>I don't know how you can make such a statement with a single digit rank.
I don't quite follow why having a single digit rank should stop me from having an opinion on the subject.
I come from a middle class family from the poorest part of the country. I have a lower caste background (OBC), and my father was the first in my family to receive a university education. For innumerous Biharis, JEE and other competitive examinations have been the road to salvation.
I know someone who literally learnt swimming by hanging on to the tail of buffalos and went to a CS program of a top IIT.
>How many lower middle class and poor folks can send their kids to kota to study for JEE?
A lot more than you think. Kota is probably at least 30% students from UP and Bihar, the most backward states of the country.
>but let's not romanticize it as something that can cross boundaries of caste and class
It crosses boundaries of caste and class by a, being objective and b, not testing based on criteria (such as extra-curricular activities, knowledge of English) that only the upper urban class have access to.
>If so, we can also claim that capitalism doesn't care about your caste and class either!
I don't quite follow the analogy, but capitalism cares much less about caste than the feudal systems that it replaces.
>The harrassment faced by students of lower caste who get in through affirmative action is also well known.
It is also more exaggerated than real. A few bad cases should not be taken to represent the system in its entirety.
> I don't quite follow why having a single digit rank should stop me from having an opinion on the subject.
Rather, I expected someone with a single digit JEE rank to have a better, more rational perspective on JEE; instead of over the top romanticism. I know a few folks with a similar JEE ranks and their perspective is different.
> A lot more than you think. Kota is probably at least 30% students from UP and Bihar, the most backward states of the country.
Introspect on what I said and what your reply was. Families that are able to send their kids away to a different state for lodging and coaching for 2 years are at the very minimum middle class, if not rich or upper middle class. In fact, most American families can't do this at all. The fact that there are a lot of poor people in Bihar or India in general does not invalidate what I am saying.
My dad earned 500$ per month as an engineer in India. I am not going to pretend that I rose up via some extremely objective and meritocratic system inspite of tremendous economic disadvantage. The simple fact is that my dad was an engineer, while most of the kids in India at the time had illiterate parents.
> It crosses boundaries of caste and class by a, being objective
There are several exams of these kind in India, all entrance exams can be considered objective by default by this narrow definition. The exception of the JEE, UPSC etc. is the high bar. However, the amount of parental support, financial and otherwise - clearly shuts out the vast majority of India - the lower middle and the poor (SC/ST and some OBCs). With politicians expanding the scope of OBC, going beyond Shudras to include Vaishyas, OBC has been quite diluted. Significant population of OBCs also belong to the creamy layer.
I reiterate that, the JEE is a vehicle for the middle and upper middle to move to the rich class. For the vast majority of Indians, it is not an option. Better than the American system, but not some magic elixir.
> It is also more exaggerated than real. A few bad cases should not be taken to represent the system in its entirety.
It was quite common to bring up the affirmative action boost of these kids in newsgroups. The DASA students were also not spared. Posts like "Apna Mahesh problem solve kar diya. Aaj galati se tube light jal gaya :D". AIR was in the lifeblood of these students. You brought it up as well, while it was quite unnecessary.
> My father was the first in my family to receive a university education
I can't participate in good faith in a discussion with someone who doesn't have the ability to be respectful to opinions different from his own. Have a good day.
I don't quite follow why having a single digit rank should stop me from having an opinion on the subject.
I come from a middle class family from the poorest part of the country. I have a lower caste background (OBC), and my father was the first in my family to receive a university education. For innumerous Biharis, JEE and other competitive examinations have been the road to salvation.
I know someone who literally learnt swimming by hanging on to the tail of buffalos and went to a CS program of a top IIT.
>How many lower middle class and poor folks can send their kids to kota to study for JEE?
A lot more than you think. Kota is probably at least 30% students from UP and Bihar, the most backward states of the country.
>but let's not romanticize it as something that can cross boundaries of caste and class
It crosses boundaries of caste and class by a, being objective and b, not testing based on criteria (such as extra-curricular activities, knowledge of English) that only the upper urban class have access to.
>If so, we can also claim that capitalism doesn't care about your caste and class either!
I don't quite follow the analogy, but capitalism cares much less about caste than the feudal systems that it replaces.
>The harrassment faced by students of lower caste who get in through affirmative action is also well known.
It is also more exaggerated than real. A few bad cases should not be taken to represent the system in its entirety.