Erik within us

While I was dozing off in my bed last weekend (and more keen on turning channels), finally it was NG (National Geographic) that came to my rescue. What made me stop at the same was the very mention of Nepal -- just a little fascination towards the Himalayan kingdom. And as a no surprise, came the mention of Mount Everest and another set of adventitious fokes from the developed west looking to touch the sky (though not without the local Sherpa) .

Base Camp: Some 50 miles from the "base" lies the base camp. "... it will turn out to be very costly to carry that chap with us..." said a fellow member of the team. He failed to notice that Erik was there in the tent (else he won't have spoken about him -- after all they were still a "team"). Later in the day Bob asked Erik if he felt bad about it. "Yes at first I did.. But then I will prove him wrong" came from Erik. Later in the day he puked and many were doubtful if he can carry himself further.



Camp1 took him 12 hours !!! (normally should have taken 3. And then I got my answer - "they tend to think that I should be more comfortable in covering these chasm (a deep rift), though that is not the case - when you don't know how deep it is". The second round came in 9 (3 hours better) - and so I was wondering how long it will take them to reach the top if they continue to take rounds from Base to Camp-1. But then practice holds a special importance when your probability of coming back is 0.8 (or anything less than one).

Camp3 From here starts the death zone (as they call it). "For every one step you breath thrice" came from (poor) Erik. "They ask me what do I gain from all this, and I tell them that feeling the winds and mountains around myself gives immense pleasure. And I too enjoy snow below my shoes as I climb".

By now the team was in two parts Bob and an another climber were at 28700 feet and so still 2 hours to go (or 300 feet to make things easier). At almost the same time the laggard team found a body. "When you are up to Everest, one wrong step can bring an end. I feel as if I am in a war and just hoping to survive till the end" said one.

And then came the last few steps. And who says the first step is always the most difficult -- or else it is just a saying for those normal human adventures. " Come on Erik !!! Come on - you can do it " shouted the radio.

And finally Erik made it. And cheers to that team which supported him in his endeavor to reach the peak, after all you are risking your life with him. And then I think of we the normal fokes who get depressed on paltry things in life and how far do we need to go before we reach our peaks (I am not taking about Smirnoff). Anyways, I forgot to tell you -- Erik can't see and he is the only blind person who has climbed the Everest

Cheers to Erik within us

Indira Ghandi Institute of Development Research

It has been almost 2 years since i completed masters in economics from IGIDR (a little known place where wizards live!!). But while life is a journey and not a destination, their are some milestones which we cannot forget (and as i will explain -- should not forget). Obviously we are talking about IGIDR and without getting nostalgic any further let me point out some of the strengths and weaknesses of this great institute. I essentially intend to help those under grad students who are always seen running from pillar to post exploring the post grad. options they can avail (specially before the final year exam).

Why IGIDR ?

1. Great place to learn. You will not be able to find a better environment with regard to learning (specially economics) in this part of the world. And their are reasons for the same as well-- 4 crores of yearly library budget, extremely low student teacher ratio, some of the best faculty and so on.....


2. Contact with seniors (and other wise fokes). It is a little hard for me to explain the importance of this point, though i find this to be the biggest (and unique) strength of IGI. Think of this -- while you are studying, if you get stuck how many classmates do you expect to come to rescue (in a relative grading system !!!!). Now when you come out of school, life is sure to enter a more interesting trajectory --- sooner or later you will come across questions like -- do i need to shift company(s), can i go back to academics, and what about my own venture !!!. Over the last 3 years i have realized that their is a strong bonding between IGIDR fokes across batches (and reason being that they all have gained tremendously from this Mecca of learning). So today if i get hold of someone 10 years senior to me at HSBC who hails from my institute, in all possibility i will get some guidance. Believe me this can be really valuable at some points in your career.


3.Rocking placements. Must say that it is a market economy and many of us do give a high weightage to job opportunities once you are out of "school". So here i do not need to preach much-- in good times they all get placed within 1st or 2nd day of placements. Recently (2009) there have been some issues where people failed to make it and so it went as bad as just 70%.

Enough of preaching-- let me come to negative side of it.

1. Competition.. This is one aspect of life at IGIDR which sucks (and sucks big time ). Relative grading is the rule and all (i repeat ALL) are slaves to this rule some time or the other at IGI. But again once you are out of this place, one realizes this it is there for your own good.

2. Isolation from ROW. Call it location or culture, you will not find the institute itself interacting with many "peer" institutes (like DSE). You will find conferences (and other good talks) to the top of you digestive system, but then you do miss the campus fun.


3. Research or Job Market (the million $ question). To me it seems that not only students but also the institute is confused with regard to its primary aim. IGIDR was established with a aim to promote economic research and to this end it receives 97% of needed funds (approx 8 crores) from RBI. Now given majority opt for placements itself raises the question with regard to use of RBI's (public) money to serve corporate. Note that till date their is no provision to ensure even partial funding of the institute from the market. But then, in this case we have a larger policy question in hand -- how can we sustain good quality R&D in an "emerging economy" like India and lets not go into it here.

I will wrap up by saying that you are considering joining IGIDR, go ahead with confidence. Onle one suggestion from my side -- if you intend to "accept" 4 lakh per annum of subsidy from this place, do not waste even a single opportunity to learn and if you are the lucky one -will go out of this place with a fire to rise -- STRONGER , FASTER & HIGHER . Thanks IGIDR and we miss you :)