Happy Engineer’s Day

I’m sure not many aware of this, but the 15th of September is also celebrated as Engineer’s Day here in India. If you wanna know more about why & what head over to Wikipedia. This post is a tribute to all the engineers who have made themselves proud and as collateral prosperity[1. opposite of Collateral Damage. :P], done India proud. One the qualities of an engineer, they can crack stupid jokes, yet make sense.

We the engineers (me almost on paper, but certainly one off it) are often a disgruntled lot – as the founder of Pagalguy.com puts it. I concur. He is absolutely right in his observation. We are disgruntled, can be grim & certainly don’t like to stand around people who talk crap, even if that was one of us.

Engineers are practical and tend to be specific in what they want, that’s what makes them what they are. I personally have a strong belief that most engineers if not all, are successful engineers because of them and NOT the teachers who teach. Specially in a university like the Mumbai univ. we know for a fact that the cheat sheet to score is cram what you can – the sole mantra to engineering success. And these are not engineers. They are a dis-respect to the community of engineers and so are the people who facilitate such an environment – the good for nothing “teachers”. For whom teaching is a show of their powers even without knowledge of the subject.

When an Electronics & Telecomm guy is troubleshooting the computer of a final year Computer guy, there is something wrong with the system of education. It is rubbish and worthless just like the people who design it.

Sad. But, that is the state of the ‘A’ grade colleges here. It is a dilemma for us too, it’s either “succeed” on paper or gain knowledge about what you want to. The choice is ours and the ability to make this choice and yet do India proud is what I salute in every engineer, every true engineer. Not an easy balancing act but it has been done time and again and the teachers jump in stake claim.

My uncle (ex-BARC, Electrical Engineer) years back told me that parents come to know that their child is gonna become an engineer when they see him breaking & making stuff. A sure trait of an engineer, never have an idle mind, even if we seem to be doing nothing, rest assured there is something building up in our minds, an idea germinating about creating something. “Create” is the key word, an engineer always will be creating something in his mind or with his hands, always.

Maybe, that is why we are quite boring for the girls and girls aren’t exactly the engineering types. There is definitely a scarcity of the fairer sex in engineering, it is both good & bad. If there were too many then there will be un-wanted distraction all around. If there are less we tend to become bored of life.

Sure, people are successful today in every field, but an engineer has respect that no one else and if you were to ask me, if someone said that he was an engineer  who scored 85%+ from Mumbai university, he does not get any respect from me ‘coz I know he is trailer park trash walking on God’s green Earth.

True engineers are an anomaly in the system, one which I am thankful of. Pat yourselves on the back you deserve it.

NOTE: The 2 links are not broken but are hidden posts till I complete my engineering, don’t want to get into controversies. For those who have been reading my blog, the 2 posts are the College Professor Volumes I & II.

PS: I am born to be an engineer, happy birthday to me.