Hmmmm... Is it just me or are my titles getting stranger with each successive post. I read a few of the others, and ordinarily, I'd have put them down to the work of a stark-raving lunatic. Oh well, it takes all types to make this world. Anyway, as with all other esoteric titles, this has a vague semblance of an origin. (And here, some of my friends are going to roll their eyes over and snigger at the pretentiousness of it all. Well, quoting Clark Gable, frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn...) I was think about stuff in general the other day (here's where it all started to go downhill, right at the "think" part) and I realised something. I don't quite like the world I'm increasingly being exposed to at what is supposed to be a B-school. Don't get me wrong - the primary purpose of this place - i.e. providing a reasonable amount of knowledge - isn't being unfulfilled or anything. While some courses make you want to tear your hair out, and stuff it down someone's unfortunate throat, most provide a fair degree of learning. The part that depresses me about this place is the level of competition and politics.
Back at my previous institute, our student body was fragmented pretty much along regional lines. (For those afraid of another one my "election" related posts, don't worry. I was never really into that sort of thing...) It was sad to watch a bunch of guys, who were about as homogeneous and talented a group as is possible, given the size, squabble over issues that could have easily been solved in much better, more efficient ways. Here was one of the best institutes in the country, ending up as a sad reflection of all the ills that plague India. When push came to shove, we divided ourselves along simple language and region. Screw merit and all related concepts, we wanted our "state" to be among the winners. Some of us tried to change things, with a few notable effects, but all in all, what transpired was hardly the most optimal solution. For me, it was an indictment of all that was wrong with the system in India.
So, doing what Indians do best, I simply ignored it, forgot about it, and pretended that nothing had happened. In all fairness, nothing really had happened. I was just a little late to wake up, and smell the coffee, as it were :)
Anyway, moving on to where I am currently, I thought that this place would be different. I expected a far more mature response to issues like elections, considering the group of people here (after all, I'm one of the youngest in my class). Well, the previous few months have been pretty much the opposite of what I expected. I've realised yet another thing - this place, while mercifully not divided along regional lines (at least not apparently, anyway), is still very much divided. People can't seem to understand a simple fact - this stuff (committees, secys etc. etc.) really DOES NOT matter. Think about it - ten-plus years from now, are all these committees going to seem all that important? I sure hope not, for all our sakes :P. Not to say that I didn't have fun as part of a committee - I think that what we accomplished (esp. memorable - one hell of a simulation game) was quite brilliant - but I'd like to think that there are bigger things in life. That brings me to my point - at times, we tend to get a bit caught up in the here and now. We seem to be overly bothered about stuff that really doesn't matter, so much so that we neglect what we ought to be doing. Getting one more live project, with no real learning value, really isn't going to change much. Having said that, everyone's doing it, so what's the harm in doing it also? There lies a fundamental problem I really can't change - we're part of a rat-race, and I can't see a way out of it, yet...
