Tech founder in US tweets that people from IIT are geniuses, explains himself after reading replies

Tech founder in US tweets that people from IIT are geniuses, explains himself after reading replies

If you ever were a science student, you probably had a dream of making it to the IITs. It is a dream that a lot of people nurture in India but only a handful get to live fulfil. Getting into an IIT is no cakewalk. It requires a lot of hard work, determination, strategic and aggressive preparation to crack the IIT entrance exam. Every year over 10 lakh students appear for the IIT JEE entrance exam but only a few make it. Those who make surely have the x factor but should they be called geniuses? Well, the founder of Glean, a startup in the US, definitely thinks so.

Debhargya Das, the founding engineer at Glean, has posted a tweet glorifying IITians. In his tweet, he has called the IIT grads geniuses. The comment, however, has not gone down well with other Twitter users.

Das, who was schooled at posh La Martiniere in Kolkata and who graduated from Cornell University, posted on Twitter: “If you’re not from India and you ever meet someone from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) who studied Computer Science, know that they took an examination that 1,000,000 students spent 4 years preparing for and were (likely) in the top 300. They’re geniuses.”

Well, a lot of aspirants who have appeared for the test repeatedly may agree with Das’s sentiments but there are a few that don’t.

Reacting to his tweet, a user highlighted that the IIT aspirants spend a couple of years in expensive coaching institutes to crack the exam so they cannot pass off as geniuses. She wrote, “Also a vast majority of them spend 2 years in a coaching town (Kota), mindlessly mugging up equations and tricks, 14-18 hours EVERY DAY. Just to pass an entrance test. Hardly the sign of a GENIUS. Sadly, and not surprisingly, a few end their lives under so much pressure.

Another user, who is himself an IIT graduate, refused to agree with Das’s comments. He replied to his post saying, “I am All India Rank 1311 in AIEEE and 3671 in IIT entrance. I studied & later worked with people from the same batch who were ranked better than me. Including two with IIT rank 200 & better. None of us, including me are geniuses. Don’t fall for this CRAP.”

There were a very few on Twitter who agreed with Das’s “genius” comment. Most agreed with the fact that the IIT graduates are only good in Science and Mathemetics but lack a worldview. They lack awareness about social issues.

Responding to all the comments, Das clarified that IIT graduates are not geniuses because they topped an exam because they are hardworking and talented. He also called them smarter than average.

For the unversed, there are 23 IITs present in India currently. To get into IIT, candidates have to first appear and qualify the JEE Main entrance exam . The entrance test is conducted by the National Testing Agency twice a year — January and April. Once a student passes the JEE Main, he will have to appear for the JEE Advanced exam.

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