India at Rio Olympics, 2016

The quadrennial games came to an end day before yesterday and the nations of the world are celebrating the victories of their champions.
One such country is our own, that is India.

Being one of the most populated countries in the world, around 121 athletes participated in this year’s Olympic games held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Out of the contingent, only 2 of the athletes could get our country 2 coveted medals (one being bronze and the other being silver).

Here are the key points to be noted by the Indians from this year’s Olympic games –

– Women reigning this Olympics.
– Dipa Karmakar being the first female from India to qualify for finals of Vault gymnastics.
– Sakshi Malik winning bronze medal in Women’s Freestyle Wrestling (58kg).
– PV Sindhu winning silver medal in Badminton Women’s Singles.
– Aditi Ashok finishing at 41st in Women’s Individual Golf at the age of 18.
– Yogeshwar Dutt missing out on his victory in wrestling.
– The Susheel Kumar vs Narsingh Yadav drama.
– Narsingh Yadav’s 4 year ban for failing doping test.
– Saina Nehwal’s early exit.

Phew!
That’s something…

Hats off to the Indian women for proving their prowess at an International level and defining their strong foothold in sports. The whole of the country is celebrating their victory today, from a boy aged 6 to a granny aged 65-70 are talking about them and not to forget the monetary benefits, rewards, and the compliments that the Olympians are getting.

It is a glad sighting to see that the Olympic games made our country to shift from being Cricket frenzy to Sports frenzy overall. The craze for women’s badminton finals was indeed an example.

But…
These things happen only if they WIN! That too of the highest order.

We all know the rewards, compliments, appreciation, benefits that PV Sindhu is getting (which she absolutely deserves). But what about Sakshi Malik, Dipa Karmakar and the marathon runner Jaisha who fainted during her run because of the apathy shown by Indian officials at the Olympics?

Why do we, as a nation come together only during victory but not during defeat/failure? Even if we do, why is the support unsubstantial?

There are innumerable athletes in our country who aren’t even given the very basic amenities to train under supervision. Dipa Karmakar herself had stated that the facilities at the training center wasn’t of good standards. Now being a gymnast, poor facilities such as these might as well cost her life if she misses a jump! Shouldn’t we be tending to these things before hand?

I personally feel every winner should be treated equally irrespective of their position of victory. The International Sports Federations are already taking care of the prize money that each winner will be getting. Once a person wins, they join the elite group. It is an impediment that we appreciate them in the same manner.

Trying to replace Gopichand so that PV Sindhu can get better training for her further tournaments and brands those are trying to sign the winners as brand ambassadors to capitalize on their popularity to promote their products shows the greediness of our system.

Why not shifting the focus towards training many more athletes and prepare them for 2020 Olympic games? Yes, this will be happening, but I definitely don’t see the right moves being made on this as of now.
2 medals of 2016 may as well get converted to 20 or even more in 2020 if we collectively act upon it!

To make the LEGENDS of tomorrow, the stars of today have to consciously support fellow participants by curating them on a daily basis.

Do we support our athletes throughout?
Are they getting all the amenities that they require to practice day in, day out?

I wish I had answers for these questions….

Ps – Congratulations to all the winners. You make us PROUD!

In other news, Deepika Pallikal and Sourav Ghosal have won Silver at World Squash Championship held in Australia.

Now, how many of us knew about this?

‪#‎RioOlympics‬ ‪#‎Olympicgames‬ ‪#‎Dipakarmakar‬ ‪#‎PVSindhu‬ ‪#‎SakshiMalik‬‪#‎Rio2016‬ ‪#‎IndianOlympians‬

WHAT’S UP WITH THIS SOUTH INDIAN IDLI?

Idli, Ragi idli, Rava idli, Oats idli, Brown rice idli, Banana idli, Semiya idli, Chilly egg idli, Masala idli, Sambar idli, Fried idli, iCurd idli, Thatte idli, idli upma, Idli curry, Poha idli and many more……

Across 28 states, by different religions, practicing different cultures, using different culinary methods, idli is one of the most common foods in India. Idli is the savory cake of South India. Not a single week passes by without an idli – sambar meal in a South Indian home. What makes idli so special is that it is very easy and takes little effort to prepare.

A circular, white and a spongy soft vegetarian dish made out of fermented batter, idli is one of those simple foods which go well with almost anything and everything. It is a gift to the teeth for its tenderness, a feast to the taste buds with proper grinded South Indian spicy chutney. What more can I say when the very special sambar is added onto the menu? A delight indeed!

Idli-sambar is a signature dish for us, the South Indians, where as its roti-dal in the north. But the one thing that unites us is the culture we have inherited from our ancestors and the respect and appreciation that we shower on our culinary counterparts.

Now, before I say anything more, let me go hog all the idlis that my mom has specially made for me! What are you waiting for? Aren’t you appetizing them yet?

Engineering Chores!

Hello everyone. I Am Niranjan Balasubramani, a computer science engineering student at RNS Institute of Technology, Bangalore. In my first article, I would like to write about the engineering education in India. Why engineering is the preferred degree? And why aren’t we able to provide quality engineers?

Engineering is a prestigious degree. A social obligation and it’s a guarantee of an average career. Like a coin which has two sides, it has its advantages and disadvantages. We can mutter and blame engineering for the things it doesn’t provide. But how many of us realize that the system has been there for decades and it’s not going to change anytime soon? How many of us accept engineering for what it is and embrace it? How many of us work on our own flaws?

We, Indians, are trend followers. Not trend setters. The Indian education system teaches us to be logical and as a result we become good at mathematics and analytical thinking. But the westerners learn things in a whole lot different way. Their education system is skill-oriented, whereas Indian system is knowledge-oriented. Westerners are good at applying their knowledge practically and are more pragmatic when it comes to educating themselves. They believe in learning through immersion. We learn things from books and by practice.

To know the main reason behind why engineering has become so popular in India, we need to look at it in a historical context:
India got its independence in 1947 after being ruled by the British for more than two centuries. Post-independence we had huge sterlings and didn’t have an infrastructure of our own. When the first-generation computers were being invented in the US, we were trying to adapt to our own system after the British rule. The leaders of India thought the best way to move forward was to develop the infrastructural and industrial abilities of the country. Our first goal was to be self-reliant. And this led to engineering. The first IIT was set up in Kharagpur in 1951 which had 10 branches. Then many institutions were set up all over the country and people’s interest in engineering grew immensely. Engineers were respected because they brought out a societal change which benefited human needs at large.

As years passed by, more and more people got interested in engineering and India was brimming with prosperity in the education sector. The fact that most Indians choose to do masters outside India also has a story to it. In the 1990s, India was on the verge of bankruptcy. As a result, many people from India went to abroad for higher studies and to work for them because they gave Indians a very good pay. The westerners got intelligent candidates in return. That’s how engineering got its name in our educational system and doing masters outside India got its prominence. This has made engineering more valuable than other streams of education.

According to statistics, nearly three thousand engineering colleges have been set up in India with a capacity of 1.4 million seats across 36 courses approved by the All India Council of Technical Education as of 2012. 65% of the colleges are from South India and rest from the North. If we consider the number of engineers graduating every year, it is not an easy task to get a job. As we dig more into the statistics, it gets daunting.
(The statistics mentioned are approximate figures.)

Right from our childhood, we are brought up in a way either to become a doctor or an engineer. It’s become the common goal of every student. In the process of creating an excellent education system, we have started numerous institutions everywhere to provide engineering education to almost everyone. By doing so, we have forgotten to concentrate on the quality of education provided. A single institution cannot be blamed; a single stream cannot be the culprit. The flaws of our education system are immense. It’s at the core of the system itself. To correct it and set it right will take another educational revolution.

Instead of blaming the system for everything, aren’t we responsible for its flaws?
We are the ones who caused it. Why can’t we find a solution to solve it?

The complaints of any engineering student are that it’s frustrating, futile, senseless and an outdated syllabus which is uninteresting in every aspect. And being an engineering student, even I feel the same as well. As I think about how to make engineering life better and productive, I realize that even we are to be blamed. Every stream has its core strength. And it’s in our discretion to choose what’s best for us. If a chosen subject isn’t suiting us, we always have the opportunity to change our stream once we get over it. Life doesn’t end after engineering. This is how we have made it and this is how it’s bound to be. It’s high time that we comprehend the education system and try to fit in instead of whining about it. Because, when we accept the world for what it is, the going gets a lot easier. Just like an old saying, “When you are going through hell, keep going”.

I’ve tried my best to fit into engineering and the field that I’ve chosen. Sometimes it’s frustrating and sometimes it’s interesting. Never is it stable. But that’s life. The vicissitudes that we go through which brings a spice to human race. I would like to share something from an article which I found whilst researching about the education system. They quoted, “Don’t waste your brain power – become an engineer”. That, to me, is sarcasm at its best for the way engineering is been taught. I hope all the engineers out there will get what I mean.

I’ll leave you all with one thought. Most of us say we don’t love what we are doing. Well, do we know what we love? If you do, then that’s a start!