The Personality Slaughter House - RAHUL
PRATAP
(May 2001)
Introductory Notes
1. May 2001
This article was written at a time when I was so utterly free, that I decided to summon old frustrations and vent them all over again. Or maybe that's a good excuse to ease the blame off myself for writing something quite so bitter and unforgiving, should anyone later brand it so. In any case, this article was spurred by the realisation that there's a lot of atrociousness in the system that I had been taking for granted. In particular, I felt disgusted at the words as they came out, when I related the variety of tales and anecdotes that constitute classical Ramaiah folklore - stories of oppression, cruelty and logic-screwed-up-a-thousand-times-over, and the occasional self-respecting bloke that slapped the teacher that seemed too insensitive. I realise I bring out the most savage hatred I could ever feel, to the extent that one could accuse me of stooping to the levels of those that I brand crude. But I guess we need the outlet every now and then, as I'm not so sure it helps to live two years dwelling on vengeance. I find myself getting slightly inconsistent with the advice I'd give to others, namely, you do have to give a little up for the sake of JEE, but that could just be the mindless partying and the desire to be at the forefront of insanity with the rest of the generation!
2. 3rd April 2003
Since about one and a half years after writing this article, it has been of renewed importance in my life, and to some extent has helped me feel quite important to society, though quite remotely. For that reason I cannot quite dismiss it as only an outlet any more. I am responsible for my opinions. Especially those expressed on a page which is among the highest ranked by Google for 'ramaiah iit', etc! Since December 2002, a variety of people have stumbled upon this article on the net and mailed me about it. I have replied to all of them - students currently in Ramaiah who feel suffocated and need the courage to leave; parents who are now warned against putting their children in the institute or any other institute that coaches for it (yes such institutes do indeed exist!); even some concerned relatives of students in other cities and towns across India who had plans of going all the way to Hyderabad to prepare for IITJEE. Yes, that's a lot of people to be answerable to for my opinions. But I do not intend to make any disclaimer and wash my hands of the whole thing, now that I am in IIT and loving it. I stand up for those opinions, and am more motivated to fight for a cause.
In about June or July 2001, this article was rejected by The Deccan Chronicle, Hyderabad's leading English daily. I am not surprised. It spoke too strongly against a figure which the Hyderabadi media had then been making its business to deify and worship. I'll say Hyderabad was the loser. I'll have them know that here in IIT Madras, I have interviewed the Director, and he calls people such as Ramaiah a disservice to education. I say that only those sensible people will agree with him, who understand what a person as qualified to comment on education as the Director of IIT Madras means by the word 'education'. Others will cry blasphemy. The IIT system is working to change JEE so that such institutes can no longer flourish. I hope they do something soon enough. I promise to shake the same Hyderabadi media again on my next trip to the city. I gain strength from the people who have mailed me. I can now claim that this article affects lives and decisions. It has to reach a wider audience.
This article was written with a purpose that I am glad so many people I do not know have helped me realise. It is a reflection upon the system of prevalent thoughts, beliefs, and practices in the city of Hyderabad, regarding preparation for IITJEE. And a call for change. A lot of people mailed me asking me to name the other 'human' institute that I owe my seat in IIT to. For long, though I personally mailed them back the name, I didn't think it necessary to put it in the article itself. This article was not written to advertise the other institute. But the public has a right to know and I owe them this information. I left Ramaiah to join Mega Study Circle (better known as Krishnamurthy). It is a pity that they still remain the second name in IITJEE coaching in Hyderabad. They so much deserve to be the first - for the people they are, and for their methods. I am eternally grateful to them. But I'm content keeping this in an introductory note and not in the main body of the article. As for the main article itself, I shall leave it forever unchanged, to speak for an eighteen-year-old's reflections.
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For a year now, I have been hearing from back home in Hyderabad, of the coverage that Ramaiah's coaching institute ('Ramaiah' henceforth) has been receiving, in print, and on television. It was probably because the first year in IIT Madras was too hectic that I didn't find the time to write, until now.
I made it to IIT, after (rather, in spite of) one year in Ramaiah, and a second year in an institute run by humans. It was mutual hatred, and unwillingness to be part of the Mad Hatter's party, that drove me to leave the institute after my first year. Yet, much as I hated it, I was always willing to concede that it had its results to boast of. But now, after coming to know people from Kota, Rajasthan, especially those from Bansal's institute (which, incidentally had nearly 600 of its students qualifying in JEE 2000, including AIRs 1,2,4,7 ), I have grounds to prove to the blinded Hyderabadis, that it doesn't take two years of gore to make it to IIT. From what I hear, the culture of Bansal's Institute is wonderful, and the teachers and students share a very special relationship.
Mr. Ramaiah, one of the saner people in the core, makes a lot of statements to encourage students to put half their lifetimes into preparation for IITJEE, and worse still, on behalf of his colleagues, justifies their methods. And there are more takers, or buyers every year. Probably 9000 tenth class passouts take the entrance exam to Ramaiah's coaching classes. This reflects that the people are willing to do anything, necessary or otherwise, to make it to IIT. It is probably all right if one makes it in the end - people I know have said, " It worked for me. I have no regrets." But anyone who doesn't would feel, I'm sure, nothing short of murderous. It's great that their results are so good, but the teachers should learn somehow, to shrug off the idea that they're doing their students a favour by running their institute like some Nazi concentration camp.
Mr. Madhusudan, crudeness personified, should learn to complement his virtues as a wonderful teacher, with some consideration, and compassion. The least he could do is treat parents with some respect. He had once branded me totally useless, 'unfit for even EAMCET' , with Mr. Koteshwara Rao seconding the opinion. If I could meet them now, I'd let them know how insufficiently human they are to even judge. Mr. Madhusudan once slammed the phone on my parents. I am boiling for a chance to be as nasty to them as they've been to my brother (three years my senior, he also left the institute after one year and joined the same other institute, and is going to pass out of IIT Madras this July), myself, and my parents. More suggestions, though, for these people to improve themselves: Mr. Koteshwara Rao, ego personified is amazing at his subject, but it would do him well to hack down the 100 storey pedestal that he places himself on. Mr. Surendranath, mediocrity personified, should realise that his Java applets are no compensation for one year lost in aimless chatter.
I speak so strongly, more out of bitterness, yes, but somewhere in there, is also concern for 15-year-olds who lose two years of their life when it is hardly needed that there be a sacrifice at all. Even among those who made it, and who I now see in IIT Madras, most are mentally scarred, and emotionally trampled and battered. It would take either the courage to quit Ramaiah (or not join it at all), or the rare resilience to survive it unscathed, to enter IIT like a normal student from any other place. I hope either students turn to other institutes, or Ramaiah itself rethinks its attitude, so that Hyderabad sends more confident and colourful students to the IITs. Some of the most talented and flamboyant people I've known in IIT Madras are top 50 rankers, from Madras and Bangalore. Hyderabadis can stop trashing their interests and hobbies in the name of JEE and Ramaiah.
In speaking against what has nearly become a cult, I realise I face the possible threat of ostracism and excommunication from my friends and circles, but the truth remains right in our face. It's up to us to want to notice it.
