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Looking back
By Karthik 'Kana' Narayanan ('01 E&I)
“FOUR
wonderful years at BITS, the years that changed the way I cry and the
way I think” – An impacting line from my wingie,
Raghuraman’s blog that succinctly conveys the phenomenon called
BITS, Pilani and forms the central theme of my article.
Often, I wonder what
it is in that place that transforms the naïve students in their
late teens into balanced, responsible and courageous individuals 4-5
years down the line. And immediately it seems to be a problem with
infinite solutions. It could be the wonderful curriculum with its
flexibilities like electives and innovations like Practice School. Or
the independence expected from students in managing their resources
– time and money. Or the concept of departments, clubs, messes
and council, wholly managed by students which aid in developing team
spirit, nurturing innovation and sharing. It could be being away from
home in hostels and wings, meeting people with myriad backgrounds,
understanding them and coexisting with them. Or the freedom given to
students to involve themselves in activities of their choice,
face tough situations, differentiate right from wrong and develop
decision making skills. Or the variety of interaction with faculty,
seniors (also known as ragging?!) and juniors that imbibes the courage
to face people of every kind or the favorable sex ratio that enables
understanding complex emotions of the opposite sex and self (of course,
this now seems endangered with the new admission system!) …or
any of the million other reasons.
Whatever it may be, it can be summarized by a single fact - BITS,
Pilani caters to enhancing both intellectual and emotional
intelligence. The former is widely acclaimed but it is the latter that
causes more impact. Emotional Intelligence, popularized by Daniel
Goleman through his book, is described as a set of five basic emotional
and social competencies –
- Self- awareness – knowing what we are feeling
- Self-regulation – handling our emotions
- Motivation – using our deepest preferences to drive us towards our goals
- Empathy – sensing what people are feeling
- Social skills – handling emotions in relationships well.
A look at these
competencies and an understanding of the BITS ecosystem is enough for
anybody to conclude that the BITS ecosystem definitely contributes to
enhancing emotional intelligence, a high degree of which organizations
readily welcome.
And the story does not end there. What does this highly developed
emotional intelligence coupled with intellectual intelligence do? Yet
again a question with many answers, but I would like to point out
salient ones.
BITSians are driven by their passions and continue to impact in
technology, business, community and every other realm in eclectic ways
(“Fits BITS”, Sandpaper Fall 2005). Energetic in what we
do, this also seems to spawn an entrepreneurial spirit in many.
Another point is that, BITSians have a sense of sharing and a
commitment towards social responsibilities (look at BITS Tsunami or 30
under 30 award winner profiles or the BITSian next to you).
Further, we carry so many nostalgic memories about the place that we
seek BITSian company wherever we go and it has, for sure, resulted in
well ‘networked’ alumni. Sometimes, this has also caused us
to be branded as being too emotional about any issue regarding BITS or
BITSians. This is the feeling that made another wingie of mine, Madhu,
remark, “Yesterday, I accidentally caught sight of this one snap
and I literally broke down. It seemed brilliant, a pool of fondness
beckoning from the distance...  wanting everyone whoz been there to come
back again and left cruelly wanting those 4 years that seems now a
bygone era”
No doubt Raghu, BITS is the phenomenon that changes the way we cry and the way we think.
All this and more - the result of how the place adds to our emotional
quotient (EQ) which in turn helps in meeting the
Institute’s expectations of its graduates to make a mark in their
careers; contribute to efforts for development and quality of human
life and setting high standards of performance worthy of emulation by
successors (adapted from Degree certificate).
(Thanks to Kaushik, Ravi, Raghu, Madhu and Divya for their contributions in shaping the article.)
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