Today’s News on the IITs and My Joblessness

It was interesting to read in today’s Indian Express that IITs are thinking of introducing courses on topics other than engineering and technology. Such topics (mostly at the initial stages) include, e.g., arts and performing arts at IITK, law at IITKGP, medicine at IITM, etc.

Since I am an IIT critic (esp. of those BTech IITians), let me you in on the other side of the story. All this news, really speaking, is yet another effort in brand-building for the IITs. (One of the editors of Indian Express is a BTech from IITKGP.)

You see, all these BTech IITians settled in the USA or making huge money in the USA have always gone hyper in describing the IITs. Facts seamlessly merged with fantasy in their descriptions. One remembers Silicon Valley tycoons such as Kanwal going to as much extent as saying that IITs were like MIT and Harvard put together. I am not sure if it was Kanwal (Rekhi) himself or whether it was Desh (Gururaj Deshpande, N. Murthy’s in-law), or Suhas (Patil, of, ahem, MIT) who said it. But someone of their ilk did.

Now, needless to add, that kind of hyper is, very obviously, utterly self-defeating. But if you keep that particular statement aside, there are many other statements, hyper, which did have an impact towards brand-building.

Don’t get me wrong. I am not taking something away from IITs. I am well aware of SPICMACAY and whatnots. I am also well aware that some IITians (less than 5%) often are into the things cultural.

But what I am saying is that there is this hyperbole about IITs. And that it is supported equally well by the Indian government—its bureaucracy—primarily because it lets them feel good about their (say, Nehtruvian) model of the mixed economy. As a result, IITians know—through direct experience of being pampered—that the government will support them. This has been going on. The support from bureacracy has only helped build the IIT “brand”.

All was going well… But then, reality interfered somewhere down the line.

Today, with India’s opening up of its economy, globalization the world over in general, and the Internet revolution, even a mediocre American can easily connect to, say, IIT Bombay’s Web site, get a sense of what is happening at its campus, and then, visit the Web sites of MIT and Harvard (individually), and get a sense of what is going on there, and then, compare the two for himself. You see, communication revolution works both ways.

Naturally, if what one supposes isn’t too wrong, falling flat on the face might not have been all too rare an occurrance for the BTech IITian in the USA—I mean after finishing claiming, for the n-th time, that IITs are better than MIT and Harvard put together. (How they don’t get plain tired!)

So, finally, someone must have woken up that something must be done towards supporting that hyperbolic “brand” building by some fact—even if that something is going to be purely a token something anyway.

Hence, the move.

And, if you have been alert about news about the IITs in the recent past or so, a few things are very easily noticeable about today’s news item in the Indian Express.

IIT Kanpur, really speaking, is inviting only Veena Sahasrabuddhe. And, her husband had been a professor of computer science at IIT Kanpur in the past anyway. But starting from this factual base, look at the terms they use: they are going to “bring Shantiniketan” [its atmosphere] to the IIT. … Don’t let the distance between the terms of describing the IITs and the actual facts surprise you too much… Such is their usual way. (I should know! I have myself attended a master’s at an IIT!!)

IIT Kharagpur is now emphasizing their education in law rather than medicine. This is not accidental. Only last week or so this IIT did some major PR exercise about their artificial heart group (medicine + engineering). However, it also happened to be same week in which a BTech IIT student lost his life prima facie because the hallowed IIT doing “cutting edge research in biomedical engineering” also lacked the most basic emergency services and the timely presence of a doctor to administer it. The young students therefore got so angry that they forced the director of the IIT to resign. … One tries not to be cynical, but still, going by one’s own experience over decades, one must ask: Would the director have to resign if the student to die was an MTech student? Or worse: An MSc student who did not go to that IIT as an “integrated” MSc student but only after doing his BSc at one of the universities in India? Will the BTech students at IITs be honest and do some soul introspection with reference to that question?

Anyway, inconvenient as this episode was, the IIT “brand” building brigade has now come forward and with just a sleight of hand, awarded the IIT Madras the leadership role in introducing medicine on campus in their newspaper coverage… Diversion of attention, this is called…

It’s not that I am envious or jealous of what all benefits are going to those IITs. No. (And I am very clear about this.) What I actually feel is a very mild (and transient) form of irritation, primarily. About that “brand” building exercise. That shameless PR thing about it. And what I find more seriously unacceptable is that, unfortunately, the sin does not all belong only to the alumni in the USA and the bureaucrats… As far as I know, even the BTech students themselves are responsible for it…

How else do you explain that, when I apply for the CAE jobs, I get asked the question: “Do you have any experience in the CAE field?” The question means: Forget the maturity of the engineering judgment that you might have developed. Forget the number of years that you have worked on the shop-floors as an application engineer fixing any number of engineering problems from diverse fields, and the number of years you have spent in the engineering research environment. Forget it all. The question is: Do you have practical experience? No? Then you can’t be considered.

If you think that line of thought to be fair enough (or the way of the world), then, consider this.

In the year 2002, as I began thoughts of pursuing my current PhD, I approached IIT Bombay. Professor Maiti (I suppose it was him in the HoD’s cabin) brushed me aside in the personal meeting. Later on, Professor Amarnath chaired the committee (supposedly so because he was HoD of Mech. dept.) saying that I could not admitted to their IIT. Note, I already had had my practical experience with me at that point of time. In 2002.

Since then, the 2002 batch BTech students of “Professors” Maiti and Amarnath and Shevare (see my earlier post on Zeus Numerix) have graduated. These BTech students have started getting independent contracts for work in FEM and CFD analysis. For many years now. So much so that today, they all can claim that they have seven years of experience. And doesn’t seven years look like a long enough a time! But remember, it is precisely the seven years in which I have been forced to go jobless. The IIT BTechs got their breaks even if they had no practical experience—not even the general experience building that crucial engineering judgment. They got it just because they were BTechs from IIT Bombay.

And, today, they (all of BTechs and most of MTechs) have become so arrogant that except for one Mr. Dharani Madala, not a single soul even responds by email if I write to them, responding to their job advertisements. For example, the BTech IITians at Alcyon (see here and here). or the BATU BTech + MTech IItians in the CFD field in Pune such as Sandip Jadhav et al (see here.) Some of them, I suppose, come from “backward” communities and “backward” regions like Marathwada and Aurangabad just as some of the Alcyon ones mentioned above…

And, of course, don’t make exception out of these people just because I happened to have named them individually. Most all BTechs of all IITs are like that. The exception count, for the IIT BTechs, would something like 1 % or so… I have run across hundreds of BTech IITians, but can count exceptions on the fingers of my hands. Indeed, let me. Right away… Here is the list them in the chronological order that I happened to have come across them in my life: Subhramsu Bhattacharyya, Pravin Dhole, James David, Parag Bhargava, Asok Chattopadhyaya, Prashant Navare, Sameer Jalnapurkar, Hemant Pathak. And, very probably, I have missed none else…. The point to note is that a list like this is this short.

So, what I am talking about Alcyon is not specific to them—it’s generally applicable to all BTech IITians… The only reason I mention Alcyon by name in particular is because: (i) They just happen to be the last company of BTech IITians to whom I happened to have sent my emails and job application. (ii) They had not even entered IITs (or started attending their pre-IIT coaching) by the time I had already had my practical work experience in the hard engineering field, not to mention my BE education at COEP and my first three firsts in the world anyway (which is something none of them can claim till date despite attending IIT Bombay and all). (iii) I am not old enough to be retired. This much is, of course, might be evident to you.

But in case you wonder why mention even such simple and straightforward facts as that I am not old to retire, the reason is, have seen BTech IITians raise even more petty and immature issues from their side, and respond in even worse ways when their position of being pampered and/or of authority gets disturbed. I mean it.

For example, I have seen Jaggi Ayyangar react the way he did (and do let me know if you want a detailed description of that). I have heard Shirish Deodhar, a VP of a big and reputed company and the son of the former Scientific Advisor to Rajeev Gandhi, lie to me through his teeth despite my having worked devotedly for his company in the past and despite the fact that he knew my worsening financial condition, could have helped, but didn’t. (His subordinate, a manager, had confirmed to me that they had several positions in MS technologies platform. Their Times of India ad. had asked for MS Technologies anyway. And, despite my interview, nothing had moved, so I had called Shirish. Shirish then gave me the reason that he can’t offer me job because: “We have all Linux projects currently.” and “You are doing great, Ajit, you are working on your PhD and all…” That is the level of petty lieing through the teeth that I mean about BTech IITians from IIT Bombay. They do so with the full knowledge that none would ever disturb their lies.) And, I have also seen Mr. Ashok Joshi, a claimed founder of C-DAC, accuse me of unjust things and then proceed and justify the worse among the worse software engineers he had, at my expense. And, I have seen Professor Shevare take the decision that he did. And, there are others, too…. This list, believe me, happens to be too long for me to even indicate adequately.

But anyway, coming back to the BTech class of 2002 of IIT Bombay and me… What can explain the gross injustice in this case—the fact that I don’t get anywhere in CAE despite my research results, the evidence I give of having implemented (at least a toy) FEM software, and my earlier eight years of work and research experience of the kind and quality it has been, whereas these fresh BTech IITians from IIT Bombay, despite having none of such things under their belt, still do, as a matter of fact, get their jobs and contracts in the CAE and FEM fields, not just in software development. (The matter is not justifiable even in the software field, but the stupid and/or immoral Americans have advertised it for too long that “computers” and software is all kids’ bastion).

So, coming back to my joblessness and the handsome growths of BTech IITians, esp. those from IIT Bombay… What can explain the gross injustice of this case if not the shameless feeding of that smirky sense of superiority of these BTech IITians by the all powerful Americans—IIT alumni and others? (And, if I am wrong in my analysis, why not drop me a well thought out line—the emphasis being on “well thought out”?)

I mean why is it that a fresh BTech gets to have at least a toy assignment even when he has no experience, whereas I don’t get my break? (And note, these assignments pay them, unlike Professors Shevare and Banerjee’s Zeus Numerix who didn’t bother paying me anything even after making promises that they would.) I mean to ask, what drives people to trust their engineering designs—and possibly human lives—in the immature hands so long as these hands are officially stamped with BTechs from the Nehruvian era IITs but not otherwise. You see, as far as the experience using software packages for a live project was concerned, the field was level—in the year 2002. As far development of engineering judgment was concerned, I, *evidently*, had (and perhaps still do) have an edge. By way of basic merit and talent and intelligence, I don’t care to say anything—after all, I still haven’t given up on my COEP-imbibed value of letting my work talk. And, COEP is not supposed to be a bad school either…. Clearly, I should be the winner. Clearly, Alcyon and other similar folks should be coming to me for a job. It is they who should have been trying to impress me with their talent. Clearly, this isn’t happening. Not only that, not even reverse is happening—Alcyon and other similar folks aren’t even bothering to respond to me. (By my work habits, and my morals, I would have. And I still do).

The above-mentioned difference is an injustice. And, IITians—professors and students and alumni, and in each of the preceding categories, those named as well as many folds more unnamed ones—are responsible for the mess that my life has been turned into. They all are responsible as much as are the morals-less and super-powerful Americans. (Even the COEP folks who could have helped but didn’t or don’t are. But they come at the third or the n-th position. Speaking objectively.)

[PS: One more point. Don't dismiss this piece of writing as IIT bashing. This is serious, and facts- and reason-based. And the final point. In my opinion, many of the non-IITians like the BEs from those numerous engineering colleges, as well as those unreasonably highly paid BCS graduates and all, are, as a general rule (allowing again for exceptions), worse than these BTech IITians. In terms of both talents as well as morals. After all, I have seen rich Americans (and others) shameless manipulate things in order to support incompetents regardless of whether they are IITians or not---and, the Indians delivering on all such things as requested of them regardless of the morals involved and regardless of whether they had attended an IIT or not.]

[BTW, this piece is not an attempt to divert your attention from what I have recently written about University of Pune in the recent past. You are in fact encouraged to read those posts too.]

[Written and published on March 29, 2009 IST.]

Immigration, Esp. to the USA

I. First of all, read the two excerpts mentioned below; both come from Americans:

(i) Today’s HBL highlights immigration (to the USA), but unlike Binswanger’s earlier article, today’s excerpt has a subtle shift of emphasis. Since today’s HBL excerpt is likely to go away in a day or two, I copy and paste it here… If it’s immoral and/or illegal, let me know and I will remove it (though I know that copyright laws do permit copying for “fair use” and that “fair use” includes quoting for criticism.)

“Way back when this crisis began, Caroline Jones noted in a post (Sept. 30) that opening up America to more immigration would solve the housing crisis. I then promoted that idea in some of my own posts. Yaron Brook picked it up and mentioned the idea in his inaugural speech at the Ayn Rand Center, calling it: “Buy a house, get a green card.” Last Tuesday, March 17th, the Wall Street Journal ran an op-ed defending this same idea. The authors of that op-ed didn’t use Dr. Brook’s memorable phrase, so I don’t know if they got it from him, directly or indirectly, but his phrase did appear as a headline in an online piece by John Mauldin: “Buy A Home, Get a Green Card: A Real Stimulus Package.” — Harry Binswanger”

(ii) Now, let us see a couple of lines taken from Michael J. Herd’s essay on immigration, published at CapMag.com on March 4, 2009:

“…Unfortunately, since the country is now part welfare state moochers and part productive people, you cannot guarantee that all those wanting to get into the country are self-responsible. Some are coming for the opportunity to stand on their own, and some are coming for the freebies…”

Access the full article here: “Immigration: Why the Debate Is Tragically Flawed”.

Concerning these two excerpts, I have the following comments to make:

(i) The reason Americans loved Carolyn Jones, Harry Binswanger, Yaron Brook et al’s idea is because by way of its emphasis it gives the impression that only rich immigrants would be allowed to enter, thereby helps consolidate the idea that only rich immigrants ought to be allowed to be entered into the USA. There is this subtle equation, as it were, which is being sought to be established between richness and morality, but in a subversive sort of a way. Today’s rich Americans indeed are, oftentimes, that immoral. This is America removed one physical century from: “Give me your poor…” But, in moral terms, the distance obviously is far bigger. I wonder whether Harry and Yaron realize this… (And, is this Carolyn the same as the one who teaches architecture at MIT?)

(ii) As to Michael J. Herd. You know that I am going to be worse with him. (Anyone who knows me could have guessed this much).

One very obvious implication (struck to me within the same few minutes that I read Michael’s article) was this: Since the country indeed is part moochers, it also loses its moral right to encourage the more productive people from other countries of the world, thereby stripping the other country of their supply of the productive men who sustained them, thereby driving them to the only course their evil dictators/powers-that-be are capable of—one of destruction. Michael’s article is a case against Americafollowing such a course of action primarily because it has lost the moral right to do so…

(I did promise you I would be worse towards Michael, didin’t I?)

Naturally, to return to one of my past themes, IIT Bombay BTechs in USA (e.g. Kanwal Rekhi and further down, e.g. Jaggi Ayyangar, etc.) also cannot have much moral right to show superiority to the rest of us (say BEs from COEP) working from/in India, right?

Now, come to think of it, 10-15 years is a relatively short period in the course of a country, and it was only in mid-1990’s that Kanwal Rekhi was visiting India, lecturing on, of all else, “Capitalism” (LOL!), and letting BTechs from IIT Bombay  (whether in India or in USA) “feel good”, distributing money to them, and so on…

Was all that money good, too, Michael? My conscience is just as sensitive in raising these questions as the timely insertion of  that article of the title “Nationalization Is Theft” at CapMag.com (and I do agree with the essential philosophical points of the latter, too) as soon as I mentioned something about NCP in my blog.

… And, if Michael (or anyone else) does say that all that money was good, my immediate next question is: Why does Kanwal Rekhi et al have tie-ups with the religious right such as (some of the) Kirloskars in Pune? Don’t take my word on it… Just check out that Peshwa Hindu Brahmin and Hindu etc. sort of a thing which has been going on on their Web site for the past 7 years (from 2001 to 2008, at least).

And, also consider: Why do I come to streets even with innovative PhD work like what I have done? Any answers, Americans caring for/against immigration?

Also, do you have any answers, Mr. Suhas Patil of Cirrus Logic? In those mid 1990s, also Mr. Patil had been quoted so extensively in Indian media that if one were to sincerely read all of those accounts in his praise, one would have actually turned dead simply out of the boredom of having to read and re-read the same inane writings concerning Mr. Patil’s remarks that doing a PhD is similar to entrepreneurship, and how it helped him become a better businessman, etc. All those quotes coming in a paper after another one, complete with a photograph of Mr. Patil shown wearing expensive trousers as used in the black dress, but without any jacket, and while wearing white sports shoes to go with those trousers. MIT’s Patil. Remarkably like the jet black hair and the unblemished white beard (or vice versa) of Sam Pitroda… I have not yet forgotten those photographs…

Obviously, none of Mr. Patil’s money has come my way any time during the past 7 years of my unemployment, and still, all his money is his own, and all of it is good, right, Americans?

There have been pieces of Ayn Rand’s own writings that tell about the infantile level of intellectual discourse in USA (in her times). One is reminded of that (I mean her writing).

And, sure enough, these are not among the things that have gone right, are they?

May many Americans (including those I have quoted) ought to feel a bit ashamed—at my circumstance. … It is high time that they did—if they had any sense of morality still left with them. … BXXXXXXs, playing games with everything of a foreigner’s life…

2. “All Politics Is Local”

Suresh (Kalmadi), you want to talk with an upper nose that only Congress supported immigration? Even now? And even if you know that I (sometimes) read your remarks?

See, if you want to get sympathy or votes from the likes of Sangita Tiwari, I couldn’t care less. (The last time I checked, they were calling North India their mother, and Pune, their aunty. No issues with that.

Except that, both times, they were evading, together with you, what and who has actually made Maharashtra so much the greater.

… So greater that today Marathi books outsale Hindi books (or any other Indian language books) despite Hindi occupying geographically 4-5 times greater area and having perhaps 3-4 times population, and always having weilded an all pervasive influence on Delhi’s politics—and therefore, of India.

… So greater that talented Karnataka doctors could immigrate here and settle down here comfortably too… Or is it that you want to debate that, too?—I mean, what and who made Maharashtra so much the greater, or the fact that Congress politicians like you routinely evade it? …

But anyway, in politics, Suresh, you (and Congress in general) could try to get votes from them… It all is a matter of your daily bread and butter. (Hindi: “tumhare roji roTi kaa sawaal hai woh.”) But why give it the subtle spins that only the Congress that is slavish to the High High High Command supports immigration? That is my question.

OK. Let me make something clear. I voted for Suresh Kalmadi the last time. If he gets a ticket, I will vote for him again. In fact, I will straightway vote any Congress candidate from Pune. Even a stone whitewashed and put up with a Gandhi cap will get my vote. (On second thoughts, even the Gandhi cap isn’t necessary—it doesn’t look all too good at the Filmfare ceremonies, right, Vilasrao?)

The reason I vote Congress in Pune is: it keeps BJP and communists away from the power at the center.

(Another—and actually a minor—part of the reason is, NCP has no candidate in Pune as per their seat-sharing agreement. I say minor, because picking out a good candidate is so easy provided there are no overarching issues complicating the matter… For instance: What would one do if AB Vajpayee of the yesteryears (of his vigorous younger years) were to contest from Pune? And, suppose, the opponent was, say, Suresh Kalmadi of todays, one who has done nothing in the last many years of his career apart from supporting the Congress High High High Command in each one of the latter’s games to undermine Sharad Pawar and keep him out of PMship, adopting any which way… Tough call, such a contest would have been—because the question so easily eggs one to go out of the context…. I will answere what my call would have been, later on…

For the time being, let me just say that that is not going to be the nature of choice in Pune this time round anyway, and,  yes, I would certainly vote Kalmadi if his High High High Command bestows on him a ticket regardless of whether he has earned one or not.

But simply because people like me go out and vote for Suresh, there is no reason if he begins to read something more into it and begins to act over-smartly. If he does, it would be time to cut him down to size. …

Suresh, never let the impression gain the grounds that only the Congress that is slavish to the High High High Command supports immigration. The simple fact is, this isn’t true. Just think of how accomodative common Indians are, and you will get your answer… (And none set me up write this. Go ahead and enquire discreetly, using your own channels. They all will confirm exactly the same as I am telling you here. The fact is, I simply don’t care enough for politics that I get interested in it often enough that anyone can find any use for me in practical politics enough that they can think of setting me up—including, esp., NCP.)

Update on March 21, 2009

1. The University of Pune, apparently, has finally begun taking some definitive steps towards actually conducting Ph.D. examination in my case, too.  …

… Well, as a student—or, rather, as the examinee—I am not supposed to know anything about this! But I have enough friends in Pune city that I came to know about it anyway!!…

And, do notice that by making this information public, I am only ensuring that I do not exercise any quality-compromising influence on my PhD examination from my own side. By bringing everything in the open, I am only rendering myself powerless to engage in any shady activities concerning my examination. … But sure, I do have a future to worry about, and so, I do enquire people if anything is moving forward concerning my over-overdue PhD examination or not.

Of course, the news still is entirely unofficial, and it will remain so forever—you see, the University of Pune has no mechanism whatsoever to let the student know about the progress/stallings/regress/subversion of the procedure meant to ensure timely and proper examination of the thesis he submits.

Once I got to know that the University of Pune officials would be taking some steps, I first postponed  suing them in the Consumer Court. Once the news came that they have actually acted (e.g. signed!), I cancelled the plan (to sue them), at least for the time being.

But still, it’s too early to say “cheers” or even “cheer up” for that matter… As far as my information goes, they (University of Pune) still have not yet contacted the potential examiners at all… So, the examination itself is still going to be months away. And that’s because, if my understanding of the process is right, the next (remaining) procedure consists of all of the following steps:

(i) The UoP will actually send the potential examiners a 10 page synopsis. And, that will happen by snail-mail, of course… What else did you think? “Paperless office,” “e-Governance,” and all such notions are just wishy-washy things that make a V/C or two feel good during their trips abroad or during their jaunts around the countryside in Rs. 22 Lakhs-a-piece cars here in India.

(When they are present in the city for a stretch of consecutive 45 days, attending to work in their office, then, of course, these Rs. 22 Lakhs-a-piece cars, sit completely idle, one would suppose. And, in any case, even with the busiest schedule, such cars do  not do more than 350-400 km per day—whether the cars cost Rs. 22 Lakhs a piece or Rs. 5 Lakhs.)

(ii) To continue with the “procedure:” The potential examiners, if they do receive that 10-pages Synopsis, will then go through it. They will then indicate in writing whether they would be interested in examining me or not. Note, they must again use paper.

And it must be the very right kind of a paper. This last is very important too. One major reason that my examination got delayed by as many as 8 months was because, apparently, my guide did not use a particular printed form of the University of Pune, and instead sent them a computer laser printout of the same information. The computer printout was signed by him, complete with his official stamp. But, since he did not use the University of Pune’s printed form (on that fragile acidic paper), they (UoP officials) refused to recognize even his signature and stamp. So, they simply sat on the matter for 8 months. They did not even bother to inform my guide about this—not even by the ubiquitous mobile or SMS. My contacting the V/C himself by email did not help either.

It is in light of this actual experience of this V/C and this University that I am not at all sure what they (people from V/C and downwards in hierarchy at UoP) are now going to do if an examiner informs them of his willingness to examine my thesis, but uses only email and does not use one of their printed forms.

… If you are a journalist working for Indian Express or Times of India feel free to ask pose this question to the honorable V/C.  Yes, Pune Mirror, who once used in their printed newspaper a photograph of COEP from my Web site without seeking my permission, may also feel free to ask the honorable V/C about a thing or two about the above—e.g. why it was that my email to him resulted only in a stern reminders of their authority, but did not result in any action towards appointment of an examination panel for my case—only delays. Needless to add, Sakal, Tanishka journalists and editors (and the “journalists” and “editors” at Yahoo! USA and Yahoo! India) also are free to raise the same questions to the honorable V/C.

(Not related to anything in this post here, but I might as well mention that more than once in the past I have wondered: Why must all our elected representatives, ministers and public officials be compulsorily described as “hon’ble”? Why can’t a single one of them be described as, say,  “des’ble”, short for “despicable”? Wouldn’t the latter be more proper?)

(iii) Anyway, continuing the story forward, if the reply of the potential examiner is a “yes,” then UoP will send them the full length thesis I submitted 1.5 years back.

(iv) The examiners will go through the thesis, make comments, and either fail the thesis or agree to examine me in a personal examination—the PhD Defense—because in their opinion the thesis was worth examining.

(v) The UoP will arrange, at their own “pace”, and as per the mutual convenience of the dates of all the examiners, the actual examination in Pune.

(vi) If the answer of the potential examiners is not a “yes” (simply because the potential examiner feels that he won’t be able to judge my thesis for whatever reason, including the famous reason that he does not “understand it” )  at the stage in the point (ii) above, then, this would require appointment of a new examiner…

But, since appointment of an examiner takes some initiative on the part of the University, therefore, this great UoP might once again sit pretty and do nothing for yet another 1.5 years.

The loop repeats until they find someone who has the minimum required brains (and not just some American Society’s honors) to understand what I have written in my thesis—which, in my opinion, is understandable by any final year undergraduate in engineering… But, since the examiners do have the freedom to say no, they often say “no” without in any way feeling guilty about it… (I know for a fact that such a thing routinely happens for professors employed by IIT Bombay—they routinely decline to be examiners, I have been told.)

The important point is, if the examiners say no, the UoP once again enters the loop, and thus, once again gets the opportunity to kill time around by not appointing the next set of potential examiners for yet another 1.5 years…. (Going by the actual process contents, this should not take anything more than 2 weeks, or at most one to 1.5 months even after factoring in holidays, staff absence, and all. But yes, UoP can easily take 1.5 years for it—if the examinee is someone like me.)

And so on…

(vii) Yet, from now on, I believe that UoP will work under the “threat” that I could actually go to the courts, and hence, I anticipate, will move their esteemed persons around at a somewhat faster pace.

2. I have a lot of comments as well as some updates and observations to make about many topics, including about the elections, including who should be projected as the PM candidate from the Congress+Allies. (You should know my answer on the last point.)  Guess I will postpone it all for the time being… Also, some points on science and engineering and all… Keep watching…

3. Apart from it all, one of the things I’ve really missed over the past 1.5 years is the PhD defenses of many candidates of UoP who actually were examined, apparently in a timely manner, including the defenses of those PhD students who were being personally supervised by the Director of BCUD Mr. Pandit Vidyasagar himself. …

A PhD defence is supposed to be a public event, and anyone is supposed to be allowed to question the candidate. The word “anyone,” here, is of course to be taken within reason. Formally, it is within the discretion of the Chairman of the particular Examination Panel that has been appointed to examine a particular PhD thesis. (The Examination Panel is separately appointed for each PhD student, and consists of the examiners who agree as per the procedure I spelt out in point no. 1 above.) But, usually, the Examination Panel certainly allows other PhD students to attend and ask questions.

Now  I suppose it wouldn’t have taken me more than one month or so to prepare some good questions to be asked to one of Mr. Pandit Vidyasagar’s students—Mr. Pandit Vidyasagar has graduated two PhD students in the recent past and without naming the names, I can say that at least the abstract of at least one graduate fails to impress me in any way. I could certainly also raise questions to Mr. Narendra Jadhav’s own PhD students, presuming, of course, that he has had any PhD students to guide at all.

But as I said, at least for the time being, any such a thing that I could have done is being kept aside…

But, yes, if the UoP further delays my process, sure, this also is one way in which I could bring the importance of my case to their notice—the necessity of having to conduct examination in a timely manner for me, too.

And, as far as I know, this all would be perfectly legal—including my posting of this comment. And, everything here of course goes only in the interests of ensuring high quality at the PhD examinations, too!

Needless to add, when it comes to my own case, I am fully confident of facing any rational query on my thesis at the time of my own PhD examination—provided it is at all held sometime in future…

But yes, UoP seems to be taking some steps now—even though they have taken 1.5 years for what should have been a matter of 1 to 1.5 months at the most.

… May be, the fact that I was neither a Dalit, nor a Brahmin, nor a guy from the Esteemed Marathwada Region very very dear to a certain High High High Command went against me.

…Or, may be, what went against me was that my research work really was believed to be of  good quality, and hence, my case could be roped in for use in the PR wars concerning USA–India relations, nuclear deal, and whatnot, who knows?

But, yes, in today’s world, such a thing is not only easily possible, but if my judgment is right, it actually does happen routinely, including in cases like mine.

[This post, first published on the afternoon of March 21, 2009, was expanded by me right on March 21, 2009 at 10:40 PM (all times in IST).]