For the sake of Love !

Please spare 2 minutes to read the ToI news-excerpt given below:

Times of India of 23rd Sept 2009 gave a news in connection with the dissatisfaction of the Highly Intellectual Community of IITs. It covered few illustrations given below :

1. "A PhD from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Bharat Seth has been a professor at the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) for the last 20 years. However, when he recently built his house--the first one he has ever owned--he had to borrow money from relatives and dig into his provident fund. 'I even asked my son to take a loan for higher education for the money,' he said."

His is not an exceptional story--like him most IIT professors are highly qualified and passionate about teaching but underpaid. They are in academics for the love of it, but it gets a tad difficult to ignore that their own students and also their friends in the corporate world earn far more than they do.

2. While Prof Soumyo Mukherji says he can't afford to buy a house after retirement, another teacher says professor will never be able to afford a home in Mumbai. "After retirement, all of us may have to return to the towns we came from,'' he says. But they do not complaint about the paltry pay, it's the love for their work that matters.

"We're not fighting over the difference in the pay scales, which works out to Rs 1,500. We're upset because this will create a hierarchy, which was not there. Currently, you move up the ladder based on merit in the IITs. Why should there be any cap on professors getting a higher grade pay? What happens if the 40% quota is filled and deserving candidates are left out? Do they have to wait for older professors to retire? asks Seth.

3. "Why does the ministry want to micro-manage the IIT?'' asks another faculty member.

4. Another bone of contention is the fact that the ministry wants 10% of all faculty to be in the cadre of assistant professors on contract. Their pay will only be Rs 26,000 a month. "How will we ever get bright young people to join the teaching profession?'' asks Mukherji. A young IIT graduate, who was earlier teaching at a private institution, had to accept half the salary when he joined the IITs.

5. According to the faculty members, while they're in the profession for the love of it, there should be a limit to which they're willing to let their commitment be exploited. Some of their quarters on the campus even have leaky roofs, to say the least. Many of them cannot afford to send their children abroad for studies, or even to international schools in Mumbai.

6. Mukherji, who has been teaching at IIT for 12 years, bought his first new car only three years ago. "Before that, I had a second-hand Zen,'' he says. While professors often joke over their wages, they know that at the end of the day, few people are as highly qualified and as lowly paid as them.

7. They point to a recent TV show in which an IIT alumnus and well-known writer said he would not want his own child to become a faculty member at the IITs, because if his child was good enough to make it to the IITs as a student, he could find more lucrative careers elsewhere.

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Have you carefully read the news? What did you observe or what did you conclude?
IIT professors chose this profession of their own, despite the low salary. Why so? For the love of it (teaching profession in IIT). It was their choice.

What happened now? Why are they repenting over their choice now?

• Because they cant afford the expenses to be borne for sending their wards abroad for further studies.


• Because they cant send their wards to International Schools in Mumbai for unaffordable fees.


• Because it gets a tad difficult to ignore that their own students and also their friends in the corporate world earn far more than they do.


• Because there will be hierarchy now-onwards.


• Their roofs are leaky.
  So on so forth.

This is the classic example of highly intellectual and research oriented class who could not anticipate so many problems.

They claim that they have a vision for engineering and technological oriented fields and can foresee the results of their research and analytical work.
But when it comes to the level of materialistic day-to-day problems does this vision-skill disappear?

It is said that the Scientists can explore the tiny stars in the sky above, but they cant identify the huge pits on the grounds.

Without going into the details of their problems, let us assume at the outset that THEIR PROBLEMS ARE GENUINE, one conclusion that can be drawn safely is that they are dissatisfied today, despite their choice of profession and their love for the profession.

They are highly intellectual and research oriented persons. And they are comparing their salary with their students and friends in Corporate world. They are not comparing with the students and their friends on various parameters like the type of their work, the job-satisfaction, the risk of retaining their jobs, the self-appraisal and appraisal at various stages, freedom and independence level, insecurity level, the time they have to consume daily for the work, the time-constraints imposed by their higher management to complete the assignment, the salary to exertion ratio, the last priority to the pleasure of work, injustice on their Family members. In fact, that will be the rational comparison of benefits and losses on either side.

There was a lesson in our School Book. All the people approached god with a bundle on their heads. It was blunder of their problems faced in everyday life. they asked to give it to the God and Get a new bundle of shear pleasure from the God. God showed his inability to give a new bundle to each of them. But he gave an option to them. He permitted them to exchange the bundles with each other. Everybody agreed happily. After exchanging the bundles and getting rid of their original bundle, each one returned to his house. Next week there was again a rush at the God's door. The God asked them the reason of their grief. everybody said that they wanted their original bundle back. God smiled and returned their original bundles. Everybody realised that it is not true that our grief and problems are the only serious ones in the world. They realised it only after experiencing somebody else's problems. A nice story, isn't it?

Now let us first concentrate on the words 'Love for the profession' or Job-satisfaction'. These respected teachers claim that they chose this profession for the sake of love for it. They sacrificed high salaried lucrative jobs/careers and accepted this noble profession.

One can always say that they were either not satisfied by their earlier lucrative jobs or they found themselves misfit in their earlier high-salaried jobs. Let us rule out the possibility that they might have been kicked out by the earlier employers because of their bad performance.

Then can we say that just because they chose this profession, they thought or anticipated that they will get a package of all good things, essential amenities, good house, a good car, educational facilities to their wards in reputed international schools nearby and the expenditure for their studies abroad etc at that time?

In such case, what is meant by love for their self-chosen work?

We know many things about love like, Love means sacrifice, Love does not demand anything, does not expect anything in return etc etc. But here what we see is totally different thing. Why so?

Let us take an example of a youth and the girl whom he truly and sincerely loves. Will it be correct if the boy says after their marriage that alright he loved the Girl, but now he realised that he is badly in need of house, car, international school for kids, expenditure for kids to be sent abroad, a house in Mumbai and the father-in-law has to take care of the same. Can he tell the father-in-law that there should be a limit to which he is willing to let his commitment be exploited?

We will laugh at the boy if he says so. We will ask him the exact meaning of love. We will question his purity of love.

Now let us concentrate on their next word of 'hierarchy'. They feel that due to the provisions or limitations of the provisions there will be difference in the cadres or levels of the Professors. But IIT-professors always and all the time maintained their separate superior identity from the professors of other engineering colleges around. IIT was preserved as a paradise by them.The cadres of Lecturer, Associate Professors, Asst Professors and Professors existed within the IITs. Did it never lead to hierarchy?

While enjoying all the other facilities including the foreign visits there is separate yardstick for different cadres. Then at that time why are they not paying attention to hierarchy? Even there is a difference of Status observed by the families of these teachers for different cadres.

In fact, as most of them are PhD-holders, the professors started mentioning themselves as Professors instead of Doctors. This was meant for the sole purpose of distinguishing their higher status than rest of the faculty. Is it not another form of hierarchy?

What about their maintaining separate Identity from Teaching Fraternity from other engineering colleges around? Is it not another form of hierarchy?

The financial budget for each IIT is 20 to 30 times than that of any other Govt-aided engineering college under State Govt. Their funding agency is the Central Govt and till today there is no interference of any kind from the Central Govt in their functioning/policy-making.

The projects of huge amount ( in Lacs and Crores of Rupees) are directly entrusted to IITs. In many cases the certification responsibilities are assigned to IITs. Private consultancy is allowed in IITs of which 70% share is given to the individual teacher and 30% goes to the IIT. And there is no upper ceiling to the Individual share. There are lot many other sources of income for the IIT Faculty. Is it not another form of hierarchy, in financial terms as well?

So this point of hierarchy is also unfounded. It was existing before and will exist in future. It is the state of human mind and different measures are required to overcome it. Neither the Govt nor the Pay-scale should be blamed for this.

Thevile Anante Taishechi Rahave, Chitti Asu Dyave Samaadhan. said Sant Tukaram, the Mahaguru of all has categorically said so. He said this 350 years back. He never said this for ignoring the duty of your own choice or entrusted by somebody else. He is particular about doing the duty sincerely. In fact he is the best example of Total Sacrifice for the Pandurang. He left all the relations for the sake of his Pandurang.

At another place he said that 'Jodoniya Dhan Uttam Vyavahaare, Udaas Vichaare Vech Kari' . He never said not to work or not to earn money but what emphasis he gave on is, 'Chitti Aso Dyave Samaadhaan.'. Satisfaction of the mind/Chitta is more important. This is the ultimate result of the pure Love. All other things are immaterial. But this is the saying of Sant Tukaram, who never took formal Education at School or College, did not do PhD or any kind of research. and IITs could not have given him admission for any post as he was lacking all the qualities and qualification required for it.

So who will follow what he said.

But still we have to remember the words, 'For the sake of Love'. Easy to remember and use in day to day practice.

Bye.

SNN

30-09-2009