Raising an Objection

So, there has been a quite an uproar over Palash Sen’s comments at Mood-I. Though I feel the situation was blown greatly out of proportion and I feel there should be ample tolerance for humor, it certainly raised an important issue of the targeted misbehavior towards the minority sex at IITs. Although most of my judgments are based on my experience at the Kanpur campus, I know for sure, such prejudice exists at other campuses too.

What I have observed over past three years is that an abnormally high percentage of boys don’t really understand the existence of a thin line between profanity and vulgarity. I am well aware of the fact that this phenomenon is a part and parcel of any existing social fabric but the proportion of such elements in IITs is concerning ( I, by any means, do not imply that most of boys fall in this category. They form a negligible percentage indeed. What I am focusing is on the comparison of negligibles.)  Coming back to point, using profanities against girls in private is somewhat acceptable but inciting a mob of over 200 juniors to publicly shower choicest indecent remarks on girls over petty things such as inter-hall competitions and ‘honor’ of one’s hall is ridiculous.

Another aspect that disturbs me is how extreme objectification of women openly in a co-ed institution is very well acceptable. The tradition of a particular dance form and the tone during GBMs are vivid examples.

I realize I might sound as a feminist but all I am trying to point out we guys should exhibit a certain level of respect and decency towards girls in campus (on a similar note to our behavior outside campus.) In fact, from my experience, certain girls from campus can be way cooler and fun than those outside campus. Just senselessly branding them is something I wish we can avoid.

Things I learnt as a summer intern

I was always under the expectation that my internship would be a fabulous experience. In fact, it was supposed to be a part of my eventful post-sophomore summer. Partly, it was because of rosy internships a couple of friends had in the preceding winter. But just a week into the internship, my expectations were boomed. It was a wreck-job and I just waited for the clock to tick and weekend to arrive to escape back into life. It just feels so enriching now that the misery is finally over.

But, reflecting over the last 50 odd days, there comes a realization that learning does not stop even in such difficult times. It might not happen in a direct manner but at the sub-conscious level, you do feel that the experience ingrained some knowledge in you. We need to work a bit on introspection but that 'hidden' knowledge would surely shape up in your observable world. Here's what I learnt -

• Passion is important. This is something I realized very early in my internship. Inspired by various popular science books on economics, I felt type of industry is of no importance as long as we are working in our field. Not true. At least in my case. Unless I am passionate about the industry I am working in, I won't find any meaning to the work I am doing. Henceforth, I will make it a point to only work in industries I believe in.

• Jobs kill ambition. I learnt this at the other end of internship. Towards the end, I got just a bit more accustomed to my schedule. The impending paycheck made me accept the situations and switch off my expectations. And then I saw people all around me in local trains (there were familiar faces by now) and I can look into their eyes how they have accepted every push and nudge that comes across as a routine. I know it's highly likely I would land up in a job eventually but I would surely find a way to fuel my ambitions relentlessly.

• Knowledge is all around us. Everyone knows how painful it is to travel in Mumbai local trains. And I did that. During peak hours. Six days a week. Let going the physical trouble, it was a treasure of learning. It was a wonderful opportunity to study behaviour of people in high stress situations. Though my first class coach sandwiched between a second class compartment and first class ladies only section, I observed several attitudes and nuances characteristic of a particular class. This in turn, gave me confidence to frame models that would not only increase revenues for railways but also provide passengers with a much better travel experience. So, yes, even from terrible experiences, with a right frame of mind, we can extract knowledge. My internship and this blog, after all, stand testimony of that fact.
    
• Reading between the lines. Till now, my conversations were largely dominated with friends, family and teachers who were very direct in putting across their point. So, even though I was already acquainted with this necessary worldly skill, it was only now that I actually put it to use. My superior was very secretive and knowing his vulnerabilities from reading between the lines gave me a psychological edge in subsequent conversations.
    
• Being shameless. Other than being secretive, my boss was also an asshole. Most of the interns were first-timers and initially there was a natural reluctance to voice objections. He would use that to his advantage and make us work overtime over menial work while not following any work ethics himself (would almost always arrive only by lunch hour and disappear for hours to get a haircut). Now as interns, we were ready work our asses off, but only if work was meaningful which was not in this case. And then we turned shameless. We would leave office dot in time and would flatly refuse to stay even a minute longer. He was playing games even for paying stipend and then again, this quality of being shameless prevailed in the battle of egos.  

So much for introspection. Yes, there was a lot to learn from this experience. Much of it could not even be documented for lack of realization. But still, the experience was not pleasant. And yes, I did wait for the check to clear before publishing this rant!