The IITs and IITians

Important note: The IIT JEE celebration in the video below does not in any way imply a lack of potential in those students who do not clear this exam (just one exam in life cannot pass a judgment on a whole life's potential for heaven's sake 😄) - or clear the exam but still choose to join some other college for a branch they like more than the one they are getting at an IIT based on their JEE rank. If you are a student at some other college and achieve excellence in life in your chosen profession (examples abound of students achieving success from everywhere!), that will be celebrated too when the time comes. You have all my encouragement and support in your desire to prove your mettle! But till that time, it is important that you acknowledge, without any jealousy, that those students who cleared the IIT JEE have proven themselves in one of the toughest exams in the world. Congratulating others for their success without feeling jealous, belittled, demotivated or depressed is a sign of maturity. And this maturity, along with a resolve to keep working hard till you achieve your milestones, increases the probability of you succeeding manifold!

On that note, here goes:

There's much in this video to ponder upon! I agree that for brain drain to reduce, we need to create better opportunities at fair compensation here.

Video: 60 Minutes - IIT - World Imports Indian Engineers

PS 1 😅: The observation about education at IITs not being well rounded is not quite correct 😏! We do have Humanities and Social Sciences courses as part of the curriculum. And there's a tremendous amount of cultural and artistic activity (including music) through clubs. I myself learnt how to play the guitar during my undergraduate years at IIT Bombay.

PS 2: The IITs don't just graduate engineers. They also have programs in the sciences and graduate physicists, mathematicians, chemists and economists.

PS 3: There is no claim being made that being an engineer or scientist is "higher" than being, say, an artist or a musician 😏. It is for each of us to find our calling, what we're passionate about, and try to do the best we can in that field. The intent in this video is simply to showcase institutes that have achieved excellence in STEM education in our country, not to pass a judgment on anyone else.

Note: Here are two suggestions that I feel are worth seriously considering: 1) Without changing the JEE selection process and the statutes, policies, faculty recruitment processes and academic standards at IITs, NITs, IIITs, IISERs, IISc, IIEST, IIPE, etc. it is time to change them from "brand name chains" to "individual brands". For example, IIT Kanpur can be renamed to Aryabhata Institute of Science and Technology, IIT Madras can be renamed to Ramanujan Institute of Science and Technology, IIT Bombay to APJ Abdul Kalam Institute of Science and Technology, and so on... This will maintain our pursuit of excellence in STEM while removing the "IITian - Non-IITian", "NITian - Non-NITian", "IIITian - Non-IIITian", etc. dichotomies from society. 2) Disband and remove UGC altogether and bring all our colleges and universities under the Act of Parliament for IITs. The reason for this suggestion is simple: IITs have succeeded way way more emphatically than other colleges and universities because the rules, policies and statutes governing them are more progressive and aligned with the pursuit of excellence than UGC.