A.P.J Abdul Kalam on IIT

Atanu Dey has an interesting report about PanIIT 2006, which is the meeting of all IIT alumni. A.P.J Abdul Kalam was one of the speakers there and this is an extract from his speech

His introductory remarks lasted for about 10 minutes in which he panned IITs. He used an interesting device. He said that he called up a bunch of people the previous day and asked what was the first thought that came to their minds when they heard the word "IIT" His respondents included, among others, a General in the army and a former director of an IIT. The responses he received ranged from "very low value addition" to "largely irrelevant" Not exactly the sort of thing that the organizers of PanIIT wanted to hear, I am sure. But then, Kalam had warned that what he was about to say was going to be "mixed"

Link: IIT-Inspire, Involve and Transform