WP: Indian University Alumni Share a Global Success

[DeepModem Mom]

Indian University Alumni Share a Global Success
Bethesda Reunion Shows Worldwide Reach of India's Educational Jewel

By S. Mitra Kalita
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 20, 2005; Page E03


Foreign ministers, corporate recruiters, venture capitalists and former General Electric Co. chief executive Jack Welch plan to attend a college reunion in Bethesda this weekend -- and it's not even their own.

That's just the kind of lure thousands of alumni from the highly selective Indian Institutes of Technology can have. And that they will gather nearly 7,500 miles away from the nearest campus in New Delhi underscores the weekend's theme: technology without borders.

"We are in a unique time in history," said Sudhakar Shenoy, the chief executive of Reston-based Information Management Consultants Inc. and co-chair of the weekend's event. "There's going to be a lot of talk about how can we in the United States work closely with our brethren in India. How can we bring everyone closer together, Americans and Indians."

IIT is a consortium of seven schools located in India that were founded after the country's 1947 independence from Britain. The schools pride themselves on an admissions system that features a rigorous screening test taken by as many as 180,000 people a year. Those who pass the initial test must then take a six-hour exam in math, physics and chemistry. Interviews winnow down the final list to 2,500 -- an acceptance rate of less than 2 percent. By comparison, Harvard University accepted a record low 9.1 percent for its class of 2009.

After graduating, "IITians," tend to have their pick of jobs, often in the United States and Europe. Corporate recruiters cram campus job fairs, trying to line up interviews as early as possible so they can preempt competing offers....


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/19/AR2005051901663.html

[Sick_of_Rethuggery]

1. Thanks for the link.

Feels good to be an IITian ;-)

[hector459]

2. My best friend is from India. Her daughter is my godchild.

Her daughter is now 13 and a real educational wiz. The girl has been reading since 3 and stays in the bookstores. Her reading is varied but TV is almost non-existant. My friend had to endure many acts of discrimination when she first came to this country working among some of the top scients at NIH. They stole her work, paid her the lowest possible salary. She quit her job at the NIH, went back to school (Med school) finised in 3 years and is now a licensed practicing physician. She is torn between staying here and returning to India. I believe that once her daughter graduates from High School, she plans on returning to India to use her skills as a physician there. Her husband has become entralled with making money in the US and is a staunch Republican anD Bush supporter. No matter, she is the sweetest person I know and I just know that her daughter is going to be something great. Many times we Americans think we are "using" others to achieve our ends but we do not recognize how we are the ones being "used."

[nine30]

3. The Nouveau Rich and their idealogy

"Her husband has become entralled with making money in the US and is a staunch Republican anD Bush supporter"

Must be a small time "Nouveau Rich"

Why do people who suddenly starting making a little more money automatically become Republicans ? Is it their way of themselves feel good by inviting themselves to an "exclusive" club ?

The truly rich ( Buffet, Jobbs, Spielberg..) don't give a shit and stay with their idealogy

[Sick_of_Rethuggery]

4. I wouldn't generalize though...

I come from a family of very modest means in India and I am fairly well-off now. I have always been, and probably always will be, a strange mix of ultra-liberal (mainly on social issues) and ultra-conservative (mainly on financial issues).

Many Indians I know, are fairly like me. Most of us who have come to the US have become fairly wealthy through a combination of hard work and frugal living, so there is a tendency to be drawn to the Rethug spoutings.

I find a growing crop of Indian men becoming eerie Bushbots and it is kind of disquieting. But I would say that the vast majority of us (especially the women) are repulsed by the chest-thumping bravado of these parasites who are propelled to high positions on the wings of nepotism/crony-capitalism...

I would say the technocratic (Indian) nouveau riche tend not to fall pray to the false-prophets, from my personal observations...

[hector459]

5. I think you hit the nail on the head. The women in these marriages seem

to be more level-headed and keep their disgust of their husband's politics to themselves and a few close friends.