IIT. Big thing? Yes. No.

So I am finally getting in the prestigious, excellent, heavenly, "add another awesome adjective here" IIT-Bombay. And I got science too, those teenage dreams of studying science seem to be coming true too. Maybe there's a shift of interests from Physics to Chemistry, but then I've seen many mighty warriors pwned by those quantum mechanical mumbo-jumbo which, dreadfully so, makes them realize that pure Physics is not just Mechanics and basic Thermodynamics. In that sense, Chemistry seems a lot safer for me; it is evident by the fact that I opted for chemistry when I could have got pure Physics anywhere.

Yeah so, am I feeling heavenly? Not really. Not at all, actually. It's been three long years since I dreamed of getting through JEE. Not aware of the reality then, IIT seemed something out-of-the-world, where over-intelligent alienated humans prevailed and ruled over the less-fortunate engineering junta in other institutions. Now, it really feels like just-another-college. Okay, maybe a lot better than just-another-college, but surely nothing close to being heavenly.

Face it people, IIT is not a big thing today. I mean, anyone taking as obscure a branch as architecture in as obscure a place as Kharagpur has the "privilege" of being called an IITian. So what's the big deal? There are a few odd thousands of students in colleges like BITS and IIIT-Hyderabad better than those 5-6-7000 rankers in IITs.

And it's not only about the low rankers; thankfully because of the awesome Kota system, dickheads who know nothing about the environment around them, who've spent more than two years of their life in those dingy classrooms cramming up stuff, get a good rank and a good branch. What's their aim in life? Ek baar IIT mein ghus jaao yaar, fir to masti hi karni hai. Balls. You bastard, IIT does not want people who think JEE is an end. JEE is just a beginning. But hardly does anyone realize it. And those school-education-impaired teachers who teach them in coaching classes don't help anyone either. I mean, how can you just give away two years of your school life! And that too two crucial years of 11th and 12th, when your brain actually learns the most about the world around!

A decade ago, yes, IIT was actually a heavenly place to be. People did cram and get in in those times too, but the percentage was not as much as it has become now. And ofcourse there were a lot lesser seats, precisely half of what is now. And the subjective pattern did test a lot more of inherent intelligence than the current objctive pattern. Today, more than half of the students in IITs are from those Kota classrooms! And the rest aren't great either. Cool people from Bombay-Delhi and other big cities rule too. Late night booze parties and other high-society-city-life stuff are happily introduced by them, and getting drunk is no longer a wrong this to do. Dad's having loads of cash, son/daughter in an IIT. Nothing to worry about in the world. Others can go get a life.

There is the third category too, consisting of genuinely intelligent students. Most of the Bhilai students are like that, I feel. Monseigneur Shashank S. Dwivedi being the prime example. That's why I used to think, when in 11th, that most people in IITs are like our Bhilai heroes. Alas, I now realize that they actually are in a very insignificant minority. But still, the condition in IITB is a lot better than places like Kgp and Roorkee, which needless to say are pathetic places to be, from the "intellectual" quality of students and prevalent college culture point of view, however good their infrastructure and faculty might be.

But enough said and done, IITB is still the best tech college in the country. Period. So bas aage aage dekho, hota hai kya. Just hoping for the best. :)