corporate world and what
other concepts that we had never heard
expenses from immediate seniors who ing graduate studies, the internship ex- it takes to be successful in it.
of. But worry not, it is generally not ex-
might have been abroad for their sum- perience provides a flavour of cohesive
pected of you to know these concepts (Kartik Shekhar and Sriram Emani are
mers. Once you receive a mail of ac- research. From the point of view of one
beforehand; you can learn them in the fourth year students of the Depts of Chemical
ceptance, it is advisable to apply for visa who is still weighing myriad options, the
initial period of your internship. Engg and Civil Engg respectively.They can
and book tickets immediately to save on experience helps him/her burrow a little
be contaced at kshekhar@iitb.ac.in and
travel expenses. further down the rabbit-hole. Industries and corporate firms generally sriramemani@iitb.ac.in)

(Continued from page 1...) The government’s final decision and plan
helpful in reducing the load on the of action in implementing reservations is
A Quirky fact!
Consider a group of 100 students. According to the existing reservation norms
Powai campus, due to the expected still awaited. Based on the above stated
(15% for SCs and 7.5% for STs) there are 77 students belonging to the general
hike in the number of students.” facts, it is safe to say that the proposed
category- which includes students of both forward and the backward castes. Ow-
reservations ought to be implemented
ing to lack of official data, let us assume the percentage of OBC students at 15%
The Gujarat campus is expected to func- in a phased manner to ensure against
of the total. That gives us 62 general category students, 23 SC/ST students and 15
tion as a full-fledged institute with an diluting the quality of education in our
OBC students.
emphasis on courses specific to the state, nation’s leading universities.
Now, if the reservations are implemented according to the recommendations of
like textile engineering and marine engi- (Siddarth Madhav and Vikranth Audi the Moily oversight committee (27% reservation for OBCs and a 27% hike in
neering. The authorities believe that in a are fourth year undergraduate students the number of general seats, so as not to affect the general category students) that
period of 5-7 years, this satellite campus in the Depts of Electrical Engg and makes a total strength of 154- 42 seats for the OBC, 35 seats for the SC/ST cat-
would cater to the needs of nearly 4000- Civil Engg respectively. They can be egory students and 77 seats for the general category students.
4500 students. contacted at rsmadhav@iitb.ac.in and So, there is in effect, an increase in the number of seats for general category stu-
vikranthaudi@iitb.ac.in) dents!
3 August 22, 2006
http://gymkhana.iitb.ac.in/~insight

Shri Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy


Chairman of the Planning Commis-
Tête-à-tête with students from every community have
access to higher education, so there’s
sion was the Chief Guest at the 44th
Convocation held on August 11, 2006. Montek Singh Ahluwalia obviously something wrong.
Some people argue that reservation
We had a chance to take a peep into abroad. Competition is also pushing cracy. We need to free up the system so is not the best way; even I can think
the mind of one of the key figures in Indian companies to globalize. Many that academics have a greater say. I’m of better solutions. But in our system,
India’s economic reforms from the early young Indians now feel that working at also in favour of increasing the role and constitutionally and otherwise, reserva-
1980s. Here are the excerpts from the home is a lot more positive in terms of freedom of private education, but that tion has been used. So to my mind, the
interview. prospects than working anonymously in itself is not a solution, because most most important issue is how we can
abroad. If I had to choose between keep- private education will come in at the work with reservation in a way that
Q: What role have the IITs played ing IITians in India and sending them upper end of the spectrum. doesn’t compromise on quality. Expan-
in the development of the Indian abroad for 2-3 years, I would choose the sion in the total scale of universities is
economy? Do you feel this has been latter since Indians need to be aware of Q: You have talked about the estab- absolutely essential. The infrastructure
over-hyped? what is happening in the world. lishment of a Knowledge Commission also has to be improved if the intake is
A: The size of the IITs is comparatively The fact that a large number of IITians in 2004. How do you foresee its role in to be increased. According to the Moily
small, so if you take the total numbers went abroad has given us a very wide educational reforms? Committee, this would be possible, but
the contribution is bound to be small. diaspora. Many IITians want to get A: The Knowledge Commission was in a phased manner.
I wouldn’t say, however, that the con- involved in the development process in set up under the guidance of Sam
tribution in terms of quality has been India, not necessarily to make money, Pitroda, himself an IITian and includes Q: These days, many IITians take
small. The but out other eminent IIT alumni like Nandan up jobs which are not technical or
fact is that “If I had to choose between keeping o f a Nilekani. The Government’s intention engineering-related. Do you think
IITs produce IITians in India and sending them abroad genuine in setting up this Commission was the this will have an impact on the tech-
outstanding for 2-3 years, I would choose the latter.” d e s i r e recognition that, as one moves into nological future of India?
young men to help. the knowledge economy, one has to A: Since we’re moving to a knowledge

03
and women - far too many men com- IITians have become the face of the restructure the entire education system. economy, the system should value
pared to women, but hopefully we can professional Indian class. Its contribution will consist of a report, knowledge workers. If knowledge in
correct that! Any institute that becomes aimed at suggesting ways to improve terms of technology is what the system
a brand for quality assurance is support- Q: What are the major obstacles and the Indian education system. demands, it will reflect it in terms of
ing a search for excellence which has challenges the Planning Commission pay. My personal feeling however is
a much wider impact than the numbers has faced in its work in the field of Q: What are your personal thoughts that it’s a pity. We could do with more
show. If you take all these into account, education? on the Reservation issue and its imple- technical inputs in our production
IIT has a very major role. A: Our job, as I see it, is to ask hard mentation? structure. Remaining in the technology
questions and to shake the system out A: In every society there is a certain space can also be socially more valuable
Q: Do you think the ‘brain drain’ of complacency and lethargy – and this momentum, and certain instruments - environmental engineering is just one
phenomenon is as big an issue in is not easy. It is clear that we’re not cannot be established as ways of doing example.
today’s scenario? spending enough money on education. things. We have enshrined reservation as (The interview was conducted by Nis-
A: Today the push to go abroad is much Private sector spending has to increase. one such instrument. I believe that af- hant Patni and Sarmistha Pal and tran-
less than it was earlier. I personally feel However, just pumping in money will firmative action is extremely important. scribed by Vaibhav Devanathan. They
that if we in India run a competitive not deliver the goods; the system defi- The end result after 60 years of indepen- can be contacted at: nishantpatni@iitb.
system, Indians will see that the oppor- nitely needs to be reformed. The Indian dence clearly shows that we do not have ac.in, sarmistha@iitb.ac.in and
tunities in India are no less than those education system is strangled by bureau- an environment in which meritorious vaibhavdevanathan@iitb.ac.in)

“Politics is tougher than Physics”,


once remarked Albert Einstein. “If Politically Incorrect? integrating politics and economics in
his various capacities of responsibility.
you are not part of the solution, you Amrit Jalan & Avtansh Agarwal talk about the latest bug that has bitten Have our current reactions been the
are part of the problem”; this and IITians- national politics. result of a stray occurrence in time or
other similar sounding proverbs and “professional suicide”. In addition The fact that the actions of these four of long drawn expectation and specu-
didactic sayings are generally found to the career issues comes the never- men have been described by some as lation finally coming true? We believe
to decorate the atmosphere of any ending string of parent expectations. foolish, idealistic and publicity seek- it is more of the latter. Over the course
discussion involving the rather debat- Getting out of such a “position” into ing is not surprising in India at least. It of the last few years it had become in-
able topic of students in active poli- one which promises no steady income, is perhaps the saddening fact that some creasingly evident that the entry of the
tics. Post-Rang De Basanti and the drains one both financially and social- people never learn to look beyond their youth in the nation’s politics was inev-
rebellious mindset it left with many ly, and often involves tortuous struggle personal comfort zones that efforts itable. What perhaps was not expected
students, the idea “be a part of the can be daunting to say the least. such as these largely go wasted. Given was the fact that this entry would be
system if you want to change it” has the lean political situation today, mea- initiated by a class of students as plum
gained special significance. With the The experiences of Tanmay Rajpurohit sures such as these may in some sense and as well placed as the IITians. In
emergence of Lok Paritran- the politi- [B.Tech (Aero. Engg), IIT Bombay], be the last ray of hope for the nation. line with the institute’s reputation,
cal party founded by four IITians- and the national president of Lok Pari- IITians would (initially at least) enjoy
its brief stint in Tamil Nadu, it is about tran, bear testimony to the above stat- For some though the IITians’ foray public confidence at large. But this ini-
time the issue got its dues. ed facts. Echoing him is Ajit Shukla into politics marks a breakthrough by tiative could be deemed a successful
[B.Tech (CSE), IIT Kanpur], the vice “Brand IIT” into yet another non-IIT beginning only if it paves the way for
So, what scope does politics hold for president of the party, who states quite domain. As for the common man, the the participation of students from other
an IITian? What possible differences unabashedly that their families too situation is yet to register a notice- disciplines.
can an IITian make to the politics of have failed to understand their motto able change. In an age where votes are
the nation? Such are the questions but that does not deter them from mov- bought in exchange for gifts, it can be If given the proper support, what may
that usually come to mind when con- ing ahead. Shukla also says that it was quite a dilemma for a voter to choose follow has the potential to uproot In-
necting the dark world of politics and his “inner voice” that guided him to between instant gratification and the dian politics from the shaky grounds it
a relatively innocent (?) IITian. We make the choice of investing his ef- promise of a bright future and a politi- has stood on for decades swaying dan-
must bear in mind the fact that given forts in the country rather than filling cal system free of corruption. gerously this way or the other. Who
the status of the IITs in India it’s easy his pockets. knows? By the time the nation turns
for an IITian to stick to the current A more thorough scrutiny though has sixty, reading the letters “IIT” on a pol-
“take degree-get job-earn money” at- Today, society norms dictate that led us to doubt if all the fuss is really itician’s nameplate might not appear as
titude of many an IITian rather than things be viewed “as they occur in re- about IITians entering politics. Af- surprising as it does today.
get into public services such as poli- ality” rather than “what they ought to ter all Indian politics has seen other (Avtansh Agarwal & Amrit Jalan are third
tics. Given the nature of Indian poli- be” and as a result things like “inner IITians. Take the case of Jairam Ra- year students of the Dept of Chemical Engg
tics the action is, at least career wise, voice” and related philosophical ideas mesh who has made a career by tread- and can be contacted at avtansh@iitb.
almost on par with being labeled as carry little meaning and significance. ing in supposedly unknown territory ac.in and amritseemajalan@iitb.ac.in)
August 22, 2006
4
http://gymkhana.iitb.ac.in/~insight

T he few readers who attended the was the fact that a lot of students are course content and adjustment within revive the flagging enthusiasm towards
Open House organized by ‘The reeling under the load of the 6-course the then prevalent program. What will academics but also improve overall
Biswas Committee’ (BC) at the academic performance. Even
LT towards the end of the last
semester will know it created Undergraduate Curriculum Review offering a B.Tech without a
specialization is being looked
a real buzz. The BC is head- Rohit Hippalgaonkar and Ruchir Goswami revisit the need for flexibility and throw some at, though this might be a little
ed by Prof. S. Biswas (CSE) light on the recent developments in the restructure of the UG Curriculum. far-fetched since department
and comprises 11 professors allocation is currently done
across various departments. Like pre- system. Students generally seem to now follow is a formal survey among jointly by all the IITs.
vious committees of its kind (set up prefer a lesser number of courses but the students and faculty in mid-Sep-
every few years, as part of the regular with each course having greater depth, tember and
review process - the last one being the a view endorsed both by Prof. Sudha- by October– Some Early Movers
H. Narayanan Committee (HNC) ’96), kar and Prof. Suryanarayanan. A third November;
it was also convened to review and significant opinion that came from the outlines will Independently, the Mechanical Dept has sent a proposal for Sen-
revise the UG Academic Curriculum. students’ side was that freshmen need be sent to all ate approval to change the B.Tech program asking for, in Prof.
Most of these committees have in the to be properly oriented and informed departments Suryanarayanan’s words, “fewer and more intense courses,
past, ended up making minor adjust- as to what they can expect in their 4-5 to determine labs to be held in parallel with related courses, greater freedom
ments to the course structure, with the year stay at IIT. Many students join- whether the and responsibility to the student in choosing courses, improve-
last major change being the reduction ing the IITs have a completely differ- c h a n g e s ments in lab quality and allowing for electives outside the de-
of the B.Tech program to 4 years from ent image of the institute – for instance p r o p o s e d partment.” The changes proposed for the first year curriculum
a 5-year program as it existed sev- that there will be a great deal of pio- are feasible. have already been accepted by the Senate, with the Department
eral years ago. We spoke to Prof. K. neering research that they will be part From what Introductory Course (2nd semester) having been replaced by a
Sudhakar, HoD Aerospace Engg and of, and other notions that might arise we gather, core thermal course.
Prof. Shashikanth Suryanarayanan of because of the glamour quotient at- the BC is

04
the Dept of Mechanical Engg on the tached with the institutes. The aca- p l a n n i n g Meanwhile, there are departments like Aerospace which intend
impending changes in the institute’s demic experience that they finally go to propose to undergo a major face-lift and are eagerly awaiting the BC
academic arena. According to them, through is a complete mismatch with a g g r e s s i v e report. Besides expressing his concern for decreasing the man-
members of the BC feel that “the time this image and this leads to further dis- changes in datory credit requirement leading to a B.Tech degree, so as to
is right to make substantial changes in appointment and a lack of motivation its report to discourage cramming and laying more stress on fundamentals,
the course structure.” This sentiment is towards academics. Hence the need for the Senate. what Prof. Sudhakar professes is to look into the key ingre-
echoed by and large, by both the stu- a proper introduction to the academic The Senate dients that mould an aerospace engineer. The most interesting
dent community and at least by some curriculum and a clear communication (the all– pre- thing on the anvil here is a course on ‘the conceptualization of a
quarters of the faculty. of what exactly is expected of an en- vailing body new aircraft design’ in collaboration with IDC and Mech.
gineer. Other concerns such as menial that ratifies
Student concerns (and sometimes irrelevant) lab courses, any suggestions made by any insti- For a majority of UG students today,
As was apparent from the Open House, low faculty-student ratio, and repeti- tute-level committee) will then act on putting effort into academics is seen
there is disgruntlement over the rigid- tive courses (especially physics and the BC’s final suggestions, either at its as something that is not necessary,
ity of the B.Tech and DD programs chemistry) in the first year were also next sitting later this semester or early as a result of the excellent placement
among students. For instance, in Aero. voiced by the students present. Note next semester. scene, an exciting extra-curricular cal-
and Mech., there are in all 3 depart- however that the students present at endar, and in some cases, quite simply
ment electives till the end of the 7 th the Open House were not necessarily Potential developments a general apathy. Consequently, faculty
semester, out of which 2 are in the 7th representative of the entire UG student Some of the means being explored commitment and motivation towards
semester itself. For a B.Tech student community. to solve the above problems include UGs has also been adversely affected.
who wants to apply abroad for higher giving students the option of a minor, Giving a more hands-on experience to
studies, only the first 6 semesters mat- Promising signals floating inter-disciplinary courses and students might assuage this problem to
ter, during which there might not even What is encouraging is that members also introducing ‘general engineering’ an extent; yet it will remain a stern test
be one elective in his field of interest. of the BC agree with almost all the type courses in the first year – statistics, of the effectiveness of the BC’s even-
Such a curriculum leaves the student above points, and more. Their mandate data interpretation, experiment design tual model.
at a definite disadvantage as compared is to come up with a revised overall and such courses which every engineer
to students outside who have more model for the UG programs, and thus should ideally be exposed to. Members (Rohit and Ruchir are fourth year stu-
choices before applying. One can only the power vested in the committee also on the BC do think that giving the stu- dents of the departments of Mechani-
ponder about the rationale behind hav- is far greater than previous commit- dent more overall academic responsi- cal and Aerospace Engg respectively.
ing so many core courses. tees. The HNC for instance, was only bility, i.e. the right to plan his entire ac- They can be contacted at rohith@iitb.
Also forthcoming from the Open House asked to make suggestions regarding ademic curriculum, will not only help ac.in and goswamiruchir@iitb.ac.in)

JUST LIKE THAT...


5 August 22, 2006
http://gymkhana.iitb.ac.in/~insight
“We suspect an unauthorized transac- So, you have no cause for complaint bottom left of the screen shows the real for personal information.
tion on your account.” and you enter your username and pass- Web site address to which you will go. 3. Use anti-virus software and a fire-
“To ensure that your account is not word. But what actually happened is The link does NOT point to the legiti- wall - some phishing emails contain
compromised, please click the link that the link you clicked on took you mate website. software that can harm your computer

Avoid Getting‘Phished’
below and confirm your or keep a track of your
identity.” web history without your
“During our regular veri- knowledge.
fication of accounts, we couldn’t Saurabh Das describes what Phishing is and how it can be avoided. 4. Don’t email personal or
verify your information.” financial information - email
“Please click here to update and verify to some other website which looks like Remember that a legitimate company is not a secure method of communica-
your information.” the front page of gpo. And now, since will never ask you to verify your de- tion.
you entered your password, the scam- tails in such a manner via email. So, 5. Be cautious of opening any at-

H ave you ever recieved such an mer (whichever one of your friends it if you ever do recieve such mails, be tachment or downloading files from
email? It’s an attempt to extract is) knows your password!
your personal information, like credit
suspicious of it immediately. emails.
Did You Know...
card numbers, bank account informa- So then: Who is behind this? The word ‘phishing’ comes from the
tion, passwords and other important How do you spot a Phish- The people behind phish- analogy that Internet scammers are us-
or sensitive information. That’s what ing attempt? ing scams are scam artists. ing e-mail lures to fish for passwords
‘Phishing’ is - a form of criminal ac- 1. The “From Field” ap- They send out millions of and financial data from the sea of In-
tivity on the internet, and it’s becom- pears to be from the legiti- such emails in the hope ternet users. The term was coined in
ing ever more popular as the number mate company mentioned that a few will fall for it and 1996 by hackers who were stealing
of naive people who have access to the in the e-mail. It is important t o provide their personal information. AOL Internet accounts by scamming
internet increases. We’ll tell you how note, however, that it is very simple to Anyone with an email address can be passwords from unsuspecting AOL us-
to Spot such an attempt and how to change the “from” information in any phished. Any email address that has ers. Since hackers have a tendency to

05
stay safe. e-mail client. While we’re not going been made public (like posting in pub- replacing “f” with “ph” the term phish-
Most methods of phishing use some to tell you how, rest assured it can be lic forums, newsgroups or websites) ing was derived!
form of technical deception designed done in a matter of seconds! are more susceptible to phishing as this
to make a link in an email appear as if 2. The e-mail will usually contain lo- email address can be saved by spiders
it is authentic. For instance, the From gos or images that have been taken that comb the web and save as many Now, don’t get scared and refuse to use
field of the email may say “help@gpo. from the Web site of the company email addresses as they can. email because you are afraid of phish-
iitb.ac.in”. And it’ll ask you to click mentioned in the scam e-mail. ing scams! Just be careful. Keep the
on a link. But remember that it’s very 3. The e-mail will contain a clickable How can I avoid getting phished? above in mind and you should be safe
easy to fake the “From” address. link with text suggesting you use the 1. The golden rule is: Never click on from such scams.
When you click on the link, it will take inserted link to validate your informa- links within the body of unknown
(Saurabh Das is a fourth year undergradu-
you to a page that looks exactly like a tion. In the image you will see that email messages.
ate student of the Physics Dept and can be
page you’ve visited a thousand times. once the hyperlink is highlighted, the 2. Never reply to an email which asks
contacted at sdonline@iitb.ac.in)

W e all know the drill. It’s the end


of the semester. You’re waiting
for the final round of sleep, umm lec-
On Course? take the process seriously and makes
the process more interactive and pro-
ductive.
ture to end, when another prof walks Pranav and Rajlakshmi analyse the current Course
in with a bundle of course evaluation Some professors we spoke to also be-
forms. Yaay, the lecture ended five
Evaluation structure and suggest improvements. lieve that rather than a course evalu-
mins early! ambiguous. There are many questions their courses and teaching methods, ation at the end of the course, a more
which can be interpreted in different perhaps it is time we formalised this useful evaluation would be one carried
While I’m sure not everyone takes ways. Some of the questions are either procedure. A good example of this out during the semester itself. While
course evaluation this seriously, one overlapping or plain redundant. Sec- is the procedure in place at the Mas- some do actually carry this out on a
must admit that course evaluation at ondly, the manner in which the forms sachusetts Institute of Technology regular basis, by just talking to stu-
times becomes a lackadaisical affair, are filled out isn’t very conducive to an (MIT). A comprehensive voluntary dents, this process could be formalised
with both students and professors feel- objective evaluation. To pass judge- course evaluation is carried out with by making an online form available.
ing, and not wrongly, that the other par- ment on an entire course in the space all aspects of the course including TAs This form could be issued at any time,
ty isn’t taking matters too seriously. of 10 minutes isn’t an easy task, and being examined. Interested students and for any number of times during the
sometimes leads to students either tick- fill up this form, and while the num- semester, and should be modified by
Let’s look at the procedure as it stands ing options based on personal opinions ber may be around 30 students from a the professor with respect to the spe-
today. A printed form is handed out to about the professor or just filling in class of 110, at least one is sure of the cific course. This would translate into
students, usually 10 to 15 minutes be- the same options as their neighbours. seriousness of the answers. After this, immediate short-term benefits for the
fore the end of a lecture. This form con- While some students do fill in the one responsible student takes it upon students of the course, and a general
sists of many objective questions about forms diligently, every once in a while himself/herself to compile all the data improvement of the overall learning
teaching style, material, course etc., one comes across a student who gets and then submits a report that covers process.
with options ranging from ‘Strongly extremely nasty in the personal com- all aspects of the course, both good
Agree’ to ‘Strongly Disagree’. There ments section, leaving the professor and bad. More importantly, this infor- A course evaluation thus is a very im-
is a small space left at the end of the annoyed to say the least. mation is made available to both the portant and vital part of the teaching
form for students to fill in their per- students and the concerned professor. process, as it aids both current and
sonal comments. These forms are tak- Further, many students feel that the This is especially useful to students future students. As a parting note, per-
en to the Academic Office, where all process is not transparent enough. No choosing their courses for the coming haps it is time that students took mat-
the data is compiled and a score is as- one is quite sure how seriously the semester, as they are then able to make ters more seriously by compiling their
signed based on the options chosen by comments are taken, and the procedure a judgement based on the previous own reports and submitting them to
the students. Personal comments are is such that the onus lies entirely on evaluation. their professors. Learning is after all a
stored as well. After the course is com- the professors to take note of criticism two-way process; it is only when one
plete, with exams, grading et al., the and act on it. Perhaps the system is too While this may seem unfair to profes- side opens up that the other can truly
score is sent to individual professors. negative, with fault-finding rather than sors who face genuine problems whilst gain anything.
In the case that the score is alarmingly any positive feedback reaching either teaching, it also puts pressure on them
low or below a certain cut off, an alarm side, or perhaps we have a tendency to to review their performance on a more (Pranav Chowdhary is an alumnus of the
is sent to the Dean AP and the Director, be too subjective. regular basis. The main point of this batch of 2006, Dept of Chemical Engg.
who take further constructive action. form of evaluation is a self-moderation Rajlakshmi Purkayastha is a third year un-
It’s high time this procedure is up- by students, which helps eliminate the dergraduate student of the Dept of MEMS.
They can be contacted at pranav@gmail.
The problems with such a system are dated. With some professors relying rogue elements that sometimes hamper
com and rajlakshmi@iitb.ac.in)
manifold. Firstly, the form itself is on feedback from students to improve the process. It ensures that both groups
August 22, 2006
6
http://gymkhana.iitb.ac.in/~insight

Orkut – The New Obsession


of the idle mind. What began as a per- Second law of humandynamics- the total
fectly productive venture by and by got amount of idleness in the universe only
reduced to a mere mockery of its found- increases!
You stay here? Then you know what a network of trusted friends. We are ing principles - a propaganda spreading
(Tannishtha Sanyal is a third year student
Orkut (Ongoing Rage: (S)krap Uttering committed to providing an online meet- ground, a random picking up joint!
of the Dept of Aerospace Engg. She can be
Terrain) is, maybe even have blogged ing place where people can socialize, contacted at tannishtha@iitb.ac.in)
about it some rainy afternoon some hours make new acquaintances and find others
before your XY230 midsem. Also you who share their interests. Making connections where none previously existed!
know what a blog (Big Logs Of Gibber- Join orkut to expand the circumference
ish/Gyan) is, perhaps have even referred of your social circle.” Trust the math geeks to find an ‘intriguing problem’ in the most unlikely of places.
to it in your 400th scrap to some chap you Somewhere something went terribly What could possibly be mathematically intriguing in “Orkut”? Read on.
believe is a mathematician in Nebraska wrong. The trusted friends turn out to be 1. A graph is a set of vertices connected together by paths.
who you knew in your 6th standard. If people you want to disown. Ain’t it fun 2. Every user of Orkut is a vertex.
you also know what Xorpia, Hi-5, Yahoo when your scrap book becomes a chat 3. Every friend of yours (assuming you are a user) is joined to you by a path.
360 and blah-di-dah are and understand board; you’re forced to be in the friends 4. While visiting a profile, it shows you a link between you and the new person as a
them, then boy do you really need to get list of owners of embarrassing commu- chain of intermediate friends.
out of your room more and see the real nities related to things like pigeon poo; Conclusion: Orkut can be modelled as a graph.
world, its quite pretty. Especially when you’re unknowingly connected to peo-
it rains, there are bathed trees looking ple who join communities like ‘I love Connected nature: Since Orkut is an invite-only feature, it implies that if there was
lush and heavenly, little froggies, gentle my husband’; the little box on the top only one user to begin with, every user should be linked to every other user. But if
breeze and different aromas ... ahem, but right has friends who due to a sudden you navigate through Orkut clicking on profiles of random people, you will notice
I digress. I was talking about the various loss of mind decide to call themselves that for some, a connection is not shown. This can mean two things,
causes of digression in our lives. ‘go Czech go’ (I mean while Germany, a. You have reached a fully unconnected subgraph, which in turn implies that there
The fact that you are hooked to Orkut is Brazil, England exist, why Czech?!). was more than one user to begin with.
because you can’t help being human. You get reunited with some folks you b. The link that existed between your subgraph and the new one must have been bro-

06
- People love talking about themselves. never thought you would come across ken when a user deleted his/her account and the subgraphs once connected became
- People love knowing other people. again (actually this is an advantage). separate.
- People love a good digression every Socializing takes on a whole new dimen- Dense nature: A graph with a large number of paths as compared to vertices is
now and then. sion and pick up lines undergo redefini- called dense. Some claim that orkut is a very very dense graph. The evidence is
Now a certain Mr. Orkut Buyukkokten, tion. “Will you do frandship with me?” in the fact that if you try clicking on random profiles, it would be difficult to reach
a Google software engineer, for some “Hey there…nice pic. Never knew there someone who is separated from you by more than 5 friends in between. The maxi-
reason didn’t really like the devil very were pretty gals in IIT...would’ve strived mum reported is 7 provided a link exists. Compare this to the number of registered
much (notice how the colour of the site harder to get in” “Hi..felt like adding u, users currently showing - 25,050,669. Even with these many nodes, one doesn’t find
is an angelic blue) plus he had read in but the no. of ur frens makes me sad”). a chain longer than 7!
some blog that man is a social animal. You succumb to temptation and before Some open questions:
So he said to himself “How the devil do you know it you graduate from playing - How many cycles of length ‘n’ are there per 100 people?
I displace the devil from idle minds and peeping tom to online stalker who has to - Do chains of length greater than 7 really not exist?
make money while at it? Hmm, I won- Orkut an hour before an 8-credit endsem - How does Orkut decide what chain to show if there are more than 1 possible?
der. How about I bring all the idle minds with 70% weightage.
Crazy you think?
together and they can figure it out?” A brilliant concept to begin with, but
And Orkut was born. “Orkut is an online what the guy with the weird name didn’t
- Fundae by Vivek Upadhyay (vivek_u@iitb.ac.in)
community that connects people through take into account was the strange ways

Questech Tic-Tac-Toe?
Two players take turns choosing one number at a time (without replacement)
from the set {-4, -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4}. The first player to obtain three numbers
Dots and Circle (out of three, four, or five) which sum to 0 wins.
You are given 5 dots arranged on a circle, and told to draw segments between Does either player have a forced win?
pairs of the points to connect all the dots. It is always possible to do this with Hint: The title has something to do with the solution!
4 segments. However, suppose you are required to use 5 segments, that is, the
dots should not all be connected until you draw your fifth segment. For instance,
Star Sudoku
if the dots are numbered 1,2,3,4,5, one way to do this is to draw the following
This is a new sudoku where you have to arrange the numbers 1-9 in each bold
sequence of segments: 12, 34, 24, 13, 35. Another sequence would be 34, 13,
triangle such that each of the diagonals also has the numbers 1-9 exactly once.
12, 24, 35; it uses the same segments but in a different order. (But careful: some
(A diagonal is a set of adjoining triangles, as shown by the gray lines in the
other orders of these 5 segments don’t count; why not?). Another sequence, us-
figure. Note that there are 3 such directions, 4 diagonals in each direction. The
ing some different edges, is 23, 24, 25, 34, 15. Note that you may not draw the
diagonals of only one direction are shown.)
same segment twice. In other words, 12, 23, 23, 34, 45 uses only 4 segments, not
5. How many sequences are there which take 5 segments to connect all 5 dots?

Five men, a monkey, and some coconuts


Five men crash-land their airplane on a deserted island in the South Pacific. On
their first day they gather as many coconuts as they can find into one big pile.
They decide that, since it is getting dark, they will wait until the next day to di-
vide the coconuts.

That night each man took a turn watching for rescue searchers while the others
slept. The first watcher got bored so he decided to divide the coconuts into five
equal piles. When he did this, he found he had one remaining coconut. He gave
this coconut to a monkey, took one of the piles, and hid it for himself. Then he
jumbled up the four other piles into one big pile again.

To cut a long story short, each of the five men ended up doing exactly the same
thing. They each divided the coconuts into five equal piles and had one extra Please mail your suggestions, cribs and/or solutions to onkardalal@iitb.ac.in
coconut left over, which they gave to the monkey. They each took one of the five and/or shweta@iitb.ac.in. You may also drop your solutions with the tech-secys
piles and hid those coconuts. They each came back and jumbled up the remain- of your hostel. Please mention your email id and the time and date of completing
ing four piles into one big pile. the solution on the handwritten solutions. The early bird gets a treat at Coffee
What is the smallest number of coconuts there could have been in the original Shack :)
pile?
7 August 22, 2006

If you ever tried are cautious. No


doing a Charles inversion has oc-
Lindbergh, with curred in about
an old 1920’s air- 780,000 years,
generated in the outer core, powered by netic field over millions of years. They
craft and a magnetic compass in your while paleomagnetic studies indicate
the Coriolis forces of earth’s rotation, have figured out that one of these in-
hand, travelling eastwards, where that in the past 10 million years, in-
which generate our magnetic field. If versions had taken place roughly at the
would you end up? Unlike Lind- versions have happened about every
you put down the Navier Stokes and same time when dinosaurs had become
bergh who landed in Paris, you’ll 200,000 years. Scientists believe that
Maxwell’s equations that govern this extinct. Hence parallel to the meteorite
have to be content with the sound in a way our current era is unusually
process, you will end up realising the theory, a hypothesis involving these
of bagpipes in Scotland. The rea- stable, and an inversion would by no
Pop Sci

fact that this field is bound to flip and inversions to account for the extinction
son behind this is the simple, well- means be strange.
do lots of other crazy of dinosaurs has been floating around
known fact that the earth’s mag-
things. in life science circles. It is be- The magnetic field of earth also per-
netic and geographic axes do not
lieved, though not proved, that forms the important function of shield-
coincide. But have you ever won- Simulation tells
all living cells need the stimu- ing our planet from space radiation and
dered about this mysterious angle you that there
lation of a magnetic field to solar storms. You never know what
between the earth’s geographic have been and
perform their functions. As cosmic dangers we may be exposed to,
and magnetic axes? The fact of the there will be
already mentioned, the if our natural armour was to weaken.
matter is that this angle is increasing times when the
strength of the magnetic Further, we cannot restrict ourselves
ever so steadily, at an average rate of earth will have
field can dwindle by to the analysis of only the earth’s mag-
about 0.2 degrees/year. What’s more several North and
a factor as high netic field. This is a universal phe-
precarious though, as we shall realise South Poles simul-
as 10 dur- nomenon, originating from the laws
in a short while, is the fact that accom- taneously. At the current
ing an in- of physics. Such inversions have also
panying this shift in direction is a sig- rate, the North Pole might exit North
version. been observed in Mars, Venus and most
nificant attenuation in its magnitude. America and reach Siberia in just a
Could prominently in the sun, where some

07
few decades. And if your children are
Before we delve into the relevance of this be the of the inversions have been separated
fortunate enough, they may even have
this phenomenon, let us try and under- cause for their by a time gap of only 11 years. Scien-
the opportunity of enjoying the sights
stand the mechanism behind this ap- extinc- tion? tists in several laboratories around the
of the Northern Lights (the aurorae) in
parently insignificant magnetic field of world are trying to mimic earth’s outer
southern Asia. If the attenuation of the magnetic field
ours. At the heart of our planet lies a core by spinning molten iron at 6000
can cause the demise of dinosaurs,
solid iron ball, about as hot as the sur- Moving onto the more serious aspects Kelvin and observing its effects. This
why would humanity be spared if there
face of the sun, called the inner core, of this, scientists associated with the phenomenon is certainly calling out
were to be an inversion somewhere in
spinning at about 0.2 degrees of longi- field of paleomagnetism have come for more awareness and attention from
the near future? This leaves us with the
tude faster than the earth above it. Sur- up with some interesting observations. the scientific community.
pivotal question: When will the next
rounding this is a deep ocean of mol- These scientists study the magnetic
inversion occur? This is by no means (Ashish Goel is a sophomore of the
ten iron called the outer core. There are stripes around mid-ocean ridges that Physics Dept and can be contacted at
a straight-forward question. Scientists
whirlpools and convectional currents reveal the history of the earth’s mag- ashishgoel@iitb.ac.in)

Unnati - more than just an organiza-


tion Unnati - A Consciousness ship would emerge from within the
members of Unnati itself. Besides this,
According to the formal description tor of IIT Bombay. Prof. V.M. Gadre thus help in its further growth. How- there would be no other student body.
accepted by the 1st Advisory Commit- (Electrical Engg) and Prof. Prasanna ever, when the idea was discussed with Additionally, Unnati would like to in-
tee Meeting of the National Service Gandhi (Mechanical Engg) became the Coordinators, NSS, they stepped in vite all those who would like to vol-
Scheme (NSS), “Unnati” is the name the first Coordinators, NSS. There was to stall the entire election process. unteer for any kind of help and later
given to a collective consciousness in no hierarchy as far as the student teams recognize the efforts of such people
Prof. Gadre explains that Unnati was
the student community, to extend the were concerned. There were indepen- too. Currently, the TSC consists of 7
never meant to be people-centric and
philosophy of the National Service dent teams to look after the interaction members, one or two each from GRA,
that it was against the philosophy of
Scheme to the entire student com- between NSS and other bodies as well Vidya, CTARA and so on.
Unnati to force a hierarchy. He agreed
munity - and to encourage activities as for other reasons:
with the motive behind wanting to Future aims and plans of expansion
aimed at social welfare and consequent 1. Team for joint help activities of NSS
make it an IB but he stresses on the fact Prof. K. Narayanan (HSS Dept), who
personal growth to flourish. Unnati and Vidya
that in the case of Unnati, the hierar- took over from Prof. Gadre as Coor-
(meaning progress) emphasizes the 2. Team for special educational pro-
chy should be built bottoms up, allow- dinator, NSS in June 2006, describes
idea that personal progress and social grammes between NSS and Vidya
ing Unnati to grow in the process. As a Unnati to be an umbrella organization
progress are related. 3. Team for NSS-Vidya Sanganak Ken-
result, the Faculty Advisor Committee to tie all the social activities together.
dra for computer literacy programmes
Unnati primarily focuses on the prop- was convened and the committee came He looks upon Unnati as a medium, an
4. Student Mentor Programme
er coordination between NSS and all up with a definite structure to meet all opportunity for people to gain personal
5. Team for GRA-NSS joint activities
the independent socially active bodies the goals while retaining “work” as satisfaction through social work. He is
6. Team for Navchetna Shivirs and
functioning inside IIT, like the Group the prime focus. The committee too glad of the fact that Unnati is a very
youth programmes for a myriad of ac-
for Rural Activities (GRA), Centre for believed that some positions of leader- open organization where volunteers
tivities like meditation camps, dona-
Technological Alternatives for Rural ship and responsibility were needed. It can get through to anyone without
tion of old clothes etc.
Areas (CTARA), Vidya, Navchetna was decided to form a Team of Student talking to lots of people.
7. Publicity/Marketing/Interface/Or-
Shivirs and Vidya Sanganak Kendra. Coordinators (or the TSC) within the
ganizational Team for organizing func- The professors extend a warm invita-
following constraints:
It brings together all these bodies un- tions, workshops etc. tion to the entire student body of the
1. The students constituting the TSC
der one banner. Besides this, Unnati All these teams directly reported to would be chosen by the members of institute to devote any time they can to
aims to encourage and recognize the the Coordinators, NSS and thus to the the FAC, from amongst those who any form of social work. Unnati adds a
participation of students in NS101 and Dean, SA and Dean, AA. The founders have significantly contributed to one new dimension to student activities and
NS102 as well as the joint activities of always wanted to maintain a minimal or more of the various teams listed should be a part of a student’s profile.
NSS and all the other aforementioned amount of hierarchy in the structure so above. If you go to the MB in the evenings
bodies. It also encourages the personal as not to dilute the aim of Unnati. 2. The size of the TSC should not ex- and see children being taught, you will
development of students through meth- During the last general elections in the ceed 10 members. be touched for sure. You don’t need a
ods like Yoga, meditation, Pranayama institute, the election officers planned 3. Its composition and size should be Bombay blast to make people come
etc. Thus, it developed as an activ- to make Unnati an Independent Body based on dynamic need and subject to out and help others.
ity conglomerate aimed at the greater (along the lines of MI, TF etc.) and review by the FAC year to year. (Gautam Salhotra is a second year student
good. thus make it open to elections to de- 4. Its members would be given due ap- of the Mech. Dept while Vivek Upadhyay is
Growth of Unnati over the years cide the student heads. This was done preciation at the end of the year. a third year student of the CSE Dept. They
The foundations of Unnati were laid in purely with the belief that it would fur- can be contacted at gautam.salhotra@iitb.
Thus, a form of hierarchy and leader- ac.in and vivek_u@iitb.ac.in)
2004 with the full support of the Direc- ther increase the stature of Unnati and
August 22, 2006
8
http://gymkhana.iitb.ac.in/~insight
quota hike, the as-
DISCLAIMER: All pirants could barely
statements in quotes make any sense
have been honestly of the Government
and directly repro- move. Reserved can-
duced from a survey Aakash, Abhinav and Tarun try to find out the aspirations of the new entrants of the insti. didates, when asked,
conducted by IIT too believed it to be
Bombay Sophomores, interviewing disdainful “nerds”. Seemingly highly football. The “All-round development” “an injustice to the general category
scores of JEE ‘06 aspirants, giving the academically oriented, a vast chunk of programmes in IIT are craved at par aspirants”, although they did acknowl-
exam at the on-campus centre in April aspirants have righteously sidelined a with the B.Tech and Dual Degree Pro- edge that they would “benefit a great
‘06, as well as some of their parents. major fraction of their daily hour allow- grammes. An interesting observation deal” from the move. One sagacious
ance, as is evident from the graphic was that girls, when juxtaposed with parent remarked, “The reservation is-
Amidst some lost, some still search- adjoining. They also have telling facts boys were numerically far more inter- sue is like a Banyan tree. Nothing can
ing anxious human facades, waiting on their tips about the faculty on cam- ested in extra-curricular activities. grow underneath it. Nothing progres-
to give the examination of their lives, pus, of them being “Highly qualified sive can be achieved from its roots.
we tread on a walk engulfed with nos- from abroad and actively participat- Other factors that attract aspirants to- And it keeps on growing incessantly
talgia, with a we’ve-been-through-this by itself”. There were also suggestions
gleam on ours. “Engineering” a survey of “Creating separate institutions for
of JEE aspirants is not, by the way, a reserved category students” as well as
difficult task. Their eager, rehearsed “Introducing appeasements at primary
and sometimes nearly recorded replies or schooling level, but not with respect
reminded us of the trains of thought we to higher technical education.”
got off from, moments before becom-
ing a part of this wonderful Institute of Last week, we interviewed the fresh-
ours. men on their first impressions of the
institute and the activities that they
What evidently directed their aspira- plan on pursuing in their first year (see
tions, as the eager young minds of to- graphic).

08
morrow, was the neon-lit “brand name”
A majority of freshmen, who had in-
IIT has to offer. They even have their Post-IIT aspirations of freshmen tended to bring in personal computers
fundamentals in place. “Placements,
have decided against it, on realizing
reputation abroad and how its alumni ing in research.” Adding to that, “They wards IIT include the “independence”
that they wouldn’t be allowed access
shape the world” being valid argu- are among the best professors of the here, owing to the all-students-on-
to the institute network. Keeping in
ments in favour. However, the Indian world.” campus policy; the “sprawling cam- mind how many students actually pro-
mentality hasn’t changed much over pus”, heaven as a to-be haven; and cure one, branch change or “BC” is
the decades of educational reform in What is sad for us to note, however, the location, being “in one of the most
surprisingly right up there among the
the country. The common perception is that hardly any of them had actually happening cities”, with lots to offer out-
freshly understood popular IIT termi-
side the campus as well. nology. But of course, after joining the
Activities of freshmen other than academics institute, once the apprehensions and
As for their aspirations post-engineer- uncertainties are passe, their opinions
ing, the myth that most IITians aspire are bound to change. As ours did.
for an MBA degree rather than further
technical or scientific studies has been (Abhinav Mohan and Kumar Aakash
verified yet again. With regard to the are sophomores of the Dept of MEMS
graphic shown, CAT and MBA degrees and Tarun Mathur is a sophomore of
the Mech. Dept. They can be contacted
from abroad take the cake when it
at abhinavmohan@iitb.ac.in, kumar_
comes to what goes on in freshmen aakash@iitb.ac.in & mathur.tarun@iitb.
minds as regards postgraduate degree ac.in)
options. A minority, though, has firm
grips on higher degrees from abroad
topping it up with research in their fa-
vourite scientific arenas. A comparably SHOUTBACK
small section aspires for entrepreneur- We NEED Feedback. Help us
of engineering and medicine being the visited the IIT Bombay website to find ship and start-ups from campus. In- improve, the way you want us to.
core professions still very much exists. out what all does happen on campus, terestingly, not one has set sights on Email: insight@iitb.ac.in
IIT being “undoubtedly the best engi- outside of academics. Those who had teaching as a profession. As and if the
neering institute in the country” attracts knowledge of the cultural and sports dreadful event of not qualifying arises, Newsgroup: iitb.insight
a sea of big-buck-aspirants. backgrounds of the institute, had however, hardly any believe forsak- Web: http://gymkhana.iitb.ac.in/~insight
other opinions, of course. A surpris- ing another college to prepare for JEE
And what’s to say about what they
InsIghT team
ingly large, as always, section of the again, even if it were allowed, to be a
think IIT is like. Alas, we are termed so-called “cream of the nation” was viable option.
a distinctive, apparently concise and genuinely interested in as varied inter-
a l l - encompassing and even mildly ests as classical dance, to debating, to Unanimous against the reservation Chief Editor
Krishna Ramkumar

Chief Executive Editor


12.30: Coffee Shack It was no match for Mumbai. There’s Nishant Patni
nothing like Mumbai city during Gan-
Deepti and Rutika go be- THE EXECUTION PANEL
so people used to flock here all the pati!
hind the scenes to uncover Abhinav Dhall, Abhinav Mohan,
time. In fact, during Mood Indigo, we
Amrit Jalan, Ankoor Das, Arunabh
the story of the man-in-charge, used to be open 24/7! Q: Any interesting incidents you re-
Sinha, Ashish Goel, Ashwin Raviku-
Mr. Vijay. member?
mar, Avtansh Agarwal, Devasheesh
Q: Has Shack always been a regular A: During the ‘93 bomb blasts, there
Mathur, G. Deepti, Gautam Salhotra,
Q: How long have you been working venue for ‘meetings’? was a bomb alert right outside Main
Gurveen Bedi, Kartik Shekhar,
at Coffee Shack? A: Yes yes. In fact earlier, there were Gate and we had to evacuate! And
Kumar Aakash, Nikhil Jha, Nithya
A: I’ve been here ever since it started lectures held here almost every Sat- of course during the July 26th rains
Subramanian, Onkar Dalal, Palak
18 years ago when I had joined as a urday. It used to be a lively discus- last year, I had to walk through waist
Ambwani, Pallav Singh, Parasvil
helper at the counter. Back then, we sion between the profs and their high water to Ghatkopar like many
Patel, Rajlakshmi Purkayastha, Robin
sold Maggi for 2 Rs and coffee for 1! students, followed by a coffee treat others.
Sharma, Rohit Hippalgaonkar, Ruchir
sponsored by the prof!
Goswami, Rutika Muchhala, Rylan
Q: Was Shack as crowded when it Q: Any plans for expansion for the
Henriques, Sarmistha Pal, Saurabh
started as it is today? Q: Would you ever consider leaving Shack?
Das, Shouri Kamatala, Shweta Shah,
A: Definitely, if not more. Back then, the city or switching jobs? A: We have already submitted an ap-
Siddarth Madhav, Sriram Emani,
we had 80 chairs and 15 tables as A: No way! A few years back, I went plication for the expansion of shack.
Srivathsan B., Tannishtha Sanyal,
against 30 and 6 now. There were to work in Abu Dhabi for 2 years but Once it is approved, we intend to add
Vaibhav Devanathan, Vikranth Audi,
no hostel canteens in those days, that experiment ended soon enough. sandwiches and colas to the menu!
Vivek Upadhyay

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