This post is inspired by (and in comment to) Abhaga’s great post: [[http://abhaga.blogspot.com/2005/08/to-bend-and-not-to-fold.html|To bend and not to fold]].

I have often wondered, what makes a great school great? How is it, that over and again, we see that certain places manage to inspire and produce generations of outstanding thinkers and artists and scientists.
The Stanfords, the Berkeleys, the MITs, and of course, the IITs.

Abhaga astutely observes that experiences such as living in a hostel don’t make a place unique. Irrespective of where you live, 4 years of hostel live will definitely teach you a lot about people, the world around you, the realities and the brutalities, the goodness and the selfishness. You will grow as a person, understand your responsibilities, learn to make your own decisions, make mistakes, learn from them (or not). Hostel life prepares you for the real world.

But these places have something more. They teach you to dream. Rather, they teach you to //learn to dream//. I’m neither as emotional or articulate as Abhaga was when writing his post, so this probably doesn’t sound that eloquent :-) But the point I’m trying to make is, the actual education is not in the text books and the assignments. Somewhere in those hall ways and libraries and great halls and quads, we get inspired, and learn to live and pursue our dreams.

I think the inspiration factor is key here. Inspiration can come from many places. Roaming in the lawns at Stanford, among those old-architecture buildings, I could easily imagine how people could get inspired simply by their surroundings. The rolling hills, the lush green grass, the tower and the status. Or if you are sitting around with your friends around a fountain in the cobbled courtyards of Princeton. Atleast to me, it seems sometimes just the //natural beauty// is enough to inspire.

Then of course there’s the rich history factor.

Another important thing IMHO is //tradition// — be it the hall 2 vs. hall 3 rivalry of IITK (which sadly, is not anymore… or is it?) or the MIT hacks — traditions both grand and silly, serve to bind the whole place by an invisible threads. Even if you meet a 10 years senior from IITK or a 10 years junior whom you’ve never met — you can always talk about the buildings and the mess and the faculty and the freshers and the ragging. Traditions make you feel that you //belong//.

Sometimes I feel we are in a constant battle to defeat our past, to live up to the expectations of these institutions that we so proudly associate with.

Of course, all of these places were not always great — I mean they all had a beginning right? But they all built a //critical mass// of good students and faculty, that gave them the foundation, on which they built upon and spawned forth. And its not that all the places are consistently great. Everyone has their lean period. But the sheer momentum of the past sometimes burgeones us into the future.

Ah, those days.

This was supposed to be a comment to Nakul’s [[http://nakulmandan.blogspot.com/2005/07/hypocrisy-is-it-just-indians.html | post on hypocrisy]]. But it became fairly long so I though I’d make it a post unto itself and leave the link in the comments.

I will comment on the original article that was behind the post later; I first want to comment on some of the things Nakul said in his post.

**Idol Worship**

I will concede that each society has its own notion of a //God//. But labelling all such notions as //idol worship// is shortsighted. It might be the case in India (though I don’t think even that holds true). Further, all notions of God are not about //personification// (against, most are, but not all). And finally, simply because //YOU// have not felt or seem //him// doesn’t mean others have (just to be clear, **I haven’t**). To me, the definition of God is a very personal concept, and tied close together with your values, beliefs and faith.

Something that might be seeing and believeing for me, might just be stupidity for you. I don’t believe human society is at a stage where one can give an unambiguous quantifiable litmus test for God. That would be the end of philosophy. Anyways, coming to the point — I don’t think its all bullshit. I sincerely believe that some people do believe and have felt what they think God might be. And I say good for them!

**Motherland**

You were not //just born// here — you were born and //brought up// here. Now **that** is something you can’t just ignore. You probably don’t realize it now, but I’m sure as hell you will when you go to London in a few days. I agree that people make too much of a big deal about brain drain. And I also agree that with each passing day we are becoming part of a larger society. All that is fine and I have nothing against going outside India looking for a better life (I think it just comes back to India in better ways if that happens).

All I’m saying is that there are many things that are part of you, your core values and beliefs that are in part simply because you spent a substantial portion of your life in a specific geogrphical portion of the earth. And that you don’t necessarily //owe// anything to that land or its people, but just spend some time thinking about things like how life would have been had you been born 50 years before Independence, or how things would have been had you been born in Africa or Europe or America or Spain for that matter.

There are fanatics and extremists everywhere. But feeling passionate about one’s country is neither irrational nor hypocritic. Its something to be proud of.

** Hypocrisy **

I wouldn’t go so far as saying that its a //human// trait. But its definitely a //societal// trait. For that matter, I find glaring examples of hypocrisy here in the United States every day. Women here got voting rights only in 1920 I think. And in the 300 years of US Congress, there have been only [[http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/history/h_multi_sections_and_teasers/Photo_Exhibit_African_American_Senators.htm | five African-American senators]]. Compare that to the vivid (though chaotic) representation in Indian politics. Despite all the talks of liberty and equality, your color is still something you can’t forget. I could go on an on.

But I think in the original article the writer was a bit too biased (or exaggerating to bring out the point). What I worry more about is that over the last 2 years (and going on) there’s an increasing dichotomy of societies in India. Microcosms of societies have formed in and around the metros (Pune, Bangalore included) while the majority of rural India gets left behind. What they do see however, is cable TV, internet and bollywood. The combined forces of these three media can be devastating, without appropriate education and exposure.