IIT funda

Are you from IIT? That was the question put to me by a colleague from a Missouri 8216;cow town8217;.

Are you from IIT? That was the question put to me by a colleague from a Missouri 8216;cow town8217;. 8220;Not from the Illinois Institute of Technology,8221; I responded. 8220;Delhi, Madras or Bombay?8221; he persisted tenaciously, now hot on the scent.

With India8217;s outsourcing blitzkrieg, the questions have changed over the years. Twenty years ago, I was often asked if we Indians kept pet cobras or commuted to work on elephant-back. Thousands of miles away from the bustle of Bangalore, the India of today has morphed from that sluggish reptile of yesteryear to a technology leviathan fledging which could give the Red Dragon a run for its money.

It was over 25 years ago that I had dragged my way into the IIT Powai campus. I soon realised that in this academic Kurukshetra, the 8216;varnas8217; of Manu had taken on a more intricate meaning. Along with the 8216;Gultis8217;, 8216;Madrasis8217;, 8216;Jats8217; and 8216;Ghatis8217;, coexisted several species of this institutional ecosystem. Among them was the foreigners8217; clique: Iranians, Sri Lankans, Mauritians,Thais and Burmese.

We who had passed that trial by 8216;fire8217; through the dreaded Joint Entrance Examinations, treated these outsiders with secret suspicion. Did they ever clear the admission tests? Did they pay piles of money to get in? Or were they admitted through that unmentionable reservation quota? Looking back, I realise that the motorcycle-loving Iranians or the debonair Mauritians had not just squeezed their way into those hallowed portals. They had either excelled in their studies back home or made a mark in their lives. Most of them returned to spread the message of a glorious India back in their countries.

We are now expanding what was once a little-noticed category within this academic ecosystem. The 8216;regulars8217;, would probably now huddle up in a tighter conspiratorial circle, and speak in hushed tones of this reserved gentry. Mandalisation will create another rivulet trickling out global ambassadors of Indian excellence, socially segregated from the mainstream of this institution so far.

8220;Or Kanpur or Kharagpur?8221; my colleague8217;s persistent query broke my musings.

8220;From IIT Bombay,8221; I continued. 8220;Back in those days when there were just five IITs.8221;