United we stand....

As I write this blog, I am confused, frustated and angry. What's making me write this is the overwhelming spirit KGPians demonstrated post Rohit's sad demise yesterday. This isn't the first time we have been stripped off our basic right. And over that, we hear stories about increasing student intakes by huge numbers. It's not just hilarious how decisions are made (without a well-defined strategy to tackle them) by old grumpy bureaucratic minds but also surprising how this has been happening since time immemorial in a premier institute. Undoubtedly, it's the unrelenting spirit of students that somehow keeps our mahinery runnning.

To talk about healthcare, everyone in KGP (at some point or the other) must have been through the ridiculous chain of "self-proclaimed" doctors, some of whom don't seem to have attended even a medical school. During the last semester, I got a weird skin problem in my left hand which was probably because an insect crawled at my hand the previous night. I was sent to a general doctor from the registration booth as there seemed be no skin specialist available at that point (probably he was ill because he could not cure his own problem). The doctor I visit doesn't seem to be able to diagnose my case and prescribes every possible medicine one can for a basic skin problem. I carry the heavy presciption and visit a paramedic who complains about the doctor prescribing the wrong wound-lotion which also seemed to be unavailable. Left dismayed, I agree to this seemingly nice staff member and get my hand treated and bandaged. This was 7.30 pm and the pharmacy at the hospital had closed. (I had arrived at the hospital at 6 pm and had waited for an hour for my turn to sit my dream doctor, which is very normal at BCR.) I had to visit the Tech market pharmacy and spend 200 bugs to buy the medicine. When I visited the doctor again after 3 days, he told me that the medicines he had prescribed were probably not needed and that the lotion would have been enough to cure my hand. As always, I felt like electrying his balls but left it for my imagination to play with.

My small case and several other innumerous incidents which go unreported every hour in the hallowed rooms of BCR have been the topic of discussion for quite a few years now but our busy nutty authorities probably never had time to look into them. Over that, they seem to be overtly concerned about our safety and have banned students from moving outside the campus gate after 11 pm for almost two semesters now.

Till yesterday, what did it feel like to be a director? What is the swearing-in pledge that a director takes when he starts office? Does he take one? "Ya, I am a reponsible person but that's not the fun part. I am ruling over an intellectual group of around 8000 students along with a group of faculty. I will rule according to the whims and fancies of my tiny cerebrum and make everyone's life hell, be it a student or a faculty member... When it comes to taking action against a serious crime committed, I shall sit in a corner of my mansion and protect myself from the "hooligan" students. "

The Open House, which I attented with around 8000 fellow KGPians yesterday, was an eye-opening historic event for every individual who raised his finger in the darkest corners of the Tagore Open Air Theatre. It not just showed each one of us how powerful we are when we stand together but also has hopefully marked the beginning of an awakened era in the buzzing campus of IIT Kharagpur. It was about time we make the authorities realize that they are accountable for every bit of how they affect our daily lives. It was necessary to generate that fear, that mind-boggling thought that if I don't live up to my responsibilities, every stakeholder in all my endeavors will demand justice, nothing but justice. It is also the time when we, as the General Secretary Maintenance, the Hall President, the Vice-President Gymkhana, .... and as a KGPian realize how to best play our roles in the dynamics of the system. It's not just the time to fight but also the time to promise to ourselves that we will not apathetic towards any injustice, that we will attend every Open Session in such numbers, that we will not stop unless we have cleansed the bureaucratic shithole this place has become. I just hope that KGP will never be the same again.....