 Thursday, April 28, 2005 |
Three Point Someone - What not to do at IIIT... @ 
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By Whoosh 2 @ 9:44 am 
14 Comments
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This one has been a long time coming..
My life at IIIT is nearing its end, and with that comes to a close an epic phase of my life.. My life as a student. But, I really didn’t want my final days as a student to end in such confusion.. But before I go into what all the confusion and crap is about, here is a snap of my institute that I love a lot (I mean, I love the snap a lot) ...
I am the kind of guy who doesn’t like abbreviations too much.. Even the name of my college, I don’t usually call it IIIT.. I instead prefer calling it with its full name.. But oflate, even I am not sure what the name of my institute is.. One day the institute is called “The Indian Institute of Information Technology” and the next day it is called “The International Institute of Information Technology”… It would have made sense to call the place “International” if Maria Sharapova or Sharon Stone were on the governing body, but as per the latest news in the official news bulletin “BackBytes”, the same old professors are going to continue running the institute - So much for being International..
Actually, doesn’t that name suck?? Reminds me of Hotel Balaji International. For all those who need to be enlightened about Hotel Balaji International - when I joined the institute about 2 years back, the hostel wasn’t ready.. Actually, the hostel was just a barren land.. The college had relocated to E-City from Whitefield... Guess the professor initially thought that rats and mongooses (is the plural of mongoose mongooses or mongeese??!!) were going to join the institute and a patch of barren land would be enuf, but as it happened, he was shocked to see human beings enter the institute and was forced to build a building - which was later called “The Hostel”..
But, as it took a good 10 months to build the hostel, we were put up in a 5 star hotel of international repute.. Its name - Hotel Balaji International. And as Chikuado would say, *me sighs*. The manager of the hotel, Mr.Ganesha, was a gem of a person and my blog would be incomplete if I didn’t mention him. Last I heard, he had flicked a good 6000 bucks from the cash register and had eloped with it. Hey, I just remembered, that guy owes me a hundred bucks too.. Well, guess that is a 100 rupee note that I wont be seeing anymore. This reminds me of the movie Serendipity.. But, I’ll talk abt that in another blog…
Ok, for the things that u shouldn’t be doing at IIIT, the first and foremost thing is you shouldn’t act like a jackass in front of your seniors who will be your TAs. The fate of such people is something that I neednt talk about… Actually, I would have been happy if someone had actually given me this tip when I joined the institute, but guess it is too late to complain now.. Now I know why I started off as a Two-point someone. Thankfully, the second and third sems didnt have student TAs and hence I could increase my standing to a three-point somone...
Now for a small flashback... Why did I join IIIT? Or rather, why did I take up the IIIT interview??? Till 2002, I was a pakka Chennaiite - meaning which, the only IT park that I knew was the TIDEL park. When IIIT brought out its brochure, they had printed a photograph on it. The photograph follows..
For all my money, I thought this was IIIT-B. I fell flat on my face and I decided that this is the place where I had to be.. Only later did I come to know that all that IIIT had was just a floor in this building which is nothing but the International Tech Park (ITPL). Grr.. Emaathitaangaiyaa.. Emaathitaanga..
Secondly, this was where we were supposed to be put up during our stay at IIIT. But as I already told u, we ended up at Hotel Balaji International..
Hey, Btw, the only reason we werent put up here was because the institute relocated to Electronics City from Whitefield and nothing else.. I am not blaming the institute here..
There was another snap that actually had me laughing. I noticed the goof up only after I joined the institute though.. The snap was this...
Take a close look at the laptop of the guy second from the right.. He has the log in screen on his display while taking notes in class..Hahaha.. Btw, to the best of my knowledge - in my 2 years stay at IIIT - I have never used my laptop in class except for browsing the net... I dont know what these guys have their laptops open for though...
IIIT will always have a special place in my heart. It was the first time I stayed in a "co-ed" hostel. Infact, it was the first time I stayed in a hostel. The co-ed part of it made it all the more great. But, that lasted only until we were in Balaji International. Surprisingly, the same set of guys who were more than happy to "serve and protect" the women folk from the dadas of Bommasandra, became the Dadas when we moved to the new hostel. Up came the Great Wall of Bangalore between the girl's block and the guy's block. That effectively put an end to some "close encounters of the third kind" happening in the premises.. But, last I heard, the Great Wall wasnt enuf to stop certain "close encounters of the fourth kind" from happening... Well.. as Kamal Haasan would say "Nadakattum Nadakattum".. :)
Oh Yeah, I forgot to mention about a certain thing called the "1000 rupee ID card". Siraj actually had the nerve to say that our ID cards cost 1000 bucks to make.. Yeah, as if! For all that fuss, I dont even know where my ID card is lying right now..
One nice thing about IIIT are the frequent dance parties that we have... aana prechanai ennanna, indha pasangala thaniyaa uttaa, chumma rendu kaiyaiyum thooki indha maathiri aada aarambichiduvaanunga.. Namma "appadi podu", "manmadha raasa" paatukelaam ingai mousu illai!!! :(
But all together, I must say I had a lovely time at IIIT.. After SSN College, this was the place that I liked the most.. Though, I can never say I liked it as much as I liked SSN, IIIT was still special.. As they say, u start to like a place only when u leave it, I think I will grow even fonder of IIIT, as time moves on...
PS: If we IIITians dont poke fun at our college, who will?? All done in good humor and not intended to hurt anyone. IIIT is a lovely place to be in and I had a gala time here... |
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14 Comments
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1) last i heard abt the nomenclature imbroglio.... its neither Indian nor International... we are moving towards the name of "IIIT-B".. so we better pray for our souls that nobody ask us, in future, why we had such a mind-numbingly confused administration in college!!
2) Awwwww... we had a lovely time at balaji, didnt we? :-)
3) and hey! TAs arent bad guys!! *looks endearingly... like a saint*
(psst.. i've been one for a year now! and never screwed anybody. never. one guy actually had the balls to talk to me extremely rudely. still, no harm done to the poor soul. see? TAs, these days, are good!)
4) well, i joined iiit-b because my HoD back in my engg college told me that a certain "prof" is a really great researcher and that i cud do some good work with him. only, he used the wrong verb. it shud really have been "was". :-)
5) well, u havent heard abt the "encounters of the Nth kind", eh? will tell u some stuff, in person, some time, abt our junies. ;-)
well, whaddya know, being in campus has its advantages. ;-)
6) and hey! u r right abt poking fun at our institute. if we dont do it, who will? i am even thinking of poking fun at the insti in front of the prospective 7th batchers when they come for the interviews! what say? :-)
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@Mandy: We sure did have a great time at Balaji International..
Close encounters of the nth kind eh.. Kinda have a feeling I know who the lead characters will be, but u will definitely have to give me the screen play.. :)
And if u are planning to have some fun on the 4th 5th and 6th, Please do let me know... I'll join in...
And yeah, we are going to call the college as "IIIT-B" from now on!! Sucks man.. The only consolation is, if i say that fast enuf, ppl might think I am at IIT-B.. :p
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Hey IIITians, I am in need of a pic of Hotel Balaji International to complete the blog.. If u guys have it, please pass it on to me..
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Vikkkki
Innum padichittu dhaan irukkiyaa? There I was thinking that you were working! Ippo dhaan theriyudhu nee Pluggu and Magix categorynnu :)Good Luck
Co-ed hostel??? Dance partyla only guys there?
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Machi,The photo of itpl in the brochure reminds me of SSN college brochure.The SSN brochure had lots of "graphics" done in it.I remember asking the security guy where the college was .That fellow said that that was the college and he was the principal . I fu$%in' freaked out machaan.And to top it all I met Sridhar(yeah ...my classmate ...) :-( And worse yet , he started lecturing me about GRE on the very first day.
But then at the end of the fourth year,The college looked heavenly . Not bcos if the buildings that came up but bcos of the all the unforgettable memories. I guess it is going to be the same for u guys with iiit-b
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@Uma: Naan Magix category illai.. Naan PG mudichi velai pannitu irukkein..So, u didnt get it wrong :).. And the dance party, ponnunga elaam scene pottuttu oramaa poi aaduavaalunga... Elaarum family Girls, u see.. :p
@Jagan: Ya machi.. I was like "What the hell is this place" when I saw SSN on day 1.. But didnt we have a lovely time there nontheless...
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leave it 2 u 2 get besotted by brochure pics! i remember having to dress up n pose when my college brochure was done.. damn1 when the thing was done, i was like "what the hell?? this isn't our college man.. this loox like some fundoo high-class thingy..!!" the whole thing was so gross..
Even the name of my college, I don’t usually call it IIIT.. I instead prefer calling it with its full name..
u mean EVERY SINGLE TIME??? boy, i'd love to keep asking u "where do u study?" again n again, n see u do the rigmarole again n again.. ROTFL!!
yup.. college life was fun.. big time! that one i guess everyone agrees!
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The copyright notice on your page footer still says "Indian" :D
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@Chikuado: Actually, u should see the brochure of my UG college, SSN... Even the hollywood graphics artists would be stunned by how my college transformed itself on the digital media... And yeah, every single time...:)
Ambar: I feel International sucks.. I am sticking with Indian.
Dumbs: As i was telling Chikuado, I'll show u my UG college's brochure.. Maybe a blog about that wouldnt be too out of place i think!!!
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How come 2 point some1 got converted to 3 point some1?
U mentioned u r gonna write 2 point some1 on my blog.
This time credit for inspiring for this post goes to me :-D
As far as Balaji is concerned, many nice memories associated with it :-)
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Don u know brochures contain computer generated graphics like in Shankar films?! That to IIIT?! :)
How come its Balaji International? Shouldn it be Balajilu INternationalu? :)
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Hi Vikki,
Every institute might have most of the problems that were faced by us. But, we shouldn't forget what we got from the institute. Sanjeeth pointed this post to me and it was disappointing to read.
if we dont do it [poke fun], who will?
But, don't you think washing dirty linen will do us more harm? We shouldn't end up spoiling an upcoming brand (of which we are a part of), knowing fully well that after all, it's doing a good job (overall) and improving greatly.
Regarding "Indian" vs "International" fiasco, it's not the making of the institute, but the weirdness of the rules. Do you know the complete picture behind it? The HR ministry 'sort of' owns the trademark for "Indian" in this realm.
Regarding evaluation of papers, do you think our universities were any better? In my view, humans are inherently fallible when it comes to being objective. After all, it is not just the grades that matter. I would say that I learnt nearly 95% of what I know in this domain from here. And who said there was no research in iiit-b? Don't you know about OSL?
Regarding hostels etc, don't you feel that the current hostels that you've is better than what we had (even in the Sai gardens)?
I'm not here to get into an issue with you, but I genuinely feel that many of us do not concentrate on the positive aspects of it and we forget whatever we got from here once we landed on a safe place (that too ironically due to the institute). Probably, I am overreacting because of having experienced very poor engineering education, a jobless year followed by an enlightening period in IIIT-B.
Sundar
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@Sundar:
Really.. this was one comment I wasnt expecting as nothing of what I mentioned was false.. Lets get the facts straight here...
But, don't you think washing dirty linen will do us more harm? We shouldn't end up spoiling an upcoming brand (of which we are a part of), knowing fully well that after all, it's doing a good job (overall) and improving greatly.
Wasnt spoiling an upcoming "brand".. Just pointing out the stuff that happens when a new college comes up.. All the fiasco that accompanies it.. Happens with any college, I agree.. But u must agree that a totally different picture was painted to the 5th batchers on May 4,5,6 of 2003 and what we got on Aug 15th was a different bowl of food..
Regarding "Indian" vs "International" fiasco, it's not the making of the institute, but the weirdness of the rules. Do you know the complete picture behind it? The HR ministry 'sort of' owns the trademark for "Indian" in this realm.
Ya.. I do know about that rule.. My comment was based on that... Werent we supposed to have the "support" of the Govt. of Karnataka.. Doesnt the government consider us to be "one of the primier institutes of the state/nation".. (that is how i believe it to be)... That being the case, wouldnt it give us greater credibility to have the name "Indian" rather than a degrading "International" ???
Regarding evaluation of papers, do you think our universities were any better? In my view, humans are inherently fallible when it comes to being objective. After all, it is not just the grades that matter. I would say that I learnt nearly 95% of what I know in this domain from here. And who said there was no research in iiit-b? Don't you know about OSL?
The Grades in IIIT dont matter.. I am with u a 100%. THat is one reason, I didnt care too much abt the exams. Be it a 2.89 I got in the first sem or a 3.7 in the second, I took em both with the same spitit. I do know that U as a TA were excellent and u would get the support of the entire 5th batch. But, unfortunately, we had some "experiences" with certain other TAs that was not in the good light. I learnt a LOT in IIIT. The differentiating factor between me and my B.Tech buddies would definitely be IIIT.. I never said the quality of education was poor in IIIT. The comment abt research was made by Mandy, not me....
Regarding hostels etc, don't you feel that the current hostels that you've is better than what we had (even in the Sai gardens)?
Currently, yes. In Balaji... NO!
And as I said, the idea of the post was not to criticize or degrade the institute in any way. Just to point out that even the best of institutes have some shady areas....
:)
Vikkki
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Hey - Cool blog, nice layout! Checkout my free people search blog if you can.
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1) last i heard abt the nomenclature imbroglio.... its neither Indian nor International... we are moving towards the name of "IIIT-B".. so we better pray for our souls that nobody ask us, in future, why we had such a mind-numbingly confused administration in college!!
2) Awwwww... we had a lovely time at balaji, didnt we? :-)
3) and hey! TAs arent bad guys!! *looks endearingly... like a saint*
(psst.. i've been one for a year now! and never screwed anybody. never. one guy actually had the balls to talk to me extremely rudely. still, no harm done to the poor soul. see? TAs, these days, are good!)
4) well, i joined iiit-b because my HoD back in my engg college told me that a certain "prof" is a really great researcher and that i cud do some good work with him. only, he used the wrong verb. it shud really have been "was". :-)
5) well, u havent heard abt the "encounters of the Nth kind", eh? will tell u some stuff, in person, some time, abt our junies. ;-)
well, whaddya know, being in campus has its advantages. ;-)
6) and hey! u r right abt poking fun at our institute. if we dont do it, who will? i am even thinking of poking fun at the insti in front of the prospective 7th batchers when they come for the interviews! what say? :-)