IIT student commits suicide on campus

[yoda]

That's pragmatism rather than interest.

Not really. I was oversimplifying it. I know of many students who end up with a major like Mechanical engineering and hate it to the core. They get to do a few CS courses, love the subject, want to work in that area and switch come time to pick a career. What would you call that? I would say that it is still developing an interest, even though one of the reasons why they may have picked up a few of those courses was due the practicality and hotness of the area . Like you mentioned above, it is not possible to switch majors in India and even if you want to, some of the sought after majors have already been filled to the max.

[nballa]

in india the mentality is do better than thy neighbor. thats what all moms and dads do, they brag about their kids going to a better school or drawing a better salary than their friends/relatives kids. the main driving force behind all that pressure. the solution is to keep flunking 5th grade till your parents realize you are a bum and give up all hope on you.

[Mariyam]

This is really tragic. At the risk of opening a Pandora's box, this problem is mainly with those who do engineering, especially from the top institutes. I understand that many on ICF are also form such institutes, but you guys maybe the odd ones out. Most of these IIT fellas have exaggerated opinions about themselves. They seem to think that all things intelligent start and end with them, just because they cleared the Joint Exam or whatever it is called. Furthermore, most of these guys ( and few gals) are so engrossed in their academics, that they haven't the chance to properly develop their social skills. They pretty much stand out in any public gathering. They can't gel much with anyone apart from their types and most of their conversations with earth ( read : the outside world) revolve around showing others how smart they are. IIT for all the good that it teaches them academically, doesn't prepare them for basic interaction with others. It doesn't teach them any interpersonal skills, nor does it teach them people management. They just churn out automatons who are diffident and inward looking. Don't believe me. Just see how the average IITian interacts with a girl, during a college festival. You know something is amiss when you talk to one. These guys are at ill at ease. I'm not saying that the other non engg colleges are perfect. But they are more in sync with the world outside. PS: Not generalizing, but just stating what I've observed.

I wanted to be an architect but my parents forced me into engineering :(( But they never put undue pressure on me for high marks

You actually knew what you wanted to be? Well congratulations sir. It doesn't matter if you actually ended up doing what you wanted. At least you wanted something. I never knew what I wanted to be. Till date. How can some one in 10th or 12th know what they want to be? I find this whole notion ridiculous. I mean what does one know about surgery or architecture or what not to choose that as a career. Everything is hearsay at that age. I've had the good fortune of interacting with Eunice D'souza during my jr college days. She had some rather strong views on this and even went on to challenge the " British educational system". Unfortunately for her, the book she authored on the topic has the unique distinction of being banned across the state; the first ( and probably only) one not involving a religious or historical figure. A point she never forgets to mention. She calls the degree education a painful marriage from which there is no divorce. She advocates a system where "wholesome" overall knowledge, covering all disciplines is shared till the 15th standard and then students can apply to what ever company they feel like. The companies will conduct aptitude test and train the students. Her idea challenged the very foundations of corporate job- educational degree nexus as we have it today. It was revolutionary, but very interesting.

Why did they print name of the teacher' date=' what's his fault ?[/quote'] Or the name of the institute, for that matter.

[akshayxyz]

This is really tragic. At the risk of opening a Pandora's box, this problem is mainly with those who do engineering, especially from the top institutes. I understand that many on ICF are also form such institutes, but you guys maybe the odd ones out. Most of these IIT fellas have exaggerated opinions about themselves. They seem to think that all things intelligent start and end with them, just because they cleared the Joint Exam or whatever it is called. Furthermore, most of these guys ( and few gals) are so engrossed in their academics, that they haven't the chance to properly develop their social skills. They pretty much stand out in any public gathering. They can't gel much with anyone apart from their types and most of their conversations with earth ( read : the outside world) revolve around showing others how smart they are. IIT for all the good that it teaches them academically, doesn't prepare them for basic interaction with others. It doesn't teach them any interpersonal skills, nor does it teach them people management. They just churn out automatons who are diffident and inward looking. Don't believe me. Just see how the average IITian interacts with a girl, during a college festival. You know something is amiss when you talk to one. These guys are at ill at ease. I'm not saying that the other non engg colleges are perfect. But they are more in sync with the world outside. PS: Not generalizing, but just stating what I've observed. .

Man!!!... Looks like you had some bad experiences/acquaintances? How many IITians have you met? The good ones (esp the best) are always humble and (IITians or not) do not 'show-off' intelligence, it just reflects in their work, and if you interact/work with them (the good ones and above) for long enough w/o biased opinion - you just can't miss that. Some people mistake their pride/passion/confidence_to_excel/aggression as arrogance - There is nothing wrong in taking pride, being passionate, being confident - as long as you are humble. A part of it has to do with going through the extreme competitive nature of the process to get into IIT and then within IIT also there is tough competition. And I have seen some people who, as soon as knows that other guy is from IIT/MIT/Hvd..., forms an opinion and filters all future interactions though that. There are bad (in context of arrogance/empty_vessels) apples every where.. (esp where there is cut-throat competition)e.g. How many of bollywood (successful art) people are IITians and how many of them are not arrogant? As for social skills - its easy to be judgmental going by their ( the ones you have noticed) interaction with girls. Any skill, social or maths, it takes time & practice to perfect (esp in your formative years) and is function of genetics/upbringing too. If most of these guys have spent most of their child/teen-hood solving maths/physics puzzles - what do you expect from them, giving competition to Shahrukhs/Amirs/...? How many of IITian's (or say brilliant maths/engg guy) have you seen making fun of Art's person - "Boy these guys just don't know maths/CS/Engineering? Everyone carries different skills - all it matters is excelling in your chosen area (by force or by circumstances or whatever) and respecting others who do in theirs. All this apply not just IITians but to bigger set too - Maths/Science/Engg geeks. In context of the incident - It is amusing to see how people find it easy to attribute such incidents to - it was IIT's fault, education system sucks, the kid was stupid, parents were dumb and so on. IIT's fault - Such thing can happen anywhere. It is just more likely to happen in competitive places and it gets compounded where people are maths/science geeks with limited understanding of handling 'social' pressure (I think there have been such incidents at IIMs, other colleges and even schools too). There will always be few people who, ( due to upbringing or due to (m)any) other reasons, will not be able to cope up with pressure. That is called survival of the fittest. That is it. What IIT ( and all other colleges) can do is, have professional counselors. Irony is, these counselors are also product of same society. I know someone who sees a psychologist (at some govt hospital), and from what I have heard from that person's relative (going by patient-doctor talks), that psychologist himself has insecurity issues!!! But still, that is minimum IITs ( and other colleges) must do. Education system (society etc.) - who runs/changes the education system? It is same people who are product of the very same education system/society!!! It is socioeconomic issue, such things evolve over the period of time. Do not expect to see overnight changes, but if you look back 20-30 years back many things have changed for better, for sure. So how/what you can do about it - just see your area of influence, and take care of that. E.g. In most of the cases, it is your child, learn from these examples and take care of your child. And you would have contributed significantly to the future society. For others who hold high positions in such systems (esp the old ones) - it is tough to suggest anything as they have developed their mindset over years, so just hope they would keep their eyes open and keep making incremental changes. Why Indian society is like this Some sociologist can best comment on this. Here is my view. (Reference - Maslow's pyramid of needs) You can ask your parents/grand parents, esp the people who have come from middle/lower-middle class families. We come from a country where 30-40 years back, most of the families' biggest concern was to get 3 square meals for every one in the family and next step was to ensure similar level of security for their offspring in future. Thats when parents look around for best opportunities and groom their kids for best paying and stable jobs. Most of them do not know the concept of grooming due to their upbringing and end up pushing their kids by this or that way. I think most of us (in 30s) can remember our parents stressing for Govt jobs and most of them were skeptical of private jobs - until 5-10 years back. ...so and so forth. So, in short, first comes the survival (shelter, food, health), then safety (security/insurance of survival needs), then comes other stuff - social stuff, esteem, morality, creativity, following passion and stuff. And this applies to individuals, families and society as a whole. Incidents like this occur because no system is perfect, and these give opportunities to fix those holes. So, keep your eyes open, and work in your area of influence. BTW - Calling that poor kid stupid is as high on arrogance scale as anyone/anywhere else.

[akshayxyz]

I dont know what all they teach in IIT' date=' but common sense is not a part of it. They might be getting smarter at technology, but they are definitely not getting smarter at life.[/quote'] You have done a good job at generalization and also defied common sense & exhibited some ignorance in the process.

[gult]

Man!!!... Looks like you had some bad experiences/acquaintances? How many IITians have you met? The good ones (esp the best) are always humble and (IITians or not) do not 'show-off' intelligence, it just reflects in their work, and if you interact/work with them (the good ones and above) for long enough w/o biased opinion - you just can't miss that. Some people mistake their pride/passion/confidence_to_excel/aggression as arrogance - There is nothing wrong in taking pride, being passionate, being confident - as long as you are humble. A part of it has to do with going through the extreme competitive nature of the process to get into IIT and then within IIT also there is tough competition. And I have seen some people who, as soon as knows that other guy is from IIT/MIT/Hvd..., forms an opinion and filters all future interactions though that. There are bad (in context of arrogance/empty_vessels) apples every where.. (esp where there is cut-throat competition)e.g. How many of bollywood (successful art) people are IITians and how many of them are not arrogant? As for social skills - its easy to be judgmental going by their ( the ones you have noticed) interaction with girls. Any skill, social or maths, it takes time & practice to perfect (esp in your formative years) and is function of genetics/upbringing too. If most of these guys have spent most of their child/teen-hood solving maths/physics puzzles - what do you expect from them, giving competition to Shahrukhs/Amirs/...? How many of IITian's (or say brilliant maths/engg guy) have you seen making fun of Art's person - "Boy these guys just don't know maths/CS/Engineering? Everyone carries different skills - all it matters is excelling in your chosen area (by force or by circumstances or whatever) and respecting others who do in theirs. All this apply not just IITians but to bigger set too - Maths/Science/Engg geeks. In context of the incident - It is amusing to see how people find it easy to attribute such incidents to - it was IIT's fault, education system sucks, the kid was stupid, parents were dumb and so on. IIT's fault - Such thing can happen anywhere. It is just more likely to happen in competitive places and it gets compounded where people are maths/science geeks with limited understanding of handling 'social' pressure (I think there have been such incidents at IIMs too). There will always be few people who, ( due to upbringing or due to (m)any) other reasons, will not be able to cope up with pressure. That is called survival of the fittest. That is it. What IIT ( and all other colleges) can do is, have professional counselors. Irony is, these counselors are also product of same society. I know someone who sees a psychologist (at some govt hospital), and from what I have heard from that person's relative (going by patient-doctor talks), that psychologist himself has insecurity issues!!! But still, that is the best and minimum IITs ( and other colleges) must do. Education system (society etc.) - who runs/changes the education system? It is same people who are product of the very same education system/society!!! It is socioeconomic issue, such things evolve over the period of time. Do not expect to see overnight changes, but if you look back 20-30 years back many things have changed for better, for sure. So how/what you can do about it - just see your area of influence, and take care of that. E.g. In most of the cases, it is your child, learn from these examples and take care of your child. And you would have contributed significantly to the future society. For others who hold high positions in such systems (esp the old ones) - it is tough to suggest anything as they have developed their mindset over years, so just hope they would keep their eyes open and keep making incremental changes. Why Indian society is like this Some sociologist can best comment on this. Here is my view. (Reference - Maslow's pyramid of needs) You can ask your parents/grand parents, esp the people who have come from middle/lower-middle class families. We come from a country where 30-40 years back, most of the families' biggest concern was to get 3 square meals for every one in the family and next step was to ensure similar level of security for their offspring in future. Thats when parents look around for best opportunities and groom their kids for best paying and stable jobs. Most of them do not know the concept of grooming due to their upbringing and end up pushing their kids by this or that way. I think most of us (in 30s) can remember our parents stressing for Govt jobs and most of them were skeptical of private jobs - until 5-10 years back. ...so and so forth. So, in short, first comes the survival (shelter, food, health), then safety (security/insurance of survival needs), then comes other stuff - social stuff, esteem, morality, creativity, following passion and stuff. And this applies to individuals, families and society as a whole. Incidents like this occur because no system is perfect, and these give opportunities to fix those holes. So, keep your eyes open, and work in your area of influence. BTW - Calling that poor kid stupid is as high on arrogance scale as anyone/anywhere else.

POTW! :hatsoff:

[Rajiv]

This is class Ch@@yapandi, there are million issues in life, disappointment etc..u fking kill urself for this small thing

[punjabi_khota]

For people claiming IITians doesn't teach social skills/people skills/etc, kindly see the IIM entrance list. Half of the people entering the top 3 IIMs are from IITs :hahaha: Maybe they can learn those skills in IIMs

[Desi Cartman]

What a lot of people dont realize is that suicides are mostly due to mental issues or too much pressure (or even assumed pressure). We need people to be aware of these issues and should get rid of stigma for getting treatment. Also like Outsider said, all colleges should have counselors. I was surprised to see most decent public schools in India now have counselors. As for IITans are not smart in social life ... :phehehe:. I know quite a few IIT-ians as my bro also did engineering from IIT KGP and trust me most of his friends are at top management positions in some of the top software companies. Some decided to purse MBA and are now working for Banks or are in marketing. As for the pressure, my brother went to IIT and never ever did my parents ask me or my sister to become a doc or be an engineer. We never felt the pressure and same with my brother. Our parents just wanted us to be responsible and we all turned out ok ( maybe except me :P )

[Stuge]

Well,its about how you're able to cope mentally .Most of the people can do that ,but there are some who are not able to do that .Basically they need help. this guy RIP :(

[The Outsider]

I think it's a fallacy and a needless generalization that people from IITs lack social skills - I've personally known so many who are perfectly adept - they've probably not had a love life in college but that's pretty much the only social 'skill' they lack. More pertinent to the topic it's also a fallacy that all people from IITs have it made by just studying there. Personally, I realized it when I started grad school at Penn and saw many more IITians at neighboring Drexel than at Penn.

[EnterTheVoid]

These kids need a serious dose of reality if they think grades alone will land them a job. 9 times out of 10, someone with average marks but who is well rounded is more likely to nail the job than someone whose good at studies and at nothing else. Frankly speaking, nobody even cares about your marks after your first job.

[Desi Cartman]

These kids need a serious dose of reality if they think grades alone will land them a job. 9 times out of 10, someone with average marks but who is well rounded is more likely to nail the job than someone whose good at studies and at nothing else. Frankly speaking, nobody even cares about your marks after your first job.

Its different in India, I have seen ads on Indian sites and they even ask for high school grades but you are right, marks dont really matter.

[vaibhav_delhi]

For people claiming IITians doesn't teach social skills/people skills/etc' date=' kindly see the IIM entrance list. Half of the people entering the top 3 IIMs are from IITs :hahaha: Maybe they can learn those skills in IIMs [/quote'] Yes, You could add few top NITs, DCE\NSIT n IIITs and you will prolly find 80-90% students in IIMs frm there. In my class, every 2nd student would have got a 99 in cat, my next roll no. was among top 10 in cat with a 100%ile.... ++ All IITians friends that I have are cool dudes...good in every aspect.

[vaibhav_delhi]

I would have renamed all IITs to NITs and would have single engineering entrance exam (aieee) and same curriculum coz there is not much 'greater purpose than NITs' that IITs serve for the nation at under-graduate level....

[triam]

Outsider penn when was this, I live pretty close to penn now.

[flamy]

Sad. R.I.P. kiddo and may you understand. My Dad wanted me to do IIT. I gave him a spliff, asked him to chill and stop kidding himself.

[The Outsider]

Outsider penn when was this' date=' I live pretty close to penn now.[/quote'] A decade back, yaar! I still visit Philadelphia off and on - are White Dog and Black Cat still around? And the coffee shop next to them on Sansom? And of course, there was Smokey Joes!

[EnterTheVoid]

Sad. R.I.P. kiddo and may you understand. My Dad wanted me to do IIT. I gave him a spliff, asked him to chill and stop kidding himself.

Bwhahahahahahah ****ing brilliant :hysterical::hysterical:

[Aaku]

I know this very cute IITian :woot: but hes really short :(( and kinda creeepy