Disastrous Analogies

Munshi Premchand wrote that a salary is like the full moon (which becomes less full with each passing day) whereas business profits are like water from a spring (a steady flow).

While people in the north-eastern states were bearing the brunt of Hurricane Sandy, I was sitting at home thinking of the San Andreas fault line and its potential for causing earthquakes. I was in Houston when Rita struck. We were very fortunate that what could have been a category 5 storm that was headed right towards the city weakened and moved away in the last 24 hours. A day before the hurricane hit, we tried to drive to Austin. But so did half of Houston. The other half was driving to Dallas. No one got anywhere that day. We weren't even able to go to the Houston airport to pick up my dear friend and roommate Sampad who had just flown in with his newlywed wife.

Which is worse, an earthquake or a hurricane? I don't think the question has an answer, but I was having hiccups while pondering the question. The hiccups inspired me to the following analogy: A hurricane is like a sneeze (you can feel it coming) whereas an earthquake is like a hiccup (you know it will come, but can't time it exactly). When it comes to major natural disasters, I think most people would prefer sneezes to hiccups.

Meeting Professor Ray

Professor Ajoy Kumar Ray, who is currently the Vice Chancellor of BE College (now known as Bengal Engineering and Science University or BESU), Shibpur, was one of my mentors at IIT-Kharagpur. We have remained in touch after my graduation, and I decided to pay him a visit on my recent trip to India.

Prof. Ray is one of the nicest people I know, and meeting him is always a pleasure; however, I was also curious for a different reason. Before joining BE College (his alma mater) as Vice Chancellor in 2009, Prof. Ray used to teach in IIT. In those days, BE College was thought of as a college on the decline with a long proud past. Among other things, there was too much student unrest, which inevitably shifts the focus away from education. Since Prof. Ray joined, the college has made a remarkable turnaround, and in recent months the media has been showering glowing praise on the college. I wanted to learn how the change was brought about.

Many steps were taken to address the politicization of the student body. Underlying all of them, there were a few basic realizations. First, students have a lot of energy that must be channelled somewhere. In the absence of creative and constructive channels, student unrest is to be expected. Second, students, like any other group, have unique problems that need to be addressed. I had heard that shortly after joining BE College, Prof Ray had joined the students in a game of cricket - a fine way to bond with a bunch of youngsters. Such actions can quickly clear up the air of mistrust so that constructive change can begin. I believe that much more was done to address student needs, but lack the details. To quell my curiosity on how to reduce politics, Prof. Ray himself gave the following example. Suppose that the college elects a student soccer secretary each year. One might allow all students to vote to choose who it should be, in which case representatives of opposing political parties field their candidates and organize the campaigns. If we modify the system so that only those who play soccer vote to choose the soccer secretary, then that dramatically reduces the involvement of transigent individuals with sworn affiliations to political parties. Through the creation of various sports, social and cultural clubs, and by encouraging the participation of students in these clubs, an attempt can be made to channel student energy into creative activities. Simple but powerful steps towards reform. I was very impressed.

During the last half-hour of my stay, Prof. Ray and I went for a walk. He showed me an old clock tower which was powered by water, and had been broken for decades before being fixed recently. There are few such clocks in India, and to repair it, a technician had to be summoned from a different state (finding such a technician was the first challenge). He also showed me a pond with a paved path running along its side, lined with bright lights powered by nearby solar panels. On one side of the lake was a very fine nine-foot bronze statue of Rabindranath Tagore. Five years ago, none of this existed. As a passer-by remarked, the place used to be like Sundarban (a forest) - light from a few flickering incandecent bulbs from a road in the distance being the only barrier to total darkness.

Again I was curious, what did Prof. Ray do that others did not? He explained that BE College is a government-run institution, which has pros and cons. Money given to the college is carefully accounted for, which prevents outright theft. On the other hand, to spend money - even a few hundred dollars - tenders must be issued and quotes must be invited, the best quote chosen, and the task overseen and completed. The cost of this bureaucracy and red tape is high, both in terms of time and money. To get around the problem, Prof. Ray worked with a few prominent donors, and asked them to give not in cash but in kind. One company might donate the bronze statue, another may provide the lights, etc. The contributors' names appear on a stone tablet that stands next to the pond.

He similarly took steps to encourage research, of which I did not seek details. But research funding has gone from Rs. 3 crores/yr when he joined to Rs. 65 crores/yr. I can totally believe that he took some simple steps that made an enormous difference.

On the downside, overwork and the stress of dealing with individuals set in old ways has taken a toll on Prof. Ray's health. I believe that he drinks too much tea, his meals are irregular, and he has not set aside time for exercise or its equivalent. I hope he remains healthy and lives a long life. Such people are rare.