The death of 02MA2011

Roll No. 3, 8B... Roll No 1, 10A... Roll No 42, 12 A.... and then 02MA2011. The bigger the institution was, the more dependence was there on the label for my identity. School days were still more dependent on the tag given by my parents and the one by which i'm recognised universally, i.e., my name. IIT being the biggest institution i've been into, it took a few weeks to get into my brain that when you're asked 'yes, you!', you've to say-'02MA2011'. In a crowd of CS,ECs and EEs, one MA gets lost. Lots of pride goes into that label. First, i'm EE, you're GG. Then i'm 2001, you're 2024. It sounds to the philanthropist self of mine the same way as it would sound to anyone who has not been to IIT- completely meaningless.

This labelling adds and subtracts a lot to the individuals and many times, the original identity gives way to the new tag. Its just the philanthropist in me which hopes that the person should always be above all the labels and tags. And i think its the gift of this labelling that so many problems of our society originate. Humanitarian characteristics are lost and a person's standing and status depends on all the attached tags- B Tech IIT 8.6, MBA IIM A, Ph D, CFA and blah blah. People start seeking pleasure in tags. The bigger labels, the happier you should be!

The emphasis is more on the tags than the person. Oh! you're an IIM-A grad, great! You're Ph D from Harvard, amazing! People wont use such expressions even after hours of interaction with the same person. The tags do that, in first go. The tags have become more important than the person. I just feel that the liveliness of the person is gone with being restricted just to the role of bearer of n number of tags and being expected to behave in accordance to the tags. People become lifeless and life too becomes lifeless for them ultimately. That freedom is gone. The tags make you do what you do. There is an expected conduct and one follows it. Just live one day erasing these tags from your mind, just as a human being... and feel the freedom. Feel the liveliness. Feel the originality. Let there be death of tags and a pure human being be born.

Well, i got a bit off from the death of o2MA2011. Running for my clearance here and there through the corridors of Bengali bureaucracy, i just felt content that all these signatures would at least confirm the last use of '02MA2011'. The death of another tag for me, and probably the last one. I just wish to continue my life where i'm not respected because i'm 02MA2011 of a reputed institute called IIT-KGP, but because of what i am. I just wish to be loved for the man i am, and not for being Exec Engg, IBC corporation. I know that this struggle against tags is a real tough one, but for the moment, i feel like a winner..... with the death of '02MA2011'.