When Archimedes expressed his boundless excitement on stumbling upon a path-breaking invention, little did he realize that the words he articulated would be quoted on several occasions. One of the instances include when entrepreneurial-streak-inflicted engineering undergrads voice the very same word on ‘stumbling’ upon a start-up or a new college society idea. They shout ‘eureka’ and run to implement their ideas with their bubbly peers who have a tendency to jump into anything – a beer pong or pioneering a society – though, they are being highly incompetent for a different task.
The modus operandi is simple. Have a Eureka moment, get hold of your bum-chums and start towards the path of a glorious money-laden future that can even put a Saudi king to shame. At least, that’s what the perception of a startup conveys; or that a society would inculcate you with abundant entrepreneurial knowledge which will leave the recruitment guy from a dapper company flummoxed and VOILA you will be the next emerging star of the company!
Woe to the world! – as 21st century Antony would say, reading the above sarcasm-loaded condemnations. The statement aptly reflects the mushrooming of college initiatives (startups and societies) every 15 days. The ritzy Facebook page comes under the banner of social media; the team allot themselves fancy sounding posts giving an illusion of a UN-like organization; beady-eyed juniors are lured in the false hopes of ‘quality work’, ‘learning experience’ completing the picture. Some go a step further and get uninformed and misfortune – stricken juniors from other colleges as well, or take the whopping step of contacting a big organization, which boasts of a popular term called ‘personal contacts’.
Sadly, the parameters mentioned above hardly qualify for a sustaining body. The wretched reality is always different. The mere thought of initiating a startup can’t make you a Mark Zuckerberg or Narayan Murthy of the startup-arena. Also, the sheer audacity to rip off Ivy League clubs and to have bi-annual meetings won’t comfort you. You need much more grit, determination, dedication and patience to produce a scintillating performance. The need to go beyond the superfluous pomp and show and give more weight to the substance is non-existent. The startups today, focus on decorating the resumes and other materialistic documents.
Thus, the result too has a condescending tone. A majority of startups never go beyond their twitter campaign. Societies follow a disheartened path; they wither, croak in anonymity with ‘founders’ in fancy posts as spectators, and finally, die a silent death. The beady-eyed juniors too realize that they have been hoodwinked and contemplate on more such ‘college initiatives’.
Ah! the vicious cycle.
Issued in interest of students of NSIT plagued by a multitude of societies and startups
A sincere advice: 1) Stop pestering with fake updates of sham societies, we know you ain’t working kiddo!
2) Don’t bash up the author whose mother-tongue is sarcasm. Also, she has been the beady-eyed junior throughout her 1st year.