I had promised myself to start this blog with a pensive post, the one I’m posting now. I didn’t really get about to writing it properly till today. Thanks to Pritha who kept nagging me and reminding me of my promise to myself. I have not gone into the details but share briefly the anguish and despair at the apathy that prevails. I do not know if I could have done anything to improve the situation. If I could have, and didn’t, I am as much a culprit as the ones I insinuate in this post.
A synopsis of various viewpoints
“She was a morphine addict.”
“No she wasn’t. She was under immense pain.”
“She never let anyone in on her secrets. She never shared. There were no prescriptions found.”
“She shared with me. I knew she had ovarian cists, possibly leading to cancer. She told me, and a few others, about her desires, ambitions, issues at home and everything else.”
“She had no prescription. She was faking it. Why weren’t her parents involved?”
“Her parents were involved. The doctors were the ones who didn’t want to operate on her at this (st)age. Issues of pregnancy later.”
“She didn’t take our help when we offered it. She was too arrogant.”
“She wasn’t. She liked to stay independent. It wasn’t pity that she sought. You offered her help, not friendship.”
“She never attended classes, lied at home, and didn’t even interact much with her batch mates.”
“She couldn’t attend classes because of her health. Whether she lied at home or not is not your concern, and something that cannot be determined anyway. Her interaction was limited to the girls’ hostel as she couldn’t go out a lot due to her physical weakness.”
Official intimation by the Director to the campus community – numerous emails and announcement at the beginning of the convocation (paraphrased)
Press release/interviews, talking about the worth of a student of IIT Kanpur, B.Tech. with a GRE score of 1560, an admission offer from Cornell (I think Cornell – the name is irrelevant), and calls from ALL the IIMs. (paraphrased)
Talking of ends, some bring respite, some melancholy, some longing, and some simply suck out every feeling, every desire, everything, leaving nothing but a hollowed feeling of emptiness, of helplessness and despair. That was how Toya’s end was. Most of us would have read about it in the newspapers. Toya Chatterjee was a final year student of my batch at IIT Kanpur who committed suicide on the eve of our convocation. I will not go into the reasons behind it. I have given a sneak preview into the various versions that were given to us by friends, professors, administrative officials, and co-students. There is too much speculation and hardly any consensus. We may never know the truth. The certainty with which people enumerate the reasons of her suicide irritates me. Hers was the 7th suicide in IITK in the past 3 years, and the first suicide by a girl in the history of IITK. It’s the frequency that bothers me as much as the fact that the administration is doing nothing about it as far as I know. Yes, they do take some apparently visible reformatory steps, but they’re all useless, tangential to the real problems that exist. I am not suggesting that those were the problems behind any of these suicides, but if we are trying to weed out problems, we might as well get rid of some real problems along the way.
What hurt me most is the attitude with which the administration at IITK received and projected the death of Toya. I knew she existed in the vicinity but didn’t ever get a chance to talk to her during my 4 years at IIT, yet I think of her as a real person. That’s not how they think of her. In all email notifications regarding her and in the official announcement at the beginning of the convocation, it was always ‘Toya Chatterjee, Roll No. *****, department **** was...’ She is a mere statistic for the institute, one more to the list. Every time in the two days I was there and thereafter, her name was suffixed by her roll number and department, which I found extremely annoying. With such gruesome suicides – she hung herself from the fan in her room while sitting on a chair, another one had lain on the railway tracks at the IIT gate and was beheaded by a train – I would think that they would take some personal interest in the students’ lives, not as administrators saving face of the institute but as humans, teachers, friends. Isn’t the extent of infliction of such pain upon themselves a statement of the fact that we need to change, doesn’t it feel like they are trying to convey a message by taking such drastic steps? Yes, it is a difficult task to bring about change in as big an institute as this, with ways as set as it has, with so many things that could be changed. But we need to make a start somewhere, sometime, and isn’t the effort worth it? It is an institute for the students and if they are not happy, and not just the ones committing suicide, then the entire purpose of the existence of the institute is lost. I couldn’t think of one reason why we shouldn’t start right now.
I sincerely hope that they will treat students like humans and not institute records to be filed away and milked for money as alumni. I don’t know how they will manage it with 4 more IITs being opened when even the land for those has not yet been finalized. IIT Rajasthan is being mentored by IIT Kanpur which means that its students will stay and study at IITK, stretching its already thin resources, and that, when it hasn’t yet been decided which city will be home to IIT Rajasthan. If political pressures, or aspirations, are going to take precedence over human lives, God save the premier institute of education in India.
22 comments:
What exactly do you want the institute to do in incidents such as this?
I wasn't saying that the institute should do something when the suicides occur. They should do something that they don't. Given the fact that there is a certain amount of academic load (unreasonable or not is a different issue), why is it that only IITK has seen so many suicides. We do not clearly know the reason for any of the suicides, we can only presume. The thing is, if it is because of academics, then the institute needs to look at the curriculum, its semester-wise distribution and the way grades are handled. If the suicides are for personal reasons, it isn't that students at other IITs are without personal issues, whether family matters or love issues or any other projected reason for suicide(s). In such a case, then, presumably, there is a problem with the whole residential setup where students don't feel comfortable for whatever reason. The interaction, between students, with faculty and otherwise, is non-existent, and if present, it isn't really helping.
Three of these seven suicides have been from our batch, and the others from junior batches, which seems to suggest that the problem lies with the B.Tech students in the past 3-4 years. What exactly has gone wrong, and how it should be dealt with is a matter that the authorities have to decide. Even those that I am unhappy with, if they would seriously intend to being about change, can and will come up with solutions better than I can ever provide.
All I expect is that if a suicide happens, the Director should not walk out of the scene in frustration saying that when he suggests reform, nobody accepts it, referring to the LAN ban, and saying that the LAN is responsible for a suicide, or for other forms of degradation. It plays a part, yes, but it is not the sole, or even the major reason behind the apathy. Infinite times have people like Suchitra ma'am, Harish Karnick, Rahul Varman and the group tried to incorporate changes and bring about a positive difference, but they have always been sidelined or ignored. I talked to Dr. Karnick for a long time on the issue of the course curriculum, particularly in the first two semesters and he said he had been lobbying for specific changes in syllabus for the past few years, to no avail.
I want the institute to take these people with genuine concern seriously, and adopt a more open, welcoming stance to students. I don't see this as an institute for students anymore. They seem incidental to the whole process. Since it is an institute and there are teachers, they conduct JEE and take in students, and since they take them, they have to teach them, grade them and award them degrees. It isn't a place to learn, just to earn a brand name - of the institute for students, and of the alumni's associations and successes for the institute.
Good post. I don't foresee Govt people really doing anything (as is characteristic of them), however being a passout from IITK myself , I really think that the kids should be talked to and told it's ok to fail in life once a while. You don't have to kill yourself for it. There are so many people that just miserably fail but don't give up, it's part of the learning process. Why do you take it to heart so badly? :(.
Read it. I don't know what to say. There is so much mist around and I don't believe anyone and there are things I don't want to believe. All I hope is that there will be changes is relevant quarters and that future will be good. That we will be more than roll numbers and alumni I-cards and 100000 dollar checks. That IITK will not slump down the slope, that it will soar. I don't know man, I guess it's a fool's hope. At a place where those supposed to forge mission think only about constructing yet another building and yet another fence one can't hope for much. I changed to dual for this place. I think...leave it, I don't know what I think.
Just couldn't but comment.
Karthick
Yes, true. I agree that they should be taught that it is okay to fail in life, not just once or twice, but even over and over again. The problem is that instead of being taught that, they are also being blamed for their failures.
And I take it to heart because I witnessed 7 suicides during my stay at IITK. I never really talked about them to anyone there, but it hurts. The people who died, I think they took the easy way out, and I don't really empathize with them, but I also know so many more who choose to live but suffer because of the decisions that the administration takes - even apparently successful people. It is not about success or failure (although in another newspaper report, IIT Kanpur blames students talking regularly to their families on cellphone as the prime reason for suicides!) but about how they are perceived.
Arvind
I know your thoughts, I understand. I can only repeat what I've said. There is hope because there are people with the right intentions still. Frankly, and very openly, this Director has to go first. It is not playing blame games and blaming the highest authority for the follies. I won;t even claim that it was his fault. It is just that his priorities and his aims are different from what IITK needs right now. Maybe he is too close to see the entire picture, maybe he's just a different person, but we need someone else, someone more proactive in a different direction.
I know the comment comes way too late but nevertheless I will be shameless to post the comment hoping that it is better late than never.
One thing that is never probably emphasized in many institutes (india and around the world - cant vouch for the world part though) is that successful people are not those who have never failed in life. They are those who have seen lot of failures but know how to overcome them.
Besides, I think the curriculum should have more flexibility. I am not saying that give absolute freedom to choose whatever one wants but then many of the courses we are made to do during our first year / second year have nothing to do in what we major in or nothing to do with our respective interests. In this situation, forcing something down the throat can only result in hostility for the particular subject and in general the system. I am not saying that US universities should be a role model but as much as universities in the US can take a leaf out of the rigor with which things are done in IITs, so should the IITs regarding some amount of flexibility that might be introduced in the curriculum.
Last but not the least, I wont read too much into a newspaper report. I can personally vouch for the thing that what a newspaper reports and what is being told to them has negligible correlation.
~~Anindya
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The author of knatews.blogspot.com has written an excellent article. You have made your point and there is not much to argue about. It is like the following universal truth that you can not argue with: The death rate of non-smokers to smokers is 100% Thanks for the info.
knatews.blogspot.com is the best. Thank your for this article. I enjoyed it very much.
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This is the kind of thing I try to teach people. Can I expect a sequel?
I'm glad you said that =D
Fondest Regards
Lauren
Is it possible to contact administration?
By the way, anybody home?!
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