5 things i hate about MNNIT

Please note: This is a personal view that I wrote during my first few months at MNNIT and in most cases it does not reflect my current opinion of MNNIT. I have since graduated and I have mostly good things to say about MNNIT. Don’t read it as a ‘guideline’ about what the institute is but rather take it as one person’s experience during his first few months at MNNIT.

It’s been a little over two months since I set foot on the dryland of development a.k.a Allahabad. I’ve seen things I have never seen before, ate food I have never eaten before and did many things I have never done before. To be absolutely frank, MNNIT was never my first choice of institute. Heck, it was never on my list of options. It was a choice between Trichy, Surathkal and Warangal. But as fate would have it, I ended up in this economic wasteland where the most hardcore non-vegetarian dish seems to be an omlette (but more on that later).

Taking all these into consideration, the following article lists the 5 things I hate about MNNIT in particular and the city of Allahabad in general. Take note, though, that my impressions on first reaching the Institute and my impressions now has changed considerably. So, in the future, what I hate now may be the one I get to like most. Here comes the list:

5. The name

Let me get this straight – I have nothing against Motilal Nehru or any of the Nehru clan. In fact, I don’t remember hating anyone I have never met. But the name MNNIT makes it look like some private institute where they sent off their engineering graduates into Call Centres and claim to have a 100% placement record. To a person interested in engineering, MNNIT is a respected brand name, but for the common man, it does not seem to command the same respect as a ‘plain’ NIT as in the case of Trichy, Warangal or even Calicut.

To be honest, most institutes are riding on their good name and when even a layman knows the institute you’re attending, you have a great bragging right to go along with a good education. Just think, MNIIT,Kanpur and IIT Kanpur doesn’t inspire the same respect to the public does it?

4. “Interaction”

Just one question – “If it’s such a useful and necessary thing, wouldn’t all the elite universities (Stanford, Harvard, Cambridge) implement it as well?”. I rest my case..

3. The Climate and the infrastructure

Living in a city where the temperature ranges from -2 degrees to 48 degrees Centigrade and trying to study at the same time is not my idea of fun. Wikipedia claims Allahabad experiences all the four seasons. To me, there are two seasons in Allahabad, The Muddy Season (when it rains) and The Dusty Season (when it doesn’t rain). These two seasons can be included in a single season – Cowdung season.

2. The food

Allahabad in genearal is a very vegetarian city. You have to go to great lengths to get a good non-veg meal. MNNIT is even worse. The food served in all the hostels is completely vegetarian. Even for a vegetarian, the food is barely edible. This is my fifth hostel and MNNIT food ranks second lowest and barely surpasses St. Anthony’s College’s Stephen Hall‘s food. That’s not the end of the story, the stalls and restaurants near the Hostels serve only vegetarian meals and are barely better than those you get in the Hostel. Finding a good non-veg food around here is more difficult than finding a picture of Paris Hilton wearing a decent piece of clothing. And I have to be here for 3 years, if I’m lucky, that is…

1. Hindi overdose

Yes, EVERYONE knows Hindi is the national language. And it probably is the duty of every citizen to do his country proud and learn the language. But according to the all-knowing Wikipedia, Hindi is the mother tongue of only 40% of Indians. So, in reality, Hindi speakers are the minority. And while all our lessons and books are in English, isn’t it appropriate to teach the subject in English for a change? After all, this is a NATIONAL Institute of Technology where any student from any corner of the country should be able to study without having a language problem. Yes, I want to learn Hindi more than any other language in the world, but to be honest, I know I will survive the corporate world without knowing a word of Hindi. This attitude of expecting anyone to speak the language just because you are most comfortable with it is the reason why the Institute does not attract non-Hindi speakers and foreign student like other elite Tech School of the country.