All of us have, at some point of our lives, asked ourselves that question, you know, ‘Wouldn’t it be awesome if I became a Doctor!!?’. And for whatever reasons that you chose to come to IIT instead, you might still have that thought at the back of your mind, ‘Would studying Medicine have been more…. fulfilling?’

But as we trundle along our everyday lives, we don’t really have much of an idea of what doctors and the healthcare industry in general are like, all we see are the doctors at the IIT hospital, or maybe our family physician. And whenever we do visit them, it’s usually for the same, mundane reasons: the odd bout of cough-and-cold, high fever or that mystery stomach-ache that prevents you from giving exams.

The other place you see doctors is, of course, T.V.. And from what you see, doctors are either hilarious (Scrubs), eccentric but brilliant (Dr. House) or just plain gorgeous (E.R.). And the overwhelming sense you get from watching all of these is that when things get really bad with a patient, no matter how frivolous the doctor’s persona on the show might be, every doctor instantly metamorphosises into the patient’s guardian angel, doing all that’s medically possible to save the patient. Comforting isn’t it? However it’s wise to remind ourselves that these shows primarily show the doctor’s perspective, and since they are the protagonists you are supposed to root for, the depiction of their conduct on the show is probably tweaked to boost TRP ratings.

Well then, here’s my story, from my own perspective i.e. the patient’s perspective.

IIT Hospital


I woke up earlier than usual that day. The pain had started in my abdomen, and it wasn’t the kind of pain you would use as an excuse to miss classes and stay in bed. It was the kind of pain which would make you literally roll on the floor writhing, make you shout and scream and vomit, make you try and tear your hair out and look out the window with the unpleasant thought of ending your misery, once and for all. But around 9:30, better sense prevailed and I forced myself to find my way to the IIT hospital, all the while slightly shocked at the slumbering apathy of my wing-mates (‘Fourth year hai yaar, sone de’).

I told the first doctor about my symptoms.

“You have an exam today? … Where’s your medical booklet?… You can’t forget these kind of things… I won’t make an application for you like this… Wait, are you really in pain?…. What did you eat last night?…. Really, it’s that bad?…. I think you should go to Emergency…”

“Must be gas… I have never seen such a violent case of gas… Nurse give him two of those painkiller injections… There, relax, your pain should subside in 45 mins… It’s just gas… You ate what?  You shouldn’t go to Sassi all the time… Oh, you get paranthas in your hostel now… See, gas….What’s the point of coming here in pain and getting treatment with no record to show for it?”

The pain did go away, because that’s what painkillers do, but something told me this bout of ‘gas’ could get a lot worse. So, within a few hours, I packed my bags and went home, in search of safer food and more loving care.

Government Hospital
The pain returned at about 3AM. My parents rushed me to the emergency ward of the nearest hospital. I went to the guy who looked like the boss among the doctors present there at that unearthly hour. He checked my stomach in the most disdainful manner possible, all the while furiously chewing gum, and came up with a solution but not quite a diagnosis.

“What did the first doctor tell you? Gas? Tell the nurse to give you this injection, and wait there for the next half hour and see if the pain subsides…”

As I waited and tried to wish my troubles away, I observed and took in what was possibly the strangest scene I had ever witnessed, the graveyard shift of a government hospital. Along with a despondent, chai-sipping huddle of doctors, there were security guards chatting up nurses and other karamcharis, bed-ridden patients whining in agony and shivering from the cold, a couple of stray dogs with the kindest eyes in the room and a particularly crazed woman singing classics like ‘Mera Joota Hai Japani’, “Doodh maangoge toh kheer denge, Kashmir maangoge…. “.

“Your pain hasn’t gone away? Here, now get this injection from the nurse, and wait for another half-hour…”

As I waited again, a old man’s body was brought in on a stretcher flanked by middle-aged man and his son, while a couple of grieving women waited outside. The boss doctor got into action rubbed the old corpse’s chest and checked the pulse and said:

“Aap inke kya lagte hain?… Brought dead hain jee… Yes I’ve tried everything, he’s dead, absolutely dead. Relax…. Inka certificate banvaate hain…”

After a while, with no improvement in my condition, I went back to him.

“You’re still here?… You know what, get this injection this time….. You’ll get sleep after this, go home and sleep it off…. probably just gas….. All I can say is it’s not Appendicitis….”

 Private Hospital A
The pain had only gotten worse after ‘sleeping it off’, so eventually my parents decided to admit me into Private Hospital A. After it became clear to the doctors there that although it was unclear what was happening to me, clearly something was seriously wrong. Serious enough that I was soon paid a visit by the resident head-surgeon, the calmest doctor I had met.

“Hmmm, you are having a lot of pain aren’t you….. Don’t worry, we’ll look into it…. No, I’m not sure what’s wrong with you… You haven’t passed stool in 4 days? Relax, it doesn’t matter, not going to toilet is never a problem (!!?)… You know what, I’ll refer you to the urologist…. Relax…”

And then I met Dr. X. He seemed a lot younger than everyone else I had met so far, with a wide grin which didn’t seem to befit the occasion.

“Hi dude, I’m Dr. X. I’ve been assigned to you, I’m a Consultant Urologist…”

A Consultant Doctor, a phrase perhaps designed to conjure up the idea, “Yeh doctor itna stud hai, ki woh consultant hai! Kya baat hai!”. But this guy wasn’t very reassuring, and he exuded a certain slimyness in his behaviour, which interestingly reminded me of a few people I knew. Perhaps these are traits universally required of anyone who calls himself a consultant.

He put on a pair of hand gloves. Now this looked bad. Before I could brace myself, he had done the deed.
“Let’s have a look here….. Hmmm, the rectum is empty…. Dude I don’t get it… We’ll do some more tests tomorrow to see if your other systems are okay, I personally don’t think there is anything wrong with your urinary system. Nurse, give him two injections of painkillers.”

And then he left somewhat dissatisfied after violating me with his finger. I tried to sleep the whole incident off.
The next day, after enduring an umpteen number scans and tests, Dr. X’s final diagnosis was pretty bad.
“Due to series of misdiagnoses, the so-far undetected kidney infection caused by a ureteric stone has become very serious and could destroy your right kidney. Due to many painkiller injections your digestive system has stopped functioning, we’ll have to fix that as well. We’ll have to operate immediately to save the kidney. There will be two pipes inserted, to drain the kidney and the bladder. Don’t worry, Relax, You will be fine and pain-free.”

Interestingly, Dr. X was possibly his most enthusiastic and chatty self on the day of the operation.

“So dude you go to IIT huh?… Which branch?….. Ohhh… Which year?…. Ohhhk. How nice. Nurse, Spinal Anaesthesia……..”

The week after the operation was possibly the worst of my life. Far from painless, I had two tubes coming out of my, how should I put it, urethra into two different bags. For that period of time I had to force my mind to treat all nursing staff like my own sisters, because the physiological manifestations of any impure thoughts were extremely painful. My parents were already getting worried about the financial costs of all of this, when  Dr. X cheerfully announced that I needed another operation.

“Dude, to totally eliminate your troubles, we will put a DJ Stent inside you, and then smash your stone with shock waves. Imagine what a rocking place your abdomen is with DJ Stent inside. Hehehe.”

Later, I looked this bit up. DJ means Double J. The Americans call it JJ. We in India are just way cooler.
Another operation, another load of money burnt, and I was discharged, because dude, I will be fine now.

Private Hospital B
Not so unexpectedly, the pain returned, with a vengeance and far more widespread than before. None of Dr. X’s oral medicines seemed to work, and my parents decided to admit me into private hospital B. I was told the urologist was rushing to the hospital from his home, when Dr. X called me up on my phone.

“Dude, what happened to you? I thought you would get admitted here in Hospital A. Is Dr. Y treating you there? Oh, he’s on the way is he? Arre he’s a good friend of mine, let me have a chat with him. Chillax… “

He had his chat with his friend, and the doctor who was rushing to meet me in the morning, decided he had better things to do and met me in the evening instead. He was slightly older than the last guy, but equally slimy.

“Hi, I’m Dr. Y, I’m a Consultant Urologist…” By now I’m beginning to hate that word, consultant.
He put me on stronger intravenous anti-biotics for a week, and then met me when it was time to do something about the stone.

“We don’t have the shock-wave machine here. Don’t worry I’ll coordinate the entire exercise with an external clinic. You’ll be fine.”
The only coordination I saw was when he came to collect his cut of the money we paid. I had to endure two sessions of mechanical bitch-slapping in the name of shock-wave therapy, and apparently my stone had been smashed.

“There’s only one operation left. Small, 5 minute operation. No Spinal Anaesthesia. We’ll remove the DJ Stent”. The party in my abdomen had to get over at some point.

Dr. Y was also at his most jovial self on the day of the operation.
“So IIT, how are you?… What year are you in?… It must be final year then… What’s Dual? Ohhhk… Nurse, give him General Anaesthesia….”
Within seconds I passed out. I briefly regained consciousness later, it seemed a lot more time than 5 minutes had passed.
“Hey you are awake….. The operation is over…. So, its Valentine’s day, made any plans for today?”
The nurses around me giggled and I passed out again.

Hours later, it was my parents who nearly fainted when they saw the bill for the “5-minute” operation. Apparently, and here’s the important part, Consultant Doctors tend to maximise the love and care they shower upon you, doing procedures you may or may not need, you see its a big deal for them to get a patient, because from what I figured hospitals hiring a doctor as a consultant is a method for them to cut overall operating costs.

Fortunately due to the happy coincidence of me being unemployed and something called CGHS, the Indian taxpayer will pay for the suffering and misery that I endured. My advice to you? Get a health insurance plan of about 1.5 lakh cover, and if you don’t want get into those hassles, employment in the Government of India is your true calling. And yes, do not reveal yourself to be from IIT, it makes doctors indecisive or worse, greedy.

Call me biased, but I think this is what deregulated capitalism does to healthcare. It’s no wonder that the Americans get so worked up about Obama-care or Romney-care. As for me, I am finally content with the line of work I have chosen. I don’t want to be in the position of being seen either as saviour from heaven or blood-sucking leech who feasts on the misfortune of his patients. I am happy seeing myself as just an engineer, doing whatever it is that engineers do after they leave IIT.

Mathew George

Two lights flash from the Main gate side. I clench my fist, raise it and point it in the opposite direction. The red Cadillac stops and I jump inside, “Thanks Arvind bhaiya” . The Neski dude speaks from a heavily gobbling mouth, “Maggi would take some time, muffin loge tab tak kya?”

“No yaar. All money finished on purchasing those hukka notes- 196 bucks whoa!”

“Hmmm. I guess you wouldn’t have spent that much on Xeroxing Ripu’s notes isn’t it! Ok, one Chocó muffin from my side, it’s my birthday today. But shush don’t tell it to anyone!”

Arvind presses a button near the Sony stereo set and pushes the muffin inside the popped out tray.

I thank him for the lift while he drops me near the constructing bridge, whilst he goes to see Mulana’s daughter at the shop.

The fat guard Saab is on duty tonight. I greet him, “How are you guard Saab?” But he just grunts and pulls the chain tying the two panthers to it. “Damn these donkeys. Keep on roaming around the campus; I have to do all the work. Wander about the campus with these cheetahs to ward them off. Earlier it was just dogs and monkeys. Heard one donkey came in someone’s room through the window, eh?”

Down at the hostel Ram is talking to some French girl. Ram is wearing a Shakespearean outfit with pointed shoes and silver bells. The cherry on his nose perfectly contrasts with the white face paint he has used. “Heya man she likes me now! She says I’ve changed now. Wow man she likes me, she likes me!!!”

Now he is sending an SMS to the French girl but somehow his mobile keeps flashing ‘sending failed’ I always told him to bring a new mobile phone from his Nigeria intern but instead he brought beetroots. “ the mess ones are duplicate”  So now he calls her up, but an American accent girl speaks up “Please check the number you’ve dialed” “Oye cut it up man, ISD call lag gai hai, jaldi kaat owe” he would have just ripped all his balance right now.

At 8 am the next morning, the professor orders the brown doggie sitting on the couched seat to latch the door, so that other dogs can’t come in. But he is too sleepy, so the guy next to the dog wakes him up. He latches it, wagging his tail dreamily and resumes his sleep.

“Okay boys so submit two liters of your blood, soaked on A4 sheets  by next week in my room. And don’t try to cheat by borrowing it from others; I’ll come to know immediately. Cheers!” he smacks the froth from his lips and raises his beer mug.

The minister is coming this evening so we rush to the toilet. “Gee man l love these pink naphthalene balls. Take away all the stink!”, giggles Golu displaying yellow masur dal  stained teeth towards me “Oh man I just love them”, he picks one up from the cubicle and raises his trophy. “Oh man how I wish ministers came here daily! Just smell the scent man, feel the aroma.” Golu pushes the marijuana inside his nose.

We rush to the site where the free t-shirts are being distributed. But we are slim trim kwashiorkor IITians and nearly got busted as we didn’t have any tickets. Thakur had got us inside, but now his phone was engaged. He’s a big man, so our small phones don’t catch him. So it’s plain luck that when we say, we are from Thakur’s hostel the guy gives us two t-shirts which we flash to the milling crowd. Golu picks me up and I give flying kisses to the masses.

But the food they had brought from Sunlights was not good. After the sixth sandwich our stomachs went bad and we had to rush towards sick bay. The doctor says, “Jump right in guys”

“Doctor we both have a bad….”

“Ah no worry my kids. Just take these all for four days, thrice a day and you’ll be fit as an IITian.”

Boy! He’s a mind reader. No need to tell him your disease too!

Outside the chemist. “How and when to eat this, Sir?”

“Just chew ‘em all up whenever you feel hungry and don’t have money for FX .”

Like Louis Pasteur and Pierre Curie we open up all the medicines and mix the red ones with the pink ones; keep the blue ones on one side, open the capsules and mix the yellow powder inside it in a water bottle.  We laugh hysterically.

“Cheers! Drink it up like French wine! Like they drink our blood daily from 8 to 5!”

“Psst” a hooded man in an overcoat looks sideways and notices no one has sighted him.

“How you feeling now boys?”

“Aw she gave us some pills-one was some Ranbaxy drug, the other was some hill road candy.”

“She just knows what you need. But I know what you want. Just sit here on the footpath and wait and think. Didn’t Mona warn you of this place? It’s so lovely that you can’t leave this, man. You just can’t get a foot outta here. Oh I just used to love this place when I was young. I loved it so much. I just loved to hate it.  Me and Mona had lots of fun here when we were younger. Now her lips have frozen and she’s cold. All one remembers of her is as a damn motionless smiley. I tell you boys, she also loved this place. As much as I do. We loved it. We love it. Thank god we are out of it. Oh how we passed those lovely years. Enjoy up these four years of your life guys. Hey none of you dullas na??(We shake our heads) ah so you have one year less to enjoy man.  Lucky ! Hey Mulana’s daughter got married eh? Sigh. One more good thing taken away. Anyways whenever you feel saddened or something, remember you got LAN man, you got LAN! So you sit here patiently and feel the air of this place. Oh I miss it so much. Wonder how I managed those four years. Thank god Mona was with me! And her smile. But you wait here and smirk. And feel the heavens ! The price of this air is priceless. Ah there’s no getting out of here boys, you can’t, it’s a trap they brought you in- just like a rat is incited by a bread in a mouse trap. So what was your bait guys? Ever wondered? Well don’t- because it’s a vicious cycle guys, you just love this place; you just love to hate it. It’s a labyrinth –muhahhah. You’ll never realize that you won’t ever come to go through these things twice- except perhaps when you see your smile! But can you make your smile as famous as hers eh??”

Bismark Singh

The elder scrolls is back with a bang. Following OBLIVION, a game still in its prime, TES’ new release SKYRIM takes you into the northern realm of Skyrim of Tamriel. After cyrodiil, the player finds himself in the engrossing world of snow laden mountains. The game retains most of its features from its predecessor, though there have been significant changes, primarily in the domain of companions and leveling up.

OBLIVION required the players to specialize initially in one trait, since leveling up was heavily dependent on which particular skill, e.g., destruction or conjuration have been the favorites. Skyrim has altered this mode of leveling with a much simpler version as found in most RPGs (role playing games) , i.e., one where the player can keep on dueling hand to hand, and still gain as much benefit in the domain of magic as melee. I personally find it to be a negative contributor to the game’s popularity rating. However, there has been a significant development as far as the graphics and general battles are concerned. With a decent configuration of a system (Intel core i3 or higher, 4GB Ram and 1GB graphics card) , you find the game’s quality reaching as high as the top selling first person shooters. The game dwells on a very rich story, the player being revealed as a dragon-born, believed to be born in millenniums, bestowed with the powers of the ancient dragons. Dragons are shown as god like creatures who initially had all the power but after a fierce duel for freedom their leader was locked away. Now they are back, and you are tasked to find out why, how and where do you fit in the story.

The player can at all times choose to ignore the main story line unlike popular RPGs like Dragon-Age and focus on the side quests, a trait TES is famous for, even in its previous releases. This feature allows the player to explore the entire realm without progressing with an iota of main quest. Also if the player wishes, he can build up relations with characters he finds, and some of them can be asked to join you in your journey. I find this particularly useful when exploring a cavern etc, since the amount of luggage that can be carried is limited and often encumbrance forces you to leave important, expensive or strong things behind. By having that extra space, a lot more can be accommodated, however the gameplay in terms of battle is more or less the same (except that your companion often targets a strong AI and gets killed), though equipping him with strong armor and swords could get you extra bonus against your opponents. Vampirism has been carried as such to the game with a newer competitor in lycanthropy, both competing against each other, and similar to Vampirism in Oblivion, coming with their own pros and cons. TES similar to its previous release allows the user to buy and sell horses, however, their build up into the game is not as good as expected. The player still has trouble in battles if he is riding a horse, and he must dismount. There has been introduction of armor but the inability to realize battles while riding horses take away crucial points from the game.

Coming to battles, the player now has the option of equipping spells and swords. Also the game’s new feature of powering up when both your hands equip same thing greatly enhances the number of options one has while fighting. The battles involving dragons are particularly a selling point of the game from my perspective for they bring out a totally new type of opponent. Another very important aspect of the game as I realized was thievery. You can be a noble of the city and still the most successful thief around. Pick pocketing, lock-picking all add to the fun of playing the game.  So now I conclude here, since revealing anymore would only be a spoiler and take away the real fun experienced while playing the game. According to me, it’s a must have for any RPG lover.

- Amit Garg

READING HABITS
Defying the popular “nerd” tag attached with us, the survey showed that most of us were not limited to just our textbooks when it came to reading. People usually prefer picking up a book at odd times. However a large percentage does keep some or the other text in hand always. When it comes to arranging books or other reading materials, most of us try to take the economic way out and go for sharing societies, libraries or friends. Internet (e-books, blogs and other websites), in-spite of its outburst into almost every area possible, remains a less favoured source to satisfy literary tastes. Though many of us reached out beyond the textbooks just for competitive exams like CAT,GRE, etc. , it was a relief to know that 70% of the people who took part in the poll read purely for enjoyment and as a hobby. Guess, that adds another dimension to IITs. A plethora of widely ranging interests were discovered when asked about the stuff that people preferred to read. Newspapers to fiction, academic publications to magazines like Vogue, Elle, etc. Almost everything found ample audience.
LAN Ban
LAN Ban was one of the most controversial things to happen in IIT this semester. When asked about what according to them were reasons behind this ban, 80% of the students consider that it is a measure by authorities to curb the late night activities in hostels and to help students devote more time to their academics. The nightlife in IIT can in no way be called passive and sometimes it is much more active so this reason has very strong ground beneath it. Though 90% of the LAN usage is for sharing movies, exam papers, etc., it is used for LAN Gaming also. But it is sad that 70% people are not aware of the current status of LAN Ban after the last SAC meeting. Whatever may be the reasons behind this decision, it is severely opposed by the students of IIT.
EXTRACURRICULAR V/S CGPA
The biggest dilemma that an IITian faces is the burning issue of extracurricular activities. A  study shows that in majority of the cases the CGPA has a positive correlation with the time devoted to academics for e.g. 80% of the people with an 8.5 CGPA and higher give at least 80% of the time to their academics. Students with a higher CGPA are generally well aware of the events taking place in the campus, but they deliberately choose to devote their time to academics. People with a moderate GPA are noticed to be more regular in participating in the events. But 75% of the students with a GPA of more than 7.5 do take part in a lot of extracurricular activities, thus the assumption that students cannot manage both extracurricular and academics has been proven to be statistically wrong!

-Anchit Gupta and Garima Chandel

Dr. Shashsi Mathur, Dean of students, informed us that “steps‘ve been taken in order to give a better participation in events to Girnar house as their Sports And Cultral Secretaries ‘ve been appointed and various Representatives will be elected from the next year.”
Rachit Gupta, general secretary SAC, told us that “ LAN ban will be soon dissolved on certain necessary conditions and accepts that the concern of the Director is justified to an extent.”
As far as BHM is considered the most important issue was the constructions that were continuing in various hostels in Shivalik, Vindhyachal, etc causing problems to residents of these hostels.  Dr. Shashi Mathur, president BHM, told us that he understands the problem with the constructions but due to certain problems with contracters this delay had occured. He assured that all such works will be very soon completed and all hostels will be well furnished. Dr. Mathur informed us that “new contracts have been made for the south Indian food in night mess of hostels”.
He also told us that during the high times of RENDEZVOUS 11 mess timings will be relaxed from 8:30 pm to 10:30 pm in every hostel.
Ankit Kumar, general secretary BHM, said that “every action will be taken so as to minimize the disturbance due to the construction activities.” He also quoted that “a regular check will be kept on night canteens running in various hostels so as to assure quality food in hostels.”
Talking to various hostelites we found that the response was satisfactory. Hrishikesh A Nair of Shivalik told us that “ he was very happy with the concept of night mess but has some concern with the hostel messing stuff. Overall he found the mess food to be hygienic.”
The meetings of SAC and BHM proved to be successful in terms of coordination , discussion and implementation.

Vishesh Jain

Alumni Response towards student initiatives

Amitabh Bagchi, currently professor in C.S.E. Department of IIT Delhi ,also an alumni of IIT Delhi, told us that they didn’t have such initiatives in their time, probably because they didn’t have the kind of out-of-the-box thinking that students have today.
According to him the most obvious benefit of such initiatives is that it improves the quality of the campus experience for students by serving certain needs. But, more importantly, it gives the people who start such initiatives valuable experience which will serve them well when they go out into the world and plan to start their own companies. The success of these initiatives will also spur other students to think of how to use their own talent and ingenuity to good ends. He thinks it is also important for the faculty to get involved and give their ideas on what kinds of initiatives can be taken.
His message to the students of IIT Delhi is “ The time you spend here is special because it is probably the only time you will be so completely surrounded by very capable people. Take advantage of that by getting together and doing things that can only be done when capable people synergise. Recognise the capabilities of others, don’t get carried away by things like good or bad GPA. Recognise your own capabilities and think about how you can act to best realize your own potential.”
Shailendra Singh passed out from IIT Delhi in 2004 as a student of Biochemical engineering and biotechnology. He is currently in Washington DC, USA working as a Scientist in Biotechnology firm.
When we interviewed him he told us that these things did not exist at that point but they did have some of these things (minor’s notes and question papers) available from seniors in paper form.
He believes that these initiatives are good as long as these are used in proper ethical sense. These sites should not be an excuse for not going to classrooms which are the most effective means of learning. These initiative should be add on to the learning curve. His message for the readers is “Never loose the independent thinking that is typical for IITians.”
As quoted by the famous spiritual leader Mahatma Gandhi; “Every worthwhile accomplishment, big or little, has its stages of drudgery and triumph – a beginning, a struggle and a victory”.And so are these Student Initiatives which will not only benefit the current students but will clearly serve as an inspiration and motivation for many young minds.

-Harshita Singh  and Neelu Choudhary

Meanwhile, A satellite built by students of IIT Kanpur, ‘Jugnu’, was launched with the latest version of India’s indigenous Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) by Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) from Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday 12 October 2011 . The satellite designed by a group of students and teachers from the institute in collaboration with scientists from the ISRO scientists is one of the smallest satellites built till date. Students, felt that they were given a golden opportunity to work on a project and got a chance to look at India’s space research programme closely. Two other nano-satellites from Luxemborg and SRM university, Chennai were also launched from the same vehicle.
IIT Guwahati also recently celebrated manthan, it’s annual inter-hostel cult competition. On a social note, Arpita Social Welfare Society, comprising students of IIT Guwahati, adopted two underprivileged girls of an orphanage here and resolved to bear the educational and other expenditures of Jyoti, 7, and Rabina, 10.For this, the IIT students will keep aside a part of their scholarship fees. The major share, however, will come from graduates working in the public sector and multinationals in India and elsewhere.
The 2011 edition of Empresario, the annual Business-plan competition of IIT, Kharagpur was help in September . Organised by the Entrepreneurship Cell of IIT Kharagpur, the competition was open to participants from across the globe under  various heads of social, product-based and service-based entries, from any category under the sun. The final few teams got a golden opportunity to pitch their ideas in front of some of India’s leading VCs and angel investors, during the Global Entrepreneurship Summit 2012, to be held at IIT Kharagpur.

On the other hand, a fourth year student of IIT Kharagpur, was found hanging in his hostel room on Tuesday evening. As reported, he was a brilliant student and had no problem with studies but was depressed for some reason, as said by his friends.
This is the second suicide at IIT-Kgp in three months. In July, a final year student of the metallurgy department had killed himself.
The central government has set up a task force to study stress levels among students on Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) campuses and find out what pushes them to commit suicide. When it met recently, the IIT council, which is the highest decision making body of the institute, concurred that the committee must be headed by a senior doctor, like the director of the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (Nimhans).

Yahoo! conducted it’s first indian HackU at the IIT Madras between September 15th and September 18th. The event was as hotly contested as the Chennai weather. Recently in September, A students network called S-Net has been initiated at the IIT-Madras and assigned the task of maintaining a sustainable campus. Professor Sudhir Chellarajan of IIT-Madras said this during the valedictory function of the Al Gore Sustainable Technology Venture Competition. The network, comprising students and teachers, will come up with initiatives and sustainable ideas to maintain the green cover in the campus. Speaking at the function, industry experts stressed on the need for sustainable development and the need to monitor one’s carbon footprint.
While around 600 students of IIT-Bombay got ill after having dinner at the hostel mess on 25th September. Hostel authorities said the Chinese food served for dinner might have caused food poisoning. The plan for making the food services inside the campus have already begun. Over the course of this semester and the next, all the familiar eateries in the institute will be given new avatars.

-Vibhav Sinha

Career Panel Discussion and Sectorial panel discussion among representatives from top companies of each sector are shared among students to sensitize them about the different possible career path, opportunities and exit options. T&P has made an online database of all the final year students’ resume accessible to the recruiting companies. It takes all possible measures to smoothen the whole process and arranging for appropriate infrastructures like auditoriums, interview and GD rooms etc. T&P is also conducting various workshops on topics like Interview preparation, Personality development, Resume making etc. The general feedback from the companies is that the IIT Delhi students are technically better as compared to other institutions. But they also believe that students lack in soft skills and are low on street smartness. Using these feedback T&P is trying to make students aware of the demands of the companies, so that they can prepare better.
However, T&P faces some problems during this process due to unawareness of students about the policies. Low attendance during interactions with company resulting in bad impression of IIT Delhi in terms of students’ interest in the company which may result in lesser number in final selection. Non-professional behavior of students while interacting with company or attending any selection process such as absenteeism and improper attires (tshirts, jeans, capris, sweat shirts, sleepers etc.).
Overall speaking T&P is working in a very smooth way to conduct the whole process of placements and internships.

-Vedant and Amol Mittal

Finally, the Academic Interaction Council has decided to cast itself into the headlines, this time breezing through with the winds of change. For the starters, the constitution of the AIC has taken a major overhaul.
The SAC was not in favor of formation of a new board, exclusively for co-curricular activities; hence the AIC General Secretary was advised to prepare a proposal to incorporate all co-curricular activities under the AIC. In the end, it was decided that the ‘Academic Interaction Council’ take up a new avatar by incorporating co-curricular activities under it also, rechristening it the Co-curricular and Academic Interaction Council(CAC). This includes FSAE, Entrepreneurial Development Cell and the Robotics and Technocracy clubs.  This has been authorized by the administration.  It has also been suggested that TRYST, the annual technology festival of IIT Delhi be organized by the individual bodies as a team effort under the aegis of the CAC.  Hence, look forward to better coordination amongst the various co-curricular bodies. “The inclusion of these bodies will lead to the institution of a better technical festival at IIT Delhi, which has sadly been lagging behind those of the other IITs. The various technical events will be better coordinated as a whole, not only during Tryst, but generally throughout the academic year as well.”, said Azeez Gupta, the general secretary of the AIC.
A major reorganization has also been proposed in the AIC to include UG and PG conveners as well as the major co-curricular bodies operating in IITD. A lot of interest has also been shown in the inclusion of PG representation in the co-curricular bodies. The revamped council is to be chaired by the Director, with Dean UGS and Dean PGS as Vice-Chairmen. Student representation will be headed by a General Secretary, with other student members including the SAC General Secretary. This can be hailed as a milestone by the AIC to grant students greater representation in academic bodies. An informal survey showed that the PG students who were aware of this were extremely enthusiastic about it. According to them, this program will promote a better atmosphere of interaction between the students enrolled in the UG and PG  programmes.
Suggestions have also been voiced for improving the droll feedback form that has to be filled out by every student in order to know their grades.  The Yes/No questions will be replaced by more prudent rating based questions as it will help determine the extent of the problem. The mid-term feedback form will be as detailed as the end-term feedback, considering that it is distributed at a crucial juncture of the course.
Of course, one of the common gripes that most of the students had was with the new course registration system. Designed by WIPRO, the system was slightly underdeveloped and a few technical snags led to a great deal of confusion at the start of the semester. However, a program of student evaluation was initiated and the kinks in the system were smoothened out.
Now for the good news, it has been proposed that the 2 minors be scrapped in favor of a single mid-term exam to encourage better projects and more creative work. It has also been suggested to initiate a pass-fail system in the first semester to acquaint freshers with the IITD academic format. Also, it has been suggested that basic courses be more branch-oriented, and other courses be included in the Basic Sciences courses that a department can insist for.
With these proposals in mind, one can expect a more creative environment at IIT, with fierce competition in co-curricular activities and rising focus on innovation and technology in academics.

-Faheem Shereef

Mentorship Review Committee:-
Another no-piffling initiative courtesy BSW, MRC stands out as one of the most efficient and widely respected BSW programs. This committee consists of 6 members all belonging to their 4th year in IIT. And there are also two professors Dr.G.S.Visweswaran  and  Dr.Nomesh Bolia standing sentinel over the committee. As Kasturi Behera, one of the MRC members locutes, MRC provides mentors not only to the first year students to help them in coming abreast with the strenuous iit system but it also arranges mentors from 4th year for 2nd yearites who have a CGPA < 6.5.Nipun also quips about how MRC is one step ahead all the time. Kasturi, rightly says putting forward the fact MRC has arranged for basic computer classes and English classes whose gelignite popularity last year made them continue it this year also. According to Nipun, MRC also ensures that first year students have enough interaction with clubs in hostels or public initiatives like SIFE along with academics and extra currics so that they are not in a huckster kind of job with a klaxon inviting a monochrome life after IIT but are efficient enough to be all rounders.

Speranza:-
The annual welfare youth festival of IITD under the BSW, as the G. Sec. of the board Nipun says, reached out to a larger section of people, students, citizens without letting them be inquisitive. Elucidating about Speranza, Nipun further talks about the crowd pulling events like MUN conference, Life skills including Fire Drill and Jeopardy that acted as a stimulant for the narmative public. He also detailed about the eminent personalities like Ex CBI Director Mr.Jogendar Singh, IBN 7 Chief Editor Ashutosh who attended the event and had an open interaction with the public, being pragmatic in their approach, dozing the paroxysm of the people with their clear liquidity in words. In short just as Nipun summed it up, the goal has always been reaching out to the people, not only IIT fraternity but also the audience outside.

Glimpse at the future:-
Buyoed at the unwavering response to BSWs impressive activities Nipun indubitably says that BSW is shortly going to organise interactive sessions with selected people at iitd with people ranging from different spheres of life, different groups of people[sic.]. He also promises non-spasmodic events in the future with lots of fun as BSW is now no longer recondite.

-Tejas Jaiswal