Life at IIT Kharagpur has been remotely linked to what we had thought of it before coming to the apex institute of Technical Education in India, IIT Kharagpur.
We have seen it all, from the biggest boom in economy leading to flooding of jobs in the market to the worst slump ever since the Great Depression. How the supposedly acclaimed, "Brightest brains in the world", have reacted and acclimatized themselves to such changes is what marks the content of the blog.
A day before the Placement season,2007, one of the PlaceComm members sits down with his supposedly said best junior and says, "The placement this year is going to be great. People should be thankful to the PlaceComm who have given everything they have, to have people sleeping soundly in their rooms with handsome jobs in their pockets. Lets hope this effort that we have put in makes lives of everyone passing out this year a grand success."
How people with such high responsibilities take their up roles, to make or break the future of an entire batch of the "Brightest Brains of India", is what the junior learnt that day. How people work so selflessly only to derive pleasure from success of others is what the junior learnt.
How can one be so selfless, how can one be so unmindful of his own benefits with such great powers in hand is what the junior thought, but, the realization of the famous quote, "With great power comes great responsibility", came hereafter.
His way of thinking, his vision, changed. Social responsibilities, are generally undertaken by only few. These are people who share a vision, a vision to make things better. Personal benefits, other avenues generally do not matter to them as much as the realization of the aim of improving the existing.
Placements 2007, IIT Kharagpur - The best placement season ever. All placed. Avg placements of over 7.5 lakhs. IIT Kharagpur made many IIMs blink their eyes with wonder, with almost all big names in the banking industry visiting the campus and recruiting handsomely, IIT Kharagpur had surely stole the show. Interviews of people placed in top shot companies like Schlums, PlaceComms etc were a regular site in newspapers and News Channels.
People went crazy about the awesomeness of the placements. Everyone was elated at being in IIT Kharagpur. The regrets of the past, of being in a small town seemed to vanish and people started loving KGP. A secure future in spite of being a 6 pointer can bring smiles even to the face of someone burning in the fire of hell.
But, somewhere in the meantime, things were happening, the warmth of the Placements 2007 were to end, the Autumn had arrived. The transition from the warmth of 2007 to the chill of 2008 had started. News about waves in Lehman Brothers had started to worry people. Though, somewhere in their minds, people had immense faith that placements at this elite institution technical education would be untouched by any fluctuations in the market.
People left PPO's of companies which offered salaries of 6 lpa, hoping for better avenues in placements.
Time passed. The news of fall of Lehman brothers, accompanied by the fall of the US economy had hit the market and the bliss on the faces of people changed from ecstasy to anxiety to gloom in no time. Before placements 2008 started people got worried about their placements. Worry was to be seen everywhere. The atmosphere was full of tension and anxiety.
Placements 2008 started and are still continuing, with people getting placed in companies of repute in the field of engineering(not offering the very lucrative job offers), got hold of the quality engineers that they had been looking for, for years. It seems there is no escaping the recession bug, even if you go to the top engineering institute in the country, the IIT.
The recession has hit the system hard and the reversal of trends of going to jobs relating to engineering rather than relating to finance seems to be the course of the year.
The PlaceComms though have put in a great fight to make things sustainable and manage jobs for everyone.
What is the solution to this?
Does this make people at IIT panic?
Does a wave of recession make the “Brightest minds in the country panic”, the answer is again found in the attitude of a PlaceComm, who is spending his entire day, entire night finding out job avenues for KGPians, putting in a selfless fight for all his batch mates, trying to make everyone who passes out a “Success”. A never say die attitude is what has added another feather to the cap of the IITians. Exploring new avenues of working in companies with engineering background, going for research in Universities, and building a resume to unleash their values as soon as the recession ends has been the jargon for everyone on campus. The fresh breath of toiling hard and breaking the shackles of luxury has been the one of the numerous positives IITians have received from this recession. This recession is sure to show the world that, the faith of making it big is unshakeable. A recession cannot change the course of the life of KGPian. This recession is sure to produce entrepreneurs which the world would remember always.
A KGPian toiling hard for a cause can move mountains, and this recession sure to bring out this truth. The bondage of luxury has been broken but there is no stopping to the faith to make it big.
KGP has shown this junior that No matter what the situation is, an IITian, a KGPian, always has a way out. The “Success” for which he aspires is not only been sought after by him but his success is a combined effort of all who we term as KGPian.
The junior has learnt that any tide any wave cannot rumble the faith of a KGPian and thus the junior and all everyone else in the campus is inculcated with this “Spirit” of “Making it big” and making lives of their own and others a “Success”.
The end of this blog I would like all KGPians to live this faith and make it big to make their juniors ,who will face tougher times in future , feel the “spirit” of being a KGPian.
