scholarship hike in iisc.

Over 100 students constituted the mob led by Surya and faced by Student Council Chairman Guddu on the Gymkhana ground. Surya summarized the happenings, “The authorities said that students should mind their own business and should not interfere in the administrative procedure. The authorities further claimed that if students continue asking for money, then they will face harsh consequences.”. Surya continued, “Friends, we simply asked for the update on what steps have been taken towards renewal of scholarship. Some IITs and other institutes in Bangalore have started getting renewed scholarships since late last year. But there is no sign in IISc! Now, we have to decide the further steps.”.

Surya opened it for students, who were already angry with the authorities’ response. A few responded:

“We must send a written letter to the authorities.”.

“We must start a signature campaign in the campus.”.

“We should meet the director.”.

bhOndOO, angry, anxious, and inexperienced, wanted to say something to the group. He shouted, “We should go to the press!”.

Everyone made him shut up. “We do not want to tarnish IISc’s image outside.”, Surya declared. bhOndOO became silent.

“We should have a visible protest.”.

“And what would be a better time than the flag hoisting of Jan 26?”, BenJi.

Everyone clapped, shouted and liked the idea. Guddu, who was silent so far, started, “A protest on a Republic Day is not ethical…”.

“You are talking about ethics! The Student Council should have already taken a step towards the protest!”.

“You are selected by us. You should not dictate.”.

“What has Student Council done so far since it got elected!”.

“Student Council should setup a General Body Meeting with the authorities.”.

Junta again started shouting, “Yes, yes. Lets have a GBM.”.

Guddu tried, “See, a GBM is not really necessary at this point…”.

“No, no. We want a GBM.”. “Yes, yes.”. “GBM, GBM, GBM…”.

Surya tried to control, “Listen, listen guys! Let Guddu speak.”. The chaos reduced.

Guddu continued, “See, I will first meet the authorities tomorrow. If they do not give a proper response, then we can think of GBM…”. This sounded legitimate, and no one responded. There was silence for a while.

“Forget all this, lets have a visible protest!”, someone shouted.

“Lets boycott the mess!”.

“Why boycott the mess? Lets boycott labs!”.

bhOndOO’s pulse rate started increasing. He wanted to take part in shouting slogans. He declared, “Hunger strike!”.

“Shut up, bhOndOO.”, a laugh, “Chup be.”, a punch, “He is stupid!”, were a few responses.

bhOndOO re-decided not to speak.

“Listen friends! Friends… Hello! Let me suggest.”, Surya shouted. Everyone got silent. “Guddu, will meet the authorities tomorrow. If they give us a fixed date when the renewed scholarship will be implemented within the current financial year, we will not go for protest. However, otherwise, Student Council will have a GBM with all students and we will also call the authorities! If that also does not help, we will have a visible protest in campus!”.

Junta started shouting in agreement. bhOndOO’s blood pressure started rising. He wanted to suggest something which would be taken up by the crowd, “Guddu should broadcast the meeting minutes to iisc.broadcast!”, he finally managed.

Guddu looked at him with a look which was not of admiration. bhOndOO dreaded, but Junta liked his idea, “Correct, correct!”, “Yes, Guddu should do it.”, “Broadcast…”, “Broadcast.”.

bhOndOO was overjoyed!

Guddu had to finally say, “Okay, I will post the meeting minutes to iisc.broadcast newsgroup tomorrow.”.

Surya concluded, “Okay friends. Thanks everyone for coming here. The meeting is over now.”.

Next day, there was a broadcast by Student Council Chairman stating that the renewed scholarship for students would be implemented very soon.

After a few days, there was a notice put up in the departments which looked as below.

Update: This post was published in Feb 2008 issue of Voices, IISc newsletter.

Tags: authorities, broadcast, chairman, director, gbm, general body meeting, gymkhana, hike, hunger strike, press, protest, renewal, scholarship, signature campaign, student council