Well, I have joined IIIT Delhi… The first batch of this soon-to-be great institute of technology in the heart of the city. Its on similar lines to the highly successful IIIT – Hyderabad (Not on the models of IIIT Ahemdabad). But, since the Delhi Govt. decided to name it INDRAPRASTHA INST OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY and not INTERNATIONAL INST OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, people are thinking that its affiliated to INDRAPRASTHA UNIVERSITY, Delhi which is not such a prestigious name in technical education.
Due to this fact, and more that this is the very first year of the institute and there are no placement stats or rankings available about it, the people are very doubtful about even the authenticity of the institute, let alone its future success. And this is very sad. The Director, respected professor Pankaj Jalote, whose name needs no introduction to people who matter, had to reassure the parents attending counselling that it was worth joining.
People also made a very big issue of the lack of UGC and AICTE recognition of the institute, which is not important as its a state university fully allowed to grant its own degrees like DU or IITs. Professor Jalote had to bear with all the non-believers’ relentless queries, and he did so very humbly. Despite the fact that it is starting in NSIT(Netaji Subhash Institute of Technology) which is also a Govt. institute and the most prestigious in Delhi (Except IIT), people even linked the institute to the gas pipeline suppliers Indraprastha Gas Limited.
So, what is the people’s problem? Isnt “Indraprastha” a word worthy of good vibes? Indraprastha was what Delhi was called earlier and thus its the best name to have for a IIIT Delhi, but people think “International” was a much better word to use. Why? Coz its an English word? Maybe yes, or maybe coz there is the Indraprastha University(IPU) which has a sort of lesser reputation.
To top this confusion, professort Jalote also said very honestly that the campus isnt about to be bulit up before 2 years atleast, there is 0 faculty owned by the institute and the schedule will be very off hours. People doubted even more, and they doubt it even today, even though the people at NSIT acknowledge that this institute will grow good and fast.
But there are people who arent blind enough to let this opportunity slip and we have people leaving top IP colleges, NIT Kurukshetra andother quite okay institutes to join IIIT Delhi. Some of them joined it just to be in their city, but some have faith that this will prove to be a smart choice after these 4 years.
Yes, our schedule is crazy, with 7 hours of time to kill between classes; Yes, we dont have our own professors; Yes, we dont have our own campus; but who cares? We have got plenty to do in the 7 hours; We have got top professors from NSIT and IIT DELHI willing and teaching us, so we have better faculty than any other Delhi college, period. We have got whatever we need inside the NSIT campus itself, and in India, a little bit of adjustement has to be done anywhere.
Even after pointing out these facts, combined with the stature of the people in responsibility of the institute, people still dont believe. My own maternal uncle says, “Dekh Lo, Kahi baad me achanak ye naa bol de ki ye sab to film ki shooting chal rahi thi there was no such thing as IIIT here” And what can I say? I have got nothing to prove my point and my faith. Mind you, this faith isnt just blind faith, its a firm belief based on my logical reasoning and that of people who have been in the field of technical education for years more than I have lived, and those who have seen the IITs shape up.
So, for all fellow IIITians, do not panic or worry when people doubt our institute. When any great scientist proposed that something could be done, people laughed at them, and declared them mad but when they showed the results they bowed and saluted them. This is the case, the mouths of the non-believers wont shut until we smack the stats after 4 years on their sorry faces!! So, we just have to do our best and make IIIT-D a proud institute, the BEST in Delhi and then in India and take our righteous revenge! So, with this great dream, LETS ROCK GUYZ!
GG's Empire 