Mr. Abhijit Anand, a post graduate from IIT Guwahati who pursued and qualified his B.Tech from BIT Mesra, is now a reputed faculty member in the School of Civil Engg., at KIIT. As an E.Graphics teacher, he is very popular among students and has high hopes to become a professor. TL got an opportunity to have a wonderful chat with him. Here is a part of this conversation:

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Mr. Abhijit Anand

Sir, why ‘Engineering’?

[Gasps]…The thing is, I’ve been blindly following my brother since my childhood. It’s like if he has opted for Intermediate Science, then I would also do the same. If he has chosen to go for B.Tech then I would also go for Engineering. It was just like a blind faith that I believed in and followed his footsteps. Till my 12th, the major advantage I had was I did not need to purchase any books as they were provided to me by my brother. I came to realize the smell of a new book, when I entered Engineering because my branch was Civil and my brother had chosen Electrical.

Where do you see ‘engineering’ in India 10 years from now?

[Sighs]…If I look back at the time when my brother was studying B.Tech, ‘Engineering’ was a reputed field of education that a very few could afford. I am talking about those people who had a bright academic career.
In the present scenario, lots of engineering colleges have emerged. People now have this mentality that a B.Tech degree would definitely assure you a job. No one really cares about the goal and meaning of being an engineer basically is. People even don’t bother about what sort of jobs they are going to get…[Annoyed]. I have seen a very few those who choose B.Tech for earning good knowledge.
Hence, 10 years from now I think that this trend will somehow go down because ultimately people will realize the job scenario as well. They will discover their mistakes of not thinking about the consequences before becoming an ‘Engineer’.

Have you ever gamed or do you game?

[Chuckles]…Yes, I used to play CS in my college mostly with bots but not in LAN. I was just an average player. However, in MotoGP….I was the best in my college… [Excited]

CSGOArcticWarfareMagnum
Counter Strike: Global Offensive

Do you think gaming as a career in India has some sort of potential?

[Puffs]…Yes, I think that especially games like CS will take a significant part in Indian pro-gaming in the mere future. But if you compare this with real world sports like soccer, cricket, etc. then I don’t think that Indian eSports would be able to compete very well. It will take a lot of time for the pro-gaming scene in our country to develop.

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Indian pro-gaming scene needs a lot of time to develop

What cellphone do you use?

[Gasps]…I use a Lumia 520. Actually, I am an avid fan of Apple products but as they are very expensive they are out of my reach. But I do have an iPad Mini. I went for a Windows phone because I was in a position to afford them and also I wanted to buy something unique as most of my friends had Android devices.

Apple vs Samsung: whom would you vote for?

Like I said, am an avid fan of Apple products. Apple has this quality which you may not get in any of the devices made by Samsung. Let me give you an example. Once my friend purchased a Galaxy Tab 2 and I had an iPad Mini. So, when I compared both of them I discovered the only advantage Tab 2 had was the addition of the calling feature which was not present in my iPad Mini. But as far as both performance and battery backup are concerned, I feel very fortunate that I have my iPad Mini. In fact, my friend also regrets for having purchased Tab 2 instead of iPad Mini just to avail the calling feature… [Grins]

Galaxy Tab 2
Galaxy Tab 2

What was the best moment of your Engineering career?

[A rare pause]…Yes, I do have one. This moment is related to my ragging period in my college. This is an incident which happened when I was at BIT Mesra. So, one day we were coming back from our college and were instructed not to wear belts or talk to any girl. On our way, we encountered a few seniors. They approached us and when one of them discovered that a friend of mine was wearing a belt, he shouted- “Belt uttaro (Take out your belt)!”, and I heard-“Pant uttaro!”… [Laughs]. I was so scared that I almost thought that we had to put off our pants before going to the hostel. But to my relief, nothing even happened like that… [Gasps]

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BIT Mesra

Who is your source of inspiration?

[A rare pause]… That would be Steve Jobs. When I saw his interviews on YouTube like the one that he had given at Stanford University or whenever I heard about his achievements, I was always inspired. Not only me but also many people have been inspired from him. Basically, those who want to go for entrepreneurship should make him their role model.

My source of inspiration is Steve Jobs
My source of inspiration is Steve Jobs

Where do you see entrepreneurship in India 15 years from now?

[A rare pause]… I think 15 years from now, this nation would have the best entrepreneurs in the world. Because nowadays, most of the talented people who have tremendous potential become frustrated to be the slaves of someone-else. These people will one day realize what they are capable of and soon we will be able to see many individuals willing to risk their lives for entrepreneurship.

Your hobbies?

[Gasps]… I love music. I like to play with my musical instruments like guitar, mouth organ, etc. Besides that I love listening to songs on my iPod. I always carry it with me every time and whenever I am free, I just plug into it which recharges my brain. Apart from music, I also like to gather information on technological improvements and gadgets like tablets, smartphones, etc.

I love listening to songs on my iPod
I love listening to songs on my iPod

According to you what’s the formula to achieve success?

[Puffs]…Just make yourselves better today as compared to what you were yesterday. Set a specific target and concentrate on that only. Allow me to give you an analogy. Suppose you’ve gone to a shopping mall or any store with your parents and you’re demanding one toy. But at the same time you find another toy which looks more attractive. So, you finally get confused to buy which one and ultimately, your parents don’t buy anything for you. But if you go to the same Big Bazaar and stick to a particular toy, there are 99% chances that you’ll go home with that particular toy.
So, the same scenario is also applicable in your real life. Stick to one goal and put all your effort into it. Then day by day you will automatically improve and one day you will definitely achieve success.

We all have these common goals and desires- pursue a good education, get a job, get married and finally get settled in life. But is this monotonous life actually meaningful? Shouldn’t we do something unique?

[Gasps]…Yes, definitely we should. Suppose there are two movies. In the beginning of the first movie, a child is born. Then he grows up and goes to good college, becomes graduate and after that he happily gets married to a beautiful woman. They have kids and thus, they live happily and peacefully. This is how the movie ends.
But in the second movie, a person is struggling right from his childhood. He tries to always build something but the very next day it collapses. You know it’s like his interview results are due and he is very hopeful that he will qualify for the job but in the end he doesn’t get selected. And ultimately, overcoming all these obstacles he becomes successful. So, which movie would you prefer and what kind of person makes history? Obviously, that would be the second one. So, make your path unique. Don’t fall into the pattern that generally everyone follows.

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Interviewed by:- Amlan Panigrahi and Amitanshu Tripathy

Written by:- Amlan Panigrahi

 

 

 

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