Watched Rang de Basanti again, today! & much like my other posts, I am confused :)
India, celebrated 60 yrs. of Independence, earlier this week!
My earliest memories of Independence Day, were those of painting Flag Hoisting every August - in the painting class - year after year, an incremental number being the only change. Clearly, as a 6 yr. old, the country as an entity didn't mean much to me, other than - it inspired a lot of fervor.
Over the years, it tickled something... but no sooner had I stopped drawing tricolors (about the time when the number touched the golden 50), than the cynicism largely set in. The past years, have meant an additional holiday, mandatory school parades, additional JEE / Agarwals' classes, or possibly a Malhar - as the case may be. I got perturbed this Wednesday, as I went on some errand to a slum in Thane. Lying in the only square feet - those kids would call a playground - the faith persisted. Some kids had put their ingenuity to test, and had laid out a rangoli in the shape of India - on an extremely uneven ground.
Why was it, that I felt the strongest for my land, when it gave me nothing more than air to breathe (in the years '89-'94, which were among the bleakest in nationalistic history), yet when the country spends a great deal on educating me - I take the midweek break to sneak in a few extra word-lists [& :P] , so that I GRE well!

Earlier today, we watched 3 laborers cut their way through the LT lawns, with an almost medieval lawnmower. It was then, that Sangram brought up the topic of relevance of IITs, Engineers, IITian Engineers to India and so on.
Till before Paris, I was of the opinion that any great innovation made by NRIs in USA would eventually tickle down to Indians & make their life more comfortable. Clearly, I was wrong.
India - has her own set of problems. And, obviously grant commissions in Firang Lands, wouldn't pay to find solutions to our problems. With the case at hand - probably a good automated lawnmower is not an answer, we are looking for in India. Where would the 2, who fed themselves and their families, from their daily wages go? - if we replaced them with a mower than needed just 1 man to man. While, it would clearly be in vogue to have ultramodern devices all over IIT, just like in INRIA, in aping western countries we have missed the point. As sangram pointed out, unfortunately many corporate houses, probably have already purged their payrolls - in order to keep up with 'global' standards.
In the same vein, CTARA (at IITB) is probably the most relevant center / department of IIT Bombay.

And at 60, (coincidentally the age at which Government employees retire) India needs a fresh look at the problems facing us. & A generation needs to reawaken! I have no idea, where the winds of change will flow from (or for that matter - if they will). The easy way out seems like the very easy way out! Just forget that the problem exists, and its existence will stop paining you.
But I guess, things have to change.

Koi bhi desh perfect nahin hota, use perfect banana hota hai.

I have no idea, whether I will have the guts to be a young gun of India or whether

Yahaan pe system ko badal ne ki koshish karo, to system khud tumhe badalta hai.

But, among the best part of the movie, was its touch of realism - each of the hero dies a non-heroic death. Revolutions apparently make no promises & the Satyandra Dubey's die .... but they give no arrival notices either.

But then, political revolution (which might be around the corner) might not come just yet. Yet, the technological needs need addressing as well. The generation can come up with solutions - that address real problems. With thrice as many people per area as France, India's problems are plenty & I don't even know where to start!

Its almost become an annual trend now!
Another student, committed suicide on IITB Campus, sometime yesterday, making it the 2nd suicide in about 7 months and 4th on Campus, in as many years.

While, suicides are an extreme step altogether & a problem in its own right, only a few students end up taking that extreme step. What is a more prevalent problem in the institute, is the desire to quit the system!
In excess, of half the students are in the mood to quit the system & things surrounding them - at the halfway mark! The desire manifests itself, in many ways. Those who actually, quit the system, earlier than stipulated - by leaving the institute dead or otherwise, are a few.

But most, unfortunately, a larger number just wait for time to pass-by and them to honorably graduate from IITB. In the mean time, they sleep through courses, take up easy courses, and so on, so forth.
The general discontent, with the system - is something that has to be addressed at some level.

'Matrimonial websites losing out to dating websites'

Its interesting to note what the country is coming to, when you read a news item, as above.
Its a perfect reflection, of the mindset of people all around, where the generation - taking a definite break from marriage-centric view. While, breakdown of the current structure - is not what I am betting on - the thought process has set in.

Keyword Hunting and web Mining!

Trust Soumen to come up (well - webmine to be frank), with

Claiming "IIT=Cornell+MIT+..." is like demanding that Mumbai local trains are superior to the Paris subway because it's much harder to get into a Mumbai local train.

While, it would be wholly disrespectful and way out of my aukaat to refer to Prof. Soumen Chakrabarti, as a plain Soumen, since it is how he is referred to in student circles, I shall do so & pray that he doesn't come across this.
On an academic note, I am mostly taking the Statistical Foundations of Machine Learning course by him this semester.
Soumen as a person, prof., researcher is an enigma alrite. While, I have always been an ardent fan of his newsgroup postings, never did I realise the extensive amount of general writings that he has come up with in the past few years. Most of them are linked here. He speaks of pollution, lawlessness, and more general topics, in such a simple language and persuasive logic, that it leaves you wondering where has all the common sense gone.
His witty one-liners or clever anagraming, I recently realised is just a part of the story. Clearly, people better equipped at humoring english are abundantly distributed (priori hypothesis) all over the web.
What I believe is unmatched is the through professionalism! He was as good as an IIT student can get. A President's Gold Medalist during his IITKgp days, he went on to UCB and so on...
As a researcher, I guess he is good, because a list of people in DataMining, throws up his name in the same league as Sergey Brin and others.
But what is truly fascinating is the amount of professionalism he brings to class. He has a clear handwriting, even more clear ways of sketching out complex fundaes and diagrams. He overloads you with information and expects you to imbibe it at that rate. You are mentally exhausted and bamboozled after attending his class, yet you know that you want to come back for more.
& if all this, made you picturise a jet-setting Capitalist, he says a lot for cycles, environment, making IITs relevant in the larger picture, and the other India - in general.

Still in the meantime, for those who aren't attending his classes - enjoy his sharings and posts. Watching him, have a go at IITB MB egg heads and Can't read but will applys, is something definitely not to be missed.