I share some of the author's concerns on Indian education system not catering enough to the mediocre. If he is able to feel less inadequate in the UK, then good for him! A richer soceity can afford leisure - museums, sports, arts, music etc. So we can read history, music, sports medicine and so on. I see that happening slowly in the Indian cities. The tide will turn around for sure :)
too many people so little resources. This can happen. I'm sure race in China is much tougher than in India. Western countries are less populated and people without college degrees can survive easily which is quite difficult in India and China.
Best and brightest students get admission there.If you can not than don't blame it. Murthy- Infosys Shiv nadar- HCL NIIT- Pawar and Thadani ITC- Deveshwar, Mckinsey- Rajat Gupta Arjun Malhotra, latest the writer of 3 idiots. List is endless. Brand has a lot of signficance.Accept this fact.
India is not suffering of any 'Rat Race'.. but does of the 'folly' involved in the 'Rat Race'.
And this 'Folly' has given rise to 'IIT' and other Self Styled top institutional products who are incapable of anything that is 'Original'.
This 'Folly' of a 'Rat Race' has made our teaching community miss 'Raw Talents' amidst their 'Scholars'.
And people without 'Raw Talent' or interest for 'Science' are catapulted into 'Top Institutions' like IIT in a 'Brilliant' fashion, which helps them with a 'Successful Vomit' of the minimum requirement.
And once this 'Vomit' is over and the 'Institution' inspecting this awards the 'Scholar' with a place on the 'Quality of the Vomit', then starts the 'Career' of a person, who is presumed capable on subsequent occasions of 'Jobs' on the basis of a 'previous folly'.
The system, as the author has wonderfully explained, has nothing to 'glean' raw talent and reward true interest in a subject, which can never be quantified by 'bespectacled' examiners awarding marks for 'Mental Vomits'.
Recently the Dean of IIT Chennai delved on this issue of 'Raw Talent' ruing the fact that 75% of IIT pupils find entrance into the premier institutions on the crutches of tuitions like 'Brilliant' and not because they had 'Raw Talent' or 'Passion' inside them.
This results in academics becoming 'Copy Cats' in whatever they do, even while presenting a 'Doctoral Thesis' on Science.
Is there any wonder that a 'billion' Indians cannot 'Invent' or stand tall?
Re: It is not the 'Rat Race'... It is rather its 'Folly'...
by p on Jan 07, 2010 09:18 AM
I think it is a wrong comparision. Different systems have different benefits. Some students have an aptitude for math and physics and they do well in IIT exams. They may not be toppers in their class. In a country of a billion people how do you decide who has Passion ?? In the west they consider it tough competetion if 1 in 10 applicants get through. I agree that in india the focus for most people is on earning your bread rather than the passion for what you do. It will take time to change. You need economic security for that. Great artists - painters and musicians are always born in good economic times. great stories come out of war and struggle. It is not just a function of capability but also of opportunity. I am glad this author got the opportunity, but it does not mean that his friends were less capable
Re: I was disqualified from India's rat race
by Dayanand Shanbhag on Jan 05, 2010 05:18 AM
I am not sure why is foreign education considered better than Indian education. Imagine being allowed to take History, Politics, Business Studies and Information Technology. Information Technology requires a good foundation in Computer Science, Mathematics and Logic. I am sure the rest of the subjects would also require some other base. Without building a proper base, how can you learn? West is more developed than India and has more job opportunities and less competition. Hence it is easy to get a job for a less competent person with a smaller qualification. Students in west get a job not because they are better than Indian students but simply because there is less competition and more jobs. Indian education system has its own problems like more reliance on wrote memory and outdated syllabus. But the students that come out of Indian universities are smarter and more competent than their wester counterparts. Software Engineers are a striking example. Indian IT students study outdated syllabus but after joining work they pick up new technology and excel. Indian IT would not have flourished if our education system was sub-standard. They syllabus may be outdated but definitely not easy and hence it sharpens minds and creates specialists.
Re: Re: I was disqualified from India's rat race
by vijay raghavan on Jan 05, 2010 10:39 AM
Foreign education need not be better than Indian education, but Foreign education allows one to choose the subjects of one's liking, and thereby excel in that field. This is the primary reason why most of the inventions / patents come from western countries. Even Indian Geniuses have flourished only when they left for western shores. Of course, part of the reason is also the better infrastructure and facilities in the West, but the primary factor is the system which facilitates excelling in a chosen field.
As far as Indian IT is concerned, we are a bit IT powerhouse, no doubt, but we are still only at the bottom of the IT pecking order - doing menial jobs like coding and back end operations. Most of the high end work in IT - consulting, IT research, IT strategy and of course IT inventions are still a forte of the west.
Re: Re: Re: I was disqualified from India's rat race
by Happy Indian on Jan 07, 2010 09:13 AM
Even in Western countries you have to take some basic courses even if you don't like them. If our people are successfull in western countries its because they got the basics right in India.
As for inventions, we spend a fraction of the money that westerners spend in R&D.
