Posted on 05/04/2006 12:58:16 AM PDT by HarmlessLovableFuzzball
KANPUR: A 23-year-old Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur (IIT-K) student, Shailesh Sharma, on Wednesday committed suicide by hanging himself in his hostel[dorm] room. A resident of Pande Mohal, Nariya in Varanasi, the deceased was a final year student of dualdegree programme at the chemical engineering department.
IIT-K officials claimed that the student might have taken the extreme step under depression after coming to know that he had failed in two courses —advanced thermodynamics and advanced fluid-mechanics. The exams had got over only on Wednesday after which Shailesh had seen the F grading in the two subjects.
According to Shailesh’s batchmates, he had failed in advanced thermodynamics for third time in a row and had shared his failure and acute distress with his classmates. "On Tuesday, he came to know about his failure and was quite depressed. Today he committed suicide after having lunch with us," said a student, who was with Shailesh minutes before he ended his life.
"Though we can’t draw any conclusion, it is true that he had done badly in two courses. This might be the reason behind the incident," said dean of students affairs (DOSA) Prawaal Sinha. Sinha said that the body had been sent for postmortem and parents of the deceased had been informed about the incident.
The incident invited strong reaction from the students who claimed that authorities could have saved Shailesh’s life by changing his course options. Hundreds of students assembled at Hall One where Shailesh used to live and demanded that the grading be made public. They also took to task Professor RB Chhabra of advanced thermo-dynamics who was present there. "We want to know whether Shailesh was intentionally being harassed by the authorities," said an enraged student.
On November 30, a similar case was witnessed when mechanical engineering second-year student Dharaskar Swapnil Chandrakant had committed suicide by jumping from the roof of the administrative block. The IIT-K authorities had then attributed stress as factor behind the incident. Shailesh is the fifth IIT-K student to have committed suicide.
Civil engineering student M Chowdhary had hanged himself in 1981 and third-year mechanical engineering student Yadapalli Venkat and another student Vimal Jha had taken the extreme step in 1987 and 1999 respectively.
"Having achieved acceptance under such rigorous rules and then fail could have serious emotional consequences even for well balanced individuals."
YEAH... Ain't life a bitch?
Don't where you pulled the idea that this has something to with caste from. The fact is that, unlike here, Indian kids feel tremendous pressure from parents and peers to achieve at school. It's that simple.
Don't where you pulled the idea that this has something to with caste from. The fact is that, unlike here, Indian kids feel tremendous pressure from parents and peers to achieve at school. It's that simple.
I think you are a sad individual - seeking perverse delight in the misery of others.
I suspect knowing you won't be doing the jobs Americans don't want to do was a bit too much for him. No coveted H1B visa and $10 per hour American engineering job for him.
Well said.
I still don't think I'm over the trauma.
L
I expect a lot of my son, but I'm certainly not going to ride him so hard he feels the need to take his own life if he can't pass some classes.
L
So I think I'll need to watch for signs I push too hard. My eldest is taking advanced course for his grade, but we will never expect or push for him to skip a level. We recognize that emotional maturity is every bit as important as scholastic capability. He's going to stay with his friends and do Cub Scouts and play Yu-gi-oh like all his friends. I just pray that we can balance our efforts with his needs as a child.
This tragic loss is a lesson for parents and students alike.
He was telling the clerk that he was getting a divorce and had to sell everything fast. I scanned the counter and there it was; an Springfield Armory National Match M1A.
I picked it up and asked the guy "What's he offering you for this?"
"Four hundred dollars" was the rather morose reply.
I said: "I'll give you $500.00 for it right now."
He looked at me and said "Sold."
That was about 15 years ago and I still have that piece. It's the most accurate rifle in my collection. I can hit things with that at distances I won't even try with my bolt actions.
Now the shopkeeper wasn't all that happy with me, but I've been doing business with him since I was twelve. He grumbled a bit, but eventually he got over it.
BTW I've still got my Crossman 760. My son and I shoot it in the backyard when we're not messing around with his paintball or Airsoft guns.
Great pellet guns those Crossmans. I've had mine since I was 13. It did have to go back to the factory once, but they repaired it without the least hassle.
Take care,
L
"Similar things have happened at MIT, for what it's worth."
________________
Yep, and at a few other U.S. schools, too.
There was also that wacko at San Diego State who gunned down three of his profs because his engineering thesis wasn't coming together.
Life may not be fair, but to laugh and make jokes about an individual who takes life's responsibilities seriously is beyond the pale. If this were a story about a football player, a Hollywood celebrity or a rock star, collectively whose contributions to mankind are negative or at most zero, there would be few jokes like this.
Hi, Laz.
Sharma, the surname is that of a high-caste Hindu and so is Chhabra. So your argument does not hold. There could have been a case of personal misgivings yes, but in 2 subjects?
Don't enforce the world's stereotype of a stupid American by commenting on things that you don't know enough about. There are plenty of well-read and knowledgeable Freepers here who wouldn't want to be clubbed in the same ignorant "class" as you.
"I expect a lot of my son, but I'm certainly not going to ride him so hard he feels the need to take his own life if he can't pass some classes."
Of course. I agree. But I think the case we're discussing is a fairly extreme example of the culture of hard work Asians expect from their kids. Overall, I'd say we could do with a bit more of that culture over here.
Laughing at peoples' problems is saving lives? I'll laugh like hell if one of your love ones dies.
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