A junior of mine was telling me about the time when he recently hung around with some alumni. He was kinda surprised that the alumni had received him so well.
I wondered as to why should it be a matter of surprise to any IIITian that an alumnus is welcoming him, and asked him why he thought so.
“Ab sir, yehi hai na, mein koi neta toh hoon nahi…” (“The thing is sir, I’m not a neta…”)
I looked at him for some time, trying to gauge whether the words that had come out were the cover-up of a frustrated sour-grapes-wannabe loser or the expression of a feeling genuinely harbored in the past.
I’ve known some people who remained at the forefront of extra-curricular activities in recent years. And yes, I do think for some of them that they thought that that made them belong to some elite class. But I’d also always thought that these people were the only ones who thought so. That even one guy not from the so-called ‘elite’ class has notions of the ‘eliteness’ of an elite class points to a problem. And this is entirely new for me.
I can hardly solve the problem, if there exists any such. And examining this issue in detail is something that I think I’m least qualified to do. I can only say this much to my juniors.
That you need NOT be a neta to expect a warm welcome from me when I am no longer a student of this institute. Or now, when I am leading a fairly active campus life in my fourth year. A knock on the door and some good manners will do just fine.
And that this also holds true at least for all my friends who are studying in or have passed out from IIIT.
September 14, 2008 at 10:28 pm
touche!
September 14, 2008 at 11:00 pm
Varun, you’re an Angrez, but not all of us. I had to look up your comment in the dictionary. Please use language which we can at least understand
For those uninitiated like myself, Varun’s comment, as I understand it, means something like “Point well made.”
September 14, 2008 at 11:17 pm
is it possible u r reading too much into an inane comment?
a 2nd yr iiitian wud tend to be overawed by well-known alumni abt whom he must hav heard quite a bit abt .. and when such an alumnus interacts with him like a friend (which is how most wud), it can be a ‘wow’ experience to the guy …. irrespective of whether the guy is from a so called self-considered elite
September 14, 2008 at 11:35 pm
I wish this is the case here!
September 14, 2008 at 11:55 pm
Well, you should have told him that the fact that he is in IIIT, doesn’t makes him just “anyone”…
Anyway, I think the effect will be more pronounced when he will actually put his acts into action after College.
September 15, 2008 at 2:24 am
please dont flatter varun. he misused the word “touche”. its not used to denote just any well made point but only those points which were made as responses or comebacks. its origin is in fencing. the ref in fencing calls out touche when a hit is made on the opponent. from there it was borrowed in debating and then started being used widely.
neways nice post but i think the guy is just trying to cover up for being too shy to speak to the alum. i just find it incredulous that not being a neta is perceived in such a way that too in a place like iiit.
September 15, 2008 at 2:54 am
@sreekanth
touche!
do i get a medal now?
September 15, 2008 at 9:31 am
Well…I think that’s an unsaid , but very well existing thing in IIIT. Some people do feel that not being a neta is equivalent to being a “Mr. Nobody” in the college.
Well.. It happens, but people eventually realize that not being in the “happening lot” of the college is not such a bad thing. Just treasure your individuality and don’t get blown away by what other people do.
September 15, 2008 at 9:34 am
Nice post!
I draws our attention towards the fact that we do respect on the basis of differentiation and not on the basis of the fact that other person is also human. If I have something unique in me then I feel respected, confident, otherwise not.
We see ourselves through the eyes of others.
September 15, 2008 at 10:48 am
Posted on similar topic in my blog, “What is the basis of our confidence?”. It can be found here, http://devanshmittal.wordpress.com/
September 15, 2008 at 5:09 pm
Vivek, very true. I hope some juniors read this post and some stereotypes get quashed.
Sreekanth, even I was incredulous when I came across it.
Badri, some hunger you have. Even after winning so many prizes in IIIT, you still want a medal. And that too from Samba!
Varun and everyone else including myself, this is how Samba cracked CAT and Badri sweeps the lit events every year.
Nishant, I hope this bug is not too common among the IIITians.
Devansh, thanks for the compliment. And a very thought-provoking post, indeed. Everyone must have some exposure to these ideas in some form or the other.
Thanks people, keep dropping by with your valuable ideas. And to you and all the juniors, and as is the moral of the story, Come As You Are
September 15, 2008 at 10:08 pm
puhlease, lol, puhlease
September 15, 2008 at 11:59 pm
“Every Alumnus was once a student”
A current student would hardly miss the IIIT days or fellow students (batch mates, seniors, juniors) but an Alumnus would
.. should suffice for the warm reception.
Isnt IIIT in India anymore
Who loves Netas anyway? A Neta would always have few friends on the contrary .. surprised by the belief that they would be welcomed.
September 16, 2008 at 4:58 am
i think your post itself have the answer for the question raised by it.you accepts that on listening to that guy the first thought in your mind was “whether the words that had come out were the cover-up of a frustrated sour-grapes-wannabe loser”,
.
so what kind of loser do you think he is if he is not a “neta”??
don’t it shows somewhere deep in your unconscious you (or may be many of us!) also think in the same way as “some of them who thought that that made them belong to some elite class.”
Well I hope maximum of janta at IIIT have the thinking like those alum with whom your junior hung out and let us hope that everyone continues the tradition
and yeah I agree completely to nishant , that not being in the “happening lot” of the college is not such a bad thing. Just treasure your individuality nd don’t get blown away by what other people do.:)
September 16, 2008 at 8:25 am
Finally some junior spoke up!
Dear Abhimanyu, not being a neta doesn’t necessarily make one a loser. But not being a neta and then THINKING that you’re smaller than the netas, that you have less right than the netas to hang around with alumni… well. That does make you a loser. And that, I was hoping isn’t the kind of person the guy in question is.
I’m glad you took this up. And further gladdened by the last line. I hope some more people from the junior batches speak up, too.
September 16, 2008 at 10:00 am
nice
September 16, 2008 at 10:54 am
Blown out of proportion (like everything else in this world
)
September 16, 2008 at 4:11 pm
ORB, thank you
Sanyam, I’d just say that a neta is like any other guy. He needn’t have fewer friends. And the IIIT netas, at least of the 2 batches I know best (My seniors’ and mine), I found to be lovable people whom everybody would like to be friends with.
Agree with your other statements. Hope many more people have read those lines
Vernon, thank you
Rahul, don’t agree with the statement written in parenthesis, but then it’s just me. And I really do hope that I blew a small instance out of proportion, but at least one of the comments here testifies to otherwise.