Run Afoul

"These people in AIIMS are doing a commendable job. Their inspiring protest will certainly lead to some very fruitful results," an IITian spoke to his mate with his eyes fixed on the newspaper headlines. "Yes, they are. Why don't we carry out a similar protest? We should also raise our voice. Our voice must be heard. What say?' replied the other guy. "Indeed!"

Two months later, a student-faculty body spread leaflets all over IITD—in every hostel, in insti, on streets of IIT—everywhere. Students along with faculty members were asked if they protested reservation. The students who protested reservations were asked to write their names and entry numbers on papers distributed by the committee especially for this purpose. Overwhelming statistics of the surveillance was printed and distributed in IIT. Around 98% of students and 92% of faculty members protested reservations. Meanwhile, a date was fixed and students who protested this reservation policy in writing were asked to be a part of a peaceful rally to express their disagreement over it. Even the faculty members of different departments were asked to join this act. The organizers of this protest rally looked more than satisfied with the proceedings.

On the D-day--not very surprisingly--only a handful of students turned up. The number of faculty members present there huffed and puffed to go past the mark of a dozen. This handful of students and faculty members hopped to the doorsteps of each and every hostel to urge people inside to come out and be a part of it. But who can alter the ideas of those who always have some more important work to do? Most students ignored the cause citing one reason or the other. Some of the guys had to show their faces to their parents who can't live without seeing their wards every weekend, some of them had to rest their eyes laden with enormous amount of sleep, some of them had to write mock CAT papers while some had to prepare for PIs and GDs. The interesting part is that majority of the guys preparing for GDs must have debated over pros and cons of reservation and proposed peaceful protest as one of the steps against this policy. An irony!

But the most widely-used justification—if at all given--for the absence was—"Yaar, in sab se kuchh hota hai kya? Kuch nahin hone wala protest se. Aaj tak kuchh hua hai kya?" These kinds of explanations—-that are miles away from justifications--can leave anyone speechless. "But mate, no matter what the result is, we can always be satiated that we played our part against something we believe is not correct." "To hell with satisfaction!" No further comments, My Lord.

Next day, NDTV reports that a mob of around 600 IIT students and more than 100 IIT faculty members brought out a grand, avid protest against reservation policy. A reporter interviews a faculty member for a couple of minutes. The Times of India also produces similar huge statistics. People all over read that IIT eventually has started showing the power of its big student and faculty community.

"I didn't know that while I was sleeping yesterday morning, so many students and faculty members measured the length of streets in Delhi ," said someone in the reading room of Vindy after reading the article in The Times of India . "How much did they actually measure," asked his mate. Their giggles saturated the environment.

IIT continues to live up to the expectations of the outer world; and IITians to those of the inner world!! Nevertheless, they co-exist with harmony—-dubious harmony, though.