Alma mater

I wonder if we ever realized the transition phase of Victoria Jubilee Technical Institute to Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute. The change of name did not make neither any sense nor any difference to us. College remained the same. The old creepy walls, the same old Cincinnati Lathe machines, the same quad, the same professors, the same traditional tug-of-wars, the same school gathering setting of Pratibimb...almost everything remained same for us. Nonetheless, we enjoyed every moment of our lives in VJTI. Though some transition was nascent, none of us could visualize what VJTI was to become.

But Aeish is not like us. She is a product of a chic VJTI and she repeatedly portrays a new and colourful picture of my alma matter to me. She talks about having DJs for every possible fest over there. During our times (and this is not too long back, just 4 goddamn years ago), we used to have Mohammad Rafi type songs in the cultural festivals. Asking permission for a DJ could have warranted a tough reprimand.

Aeish tells me that TCS took 96 students this year, Accenture took some 100 odd. In 2003, companies like TCS used to throw a requirement of minimum 70% in each semester when today it takes truckloads from nondescript colleges. Same is the case with the Infys and the Wipros. Talking only about the Mechanical Engineering department, India Shining and all that is reflected in the fact that almost 60 students in her batch have got placed before they have started their final year. I think India was not shining enough in 2003 when some of my friends were struggling to get placed even till the end of their last year. Now Aeish is studying the kind of subjects I am studying in a B-school. The grading system is different with the introduction of CGPA and credit courses. Aeish doesn't have to copy tons of assignments and slog at the end of the semester stupidly like I did for the Mumbai University exams and wait for 3-4 months for the results. Things are quick and efficient now.

I am curious about kids like Aeish. I guess there are very few of her type left who dislike the lure of software companies. Actually the thing is that Aesih dislikes computer programming. I am proud of her because even I disliked programming. As it is so good, to be good at only one thing in life, it is equally good to be bad at many other things in life. One among them is computer programming. I am not saying that a Mechanical Engineering student should not join software companies and I do not want to delve into the subject of being cyber coolies. My point is that the core industry has a lot to offer to the VJTI Mech kids and I would certainly like to see them doing something better than programming. This will certainly not make any difference to the Infys and the Accentures because their truckloads are anyway ready.