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The IITians: The Story of a Remarkable Indian Institution and How its Alumni Are Reshaping the World
The The Story of a Remarkable Indian Institution and How its Alumni Are Reshaping the World
IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) is India’s biggest and most powerful brand, and arguably the toughest and most influential engineering school in the world.
Since the first IIT was set up in the 1950s, thousands of initiates have walked out of the campus gates in Kharagpur, Mumbai, Chennai and elsewhere to become leaders in their chosen fields. In India they head many of the biggest and most admired professionally managed companies. Abroad, they lead giant corporations, and their feats figure in the folklore of Silicon Valley. The power that the alumni of this one bunch of undergraduate schools wields in business, academe and research is comparable to that of Cambridge and Oxford in the heyday of the British Empire.
Sandipan Deb, himself an IITian, delves into his own experience and those of scores of alumni to try and explain what makes IITians such outstanding achievers. In part it may be that they cannot be anything only one in every hundred applicants gets admitted. Harvard, in comparison, takes one in eight. The unique village-like campuses peopled only by the super-bright and the intensely competitive hone the IITians’ skills further. No wonder then that when they leave the campus, IITians look upon themselves as special people, capable of competing in their field with the best in the world. And, as their record shows, succeeding.
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IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) is India’s biggest and most powerful brand, and arguably the toughest and most influential engineering school in the world.
Since the first IIT was set up in the 1950s, thousands of initiates have walked out of the campus gates in Kharagpur, Mumbai, Chennai and elsewhere to become leaders in their chosen fields. In India they head many of the biggest and most admired professionally managed companies. Abroad, they lead giant corporations, and their feats figure in the folklore of Silicon Valley. The power that the alumni of this one bunch of undergraduate schools wields in business, academe and research is comparable to that of Cambridge and Oxford in the heyday of the British Empire.
Sandipan Deb, himself an IITian, delves into his own experience and those of scores of alumni to try and explain what makes IITians such outstanding achievers. In part it may be that they cannot be anything only one in every hundred applicants gets admitted. Harvard, in comparison, takes one in eight. The unique village-like campuses peopled only by the super-bright and the intensely competitive hone the IITians’ skills further. No wonder then that when they leave the campus, IITians look upon themselves as special people, capable of competing in their field with the best in the world. And, as their record shows, succeeding.
(
392 pages
First published January 1, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 22, 2013
Absolutely awesome. And nostalgia inducing. I am rereading the book and enjoying the experience.
November 13, 2019
Very nostalgic read. Having gone through the IIT system, I was able to relate to so many situations in the book about life at IIT - some of the best days of my life. The author makes a claim which also rings true — most IIT alumni come out of the system with an incredible confidence that allows them to achieve anything they set their mind to. I think, though, that confidence is not necessarily a product of the IIT education, but also a function of a highly selective exam that got them into IIT in the first place.
February 20, 2021
Interesting, inspiring, informative and a fun read of anecdotes, stories and some very important information about IITians, specifically referred to undergraduate students of the world-renowned institute. More than the institutes, it is their alumni that carry forward the strong brand that is IIT!
Being an IITian myself, felt proud and humbled at the same time reading this book! An important observation: I do find people who are very strong critic of IIT and IITians and have many arguments about the Government wrongly funding their education - for instance. This book may not be likeable by them, but this certainly presents facts and figures so as to help them judge their contribution in society vis-a-vis the support they are provided. generally, I find people who like IITians and have high regards for them! Such people will find this book very interesting, along with the youngsters who aspire to become IITians! :-)
Being an IITian myself, felt proud and humbled at the same time reading this book! An important observation: I do find people who are very strong critic of IIT and IITians and have many arguments about the Government wrongly funding their education - for instance. This book may not be likeable by them, but this certainly presents facts and figures so as to help them judge their contribution in society vis-a-vis the support they are provided. generally, I find people who like IITians and have high regards for them! Such people will find this book very interesting, along with the youngsters who aspire to become IITians! :-)
July 31, 2016
This book gives awe-inspiring accounts of various IIT alumni. Several chapters put together the contribution of IITians to the country (e.g. Professor Jhunjhunwala and Dunu Roy) and sort of breaks the stereotyped notion of IITians going off to the US to never return. There are some fond anecdotes of Mr. Sandipan too. But, his views come off a bit lopsided as he clearly views everything from IITian lenses. However, I liked how he establishes the IITians as a tribe loyal to the institute that shaped them. One big flaw with the book is all the chapters are hanging loose. The way it's been written doesn't justify all the research that has gone into the work.
November 23, 2013
Well written account of how prominent IIT-ians have shaped the course of that institution and scripted the success of organizations and the world at large. Intriguing description of the life of a resident iit-ian, at the same time pointing to some serious systemic deficiencies and personality shortcomings that affect the impact an IIT-ian could have had on the world.
February 24, 2008
you will understand many more things not only about iitians but also of the contributions of those iitians who took working in India a challenge like Prof.Ashok Jhunjhunwala from IIT Madrass, also a padmabhushan award winner.
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July 25, 2010i was too skeptic to read this book at first because of its name but found it to be interesting.apart from the milestones iitians have achieved in silicon valley becoming entrepreneur and researcher,the other traits are common between other engineering students too .
December 19, 2014
A good read for professionals in technical lines and lots of informative content inside the stories.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews