To be true, it should not be referred to as the Foreign Internship ban at the first place. What the new rule says is that, from now on, the credited internship that most of the B.Techs and Dual Degree students do after the end of their third year, should be done only in respective core industry in India. That effectively rules out any possibility for a student to apply to a foreign Univ for any kind of summer project whatsoever. And this implication of the new rule is what’s bothering loads of students who are totally frustrated by such a stand from the authorities out here who take pride in avoiding any kind of discussion with the students.
I have a question (or rather a couple of questions) to ask to all those who had a hand in coming up with this new rule: Don’t you have the guts to come out in open and carry forward a discussion? Are you like afraid that you will never be able to win if a debate is triggered? Are the students, non-human fools with no brains to understand what you have to say? Or, is it only your ego that prevents you from accepting the fact that something like this deserves a fair discussion?
When I was a kid, dad used to tell me stories of kings, queens and their sons and daughters and the the country which these folks ruled. And almost in all the stories, the bad kings where those who forced the subjects to respect them while the good ones were those managed to win respect by winning the heart of every common man. Dear ‘few good men’, didn’t you ever read or hear about such stories? Or you did, but you decided you would prefer being bad over good any day?
Why do you guys live in the false illusion that you are the only ones who know what’s good and what’s bad? Even if you actually knew, why do you have to avoid putting your points right on our face, by facing us? Just because it will end up consuming a little time from your extremely tight schedule? Or just because there is no rule which states that you need to discuss it with us, the students?
I could have gone ahead and put points about advantages and disadvantages of such a rule. But tell me, what’s the point? What’s the whole logic of discussing when no one who can really bring about a change, is willing to shun his/her ego and include us in the participation? I prefer being opinion-less.
16 replies on “My opinion-less post on the Foreign Internship ban at IIT Madras”
abe wat debate or a discussion are u talking about da ….. if the IIT admin takes any nationalist moves like these …. i don think there is much we should say ….. if guys came to IIT with a dream to travel to foriegn countries , its ok . but they shud not cry foul if they are not allowed to. we should remeber that IIT was not built their ancestors , for them to enjoy all it offers and then romp off to US or europe…. how will u debate IIT admin da ….. its not them u will be debating … it will be a billion strong population who are payin for ur foreign trip…… ur attacks on the admin is kinda childish as for ur example ….
the stories assume the subjects to be perfect in their decision making …. can u say the about the drunken masses in IIT [:D]
P.S : of which i was a part too !!!!!
“respective Core industry”. Agreed. “in India”. Ridiculous.
Though, “respective core industry” is good enough to stop all the so called foreign “internships”, which are mostly research oriented and are not “interns” in the true meaning of the term.
@Constantine
The only point of the post is to get one message across: if students are included in the process of key decisions such as this, the final decision that’s taken will keep more junta satisfied.
By the way, most of the times, if you make a foreign trip for an internship in a Univ, that particular Univ bears the expense, not the billion strong population.
@Myndfcukd
The whole idea could be good. Could be bad. I have a personal opinion and every one else could have his/her opinions. The only thing that bothers me is that these opinions were never taken into consideration when framing such a rule.
In fact, if you ask me, I don’t mind the new rule at all. I know that there are ample number of Civil Infrastructural companies which are more than willing to hire me as internee. But that’s not the point. Not everyone will think like me. Why force a rule without considering all point of views? This is something which needs a thinking.
Good lord, this is horrendous. I hope you guys at IITM don’t bend down to this stupid rule.
And meanwhile in IIT Delhi, the ‘authorities’ are trying to block out sites like orkut so that students only use the internet for ‘academic pursuits’.
You know it never ceases to surprise me how all of us in this great nation continue to be treated like small children who can never for themselves decide what they want to do with their lives, what is right and what is wrong. So much for freedom.
That is stupid. Only during my exchange student at Sweden did I realize what fun it was to study in Europe. It is an experience which I think IIT should not deny you guys…
Students should be allowed to go to foriegn universities for summer courses .Like Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore said-
Where the mind is without fear the head is held high
Where the knowledge is free where the world has not been broken into fragments by narrow domestic walls
into that heaven of freedom
My Father let my country awake
Tagore’s poem is apt and succint let the IIT faculty follow his poem
@Sahil, Sagaro, Raman
Your comments are valuable. And every one who has read this post and followed the comments for far should be able to realize that when on one hand, most students have valid reasons to be upset over a gross rule like this, some of them do believe it’s justified to certain extent.
If any faculty is reading this by any chance, I hope it helped changing your opinion that we, the students, aren’t dumb or biased in our views without any reasoning. We are worthy enough to be treated like responsible adults and our say needs an ear from your side. The final decision will always be yours, but please, for heaven’s sake, have a little less ego. We learn a lot from you guys. Try learning a thing or two from us too. You won’t regret.
Point well noted!
I will do my best to get this changed. In fact, the dialogue has already begun.
@Caesar
Nice to hear that some kind of dialogue has begun.
Hmm..tyranny rules! I agree wholeheartedly. The tyranny goes beyond IIT as well…its flourishing in BITS as well. I guess we have to wait till these shackles r broken n we r free at last! 😀
@FOL
Don’t wait for the shackles to be broken. Go, break them. Set yourself free.
@ above comment. *SIGH!*
@Myndfcukd
😛
Hi guys,
Interesting blog. I passed out from IITM in 2006, and below is what I found being discussed in Alumni circle . From this , it appears that ban is on Research Internship and not Foreign Internship.wat say ?
[Sriram is Prof. in Aero, IITM ]
………………………………………
Sriram
> Can you enlighten us oldies on the requirement for this internship for
> B.Tech students
>
> 1- is this to be done during summer vacation ?
yes
> 2- Is this compulsory and is the work graded. ?
yes and yes; it carries 2 credits
> 3- If I have a nephew doing his B tech why can he not do his internship in
> Sydney if I can assist ?
he can; since it will be against the new rules, he will have to apply for
an exception. if he can make a case that it really is industrial training,
the exception will be made. see the next response also.
> 4- a few bad apples does not mean that all those who go abroad are bludgers
> going on a holiday ?
yes, true. all that the rule really means is that the default answer now
is no (changed from the previous yes) for an internship abroad.
> 5- How effective and good is the level of intership in India
variable. there are some good ones and there are some bad ones. the bad
ones are eased out of the scheme.
> 6- Is it easy to get internship in Indian industries ?
yes. this is actually mediated by the institute. we have committments from
the cii and such bodies and it is working out reasonably well. not as good
as, say, the bits pilani scheme, but reasonable for the envisaged purpose.
> 7- Why don’t faculty meet with studnts and explain why such a decision was
> taken ? I am sure the students are clever enough to understand ?
i think that is really the issue. we still have faculty members who dont
believe in this (what, you expect ME to explain to the students? and
convince them? it shall be so since I say so. etc etc etc). also, a
majority of student representatives do a poor job of communicating with
the student body. so, even though there are empowered student
representatives who are privy to such decisions, the reasoning behind the
decisions dont get disseminated too well. there are student
representatives in every body that takes decisions that affect students,
even in the senate (which has two student representatives) . it is the
exception rather than the rule to find student reps who understand that
their job is to carry forward the opinions of the student body and not
their personal opinions.
@Sanket
Totally agree with the first line of the last para. That really is the issue!
[…] So… here’s the truth. Naked. And Uncovered. For all to see (and no, i am not referring to Kate Winslet in The Reader), Foreign internships were banned for IIT students. [according to 1 & 2] […]