What’s the story behind India’s obsession with engineering?
There are several stories and jokes behind the state of engineering in India.
There are hopes and aspirations hidden behind this word. But all this, why?
The Great Indian Obsession by Adithya Iyer isn’t a book. It’s an attempt to unveil the story behind India’s obsession with engineering.
Once I got hold of this book and decided to read it, I could not put it down. The research and storytelling ability that the author blended together in this book made me read the entire thing in one go.
With a very easy to understand and truly gripping writing style, the author has built a great structure for this book – The Great Indian Obsession.
What can you expect from a book that tries to find out how obsessed is India with engineering and how it all happened? Whatever you can expect, the book has more.
It covers so many different things
- The present state of engineering and career opportunities after this course.
- The establishment of IITs and how it all happened.
- The rise of coaching institutes for entrance exams to get into IITs.
- The major educational hubs in the country for engineering entrance exams.
- The struggle of students to get into this overly competitive course.
- The fate of the students who ultimately do the engineering course.
- The social stigma behind the whole thing.
- Indian reservation system and educational system.
And I am sure I missed a couple of things over here. What else would you expect from a person who gulped the entire book in one sitting?
I am an engineer myself. In fact, you’ll see this blog full of advice on B.Tech. and it was a revelation for me to read The Great Indian Obsession and find so many things about engineering that I didn’t know.
There were moments when I finally got some questions in my head lingering from over 5 years answered. There were moments when I wished I had known the facts and stories a few years ago. There were moments when I applauded myself for picking the book.
In the blogging world, we call content is the king. And if this book had ever been a blog, it will have been the best. The content is well-researched and laid out in an amazing manner.
I was thoroughly impressed with the structure of this book.
What made it all better was the stories. It is always good to listen to some great stories – some inspiring and some emotional. You get to know about some great entrepreneurs who turned their life around and you find out about some kids who are giving their lives to pass just this exam. You will also find out about people who are under life threats because of their action to do good to the society. You will find it all in The Great Indian Obsession.
If it were up to me, I would urge every Indian to read this book. Chances are a lot of you have already been hit by the engineering bug and it’s a must-read for you. It’s a must read for every parent who is worried about his child’s career. It’s a must read for every Indian who doesn’t know what people who take up or want to take up engineering go through.
It’s a great book to read. Don’t miss it.
My Ratings: 4/5 stars
