1,000 Years, 1,000 People

There was an article in "Hindu" today, about a new book "1,000 Years, 1,000 People: Ranking the Men and Women Who Shaped the Millennium".
The rankings are based on a BioGraph system which is made of up five key elements:

• the person's lasting influence and impact,
• their influence and effect on the world in their time,
• their contribution to wisdom and beauty,
• their charisma, and
• the singularity of their contribution.

It is very interesting to learn that Johannes Gutenberg, the inventor of printing press has been top-ranked in the list, leaving behind giants like Newton, Edison, Beethoven, Shakespeare, Marx etc. The primary reason given for his elevation to the top spot was that the printing press "harnessed the power of ideas on the world".
The entry at the 1000th place is all the more intriguing. It has Andy Warhol from US adorning it. To be frank, I didn’t know much about this person. So out of curiosity, just checked on the internet for some information about him. I was pleasantly surprised to know that he was the one who coined the concept/phrase "15 minutes of fame!!!!!"
By the way, there are many Indians on the list; Mahatama Gandhi without any doubt tops this list at 12th position. Others who feature in the list are Indira Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore, Akbar, Babur etc.
Another point which catches your attention is that around 20 people in top 100 are scientists/inventors whose work or invention have left a mark on humanity in a big way.
For those who are interested in glancing through the top 100 entries, click on the following hyperlink: http://www.wisdomportal.com/Books/1000Years1000People.html.

Slump forces IITians to board IAF!!!

"Slump forces IITians to board IAF", thus read the heading of an article in the Chennai edition of a leading daily. (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Chennai/Slump_forces_IITians_to_board_IAF/articleshow/3944498.cms)

This reminded me of a discussion I’d with my co-passengers in the train from Pune to Chennai about a week back. Both of them were IITians, one having passed out in early 1990s and the other still pursuing his B.Tech. The former being a top government official now, incidentally in the Indian Railways.
I asked the IIT student, "Do the IITians still join the Civil Services (IAS/IPS etc.) these days?"
He replied, "Dude, government services are not for us. We are made for bigger things in life!!!"
To which the government official retorted, "So those working in the government sector are fools? Or are they less competent than those working in the private sector? "
The IIT student was taken aback. Obviously his horizon wasn’t broad enough to appreciate the work done by the government officials. Time and again he would mention about the average salary drawn by the IITians, people going abroad for work or higher studies, apathy for the political condition of the country.
He even mentioned that he had an offer to join a medical college in Mumbai after 12th, but he opted for IIT instead. The reasons being, that he would have to slog much less and chance to earn a lot more than the doctors.
I’m in no way trying to make a statement on the IITians here, as I respect them a lot having come across many who are a boon to the society and always have a bigger picture in mind for every problem/situation in life.
Now coming back to the article, I sometimes wonder whether the defence forces aren’t worthy enough for the IITians to join. There haven’t been any IITian in the defence services after 1960s!!! That’s shocking. I believe the forces would have benefitted a lot from the services of the top-notch engineers of the country.
What is stopping the IITians from joining the government services? Is it the lure for more money, their superiority complex, less challenging nature of the job?? Only the IITians themselves can explain the reason.
As far as I am concerned, I feel that the IITians have the potential of bringing about cross-fertilization of talents to the enrichment of the vibrancy and resilience of public service as a whole.
As for the "bigger things in life" is concerned, the opportunity of influencing the government decisions on a myriad of situations and problems ranging from farmers’ woes and women empowerment to internal and cross-border terrorism would be unparalleled in the plethora of jobs offered in the country or abroad for that matter!!!!

P.S. There are many IITians who have opted for government service. Some of the names I could find on net are as follows:
1. Manohar Parrikar – the first IIT graduate to become the CM of a state (Goa) from 2000 to 2005.
2. Duvvuri Subbarao – the Governor of Reserve Bank of India.
3. V.C.Agrawal – MD of IBP Oil.
4. Arvind Kejriwal – Ramon Magsaysay Award Winner. Instrumental in getting the Right to Information bill passed.
5. Satyendra K. Dubey – National Highway Authority of India employee. Was assassinated for blowing the whistle in a corruption case.
6. Srikumar Banerjee - Director of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC)
7. Jairaj Pathak – Municipal Commissioner of BMC
And many more.....