Interview with Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Author of Palace of Illusions and Mistress of Spices among many other bestselling books, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is one of the most noted storytellers of…
Institute Security: A T5E Investigation (Part 2)
At the outset, both the Dean of Students and the Chief Security Officer (CSO) seemed unaware of the numbers we had put forward to them as detailed in the survey, and expressed concern at the magnitude of victims in this particular case. The Dean promised that the institute as a whole was more diligent towards ensuring proper background checks in the case of each guard who is hired. Our survey however, tells a different tale.
Casual Sexism on Campus: Perspectives From a Male Student
“A simple reflection on the Institute norm would make us realize that casual sexism is quite deeply rooted here, and sometimes leads to egregious cases of sexual harassment. This norm is established quite early – think back to the freshie night comment screen and how it is filled with sexually explicit comments when women perform. Freshie guys are forced to follow freshie girls and get their room and phone numbers, which dangerously normalizes stalking and falsely equates persistent harassment with reward. We’re also introduced to Insti slang fairly early, and one of the most used terms is “rape”. “
Gender-Based Harassment: A Reality on Campus?
“In this first article in T5E’s gender series, we break down our survey of 815 students and expose serious deficiencies in our understanding of sexual crimes on campus as well as the institute’s mechanisms for addressing them. In all, we received responses from 815 students.”
Made in Insti: What’s Zup
“We have a huge set of data from the students about their transaction patterns. In a couple of years, we plan to leverage our experience in lending and college transactions to enter the student credit market. Say a student needs money during the middle of his semester for untoward emergency, then we can help him avail those loans through the microfinance industries.”
Beyond the Gates: Bolizza
Niharika Gunturu in this Beyond the Gates article provides yet another quick and brilliant review of some of the must trys at Bolizza, located adjacent to SKS-T Nagar. A decent and quite pocket-friendly restaurant to treat one’s multi-cultural friends for they have Continental, South Indian and North Indian cuisine in the offing.
Book and Movie Recommendations: Professor Edition
“The book was gifted to me by my first MTech project advisees, along with a pack of liquor-filled chocolates. Unsure how I treated my students for a year that I received those gifts, but reading Steve Jobs turned out to be an intense experience, worth repeating … I hypothesize that the book tastes better than those chocolates.”
PG Accommodation Crisis: Turning a Blind Eye on a Real Problem
“More than the decision, what I was able to observe in the scholars was the anger towards the authoritarian way of decision making by the administration, as always. Many of the scholars were emotionally moved and there was a cry for having a protest. After repeated meetings with the administration by the RAS and scholars, it was decided that there will not be an immediate implementation of the policy, even though it still stays as a policy.”
The Case of the Lying Trees
“Right now, we are removing the decaying trees and cutting off branches of the ones which stand. Tree numbers have grown rapidly in the twenty years I was here. And most of them are invasive. To cut even one tree, permission from the office of the Director is required. Even the students demand a reason whenever they come across someone cutting a tree in the institute. I think it is nice that everyone feels the responsibility to inquire.”
EML and Interview with Shri KT Rama Rao
By Patanjali and Surya Suresh Politics has never been much of a subject of active discussion amongst IITians. It ranks somewhere below the next episode…