आँखों को उसे ढूँढने कि आदत-सी हो गयी है

लहर दर लहर, वक़्त कि नदी बहती है

जाते-जाते चुपके से, मेरे कानो में कुछ कहती है

बोल धीमे हैं उसके, हिचकिचाती है शरमाती है

पर नटखट है, बोले बिना भी न रह पाती है

उसके लफ़्ज़ों कि दिशा मैं पहचानता हूँ

मैं जानता हूँ वो क्या कहना चाहती है

हर पल हर लम्हा, वो एक ही तो गीत गाती है

अल्फ़ाज़ बदलते हैं उसके, पर बात वही रह जाती है

आज पूछती है मुझसे, ये परेशान क्यों हैं तुम्हारी आँखें

सोई-सोई खोई-खोई, ये वीरान क्यों हैं तुम्हारी आँखें

यादों में डूबी दिखती हैं, पर चौकान्नी भी हैं तुम्हारी आँखें

मन के दामन में छुपी तस्वीर देखनी है, तो मूंद लो ये आँखें

मैं मुस्कुराता हूँ, वक्त झूठ नही बोलता

बंद होके भी, उसका चेहरा आँखों से नही हटता

पर अब आँखें मून्दने की ज़रूरत नही पड़ती

खुली आँखों से भी, अब उसकी तस्वीर नही हटती

कभी कहीं उसकी मुस्कान खिलती है

तो कभी उसके बालों की परछाई दिखती है

कभी एक चुलबुली सी हँसी ही उसके चेहरे की याद दिलाती है

कभी आँखें मूंद सोना चाहू, तो उसके हिलकोरो की तस्वीर नींद ले जाती है

और जब उसकी आँखों की याद आती है

तो मेरी आँखों से एक बूँद गिर जाती है

खुशी की है शायद, कि कभी मैने उन आँखों को करीब से देखा था

या शायद गम की है, कि उनमें अपने लिए जगह नही बना पाया था

मासूम नहीं हैं मेरी आँखें, शिकार करना चाहती हैं

किसी और हसीं कि, एक हँसी देखना चाहती हैं

पर दिल में उसकी जो तस्वीर है, वो अब कुछ पुरानी-सी हो गयी है

और अब हर हसीं चेहरे मैं, उसे ढूँढने की आदत-सी हो गयी है

धोखा भी तो नहीं खाती मेरी आँखें, उसकी हर अदा पहचानती हैं

और जब उसकी झलक नही मिले, तो खुद ही मायूस हो जाती हैं

पर भीड़ में उसकी एक आहत जब मिले, तो खुशी से भर आती हैं

और वो ना भी मिले तो, उसे ढूँढती चौकन्नि, वीरान, परेशान नज़र आती हैं

ग़लती नही है ये उसकी, ये तो खुदा का ही खेल है

दिल में मोहब्बत भरता है, पर दिल जीतना नही सिखाता

उसकी यादों में जीना सिखा देता है बस

उसे दूर खुश देख, दुखी रहना भी नही सिखाता

और खुदा से जब बहुत शिग्वे कर लिए, तो उसने भी अपना दस्तूर दिखाया

किसी और दिलदार को, मेरे दिल का कायल बनाया

दिल तोड़ा है मैने उसका, पर उसे तो मुझसे प्यार था

इस टूटे दिल पे, उसका ये आखरी वार था

अब मैं किसीकि आँखों का आँसू हूँ

और कहीं मेरे नाम की भी नदी बहती है

लहर दर लहर, हिचकिचाती है शरमाती है

पर पर नटखट है, बोले बिना भी न रह पाती है

विशाल गुप्ता

अप्रैल 13, 2012

An Open Letter to the Ministry of Education

Dear people at the helm of education in India,

Let me introduce myself. I am a 3^rd year engineering student who “cracked” late IIT-JEE in 2009 and life has never been the same. But this letter is not about the escapades of an IITian. Many other writers seem to be doing the job of reminiscing those stories rather well; some of whom aren’t even IITians themselves. I’m not even trying to waste time by asking you to bring back IIT-JEE because as Dumbledore said, “no spell can reawaken the dead.”  And in my opinion JEE was pathetic anyways but I’ll come back to that later. Lastly, I’m not going to bother to make this article sound intellectually appealing because come on, I need to get the message out to YOU and I know what language gets through with you. What I want to talk about are my own selfish needs and how you screwed it up.

First I want you to understand the difference between science and engineering and please read it carefully because for over 60 years now you have been having trouble with understanding this. Science, is understanding that there are stars and planets in the sky. Engineering is sending a rover to the planet to test its soil for human habitation. Let me make a table for your weak attention span to absorb better.

Science	Engineering
Trying to understand the stars, planets, and other stuff out there	Making a flying bot to go out there and bring back pictures and soil (and bacteria if they can find any)
Knowing that if you add up an infinite series of seemingly random numbers, you get legitimate results on quantum mechanics	Writing a computer code to add up that infinite series in 2 seconds
Knowing how electricity works and if you want a bulb brighter, you need more power	Making the bulb
Understanding the method of genetic evolution	Buying a goat named Dolly and cloning her

            I could go on, but I hope you get the point. Now let me tell you what you did. You created the toughest exam in the world for science, and used it for selections in the best engineering colleges. It means you find a person who plays excellent chess, and send him to the Olympics for basketball. And then we have half of the “tax-paying” Indians complain that their precious money is being used by people who don’t even end up as engineers. There’s a reason why we don’t end up as engineers. BECAUSE ENGINEERS ARE NOT WHAT WE WANTED TO BE! Yes, some of us become excellent engineers because some have a passion for it and JEE was only a hurdle they had to cross before they could hop on to the real world of gadgets and computer programming. For most of us, we just wanted to give the best exam you created to test ourselves for science. We worked our asses out and became the best at what we enjoyed to do. Science. So we crack JEE and the whole nation is at our feet shouting – “You made it! You’re the best at this thing. You deserve to be an IITian.”

By now even we want to be IITians. IIT, the place which created such a great exam to select the best minds of the country and we do accept that we are the best brains. Though this is only valid till you consider that what we call the “best brain” is only the left part of the brain and the exams in no way test our creativity and intellectual thought. Sadly in India, being good at studies means being good at exams relating to science or math. If you score over 80%, you should opt for science. If between 50 to 80%, try commerce and if you’re so pathetic that you fall even below 50%, then either take arts or get married. In either case your future prospects in India would be the same. You won’t even take a moment to consider that the reason you scored 95% in your board exams was because you were intelligent and not scientific. Again, two very different things.

Amartya Sen, Rabindranath Tagore, Salman Rushdie, Amitav Ghosh and Kiran Bedi. They aren’t scientists or engineers. They’re just geniuses which a country of a population of over a billion produces every day (statistical truth). Out of these geniuses, most are stacked into believing that since they have good concentration and hard-working ability, they should take science. It’s like saying if you can hold a hockey stick well, you should play cricket with the national team because that’s the sport which pays.

Yes that’s what we do in India. We switch to the field which pays rather than improving the field we‘re passionate about. If you want a good life, have a good dad. If you fail at being born in an affluent family, study for what pays.

So why did I study for JEE? Because I love(d?) science.

Why do I hate IIT? Because it tested me for science and is trying to teach me unsolvable equations every day.

What will I do next? I’ll give CAT and try to get into an IIM.

Why MBA? Because after 4 years of struggle I’ve lost faith and interest in the things I love and was passionate about so now I’m going to go for the money. Besides, again CAT is going to test me with Math and English two things I’m very good at. Obviously again in IIM the curriculum will not relate to English and Math but by now I’ve lost interest.

So to the people who keep fretting about their tax-money. One, I’m in trouble too. And this is a part of my struggle. Two, there’s not a damn thing you can do about it sitting in the confines of a room infront of your laptops or PCs so abuse me if you want to. It won’t make a difference.

This article is over. The pessimists can stop reading. The people who live with the hope that if we don’t all die in December 2012 (I wish we do), the world will be a better place, read on…

I’ve told you about the problems with the system but my English teacher at school once told me that it’s the duty of a writer to give a solution to the problem he addresses. It’s a good thing that they’re abolishing IIT-JEE. It didn’t do the people any good to stack the best scientific brains of the country in 7 (or 13 whatever) top engineering colleges. But making another exam which’ll again test the students for science and put them in more engineering colleges isn’t going to do better either. At least JEE ensured that the people with the best left-brains got together and created wonders. The solution to the problem is not making a new exam or making more IITs or IIMs. It’s in introducing the career choices at an earlier level. Career counselors must visit schools and tell students what lies ahead and when I say counselors I mean real career counselors and not the son-in-law of the district mayor.

Secondly, for students aspiring careers in science and engineering, they should be made aware of the difference. Not like me who accepted the difference at the end of his 2^nd year in college by when it was too late to go back.

Thirdly, if a student really aspires for engineering, computer coding must be made compulsory at school level and should be a subject in competitive examinations because the days when engineers fit nuts and bolts are gone. Today in every field of engineering MATLAB, C++ and simulation softwares are compulsory and if you aren’t good enough with those, you might as well write long open letters on unfamiliar blogs.

Fourthly, students must know the different career paths available to them and how to pursue them. When I gave JEE, I didn’t even know about IISc, IIST, etc. All I knew was if you want to study science, join an engineering college. Yes, it was a fallacy on my part but that’s what 17 year olds all over the world without a guide or a mentor do. They choose a path and by the time they realize the path is not for them, it’s usually too late. Same goes for the arts streams in India. Art students are seen with such a downtrodden look that they actually feel shame for what they do. Art isn’t for the person with low grades. It’s for someone who likes to open himself up. All over the world, successful artists are geniuses who’ve changed the field they work in. Arts is what you do with your right side of the brain which the Indian education system gallantly neglects. As a result, that part of the brain rottens and one day collapses.

Anyways, this article was a result of built-up frustration and now I feel better. I would like to debate and talk more about this topic as I understand this space was too short to cover all the points. But writing a book on it would only be a waste of paper. Why would anyone want to read a book about how the book-system in India is a failure. If you have been patient enough to reach the end of this article, I bid you goodbye. I’ve got to study for my 6^th semester exams.

Sincerely,

A frustrated IITian