CET 2014

So the news is in........ Mamata Banerjee agrees to have West Bengal join Kapil Sibal's pet project, the CET for admission to courses in science and engineering, by 2014.

The intention is to make life for students much, much easier, but the way I see it, it will make life miserable for the students of West Bengal.

The first clarification that one requires is what languages will the exam be offered in..... So far, Mr. Sibal has stubbornly refused to accede to the demands of various state governments in holding the examination in 'regional languages', i.e. the exam shall only be held in English and Hindi.

At present, the majority of students in West Bengal study in Bengali-medium schools, even at the higher secondary level. The standard of English in this large student population is quite variable, to put it mildly.

'National' exams like the IIT-JEE, AIEEE, AIPMT etc. are only held in English and Hindi. This puts students from Bengali-medium schools at a severe disadvantage as compared to their English-medium counterparts. Moreover, it also puts them at a severe disadvantage as compared to students who come from Hindi-medium schools.

Now obviously, those who come from a Bengali-medium background will be forced to take the exam in their second language, English, as their knowledge of Hindi would be theoretically next to nothing(and practically much, much worse than their knowledge of English).... On the other hand, students from a similar background, but from Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh or Bihar would take the examination in their first language. In case you were wondering why West Bengal doesn't have any 'Super 30' stories, this may be a huge contributing factor.

Institutes like the IITs, IISERs, NITs etc. are supposedly 'National Institutes', but in reality, they cater to a particular section of the nation's population...... Students from any system, whose language of instruction is not English or Hindi, are effectively excluded from these 'National Institutes'....... In my opinion, this is open discrimination and I am quite surprised that no one raises this issue at all, instead lamenting how students from Bihar are 'smarter' than their Bengali counterparts.

With the doors already shut to these institutes, most students of West Bengal train their sights on the institutions that are under the aegis of the state government, institutions that wouldn't openly discriminate against them on the basis of their mother tongues....

But now, with the CET on the horizon, the hopes of thousands of students across the state may be dashed, if the test is conducted in Mr. Sibaal's languages of choice...... Of course, this is not the first time Sibaal has openly expressed his partiality to a particular part of the country, even though he is supposedly a Minister of the Union. Around 3 years back, he proposed something that is bigoted, chauvinist, discriminatory and if implemented, would effectively be cultural genocide........ I won't go through the trouble of explaining it, but I think the link will suffice-
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Sibal-wants-all-schools-to-teach-Hindi/506424/

So what were to happen if the state adopted the new CET(Sibal's version)? Let's assume an overwhelming majority of seats would be reserved for students of the home state. Under these circumstances, a selective advantage would be enjoyed by the students studying in English-medium schools, who usually come from well-off family backgrounds, especially in urban areas. Students from smaller towns and villages would be left out.

If we assume there is little or no reservation of seats(which is less likely), the students from poorer and/or rural backgrounds would be totally marginalised by their urban counterparts along with people from other parts of the country. Not a very encouraging thought.

Many of the most successful engineers, doctors and scientists from West Bengal have come from the villages and/or from very poor backgrounds...... This would effectively stop were the government to go ahead with its plan of action.

However, if the Central Government did agree on holding the exam in 'regional languages'(How I hate this term! Bengali is an international language, more so than Hindi), it would open a new chapter in equality for all racial and linguistic groups in the country. This would effectively open the gates of the IITs, IISERs and NITs to students from non-English, non-Hindi educational backgrounds and somewhere down the line, this MUST happen.

But there will always be the Hindi-chauvinists who'll consider it a Fundamental duty of every Indian to learn Hindi, and if he/she suffers because he cannot or will not(on principle, such as myself), he/she deserves it. They would have us all learn Hindi, even at the cost of our Mother tongues and English. To them I'd like to point out that the name of the country is 'India' and not 'Hindia', the nation is supposed to represent all of us, not just the North. You must remember, that in principle, we have the same rights that you enjoy, among which is our right to have our language and reject yours. You should not forget that we are not your colonies, but an integral part of this country. In my humble opinion, our students deserve the same rights and opportunities that your students enjoy......

Okay, the as-promised blog post on my first day at university will have to wait for a while........ Maybe it will be about the first week instead.

A few people have asked me regarding the layout of this blog page and the large number of manga/anime pictures on it.... I have an explanation for that; I like watching anime and reading manga. However, there's another story behind why I uploaded so many anime/manga posters on my blog......It's actually a fallout of my ISC Chemistry project.....

Around 2 months after I had submitted my brief and business-like project(with everything scrawled in my tiny cursive handwriting), my Chemistry teachers dropped a bomb on me saying my project was too short, drab, ugly and not 'colourful enough'....... Well, that really implied that I'd have to spend a whole day with sketch-pens, colour pencils etc. and make a 'colourful project'...... Something which I had long regarded to be the domain of a 7 year old child, and not that of a 17 year old teenager... To me, content was more important than presentation......

Anyway, when I submitted the project the next day, the teachers still weren't happy with it........ It still wasn't colourful enough! I actually had to take the help of the girls in my class to bring it up to the high standards of 'colourfulness' that the teachers demanded......... Anyway, I eventually managed to submit a project they found acceptable......... The content was virtually the same as the first project, but written in larger characters, with longer spaces in between words and some strategically placed blanks.

On a careful assessment of both the projects, I had to admit to myself that I'd have read the second over the first any day...... It really struck me on that day, that we humans do tend to judge books by their covers..... For example, when I wish to buy a novel at a bookstore, and I see that 2 different publishers are offering the same novel, I am invariably inclined to pick the book with a more attractive cover, even though the drab one could in fact, be cheaper.......

And it even extends to textbooks! Most textbooks written by Indian authors tend to have horrible covers and style of presentation, whereas those by American and British authors have considerably better presentation.....  For example, the 'Introduction to Analysis' books by Maity and Ghosh may serve my purpose better than 'Calculus' by Michael Spivak, but I'm still biased towards the American book solely for its presentation...... Even in case of books by 2 internationally renowned authors, I find myself partial to the one with better presentation.... So while 'Mathematical Analysis' by Tom Apostol and 'Principles of Mathematical Analysis' by Walter Rudin may be equivalent texts, I'd lean towards Rudin's book because it's printing quality is better(both books are priced at around Rs. 300 at present).....

Coming back to this blog, I realised my previous layout was quite boring and dull and that unless people already knew about the content, they would not be willing to read it, mainly because it was unattractive....

Hence, in a bid to make it more eye-catching, I uploaded posters of some of my favourite anime and manga because, as we all know, manga and anime posters are colourful and eyecatching..... Hopefully, this will attract more readers to my blog..... Any suggestions are welcome

Anyway the anime/manga series featured on my blog are(top to bottom)-
1. InuYasha by Rumiko Takahashi
2. Bleach by Tite Kubo
3. Black Jack by Osamu Tezuka
4. DragonBall by Akira Toriyama
5. One Piece by Eiichiro Oda
6. FullMetal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa
7. AstroBoy by Osamu Tezuka
8. Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto
9.Death Note by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata
10. Yu Yu Hakusho byYoshihiro Togashi

REBOOT

I guess it's time for a change....... This blog has been lying dormant for over a year now...... But now, it's back with a new layout and with a promise of new posts(which I hope will be more or less regular).... As a result, all my previous posts have been removed and will be published later(once I get the hang of this new format).

In related news, I've made the all important transition from high school to University.... I'm now a student of Mathematics at Presidency University(formerly Presidency College under the University of Calcutta). It rocks to be in the college of your choice, studying the course of your choice! =D

The University/College is among the most prestigious institutions for undergraduate studies in the entire subcontinent and has a long history of excellence in the Sciences and the Humanities.....  The alumni list itself puts almost all other institutions in the country and the subcontinent to shame(Eat your heart out, St. Stephens =D). The legacy of this institution really humbles anyone who walks through the college gate, which seems almost unassuming of its own greatness in the midst of a number of shops dealing in rare and old books..... Can't wait till classes start!

Expect some posts related to life at Presi, and especially Mathematics at Presi :-) I can promise you a Presi related post tomorrow in the very least........ Tomorrow's the first day of college. :-)