The Best And The Brightest

A radical thought, but worth considering: Nehru’s greatest gift to his nation wasthe Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).And the world seems to agree. IITians todayhead some of the biggest corporations on earth. To name only a few: Rajat Gupta (IITDelhi) heads the world’s most famous management consultancy, McKinsey & Co; RonoDutta (Kharagpur) is president of one of the world’s biggest airlines, UnitedAirlines; Dr Arun Netravali (Mumbai) is president of Bell Laboratories, the world’sfinest electronic research centre; Vinod Khosla (Delhi) was co-founder of Sun Microsystemsand is one of the most powerful men in Silicon Valley; Gururaj Deshpande (Chennai), due tothe massive valuation of his start-up Sycamore Networks, is one of the highest-net-worthIndians on the planet. Some of Silicon Valley’s biggest young stars are IITians. WhenValley legend Jim Clark (co-founder of Silicon Graphics and Netscape) decided to transformthe US healthcare system with Healtheon, he had a simple strategy: recruit as many IITiansas he could find.

Back home, supercorporation ITC is headed by Y.C. (Yogi) Deveshwar (Delhi); housingfinance giant HDFC has Deepak Satwalekar (Mumbai) as managing director; NIIT, one ofIndia’s most successful young companies, was set up and is run by two IIT Delhi alumni, Rajendra Singh Pawar and Vijay Thadani. Nandan Nilekani, president and managingdirector of India’s most admired corporation, Infosys Technologies, is from IITMumbai. Arjun Malhotra (Kharagpur) co-founded India’s largest infotech group, HCL,and then went on to set up US software major TechSpan. Reliance Telecom is headed by B.K.Syngal (Kharagpur), Hindustan Aeronautics by C.G. Krishnadas Nair (Chennai). The list isendless. Check any giant global corporation: chances are there’s an IITian among thetop 10 people there. Check any successful Indian company: there will be an IITian amongthe top four executives.

Not since the glory days of Eton-Oxford and Harrow-Cambridge has the world seen thealumni from a bunch of institutions wield such power. So what is it about theseengineering schools that IIT is today, in the words of Pavan Nigam, who co-foundedHealtheon with Clark, "the biggest Indian brand after the Taj Mahal"?

The truth is: in a country with an abysmal record of primary education, an inefficientand corrupt higher education system, universities that routinely bow before theirpolitical masters to admit unworthies and award gold medals to hooligans, we have sixcentres of unmatched educational excellence. Six engineering schools, in Kharagpur,Kanpur, Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Guwahati, where entry is restricted by arguably thefairest and toughest entrance exams of this level in the world, the Joint EntranceExaminations (JEE). Only about 2 per cent of the more than 200,000 boys and girls who sitfor the JEE every year get through. They are The Chosen. Unlike almost any institute ofhigher learning in the world, the IITs have no quotas based on wealth, power, donations orchildren of alumni (except for the standard 15 per cent and 7. 5 per cent of seats reservedfor scheduled castes and tribes respectively). Entrance is strictly through merit. You maybe the prime minister’s son, but you don’t get to be an IITian if you don’tpass the JEE. IIT Kharagpur director Prof Amitabha Ghosh’s own son couldn’tclear the JEE. The director shrugs it off: "I did not bat an eyelid because I knewthere was no other way out."

No wonder you never meet an IITian who isn’t intensely proud of his alma mater.Every alumnus unfailingly calls his IIT years "the best years of my life".United Airlines’ Dutta looks back at IIT as "a period of learning, of formingrelationships, of emotional growth-it was my own little Camelot". Says Yogesh Gupta(Chennai), executive vice-president of the New York-based Computer Associates: "Thebest thing about the IITs was that anyone who was there deserved to be there." AddsInfosys’ Nilekani: "My years in IIT have played a seminal role in shaping bothmy skills and worldview."

How does the IIT system consistently create and nurture excellence? The answer ismultifaceted and the reality something India can be truly proud of.

The first-and most important-aspect is of course the JEE, which ruthlessly separatesthe wheat from the chaff. And then, when the 17- or 18-year-old, fresh from his JEEtriumph, arrives at the campus, he is immediately plunged into an atmosphere of greatintellectual ferment. He (we use the masculine pronoun because the vast majority ofIITians happen to be male) will spend the next four or five years in an intenselycompetitive cauldron where the only things respected are brains and talent. Students andfaculty make no distinction between rich and poor, city slickers and marginalfarmers’ sons, caste and creed and religion; the only things that matter are ability,expertise, leadership quality. Says Subrata Sengupta (Kharagpur), dean, University ofMichigan-Dearborn, College of Engineering and Computer Science: "The friendships,loyalties and understandings in IIT made national integration a meaningful concept wellbeyond the slogans of the day."

Appropriately, the first thing a fresh IITian learns is humility. Every boy or girlgetting into IIT has been a school topper and quite likely a merit lister in the highersecondary board. But once in, he discovers that there are equally bright, equallyhard-working people all around him. "What did I get out of IIT? The realisation thatthere are lots of people smarter than I am," says Malhotra of TechSpan. "Andthat you need to go the extra mile to keep up with these folks." "IIT,"says Reliance Telecom’s Syngal, "taught me that competition is the name of thegame. We were supposed to be India’s creme de la creme-some 350-odd chosen out of15,000 to 20,000. Therefore, to assume that you were the best was a folly. You had to bebetter than the best: the instinct to go for the kill, that instinct never to takeanything for granted."

But though elite institutions, lifestyles are hardly lavish. There are dozens ofengineering schools where hostel rooms are more luxurious, the buildings more impressive,the food much better. Indeed, the IITian leads an almost spartan life. Where IITs splurgeis on getting the best equipment and most powerful computers for their labs, not onair-conditioned hostel rooms or marble floors. "IIT Kharagpur was like anashram," recalls Syngal. "You were far removed from the luxuries of your homes,away from the trappings of city life and the tutelage of parents. After Kharagpur, I couldlive in a forest or a villa with equal ease. "

Close to the IIT Kharagpur Gymkhana, the hub of extra-curricular activities, scores ofyoung students are clearing campaign posters for the just-completed students’ bodyelections. Says Manoj, a third year student: "We do the cleaning ourselves. The rulesare simple. The names of those candidates whose posters are not cleared up will be struckoff the polls." Among the first things IITians are taught is the dignity of labour.Says Gupta of Computer Associates: "At the mechanical engineering workshops,compulsory in the first year, you just file away at a block of iron for six weeks. Bookknowledge is fine, but IITs force you to get your hands dirty."

The by-product is a quick subliminal course in responsibility for the 17-year-old."No one ever forced you to study, but everyone had to," recalls Syngal."Being responsible was an aspect all of us learnt." You had to, otherwise youwere out on your butt. The IITs follow a relative grading system: the grade you get isdependent on how other students fare. "You could get 90 out of 100 and yet get a Dbecause others got more. The prospect was daunting enough to psyche the best students. Itpushed you to the limit," recalls Deepak Bhagat (Kanpur), head of product strategy atSun Microsystems, US. "At Kanpur, you were always running faster and faster to stayahead. Compared to that, the University of Wisconsin, where I did my MS, was aholiday," says Nigam.

The quality of students is matched by the quality of faculty. "The fairness of theentry for students is well-known. But what is little known is the fairness in theselection of faculty. It is easier to gain admission through the JEE route than to get ateaching job. No other institute has such exacting standards," says M.S. Ananth,dean, academic courses, and professor of chemical engineering at IIT Chennai.

For more proof, listen to Prith Banerjee, President’s Gold Medallist, IITKharagpur, 1981, and currently Walter P. Murphy Professor and Chairman, Electrical andComputer Engineering, Northwestern University, Illinois. "When I came to the US as agraduate student with one suitcase of personal belongings, I brought along my lecturenotes from my final year classes in Kharagpur. Whenever I struggled with some upper levelcourses at the University of Illinois, I went back to those notes. I’ve used thosenotes many times in developing my own lectures when I taught at Illinois andNorthwestern." Suhas Patil (Kharagpur), founder of Cirrus Logic and now ceo of TufanInc, recalls that when he joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for hisMS, his first thoughts were that "IIT professors were actually better than many ofthe MIT ones". Netravali, who holds arguably the most coveted position in electronicresearch in the world, admits the three hours of the Electrical Machines exams given byProf M.S. Kamath "felt like an eternity. It taught me humility".

Add to this combination of high-quality students and faculty the total isolation fromIndian politics. There are no strikes, dharnas, protests or holding classes or faculty toransom. No political party has ever entered the campuses. Says Prof S.C. Sahasrabudhe,officiating director, IIT Mumbai: "We are centrally funded, so local politicianscannot exercise any clout with us. IIT was set up with the backing of very strong peopleway back in the ‘60s with the highest values and was meant to be an organisationwhich maintained standards of excellence. They never tried to interfere. Now the traditionis so strong that no one can think of making or asking for concessions and favours. "Each IIT, by virtue of the IIT Act, has an autonomous board with no provision of politicalor bureaucratic nominees on any major committee. These six engineering schools are perhapsthe only truly free and fair centres of learning in India.

But, in the final analysis, IITs are about IITians, India’s best and brightest,brought together to learn from and compete with one another, inside the classroom andoutside. "In the end, it’s not about the curriculum, it’s about your fellowstudents," says Venky Harinarayan (Chennai), co-founder of junglee.com. "Thesame curriculum and professors, without the students, and you won’t have the IITs. Ilearned more from my classmates than I did from my profs."

And it’s not just the technical education, comparable with anything available theworld over, that makes an IITian. Says Prof B.N. Sreedhar, dean (students affairs), IITKharagpur: "The training procedure includes great stress on extra-curricularactivities." Says Partha Pratim Chakrabarti, President’s Gold Medallist, IITKharagpur, 1985, and now a professor of computer science at his alma mater: "An IITcampus is a unique amalgamation of talents-talents not confined within the boundaries ofengineering books or tools. IITs help shape a complete person. You can be anything andeverything from a white-collar executive to a maverick filmmaker."

Curricular was interesting. Extra-curricular was really what mattered," saysHarinarayan. Indeed, inside the IITs, the greatest peer group respect is reserved forthose who excel inside and outside the classroom. Next come those who excel only outsidethe classroom and then those who specialise in cracking the exams. And even there, fewIITians have much respect for the student who does nothing but study all day. It’sbrains, not bullwork, and talent, not memory, which get peer respect. Malhotra, winner ofthe B.C. Roy Gold Medal, awarded by IIT Kharagpur to the graduating student with the bestmix of curricular and extra-curricular achievements, recalls that when he reached IIT, hewanted to have fun and enjoy his time. He held a number of student body posts and says hisoutside-the-classroom activities taught him "how to motivate friends to focus onmeeting goals. It was great learning and the basis of my managing people later inlife".

"The extra-curricular activities taught us self-confidence, how to handleuncertainty, how to approach complex problems, how to collaborate with other intelligentindividuals," says Netravali. "IIT was a fantastic place to develop as anindividual." NIIT chairman Pawar feels that it was "a life lived to the fullest.It pushed up my energy levels". Patil of Tufan recalls that even something like aninter-hostel gardening competition was taken so seriously that budgets were passed,botanical books opened up and soil composition discussed. Says "Desh" Deshpande,founder and chairman, Sycamore Networks, and one of the richest Indians alive: "Iworked hard but I also learnt that you have to have fun all along the way."

Thus, in the four or five years he spends there, the IITian faces incrediblecompetition, takes phenomenal stress and enjoys himself hugely, all at the same time.Recalls Harinarayan: "The biggest advantage an IIT education gives you is confidencein your abilities. My experience gave me the confidence to dream." Says PurnenduChatterjee (Kharagpur), president of the New York-based Chatterjee Group: "IIT setthe pace and built a foundation for standards. I realised that I have a great deal toaccomplish but you must also have fun alongside. " Pawar, who was the generalsecretary of the students affairs council plus captain of the IIT Delhi hockey team, says:"Today, when I hold 72-hour non-stop workshops at NIIT, it reminds me of my undergraddays. The habit of hard work, discipline and responsibility has carried through to thisday."

Says Prof S.G. Dhande of IIT Kanpur: "IIT gives its students the confidence andability to face new and challenging problems in any sphere-whether in management ortechnology or finance. This explains why IITians are not just found in technology jobs butheading investment banks, airlines, marketing companies." Companies of every ilkhanker for IITians, simply because they are the best and the brightest, not just for theirengineering knowledge.

By the time he leaves his alma mater, the IITian is a tough, cosmopolitan man,supremely confident that he can take on the world and win. He will also remain, for therest of his life, intensely loyal to his IIT. And loyal IITians today are putting theirmoney where their mouth is. For years, critics have carped about the Indian taxpayersubsidising the education of IITians only to see them take the first flight out to the USof A. Today, they are giving back. In 1992, as part of the economic reforms process, thegovernment cut IIT subsidies dramatically. And the alumni rallied around instantly.

IIT Mumbai’s alumni have already contributed more than $20 million to their almamater. Silicon Valley tycoon Kanwal Rekhi donated more than $2 million to set up a Schoolfor Information Technology. Infosys MD Nilekani has given more than Rs 11 crore. In theUS, IIT alumni have set up the IIT Mumbai Heritage Fund. IIT Mumbai hopes to raise Rs 500crore by 2008, its golden jubilee year. "But the alumni are gung-ho," says ProfNarayana Murthy, dean, resource development, "and think it’s too long a periodand hope to do it faster." Expatriate IITians, all those brains that were drainedaway in the last 30 years, are also back as venture capitalists, angel investors,employers. It’s payback time.

The government’s slashing of subsidies also forced the IITs to focus on othersources of income like industrial consultancy. A perennial criticism of the IITs has beenthat they lived in a world of their own and their technological expertise did not helpIndian industry. All that has changed now. IIT Kharagpur earned Rs 14 crore last year fromconsultancy. Says Prof B.N. Mitra, dean, sponsored research and industrial consultancy:"We have traditionally worked with a lot of Indian companies. Now the mnc deluge hasstarted. Our current research includes work for companies like at&t, Bell Labs,Motorola, Microsoft, Compaq, GE Caps and Oracle." Indeed, IIT Kharagpur has developedsome stunning new technologies in the last few years. In a project sponsored by Goodrickeand the Indian Tea Association, IIT scientists have broken the age-old myth that tea,especially the superior variety, can be grown only in hills which attract plentiful rainyet do not retain the water. "We have proved that excellent tea can easily be grownon laterite soil where rainfall averages between 1,100 and 1,200 mm a year," saysProf Mitra. Currently, the institute is working on technologies that can grow tea on vasttracts of fallow land in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa.

So in a way, the subsidy cuts have helped unleash new energies within the IIT system.Says Prof Anand Patwardhan, IIT Mumbai alumnus, and currently teaching at its School ofManagement: "In the ‘70s, IIT was a teaching institution; in the ‘80s,there was a focus on research; and in the ‘90s, the scope was further expanded toinclude knowledge and wealth creation.