View from a professor's Inbox

There is a young professor (younger than me in biological years, I believe) in the Dept of CS&E, IIT Bombay, by the name of Soumen Chakravarty. I will not get into details of why he is a very interesting researcher --- I'll just focus on one of his observations, about students from all over writing to him:

Can't read but will apply [1]

If you find his views interesting, maybe you can check out more of his articles here:

Albert Pinto ko gussa kniu aata hai [2]

I feel sorry for people like Soumen. They are trapped in a world not of their own making, and must suffer. Most of them --- there are a very small minority --- suffer in silence. Some, like Soumen, have the ability to write, so they write what they feel. The larger world doesn't care, and as he shows so clearly about mails from students, it doesn't stop.

We live in a world where normal people Google for one-para-long answers to all questions, however complex. A "voracious reader" is someone who can read an entire Wikipedia page. Himesh Reshammiya/ Shakira/ Britney/etc are super-popular singers. Six-year-old boys and girls gyrate on TV dance programmes, imitating sexually suggestive gestures of movie stars, egged on by their own parents. People actually believe what they read in Eco Times and what they see in American network TV news channels.

Good taste. Good sense. Sensitivity. And plain old-fashioned intelligence. Such strange, anachronistic ideas. Does Soumen expect anyone to respect his writings? He's not even handsome or a crorepati, let alone a famous star.

And if you think Soumen's observations about students strange, weird or extreme, you should speak with some of our veterans in our company who have interviewed students who apply for jobs with Merce. Check with Vaibhav or Kishan. :)