Minutes of the ProE Class

Ah, another of those boring Pro E class, a complete waste of 2 hrs which could be used in such fruitful purposes. Shankar was caught reading a novel during the class and reprimanded for his action, the prof illustrating that it was a clear case of conflict of interest between Shankar and him.Unmindful of the unkind prof, Shankar continued browsing through the novel in rapt attention, chuckling every now and then, to my dismay. The topic of today's discussion was well exemplified by the Professor, I was bit upset with Shankar's high handed attitude. Prof was illustrating the concept with further examples taken from Ramayana and one from his one personal life involving some Sadhu in the Himalayas. The prof poses a question on the integrity of Lord Rama( which is well beyond his power and right); on whether Rama was justified in deserting Sita to the forces of nature( in Aranya) when she was pregnant. Wasn't it an ethical and moral obligation on Rama's part to take care of Sita? History and culture epitomizes Rama to be the embodiment of spirit, honor and integrity and our professor with his own human flaws can't brush away Lord Rama just like that. I am upset with his examples, but I keep quite as it is not right to question the professor during a class, especially in IIT Madras, lest you delay the class by a minute or so and people will kill you for the same, as Junta have to rush to the hostel to resume their daily chores, ie, sleeping, sha**ng and what not. All my energy and enthusiasm is curbed, thanx once again , to the hallowed portals of IIT Madras.
Our prof ends his part of the lecture now, and the Stud prof comes into picture, he is truly learned I must say. He reeks Gyaan from all parts of his body, no offence meant. He continues from where SreeKumar and poses an interesting question on the origin of the word "Corporate", I have the answer on the tip of my tongue, and my mouth is ready to blurt it out, but my master, the all-knowing all-sensing brain tells me, this is IITMadras, pseud putters in any form are either glorified or intimidated beyond measure, and thus i dont speak a word, cuz i dont want to belong to either category of people. Meanwhile , the prof continues his monologue on deontology, Prolexianism( the word misses me, need to search), without any interaction from the class, he cuts his lecture short and goes back to his seat. The profs are disappointed, they want more interaction, but they aren't getting any. This is IITM for you, where the young budding engineers turn into unquestioning, spiritless zombies without any zeal, where the majority is from a part of India where people do nothing other than prepare for JEE. I slowly slip into a state of inactivity which could soon be followed by sleep or a sudden surge of enthusiasm,in short, i am dangling in the region between hell and heaven. With a spurt of energy, i whack the Sleep demon bothering me, crush it and resume listening to the class. A video on the bhopal gas tragedy follows next, a video that serves as the rightful criticism for the atrocities committed by the Dow chemical corporation and its subsidiary, the infamous and fiendish, Union Carbide Company. I plunge deep into the movie, feel compassionate for the sufferers, cry with them, do an act of reasoning and conclude that the government was at much at fault as was UCC. Shankar, meanwhile, brings in a few points to justify his claim that we were the masters of our own trouble as far as the Bhopal gas tragedy was concerned, and Mayur on the hand, is bored with pleasure. He has watched the movie like 100 times, and starts going through my OR notes. I continue sympathizing with the people of bhopal and slowly slip into depression for being in a country which is at the receiving end of all forms of trouble. At this moment, the movie ends, and the prof declares that there is no attendance for the class that was held, and is therefore, faced with a hundred catcalls. Only half the class had turned up and they return back in a state of shock ; demanding justice ( and attendance) for all the drudgery and mental labor they have been through. Once again, i realize, that i am in IITM.. adios my frndz.