Education or specialization??

The top three science institutes in India have urged the education minister that sepcialized science courses be scrapped and replaced with plain vanilla BSc courses.The reason for this,as per these institutes,is that going ahead with very narrow specializations right from one’s first year in college is detrimental to one’s learning,as he/she lacks the basic grounding that can be used to arrive at an informed decision regarding further specialization.They also opine that after having a three year grounding in basic sciences,one can,if he/she wishes,take up a very specialized course as the fourth added year of his/her BSc degree.


Firstly,this is a welcome move,because we Indians need to start taking the learning part of education more seriously than the “earning” one.In India,any degree with the word “IT” will sell.This is because regardless of course content,our first worry is “naukri lagega ki nahin?”.Infact,there is a diploma course in computers,that goes like”MS-CIT”,tailor made to make listeners believe that it is an “MSc” in “IT”.And it sells like cakes!!


And many more upcoming fields also induce the same magnetic effect.Any course with biotechnology in it would sell hot.Ditto with forensic sciences.That in turn has led to the mushrooming of hundreds of “specialized” science courses.


Now who typically is the target customer for these courses?Usually,it is the guy who could not get into engineering or medicine.Speaking of engineering,the same farce of “specialization” applies here too.Even before entering college,one needs to take up a seat that denotes a college AND a specialization.The result?Everyone wants to take up Computer Science as it seemingly carries the best promise of good employment opportunities.Eventually,people from all branches are seen in IT companies,who anyways train fresh recruits in line with their actual requirements.The question that remains is that isn’t a brilliant automobile engineer taken away from the country’s talent pool when a student perfectly fit for mechanical engineering takes up Computer Science for job opportunities that even mechanical engineering could have offered?


Any field of work can give a person employment,job satisfaction and a purposeful existence.What is required is good old dedication,not fancy specializations.It would be really nice if this message is propagated to the students and the government acts on this proposal along with exploring such options in other areas such as engineering.

The Summer that was..

Well.. Its been a long summer.. both figuratively and literally.. for one.. because the rain gods took time waking up.. and secondly because I was doing my summer internship at Chennai!

Not that its an inhospitable city.. not by any means.. but one takes a little time getting used to the means and ways of the city.. and 2 months is just too less time.. more so when you have to be in the market speaking to retailers/ dealers who refuse to understand a word of english/ hindi.. but like the CEO of the company said during my final presentation.. 'its just the way it works' (easy for him to say!)

But Summer internship was a fun experience.. getting to meet all the people from various colleges.. chasing deadlines that were at times deadlier than the ones we are used to during the curriculum at college.. working hard.. hardly working.. and pretending to work really hard times.. and at times pretending that the truck loads of work is a piece of cake for us.. making presentations for which the google god cannot really help you and then presenting the same to all the heads of departments of the company.. (did i mention the 2 and a half hour presentation?) But like I said.. a great experience at the end of it all...

And now that its over.. really want to get back to college.. guess you don't really miss somethings till you've been away long enough.. and this is definitely enough..

MJ keep creating history

Every day create your history
Every path you take you're leaving your legacy
Every soldier dies in his glory
Every legend tells of conquest and liberty
- The album "History"


He is not physically with us anymore, but he will continue to be with us, forever. The star, the icon, the "king".
Practically the first popular music star from the west who was recognized by the whole world. Perhaps the first "black" person responsible for "all that black music on MTV".

He will be remembered by some for all the antics he did on screen and off screen. By some for the insane amount of physical appearances he changed. By some for the controversies involving his innermost life. Perhaps by some for all the charity work that he did. But surely by everyone for the contribution he made to the music industry. Rather, the way he revolutionized and changed the way music functions in everyone's lives. He is "Paradigm shift" personified.

We the urban Indian contemporary kids grew up on "Black or White", "Blood on the dance floor", "History" and sometimes (when our parents hummed) "Thriller". Mumbaiites will always associate him with the full of energy, hype and glamour, live performance at Andheri Sports Complex. The media for the next few days are going to be full of reports and rumours and allegations and cross allegations far and wide surrounding MJ. Even when that dies down, the VH1s and the YouTubes will be full of tribute videos. And when other mundane stuff takes that over, the fans will continue chanting his anthems and clubs will continue thumping his beats. That is how the brand "MJ" will carry on the legacy for years in spite of his absence. Like brand Elvis, Kurt Cobain and Bob Marley. Because these brands were built on trust, and they touched lives in many ways. I will not be surprised to find them in the history books of the next generation.

All the feelings of Nostalgia and longing aside, there will be one regret that his Indian fans will carry throughout their lives. His promise of "I'll be back" to India will remain unfulfilled.